Give this a read through....

Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.

Instructions: Copy this into your NOTES. Bold those books you've read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or read an excerpt. Tag other book nerds. Tag me as well so I can see your responses

1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 The Tin Drum - Gunter Grass
8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch – George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34 Emma – Jane Austen
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Berniere
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52 Dune – Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal – Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession – AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Someday.....

Inspiration from My Sewing Serenity.

Someday I want to crochet a rug like this. Maybe even make a braided rag rug. Someday I also want to hook a rug.

This is a cool one for inspiration.

English Romance

English Romance by dotmatrix30 featuring beach handbags

Mojo is back..

I started this as a quilting blog but I have not been doing much quilting since I was laid off last year. You would think with all the time off I would be doing one a week or once a week but I have been focusing on finding that job.. which is a job in itself and haven't taken the time to get any of them out.
Today I wanted to sew. I am going to participate in another bazaar in the fall. Maybe this time I will get some things done and not disappoint my friend. So today I devoted to cutting the project. .
I cut out the piece of fabric I need for one project from a fat quarter. I had 19 fat quarters that I got in the clearance bin from a quilt shop on the West Side. Then I got ambitious. I decided to cut up the left overs into blocks of 4X4 and rectangles of 3X6. I even got a couple of 3X3's due to misreads of the ruler. lol I don't have a plan for them but I am going to set up containers holding them and continue to do this with leftovers.

Below are photos of the process.

The stack of fat quarters.

The cutting.

The squares and rectangles.

For my project.

I have also started a label for another quilt I did a long time ago. I like to embroider my labels. This quilt has a yellow tulip in the middle that I got as a kit at a local shop that is no longer open. I then did a piano border surrounding it with scraps that I had from the 80's and other scraps from other quilts. I then took that completed square to the Sisters Quilt Festival and found the green border. I love it and had it hanging for many years in my cube at work. I decided to call it the Golden Empress after the yellow tulip. (side note to myself... that could be a good title for something lol) I made the quilt around 2000 but I can't remember when and I am just now getting the label done. Bad quilter.

I am still continuing to work on my needlepoint pillow. Here is a shot of the yarn.

That is what I was working on today. It felt so good. I need to do it more. Happy Quilting.

Playing with pink..

My creation
Originally uploaded by Tadlafleur

I was playing in Flickr tonight. and with this heat we are having, I was inspired by all the pinks I was seeing. I am wishing there was a cool breeze blowing and I was sitting on a porch listening to the night.

Sunday musings - seven

Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

~Hans Christian Anderson



I was looking at Habit tonight and I fell in love with this photo. Between the quote and the photo is the philosophy I want to have for this summer.



I am house sitting again and I can't wait until I get my own place. Dreams abound. A step in the right direction might have been made this past week after a roller coaster of emotions. Keep your fingers, toes and eyes crossed for me.



To see more Sunday Weekly Words to live by go to Notes from a Cottage Industry!

Sunday Musings - six

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sridhar_v234/555492833/

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.
Alfred Lord Tennyson

I am still looking for a job after being laid off for the third time in a year at the end of April. Since then I have had my ups and downs. This week was for sure a roller coaster. At the beginning of the week I was so discouraged as the direction of jobs I am applying for wants 2 to 3 years experience. How do you get out of the cycle when you have the knowledge but not the experience, and how to get the the experience when the only jobs out there want the experience?

I then decided to confer with an advisor of a job group I belong to. I was looking for positive encouragement and a point in the right direction. To sum it up the advice and criticisms she gave me was just not what I had approached her for. My advisor was not wrong in what she was saying it just was not the direction i thought i needed and she told me all the things that I was doing wrong. I am sure from her point of view it was how she thought she could help me but I wasn't in the frame of mind to come away with the same thought. I just came home discouraged and put the job search on hold for the rest of the day.

