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Saturday 17 January 2009

Saturday update on life

I seem to have been falling behind with stitching a little this week, on Thursday i had to come home from work mid morning, i was feeling so sick with a pounding head no amount of cocodamol would take away, i went straight off to bed where i stayed till 7pm, didn't feel much better on Friday morning so called in sick and had a lazy day at home. Don't know where i picked the bug up from, but happily today i feel much better. The other thing that has been keeping me occupied is reading, but more about that later. This is my progress on my Lizzie Kate double flip it.
I'm enjoying working on this although it does seem to have been a long WIP. I've only got 2 more 'words' to stitch and the boarder and i will be offering the whole series of charts (minus charms of course) as a swap with anyone who has the whole series of any other LK double flip its, so if you would like to do this keep watching for the finish :-)
The other thing I'm working on at the moment is my monthly ornament SAL, i decided to stitch a Rainbow Gallery 'freebie'. I had thought initially that i would make this into a small pillow, but the finished piece is going to be too small for that i think, so looks like is will be a door hanging.
The reading I've been doing is Bill Bryson's Neither Here Nor There, (travels in Europe) I've been carrying this book around with me everywhere the last week, it's come to work with me to read in between phone calls (which have been a bit thin on the ground soon after the Christmas break). I get some strange looks from the lads when they come through reception and they find me tittering away to myself, they think I've finally lost the plot! . For those who have never read Bill Bryson be warned that you should never read his books in public for fear of laughing out load and being cast as a loony! Neither Here Nor There finds him traveling countries in Europe, it was one of his earlier books and i am finding it fascinating visiting different countries with him, one of them Yugoslavia, which of course is no longer and using their different currencies before the horrible Euro come to be, half the fun of going on holiday before the Euro was the fun of having foreign money, now all we get is the same 'chocolate' coins all across Europe. Anyway, i discovered one of his books one day whilst cleaning out a long forgotten cupboard, the book was called Down Under, his account of travelling around Australia, i was hooked! his wit, observations and description of his travels had me engrossed and wanting more! I think I've learned more about geography by reading BB books than i ever did at school!
DH works away during the week and came back one weekend with Made In America, i was thrilled to find when i opened it that it was a 1st edition and signed, how lucky was that! I have since been collecting BB books and have been looking for 1st edition prints. I've managed to find one more 1st edition that is signed , a couple of weeks ago i came across Notes From A Small Island on a book site on the Internet and treated myself to it. I have yet to read this one, but I'm sure its as good as the other reads. I am happy that i have two 1st editions that are signed, my others are 1st editions except for The Lost Continent which i was duped when buying, it is a book club edition which the seller failed to point out, i was very disappointed as this book was his first and is defiantly out of print, i have found a 1st edition of this book but i shall have to save for it as i cannot justify the £85 price tag at the moment!
I'll leave you now because I'm starting to sound like Bill Brysons agent, lol. Time to get some stitching done, might manage a couple of hours before tea time.
Thanks for stopping by...Tara-a-bit xx

8 comments:

Nancy said...

Hi Maggie! Thanks for sharing your WIPs. I look forward to seeing what will go with the word January.

Hope you are feeling better! Have a nice weekend.

Jan said...

I love Bill Bryson too - one of the few authors whose books I will read 'over again'
Know what you mean about laughing in public as I tend to read on the bus too and from work

Siobhán said...

Lovely wips, Maggie! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Bill Bryson. The book about Europe was my first time reading his work and I've loved it since. He's published in National Geographic sometimes, too.

Mylene said...

Hope you feel much better now.

Your WIP'S are looking wonderful. The author's name sounds familiar but not about travels, i have to look it upstairs which book it was.

Denise said...

Thanks for the Bill Bryson review. I'm always looking for good authors that are consistent from book to book. Do you find (like me) that you have so many interests (including blogging) that it gets in the way of stitching????

Meari said...

I have the LK series in my stash-to-do pile! Your WIPs look good :)

Roberta said...

Hi Maggie, I like what you are stitching on - it looks good.

I am unfamiliar with Bill Bryson, but will look for his books in the library.

Have a great weekend.

Roberta

MysteryKnitter said...

BB is unfamiliar to me. I am sure your stitching bug will come home soon.