Out of the Funk… I am not sure what is up this …

Out of the Funk…

I am not sure what is up this week, but I have been in a bit of an all around funk. I haven’t done much on anything beyond the necessary. Oh well. I am feeling better today so I am going to get on the stationary bike while I watch Joey on the TV in the basement and then pull out CW while I watch Survivor and CSI on the Tivo. Allen got home early, so we get to watch them together this week Yeah!! Hopefully I will get some good stitching done tonight.

Booking Through Thursday

Nearby

I’m posting this a little early as I know right now I’m not going to be able to do it on Thursday. I’m borrowing the inspiration for this from something I saw in a blog about five or six months ago. So, here goes.

Pick up the book that is closest to where you’re sitting right now.

1. What are the book’s title and author? A biography of Henrietta Maria (wife of Charles I) by Allison Plowden
2. Turn to page 127. Locate the third paragraph, first sentence. Type that sentence here: Panzani presented his letters of credence and proceeded to assure her majesty of the ‘extrodinary respect’ which both the Pope and Cardinal Barberini felt for her, and their appreciation of the fact that so much ease had been procured for the English Catholics by her influence (Wow that is a long sentance)
3. Does the sentence make sense out of context? It would make more sense if you had more background on the people mentioned in the sentance.
4. Seeing it sitting here by itself, out of the book, is it funny? Sad? Strange? Does it make you want to explore its source? It reminds me how much I enjoy reading history and about other times and culture. I have always enjoyed learning about what was behind decisions, events etc.
5. Are you currently reading this book? Why? Not currently reading this book. I just got it for my birthday from my sister. It is one of the next on my list to read though….which is why it was so close to my stitching/computering spot:)

Is the weekend over already?!?! Didn’t get much s…

Is the weekend over already?!?!

Didn’t get much stitching done this weekend, but did do some other fun stuff. Friday night, Allen and I got to hang out for the first time all week. We watched CSI and some other miscellaneous TV before going to bed. Saturday, after a trip to the eye doctor, we spent the day goofing off. Allen played a few new video games while I played with a computer program that hopefully will help me keep track of my charts and materials with out having to rummage through stuff all the time. I hope this will help me keep things cleaner and more organized. After that we drove up to Maryland to have dinner at the Melting Pot with my parents for my mom’s birthday (Happy Belated Birthday mom!!:)) It was very yummy with lots of good company.

Today, we slept in and then watched Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy while eating a yummy breakfast. It was pretty funny. I guess I should go back and reread the book. I read it once a few years ago. Allen has read all the books multiple times. After some obligatory cleaning, grocery shopping and cooking, we sat down to watch National Treasure. Considering what I was expecting, it wasn’t too bad. Now we have two to send back to Netflix. I’ll have to see what is next on our rental list.

Well, off to wrangle Allen away from the PS2 and put sheets on the bed before sleepytime.

Here is CW at thirteen hours. I love the colors i…

Here is CW at thirteen hours. I love the colors in this pattern. The slate blues are wonderful. I stitched for an hour tonight while I watched Survivor. Cross stitch and mindless television go wonderful together. i got a fair bit more gold and part of the border done today. I can’t wait to see what the next few hours of stitching on CW will bring. Now I have to wait for Allen to get home so we can watch CSI together. I am very impatient and want to watch it NOW!!!

I am also excited because my first FOTM from silkweaver was shipped today. I signed up for two pieces of standard colors of fabric, but after seeing the Solo Carol got recently, I may have to do one of their hand-dyed options as well. Up until recently, I have not been adventerous enough to stitch on much beyond neutral tone fabric. As I see more and more people using unique fabrics, I am beginning to feel more comfortable with how well it can turn out. Hopefully I will get something that will look good with one of my future projects.

Blogging Through Thursday-Abridged and edited

Another fun suggestion from Nicki. Lady, you are the bomb! If anyone has suggestions for the future, please let me know.

1. Are abridged books a good thing or just plain awful? I am not particularly fond of abriged versions of the book. I think you end up missing a lot.
2. How about books that are edited to modernize them? I think that it is okay for later authors to write their own modernized versions of the same story, but I am not sure about editing the original text to modernize it. I think that is what movies are for.
3. Is dated language part of the charm of a book or an irritation? Althoug it can take longer to read, I do enjoy reading books in their original language. I read the original version of Canterbury Tales which was a lot of fun.
4. Have you ever read an abridged or edited version of a book? I don’t think so.

