Shall we explore a new series?

Enid Blyton

A Sunday note.

Things are going on in my life...

I am house sitting again. 3 minutes from work. It is so nice to leave work at 3:30 and be sitting on the couch working on my needlepoint by 3:45.
 

I have made great strides on this lately. I am on the bottom 3rd. Of that portion the two corners are a light apple green and white check. I have finished one corner and just have the white checks to finish on the other side. Still have the middle portion to finish. I feel so soothed when I stitch and it makes me think of my aunts  (my fathers sisters) who are great needle workers. I am so excited to start my next project when I am done.

I finished my cake decorating class Here is the final product.

Do I love it? No. I don’t like the size of the cake I used, it didn’t turn out like I had it in my head and I had so much trouble baking it. I made it in the kitchen I am house sitting at. Let me tell you there is nothing like missing your own kitchen. I had to make two versions. The first one had one disaster after another. First I couldn’t not find any oil or Pam to put in the pan so I gave up and made it anyway. In checking it when the timer went off I discovered I had turned the oven off and had to cook it longer. When it tried to get it out of the pan it fell apart and half of it stuck to the bottom of the pan. On the second one I decided to use butter to powder it with the flour I finally found but it turns out it was rice flour and I lost one of the ends when I took it out of the pan. But as I told them in class I was learning – and I learned so much.

This is my friends cake. It turned out awesome. She went ahead and made one out of the book. Of course perfection.

We have signed up for the next class.

The Flowers and Cake Design class.

We will see how it go’s.

I have been watching some good series lately…

Watched  

In the middle of

And just started and have on the shelf

I am reading

and also found another series in which I have read the first one.

 

Still working on collecting all of the DMC threads and working on my design books. Quilting is not at the forefront on being worked on but it’s never far from my mind.

Well it’s getting late and I will update you again soon.

My library adventures

In one of my quests to save Money and to also quench my thirst for books I take advantage of the Multnomah County Library.  The have many branches and it is one of the most used libraries in the nation.  I have intersts in a wide circle of things.    Currently I have 28 book/things checked out and I have 11 items on hold.
Today I will be returning a few:  Let me list them.

1. A Knitter’s Home Companion – A heartwarming collection of stories, patterns and recipes by Michelle Edwards
2. I Remember Nothing – and other Reflections by Nora Ephron
3. Hook, Loop and Lock – create fun and easy locker hooked project by Theresa Pulido
4. The Vintage Home – Clever finds and faded treasures for today’s chic living by Judith Wilson
5. The Pioneer Woman Cooks – Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond
6. Shed Chic – Outdoor Buildings for Work,  Rest and Play  by Sally Coulthard
7. Brava Valentine – a novel (audio book) by Adriana Trigiani
8. ReKindled (audio book) by Tamera Alexander
9. October Road  The complete first season
10. Run Fatboy Run
11. A Wrinkle in Time (2003 Disney)
12. Little Big Town by Little Big Town
13. Stripped by Christina Aguilera
14. Corinne Bailey Rae by Corinne Bailey Rae

The things i have checked out that I still have in a pile next to my bed are:

1. Summer of the midnight sun by Tracie Peterson
2. Whispers of Winter by Tracie Peterson
3. A summer in the Country by Marcia Willett 
4. A week in winter by Marcia Willett  (halfway through)
5. Big Stone Gap (Audio Book) by Adriana Trigiani   only have a few cd’s left to listen to on the commute
6. Commander in Chief.  Part 1  (DVD)
7. The big book of cross-stitch designs: over 900 simple to stitch decorative motifs
8. Crating a home by Kathryn M Ireland
9. Sister Parish Design: on Decorating   by Susan Bartlett Carter and Libby Cameron   ( I love Sister Parish – she is so into chintz.)
10. Color schemes for the flower garden by Gertrude Jekyll  - thought it would help on color theory.
11. October Road:  The complete second season  (DVD)
12. Live by Design:  6 steps to an extraordinary you by Tom Ferry with Laura Morton   I am pouring over this one as it is hitting home with me and plan to work with it some more.
13. Gunn’s golden rules:  life’s little lessons form making it work by Tim Gunn, with Ada Calhoun
14. Thrifty chic: interior style on a Shoestring by  Liz Bauwens and Alesxandra Campbell

Currently I have 11 on hold with two ready to pick up.