I woke up on Wed with a new attitude and did some of the changes she suggested. I tried a new avenue for jobs. I found one that I would be perfect for and called the recruiter... just not applying online but cold calling, it surprised even me. The call got me into see him. He loved my resume.. We had a good repartee. Even though the job had closed and he does not specifically fill the jobs I am focusing on, he gave me some positive advice and gave me a referral. By Friday he had called me on 3 jobs and I applied for one that is somewhat what I am looking for and could give me experience and I have a two week temp job starting next week that has nothing to do with the direction I want to go in but it's more money then unemployment and I am not locked in for a long time.

One good thing i have learned in the past week, is that there are still a lot of people looking for work but instead of 500 people applying for the job like last summer, it's down to about 100 people. So that job is out there. Just need to keep looking.

So what does my quote have to do with my week? Well after sitting back and taking emotion out of the situation I learned wisdom this week and that wisdom will stay with me as I continue to look for that job.

To see more Sunday Weekly Words to live by go to Notes from a Cottage Industry!

Turn the page Tuesday.

I am a reader and some times I am reading up to 5 books at a time. I stumbled upon the blog Some of a Kind in which Adrienne lists the books she has read in the last month and other people link up via Mr. Linky. I thought for kicks and giggles I would list some of my books I have read recently. Below is the books that are currently in my "library bag" to be returned.
I am on a big Amish kick recently and this past month I read these books.

A Man of His Word and An Honest Love are about the Byler family in Middlefield, Ohio.
In A Man of His Word -Moriah's husband leaves the faith and then dies in a horrible accident. Her husband also has a twin brother that is also in love with Moriah and the story is about the fallout about her husband leaving and the developing relationship between Moriah and her brothers' twin.
In An Honest Love the series moves on to Elizabeth and her working at her brother in laws blacksmith shop and her encounters with Aaron. The book also centers around the girls brother Lucas and his burgeoning relationship with Anna who has recently opened an Amish gift shop.
I enjoyed the series, it's lighthearted and there are a lot of characters that are continuous through out the two books.
Hidden is about a Anna who is an Englisher who leaves her abusive boyfriend and flees to her good friends family's bed and breakfast in Pennsylvania. She is also a quilter. I loved reading this book.. Two of my loves are reading about people who quilt and people who own bed and breakfasts..

In the last year or so I have discovered Maryjane Butter. I now read her magazine which I love both for the visual layout of the magazine but also for the articles and the going back to nature and living the simpler life. Maryjane has also written books and Maryjane's Outpost is the 3rd of these. I love reading about the artists,crafts and ideas that she introduces the reader to. It is filled with good information and her books are laid out visually so that you find information everywhere in the pages. In this book she gives you the inspiration to set up a bathtub in the outdoors to really enjoy the experience. She also talks about camping in Streamline trailers and introduces you to people who write about it and inserts photos from the past. It's made me dream so much about collecting old quilts, blue enamel cookware, some sticks of wood and heading out to camp in a field to enjoy the stars.

When I get in the car I am also listening to the Cedar Cove series by Debbie Macomber. I started with the 16 Lighthouse road and have just recently completed 44 Cranberry Point. I love listening to books on tape. I am always looking for an excuse to drive. lol I am very lucky because my library has purchased the series that has the same reader, reading each edition so it the books just flow together. I am an avid supporter of listening to books being read out loud. They add so much more imagination for anyone who is listening.

That is just a small sample of what I am reading. Happy reading this month.
Dottie

Decorating...

I spend many of my days dreaming about decorating my space. I look through magazines, read blogs and watch HGTV.. In my travels I have changed my decor preferences but I have always been attracted to country. I think I have defined my preference as shabby chic country cottage.. Now if that is not a mix up of many genres.. But i like to be unique.. I like big squishy furniture covered in white slip coverings.. I love big white moulding. I love the look of black furniture too but I also love white. I love quilts, needlepoint, flowers, china, candlesticks. Right now where I am leaving I don't have the ability to decorate like I want using the furniture I am using. I just can't wait until I have my own space.

