I am very pleased with my progress on Winter Wind this
week. I have mentioned before that I am not a fast
stitcher and finding time to stitch can be difficult at
times. But this week I took every opportunity, including
a nice chunk of Saturday afternoon and evening, to work
on this piece and the results show it. I am now ready to
stitch the verse in the center of the design.

This week will be more hectic because it's the first of the
month, our most busiest time at work and we're also
very short staffed. So I may have some late nights
that will curtail my stitching and blogging time. But
in one weeks time I'll be on vacation for a week and then
I'll be able to stitch a lot more. Which means that I'll
probably start another project. Maybe. We'll see.
I can't wait!!!


I mentioned in an earlier post that I'd ordered some new
stash, and to my delight the package arrived from Stitching
Bits and Bobs on Friday. In this order I chose charts from
designers that I don't usually collect, with a couple of
exceptions.

Since being on Weight Watcher's I've found that I've
been drawn to Casey Buonaugurio's sweet designs,
more so then usual though I can't imagine why, and
so I ordered three of them to add to my collection.
The design by Plum Pudding NeedleArt which
celebrates the many varieties of apples also appealed
to me since I've been eating a lot more apples during
the past year. Hmmmm.... Another food related chart.
Then there's The Cafe by CCN. A cafe is where they
serve food. Oh dear!!! Ummm...

Lizzie Kate's Life's a Stitch bucks the trend and deals
with my other obsession. I love this design, but not
in the colors chosen by the designer. I recently saw
a blog post with this piece stitched in colors picked by
the stitcher and loved it. Wish I could remember who
it was now.


The rest of the order. My first designs from My Big Toe,
the four sweet little girls from Imaginating's Joan Elliott,
and the wonderful Midnight Watch from Blackbird Designs.
See. No food connections to these designs whatsoever!!!

And stash of another sort. More books from my ever
growing wish list at Indigo/Chapters. Laurie R. King
writes fabulous mysteries, including her own take on
Sherlock Holmes, although this book is not one of
those. It was on sale when I checked my wish list items
and so I was obliged to pounce on it. Hotel on the
Corner of Bitter and Sweet has been featured on Book
Browse and other book blogs and comes highly
recommended. Hiroshima will be a difficult read
because of the subject matter (survivors of the
bombing of that city tell their stories) but I've read
other books by this author and this is a story that
should never be forgotten. And finally the two
paperbacks are by Karen White and are light reads, one
the sequel to the other, and there are ghosts involved
in each book. Lots of great reading to look forward to.


I finished Girl in a Blue Dress this week. It is the story
of a hugely famous, beloved author from 19th century
England, who wrote about the poverty stricken world
that he grew up in, and his relationship with his wife.
Yes, this book is a fictionalized account of the life of
Charles Dickens, with the names changed but many of
the infamous facts of Dickens life woven into the story.

It begins with the death of the author and is told by his
widow Dorothea, who has not seen her husband for ten
years and is not invited to be a part of his funeral. A
virtual recluse for those ten years, separated from her
children, her place in the home taken over by her own
younger sister, Dorothea takes the reader through the
events leading up to the estrangement from her husband
and follows her as she ventures out into the world and
confronts the sister who took her place, as well as the
mistress who turned her husband from her.

I knew a little about the strange relationship that Charles
Dickens had with one of his wife's younger sisters who
died young, and I knew that he and his wife had parted
after some years of marriage and eight (!!) children, so
I was curious to read this book and see what the author
would have to say about this very well known man who's
books are still read and loved today. It was a well written,
fascinating story which has received a lot of acclaim for
it's first time author. It reveals the era, it's people, it's
principals and it's flaws with well researched precision
and detail. I enjoyed it very much and am now on the
lookout for a Dickens biography to see how much truth
was written into the novel. It'll be interesting to compare.

******************************************************

Weight Watchers this week: I gained 1.4 pounds. My
facilitator was pleased. My DH was pleased. My Mom
was pleased. Me??? The phobia about gaining weight
and falling back into the old me look had me muttering a
halfhearted "Yippee!!". But if I can gain another pound
by this Tuesday I can become Lifetime and that's my goal.
I've not been actively trying to eat more this week though.
I just plan on wearing my jeans and a heavy sweater when
I weigh in. So there!!

