Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was another quick read. I like to have this series of books in my list to use as a buffer between heavier reads. I knew who the muderer was in this one well before the end of the story.


I find that I have become attached to the characters in the story. Though I find the murders intresting and the recipees wonderful. The reall reason that I continue to follow these books is Hannah and Lake Eden.




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All Bones No Magic

Bone Magic by Yasmine Galenorn


My rating: 2 of 5 stars


It was really disappointing to me that I had to fight my way through a book in this series. The easy way that the stories usually progress, was not the case at all with this book. This story seemed more disjointed. Camille and Morio...Camille and Trillion...Smoky and issues that were eluded to but not explained...Iris and her past. There were too many questions and not enough answers. I hope they will be answered later.




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Who Said Being Dead was Boring?

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I found this to be one of the most enlighening, as well as informative books that I have had the pleasure of experiencing.


Mary Roach takes the reader on a journey of the dead, managing to treverse the often perverse situations in which our deceaced have managed to find themselves with humor and often touching grace.


I followed her through the less than auspicious beginnings of the practice of human disection; the second comming of someone's departed as CRASH TEST DUMMIE; human remains as laboratory on the "Body Farm" and so on.


I won't sit here and tell you everything. That would be no fun at all.


Let me just say that this will be the most fun that you will ever have being shocked, abhorred,entertained...but most of all educated.






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Reading Reading Reading

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Gregor and Boots find themselves the subjects of another Underland prophecy. This one mentioning a "pup that holds the Underland up." The destruction of said 'pup' being the Rats' "key to power." The Rats, thinking this pup to be Boots, set out to kill her. The roaches and the people of Regalia, thinking the same thing, set out to keep her alive while at the same time saving themselves by sending Gregor and the child on a quest to kill the "Bane."




I enjoyed this book a lot more than I did the first. The story flows a lot better as a whole and there is not that off-putting distance between Underland/Overland that there was in the first book. The characters relate to each other in more personal ways; drawing the reader in.


This book was also a lot less concerned about the happenings in the Overland. I felt that the Overland was the central orbit for the first story and that somehow made the happenings in the Underword less important. This was a concern for me because the main setting if the story is the Underland and the happenings and people therein.


I am happy to say that 'elephant in the room' so present in the first book has been ushered out; making way for a wonderful and well-written story in the second.


This was another 'can't put down' story. There is something for every age here. The action and adventure is edge of your seat.


I loved it and can't wait for the next book.




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Write Right???

I write like
J. K. Rowling

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Christmas In June!

    This is the magnet and recipe exchange that I recieved from TARA!

She sent me 5 recipes that I can't wait to try and the sweetest magnet ever!

The recipes that I got are:  Mint Chocolate Chip Iced Coffee, Iced Mocha Latte,

Iced Spiced Latte, Lemon-Orange Iced Tea, and Lemon Poppy Seed Bread.

I can't wait to try these!

Thank you sooooo much TARA!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a beautiful RAK from Carla.  She was part

of the Color Exchange that I partnered with Carrie in.

She wrote in her note that when she heard that my

color was blue; she thought that I might like the pattern.

She was so right,  the pattern is beautiful.

I love HUMMINGBIRDS!

You are the greatest CARLA!

This is from Jessie Osborne.  It was a "Pokes and Seeds" exchange.

All I did was to tell her that I liked Dragons and Roses and look at the

GOODIES!!!!!!!!

Thank you sooooooooo much Jessie!!!!!!!

Cookie Dragon is on the top of my todo list!

 Jusst when I thought that it coudn't get any better!

I got this adorable ornie from Susan Marie in the ILCS

Summer Ornie Exchange!

I think that Chase wnts to go to the beach!

I just hope that Susan Marie is as happy with mine

as I am with hers!

Thank you sooooo very much!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to all who sent to me and to those who are waiting to recieve from me

your goodies are on the way!!!!

love,

frishawn

And the Color is Blue!!!!!

This is just part of the treasure trove that I recieved from Carrie in my Color Exchange.  I told her
that my color was blue and hit the mother load.
Hang on there's MORE!!!!!
Can You Believe THAT!!!!!!

Here is the REST!!!!!!!!!

There is still the MUG!!!!!!!

I told Carrie that I would post a pic of that later tonight when I made my favorite TEA!!!!!

THANK YOU SOOOOO
MUCH CARRIE!!!
YOU ROCK!!!!!

One For the Money!...A Great Read

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich



My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I LUV Stephanie Plum...She is the perfect "real life" heroine.