.

http://www.cottagehomedecorating.com/cottage-decorating.html

Magizines I love to look at are:

http://www.chichomeblog.com/2008/09/19/mantic-country-rachel-ashwell-and-shabby-chic.aspx
I love Country Living

Home Companion which is now out of print but I fell in love with it and have stacked in my room all the editions I have.



http://cozyyourhome.com/2008/10/31/master-bedroom-re-do/
That is a few of what I like. I will post more as time goes on. Have a Happy 5th of July. ( Everyone wishes you a Happy 4th.. i like to throw curve balls. lol )

Cool things...

Sometimes you find the coolest things. I found this from Alica on Posie Gets Cosy.

They are called chef's medallions and she connected to the website How do people find these cute things. I love it.

Trying to design..

http://www.dreamstime.com/purple-isolated-flower-vine-image2049581

Today I was trying my hand at design. It's a struggle. I picked up a set of white pillowcases at Goodwill one day. It's been in the back of my mind ever sense that I wanted to use some type of embroidery on it. I have seen one's designed by Jack Dempsey, Bucillia, and even Mary Englebert but wanted to try my hand at it. I have the idea of using the words 'Sweet Dreams" and then some sort of flowers somewhere. Or even not even using the words but just using flowers. While I was sitting in the car waiting for my niece to get her All Star photos, I started to design.
I had my pencil, the words printed on paper in a cool font I found, graph paper, a couple of flower ideas I found in clip art and other sources, a rough estimate of the size I have to work with and my ideas in my head. I do have a kind of signature flower that I have designed in the past few years, but I wasn't sure if this is what I wanted to use for this project. It is too modern and I want something light and free flowing. I had the idea of using a vine with different flowers and leaves coming off of it and in my search had found a circle vine that is used for quilting applique that I thought I could use for inspiration, so I started. I am not a good drawer I quickly realized but I am trying to improve. I am also struggling to get the ideas from my head to the paper. In some areas of my world I have made great strides but this was the first time I had tried drawing designs.
I first drew the vine and then tried to kind of sketch in some flowers coming off. After drawing and then erasing and trying again, I was finding I was drawing the vine too thick and the flowers just weren't working like I wanted. They didn't have a natural feel. I was struggling. My mom was in the car also, so I asked her for some guidance. She gave some good ideas but it wasn't quite what I was trying to reach. When my niece was done we went out to a pizzeria. She reminded me that she has some drawing abilities so I tried to explain to her what I was trying to accomplish. She was having a hard time figuring out what I wanted because she has never thought about drawing vines or flowers. She is only 12 and I guess I forgot that 12 year old girls are not obsessed with the thoughts like their aunts. lol So we then started brainstorming for other ideas. A picket fence with a simple bird I have designed in the past.? But would that wake you up with it's noise? lol How bout sheep jumping over the fence? With numbers going backwards like 49, 48, 47 or would it go forward? Well then how would you draw sheep that you could embroider? lol.. Some quick sketches were getting some good giggles and laughs between the three of us. Then the pizza came and I put away my graph paper.

Long story short is I don't have a design yet. I will try some more. It will come to fruition.. it's just going to take longer than I thought. But isn't what they say.. you have to wait for the best?
Have a great day.. below is something I found online on how to draw a sheep. Maybe that will help me. lol........

Dollhouse envy

I have been finding blogs and creative people who are building doll houses. I bought one many years back from Joannes and I think (or should say hope I have it in my storage. I want to work on one now. There are so many possibilities of design I could do. Another dream on my list.

Sunday Musings - five

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

To see more Sunday Weekly Words to live by go to Notes from a Cottage Industry!

Sunday musings- four

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is bliss, taste it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is a tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is too precious, do not destroy it.

Life is life, fight for it.

Mother Teresa

.

This past week I attended a funeral for a catholic priest. I knew him all my life as he was a friend of the family who then became part of the family as he adopted us. During the service, the man the priest community described is not the man I knew but wish I did. My interactions with him limited to family situations and I did not see his love of serving the community and his compassion to help people with their problems. Isn't that what happens, we think we know someone and then we hear how they touched other people and our perception of them is changed and in this instance I admire him even more.

