|
|
|
April 28th, 2009
February 27th, 2009
04:36 pm - hellloooooooo
Well I have not disappeared completely, just relocated, hibernated and am just getting back in the groove after months of dodging lifes little moments. but life in rural cape Breton is still a happy thing. I have not touched needle and thread in ages, but have been making lots of pots, and will be teaching a class at the cape Breton centre for craft and design in march. I am feeling pretty good aboutthe pots, and getting my hands dirty sure feels good after all these years.
|
September 18th, 2008
02:47 pm - round 542 of the battle from hell.
I hate family court, i hate the system that fails children RELENTLESSLY, and I hate that I am powerless to stop the manipulative machinations of the dark side, greedy for possession and using thier powers for evil. I hate that I have to quit a job that was tailor made for me, and leave a home that i love, to return to a place where I have no home, and no job, and be homeless and cold. How is any of this in the best interest of the children? They do not want to go, and they do not want to live with him.
Current Location: home, in beautiful cape breton
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif) depressed
|
June 26th, 2008
10:46 am - Book meme
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've only read 6 and force books upon them ;-)
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials
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. The Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - J.R.R. 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. The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. 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 Meaney - 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' 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 - A.S. 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 - E.B. 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
Current Location: rick and megan's
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/thinking.gif) contemplative
|
June 23rd, 2008
04:34 am - still kicken
Wow. I worked a zillion hours last week. And then I househunted. I still have no house/apartment/hovel. I still have a zillion and a half hours top work this week, and I am very sleepy. But on a happy note, I have worked a bit on my sampler. I started out with a tad bit of blackwork, some borders and fill patterns, but have added a lotus in assisi work. I kind of like it. maybe I will do some more asisi of my own design, branch out a little and do some heraldic animals or something. Its a thought. well must run and start up the golf cart and sling some beer, ta ta. And hope to hear from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) witchicist who is remarkably near me at the moment.....hope we can hang out!!!!!!
liz
Current Location: christie ranch
Current Mood: creative
|
May 14th, 2008
04:20 pm - schola
My oh My, with the move and the working forever hours, I totally forgot about schola. Thank god for the athena thimble meeting last night or I would have mosied along and skipped schola all together! Now I am pretty excited about it, if only I can find garb in the storage unit from hell!. I may have to go naked!!! oh well it wouldn't be the end of the world. I am pretty excited to see what everyone is teaching, I am childless this weekend so I can do whatever I want.within reason of course.
Current Location: rick and megan's
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif) mellow
|
May 13th, 2008
07:48 am - Projects
With the move and the storage and the job hunting, projects have been put aside for the time being, this being said, I found a LOT of my craft related stuff that I had thought lost in the last move. Thanks to the wonderfully organized girl next door, who sorted and compacted my stuff on the back deck, while I lugged and hauled it to storage, I now have stuff semi organized to move on with once I find a place to move to. I brought a little project with me to my sister's house, and will work away at that for the time being.
Current Location: christie ranch
Current Mood: artistic
|
05:46 am - Moving Is HELL
But my neice's boyfriend truly has super human strength. I moved (sort of) this weekend, I am curremtly hanging out at the sister's house, and planning the final stage of house switching. Everything I own with the exception of the children and car , is in a storage unit. and I own considerably less than I did last week, this is probably a good thing. Now for the next stage, the decision is up in the air. what a stressor, AND it's allergy season. grrr.
Current Location: christie ranch
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/tired.gif) tired
|
April 24th, 2008
12:30 pm - water,water everywhere.....
Wow but the water in this here town is high!!!! It has been several years since the floods have threatened our fair shores in such a dramatic way. The ex is working overtime lugging and hauling the paintings at the Beaverbrook, and things are looking a little sketchy with water lapping at the back door. Boy am I glad to be on higher ground! Pictures on the news are all from the big flood of 1973, folks are a little on edge wondering which way she'll go. With current warm temperatures and the amount of snow in the woods, I am betting it will be a doozy.
