Pincushions

Hey everyone! I hope you're all having a good week so far :-)

Well, I have a bit of a problem. Not so much a problem as a general situation I guess. I have a tendancy to put needles in my mouth when I need both hands to do something. This irritates the people around me so much that I'm constantly being nagged at by whoever's around. And then there's the other issue of trying to talk while said needle is in my mouth. It falls of course, never to be found again. So, after losing so many needles that I had to resort to borrowing them from the museum gift shop office, I've decided that I need a puncushion. I think I'd like to make one though- it seems fitting.

I remember reading on a cross stitch blog that someone had made some. Stitched the top and maybe attached it to a mason jar lid? Does anyone remember reading that, or writing about it? If so, please point me in the right direction! And if anyone out there has any idea of where to find some instructions or patterns for them, I'd love to hear from you!

Now, onto the good stuff. I made a little bit of progress on Earl Grey this week. Here's an updated pic:

Sorry it's so dark...I should really work on taking pictures during the day rather than at night! So, as you can see, just a small amount of progress has been made this week. There is a leaf on the left-hand side that is in the process of being ripped out because apparently I can't count. Again. Haha...this is a theme!

I'm thinking about starting one of my Lizzie Kate teacup patterns this weekend...I bought them back in March or April and I can hear them calling to me. Yes, my patterns DO talk to me :-)

Water For Elephants

Have any of you guys read this book? I just finished it today and was pretty blown away by it! My friend Erin gave it to me just about a year ago now and it sat in my pile of "to read" books until last week. I just kept rotating it to the bottom of the pile, for no apparent reason except for the fact that it didn't seem to grab my attention. Lots of people reccommended it but after reading the back, I just didn't think I'd be into it.

A couple weeks ago I heard that Robert Pattinson was going to be playing the main character in the film adaptation of this book, and....what with my Twilight obsession and all, I was very excited. I have this need to always read a book before I watch the movie so I dug it out of the pile and started reading it. I figured I'd just read a couple of pages every night until I finished...but I ended up devouring it in a few days.

The writing is impeccible. A critic wrote that the writing style and storyline are reminiscent of Robertson Davies, and one of my favourite books happens to be his Fifth Buisness, and this critic was so right....they were so similar! The storyline pulled me in and I was so into the characters that I couldn't put it down. I was also fascinated by the history it gives of what it was like to work on a circus and live that sort-of exotic lifestyle.

Anyways, I just thought I'd share...I highly reccommend this for anyone who isn't sure what to read next!

Earl Grey Update and Erin's Secret Project!

Hey everyone!



So old Earl is just about finished, finally! I was afraid for a little while that the Cross-Stitched Donkey's Aid Society was going to come take him away from me for neglect, but thankfully they didn't, and he's looking okay. He still needs some hooves and eyes, and the flower needs stems, but for the most part, he's done! Oh, and there's the issue of the the minor surgery I need to perform because of that third ear he seems to have. I guess I got chatting and wasn't paying enough attention to what I was doing. Poor Earl.

As for Erin's secret project, it's no longer a secret. She's seen it, but it still isn't quite finished. This past winter she was obsessed with the olympics, big time, and was annoyed because she was looking everywhere for olympic clothes and everyone was sold out. So I stitched her a little olympic pattern and am going to make it into a little pillow. I don't know how to do that yet, which is why it's still not finished. I'll soon try to figure that out so that the next time I see her she can finally keep it. I'm really happy with how this turned out. It originally was set inside the outline of a donkey, but I took it out and rearranged it a little differently. Caitlyn is working on her own now...it's the perfect size of a project for a 10 year old, and she's keeping her's inside the donkey!

Well, that's all for now....have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Fall!!

....almost!!

Well, summer's slowly coming to an end, and I thought I'd take this cold, rainy September day as my chance to re-enter the blog world! And I'm happy to be back! The summer just got so busy that I couldn't read blogs or post on mine.....so I'm definately excited to catch up on what you're all working on!

Hmmm...where to start? How about a short review of my summer! Well...there were a couple cottage weekends, a couple races, my Dad developed some pretty serious health problems, there were a couple of deaths, I bought a new car, I spent a couple long-weekends with my Grandpa, worked a LOT, and ended the summer with an 11 day trip to the East Coast with my best friend Erin! Here's a pictoral review to supplement my very short written review hahaha.....



My parents at a memorial for a friend

Peggy's Cove



Me and Erin at the Hopewell Rocks, Bay of Fundy

We ran into Stephen Harper in Lunenburg

And we met Anne of Green Gables in Charlottetown

Me finishing the Heydenshore 10k

We camped right on the ocean a few times

We obsessively and admiringly spent a day at Green Gables in Cavendish

And a day at this deserted cove in North Rustico, PEI

My Mom grew a giant Castor Bean...

My group before the Kawartha Lakes 5k

We sat in the rain for 2 hours to be this close to George Canyon...and it was worth it!

And that's it! For now anyways :-) Stay tuned....tomorrow I'll post CRAFTY pics! Yeah!!! Earl Grey travelled all the way to the East Coast and back with me, and now he's almost finished! I won't lie...he never left the car, but he's almost finished nonetheless! And he's lookin good! Thanks for sticking with me, and watch for Earl tomorrow!! :-)