He knew for a very young age that he wanted to be a priest and that his passion in life was to serve the Lord. During the homily his best friend told the story of an incident that happened when Father was 5. There was a strike going on in the town he lived in and he wanted to participate. His father gave him permission and helped him make the sign. When he asked what his son wanted on his sign, he said to put on it " This guy is going to be a priest"

Cherish your friends and family, live life and enjoy each day!

To see more Sunday Weekly Words to live by go to Notes from a Cottage Industry!

sums up the last year perfectly...

When God closes one door, he opens another--but it's hell in the hallway!

Sunday Words - three

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” Gail Devers

Found

The other morning when I woke up I was so excited for the day that I stopped to really appreciate the moment. I was laying in bed under a quilt I made, my head was on pillowcases I found at the thrift store, cool and crisp under my cheek. Next to me sat a pile of books I was anticipating on tackling. The book laying on top had kept me absorbed till all hours of the morning the previous evening as I didn't want to put it down. I looked out the open window and the morning light was hitting the tree and making the green leaves pop against the clear morning. I could hear the birds singing their morning song, chattering to each other as if they also felt the special feeling. The air was cool but smelled so clean and even though it was only May if felt like an early morning before a very warm day. I love that time of morning, when it feels like the world is on the brink of waking up. Life was beautiful and I was ready to jump out and start the day.

If you like this post go see more at Notes from A Cottage Industry "Weekly Words to Live By"

Checking in...

Found
It has been forever since i have posted. I have been laid off again so I am busy looking for the dream job. We have had another death in the family so I am helping mom in her part of it. My car went into the shop for over a week and had major, I mean major work done. Too bad my car isn't the one above but I can dream can't I. It sure made me appreciate the freedom my car gives me.
This weekend I am house sitting and I am working on my tablecloth and watching tv shows On Demand.
I brought myself up to date on
The Good Wife,
9 by Design,
and watched the western Broken Trail.
I have always loved Robert Durval and I was excited to see Thomas Hayden Church. I didn't know it was a true story so will need to research more on that. I missed one of the episodes from The Good Wife but I was easily able to catch up. I missed the episode or episodes when the husband comes home and she has her "moment" with her boss. I had forgotten it was back on after it's break so I love the fact I am able to catch up. 9 by Design is a new show on Bravo and I loved the mixture of design and family but the show makes it seem like they plan more then they work but that could be just how they cut the episodes. I will keep tuning into both of these shows.
I am also excited on the progress I have made on my tablecloth after working on it for so many hours yesterday. As of this moment I have to cross stitch the last color on 3 holly's, finish two more holly leaves, finish some lettering and then all I have left is the berries. There are quite a few of them but it should take no time at all. I left them til the end as I wasn't sure how the stitch was done but I have since learned it and it is easy as pie. Another UFO accomplished.
Have a wonderful Sunday.

Sunday Words - two ... seeing what is right in front of us

We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves.
Lynn Hall, Where Have All the Tigers Gone?, 1989







In my days of growing older I find this quote so true. Everyday I get to know my self better. I love this photo. The sunset was so pretty through the rain even through all the traffic. A perfect desciption of life. Look above us and appreciate what we see.


Inspired by the wonderful Tracy at Notes from a Cottage Industry!

A new adventure

Hi,

I have been thinking alot about my blog lately. I am going to jump on a new adventure with it. I have two ideas. I need to get the motivation to post. I look at it a lot and think, I need to post. But i don't have the inspiration. I have been sick with a cold on and off for the past 3 weeks (it's dreadful) and I haven't been motivated to do any crafting. I have even sat down to do cross stitch and i just can't do it and go back to bed. lol

My ideas:

1. Make a post about the letter of the alphabet. A through Z. Now would it be crafting influenced i don't know I have so many interests i might just do it on what ever interests me. i think some of the letters might be hard like Q. But then quilting popped in to my head so it might not be as hard as i thought.