The January thaw in this part of Ontario came to a crashing
halt last week as the temperatures plunged and we were
treated to temperatures in the -17 Celsius range. Brrrr!!!
It's going to be warming up to a more clement temperature
of -2 now that the weekend is over which will be much more
bearable. Tuesday is Ground Hog day. If the rapacious
rodent is hauled out of his den on that day and sees his
shadow we're in for six more weeks of winter. Oh fun!!


Rupert will join Phoebe and I in the computer/craft
room at night. His preferred place to sleep at the
moment is behind the door of the room. Why??

I can't think of anything else that needs reporting
here at the moment so I'll finish off with a thank
you to all my visitors for dropping by, and I hope
that you all have a wonderful week. Take care!

Cheers!

I thought that I'd check in and show off a weeks worth
of stitching on Winter Wind. Don't know if I have much
else to write about though so we'll just have to see how
we go and I'll try not to prattle on about nothing for too
long.


I've just about finished the main part of the house,
although the window panes have yet to be filled in,
and there's still a bit of roof to stitch in and then the
two chimneys. I couldn't resist stitching in the two
trees this week otherwise I would have probably
finished the house. The more that I add to this
design the more I love it. But that's Prairie
Schooler designs for you.


I ordered a few things from Anita's Little Stitches for the first
time a few weeks ago and was thrilled with her service. I swear
that the day I placed my order was the day that she mailed it
out to me. My main reason for ordering was to get a selection
of mesh bags for kitting up and transporting projects so I ordered
a variety of sizes and colors and am quite pleased with them.


I also ordered a couple of cuts of fabric, just because. The
one on the left is Bone Lugana, which is a favorite color of
mine for fabric, in 28 count and the other piece is Vintage
Marble Lugana in 25 count. This has a really nice marbling
effect on it (hence the name) and I'm eager to try my first
stitching project on it. Wonder what it'll be. Anita threw
in a package of needles with my order which was incredibly
nice of her.

********************************************************

Yesterday I spent practically the entire day at a gathering
to celebrate the birthday of a friend. We do this every
year and it's become something fun to look forward to at the
end of January. There were nine of us gals there for lunch
and it was a great afternoon of good food and talk and catching
up. Lots of talk. It was 9:30 in the evening before I got home.
As I said...lots of talk.

Today I spent the day in my pajamas. Outside it was dreary,
dark and, in the afternoon, it pelted with rain off and on. I
puttered around the house a bit, doing a few necessary chores
and then I sat down and stitched for a couple of hours and
also blogged a bit. It was great fun and so very relaxing.

********************************************************

Weight Watchers update. I dropped another pound as of
last Tuesday. I'm baffled. I'm eating so much and trying
to follow my facilitator's advice to eat lots of protein, but
still I loose. I should have eaten more of those chocolate
biscuits I guess. Note about those biscuits: I went to have
a few tonight and discovered that someone had beaten me
to it and polished them off!!! Now they're all gone until
next Christmas when, hopefully, Loblaws will carry them
again. It's probably for the best, but I wasn't too impressed
at the time I realized that there were none left.

This week is my sixth week on maintenance and I'm
suppose to be within two pounds, below or above, my
goal weight of 146. I was 141.6 last Tuesday. We'll see
if I managed to gain anything this week. I've never
thought to ask what happens if you're not within those
boundaries at the end of the six week period. Do you
start another six week period? Gackkk!!!!


I finished reading The Book of Illumination this week. I
just left it lying on the kitchen table and whenever I had
a few minutes I picked it up and read a few pages, or
chapters. And I loved every page of it. This is a first
time novel for these two writers and I sincerely hope
that there will be lots more to look forward to in this
series.

It's about the theft of a fabled and priceless illuminated
manuscript from the 12th century called The Book of
Kildare, a treasure that many scholars have doubted
ever existed. Helping to search for the manuscript and
the person responsible for it's theft is Anza O'Malley, a
single mother who is a bookbinder by trade, and who
is also able to see and speak to ghosts. The manuscript
has been accompanied over the centuries by the ghosts
of two monks and Anza must deal with them when the
book is stolen. Anza also meets the ghost of a butler in
the home of the owner of the manuscript who also
requires her help to retrieve a missing document from
his past. All this while she must also spend time
looking after the needs and demands of her five year old
son Henry.

Anza is a wonderful heroine with a great
sense of humor and a caring heart who gamely tackles
the problems that she encounters, whether it be the
chauvinistic abbot and his refusal to deal with anyone
other then an Bishop or Cardinal of the church, or her
son's participation in his school play, with compassion,
determination and a great deal of forbearance. I loved
her.