1. Drawling lab for mixed-media artists: 52 creative exercises to make drawing fun by Carla Sonheim
2. North and South.  The complete collection (DVD)
3. Big Love.  The complete fourth season.   87 out of 297 on hold
4. The Kids are all Right (DVD) 19 out of 207 on hold
5. The book of Stillmeadow   1 of 2 on hold
6. Doo-wops & hooligans by Bruno Mars  188 of 240 on hold (have had on hold since March and I am only up to 188)
7. Once and again: The complete second season   1 of 1 holds but on it’s way
8. Big Cherry Holler – A Big Stone Gap novel by Adriana Trigiani 1 of 1 holds but on it’s way
9. A wrinkle in time  (audio book) by Madeleine L”Engle   4 of 4 holds
10. One Tree Hill.  The complete first season.    1 of 1 holds but on it’s way
11. A year on Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball  1 of 1 holds

L – Day 12

Today I was thinking of words that start with L.  I was blank.  My coworker came up with love.  That’s a good one.  Then after coming back from lunch…  it hit me lunch.   I should have taken a photo of my lunch but it wasn’t that memorable. Then I looked at my mission statement which I have posted on my wall at work.

It made me think of laughter and life.  To enjoy life.   But those weren’t the right words either but reading the statement with a new slant got me thinking.  I still haven’t picked a word to live by this year.   I think I have found it.  Encompass.    I wrote this mission statement my first full year at Portland State.   A good friend helped me but through the bull***t to really figure out what I want to be.  As I have been living life I have really tried to remember who I want to be.   I have tried to live with passion, to  laugh, to be creative especially through my struggles in the last few years – good and bad.  I am finally in a good place I hope and I know that the words above have helped me. Back to my L word.  I think the word for today is lists.  I am not normally a list person, I make a list for special dinners and for trips but I don’t live my life by lists but I am finding I do in one area.    I have made lists of books I read, books I want to read, movies i have watched and ones that look good to view.  A couple of years ago a friend ( the same one who helped me with my mission statement) told me how he keeps track of  the books he has read in a little notebook.  That seemed so intriguing that I decided to do it.  I went to a book store and found a journal that had quotes from Jane Austen and little drawings of the era.  I loved it.  Since then I have kept of all books I have read.  It’s so cool to go back and look at how many I have read in the last 4 years or so.  I have also started an excel spreadsheet of  authors and all the books they have written to help me keep track.  I have many many on there.  I love going through and checking off ones i have read and ones I can search for.  Another L word. Love.  I love it!!!!!!

B – Day Two

Well today is the second of January. So that brings up the letter B. I have thought about this letter as I was doing chores today. Words that came up were blood, blogs, books, buggers, blue, boyfriends, babies beach and many more crossed my mind. Side note, I confess I started this post at 11 but now when i am posting it’s more than half past 12.

I think I will write about books. I love books. I love the feel of them in my hand. I love to curl up on my bed among all my pillows and get lost in the story. So many times books have kept me company when people have not. I have learned so many things, discovered so many worlds and they have led me on journeys outside of the stories because something I have read has peaked my interest and I want to learn more about it.

When I learned, I learned quickly. I wasn’t a child who learned before school but learned when I was in kindergarten. For my first four months of kindergarten I went to a city school. There kindergarten was more centered around fun. In January we moved and I started at a school in the burbs. There they taught me to read. My classmates started in September but I started in January. By the end of the year I had caught up and by passed a lot of the students. I will always remember the yellow books and taking new ones out of the bins. I don’t remember stumbling over words as I learned them, once the window was opened I grabbed hold and have never let go of such a treasured gift.

One of the books I remember when I was a child was a story on Clara Barton. I remember having to do a book report on her and copying the front cover of the book for the cover page of my report. I was back at the burb school so it was between 4th and 6th grade. Another book I remember from that time was a book on learning to make Ukrainian eggs.  I was captivated by the book that taught me how to put the wax on and then dye the eggs and then put another layer on. The method is called Pysanka. My parents even got me a stylus to use to put the wax on. I have loved the art of it since but have never gotten back into it. Melting the wax was hard. I wonder if I still have my stylus?