2. Take a photo sometime during the day for a month. I know I could do this. The hard part would be downloading it.

3. Write a story in continuous parts like Louisa Alcott use to do for the papers.

4. Write reviews

5. Write a mystery quilting pattern. First I would need to start quilting again.. lol

I am going to think about this more today and i will be back with an update.

Dottie

New movies to remember

Cocco before channel
Bright Star
Ice Castles
An Education
The Inviciticus - matt damoen rubgy player

Thrifty Saturday..

Today I stopped at my local Salvation Army store to look at a dining table. It had caught my eye on Thursday as I was driving to work. The curls on the ends of the legs remind me of the curly curl on the end of elf shoes. lol.. I have dreamed about it the last two days - on how cool it would look painted it white. I forgot to take a photo when I got out. I looked it over and I decided not to buy it. One reason is the price but then I found it was 40% off. That would have made it better but I wasn't in love with it up close. Two - was where would I put it? I am saving for my own place. There are just a few things I need. A dining room table, a double mattress and a few other things. I have stuff in storage that will fill up an apartment - just if i could afford it. lol.. Where I am staying now there is not really a place to work on it. Third - I didn't like the kind of wood it was, it didn't seem to be good quality. I haven't worked on too many pieces but I didn't know how this one would work.

I did go in though and look around. I read where someone found an old copy of Julia Child's cookbook so I am always on the lookout for that. Didn't find one but I did find a really cute glass candy dish that is footed. It has the cutest flowers on it. I fell in love and brought it home with me. I will post a photo soon.

When I walked away I thought of a present my family can get me. A sander. lol

Till later..

Sunday Words - one

“What we do today, right now, Will have an accumulated effect on all our tomorrows.”
By Alexandra Stoddard
I have been following Tracie’s Sunday inspiration posts on her blog “A Cottage Industry” since the weeks were in single digits. I like how her posts seem to reflect what we know of her bliss and sometimes helps us reflect on the times in our lives. I am including a quote by Alexandra Stoddard, as she is someone who has inspired me through the years. The photo above is two quilts I made for my niece and nephew... The photo is a bit blurry as it was from a couple of camera's ago and I have gotten much better as a photographer.

Reading habits...

I am sorry it has been so long since i posted but i would get caught up in the Olympics in the evening and those dang facebook games... lol

I have been reading around my favorite blogs lately and they have reminded me about some fantastic books and authors.

The first is the Betsy and Tacy stories at Progressive Pioneer . I can't remember how I found the books but it happened in the last 10 years or so. After I found them, I read every one that the library had. Last year I gave the first 4 of the series to my niece Francine for Christmas. I don't know if she fell in love with them like I did, I should ask her.

There is also a wonderful review of the Little House on the Prairie series on the blog. I loved the books and the TV show. Which reminds me of a cute story. I live in Oregon, kinda of near the Oregon Trail (but not really) and along the valley of the Columbia River. When I was a kid I was enthralled with wagon train stories and living on the prairie. In my mind the two kinds of adventures were one in the same. One day I was riding my bike up and down my street and I decided that one of the narrow ruts in the pavement up the block was a rut left by the wagon trains on there journey to the Oregon Territory. Everyone tried to convince me that it was not..... but I wouldn't believe it, I knew it would be true. Looking back it is a bit silly but there is still a little part of me that still believes that the wagon trains really rolled down my street.

The second writer is Alexandra Stoddard. I first found her books in a little antique/flower store in downtown Tigard, Oregon during a lunch break. It was sitting on a chair in the setting with flowers all around. I can't remember which book it was but I think it was her "Creating a Beautiful Home" Her writing just attracted me instantly. I have stared for hours and hours at the cover of the book as I loved her living room. It is still my style. I have continued to read her books. Buying some, checking some out of the library, and even found one at Anthopologie in The Pearl and then went across the street to Powell's and bought a used one for half the price. I was so excited when she was the writer in residence for Victoria Magazine in 2008/2009. She has developed into a philosopher and I do enjoy reading her words. They are refreshing and helps me bring myself back to center and to know what i really want. I recently read in her book "Things I want my Daughters to Know" about never spending more than 5 hours with friends and family. This was a statement that really made me think. I could see so many instances where this is true and would be healthy for all, but on the other hand what about those times where you are have game day or some other event and you need to spend more than 5 hours together. Is this such a bad thing? Even just writing this out for you I am seeing her idea from a different angle and has me rethinking my first reactions to it. But isn't that awesome that someones writings can inspire you to really think what matters to you.

