Project Rotation

I have a confession to make...I'm not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post or not but I'm a serial starter. I start projects all the time but I don't seem to be able to finish them. I posted on one of the forums that I am a serial starter and one lady showed me a rotation schedule. I had also said that I had to finish my four favourite projects before I started anything else. When I found out about this rotation process I jumped at the chance to finish projects that I was no longer excited about.

I took what I learned in that rotation process and created my own. 

I bought a notebook of grid paper and took all my projects that I had going. I couldn't believe that I had ten projects! Only three of those projects are small so that means seven big projects or BAP (big ass project)!

So once I created the chart I started stitching. I work on one project for ten hours and then move onto the next. I haven't made it through the whole rotation and I've already completed a project! (I'll post more about that project later...I'm awfully proud it!) After I've completed ten hours I mark the project with an x, if I complete a project then I mark it with a c and with the amount of hours it took. 

Once I've completed a project I allow myself to start another project. I always have to have a minimum of four projects with a maximum of nine projects, it's a personal rule so I don't get waaay overwhelmed with too many projects. I've gotten more done in the past three weeks than I did all last year! I completed nothing at all last year. 

I have another notebook with lists of projects that I want to do. Some of these projects are already kitted up. My notebook also has lists of different floss colours I need or projects I want to buy. 

Off to do some more stitching! Will post more later!

Happy musings!

Rose Fairy

Well she's finally done!  I finished her on Monday morning this week.

I completed the stitching and all the beading in her dress, the flowers and hair in September 2013. I had thought the extra beading around her would over power the design so I put away for a year an a half to make a final decision. I have other fairies in the collection so I wanted to make sure that if I didn't put the beads on her but decided to do others in the series I couldn't put the beads on those. 

Putting her on my rotation chart made me really think on whether or not I was going to do the rest of the beading. I thought I would do some of the beading and if I didn't like it I could always take them out again and there would be no harm done. 

It turns out that I love how the beads look so I completed it. It took 6.5 hours to complete it!! all the beading took 16.5 hours. This was my first large project with a lot of metallic thread and beading. 

I am very proud of my project to say the least!

Happy Musings!

Life is too short to work on a project you hate!!

I have given up completely on the Jacobean project that I was working on. I started working on it Thursday night and I had to tear out all the work that I did.  I was procrastinating yesterday and ended up writing three blog entries (obviously only posting one...but I promise they will be posted). 

After stopping at Starbucks and the grocery store I sat down and tried working on the project again in a different area and there was another HUGE mistake after working on it for another hour and a half. 

Life is too short to work on a project that you hate or have a project that makes you cry! I decided that I will no longer be working on it. I was ready to trash the project but I have fellow stitchers that are willing to take the project off my hands and work on it and fix it. They are willing to adopt it. 

I don't even want to look at the project right now. So even though there are stitchers that would gracefully take it off my hands I am going to hide it in a drawer for now...I think mostly because I don't want to part with the magazine it is in. 

So I have crossed the Jacobean design off my rotation chart and I have moved on. 

Onwards and upwards!!

Happy musings and stitching!

I will never stitch on linen ever again!

I have to say that I hate working with linen. The weaves are uneven so it makes all my crosses different shapes and I'm struggling with one project in particular. The linen I'm using seems to be lesser quality than some of the linen I've used.

Right now I have three projects on linen and I can't wait to get through all three! I've been so spoiled since I discovered evenweave fabric. I can't even work with Aida cloth anymore.

The above is the project I'm working on right now. I don't like it anymore. My best friend loves it so I think it will go to her when I'm done. It's a Jacobean design and I really liked it when I started it...5 years ago!

I'll do my ten hours on this project and then put away until next rotation. Sometimes I'm sad to put down a project but this one I'm dreading stitching. 

It's cloudy and looks miserable outside today but there's a chinook blowing through. My head hurts so I'll grab some starbucks and get something for supper before I start stitching again. 

Happy stitching and happy musing!

New Adventures Await!

A lot has happened over the last three years.

 I've gotten engaged to a wonderful man!

We are now planning our wedding for August 2016. I never thought I was going to find real love and happiness, let alone get married again! Finding a wedding dress seems like a daunting task but I have a year and a bit to find one. We have decided to get married in the mountains where I love to be.

I'm going to be a farmer's wife. I always knew that I would marry a farmer or a rancher. 

I'll be moving to Minnesota and will miss the mountains but I won't miss the elevation/pressure headaches I get every time the weather decides to change. 

Something else that is new in my life is my puppy Sprocket. I got him in July and he has been my constant shadow ever since. He is either getting into trouble or cuddling at my feet. 

He likes to steal my yarn or my dmc floss bobbins. I think he must have been a cat in a past life!

Those are the major changes that have happened since I last wrote. I will be better at writing and putting my thoughts and adventures here. 

I'm off to put together my stitching corner. I'll post pictures later!

More musings to follow!

Forgive me for disappearing again

Please forgive me for disappearing again. I used to be so good at blogging and keeping up with everything but lately...I have found other things that have occupied my time, both good and not so good. I don't want to concentrate on the bad but instead we shall concentrate on the good.

Good things that happened were that A. and I met in person in Vegas with one of my best friends and her sister and the four of had a great time. A. and I spent a lot of time together and I feel that we have something to work for in the future. Our next trip is to Hawaii in January and I can't wait to go! A. and I talk all the time and skype too. I have had to change my phone plan so that I have unlimited calling to the US so that we can talk without having a $200 phone bill!

This picture was taken after we saw The Phantom of the Opera on our last night in Vegas. We were outside of The Mirage at the volcano show.

We did so much...I was completely exhausted by the time I went to bed!!

