Past Two Days

Yesterday I was sick.  I even called out from work which I hate to do.  Luckily I heard from a manager that they were fine without me.  Hopefully it will not be crazy today.  It's cold today and I see a few random snowflakes.  Last time I checked we were supposed to have two cold days and then it will warm up a bit on Wednesday. 

On Saturday morning the bird in the photo above visited our front deck.  I saw a shape out of the corner of my eye and thought it was a delivery person at first. 

Well our tree is put away and I need to start some serious house cleaning.  Things have been neglected while I worked extra shifts and Will helped to keep the basics of dishes and laundry caught up,  

I am getting close to finishing Who Killed My Daughter.  It drags a bit as they go through all the psychic readings.  I finished gluing all the sequins on my calendar and will be able to assemble it after work today.  I sorted all the thread for my Lanarte kit and now I am ready to start stitching. 

First Day

Yesterday started off good.  I found the Lanarte kit I want to stitch and started working on it.  I have the fabric hemmed and half of the colors sorted and on the card.  I started reading Hiss of Death by Rita Mae Brown.  I did a little yoga and walked to work after charging the Fitbit.  It was bitter cold but clear. From there it went downhill.

It seemed like we had a line out the door all day.  And I literally mean out the door.  People will stand there with the doors open rather than bending the line around inside.  Both of us were sick with colds so the cold air did not help. After work we went to Walgreens to get something for my cold and as I walked out of the store the bells were ringing from the church next door and a few snowflakes were falling.  It was pretty and calming after a hectic day. 

Mike made tteokguk, soup made with brisket and sliced rice cakes, that is served for New Year's in Korea.  It was so good I had two bowls.   I went to put some Halloween items in my closet and found the bead kits I was thinking about.  I am so happy I won't have to dig for them.  After that I watched a little tv and went to bed early. 

New Year

I'm thinking of reviving my blog here for the new year.  I need to find something to record my progress on things so I see results and think about something other than work and how much I have not accomplished.  Work is about to go from crazy with too many hours to dead and not enough hours.  I have a cold from sitting near the doors with their cold draft and all the coughing customers. 

Things I want to track:
weather
stitching
crafting
exercise
home diy projects
reading
new cooking
what I'm watching

It was warmer today and the snow and ice are melting.

I have not been stitching.  I pushed to finish an ornament for 2015.  I am not sure what to start for the new year.

I am gluing sequins on a calendar banner by Bucilla.  I am not happy with it.  The "felt" is thin like interfacing and did not iron well.  I was afraid of melting it.  There is no legend to tell what color goes where and I am guessing on some.  I got a free shipping code from Herrschners so I ordered 2017 banner calendars and as I browsed I saw beads.  Someplace I have some bead kits I want to do.  I have no idea where I put them though.

I am reading Who Killed My Daughter by Lois Duncan.  This past week I rushed to read two more books to fill my Goodreads goal of 50 books for 2015.  Later I found that it had not counted two I read earlier so I ended up with 52.  I did not need to rush that last book after all. 

For dinner we had this: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/9023/baked-teriyaki-chicken/.  It was good. I used  breasts instead of thighs and served it with broccoli.

I am tired of the Mythbusters marathon.  I am currently watching a Kdrama called Oh No My Mother-In_Law is My Neice Now which is pretty good.  It will be nice to finish up Project Runway Junior which was not on over the holidays.

Book Review Doctor Who: Royal Blood by Una Maccormack

The city-state of Varuz is about to be attacked by Duke Conrad. Aurelian is preparing to gamble everything on one last battle and asks for the help of The Doctor.  Guena, Aurelian's wife is plotting with his trusted knight Bernhardt to overthrow the Duke.  Clara seceretly gets involved with this plot.

This books seeks to answer whether the Doctor will stop stop Aurelian from going to war.  Will Clara's involvement be discovered?  Also  a group of ancient knights arrive on a quest for the Holy Grail but it is not clear who they are.  All of this sounds interesting and exciting but it was not.  This book was so dull it did not hold my interest.  


 I was provided a free copy of this book by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review: Deep Time by Trevor Baxendale

Deep Time by Trevor Baxendale is an original story that ties in to the ninth series of the BBC show Doctor Who featuring the 12th Doctor. It is a book you will want to read if you are a fan but not something a reader would enjoy if they were not familiar with the series. The book starts off decently with some basic setup on the Doctor and Clara, but there was not enough to get me interested in any of the parallel characters. The setup and premise were decent for the setting, going into great detail on the ship itself but it would have been better to focus more on the people the Doctor and Clara were adventuring with. Jem and Captain Drake would have been much better and more sympathetic, had they been developed better. Instead, all we get from them is the obvious death flags of “After this, we are going to retire to a planet of our choosing!" The other characters were lackluster, as well.

The book was a quick, okay read at about 250+ pages. It was one of several published at the same time and it was confusing trying to figure out the order in which to read them. Will I read this again? Maybe not, but this is definitely one that you get, just to complete your collection.