11:20PM Here is my progress on WF after 30 hours….

11:20PM
Here is my progress on WF after 30 hours…Yeah, she is coming along nicely!!

6:40 PM
Well, I haven’t had much time for stitching this weekend. I was super busy. Allen’s brother and his girlfriend came up to visit. It was nice to see them and it was their first time seeing the new house. Saturday I went bridesmaid dress shopping with several other bridesmaids for my sisters wedding. We were finally able to find a really beautiful dress that will look good on all seven of us. now I just need to work on losing some weight before may.

After dress shopping, I met Allen and the gang at the Maryland Renn Fest. It was a lot of fun. Good jousting and great shows. We may have to go back in October so that we can see Puke and Snot…that is Allen’s favorite show. Yesterday, we had chili at Hard Times Cafe and spent the afternoon playing pool. Last night I finally got some good stitching done while we watched the Transporter. Hopefully I will have a new progress pic for WF up tomorrow night

Survivor is Back!!! Yeah prime time TV is startin…

Survivor is Back!!!

Yeah prime time TV is starting again. I like having somethning on while I stitch and there was just nothing on this summer that was really interesting. I am looking forward to a new season of my favorite shows. The first episode of Survivor tonight was interesting, but I won’t spoil it in case anyone reading plans to watch it later.

Stitching is progressing swimmingly. I had a chance to work another two hours on WF (I got more done on the pink sash) after doing some cleaning. My brother-in-law and his fiance are coming to visit this weekend and I had to clean up my craft room/guest room./”Zoe’s room”. We plan on putting new carpet in “Cooper’s room” and that will then become the guest room. I still think that it is funny that now that we have a four bedroom home, Cooper and Zoe have each staked out their own bedrooms. The two front bedrooms both have window seats and when it is morning nap time, Cooper is in the corner room. This evening, Zoe did tempt fate by curling up in Cooper’s spot on the love seat. Cooper spent a few minutes comtemplating just sitting on her, but settled for the other end. The look on Zoe’s face as he crawled over her was priceless.

Now to end tonights post…

Booking Through Thursday

A couple questions from Kim and Nicki…

1. What are your five favorite books of all time? Why did they make the list?holy cow that’s a hard question! My favorite books would probably be at this particular moment: Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters, The Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchmann, The Last Temptation of Christ by N. Kazantzakis, biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Allison Weir, Act of Mercy by Peter Tremayne, Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling. If you ask me this question tomorrow, you would probably get a completely different answer on the las three books. The first two are books that are very special to me.
2. What’s the earliest book you can remember? Do your family read? Who encouraged you to read? I think the earliest book I remember is The Hungry Catepillar. I loved that book as a child. My mom and I are both avid readers. My dad and sister don’t read quite as much. Mom and I are always reading several books at a time. Speaking of which, she is waiting for me to finish the Susanna Gregory book that I “borrowed” from her at the beach. She is definitely the one I inherited my love of reading from. We read a lot of the same stuff and every couple of months we make a list of new releases we want to share between the two of us.
3. Reference books—do you have any? Why do you have the ones you do? Do you use them? We currently have the Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus and several computer reference books on the shelf. I personally do not use them as I am not a true computer nerd yet, and I don’t believe in spelling. Just ask my mom the teacher:)

Update: I just won an ebay auction for Scent of O…

Update: I just won an ebay auction for Scent of Old Roses by Mirabilia. Bad Leslie:)

I continued to work on WF tonight. I am really enjoying stitching it. I worked more on her dress and added some branches and leaves on the right side. I also decided to transfer the piece to a Q-snap frame. I have never used one before and as I am doing bigger and bigger pieces that don’t fit on the scroll frames that I have, I have wanted to explore other options. I bought an 11×17 q-snap today and as I stitch I will be able to see almost the entire image as I stitch without doing much moving around. The finished size is a little wider than the frame. It feels a bit long to stitch using the stand that I have, but I know from experience that it is too uncomfortable for me to stitch without a stand (doing tons of typing at work, my wrists get sore holding the frame in my left hand). Despite the minor issue with the length, I think I may like the q-snap better than a scroll frame even after only and hour stitching. I wish I had found it earlier, but the local Michael’s has never carried them and AC Moore only just opened. We shall see how this experiment pans out.