One of the authors of this book is the person upon whom
the Ghost Whisperer series is based and she is a
consultant for that show, which I've never watched I
should add. I really loved this book because of Anza
and I recommend it for anyone who loves a mystery
with great characters and no gore or excessive violence.


I'll end this weeks post with a photo of Phoebe, trying
to take a nap in the bathroom. Hope everyone has a
great week and thanks for visiting.

Cheers!

I've been working on my latest project for two weeks now
and felt that I had enough done that I could show it off to
you all. The chart is Prairie Schooler's "Winter Wind" and
I've been stitching the bigger design.

I began by stitching the alphabet and as always I started in the
bottom, left hand corner. Once the alphabet was done I began
to fill in the white background. I wondered at the time if I
should have done it the other way around, and worried that I
might find the background boring to do. Fortunately I found
that it was actually fun to figure a "path" for myself around
each letter and was eager to get it finished so that the full
impact of the alphabet would be seen against the "snow" white
background. I'm now building the house and loving the DMC
#3777 that the design calls for.

I'm trying to stitch at least three strands of floss per night to
keep this project moving, and I'm also trying to do a couple
of blog visits per night to make some attempt to keep up with
my commenting. Some nights (such as Tuesdays which is
shopping/Weight Watchers night) I have less time at the end
of the day then others to follow this plan exactly, but I do
what I can.

Speaking of Weight Watchers....

Lost over two pounds between the 5th and the 12th of January.
Am currently on maintenance which means that I'm suppose
to be maintaining my goal weight. So my facilitator upped my
daily points to 29 and reminded me to eat more protein. This
Tuesday is my 6th week on maintenance and I'm suppose to be
within two pounds of goal. Um...not so much. We can adjust
my goal somewhat, but I still need to gain two or three pounds
to complete the maintenance program. Ironic, isn't it??

Last night a friend came over for tea and a chat. We were at
it until 1:00 am! We got into the chocolate biscuits that our
friends from Scotland brought me at Christmas. They are
Marks and Spencer's chocolate covered biscuits and I am
crazy about them. I ate quite a few of them. At least six!
DH and I took the rest of them over to my Mom today and
left them with her to be shared and enjoyed with her friends
and to get them the heck away from me!! Perhaps gaining
those two to three pounds won't be too much trouble after all.

I'm still waiting for two stash packages (!!!) to arrive
from different locations. One will be awhile because
of an out of stock leaflet but the other I know is in
the mail somewhere. I did receive my monthly
addition to my Threadworx collection this week,
plus a chart that I scored off of Ebay which happened
to tickle my fancy when I saw it there one day. Love
the colors in these two designs but I had no idea of
how BIG they are when stitched on 28 count fabric.
Oh well.

A book order did arrive in the mail this week as well. I've
got a wish list a mile long on Indigo/Chapters site of all
the lovely, tempting books that I want to add to my
library and these made a wee, tiny dent in that list. I
started "Girl in a Blue Dress" as my travel read and on
Friday night nearly read past my bus stop because I
was so absorbed in the story.

The book on the top of the stack "The Book of
Illumination" I casually picked up just to read the
first couple of pages to see what it was like since I'd
never read anything by these two writers before.
I'm over half way through it and can't help but pick it
up whenever I have a spare second. While waiting for
the dinner to cook, while eating breakfast, while
passing the time on the porcelain throne .... uh .... well,
you get the idea.

Actually, the only writer in this pile that I've read before
is Michelle Moran who focuses on Egyptian history for
her fictional stories. She's a brilliant writer.

I finished Men of the Otherworld this week and it was
fabulous!! I adore Kelley Armstrong. Her sense of
humor, her wonderful, colorful characters and the
mythology that she's created all make her stories irresistible
to me. An author who's books I buy without hesitation or
second thought as soon as they come out. And of course
she's from Ontario so I can take pride in helping to support
a fellow Canuck.

Rupert lazing under the Christmas tree. Dignity, as we all know,
is very important to a cat and must be maintained at all times.
More or less.

DH and I dismantled the Christmas tree and packed away all
the decorations a week ago on the Saturday. It took four and a
half hours to do that. Sunday I vacuumed, dusted and cleaned
the house and returned the every day knickknacks (once I'd
found them again in all the places that I'd stashed them in to
get them out of sight during the holidays) to their proper
places. It's kind of nice to have the house back to normal
again, but I do miss the Christmas tree, which seemed to look
especially nice this season for some reason.