The girl that lets you know that the road to where you want to be doesn't always follow the map that you plotted before you left the house. Getting from A to B with Miss Plum and the wacky cast of characters in this book is definately an sdventure that I wouldn't miss for the world. Stephanie has to be the Forrest Gump of the bail bonds game. Don't count her out! She will get her man and her mother's pot roast.



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The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a book that I found hard to stop reading. I listen to most of my books via my MP3. I found this book captivated me from begining to end. I loved the way that Katniss was able to maintain her girlhood and femininity without losing her ability to survive, love, and be very intelligent at the same time.



There was never a lull in the action or a weak spot in the story...even when no one was being killed!



I loved this book!



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Lions...Tigers...and Wizards, Oh My!

There was no stitching for me this Mother's Day weekend.

I was far to busy beating the bad guys in Wizards 101.

This is tha coolest game EVER.  I started playing it after being introduced to it

by my eldest DD last year.

I then proceeded to hook my best friend ChefTiger and her son

as well as my two other daughters.

I stopped playing for a few months(much to the disappointment of Tiger)

but I was lured back this weekend.

I have a LOT of catching up to do!

There have been so many cool changes since I left

and Tiger is already a level 50 with her main character.

I'm trying my best to catch her way back at 30!

This game is great for all and safe for the kiddies!

If you would like to see what all the fun is about,

follow this link.

https://www.wizard101.com/start

Hope to see you there!

A Whole Lotta BS...

     I think the title says it all.  Today's update is all about the backstitching.  I am NOT a big fan of the BS, but
that very element is what make M Sherry designs soo very cute!  I hope that today will be the day that I finish this piece
for good.  I still have a few confetti stitches that I have to get done in the fish bowl before I can close that out and prep it for final stitches and Mr. Kitty needs a face.
     I don't really have a lot on my plate today housework wise.  So I guess that I will be stitching the day away.
Still listening to "The Onion Girl" by Charles DeLint.  I wish that I could tell you where I was in that because it is REALLY good and getting better.  I don't want to ruin the read for anyone who may be following me down the reading
trail though.
Thanks for listening to me ramble!
Have a great day.

Sleep???? What Sleep???

Well...this is what happens when you tell yourself that you're only going to stitch for a little while; the audiobook gets
waaaaay too good and the house is waaaay too quiet.  By the time I stopped working on this... it was 6:30am and the girls had to be awakened for school.  I know that I'm supposed to be keeping track of my stitches but I lost count somewhere between parts 9 and 12 of Charles DeLint's " The Onion Girl" and have not had the time to go back and have a go at counting.  As you can see though, there has been quite a lot of progress made and soon I am proud to say there will be a finish or two in my future.

The Commoner: My Newset Read

The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz



My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have to say that I was chomping at the bit to read this. After having done so however, I am very disappointed. I had expected a rich, lush and involved story that would paint a masterpiece illustrating the life of it's main charactor Haruko and her life as the first commoner to marry into Japan's Royal Family.

What I got was a minimalist canvas with a few splashes of color here and there.

Relationships between characters were often stitlted, halting and never fully developed or explained. Huruko seemed to spend most of her time lamenting her overbarring mother-in-law, despairing her gilded cage and wondering about what could have been. This book is a good cure for insomnia.



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202 Stitches In

Here is my update on "Fishing Cat" by M Sherry.  I
put in 202 stitches last night while I listened to audiobooks on my computer and stitched by phone with my BFF Chef Tiger.

Stitches and Fur!!!!

Hello World,
I would like to take this time to introduce the newest member of my family

Chase!

He used to belong to my SIL until his mouth had an unfortunate meeting

with her prized heals.

Her Loss...My Happiness!

In stitching news this is one of the two projects that I have going at the present time.

This is Margaret Sherry's "Machanic Dog".  I was having fun with it until I got to the backstitching.

This is turning out to be a BIG PITA!!!!!!!

I finally got tired and gave in to the voice that was calling me to start this...

Margaret Sherry's "Fishing Cat"

What you see here is my progress over the last two nights.

A very dear lady in the Counted Cross Stitch yahoo group

started the 100 Stitch Challange.  It says that you must stitch at least 100

stitches a night for 1 month, at the end of which you get to look back at what you have done.

last night I got 140 stitches in on Mr. Kitty here.

Surfing Pig

Surfing Pig
Originally uploaded by xstitchnmama

Here he is....my 2nd finish for the year 2010. He was such fun to do and I love the sparkle that I added to the sun and water.