Well it's time to wrap up. Thank you blog friends for being so much inspiration to create, contentment and joy to my life. Everyone, keep your head up high and smile everyday as life is so precious.

i love movies... days off... and working on stitching....

Hi, This weekend I have watched 4 movies... and have 4 more to go.. that's what happens when they all come in at once.... lol. I watched Songcatcher, In America, Searching for Debra Winger and 84 Charring Cross Road.. The four I have left are Two Lovers, Gideons Daughter, The boy in the Striped Pajamas and The Golden Bowl.. In the last few years I haven't been able to see many movies what with school and everything else going on.

I still find it so intriguing that you find one movie and the actor will lead you to another and then you realise that you also found another actor you like in it. It fills me with joy at the discoveries.

I have also gotten a lot of suggestions off of blogs that I read. That is how I found Songcatcher. I found a reference to it in the blog Coldantlerfarm , which I found by reading the book "Made from Scratch" about going back to living and shaping a small farm , which I found via a reference in MaryJane Butters book "MaryJane's Ideabook, Cookbook, Lifebook: For the Farmgirl in All of Us ." What a journey.

I loved the movie . What drew me to it was that it was about Appalachian music and cataloguing it. I love the sound of the music from that area of the country. It says something to me. A few years ago when i was getting my associates degree, one of the classes I took was intro to country and blues. I fell in love with the early country music. It started with music which was old time songs brought over to America from England and Scotland. Which can be found in the Appalachians. You should have seen my teachers record collection. It taught me so much. I just love it.

I have today off so I am eating homemade lasagna, working on my tablecloth and watching movies.. What shall i watch next? I think Two Lovers. It's the last one that Joaquin Phoenix worked on and I love Gwenneth Paltrow. Twta.... Dot

New look..

Do you like my new look. Worked on Gimp today.. I made.. or i should say.. i improved the flower i drew a couple of years back. I put the borders on. Still along way to go on the design front and learning the program but I am having fun.

A weekend with joy and loss.

I lost a great friend this weekend. He died early sat morning, which i will never forget the date as it was my birthday. I went over to the apartment today to spend time with his partner and we laughed how i was probably half in love with him. Which is probably true but the qualities of which i loved him were of a kind man who I had stimulating conversations with and was gentle and caring. A big teddy bear of a man. He brought so much wisdom to our friendship and to life and to so many people he touched. There has been such an outpouring of love for him and his partner regarding his sudden death it's been a wonderful thing to see.

We first met just under 12 years ago when we worked together downtown. He became fast friends with another one of my friends but then he and I found a deeper friendship that has lasted all these years. We were very much alike. Lunches spent with him and two other friends helped me find myself and become comfortable with myself that let me explore the world with out being scared. He and I had conversations about art, electronics, games, photos, computers. He could understand my excitement on finding a new author or a new quilt design even though they were not his interests he understood where i was coming from. We had many conversations where he would see a point of view from one angle and I from another angle and we both learned from them. He could get me excited about things i knew nothing about and when i left him I would wonder how he did it. I will miss him when i get a new "toy" and can't call and tell him what i got. I will miss him when i need advice on relationships. I will miss him when i go to text him good morning. I will miss spending Friday night "dates" with him at tower books and records when we were both single. I will miss the sparkle in his eye. We didn't spend much time together these last couple years.. We both were so busy... both in relationships.. but he was the kind of friend that the moment we talked the time apart just faded away.

