Free Cat Litter!!!!

I'm trying out a new experiment...free cat litter! I saw this tip on someones blog and thought it was the greatest idea EVER!!!! I only have two cats but I must spend a small fortune on litter and so this was such a great find for me!

Basically, this is what you do: Take all junk mail, last year's calendar, old bills, scrap paper in general and shred it in a shredder or cut it up nice and small. Next, put it in a pot of boiling water with a bit of dish soap for about half an hour to an hour to get the dirt and most of the ink off. Drain the soggy mixture in an old colander and then with your hands break it up into little pieces and leave it on an old cookie sheet for a few days to dry. Sprinkle it with baking soda or some other smell sucking agent and VOILA!!! Free Cat Litter!!! It makes a kind of pulp which dries to a crumbly mess. But it's FREE!!!!

I've been adding it in to my cats' litter box a bit more each day and so far there are no protests so I'm very pleased. The only negative is that it doesn't clump but that's not the end of the world! And since it's free I plan on changing the entire box every few days with free stuff.

The best part of it all is that now my cats are peeing on my Christmas Visa bill and it feels SOOOO GOOD!!!!

Sweaters, and Stitching, and Lists, OH MY!!!

At long last here is a picture of my lovely white sweater:



It’s she lovely!!! I just adore this sweater and it’s SOOOO warm! LOL! I think it will be my new tobogganing sweater! I wonder what I should knit next… I really need a pair of gloves or mittens and maybe a cute hat to match! I’ll have to go through the patterns that are saved on my computer and see what tickles my fancy next. FYI: I get all my patterns off the free database on the wool websites (Patons, Bernat, etc.)

And, here is an update for my Elegance of the Orient:



She’s coming along so nicely now. I’ve been working on the other side of the shawl and I can’t wait to work on the backstitching for it because it changes the whole look of the project. I really do love Dimensions products because of the detail they provide with the backstitching. I love my Lissandrea too but when I work on her I really miss the precision that my Elegance of the Orient has in its detail.

I just realized that I never did a list of New Year’s Resolutions with you. I usually make resolutions and I’ve usually gotten sick of them by about January 2nd. Do you make resolutions? Do you keep them? How do you do it?! Anyway, here is my list of resolutions for this beautiful year of 2009:

1)Finish all outstanding cross stitch projects
2)Finish outstanding projects around the house (i.e. Painting walls, moving furniture, hanging pictures, organizing kitchen and closets, etc.)
3)Work on reading through Harold Bloom’s western canon
4)Lose the 30 lbs of “Happy Fat” that I found when my hubby and I met a few years ago!
5)Earn $1 million dollars….LOL!


Wish me luck with that list!!!

Small Reading Binge and Knitting News

Well, I was up late on New Year's Eve and I brought in the new year with my knitting project on my knee. I got up early to sew it all together and I got it done in time for our New Year's Day party. But...as I was sitting at the mirror finishing my face I realized just how warm the sweater was. We go to my hubby's family for New Year's Day and the whole family is there and we really look forward to it. However, with all those people in the house it gets pretty warm. So, I took off my beloved sweater and put on a t-shirt instead! LOL! It was the right choice because I was even warm in my t-shirt! Sadly, I still haven't worn my sweater because the next day I was doing crafts with my nieces and nephews (we made peanut butter and seed smeared pine cones for the birds...a white sweater would have been a BAD idea) and today I was at the Humane Society for my volunteer shift and you never know what you're going to get on your clothes there! LOL! Maybe I'll wear it tomorrow!!!! I'll try and coax my hubby to take a picture of it so I can post it! It turned out so nicely! I'm so proud!!!!

I've been on a small reading binge lately! I just finished another one: Pompeii by Robert Harris.



I read about this book on some one's blog and it sounded really interesting. I can't remember whose blog I was reading so if it's you I'm sorry I didn't put a link. The story takes place within four days. The first two are before Vesuvius erupts and the next two are the eruption and aftermath. The main character is the new aquarian of the Augustus Aqueduct. He's the first person to notice that there is something wrong with the mountain because the water starts to get sulfur in it. It was a really good read and definitely interesting to see people deal with a volcano back in 79 AD before they even had the word volcano in their vocabulary!!!