The new Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage
Needleworks designs that are coming out next week have
caught my eye and got me itching to reach for my mouse,
my credit card and my "gotta have" list. "Rose Hill
Plantation" and "Liberty Lane" and perhaps "Mississippi
Riverboat" are the ones I love most.

Thank you everyone who commented on my last post
and were so generous in their compliments on my first
finish of 2010, and for my ongoing weight loss battle.

I'm off to stitch on "Winter Wind" for awhile so thanks
for dropping by. Hope you have a great week.

Cheers!!

Happy New Year!!! Here we are at 2:00 am on Friday
morning. The party is about to break up and the weary
celebrators are about to disperse to home and bed after
talking, laughing and eating their way into the New
Year. I'm on the right, seated. DH is in the middle, in
the back row, in the black and white stripped shirt. The
short (!!!) guy on the left (arms crossed) is our little
godson, the actor.

After getting up for work at 5:30, working all day and
being very, very busy, getting home at 5:40 and making
dinner, heading back out at 7:30 to our friend's home
for our yearly gathering, and staying out way, way, way
past our normal bedtimes, DH and I fell into bed at
2:30 and didn't stir until 8:30 (him) or 9:30 (me) New
Years Day. And then it was only because Phoebe was
demanding breakfast.

I spent all day Friday in my pajamas, stitching and
blogging and listening to music. It was wonderful.
On Saturday I walked down to Curves and worked
out, which was the first time since last Monday that
I'd had a chance to do that. The walk to and from
Curves was a cold, frigid one as the temperatures
dropped considerably from the previous day...and
year. When I got home it was to settle once again
into my stitching chair for more blissful, all the
rest of the day stitching. And the result?? My
first happy dance of the year.

Lizzie Kate
Christmas is Forever
special edition kit for 2008
Stitched with Crescent Colors and a couple of DMC threads.

Loved the wonderful, bright colors that went into this design.
And I love stitching with Crescent Colors threads so much.
I am very happy to have finished this one in such a timely
manner and am thinking that it would make a wonderful
flat fold finish.

I don't usually do the New Years resolution thing, but if
I did I'd want this years to be to try and stitch more. I'm off
to a good start, but it is vacation time so not our normal
routine. I'd also like to attempt my first "finishing" of
some of my stitching and even frame a few more pieces as
well. We'll see how all of that works out.

And yes, I have started a new project. I spent a couple
of hours rummaging through my stash, from charts to
magazines to books, and then back to the charts again.
Finally I settled on something that suits the season, and
that will keep my well occupied for some time I suspect,
slow stitcher that I am. Pictures to come in my next post.


I haven't blogged much about my reading lately, so I'll
do a brief catch up here of the final reads of 2009.

The first was a book that I saw reviewed and recommended
on a couple of book blogs and was intrigued and eager to
read it for myself. So much so that when it arrived here in
the mail from Chapters I started reading the first few pages,
to see what it was like, and ended up temporarily abandoning
the book that I was reading at the time to keep on going with
this one and finishing this story in a week. Keep in mind that
this book is over 500 pages long too.

Categorize this one as Young Adult, supernatural fiction but
know that it's a wonderfully written, enthralling story that is
first and foremost rich in character and visual imagery and
a well imagined history and back story. And no drippy, mournful,
vampires and dreary, obsessed teenage girls. There's wry humor
and a strong feeling for family, and for life in a small town. I
really enjoyed this book and recommend it highly.


I finished off the 2008 reading year and began the 2009
year reading my first trilogy by Robyn Carr, again based
on recommendations from book blogs. I finished off this
year by reading the second trilogy and enjoying each and
every book.


Yes, these are somewhat formulaic, and the heros and
heroines are somewhat too good to be true but on the
other hand these are books to be read for escape and
pleasure, not to experience real life in all its disappoint-
ments and warts and what-have-you.


I enjoyed being sucked into these stories, falling for the
handsome, rugged men and the lovely, strong yet
vulnerable women, and the quirky characters that live
in the small town of Virgin River. So much so that,
like eating peanuts, I couldn't read just one. I have
picked up three more books by this author that also
take place in Virgin River and feature characters
introduced in the first books. If that's not a
recommendation for these novels then I don't know
what is.

***********************************************

Thank you everyone who left comments on my last
post about my weight loss and new look. It's going
to be an interesting year ahead as I work to find
that perfect balance of eating, working out and
relaxing that will allow me to maintain this look.