St. Paddy's Card

St. Paddy's Card
Originally uploaded by xstitchnmama

This is the card that came with my floss. I feel lucky just looking at the ladybug and shamrock!!!

St. Paddy's Pressies

St. Paddy's Pressies
Originally uploaded by xstitchnmama

This is part of the wonderful St. Paddy's Day exchange in the ILCS group. My partner Ethel gave me the following:
Carrie's Creations
Blue Dreams
Aquamarine
Caramel Apples
Baby Blue
Fall Splendor
Bittersweet
Alex's Inspiration
Thank you so very much Ethel!!!!

March March March March

I would like to wish everyone a happy March!  I hope that each shower is a light sprinkle, all of your clouds come equipt with silver linings and all of the pots at the end of your rainbows are filled to bursting with gold!
     I would like to thank all of my wonderful friends who wished me well with the flood incident.  The house and my stitching time have been restored to their pre-flood status; less minor painting still to be done to a few walls in the kitchen and dining area.
  If all goes as I hope and I can find the missing data cable for my phone I will start the month off right with a stitchy finish.  Just a few more stitches to go on M Sherry's "Surfing Pig." 
     March is also my birth month...so be on the lookout for updates on stitchy and non-stitchy pressies and outings.

My Fairy Name Is

Your fairy is called Water Reedwitch

She is a panpipe player and enchantment singer.

She lives near bubbling brooks where Lords and Ladies and Cuckoo's Pint grow.

She is only seen in the enchanted moment between sleep and waking.

She wears deep blue dresses. She has gentle green butterfly wings.

Get your free fairy name here!

When It Rains...It Pours.

     Yesterday started out wonderfully for me.  I'd informed DH and all who lived with me that it was to be my stitching day, stocked my Netfix list with all of my favorite shows that I could 'view now' on TV while stitching and I was comfy and settled in bed.  Then the dripping started...      Drip...drip...drip..."Oh great!!  The kids left the water on in the sink again."  I thought as I grudgingly put down my Q-snaps and ambled into the bathroom.  The water was off in both the sink and tub.  I stood still and listened.
     Drip...drip...drip..."That sounds like the sink in the kitchen and I am not dealing with that ."  I said to myself heading for the safety of my bed and yelling for DH.

     That was when I heard the words that would change the day as I knew it.  "Oh my God!"  he screamed, "It's raining in the house!"   I listened...and sure enough, the drip had indeed progressed to a running stream.  I put down my stitching and buried myself completely in the covers. 
     I soon discovered that my second guess as to the source of the water had been right...SORT OF.  The water was not coming from the kitchen  sink, but from the ceiling.
"What the hell are they doing up there?"  I thought still hiding.
     It was at that point that DH went out to the neighbors' to find out what was going on.
She told him that she had a leak upstairs and that she had called the complex repairmen to come out.  Thankfully DH called them himself.  As it turned out, she had NOT called and his call was the first they'd heard of the whole affair.
     Meanwhile...The stream was now a river and had spread from the kitchen/dining area to the livingroon and was making its way to the area just above my sofas.  
     I was still hiding.
Until...the arrival of the Police and Fire Rescue who promptly cut all power to the house and declared the place a HAZARD! 
"A HAZARD!"  The words kept repeating in my mind as I sprang from the bed like some sort of demented jack-in-the-box and rooted in my drawers for jeans.  By the time I made my way out of my room; the river was running down the sides of my breakfast bar and various other walls and had soaked the floor outside my bedroom to the point of puddles.
It was at this point that the repairmen arrived.  They had been upstairs and it was 'bad'.
The hot water heater up there had burst and flooded EVERYTHING!
They proceeded to reassure me that they would come and help me after they had handled the mess upstairs.
     While we waited, a strange thing happend.  I went to the bathroom and when I returned my DH was folding the laundry that had come out of the dryer earlier that day.  DH never  folds laundry.
I stood in front of him shocked and speechless for a time before coming back to myself and saying, "I have been trying to get you to fold the laundry for 11 years and all it took was a flood, a forced blackout, the police and the fire department."  He looked up from the pants that he was folding and said, "There was nothing else to do."

The Plumber Said What????

     I was a very happy camper when I opened the door to the ohhh so cute man that smiled and identified himself as "the man who is here to fix my drain."  He went right to work and in less than thirty minutes; my tub was good to go.  As we waited for the repair foremen for my building to return so that he could sign off on the work order; my knight with shining pipe snake turned to me and said, "When I got this call...the first thing that ran through my mind was that I had to meet you and find out what kind of kinky stuff you guys were doing in here."  I laughed so hard that I almost cried.
     After he left, I spent an hour cleaning the mess out of my tub. 
I am thrilled to report that my tub is as good as new and I have been happily using it.
     I stitching news...I have not stitched as of yet, but I plan to work on my bird tonight.