I am too young to have had 3 of my best friends die. First Matt Matt, then Jimmy and now David. I hope is that the three of them are looking down on me ,with the other family members i have lost, and are helping guide me through this maze of a life. I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face not so much out of sadness but with the knowledge that the world has lost a wonderful man and a wonderful friend whose life was cut short too soon. I love you David.

A Better Day...

Well after posting that post at the library I headed to work and had a better day then I expected. Sometimes just getting out of the house will do that. Walking in the wind( hopefully not that cold east wind) will also help. It seems like it just clears the cobwebs out. This morning I also texted a friend during break and the message got me giggling. Unfortunately she read it the wrong way and thought i was even more in the dumps then i thought and called to check up on me. I gotta remember to write lol.... after some of my statements so that they can see the teasing of the words. Her birthday is 15 days before me and i was telling her that i didn't like being left behind.. ha ha.. i meant in birthday years.. We have teased each other about our birthdays forever and last year she playfully but seriously told me to quit referring to her being older so i have really tried hard.. but today i just had to tease her .... specially since we are going to see our friend perform at Darcelle's on her birthday. It should be fun. Boy i went there 20 years ago.. I have changed so much since then.... Her and I should always do something special for our birthdays as 2 years ago we went to LA to be on "The Price Is right" Well i am going to go watch the original Grey Gardens.. Thanks for putting up with me readers... Dottie.

the funk again....

I am in a funk again. I sleep, sleep, sleep. I don't know why. My new job is not that taxing. But i am so tired in the morning. I am not being very creative either. There are many times when i could be keeping my hands busy but all i do is sit there and either watch TV/movies or cruise the Internet. I have some many creative goals and wishes in my mind but i can't get them to come out. Well off to work again. Maybe tonight will be better. I gotta figure out a goal in the mornings to get me up so that i have a couple of hours to be creative. bye bye..

What will the new year will bring?

I have been contemplating in the last few days my goals for 2010. I see so many people putting them out on the web. I am not sure what mine will be. I know I want to be happy. Even with all my ups and downs the last year I have been happy, I know that for a fact. I don't have many "set" goals.. Maybe more of wishes.

One of the things i have decided is a goal is to walk the 5 mile sponsored by Kaiser for the Portland Marathon. My hair girl is running the marathon. I am not up to that and will probably never be as I am not a runner but I do enjoy walking. I will do that. I need to go to the gym. I keep saying that but I have no reason not to. I know it will make me feel even better. It is on 10-10-10. A goal to look forward today.

I want to save money to get my own apartment. That should be a goal for 2010. Get my own place. Be a grownup and be my own women.

Find a job i am happy to do in 2010. I think that I have found a good temp job and we will see if that can help me get on with the company.

Crafts and Crafting. So many goals in that area... I want to finish my Christmas table cloth. Finish my two needlepoint projects. Work on that needlepoint Christmas project and the silhouette idea. Finish at least two quilts to the floppy stage by June and another two by the end of the year. I want to completely finish two quits. I don't care if they are "quilted" or tied.

Books. - just keep reading.

TV - watch as little as possible...

Movies.. watch as many as possible.. getting them from the library..

Have some craft parties, have some cooking parties..

Save money and pay off debt.

In total what i want to do is be the best I can be.

Christmas presents...

Aren't these cute? I had found a pattern on line and I bookmarked it. I bought the fabric, elastic and handles. I then put it away to work on when I had time. Well I never got in the mood to get my sewing machine out. Well the deadline was approaching. I didn't have my computer with me as it was at the house I was house sitting at. So I winged it. I think they turned out well. They are to hold your plastic bags from the grocery store. I made them for by brother, sister and mom. I told them to report back to me how they work. Next year I have some grand plans. I should finish up the Christmas pillow cases I bought fabric for last year, i want to make needlepoint initials for everyone and to make cameos of people. We will see how that works out.
Off to pick up a friend to watch a movie and eat leftover Christmas Eve dinner (which we celebrated on New Year's eve...) oh.. i am always forgetting to take photos.. Happy New Year..