Lydia

I think she'll fit in fine here.  This doll was fun to make and went together very smoothly except for leaving her dress in too hot an oven and singeing it slightly (oops)--all the more primitive, I say!

...and now, for my next trick...

Another 'stitch in time'.  I started on this doll this afternoon, got the body, arms and legs cut and sewed and stuffed and then had to sadly stop and get ready to attend a banquet the school district was hosting to honour all teachers of loyal service of 20, 25, 30 and 35 years.  Gord has reached his 20 year mark this year, amazing!  I didn't want to stop, partly because I've had so little time lately for doing creative work and mostly because I dread banquets, if I might not know anyone else.  I read the other day, instead of saying, 'I've GOT to do this or that' say 'I GET to do this...'  Attitude is everything.  As it happens, we sat with our life insurance rep and his wife who is a teacher, and had a wonderful time!  After all these years, why can't I just believe that God understands and then trust?

On a different note, I was trying to finish some little jobs around the house and so I was replacing the posts on our 20 year old light fixture since the old ones were white plastic and yellowed and ugly.  I had almost succeeded and was so proud of my accomplishment until...OUCH!!!!

...another one off the list

I've been working on this doll for the last week or two but life has been so busy with working more hours at my job and commitments every evening, that it was hard to find any time!  I just added the finishing touches before I left tonight to play Monday night badminton.  I think she turned out ok, easy as pie to make.  This pattern is one by 'A Stitch in Time'.
(FYI...we won both teams we played :=P )

Random Thoughts

If I believed in re-incarnation (which I don't), I would be convinced that I lived in England a couple of centuries ago.  Maybe its all of those books as a child, first with nursery rhymes read to me and then fairy tales. Reading was my escape from the harsh Manitoba winters we endured, the unkind words of school bullies and not having very much compared with all my schoolmates.  I would get home from school, curl up on my bed and enter the wonderful world of Enid Blyton's Famous Five and have all kinds of adventures.  In high school I loved anything by the Bronte sisters or the darkness of Thomas Hardy's 'Tess of d'Ubervilles' and 'Far from the Madding Crowd'.
The very first time I flew to England as a nineteen-year-old and we were descending over the lush green fields and I saw the miles and miles of hedgerows and stone fences and little villages spotting the countryside, I turned to my friend beside me and said 'I feel like I've come home'.

Ta-Da!

Completion! I just attached her wings and now she's ready for a special spot in the house.  I had to make a slight adjustment when I realized that the fabric I was going to use for her dress was only a fat quarter and wasn't nearly enough but I like this fabric better anyway.

























Now on to the next project...

If I keep up this pace, I may have everything finished by 2038...

A Little Late...but my resolutions for 2011

I truly want to cut WAY back on my frivolous and impulse spending so part of that plan is to complete my countless projects, so many patterns (see list of Unfinished Projects on sidebar!) that I've bought over the last 10 years, many at tradeshows where the selection is oh so tempting!  I am actually ashamed of myself.  Where's the self-control?  I thought maybe by posting a list (I've always loved making lists!) it will inspire me to cross things off before adding anymore to it!

So, as I begin, I am still knitting the swing sweater when sitting in front of the tv, and my first project I hope to work on in my sewing room, from beginning to end is...

...all the supplies are ready so there's no excuses...

Any encouragement & support would be greatly appreciated!

Irish Houses



 

I think this one was actually 'for sale'...

 

One day we stopped in the village of  Cong, where 'The Quiet Man', John Wayne's greatest film, was made in 1951



 Pictures say it all.  In spite of, or perhaps because of so many grey and rainy days, the Irish indulge in window boxes overflowing with colour and homes painted in a rainbow of different colours. 

On the island of Inishmoor