The summer between 6th and 7th grade ( or somewhere in there) I can remember being crazy about a book where the girl went to camp for the first time. I so wanted to go to camp like she did, do what she did. I just remember reading it over and over again. I was heading in to middle school and it was a huge step and I think I lost myself in the simplicity of the girls life. I wished I remembered more, but all that comes back to me are snippet's of her going to the camp store or of her cabin hiking somewhere and spending the night under the stars. I loved that book and still think about it occasionally remembering the sensation of anticipation to read the book, more so than the story itself.

When I look back at the books I read in High School I can’t believe what I was reading or that my mom even let me. I have a feeling she never knew. I was reading romance books – not even having a clue on what I was reading but loving the “love” stories.

I have always had a book with me. I even buy my purses with the thought in mind… Is it big enough for my book? Sometimes I even have 3 or 4 going at once. I have no problem keeping them straight (at least most of the time) but sometimes I struggle with reading one because I so want to go read the other as it has captivated me.

I have a confession to make. I will read ahead and also will read the last few pages to see who ends up with who or who did the crime. Some say that is a terrible thing, but for me it makes the reading of the book so much enjoyable. Now that I know kinda of what happens I can focus on the story rather than looking for clues for what is going to happen next. In the last few years I have been listening to Books on Cd – let me tell you not knowing how it will turn out just kills me. lol.

I have a hard time reading the classics. I like stories I can releate to. Sometimes when I read classics or even new books if I don’t understand the feelings the characters are having or the “voice” of the book I have a hard time finishing it. I get board easily and can’t finish it. I do try though, and will continue to try because sometimes books capture you and you don’t even know why but it can take a bit to get into it. I am the eternal optimist that I will always like the book and find it very hard to concede defeat and not finish it. So I always give it a chance no matter what book it is.

I don’t think I will ever be a convert to “The Nook” or “Kindle” or any of the other hand held machines. I love going into bookstores. I love the art of picking out a book, do you go with the cover or the description on the back? I love holding it in my hand when I read, the action of turning the pages, the musty smell that can drift up from the pages when you turn them. To me reading a computer screen does not match up to that feeling of a paper based book will give me. Seeing the notes in the margin or the turned over corners set by the people who read the book before me is irreplaceable. Looking at your bookcase and seeing all that you have read, it’s like they are old friends. That is what books are to me. They are my friends. I don’t want to lose that friend.

A New Year

They say that what ever you do on the 1st day of the Year you will do the rest of the Year. If that is true I am going to have a drab year. Today I slept, watched movies and helped my mom who is confined to her bed as she is depilated by back pain. Encouraging her to walk to the bathroom, doing her laundry and fixing her meals.

That is real life. Enough of that.

Let’s live in the life of Tadlafleur.

I have been giving my blog a lot of thought this week. In fact my whole creative life. It has been null since I started my new job at the end of Aug. Working many over 50 hour weeks with a 45 minute commute each way has eaten up the time. I haven't even blogged very much or much of anything other then work, eat, sleep and start the day over again. Hopefully that has calmed down and we are caught up and I actually get hired on as a real employee not a temp. - but that is for another day, another post.

I have seen many blogs that are talking about having a word to inspire you through out the year. I still haven’t sat down to find that word for 2011. I want to find a word that inspires me in creativity, work, life, love and every other way that counts. What it is I don’t know. I have to find some quiet time to come up with what I want this year. This is where I want to start to get my creative flair back on track.

One of the things that I thought would inspire me is to blog everyday this month. I wrote out in my inspiration journal that I take almost every where with me the numbers 1- 31 for the month of January. Then I was stuck. Today I really wanted to blog but I didn’t have a theme to carry out through out the month. I kept putting if off as I didn't know what to blog. Lying here today watching the movies it came to me. Why don’t I use the letters of the alphabet. A-Z that will get me through 26 days. I will come up with a theme for the last 5 days. It shouldn’t be too hard as that will be my birthday week.

So that is the plan – I plan to blog everyday with the letter for the day. Some days it might be inspire me to write a blog , post a photo, post progress on a craft or even just a quote. But do something everyday. I don’t think many people read my blog but it will get me doing something.