 I was provided a free copy of this book by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review: Ties That Bind by Cindy Woodsmall

Book Review: Ties That Bind by Cindy Woodsmall
The Amish of Summer Grove Book 1 (of 3)

I really enjoyed this book.  It was different than any other Amish fiction I have read because it switches between three different points of view.

Ariana is a 20 year old Amish woman who loves her faith, family and plain life.  She dreams of opening a cafe, helping her family and marriage.  She is upset that people she knew and loved have left the faith. 

Quill is a former friend of Ariana's who left the faith.  He ran away with a good friend of Ariana's.  He comes back to Summer Grove to help others who want to leave. 

Skylar is an English girl who lives with her mom, her mom's second husband and his daughter.  She want to be an actress and is attending the community college with dreams of attending college in New York.  She has struggled with her grades due to bad choices in boyfriends, drugs and alcohol.

These three are brought together by an incident that happened in the past.  Suddenly life is turned upside down and this book ends as each of them begin a new chapter in their lives.  I am looking forward to the next book to see what happens next.

I was provided a free copy of this book by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review: Billy Joel – The Definitive Biography By Fred Schruers

As a fan of Billy Joel I was excited to read this book.  Billy Joel – The Definitive Biography By Fred Schruers started out as combined effort between Fred Schruers and Billy Joel.  Later Billy pulled out of the project and Fred Schruers completed it using the interview material he gathered over six years.

I found this book to be a difficult read.  I think fans who love Billy and have followed his carreer over the years will enjoy it more than the casual fan.  I knew very little about his career and personal life and found the book hard to follow. There were parts where the chronology did not flow well.  I would be reading about a time in his life before he was famous that influenced a certain song.  If it wasn't a song I was very familiar with I felt lost. I am more interested in the personal life of the artist than how the music industry works which was a big part of this book.  However I think it is a great book for those who are big fans of Billy.

 Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of this book by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest opinion.

It's finally finished and I am going to frame it today!

As of about 1am I have finished all the whole stitches on Silent Night.  I have also done a good portion of the back stitching.  If I didn't have to work today I could probably have a finish.  It is so good to finish one of my old UFOs.  This one was easy to give up on since it is on black fabric.

I bought a little frame last night for the Halloween piece I stitched while on vacation.  I just need to iron it and find the charm. 

 I really don't want to work today.  My shoulders hurt and it is going to rain.  A rainy bargain day is going to be crazy and I have nobody to depend on to help out.  I don't bother to ask any more because nobody responds and I just get irritated.  Sunday night someone else called for help for me which was nice. 

I'm reading the Monogram Murders which is a Hercule Poiroit mystery written by someone other than Agatha Christie.  It has been so long since I read an Agatha Christie that I am able to read without comparing the two.  It's going slow because I just finished reading a series of fast paced spy stories and the pace in this one is so slow compared to those. 

I bought a little set of sequin ornaments that look like pumpkins and a black cat.  This is also going slow because it is a lot more difficult than I expected.  I really should pick the back up and try to finish for Halloween.  But for now it's time to start getting ready for work.

Book Review: The BTC Old Fashioned Grocery Cookbook

The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Southern Revival

 by Alexe Van Beuren and Dixie Grimes 

The B.T.C. cookbook is not what I thought it would be.  (B.T.C. stands for Be The Change)  I was looking for simple home cooking that my grandma and relatives from the south used to make for us when my sister and I were kids.  These recipes are more like you would find on one of the cooking channels for foodies. 

This cookbook was very interesting to read.  It had stories about the grocery store was opened in the small town of Water Valley, Mississippi.  There are back stories about the recipies, the woman that created them and the people who live in Water Valley and come to the shop. 

The recipes sound good but are not the type I would try to make myself.  Most of them use a lot of ingredients, many of which are spices and seasonings.  This makes many of them out of my price range for everyday meals.  Others use ingredients I don't use such as lard.  Many call for alcohol.  There are also hard to find ingredients such as hoop cheese and regional items.  I wish there were suggestions for substitutions listed to make things easier.  All in all it was a beautiful book that I enjoyed reading but will probably never cook from.

I received this book for free from the publisher’s Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.

Book Review: the Chopped Cookbook

The Chopped Cookbook: Use What You've Got to Cook Something Great

by Food Network Kitchens

Let me start by saying I am not a fan of the show Chopped.  My housemate and husband enjoy it so I thought I would give  the book a try.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It is not about creating dishes from weird ingredients like I was afraid it would be. In fact it begins with a pantry list of everyday ingredients people would have on hand. The emphasis is on using what you enjoy and have on hand in a creative way.

There are chapters dedicated to different main ingredients such as pasta, chicken, veggies and deserts.  Many of the recipes have beautiful photos of the dish.  But the best part are the tips.  There are so many of them.  If you don't have this ingredient try one of these. If you prefer spicy or mild or crunchy add or substitute this.  It is the perfect cookbook if you are bored or have a picky eater at home.  As I looked through the pages I found a lot of recipes I want to try and found ideas to change up some of our family favorites.

