Traveling The World

By way of blogs that is!

There really are some lovely blogs in blog land; and it amazes me how many stitching projects people manage to get finished & framed or made into the most lovely things. I have not managed to finish ONE thing yet this year, and i only have 2 on the go!, OK they are almost there but it leaves me wondering how people find the time, I'm exhausted just reading the blog posts, lol. That's another thing, most stitchers seem to have WIP's going on everywhere, how do you keep track! I have thought of doing a rotation and having a few on the go but then i just feel that I'm not achieving anything, I have come to the conclusion that i am a plodder lol, i think i work much better when i have one thing going on at a time, don't get me wrong, i have been a serial starter and must have wasted ££££'s over the years, the charts & materials were put to one side because i had seen another that i must do (sound familiar!) then i would come across them at a much later date and not feel the slightest inclination to carry on with them. Not anymore, I'm cured lol, i have the greatest admiration for you ladies out there that can keep several projects going at once and not loose interest (or the chart) but i think i will carry on with my plodding. So, as you will guess, i have no stitching to show you, (sigh), I have one more word to complete on my LK and a few more stitches to complete my monthly ornament SAL which i was hoping also to get made up before the end of the month, so perhaps next week.

On another note, we had a good weekend, OH and i decided to have a day in Bromsgrove (or rather i said i am fed up sitting in on Saturdays, we are going out for the day!) either way we found ourselves there and had a few pleasant hours browsing round the shops and came across a secondhand bookshop and guess what i found? Only the Bill Bryson book i have been looking for, The Lost Continent. It's not a first edition but a re-print of the 1989 London edition (which was when it was first printed) if that makes sense? plus it didn't have the £85 price tag! like i told OH, i saved him £80. Why's that said he? Because i would have paid that much eventually said I, he he.

I do have a book club edition of this particular book but they change with publications, so i shall keep that one too because it does have some nice photos included. I started reading Saturday night. In this book BB has been living in England for 10 years but has a yearning to return to his roots, he borrows his mothers Chevrolet and sets off on his travels through thirty eight states, keeping mainly to back roads and small towns, the book tells of his encounters along the way with the usual BB wit and observations. I had read a review a while ago that said they thought this book was just an excuse to make fun of America & Americans, i don't see it that way, (he makes fun of the UK and the English to), it's just his humour. Anyway...... OH had a couple of books too so we both came away happy. On the way back we made a detour and had a late lunch in a little country pub just to complete the day. It's not often we get to spend time together like that because he works away during the week so it made a really pleasant change. Hope you all had good weekends too.

Tara-a-bit x

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

I have no stitching to report on, i've been doing a bit of sorting out when i get home in the afternoon and before i've realsised the time it's been too late to start. At least i am getting to de-clutter! Next to sort is my stitchy mags, i have far too many, i hate to throw them away so i thought i might have a bit of a give-away on my blog, i'm not sure anyone would be interested though, what do you think?

If you have visited me here before you will have noticed that my cats feature quite a lot, they are my babies, lol, so when i came across this on someones blog i had to have a go! They got it spot on about the trusting bit! but 'sweet tempered'??? i think my DH would have a thing or two to say about that one, (he he!)

Til next time...Tara-a-bit x

You Are a Persian Cat

You are very high-maintenance, at least as far as keeping up your appearance goes. But you're surprisingly low-maintenance in every other aspect of your life. You are peaceful and sweet tempered. People enjoy your company. You are loving and a good companion, but it takes you a while to trust people.

What Breed of Cat Are You?