Review of the last year..

Quilt wise – I feel very disappointed in my progress last year. I think i only completed one quilt top. You would think with all the time off I had before September I would have made more progress. I think my goals were 2 tops in each half of the year. Didn’t even come close. I have so many UFO’s that it could keep me busy all year. The one quilt top I did do was a UFO. In 2008 I downloaded the BOM Appliqué by SuzGuzDesigns. Read more on my A post. Next year I hope to do better and perhaps join a group somehow that can give me quilters companionship and support.

Craft wise. Finished my cross stitch tablecloth that took 15 years. Yahoo!!! Started to design some embroidery patterns. Stopped when i started this current job but didn’t like the direction it was going any how so will try to get back to it. Made some really cute invitations for a party I had from my group of friends called the Faith Ladies.

Movies- Boy have I taken advantage of my library. I have rented so many movies and have found some really good series. Big love (watching season 2 right now), Joan of Arcadia (both seasons) , Everwood (season one) and Once and Again (season one) . In my own “library” i have all of the series for Avonlea, Gilmore Girls, The West wing and Emily of New Moon. Any other good series I can watch?

Books- I have read a ton of those too. I have found some wonderful series by just searching the library shelves. I listened to all of the Cedar Cove series on CD on my commute. I loved them. I just found a series called Sweetgum Knit Lit Series. She has only written two books but i hope she continues this cast of characters. I need to read her other books.

Work. - Was placed as a temp at a growing company. Have made myself invaluable I hope so that they will hire me on permanently. And who knew I would care about my job again. It’s refreshing and invigorating. The culture at this facility has really boasted my spirits and confidence work wise and has given me some of my happiest work experiences.

Well i didn't know this was going to be such a long post. Once I got started this evening – i haven’t been able to stop and that is why it’s posted on the 2nd not on the 1st. And I can’t leave a post with out a photo – so here is one from the beach in Rockaway in the Summer of 2009. I wish i was sitting in that sunny weather with the sound of the ocean rather than in 20 degree weather with the sound of the heater in the other room. Happy New Year.

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

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

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

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.

Books....

As well as being on a movie kick i am also on a book kick. I have found so many books lately that I want to read.

1. The Lakeshore Chronicles by Susan Wiggs. I am currently reading the 3rd one of the series. I love the characters. 12/21 have read the 4th now
2. Beth Pittillo books
3. A quilters Holiday by Jennifer Chiaverly I can never spell her last name. But I know what it is when i look it up Quilters Apprentice and it gives me it. have put on reserve
4. The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club - Gil McNeil have put on reserve
5. Unravelled - Robyn Hardin.
6. Barbra Bretton
7. Monica Ferris
8. A tread of truth - Marie Boswick
9. Summer on Blossom Street.. Debbie Macomber. - reserved at the library. 12/21 reading as we speak..
10. Blue Sky Hill Series, Lisa Wingate
11. The Knitting Circle Ann Hood
12. A Drunkards Path Clare O'Donuhue
13. The rest of the Covington Series Joan Medicott
14. Happiness Keys Emile Richards have put on reserve
15. Beverly Nichols
16. Ann Ripley - mysteries
17. Janis Harrison.. the ones i haven't already read
18. Quakertown -Lee Martin
19. Loving Frank -Nancy Horan
20. Scoop - Fern Michaels
21. Cross Creek the book and movie
22. The Lumby Series Gail Fraser
23. Virgin River Series Robyn Carr
24. Lake Emily Series -Tracie De Pree
25. Knit the Season- Kate Jacobs have put on reserve
26. The Prairie girls guide to life- Jennifer Worick
27. Mary Jane Butters (i can't read my writing but the Mary Jane from the farm) 1 put on reserve, MaryJane's ideabook, cookbook, lifebook : for the farmgirl in all of us
28. Blogging with Bliss -T. Frey have put on reserve
29. Aimmee Ray
30. Jenny Hart
31. The Bridal Quartet Nora Roberts series

Boy.. that is quite a list. It's not in any order either.. Just books i found in my wanderings one day. I copied it directly from my hard copy journal. some of the authors names might not be spelled right. I couldn't read my handwriting. But with a little research I will find them. lol. Quite a list isn't it. You know how you find these list. You find a book on Amazon.com and then look to see what other books people have looked at or bought and it introduces you to books you have never run across before or new books by authors you have loved. I love doing it this way. It has introduced me to some wonderful authors, movies, books and even bloggers.