In addition to the recipes there are guides for making and using different dressings, sauces and grains.  The instructions are clear and easy to follow which I appreciate.  I am sure this cookbook is going to become a family favorite.

I received this book for free from the publisher’s Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.

Book Review - Asian Pickles: Sweet, Sour, Salty, Cured, and Fermented Preserves by Karen Solomon

Asian Pickles:  Sweet, Sour, Salty, Cured, and Fermented Preserves by Karen Solomon

This is a beautiful book with many gorgeous photos.  The recipes are divided into different geographic areas including Japan, Korea. China, India and Southeast Asia.  There is also a glossary, resources and an index as well as a bit about the author.  Each section begins with basic information about the recipes.

The recipes are written for non-Asian cooks and seem easy to follow.  The ingredients are fairly simple and most can be found at our grocery store or local Asian market.  The author also gives some URLs for purchasing items online.  There is a lot of information about how to serve each one and what to serve it with.  Anyone, no matter how much or how little pickling experience they have, should find this book easy to follow.  I have watched whole leaf Kimchi being made and now I look forward to trying it myself.

I received this book for free from the publisher’s Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.

Book Review: For Every Season by Cindy Woodsmall

This is the third book in the Amish Vines and Orchards series. I thought the story ended with this volume but there is a 4th book due out in April of 2014. Some of the King family, Rhoda Byler and Landon Olsen have moved to Maine to establish an orchard and a new Amish community. There is a love triangle between King brothers Samuel and Jacob with Rhoda. Much of this book deals with people not talking things over and trying to do what they believe is right. Part of doing what is right deals with Jacob going to lawyers to clean up the mess from his life working construction. Rhoda must deal with the special gift she has and a past secret she sees about her neighbors. In this book Leah King and Landon Olsen are dealing with their relationship. Leah will have to leave the Amish to continue this relationship. However her family and Rhoda are depending on her to stay with them and help with the orchard. A new character, Iva, comes from Indiana to work at the orchard. She helps Jacob’s friend and her daughter. She does not want to return to Indiana but the King family are not sure about being able to hire anyone at this time. In addition to personal struggles there is still a lot to do to get the orchard established. They need to build a canning kitchen for Rhoda’s products and deal with the weather. I have really enjoyed some of Cindy Woodsmall’s books but this series has not been my favorite. There just seems to be too much going on. Major problems are resolved with a rushed conclusion and the tension between Rhoda and the two brothers drags. I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

Book Review - The Governess of Highland Hall by Carrie Turansky

The Governess of Highland Hall by Carrie Turansky is a Christian period romance set in 1911. It is listed as the first in a series of Edwardian Brides. Romance is not my favorite genre but I enjoyed this book. There were enough stories about the different characters that it kept me interested. Julia, the governess, has moved back to England after working for 12 years as a missionary in India with her parents. Her father is ill and she must work to help the family. They plan to return to India when her father is well. Through the story Julia relies on her faith to help her through everything. Sir William Ramsey, a widower, hired Julia as a governess to his two children and their two older cousins. Each has their own story that is a challenge to Julia. Sir William has a disabled sister who is too shy to step up and take over as mistress of Highland Hall. He is facing loosing the estate if he can not pay the death duty taxes by March. He is being pressured by family to marry a wealthy bride but will he follow his heart and marry for love? I enjoyed this book a lot but feel that the ending was rushed. I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Book Review - The Winnowing Season

I was excited to read The Winnowing Season by Cindy Woodsmall after reading the first book in the series. The previous book ended with the Byler and King families buying an abandoned orchard in Maine and preparing to move there. They intend to revive the orchard and establish an Amish community. From the beginning things don’t go as planned. Jacob takes off to care for a woman from his past. In the meantime Samuel realises he has feelings for Rhoda. Those two stories along with the work involved to get the orchard and settlement going should have been enough but the author decided to add in a story about Rhoda being framed for a crime. I did not enjoy this part of the story. It consisted of a lot of worrying and not so smart actions by various characters. Then all of a sudden it is solved and the book ends without finishing some other points that we have been reading about for a longer period of time. Sorry this sounds vague but any further description would spoil everything. By the end of this book I wanted to slap some sense into Rhoda and I didn’t like Jacob very much any more. I ended up liking Leah, Landon and Samuel more. Even though this was not my favorite Cindy Woodsmall book I am looking forward to the final book in the series to see how everything turns out. In general I have always enjoyed her books. I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Forest Finish

I got all excited to post a picture yesterday but then realized I had not stitched the French knot eyes and noses.  I fixed that this morning and now it is officially finished.

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Blizzard Stitching

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Finally a bear.

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Bear Tree Progress

About 1/3 of the way done.

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A little stitching

Sometimes I end up waiting so I keep tiny projects in my bag.  I haven't touched this in months but was happy to have it today.  Its a little gull on the beach.

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