|
April 17th, 2008
12:54 pm - making cord
At our last Athena's Thimble get together Effric was making some wonderfull looking cord using a foam thingy. I was awe inspired! It was very similar to the kumihimo I have always wanted to try, yet had no tools. Effrics cord apparently inspired Moraith as well as she got one of those foam thingys and has several samples completed. Not to be out done, I now have a foam thingy and am ADDICTED it is so very methodical, and soothing, I am having a blast, and getting some lovely cord in a cherry, pink, navy and white pattern. Now to make a little purse so I can use it as a drawstring. what a great stress beater. I sure needed one!
|
April 16th, 2008
01:36 pm - sleeplessness
After having gone another round on Saturday with the ex, and being soooooo broke I can't afford to cross the street, working for too many hours over the last week and still not able to keep paying the bills, yesterday it all went to the next depth of hell. I would really like to know where the line should be drawn in the sand. How much is too much? How much am I supposed to swallow without going completely apeshit? How am I supposed to take care of the physical, and emotional well being of two kids when I can't even afford food, power and rent .to top it all off I can't sleep.
The sleeplessness is the worst part, cause I lay there and THINK (what a dangerous occupation that is!!!!!!)
Last night I was thinking about income versus outflow, and the conclusion that I have come to is that I will never earn enough on my own to make ends meet. Now this sounds a little self depricating, but truly, I live in a very expensive city. Rent is high, minimum wage is low, and food ain't cheap. Top this off with yet another rate hike from NBPower and there you have a recipe for failure. One person, working minimum wage can barely afford a room, and kraft dinner. I am trying to do it with two kids, and a healthy well balanced diet. It is no wonder I am quickly losing my faculties. But what do you do? Sign the kids over to the ex? the province? do you go out and find the first unsuspecting soul on the street and marry him? A bit old fashioned maybe, but it has been working for centuries. economic partnership with an emotional/physical componant. Am I crazy? is this the solution? or do I need meds? and a winning lotto ticket??In the meantime I applied for three more jobs today.
Current Location: rick and megans
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/confused.gif) confused
|
April 11th, 2008
01:19 pm - kinda grumpy, and slightly more than miffed
I am not sure if I am miffed at myself, the world, or my boss. I may even be miffed at my parents, but the jury is still out on that one, I am positive that their role in my current state of affairs was paved by golden intentions to shape me into a successfull, functional contributing member of society despite the obvious (albeit minor in my eyes) difference in my physicality. I think they made the wrong choice, they probably should have coddled me and told me I would never be able to tie my shoes anyway, so why bother trying. Instead those well meaning souls taught me that if I worked hard and proved myself capable, I could do anything at all in the world. Perserverence and a healthy work ethic would pay off.
WHAT A LOAD OF HOGWASH!!!!!!!!
Apparently showing up for work on time every time, sober, fully clothed, showered , speaking in a polite and articulate manner to both fellow staff and the customers, running full trays of food and drinks for servers who are outside smoking, or just to busy, lazy or incompetent to do it themselves, tending bar when it gets busy, and washing dishes when the dishwasher quits mid shift on a Saturday night, coming in on my day off because someone just didn't show up and not ever breaking so much as one empty beer bottle in eight months of employment are clear indicators that my lack of a few fingers clearly make me incapable of functioning as a server or bartender. I wish I could afford to quit, dramatically mid shift on a busy Friday night, but the forty dollars a week I earn, is too badly needed. Last month I earned fifty dollars less than a single mother on welfare, and I work two jobs. Perhaps tonight I will just prove a point and not clean any tables, or lift any trays, or run any food, I will just stand at the door looking a bit touched and bewildered, I may even try a bit of Doaktown slang on the customers, and wait for the servers to clean the tables,thus causing a backlog of people at the door, If My boss thinks I can't carry a tray, then maybe I should stop doing it. Of course that will only work if he's there, I like most of my coworkers, so making their job harder is not my goal.
Damned work ethic is getting in my way!!!!!!!!!!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/angry.gif) cynical
|
April 8th, 2008
12:13 pm - needlepoint is not for the patience challenged.
I vividly recall learning to count sometime before I attended playschool, confirmed my ability in kindergarten, and was pretty sure I had it all down pat when I acheived a 97% in financial accounting. Apparently this does not translate into being a functional needlepointer. I have picked out and restitched several times in the run of completing my pincussion project. Its pretty, but man is my patience taking a beating!!!!!