I have Joined the Fairy Garden Party

I have Joined the Fairy Garden Party
Originally uploaded by xstitchnmama

Meet "Orchid" from the Spring Garden Party Collection by Nora Corbett. She is the lastest in the collection but the first for me. I can't wait to start her. I have been hunting around Silkweaver for the perfect fabbie for her. Given the fact that she measures only 6x11; I can use a 13x18 piece. I would love any suggestions that my readers might have as to fabric color choices.

Devil Cat's Food

Devil Cat's Food
Originally uploaded by xstitchnmama

I think the title says it all on this one. I just had to have it!

Fantastic View

Fantastic View
Originally uploaded by xstitchnmama

This is just too cute!!!!! This is one of the newst offerings from Calico Crossroads.

Bent Creek Stashing

Bent Creek Stashing
Originally uploaded by xstitchnmama

This was picked out as a project for DD#2. She picked the threads which are Crescent Colours and the chart is Humbug by Bent Creek. The design origanally called for very dark colors, but DD changed all that! I love her eye for color!!!

Back In the Land of the Living

Hi All,
     I hope that this month finds you all well.  I am doing just fine after a time with no power due to a $1000 dollar power bill.  The power is back on now...(YAY)...but now I have to wait for the repairmen and the plumber to come snake candle wax out of my bathtub drain and fix the hole in the closet wall that they made trying to reach the pipe yesterday.
 I guess I'm going to have to explain the candlewax huh? 
     It seems that DH decided that the candles that we were using to light the livingroom were not giving off enough light.
So....he proceeded to add paper to the candles to achieve the desired effect.  (This turned out to be a good idea for all of about 3 seconds.)  While DD#1 and I watched in horror and DD#2 ran for the door; (she wasn't taking any chances) the fire in the glass grew to heights that I just knew would set off the sprinklers.  After much yelling on my part and insistance that he "knew what he was doing" on the part of DH.  The glass that housed the candle charred and cracked...forcing him to admit defeat.  This ment that he went running into my bathroom with the whole mees on one of my best baking sheets and dumped the entire catastrophy in my TUB!!!!  As if this was not bad enough, he then proceeded to turn on the faucet and and douce the flames with WATER!!!!!!!
     Fire safety rule #1  Oily candle + Large fire = Oil Fire
     This means that is water is used to try to put out said
     fire;there will be and was a FLARE!  What DH should
     have done was to use salt in his efforts.
     HE FORGOT!!!!!
     Do I really need to tell you that when we got the fire out there was wax EVERYWHERE!!!!  Do I???  DH had to scrub the wax off the walls and floor of my tub.  In doing this however, he didn't prevent the floating wax from going down my drain!!!!!!!   Where it has since hardened into a mass of unkown proportions and now requires the ministrations of a plumber, two repairmen and maybe a priest.
     So...here I sit, amid a sea of laundry...waiting and folding.

In stitching news...I am still working on the M Sherry piece that I had the finish on last month.
I am sad to report that there has been more f\rogging going on than stitching so I have no update photo to post.  I hope to get back to work on it soon so that I can have a finish for this month.

Stitches and Love,
Frishawn
   



    

First Finish 2010!!

Here it is...my first finish of 2010!  "Crossword Hedgehogs" from Margaret Sherry by way of Cross Stitcher Magazine's Sports and Hobbies series.

I put that last stitches in this little beauty at 9:42 pm last night.  I am stitching this on 18x27 Country French linen 32 ct.  This is also the first finish that I have had on LINEN!!!!!!  There will be more finishes added to this fabric.  I have the next chart all ready to start and I will start that tonight.

Here I am in Atlanta at my favorite stitching heaven "Abcedarius" in Marietta Ga. This was one of the highlights of my trip, although I did not do any HARD stashing. I just picked up a few odds and ends.
The kids had tons of fun visiting with all of their cousins, aunts, and grands. I thought I would get a ton of stitching done, but sadly that was not to be. There was NEVER enough light. I really missed my pink stitching lamp.
The whole time that I was gone, I was pining fir what I thought was the warmth of home. Wouldn't you know that when we came back Orlando was in the middle of the longest cold snap EVER. (It's still going on BTW) BURRR!
So in short, there are no stitches to show in this update, although there will be very shortly. I hope that this post finds you happy and in great spirits.