Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Come walk with me and finishing a couple of ornaments
Wednesday, 8 March 2023
So far this week
Thursday, 2 March 2023
School was never this much fun
Today is World Book Day so school uniform is abandoned and all the children get to dress up as a character from a book. I thought I'd share the photos that were sent to me this morning of the kids and their chosen costumes.
Jacob loves tigers so he chose The Tiger Who Came To Tea
I had to chuckle, doesn't he look the part
Sunday, 26 February 2023
Stick6in23 - Spring stitching finish
Tuesday, 14 February 2023
Plodding along, but making progress
Monday, 6 February 2023
Sew organized
I'm still going to my sewing class each Friday. Holly holds classes on various days/evenings through the week, I think the maximum number of people she can accommodate in each class is ten, the Friday morning one I attend is only small, usually just the six of us, It's just about right. We have got to know each other and there is no waiting to use the cutting table, irons or overlocker. Everyone works on their own chosen pattern and at their own pace, a few of the ladies have been going longer than me but, like me they had limited dressmaking know-how to begin with and with Holly's help and encouragement are now making beautiful clothes. Holly is lovely and is always on hand to assist in anyway needed, she has been sewing for years so has extensive knowledge.
I'm very slow, but I'm told that's good, taking your time and getting it right is the best way. I'm not always patient when learning new things but I'm learning not rush the process, afterall, I want something that's wearable.
This is my second me-made dress, Hinterland Dress by Sew Liberated. I've seen it made by several people I follow on Youtube and it seems a versatile pattern. The fabric I chose was a cotton by Rose & Hubble
Monday, 30 January 2023
Making sense of all the brown threads
Monday, 23 January 2023
First finish of 2023
I want to try and use up some odd balls of acrylic yarn that I have, In most cases I have just one or two balls of a colour, not enough to make a garment, even a small one so I will make a few small blankets to use them up. This one is a small pram/pushchair size, I had one ball of the blue so worked until that had gone. It's for no one in particular, I might donate it or ask one of the girls if they know anyone who could use it.
Saturday was such a horrible day, it barely got light all day, the weather grey and foggy, not a day for going out but I wanted to do something, so we opted for an afternoon trip to the cinema. We went to see A Man Called Otto, based on the book A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. I had read the book in 2018 and loved it, we have also watched the Swedish film. This new version, which is set in America rather than Sweden and has Tom Hanks as the cantankerous Otto is good, we both really enjoyed it, It is somewhat different to the Swedish film, but I think that's probably to make it appeal to a wider audience, but well worth it. If you haven't read A Man Called Ove I can highly recommend it, I'd put it in my top 10 books.
Have a lovely week
-X-
Monday, 16 January 2023
Monday Stitching update
Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Granola - how I make it
Sunday, 8 January 2023
Book topic
I joined a book lovers group on fb a few months ago, mainly to get book recommendations but also to connect with people who also share a love of reading and books in general. However, I've had a change of heart about the group. Since the New Year some people have been posting their Goodreads 2022 reading challenge results on there, along with what they have set their reading challenge to be for 2023. I was shocked at all the nasty comments from people, most saying that reading was not a competition and that people were showing off saying how many books they had read and they couldn't understand why anyone would want to keep a record/track of what they read, I even read one comment that said they thought it was inappropriate to put what you're reading challenge was for the coming year as it might offend those that did not read that many books....What! Some of the things being said were just ridiculous. I set a challenge for myself every year, It's a personal challenge, It never crossed my mind that someone would think it was showing off. I also like to keep lists so keeping a list of books I've read is just another list to me. I just couldn't understand the objections.
Audio books was another topic that got a lot of negative comments, with many people saying that if you listened to audio books it didn't count as reading, neither should it be counted in the number of books you've read!
I'm just giving you the gist of what was said, some comments where quite nasty and I gave up reading any comments on posts that were about reading challenges, I've since left the group, I can do without those sort of negative feelings. I think there is a lot of snobbery associated with books, but does it really matter what anyone else reads? We are all different and like different things, not everyone will enjoy the same books and people will take different things from the same book, and that's ok.
All that made me wonder if I should do an end of year book post, but then I thought, why shouldn't I? I like seeing what other people have been reading, there may be something hasn't been on my radar, plus this blog is about my life and hobbies, reading and books are a big part of my life, so, here are my end of year reading stats.
My views on audio books are the complete opposite to that person on the fb group. Studies have been carried out and the findings were that there is no significant difference in comprehension between reading and listening. I can visualize the scene whether I'm reading a physical book or listening to an audio book, for me there is no difference, infact, in some cases an audio book may be better than the physical equivalent as a good narrator will bring interest, enthusiasm and atmosphere to the story.
It took me a long time to get into audio books but for the last couple of years I almost always have one on the go alongside a physical book. I listen while I'm walking, doing chores or while I'm crafting, I spend a lot of time on my own so they fill the silence at times. Granted some are better than others, the narration has to be good otherwise it will spoil a good book.
My total for audio books in 2022 was 24
The best by far was Lesson in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Wonderful writing, sad and funny and great narration
The best series was the Middle Fall Time Travel series by Shaun Inmon. There are 17 books in this series and I've finished 8 so far. They are good escapism.
I think The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was the most overrated, I was expecting good things and it didn't deliver
I've been making more use of my local library recently too and read 13 library books in 2022.
The best of these are the Detective Washington Poe series by M.W Craven, extremely well researched and written. (If you read any of his books make sure to read the about the book section at the end)