I recently checked out a book by a writer based on the fact that i had loved one of her books before hand. I just couldn't get into this book. I liked the idea of the story but for some reason the book was boring to me. I made the decision to not finish it. I wrote down the name of the book as I might go back to it someday. It was a hard decision of if i should stop reading the book. At the time I had two other books i wanted to read so bad but i was forcing myself to finish the one I had in front of me. I was getting no satisfaction out of it - so I decided that it just wasn't the right time for the book. I am so glad i made that decision. It felt like so much was lifted off my shoulders. Its such a trivial thing but made my life so much more enjoyable.

I don't know how long it will take to get through this list. The is no timeline, or time limit. I just wrote down books I want to explore. I am sure there will be many more in between that will somehow come up. Some I may never get to but it's a place to start.

Happy Reading.

Monday reading

Hello....
Yesterday I did something that I haven't done in a long time. I read a whole book in a day.

I started it at noon yesterday and had it read by 8 pm. I guess I read it fast as it was 530 pages long but i really enjoyed it and it felt good to read. The phones rang a lot yesterday but i was in a comfy chair and i seemed to close out the world when I was reading. I have started the next one in the series but I haven't gotten so into it but it is good. Not sure what I will do today but probably sew on my table coth.

Ta Ta

Working on a another project.

I am feeling so creative lately. I love it. I am also trying something new. Rather than putting things off I am working on them when I am inspired. So I am having many projects going at once rather than just one. It is helping me get through all of them faster. Odd but true. I don't get bored so easy and I get motivated to work on all of it instead of do nothing. So today I brought a different project to work on - that I actually kind of started in July but got sidetracked as I wasn't sitting at a table doing it but on my bed watching a movie.

There is a side note to my project today. Over the last 5 years or so, in my act to become more creative ,I have fallen in love with certain magazines and I would buy them every month to fill my creative and dreaming fix. The number I buy each month has been dwindling as different magazines are closing. Magazines like Home Companion, Cottage Living, Country Living, and a few others. I still can get Victoria and Romantic Home. I always buy Quilters Newsletter and assorted quilting ones that catch my eye. Another one i am grieving is Mark Lipinski leaving Quilters Home. I can't find their latest version where he is not part of it. I am curious and just want to see it. Victoria- that has inspired me in the literature world and has introduced me to some wonderful writers and artists i.e. Tasha Tutor, Alexandra Stoddard and Madeleine L'Engle to name a few.

Well let me tell you the stacks keep falling over I have collected so many because I don't like giving them away. I am running out of room. I had to par down as they were collecting dust and I wasn't looking at them like i thought i would. I didn't want to get rid of them because they inspired me. I decided to do an idea that my friend David J. told me about. Make a "Dream Book" or and "Idea Notebook" full of my influences as that I could look through for decorating and quilting ideas and anything else I wanted to be inspired for. I first determined that there were a few magazines that I still wanted to hang on to. Like my quilting magazines, Home Companion, Victoria and I think Romantic Home. I divided them up earlier this year. The others were the ones I was going to go through and cut out pages or photos or whatever tickled my fancy and glue them into the book and then recycle them.

When I was at Freddy's one day I got Strathmore Sketch book. that is 100 pages thick and 9 x 12. It is heavier than basic notebook paper and it's perfect to glue magazine paper to.

In July when I started the project I thought if I could just do about 4 a day or at least 4 a week, I could get through the "get rid of stack". Well when I sat down on my bed the first day to work on it, the flow wasn't there and I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. At the end of the movie, I put all my cutting into a hanging folder and filed them away till the next time and I figured out what I was going to do.

This past week I have just haven't been able to get the project off my mind so guess what I pulled out this morning. Yes you are right. My cuttings, my sketch book, a glue stick and about 6 more magazines. I sat here for 4 hours putting the cuttings on to the pages. Time has whizzed by. I plan now to cut from 3 more magazines and try to glue them in.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season and thanks for reading.