I've been naughty and ordered some new charts
and fabric and some of those mesh bags from
various places. The charts are mostly from
designers that I don't normally collect because
I wanted to expand my horizons and try new
things. Pictures to come when the stash does.

The end of the Yuletide holidays is always a bit
depressing as we face the rest of the long, cold
winter without the lights, the decorations, the
food, the parties and the time away from work
to enjoy.

Will any of you be watching the Winter Olympics???
The Olympic torch came through Georgetown before
Christmas, but it came through at 7:00 am on a bitterly
cold Saturday morning and I for one was not inclined
to leave my warm bed to stand on the side of the
road to watch it go by. I'm not keen on sports or the
Olympics anyways so I probably won't be watching
any of the coverage while it's on.

I think I'd best finish off today's post since there are
chores to be done, and a new project to stitch on once
those chores are done. Hope you all have a great
week settling back into the normal routines of life
and get lots of time to stitch and read. Thanks for
visiting.

Cheers!

It doesn't seem possible that Christmas is already over, and
it won't be long before the New Year arrives. Time has flown
by and I can't really explain where it went and how it got away
from me. So a belated Merry Christmas to everyone who
still finds their way here after such a long silence on my part.
Hope it was wonderful and magical and everything that you
had hoped it would be.

For me this year has been about getting fit, loosing weight
and building up my nearly non-existent self esteem. Joining
Weight Watchers was my first step towards those goals.
I attended my first meeting on March 31st, and since then
have only missed one meeting. I started walking short
distances as my first attempt at exercise and slowly built up
my endurance and my strength while increasing my route.
For five months I walked pretty much exclusively.

In September, realizing that the weather would be turning soon
and walking would become difficult (if not impossible) during
the Winter months, I looked for an alternative to the walking.
I began to climb the stairs here at home. We live in a four
level side split house so stairs we have aplenty and I figured
I might as well put them to good use. Again I started with a
short routine, marching up and down perhaps 30 odd times
before running out of steam. But that number increased to
50 times a night fairly quickly, every other day, with my
normal walking routine in between.

Worried about wearing out either my knees or my carpets
before the Winter was half over I decided that I needed to
find a better solution to my Winter exercise problem and
in October I joined Curves. I go to Curves four times a week
and I walk home from it's location in Georgetown afterwords.
I also try to get one long walk in on the weekend, and so far
the weather has been good enough to allow it. And I still do
the stairs occasionally too.

The time spent on exercise, fixing healthy lunches for work,
and dinners for home, attending Weight Watchers meetings
etc has eaten away a substantial portion of the time that I
use to spend on the computer blogging, and time I use to
spend stitching. Bummer!!

Well, what can you do?? I need to work on my commitments
to both since stitching is the hobby that I love, and blogging
connects me to the friends that I have made whose crafting
inspires me and whose tales of their lives and their beliefs and
their daily challenges, often written with humor and insight,
often enlightens and sometimes educates me.

So what has been the end result of all this work???

This picture was taken back in early May at the residence
where my Mom lives. I had been with Weight Watchers
for about six weeks and had lost about 14 pounds at this
point.

This picture was taken at the end of November.

And so was this one. I have lost a bit more since that time
and in mid-December I achieved my goal weight, went on
maintenance at Weight Watchers, and then lost more
weight while on my first week of maintenance. In total
I have lost 74 pounds and now weight less then I did on my
wedding day nearly 20 years ago. I can wear my wedding
rings again which is something that I haven't been able to
do for about 15 years.

Of course Christmas is a heck of a time to go on
maintenance but what can you do?? I have not been
a good girl this weekend but decided that for Christmas
I was going to enjoy the food and the holiday and get
back on program after New Years eve. I will have to
humble myself on weigh in day at Weight Watchers on
Tuesday night though.

I did do a bit of crafting during the holidays, which
included making a few new bows for family presents
and making gift tags out of last years Christmas
cards as well.

My camera doesn't take the best pictures in the world
but you get the idea. This gold one is my favorite but
I annoyed myself to no end when I hot glued it to my
DH's present upside down. See ... the goose on the
wrapping paper is standing on it's head. DOH!!!

Surprises in the mail included a lovely piece of hand dyed
fabric from Staci at Snippets and Stash. I was thrilled and
delighted to receive a package in the mail from her a few
weeks ago with this beautiful fabric that will soon be put
to good use. Staci has been making a great many of her
Christmas gifts for friends and family herself and I think
that's pretty awesome. Those are the sorts of gifts that
mean the most.