The Frantic Knitter with the Wonky Shoulder

The other evening my shoulder started to hurt and by the next morning I was in a ridiculous amount of pain. I have a knot or something under my shoulder blade but the pain runs up the back of neck and down my right arm! YOWZA!!! It seriously hurts! I'd love to know what I did so that I won't do it again. Well, because of this little inconvenience knitting and stitching was not on the agenda for yesterday...I spent the entire day flat on my back trying to find a comfortable position. Luckily I had a book to keep me distracted! I finished reading The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.



It's set mainly in Indian during the Indian-Nepali insurgency. It portrays a judge, his granddaughter, and their cook in newly acquired squalor. It blends the scenes in Indian with the judge's youth in England and the cook's son in America. I've got to say this is the first Heather's Pick from Chapters that I wasn't too impressed with. It took me about 250 pages of a 300 page book for me to feel any connection with the characters. However, the prose is beautiful...I think that's what kept me reading! There are some really funny scenes of Indians trying to blend into American and British culture and also one terribly funny scene at the American embassy when they are trying to get travelling visas. One character is trying desperately to get the coveted visa and was advised to say that he is Mexican...when he gets to the desk he can't remember what he was meant to say and tells the clerk that he is Texican!!!! LOL!!!

Today my shoulder is feeling much better and I am in a mad flurry trying to get my sweater done for tomorrow! Just call me Bex the Frantic Knitter!!! LOL! I am determined to get it done!!! Wish me luck!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's Eve! See you in 2009!!!!

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a great Christmas this year! I definitely did!!! My husband and I joined my parents at church to do something completely different this year. We helped to cook a meal for a group of people that would otherwise be alone that day. We had about 40 people there and it was so nice to meet all those new friends! Santa showed up with gifts for the kids! The kids were thrilled to bits because they thought Santa had missed their house in the morning...but little did they know that he was going to make a special visit at dinner time!!! I really had a great time this year and am looking forward to doing it again next year. The best part was that I didn't have to clean the house from top to bottom!!! LOL!

I didn't get my sweater done but I'm hoping it will be complete for New Year's day...it's lucky to wear something new that day! LOL!!!! Yep, I'm superstitious too!!!

It snowed like crazy up here last weekend. We got 40 cm in about 2 days! Here's a picture of it coming down from out the back of our house:



Needless to say, I hibernated last weekend and it was lovely!!! I picked up my Elegance of the Orient cross stitch and it was sooo nice to work on her again. I'm sure you know what I mean...it's like putting on comfy old shoes or something! Here's a pic of my progress:



I also got a lot of reading done while hibernating. I finished The Thirteenth Tale (soooooo good!!!!) and today I finished The Birth of Venus.



I wasn't expecting this book to be as carnal as it was but I suppose in hindsight I should have realized that with a title like The Birth of Venus it would end up that way. However, I love historical fiction and this was a great read.

Tendancy to Ramble

I finished Helen of Troy!!! I seriously plowed through the 600 pages in no time at all! It was ssooo good! Now I've moved on to The Thirteenth Tale.



I know you're not meant to judge a book by its cover but that's partially why I picked this one! This cover is gorgeous! This is the author's first novel at it was a New York Times bestseller within the week it was published. I totally think the cover had a lot to do with it!!! LOL! Also, this was a Chapters/Indigo Heather's Pick. I've always had good luck with her picks and hopefully this will be no exception.

I haven't been stitching much in the past few days. I'm madly trying to finish my white sweater for Christmas. I REALLY want it to be my Christmas sweater! I've finished the front, back, and one arm. I'm about a third of the way up the other arm so all I have to do is finish that bit, do my blocking, sew it all together, and do the cowl neck. I can do it!!! But wish me luck all the same... LOL! Hopefully I'll have a picture of my completed masterpiece before too long!

My husband and I don't have cable, we don't bother with tv. Our friends joke that we're training to be amish! LOL! Anyway, I have recently gotten in to the show 24. I borrowed season one from the library and I am HOOKED!!! I love to knit while watching a few episodes in the evening. I noticed that my library has up to season six so I am set for a while with something interesting to watch on tv! LOVE IT!