Another venture.

I am starting an outline to write a book. At this moment I am up to 3 pages. I have written main characters, other characters, stores, business, etc and have outlined what the town looks like in my mind. I need to still come up a name for the town. Any ideas? I have names for the business or at least the main ones. I have a history of the town and the main house that I have somewhat thought out.
It is so exciting. I still have a lot of parts to figure out but I can already see cross stories, and potential sequels. I just need to figure out what this main story is going to be about. I have dreamed about this town before. I have written small stories set in this town as a beginning, I think I am going to be setting it in current times but have set up scenarios for the ability to be able to go back in history also. I am not sure of exactly what state it's going to be in but I know it's near the coast and the town is on a bay. Quilting and other crafts will be a part of it. Some of the details might change as I go along but the basic features I think will work. As example. names have changed while I am transcribing onto the computer the pages I have written by hand. As time goes along I might find more appropriate things then the ones I am making up now...
This is also a long time dream. Writing a book. I know it's just not a fly by thing. I know it will take hard work. I also know that I will struggle with words. I know that I might not finish it by tomorrow but hopefully in my lifetime. lol But it is a project, an adventure and the best way to reach the goal is to work on a little bit each day.

Checking in ....

Hi,
It's after midnight and I can't sleep. I am sitting here at the computer. I have the old old show "Password" on from the 1960's on The Game Show channel. I am also researching new books to get from the library. In the late eighties or early nineties I remember reading a monthly magazine article "From Thornhill Farm" by Dee Hardie. I loved reading about her country life. I swore it was in Country Living but i might be doubting that memory. I loved her style of writing. Recently I rediscovered her writings in the book "Hollyhocks, Lambs and other Passions." I love it and have been cherishing the stories in the book. Tonight i searched for more of her writings and i found another book for 2.00 on Alibris. So i ordered it and Hollyhocks. I am so excited. In reading her book I have also discovered another writer Angela Mackail Thirkell, Dee Hardie collected her books. I am going to give her a try. I found one of her autobiography's in the library and ordered her first book in one of her series. She wrote in the 30's to 50's about the English country side. I hope I enjoy them. The book I bought was only 2.00 so i am ok with buying it. They have other's at the library but I wanted to start with the first one. See how it started.
The show is almost over so i am going to bed.
Night Night
PS - no sewing this week. too buzy with other stuff and taking long naps. will start up next week on both quilts and pin cushions...

School is over and the fun begins.

Hello everyone.

School is over!!!!! Yea.... Now the fun begins....
What i have planned.. I have a goal to work on and complete 3 quilt tops this summer. My mom has a goal for me to buy a large roll of batting and sandwich some.

I have 3 hand projects going. One is the block of the month that I posted a couple of posts back. I finished the prepped one and have sewn and turned the hears for the next two months. I will iron down all the pieces on the backing this weekend and take it back to work to work on during breaks.
Meanwhile I have my grandmothers flower garden I am piecing. Did i mention it before? Well i cut the fabric too small for the 1 inch hexagons but the pieces of fabric work great with the 3/4 inch. If i want to make an 80 by 80 quilt i will need to do 400 flowers. But that doesn't count the white walking path. I will have to refigure but at least i have a goal. These are all from my scraps. It might take me years. Right now i have 10. lol I will be working on this the rest of the week at work.
Third - i have my original hand project. I had found it about 4 years ago at a thrift/antique shop at the beach. Pieces for a tumbling block were cut all cut out. I am not sure how many. I then went to Joannes (since i think the original fabric was from the 80's.) and bought some green, pink and gold to go with all of the brown flower printed pieces. They are all now sewn together and I have decided to float it with a chocolate brown border. I have cut out the pieces to go around the border and the border it's self. I have not had time with school to mark the pieces with a white pencil. That is another goal this summer.

What other plans.

One i plan to go through all my magazines and tear out pages and things i want to keep. Perhaps a color combo or a wonderful bedroom. I am going to file them in a file box. I am going to do 5 a week at least. I will then post them in my dream book for ideas for the future. I am keeping some series but then other ones i will go through. I need the room. lol

Read. Right now i have like 18 books checked out from the library and a series i have had on my shelf since February from a friend at work. I gotta pump them out. Maybe this weekend i can make a dent.

