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!!!)

Trucking Along

I finally made it to the store to get batteries...not only that but while at the store I also remembered to put the batteries into my basket! Now that my camera is functional again I am able to give a Lissandrea update. Here she is and she can see you too! (I love a project once their face is done!!!)

Woo Hoo I'm Done Page Two !!!!

I'm making GREAT progress with my Lissandrea project! I just adore her! I'm motoring my way through page 3 and am LOVING it! I just love doing faces...it gives the whole work a presence!!! Check out my progress: Please excuse the poor photography; I`m not sure why my camera won`t get a good shot of this one!



I have a degree in Literature and have always wanted to work my way through Harold Bloom's Western Canon (not the book but the list.) I have finally begun! I went through the list and have ticked off all the books that I have read. I've made it through the majority of the British, American, and Canadian Literature but have barely touched on other cultures. I have skipped the Theocratic Age because I`ve never really enjoyed the classics (ex. Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Plato) and have gone directly to the Aristocratic Age that begins in Italy with Dante. I have made my way through The New Life and am now working on The Divine Comedy. I can`t believe that I`ve never read it before! It is terrifying! Seriously giving me nightmares but I`ve made it to Paradiso and it`s all more positive there! I also grabbed some biographies and critical essays for my endeavor! I`m so studious!!!!! LOL!

Well, with all this reading and all this stitching my eyes are a little sore. I`ve started wearing my glasses again. My hubby likes to tease me that I look like I`m wearing goggles...He walks past me through the room and pretends he`s doing the breast stroke....Here`s a pic of me in my goggles; I don`t think I look so bad! LOL!!!



I was hunting for my cat in the forest the other day and I must have bumped into some Poison Ivy on my travels because I`ve got a nice itchy rash on my leg! I`ve had it once before and forgot the agony it is! It should be called Poison Itchy!!! I was checking online for some home remedies for it and was amazed with the strange things people recommend! I`m putting hydrogen peroxide on it and then using a baking soda paste instead of calamine lotion but online people suggest salt, aloe, banana skins, oatmeal, Clorox bleach, Lysol, Windex...the list goes on and on and gets more ridiculous as it goes! Wish me luck! Any suggestions!!! LOL!!!

Isn't She Beautiful?!

Right now I am procrastinating before I go and work out...not in the mood today...maybe I will be in an hour though. I really have no excuses for not working out: we have a gym in our basement because my hubby is a fanatic about exercise! He just went down to work out and my response was "I'll be down in a minute." :D It might be a bit longer than a minute...

Well, I'm still trucking along with page 2 of Lissandrea. I think she is lovely! I've never done a pattern like this before. It's a Mystic Stitch design and the pattern definitely took some getting used to. Also, I've never done one of this magnitude that was completely stitched. I'm thoroughly impressed with the result though! However, you should see the back of my work!!! Yowza!!! It's dreadful! I usually pride myself on how neat the back of my work is but not this time! EEK! Seriously, it's an abomination! Luckily, no one will ever see the back so it doesn't matter! YEAH! Except the framer...:o

Here she is in all her page 2 splendour!!! (Please excuse my dreadful photography)

Gone But Not Forgotten

I have been one BUSY lady lately!

I have decided that we have too many birds and our present set-up is not working. So...instead of complaining, I have decided to do something about it! I realize that right now our cage is too small for the amount of birds that we have, even though it is the largest cage that we could find. Here's a picture of all our little ones in their little cage:



Everyday we put the cats in the bedroom for an hour or so for their afternoon nap and we let out the birds for a fly around the house. They are very good birds and we have devised a system of putting sheets over plants and other perching places when we want them to go back into the cage. But it is seriously getting ridiculous! Sometimes we spend a good half hour trying to lure them back in and running around like idiots! And worst of all: the other day the cat got out of the bedroom by accident and he ended up with a bird in his mouth! We pried the little one out and he seemed to be unharmed but the poor little guy ended up dying a few hours later anyway. (We nicknamed him Kibbles...please excuse our dark humour!) That was the final straw! So....drum roll please...I'm going to build an aviary!!!!!! I have never built anything other than IKEA furniture and I think that a two-year old could do that...needless to say, I am generally not too adept at woodwork. My endeavour should be interesting and I will definitely keep you posted on my small disasters along the way! :D Here is a picture of the future home of the aviary. I'm basically going to put a front on the window seat that is hidden under all that junk.