I have a few additions to make to my wishlist for Santa. I went through the Heaven and Earth Designs website and found a few little wonders that I mustlet Santa know about.


Here is A Mid Summer's Night Dream. I have this dream to have my library one day have accents of my cross stitch work on the walls but in the library they will all be literature related. This one's for my future libray!!!


This is Cinderella on the Stairs...another one for the library!!!


This is Cleopatra...one kick ass library lady!!!


The Lady of Shallott...I just ADORE this one!


Merlin and Arhtur. I took a course in university that was all about Arthurian legends. From that point forward, I was hooked!


This is The Owl and the Pussycat. I think I was read this story EVERY night as a child. I love love love it!


This one is called Alernative Reality. I think it's the dress that I adore in this one!


This is Musical Fete. I love theaters...so much potential for so much beauty. I spent so much of my childhood in theaters, either in the house or on the stage...so many memories!


This is Catch Me. I feel like a spend a lot of my life falling off of a precipice and hoping someone will catch me! LOL!


This is Pisces. I'm totally into astrology...I'm a big dork, I know, but I'm a true Pisces and it's just in my nature!


And this is Capricorn for my husband. These can hang side by side somewhere in the house...the fish and the goat...what a funny pair we make! LOL!


This is Beckon. While on the HAED website I found the artist Jonathan Earl Bowser (I hope I got the name right...) I LOVE his work!!!! It's so ethereal!!! The following are all his so I'll just give you their titles.


Cascade


Cathedral


Celestial


Forest Light


Forest Mist


Goddess of Tides


Invariance

Santa, I have been VERY good!

Wow! This was one long blog entry...once I get going, I have a tendancy to ramble...LOL!

Again, I'll leave with a funny kitten. This one is good because last week I took my cats the the Humane Society that I volunteer with so they could have their picture taken with Santa...they didn't enjoy it too much...When I got my cats home one was under the bed for 12 hours and the other went straight upstairs and peed in my closet!!! LOL!! I think the cats are voting that next year we take up Judaism...LOL!

Updates, Updates, Updates!!!

I made a book selection!!! I'm now lost in the lovely world of Helen of Troy! Has anyone read this one? I read another one by Margaret George called Mary, Called Magdalene. (Also very enjoyable!)



I went a little buck wild with holds at the library and they're coming in in droves so there will be much fireside reading by Bex coming up! I LOVE IT!!!

Well, here's the picture I promised of me in my new sweater. This is the first sweater that I have ever made and am mostly just grateful that it looks like a sweater and not a potato sack!



Don't I look happy? I'm soooo happy!!!


And at long last here is my update picture for Lissandrea! She's so gorgeous!!! I go to work on her and I find myself staring at her instead!!! Much more stitching to come though. I love the winter because there's so much stitching time in the evenings! January and February are the best months for getting lost in projects!!!



Here are just some random pictures of my hubby and I at a family reunion we went to this past autumn. We look a little goofy but you get the idea!!!





I'll leave you with a final word from the LOL CATS:



Until next time ladies and gents! (Do any men read this...if so PLEASE drop me a line...I would love to hear from you!!!)

Winter Reading

It's been snowing here in Canada and there is nothing like curling up by the fire in the evenings with a good book! That's probably one of my favorite pastimes...after stitching and knitting of course! LOL! The last few days, I have been ENGROSSED in The Glass of Time by Michael Cox. If you haven't read this book, I totally recommend it!!! I love this guy's prose! Just incredible!!! I got it from the library and it is due back today and there are about a million holds on it and so I was determined to finish it before I had to give it back!!! Thus, my life has been completely on hold to accomplish the task!!! The novel is the sequel to The Meaning of Night. They're set in Victorian England at the estate of Evenwood (I could easily move in and happily live my life there!) It has murder and deceit and romance and everything in between!!! Honestly...pick up these books if you can!!!! You will love them!!!

Any recommendation on what to read next?





And here's one more funny kitten just because it made me howl with laughter this morning and I wanted to share the giggles!!!