Rose Sampler

About 16 years ago I purchased a pattern, fabric and thread for a cross stitch project. For all those years it has been stored away in a paper bag. (Incidentally, it was 16 years ago I gave birth to my daughter.) About a month ago I finally decided to pull it out and start stitching. 

There's 17 DMC floss colors used in the design.  I love the colors. Muted and rich shades of reds, blues, greens, yellows and browns. 

Here's the Belfast dirty linen, two colors of Wildflowers thread from The Caron Collection and the Rose Sampler pattern from Told in a Garden. Aren't those hand-dyed variegated threads great? The two with blue shades are named Charcoal. The one with the wonderfully deep tones is named Royal Jewels. 

What drew me to this design was the old fashioned look of the sampler. I also had been wanting to do a project with variegated thread. The design is 242 stitches wide by 250 stitches high, which will measure 15 1/6" wide by 15 2/3" high on the 32 count linen stitched over two threads. My eyes tell me I should have worked on this project 16 years ago. Reading glasses and my [sigh] bifocal glasses don't do the trick. I had to buy one of those magnifiers you wear around your neck. I must admit it works great!

I've been stitching as I find time. Mainly in the evening or in bed before turning out the light. However, recently I've been doing a lot of reading and I've not been getting much stitching time in. So, it's going to take me awhile to complete it. At least I'm making progress!

This is what the finished design will look like. I'm planning on framing mine when it's finished. Do you have a long neglected project you're working on or need to get started? 

The Library

When was the last time you were at your local library? If it's been awhile, then you will probably be in for a pleasant surprise.

In recent years the only time I'd been to the library was to go to the headquarters location to look at newspaper microfilm for genealogy research. A few months ago I had the occasion to go to the library to actually check out a book. I had discovered the second volume in a series of books about the history of St.Louis had been published. However, it wasn't in my budget to buy a copy. So, I decided to check the library website to see if they had it available. They not only had the book listed there, but it showed how many copies of the book they owned and whether each one was at a specific library branch or checked out. After logging into their website using my library card number I was able to request the book online and indicate which branch I wanted to pick it up at. Then I received an email notification from them when it was available for me to pick up at the branch.

When I went to the branch I found they conveniently put out on shelves by requester name items that are ready for pick up. As in the past, you can have a librarian check you out but even better are the self check out machines. To use one you log in by scanning your library card and entering your PIN. Then you simply set the items on it and it reads all of the electronic tags at one time. Very cool!

Before leaving the library that day I noticed the extensive collection of DVDs they had, including many new releases. Movies for free? That was very exciting to see and I immediately told my daughter about it when I returned home. She and I love watching movies! We headed to the library the next day and checked out the maximum seven DVDs. We have been returning every week since to take back what we have and check out different ones.

My local library system has their catalog online -- books, DVDs, audio books, etc. You can request request items to pick up at the branch of your choice. If all available copies of an item are checked out, then you can submit a request and it will be put on your hold list until a copy becomes available. They also list upcoming books and DVDs and allow you to put them on your hold list. I have really been taking advantage of this. I regularly check for new upcoming items and put in requests. Every week we go to the branch there's always new items waiting for us to pick up. It's like Christmas!

Just the other day I was on the library website and clicked on the eMedia link.  Then I went to their digital catalog called OverDrive. They have all kinds of media available electronically -- books, audio books and videos. When I can't read I love listening to audio books. Normally I download audio books from LibriVox, which has out of copyright material. The library audio book collection gives me the opportunity to listen to newer books and it's easier then the books on CD you can check out. Very exciting! I already have a bunch in my wish list and a couple downloaded to put on my iPod.

In addition to the above, my library offers classes, author events, exhibits, meetings, online databases, story times and other activities. Many things I've yet to explore. I heartily recommend you check out your local library and take full advantage of all it has to offer. I can't wait to discover new things at mine!

[ image credit: Andrew J. Walker ]

Sharon Kay Penman

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing author Sharon Kay Penman speak about her latest novel Lionheart. I first learned of her when I saw a notice for the event. Then found out she writes historically based medieval fiction -- my favorite fiction genre! I knew I had to go to the event. 

My interest in that genre is partly because of how romantic the time period is with knights and castles and partly because many of the real life characters in books written about that time are my husband's ancestors. Lucky! He has a line of royalty and nobility from one of his early American ancestors. It's so unfair.

Sharon was delightful to listen to. She read a excerpt from Lionheart and then had a Q and A session. A lot of really good questions were asked. I especially enjoyed her talking about how she went from being a tax attorney to being a writer. In a nutshell, she became interested in Richard III when she found out he wasn't as awful as he had traditionally be portrayed. She did some research and felt she had to share his story with others. Things worked out in her life that she was able to commit all of her time to writing a novel about him and moved to England to do her research. The resulting novel is The Sunne in Splendor. Since then she has published eleven additional novels.

Currently I'm reading Devil's Brood. It's third in her Henry II series, but was the only one of the series available at the time from the library. I'm not so concerned about the order I read them because I'm familiar with the subject matter and have already read similar books by Elizabeth Chadwick. I'm enjoying Sharon's book very much and am looking forward to reading others.

I am so thankful for St. Louis County Library Foundation and Left Bank Books bringing her to St. Louis!

[ image credit: St. Louis County Library ]

Open

Good Saturday morning!  It's autumn -- my favorite time of the year.  I love the cooler temperatures.  Trees changing colors.  Leaves blowing around on blustery days.  Pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn.  It's been a little cooler than I'd like it to be, as I'd love to have the windows open.  But better it's cool than hot.

Right now I have a couple cast iron pans seasoning in the oven.  One's a griddle and the other a skillet.  My mom gave them to me last year.  The skillet especially had a lot of crusty buildup on the under side and both had a little rust.  No matter how bad a cast iron pan looks, you'd be surprised how they clean up if you put them through a self cleaning cycle in the oven.  The heat of the self cleaning cycle burns the buildup off and turns it to ash.  

Today a non profit organization named Wits, Inc. is having an electronics donation drop off in a nearby city.  I have a couple boxes of stuff to take to them in a bit.  Last month I dropped off a couple boxes there, also.  It's amazing what you can accumulate during 20+ years living in the same house.  During the organizing I've been doing this year I've gathered up and sorted all of the excess electronics equipment, gadgets, cables, connectors, etc. from throughout our house.  Lots of stuff we haven't used for years and have no use for going forward.  Some things  I was able to sell and others I donated.  I still have a collection of AC adapters that I haven't been able to match up with anything yet.  However, I'm going to hang onto them for the moment in case something pops up that they belong to.  

Time for me to get back to getting stuff done around the house.  Keeping me company I have episodes from season three of Lie to Me playing on the TV from Netflix Instant.  I like Tim Roth.

I hope you all have an enjoyable Saturday!