Andrea at the Crafting Room had a draw in November
for eleven different Christmas ornaments that she'd
stitched and finished in her usual exquisite manner
and I was thrilled to be one of the winners. I haunted
the mailbox and probably gave the mailman a complex
at the same time until this little beauty showed up
safe and sound. I adore this pinkeep and it will be
something I'll treasure forever. Thank you again
Andrea.

And here we have another reason for my blogging
absence. I'll admit it. I've been held captive by a
Lizzie Kate design that I started a month ago and
have been working away diligently at whenever I
can. I am loving this project so much. I'm stitching
it with the threads and the fabric provided in the
kit, but have made a change to the top square because
I couldn't figure out what the green squares and the
pink squares in it were meant to represent. Christmas
presents??? I got out another Lizzie Kate chart and
translated my own thoughts on how those squares
should look from a design on that chart. I feel much
better with how it looks now.


Christmas Eve DH and I attended a Nativity Play put
on by a local church at a horse farm about 10 minutes
drive from here. The stage was set up in the riding ring
which is a large, enclosed space. The barn with the horses
is attached to the riding ring so before the play began DH
and I and all the other people who came for the performance
got to walk around and visit with the horses before the play
began. It was snowing when we left here but it was
relatively mild compared to other years when we've attended
this special service. Still, by the end of the service our
fingers and toes were frozen, not to mention our backsides
from sitting on wooden chairs in an unheated building.

When we got home friends came to spend Christmas
Eve with us and we laughed and talked and drank tea
and ate home made scones with cream and jam, and
other yummy things until midnight.

Christmas day it was just me and DH and my Mom and
my SIL. I cooked roast beef with yorkshire pudding and
all the trimmings, and my SIL brought a home made
coconut cream pie (with whipped cream) for dessert.
Yeah, I know.... It's a good thing Christmas only comes
around once a year.

Although we had snow on Christmas Eve on Christmas
day itself the temperature rose and in the afternoon it
began to rain, and it rained steadily and often quite hard
until the next morning. So it was a soggy, grey
Christmas for us this year.

This weekend has been fairly quiet and we've been
relaxing somewhat, though tomorrow we have
friends from Scotland coming for dinner and their
yearly visit with us. They come to Canada every year
to spend Christmas with family and their time with
us is a highlight of the holidays for us.

Tuesday I go back to work (ugh!!) but DH's place
shuts down over the Christmas holidays, lucky guy,
so he's off for the entire week. He will still get up at
5;30 with me though and drive me into work so I don't
have to leave the house at 6:00 am and take the Go
bus/train service and public transit to get to work in
Mississauga. He's a sweetheart.

I guess that's pretty much it from me for the moment. I'll leave
you with another picture of Rupert, crammed into a box and
sound asleep. This can't possibly be comfortable!! But he loves
boxes of any size and shape and will force his way into the
smallest size until it either bursts or he ends up wearing it.

My best wishes for the New Year to you all. Hope to be back
again in a reasonable time and perhaps with a happy dance to
share.

And thank you for your support and encouragement through
out the year.

Hugs!!!

Greetings all!!
Would you believe that I have not one but two finishes to
show off today??? I know. Will wonders never cease.
See, there was a reason for my absence.

Phoebe's sampler came together and was finished off last week.
Well, the stitching part anyways. This is of course a design by
the most incredibly talented Gazette94 and the colors are all
various shades of DMC pinks. Phoebe has informed me that
she quite likes this finish but wonders why her name hasn't
been stitched on it somewhere. Hmmmm....

And then we have Prairie Schooler's Prairie Birds all finished
at last and ready for Christmas. I had to make a trip out to
Michaels to pick up a skein of 520 green thread before I could
finish this, and once I had that there really wasn't all that much
left to do. Actually I was wondering if perhaps I should stitch
some sort of a border around the six squares just to finish it off.
What do you think??? The one square is a bit bigger then the
others (why??? It was designed that way. Again, why??) so
sticks up a bit. Should I leave well enough alone??

I have started a new project after these two finishes. It's a
Christmas design and I'm having a great time working on it.
What is it, you may be asking..... Well, you'll just have to wait
until my next post to see what it is. Hee Hee Hee!!!