The reason for the q-snap purchase is that I just signed up for Chatelaines Mystery IX that starts in January. I am really excited about this project. I have done many large and intricate projects with varied stitching techniques, fibers and beading, but I have never stitched with silk threads before. Depending on how bills play out in the next week, I may go ahead and order the kit now to familiarize myself with the materials. Does anyone have any suggestions on how you kit your silk or other specialty fibers for projects? Do you use bobbins or just leave it how you purchase it? I use stitchbows for DMC, but am not sure if that will work with other fibers?

Well back to a little more stitching before bed!!:)

Monday Madness Good Monday morning… This week…

Monday Madness

Good Monday morning… This week I thought we’d answer some true or false. Feel free to elaborate on your answers. Thanks for playing.

1. I’m at my best in the early morning. HECK NO!!! I have to force myself out of bed every morning. It is way too comfortable.
2. I start each day with a healthy breakfast. Yup. A bowl of healthy cereal and a glass of OJ. Coffee at breakfast is reserved for the weekend as it tends to make me a bit gittery on weekdays. Might have a cappacino later in the day though.
3. I’m always sure to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. I try, but it doesn’t always work out that way:)
4. I enjoy my job. I really do enjoy my job. Contested IEPs with lawyers and educational advocates are no fun, but I generally like working with the students (even the ones who act out) and I have some great co-workers both in the main office and at the high school I serve.
5. I get along with most everyone. I like to think so. I am pretty even tempered and try to find something I appreciate in most people. Even if I don’t particularly care for a person, I was raised to be respectful of everyone (thanks mom) and I think that helps make work easier for me.
6. I’m looking forward to the new season of tv shows this year. BUT OF COURSE!!!!! I love watching baseball, but I am ready for some good primetime TV. Let’s see what is on tap for this year…Survivor, CSI, CSI: Miami, Law and Order:SVU, NCIS, Joey. I will probably also preview Bones and Criminal Minds. If I can watch any of last seasons episodes of Lost, I may check that out. Several co-workers thought I was crazy for not watching it.
7. I make sure I take some time for myself every day. That is what my cross stitch is for!!

Speaking of cross stitch…
Here are some pics of my two latest finishes. Maui Sunset just came back from the framer and Allen and I framed Kitty Litter ourselves last night. I think they both turned out well.

Another relaxing weekend just about over. We final…

Another relaxing weekend just about over. We finally put together the exercise bike and did a ton of laundry this afternoon. Other than that, Allen and I just hung out and enjoyed each other’s company. I did get some good stitching done on the map. I completed about a six inch section of the border in the top right corner. I think I will finish the remaining back stitch in the border I have completed and then it is time to move on to Woodland Fairy again. I am also trying to pick a small project to work on. Maybe I will pull together a few options and put a poll up in the next few days. That would be fun.

Here is a pic of my progress on the map. Keep in mind I am stitching it sideways. The scroll rods I have were only long enough to hold the fabric if i stitched the project sideways. I may have to invest in some really long scroll rods at some point.

Dream library Kerry wants to know what your dre…

Dream library

Kerry wants to know what your dream library is like. I think I’ll expand on that a bit…

1. What kind of room is your dream library in (one wall of your living room, dedicated room, corner of the kitchen, etc.)? My dream library would be a dedicated library, particularly since between Allen and I have enough books for a separate room. Many of the books I have were difficult to locate and I don’t have the heart to get rid of them after working hard to find them. Right now the plan is that we will put up bookshelves in the sitting area of the master bedroom (of course that is all hinged on that room ever getting painted:) )
2. What genre are most of your books? Most of my books are either historical mysteries or history books. There are also a lot of books focused on computers and counseling.
3. Are the books all hard cover, paperback, leather, or mixed medium? The books are a grand variety of all forms of binding.

AAAHHHH, I love books!!! The ultimate question is which do I enjoy more, books or cross stitch?!?!? I don’t know if I can answer that question.

Labor Day weekend is almost over:( Allen and I di…

Labor Day weekend is almost over:( Allen and I did have fun though. We grilled chicken kabobs last night and went to Macaroni Grill Saturday night. Food was excellent both nights. We also bought a recumbent bike. We debated between that and a treadmill. The significant price differance and Allen’s impending surgery helped make the answer. The bike will be less impact than a treadmill. Hopefully later tonight we will put the bike together (probably after we finish The Good, the Bad and the Ugly).

I also got a whole lot of stitching done this weekend. I worked for then hours on CW and it is looking fantastic. I almost completely finished the train of her dress. There is only one color missing from that area. Now it is time to move on to Olde World Map. Hopefully I can get in at least and hour of stitching on it tonight.