My aviary will be lovely! I've already done all the blue prints and have begun scouting out supplies at Home Depot! However, there is a little hang-up...I haven't painted that room yet and the paint fumes will kill the birds if I do it after the birds are in their new home. So....I began to paint! And this is a picture of my life this week:



My hubby likes the California look of white walls and lots of plants. I'm totally cool with that because I don't have to mess about with wall colors. I am fully aware that interior design is not my forte... but I'm doing well with my attempts. All of our furniture is cherry wood and it looks gorgeous against the white walls. The room I am painting is the only room that we still need to replace the furniture. It still has my old white furniture from university days. Here's a pic of the one half of the room that is complete...sort of...the computer desk won't be there for long, just while I'm painting the other wall. Once the desk moves I will put in my big comfy leather reading chair! SOOOOOO excited to get that back! Anyway...the picture...my two first loves: books and shoes!!!



So that is my life lately...Oh, and my one cat got taken into the pound this week again by a thoughtful neighbour and I think he got a cold while he was there. Here is my little snuffly kitten Apollo:



And so that my other little kitten doesn't feel left out, here is Jericho (the bird killer):



Well, this has been one long post about everything and nothing all at the same time! But I have saved the best for last: STITCHING!!!! Yes, I have actually gotten a lot of stitching done in the last little while. I started my Lissandrea project! She is beautiful! I'm already on page 2!!! Here's my progress:




Did you notice that it is on a scroll frame? Yep, I bought myself a new gadget! I can't believe that I ever lived bereft of one of these before! I LOVE it! Here's a picture of the full thing, just because I am so proud!



Well, that's all for today. I've started jogging to help my wibbly bits get firmer and my knees are killing me! I need some ice and to curl up with my book. I'm reading Michael Cox's "The Meaning of Night" and I highly recommend it. All you Canadians might recognize it because it was a Heather's Pick at Chapters a while back.



Ok, I'm seriously going now! Tomorrow I promise to write a very special post because a very kind stitching/blog friend has nominated my blog for an award!!! More on that shortly as my knees feel like they are going to blow up!

She's Alive!!!!

I have made great progress on my Elegance of the Orient piece!!! She has a head and a hand now! LOL! The head and hair took ages to complete! There is SO much detail in her hair. I had to make a slight alteration to the pattern. The blue lazy daisies were meant to be double lazy daisies but every time I tried to make them work they looked ridiculous. I made three attempts and unpicked each of them. The double lazy daisies would either look like fat lines (I was also using three strands of floss) or they would untwist themselves in the hole?! In the end I decided on single lazy daisies and I think they look lovely too! Here's a picture of my progress:



Also, I organized all of the floss for my Lissandrea project. I was terrified that the little sleeves on the skeins would fall off before I got to the project and then I would not know what color they were. So I made my own little do-dads to put them on and away I went! I reached a small snag though. My fabric is too small! I bought 15x18 22 ct. fabric. The pattern, according to every fabric calculator I can find, is meant to be 12x16 on that fabric ... but it's NOT. I knew it would be a little tight only having an inch on either side but I thought it could still work. However, after counting it out (a few times) the pattern is actually 12x17 on that fabric and so it is just not going to work! I can't have a 1/2 inch at the top and bottom!!! So today's task is to go and get the right fabric so I can start her! Also, I think I am going to go from 22 ct. to 18 ct. I tried out my first 10x10 block of the pattern to see what it would look like and my crosses look too mashed together and uneven because I'm using two strands and the weave is too tight. I think I will prefer it on 18 ct. This one is a learning curve for me! LOL!