A few posts ago I mentioned that one of my favorite of
Blackbird Designs was Their Song, but it was out of
print and didn't seem to show up on Ebay whenever
I checked for it there. Soon after I got an request from
Rowyn (Stitching Under the Southern Cross) to email
her my address because she had something for me.
Well naturally I was curious but Rowyn would say no
more on the subject so I had to wait a little while to
find out what she was up to. An envelope arrived in my
mail box and when I opened it guess what fell out???
How cool is this??? Thank you so much Rowyn for
sending me this wonderful design. I am so looking
forward to stitching this and your RAK really made
my week.

I was lucky enough to win a gift from Andrea (The
Craft Room) recently and in my next post I'll post
a photo of the incredible, beautiful treasure that
she sent to me. Until then, you'll have to wait and
see.

In the plaza located on the outskirts of the subdivision
where we live there is a thrift store run by the Upper
Credit Humane Society. I like to pop in there once a
week or so to see what treasures might be available,
whether it be books or nick knacks or something
totally unexpected. Such as a cross stitch chart. On
Saturday I found the above Mirabilia chart on sale
for a mere 25 cents (Canadian) and my immediate
first thought was "Oh goodie!!! I can have a give
away on my blog for this." When I got home with
my prize and opened the envelope to check on the
chart I discovered a second chart inside, which is
the little freebie from 1996. Bonus!!!

So, you all know the drill for this sort of thing.
Leave a comment letting me know that you would
like to enter the draw for these two charts, and
perhaps one or two other little goodies, and I'll
have a draw on Sunday the 22nd for the winner.

Good luck!!

Books read in the past few weeks:

I picked this book by Ariana Franklin up when it appeared
in the sale bin of my favorite bookstore a while back. When
a hardcover book is being sold for a paperback price, and it
sounds like a really good read, or is a book that I'd been
thinking of buying when it was on for it's full price, then I
get all giddy and happy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. In fact I enjoyed it so much
that I went looking for the rest of the books published in this
series so far and have added two more to my collection. The
story takes place during the rein of Henry II in England. A
combination of historical fiction, mystery and forensics (as
imagined for that time period) with a fascinating heroine and
cast of characters, including a brief, scene stealing cameo by
King Henry II himself, this was a great read.

I love Charlaine Harris and I adore Sookie Stackhouse.
I was two books behind in the series and so rectified
that situation by reading them both back to back.
Both were excellent reads, as usual.

We don't get HBO in our cable package so I've never
seen the TV series True Blood which is based on these
books. But I've heard and read lots of good things
about it and am curious to see for myself how it stacks
up against the books. I'm always leery of movies or
TV shows that are based on books that I love. It's rare
to find an adaption that is worthy of an author's vision.
The best adaptions of a book can bring it to life (hello
Peter Jackson, and thank you) the worst can make you
swear off seeing any other adaptions forever.

I'm going to see if Santa will bring the first season of
True Blood on DVD for under my tree this year.

Our godson Ian went to Fanshawe college for two years
studying acting. Last Friday DH and I went to see him
performing in a play put on by the Georgetown Little
Theatre.

The Mumberley Inheritance is a comedic take
on the old melodramas that were once performed for
audiences in the early 1900's. You know the type. The
villain twirls his moustache and flaunts his black cape,
while the heroine bats her eyelashes, is forced to marry
the villain to save the family estate, and swoons all over
the stage. And the hero's name is Rodney Stoutheart,
a likeable, dim bulb of a hero who saves the day, in spite
of himself, sort of.

The audience's role during these sorts of plays is to boo
and hiss whenever the villain does something rotten
(which is fairly often, seeing as how he's a villain), to
cheer whenever the hero appears and manages not to
trip over his own two feet, and to repeat lines along with
the characters as they are used over and over again
throughout the play to either establish that character's
identity, history or evil plan.

It was a lot of fun to watch, and we were fit to burst with pride
as Ian showed his comedic talents were more then up to the
challenge. He had the audience in stitches with his antics.

We'd seen him performing in plays during his time at Fanshawe
but those were all dramas so this was our first experience seeing
him in a comedy. We had a blast.

Rupert is very fond of boxes, bags and blankets. Anything
he can get into, he will. Which is why I always make it a
point to check the dryer before loading wet clothes into it
just to be sure that it's empty at the time. And really it's
also why I should just make sure that I close the laundry
room door so that this sort of thing doesn't happen. He
won't get out without an argument.