Have lots of movies and series to watch. I didn't get a converter box for the TV in my room. One i wanted to see if i tried not to watch so much TV. I have Gilmore Girls, Road to Avonlea, West Wing, Emily in New Moon, Felicity, Upstairs Downstairs, Berkshire place and a whole bunch more. Oh yea.. the Tutors and season 2 and 3 of Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson.
Well that's a book.
I will talk with you all later and update you on my progress.

PS. I have to fit the gym in there somehow and enjoy the sun.

A day to remember!

I just love watching the political process of the United States. I am always intrigued by it. I don't care if you are Republican, Democratic or any other party. Today was tradition. Tradition that started with the first George to the last one. Unfortunately I do not work with people who see the significance or the enjoyment of to days celebration. As I could not stay home I listened to NPR on my Walkman and went to the break room to watch his oath while everyone else on the team sat at their desk and did work. It was wonderful to see such unity in the people there and to hear it but then I am a sucker for the pageantry. It made me think of other inaugurations. I remember back in 92 when Clinton came into office. Or was it 91? Well back to the story. This is when I carpooled with my Aunt Tede. I remember clearly sitting on the freeway with her portable TV. That was an adventure back then. The music gets me going and seeing the elder statesman like Kennedy, Carter and the 41'st Bush.

Then after work I went to my e marketing class. Even though my focus is IS i am so enjoying this class. It ties in so many of the business concepts I am studying. I am in a class with a majority of Marketing majors who look at it differently then I. I want to know about the web design, the how to behind the sites... while their questions are concerning the why of why people do what they do, what they do, what can we do to get them to do what we went. The professor is a has world experience and brings an element of humor and knowledge and is in with the times. Technology has so much to offer even to the old disciplines and can turn old knowledge on it's ear.

Well off to read my Book. I love the series 'Daughters of Blessing'. Let's see how long I make it before I fall asleep.

Dottie.

Ah.. before I forget please forgive the grammar and spelling mistakes. They are not my strong suite and sometimes the brain is traveling faster then the fingers and i don't see the misspelled word or the dropped letters. Most of the time i just want to get out the words before I forget.

Welcome to my first post in the blog world. It's a Saturday night and I was reading blogs and was inspired to join in what is such a fascinating world. So join me in this exploration of blogging on The Agnes Dorothy..

What do I want to do with this blog? I don't have that vision quite done yet but stick around and it will come together as we go day by day.

Right now my world is so busy. I work 40 hours a week an then am in my second to last term in reaching my goal of receiving a bachelor's degree. I am taking 12 hours this term and am praying that it is over quickly. I love my classes but I think I took 3 hard ones together. Where my head was at the time of registration I should have signed up for that movie class. I do not know but what else is there to do on winter nights so I decided that the classroom was the place to be. The only regretful thought I have of this journey is that it doesn't give me time to play with my fabric or anything else.

One of my passions is quilting. I learned when I was 16 from my aunt who has a wonderful touch with sewing and needlepoint. My grandmother was a seamstress and I can remember as a little girl she tried to teach me to sew. She would get so frustrated with me that I could not sew a straight line she quit teaching me. Let me tell you -- I still don't but i don't let it stop me. Above is one of my little quilts that hangs in work cube. I didn't physically quilt for many years but about 4 years ago I picked up sewing with renewed energy. I will leave the rest for many more posts.

Another passion of my mine is reading. I love to read. I find it so exciting to find new authors and new stories. One of my favorite genres is writers like Louise Alcott, L.M. Montgomery, Betsy and Tacy. I love to read stories of the time period of 1900 and especially when they were written in the first half of the 1900's. There is something so quaint about the style and the descriptions of times gone by. I will admit it I am a romantic.

That is a little bit about me. I hope to be able to continue to have many more words to write and until next time.

Dottie

Oh - let me tell you about my blog name. It is the name of my two grandmothers. The sewer and my namesake. Two wonderful women in my life. I added the french word for flower because I love flowers and thought it sounded like a nice finish to the old-fashioned names.