At Veronica's Stitching Vault she does a "floss toss" where she lays all the colors on the fabric to see how it all works together. I had never heard of this before and think it's marvelous! I attempted to do my own floss toss but there were too many skeins to fit and so I did it on my carpet instead! :) This is every color (except one) that I will need for my project. I only bought one skein of each even though the pattern calls for more in some cases but I'll get those as they become necessary. Can you tell why the woman behind me at the store had a conniption fit waiting for all those to be individually rung through!!!



Finally I shall leave you with some pictures from my garden:



This is a lily my Mom got for me and it has just bloomed for the first time!



This is a hydrangea that was a gift from my neighbours when I opened my store. I put it into the ground last year looking very dead and crossed my fingers that it would come back. It's very happy this year and growing like a weed! When it was given to me it was blue and now it's pink...that's an interesting trick! I understand it has something to do with the acidity in the soil. I hope it stays pink because when it was blue it didn't really work in my garden but now it does perfectly!



And last but not least, is this little one. I think it is lovely but have NO idea what it is! My Mom got it for me and I am very grateful but seriously...what is it? If anyone knows please send me a note.

I can't believe the amount of people who commented on my last post! You all are lovely and your own blogs are all filled with such beautiful work! Thanks for making me smile with all of your kind words!

Temptation

The other day I accidentally found myself in my local craft store and then I accidentally found myself purchasing all the necessary items for my Lissandrea project....ooops!!! I am so excited about this pattern and I can't get it out of my head. I've already decided that I would finish Oriental Fan and then complete The Elegance of the Orient before moving on to Lissandrea but the temptation is intense! That pattern is positively screaming to me and now that I have all the necessary materials to complete it I'm having issues with self restraint! I must be strong!

As an aside, I'm not sure if I felt worse for the cashier or the grumpy person behind me in line when I was having my items rung through. The poor cashier had to individually scan all five million skeins of floss while the woman behind me tapped her toe, huffed a lot, and looked at her watch every other second! I thought crafty people were more patient?!

Rainy Day Musings and Fights with the Cat

It's a rainy day here and I LOVE IT!!! I think the universe sends you dreadful weather to force you to have a lazy day! I walked over to the grocery store to grab some bits for dinner. I had to walk because I lent my car to my Dad. His is on the way out of this world and I work from home and don't really need mine. So, he's borrowing it indefinitely. I'm actually really enjoying walking everywhere!

When I came back I realized that I had forgotten to put my cross stitch away. My cat was asleep on it!!! He woke up and continued to clean the dirt off his paws! I've been spot cleaning paw marks out of it for the last hour. It's my own fault for leaving it on the couch! Lesson learned though!!!

I realized that I never posted pictures of what my projects will eventually look like. You can basically tell what Oriental Fan will look like but here is what Elegance of the Orient will look like when completed:



I also mentioned a few posts ago about the pattern that I got in the mail. It is a Mystic Stitch design and she is called Lissandrea:



I think she is absolutely stunning! I have NO idea where I'm going to put her when she's done because she really doesn't fit in with the rest of the house but I'll deal with that one later!

Dimensions Came Through!!!

I am so thrilled! This week Dimensions sent me a replacement copy of the Elegance of the Orient pattern that was thrown out while I was in hospital. I am so excited to start working on this project again. But that's not all my good news! I also received a new pattern for a project called Lissandrea. I have been ogling over this piece for ages and now that I have it I can't wait to get started on it.

Now, this is where I have to exercise a bit of self restraint. In the past, I have tried to work on more than one project at a time. This doesn't work very well for me. I find I start confusing symbols in my head and stitching with the wrong colors! (Very frustrating!) Either that or I am simple spreading myself too thin and I don't see much improvement on any of my projects and then I get discouraged.

So, for the time being I will just have to be a good girl and do one thing at a time. I will finish my Oriental Fan, then move on to Elegance of the Orient, and then do Lissandrea. This way I can get very excited about the next project that is coming up and that excitement will be the inertia I need to work hard on the project at hand! I hope...