********************************************************

Weigh in at Weight Watcher's this week was something of a
surprise. For the past couple of months my weight loss has
slowed down, as it tends to do as you get closer to your ideal
weight. But I was content with the one pound or so loss
that I achieved each week (sometimes a bit more, sometimes
a bit less). I've been going to Curves faithfully and find the
workout there to be great for all of me, not just my legs. I
still have a long way to go before I'll be able to work those
machines like a pro but I'm getting style and method and
endurance finessed first and the rest will follow.

So, tonight at Weight Watchers I weighed in expecting my
usual loss, and was told that last week I lost 5 pounds!!!!
This means that I am now past the high end marker for
what I should weigh for my age, height etc and could now
go on maintenance if I wished. But my own goal has been
to get to the weight that I was when I got married, and so
I'm going to keep going a bit longer until I reach that goal.
I just have 3 pounds left to go, but this is the Christmas
season now so my main focus will be to try not to over
indulge too much, and to maintain my current weight.

So as of today I have now lost 67 pounds on the Weight
Watcher's program, and have gone from a size 22 to a
size 10.

Also, last week at Weight Watchers the Georgetown
groups, which meet on Tuesdays at the Superstore,
one in the morning, one at the lunch hour and one in
the evening (which is when I go) rose to the challenge
issued by Weight Watchers and brought in over a
thousand pounds of food for our local food bank.
We're feeling pretty proud of that accomplishment
and we sure surprised the folks from the Food Bank
who had 10 grocery carts full of food to haul out of
the store and to their cars. Weight Watchers will be
making some sort of donation as well to compliment
our donation.

Hopefully I'll find time to post again soon. Until then
thanks for dropping by.

Cheers!!!

Autumn in Georgetown

I bought this wee treasure during a quick trip to our

local mall yesterday. I had a coupon and my discount
card for that particular bookstore chain so got it for
a decent price. This is one of those instances when
it doesn't matter if you should be treating yourself
or not to a new book, what with Christmas coming
and all that. This is an author and a book that you
just have to have now!!

Well, I do anyways.

I haven't cracked it open yet since I'm finishing up
another book first but judging by the thickness of
it this installment in the lives of Jamie and Claire
must be well over 700 pages. Perfect!!! Thank
you Ms Gabaldon. It's usually a three year wait
between installments of this series, but I'm willing
to wait because I know it'll be good. So good!

Since we're in the midst of the season when the
leaves turn from green to the most amazing
reds, yellows, oranges and golds I decided to
take my camera when I went for my walk
yesterday morning. It was a perfect morning
for being outside and enjoying the very
special pleasures that Autumn offers.

Note: all pictures are clickable for a better
view.

Breathtaking color!

I love this house, with it's bright red door and the
little roof over that door also being the same
bright red. This is an older part of Georgetown,
that has a wide range of house styles ranging from
cottages to big farmhouses and everything in
between. Lot's of huge, old trees adds ambiance
and charm to each street.

This little play area is in the Georgetown fairgrounds.
I love trees!! Especially these really tall ones with the
long, graceful trunks.

Another section of the fair grounds.

The back of a home as seen from the road that
leads into the Georgetown fair grounds.

Not everyone decorates their home for Fall and/or
Halloween around here, but it's nice when an effort
is made to celebrate this wonderful season in some
way. So, pumpkins, corn stalks, chrysanthemums
and the last efforts of the past summer's garden plants
make a nice showing on this home's front porch.

This house has a mix of Autumn and Halloween
decorations. Can't say I'm too thrilled with that
giant spider by the door, but I like that fellow in
the green cloak that's just hanging around.

Some local businesses get into the spirit of the season
as well. This is the front door leading into The Shepherd's
Crook pub.

And then there are the Halloween decorations. I love
these "headstones" in someone's front yard. Pretty
realistic looking, aren't they??

*********************************************

Not a lot going on around here at the moment ... hence

the walking tour of Georgetown as seen above. I did
stitch a bit on the weekend, and am almost finished
the last cat on Phoebe's sampler. Would probably
have finished it by now if I hadn't had to rip out a
bit of stitching thanks to some dang frogs that
hop-pened by. (Get it???)

Sorry.

I did get myself a new winter jacket while at the
mall yesterday and am quite pleased with it. The
old jacket doesn't fit anymore, and the weather
here last week was downright cold so I decided
that I couldn't wait any longer to pick out a
replacement coat. Of course now that I have the
new coat the weather for this week is suppose to
be warmer, so I can wear my Spring/Fall jacket
and be comfortable. Figures.

Leaving you with a bit of furry sweetness. They
actually do get along pretty good....most of the
time.

Cheers!!