 
These lovely little posies are vibrating my eyes, and giving me fits. All because I am mis counting the little holes. But oooooooh she is pretty, and coming right along, may even be done for panelling at crown.
Current Location: library
Current Mood: artistic
|
April 4th, 2008
03:12 pm - needle work insanity
I have two new projects on the go. I am always in need of a change, and a challenge. For me, any type of counted work is a challenge. I just can't seem to commit. Working the heraldic crests for panelling at EKU has however changed me for the better. Though counted work may never be my favourite form, I can now appreciate it as I never have before. Since working on that piece, I have made a blackwork pouch, A blackwork sampler, and have begun a pincushion in needlepoint.
My Pincussion is coming along quite nicely I must say, and I will most definitely have it done for panelling at Crown. I have been stitching away at it in the car while waiting for kids, in the doctors office and anywhere else I have a spare moment. It is a beautiful design, taken from a tiny floral motif in the centre of a letter A in a fourteenth(?) century illuminated manuscript. I did not chart the design myself, it is from a lovely book I found called Medieval Needlepoint by Debby Robinson. Each of the designs in the book are charted directly from period manuscripts, both secular and religious. I have a little over half of the stitching done and then the making up to do. I am considering stuffing it with Bran, but am not sure if there is a better alternative out there. Any suggestions???? Hey Witchicist, any herbal stuff that would work????? This is my first ever attempt at needlepoint, and ya know I think I like it!!!!
The second project I am playing with is lacis, or filet lace. We shall see how that works out. well I am off to work now, another day another dollar.
Current Location: rick and megan's
Current Mood: artistic
|
02:06 pm - My Baby is SOOOOOO smart
Yes a moment of bragging for me. My youngest is making her first piece of garb. She has designed her dress (14th century cotehardie), drafted her pattern, washed, ironed and cut her fabric, constructed the dress, is now hand stitching her tippet sleeves, and is nearly ready to set them in. This has been a wonderful learning experience for both of us. She is learning skills handed down through generations of textile artists on both sides of my family, and I am learning to let go of control and let her fly. (this is the true challenge folks, I tend to be a bit of a control freak)
I am so proud of her. She is documenting all the steps from drawing to finished product, and is taking time to do each step properly. Should all go well, she will have a beautiful turquoise blue cotehardie to wear to Crown with a smattering of embroidery at the wrists and neckline of her underdress.
It's moments of pride like these that make up for all the day to day drudging we do.
Current Location: rick and megan's
Current Mood: impressed
|
March 26th, 2008
09:38 am - Progress!!!.....um, I think
So last night I picked up the surcoat. I was really trying to like it, but the couching was all buckley and not pretty in the least. It seams that after it left the tension of the hoop, the fabric returned to normal and the evil slinky metal threads just wormed around horribly. Fabric was puckery, and I was not happy. For at least an hour, I very gently manipulated the threads with a blunt needle, moved the little **&^*$!!!! s around and flattened em out as best I could. Not bad, but not great. I decided it would have to do, no way was I picking out four complete rows of couched thread on silk duppioni and velvet. Even I am not that crazy.I proceeded to couch down the next double row of said evil silver floss sans hoop. I decided to try couching only through the silk, WOW what a difference. It went rather quickly, soon I had two rows of perfectly smooth liquid silver, it was stunning. I got up and did a little happy dance, felt a huge sense of accomplishment, poured a cup of tea and patted myself on the back. then I looked at it again. The beautiful rows of recently completed couching looked just fabulous, but OMG the previous rows had taken on a whole new level of icky. I put down the surcoat and thought about it for a minute. looked at it again, and knew that it had to go. So there I was picking out every little freaking stitch in the four rows of couching. and re couching each and every row. I now have three parallel bands of two rows of perfectly couched silver on silver silk. it is very pretty. I have started filling in the masonry grout with a slightly stiffer and narrower silver cording, it seems to be giving it a nice depth and a bit of firmness to the embroidery. I am quite happy with the results so far. I am glad that I chose to rip out previous stitches, and carry on with the new method. It was worth it.
