I meant to update my blog sooner then this however, as

happens, life got in the way.    Specifically... after five

attacks in the past four months due to gall stones ....  I had 

to have my gall bladder removed last Thursday night.   It

was something I was planning to do but a particularly bad

attack starting on Tuesday hastened the deal.   That was fine

since it didn't give me any time to fret and stress while 

waiting for a specific date to arrive.   It was a case of:  we're

here in emergency ... the surgeon is available .... we don't

have any other plans for the evening .... let's just do it!!!

A night in hospital ... spent in Obstetrics of all places ....

and a return home on Friday afternoon to recover.   Phil,

being retired now,  is able to provide nursing care and to

keep an eye on me during my convalescence ... and he's 

been quite diligent and very solicitous of my every need.

So all in all it's been good.   Keyhole surgery means an easier

and quicker recovery with minimal discomfort and that is

greatly appreciated.    So now I'm able to putter around the

house a bit, go for short walks around the neighbourhood

.... with my nurse accompanying me ... and relax at home.

It's all good.   

I've been enjoying my renewed delight in stitching again and

made further progress on my Country Chessboard as seen

above.    More border which defines the size of the piece

plus more houses.   And yes,  each house square completed

feels like a mini finish which provides a sense of 

accomplishment and encourages further production.

But of course what would the joy of stitching be without a

new start???    I mean, really?     Thanks to the enabling of

fellow stitchers I became aware of this chart available on

Etsy from a designer and had to get it, along with another

for Pretty Little Amsterdam.   There are charts for cities

throughout the United States and Europe featuring those 

well known iconic sites that each city is known for,  and 

each chart is in bright, vibrant colours.

So here is my progress so far on Pretty Little Toronto.

Some trees,  the shores of Lake Ontario,  a streetcar

(sometimes known as the Red Rocket) and starts on

other landmarks.   Loving it!!!

Hey!   Did you know .....

                                                So, I was on Vonna's blog site a week ago 

http://thetwistedstitcher.blogspot.ca/

and discovered that she'd made some videos on how to 

do various styles of finishes which she'd posted on Youtube.

Well,  Vonna being the Queen of Finishing .... along with

Andrea from The Craft Room .... I knew that I had to check

those out at once.   I went to Youtube and watched Vonna's

videos and was suitably impressed and fascinated with her

skill and her talent.   Then I looked at the videos "suggested"

at the side of the screen and was surprised to discover that

there is a community of cross stitchers there who are calling

themselves "Flosstubers"!!!!

I am quite aware of the "Booktubers" on Youtube plus various types

of crafty vloggers, and I follow those communities regularly, but it's 

never occurred to me to check for cross stitchers.

DOH!!!!!

So while I stitch on my projects I watch vlog posts from cross 

stitchers from all over the world as they display their WIPS,

hauls,  and UFO's as well as discussing other things related

to their hobbies and interests and lives.

Did any of you know about this community?   Is it the "it"

place to be now that interest in blogging seems to be waning 

for a lot of people?   I would think that vlogging would be

much more time consuming and more work then blogging

plus you'd need some degree of technical know-how and 

the equipment to make decent vlogs.    

And with vlogging you'd have to be more aware of your own

personality and have the ability to "selling" yourself on screen

to your audience to hold their attention and engage them.   I

think an ability to write a good, interesting and colourful blog

post may not necessarily translate to the vlogging world.

So, go check out Flosstube on Youtube (if you haven't already) 

and see what you think.

In early February I spent a weekend in Toronto with my

friend Darlene for our annual "Girls Weekend".

This time we had tickets to Kinky Boots at the Royal

Alexandra theatre as the highlight of our weekend.

         

What a fabulous show!!!!   The music was fantastic

(courtesy of the talented Cindi Lauper with book by 

Harvey Fierstein)  and the production colourful.   The 

story was a nice mix of thought provoking,  tender,  

upbeat and a bit sad at times.   But ultimately it was a 

celebration of our differences and acceptance of ourselves 

and of others ... be who you want to be!!

Our "Lola" in the show .... Alan Mingo Jr .... has left

the Toronto production to reprise the role on Broadway

which is quite an honour.    But given how amazing he

was here it doesn't surprise me at all that he was given

the opportunity.

The show was Friday night.   Saturday we walked a

bit around Toronto on a bright, sunny and warm day.

We went to the St. Lawrence Market to check out

the colourful, diverse selection of foods and goods

that are available there.

The place is a crowded, colourful and lively

mix of ethnicities with already prepared foods,  plus

the fresh ingredients needed to make your own and 

the seasonings and the tools as well.

It's a feast for the eye and for the stomach.

And full of welcome colour in the midst of the dull,

grey days of winter.

We spent the afternoon at the Art Gallery of Ontario, taking

a tour as well as just walking around on our own.

The architecture of the place was as fascinating to

see as the art works were.

In the evening ... after dinner at Swiss Chalet

(of course) .... we went to the movies and saw

Kung Foo Panda 3, which was quite cute and

fun.

Sunday we slept in,  swam in the hotel pool, 

went out for breakfast and then lined up to buy

Japanese cheesecake from a shop near the

bus terminal called Uncle Tetsu's. 

Another book I read this year was The Aviator's

Wife.   A fictionalized account of the life of 

Anne Morrow Lindberg which I really, really

enjoyed.    I knew something of the lady's history

and I knew about her husband's accomplishments

and scandals ... and of course about the kidnapping of

their baby son but I'd never read anything about either

of them before.   It's a really good story, well told by

Melanie Benjamin who has also written about Alice

Liddell (Alice ... in Wonderland fame) in the book

Alice I Have Been and The Autobiography of Mrs Tom 

Thumb.   I'm going to check those out soon.

Phil has been relishing his retirement ... in spite of the

fact that the weather changed as soon as Spring hit

and gave us a good wallop of cold and snow for a 

few weeks that had us all questioning Mother Nature's

sanity ... in rather colourful language.   Ahem!

After a very mild and dry winter it stung a bit.  Especially

when we had more snow and colder temperatures in 

the first 10 days of April then in all of February!

But now the temperatures are warming up and the sun is

shining and we can sit outside without coats and boots,

hats and mittens.   Blissful!

Meanwhile, Phil will be out mowing the lawn and racking

last Fall's leaves and puttering around the garden to his

heart's content .... as well as a bit of puttering around the

house.    Life is good!

Cheers!