I believe that all in life is a learning process, we walk away from each project with a greater understanding of our talents, our stamina and our sanity(or lack thereof) Thusfar, I have learned the following things from this little (read massive) endeavour.
1) Though silver metallic embroidery on silver silk duppioni is STUNNINGLY Beautiful, it hurts your retinas to look at it in anything but the dimmest light while working with it.
2) Silk thread is indeed Very strong and slippery and hard to rip out, especially when you use tiny even little stitches so as to impress anybody who may indeed peek at the backside of your work. That'll learn me!! but it does look sooooooo pretty!
3) It is damned near impossible to photograph the sucker. The sheen of the threads creates problems with showing any detail. I have asked the experts and now have a convoluted plan to bounce light off a ceiling and photograph it without flash. This will greatly impede the photos at each stage of construction plan. My documentation will definitely have a few drawings!!!!!!
4) It is definitely all in the planning, and in knowing when to put it down and pick up something else.
Well that's all I have for now, will attempt the photo thing and post a visual.
cheers all,
Liz
Current Mood: accomplished
|
March 25th, 2008
02:08 pm - Oh the sense of accomplishment......
What a wonderfully productive Easter I had. After sending my various bits and pieces of textile goodies off to Ruantallon, I felt a little antsy to get some loose ends tied up. (being alone in the house for days on end was helpful in this endeavour) After the younguns left on Friday morning I began the first project- I tidied the bottom floor of my house. Yup, Clean kitchen, clean bathroom and semi tidy living room.
Once I had this wonderfully organized space to work in, I began project number two. I made a lovely little pouch for my good friend Darlene. She was nice enough to escort my needlework on its journey so I made her a little blackwork purse for a thank you. It is all done except for the lining and drawstring. It was kind of nice to just sit and stitch in the quiet house, to get in the appropriate time frame I watched Elizabeth the Golden Age while working on it. I am kind of pleased with it, it is nice sometimes to have a small no pressure, no sewing machine project to work on. Making this purse has made me realize that I need to do more hand sewing, I had forgotten the joy and the sense of accomplishment I feel after making some thing from start to finish by hand. I think I shall make a few more small bags as gifts, and try out some new techniques as I go along. I have seen some alms bags online that look like a nice small project to take on, hone up on my research and documentation skills, and expand my stitching knowledge.
The second project I took on this weekend was to complete a cotehardie that for many reasons has been on the back burner for a lot of years. It has been hauled out and looked at many times, but never worked on, now is the time for this special project to be completed. The fabric was a very special gift from someone who is very dear to me, and because of some very rough times we have had, I could not bring myself to work with this fabric. Easter, being a time of rebirth, and new beginnings, just seemed like the right time to work through my feelings and get her done. I worked away at it, and at the stuff in my head/heart. I drove out to Oromocto this morning to have Darlene pin the boobage for me, and by tonight I should be putting a hem in it. It just feels so good.
Current Location: rick and megans
Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Music: street noise
|
March 19th, 2008
03:57 pm - Up and Running
Running being purely figurative. I have no energy for that stuff right now. I am working diligently at getting my needlework done. My current diversion is a cross stitch project for the boy child. I recieved a wonderful book of cross stitch heraldic devices designed by a local artist a few weeks back, I have nearly completed 4 of them. Only 46 to go!!!!, but seriously, I am only doing four for now. They are really wonderful little projects, quick to do and very striking. This is a good thing for me, Large projects in counted work rarely get done in my little world. I am more of a free embroidery kind of girl.
Tonight I have plans to pack up a few pieces of work for panelling at EKU. Unfortunately I cannot afford to make the trip, but Lady Moriath has kindly offered to accompany my work to Ruantallon. She rocks. Digging through my collection of needlework will also give me the opportunity to take some photos that are long overdue.
I think that I will send India's Christening coat, A smocked oufit that I made for her, and the heraldic crests in cross stitch. I was hoping to get some blackwork done, but that can wait until next time. It is more important that I finish the work on my heraldic Surcoat.
Ta for now, liz
Current Location: rick and megan's
Current Mood: artistic
|
|
|
\