That day we went for a buffet lunch, a gondola ride inside The Venetian, went for dinner with R. and her sister and went to see the show...not to mention all that walking too!!

We were sad when we parted ways and it felt like I was leaving part of my heart behind. I haven't felt like this in a long long time and I am so blessed to have met him and to now be his girlfriend.

 I can't wait until our next chance to meet up. He has promised to show me the ocean. Something I have only seen from an airplane flying over Greenland...but he has promised to take me to the beach and now we are planning our trip to Hawaii....but first I need to make my way to Italy.

Happy Musings!!

Changes

I have changed one thing on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 one days list.

I have been having a hard time remembering how many postcards I have sent out so I have taken it off my list. I have instead added going to Las Vegas. Perhaps it is kind of a cheat since I leave for Vegas on Saturday next week but since I always have wanted to go...I have decided to add it to my list...besides it's my list...my life and frankly I can do whatever I want.

Since I left my ex I have concentrated one me and what I want to do. He never wanted to do anything and it was a fight to get him to do anything over the weekend...usually I went to my bestie's house and we had a great time. Her DH calls me the other wife since I am (or was...we have both been very sick lately) there all the time.

I can't wait until we are both feeling better and we can hang out again. It has been a long while since we've seen each other and I miss her.

I am going to be staying at the Paris hotel along the strip. I am so excited!! This is the first time I am flying anywhere on my own! I won't be in LV on my own though, I will be going with a couple of friends. We're just all meeting there. :)

I feel kind of grown up traveling on my own. I don't ever think I will feel like I am a grown up.  There is part of me that I know is bouncing from one idea to the next, my dad says that I get that from him. The other part of me wants to settle down and stay in place.

I'm itching to be on my way and try something new again...

Maybe I need to do some stitching or pick up a new crochet project...my friend Andy did ask me to make him a blanket like the one I made myself. I have to find the right type of yarn...

More Musings to follow.

~M

I feel like a fraud

I went to Church on Sunday and something kept nagging at me. I love going to the Lutheran Church, a very good friend of mine told me about it and thought I would enjoy it because of the issues I have been having with the Catholic Church. I was raised Catholic and even though I liked going I never felt welcome there.

The first time I went to the Lutheran Church I felt welcomed right away. Everyone was happy and said good morning to me with a smile on their face. It didn't feel like they felt like they had to be there like in any Catholic Church I have been to. I met a wonderful lady and her husband and now we all sit together at Church.

The pastor even recognised that I was new the first time I was there and thanked me for coming. I get a smile from those around me every time I amt here.

I feel like a fraud because I am Catholic but I feel more connected to the Lutheran Church. There isn't any kneeling, there isn't communion every Sunday, some of the things that we say are different in mass but I am comfortable there. I feel at home.

I feel like part of me is betraying my Catholic Faith by going to the Lutheran Church. I feel at home there. Am I turning my back on my faith? I still believe in God, the Lutheran Church is the closest to the Catholic Church. I'm just happier believing and practicing my faith in a different way.

I am going to talk to my pastor about this. I feel very confused.

~M

Out of a Funk

I have been in a non-writing funk for the last six weeks or so. I have had absolutely no ambition to write whatsoever, which is highly unusual for me. I am always writing a story or a skit with a dear friend of mine or blogging and yet...I couldn't of been bothered with  any of that. I have even had trouble with my postcards (again so out of character for me).

Seeing a close friend of mine starting up his blog and reading some of his posts (although the wallpaper on his blog scares me) has inspired me to get back to my writing. Angel has always nudged me (well since I have known him) to write and get my thoughts out on paper. I have even joined a Startrek sim again and have been writing with another couple of friends.


The itch to start writing again has been nagging at me for the last couple of days and I have finally been able to find the time to sit down and start writing again. I have missed writing, and at this particular moment my mood is dark and my characters in my writing have reflected this. Hopefully I will be able to pull my characters out of their (or rather my) funk so I don't have to end up killing them off in the plots. I become attached to them and I do not like killing off my characters in my stories if it can be avoided.

More musings to follow...I am off to grab some breakfast and go to Church....perhaps that I will pick up my mood a bit and let my writing become more cheerful.

~M

I have my postcards...what about you?

I love snail mail. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love sending out postcards and receiving them in return. I also have pen pals all over the world. I say that I only work so I can sustain my postcarding habit.

I belong to three postcard groups and am quite active in two out of the three.

Postcardcafe is a small group (well..relatively compared to a couple of other groups I belong to) of people that exchange cards with each other. Every month we have a special round that you can sign up for and exchange themed postcards. People also post if they have any offers for exchange, it's great too if you are looking for a specific kind of card...usually someone has one! Postcardcafe feels like a close tight knit community of friends, I love sharing postcards with this group of friends.

Postcrossing is a much bigger community with hundreds of thousands of postcard addicts exchanging postcards. It works differently as well. After you sign up you can request up to five addresses to send postcards to. After you send the postcard with the special ID code on it and it is registered by the receiver your name enters a queue and a postcard is sent you by another random user. You never know who is going to send you a card or where it is coming from. I think that is one of the best part.

Both groups make me and my mailbox happy. Even if I am having a bad day I almost always come home to find postcards in my mailbox, it always makes me smile.

Total of postcards sent 29/1000

I have 931 days left to finish the above task!! No problem!!

Happy Musings!!

Nearly a Week

It has been nearly a week since I last posted anything...my job seems to be getting in the way of my blogging and my general craftiness! lol. That being said though, I am loving my job and the people that I work with. I think that it also helps that I brought in rice krispy squares, lol. EVERYONE (including those that weren't in my direct dept) were at my desk looking for snacks on Friday lol.

I have decided which trip I am going to do in October...I just need to figure out which days I am going to be going! This is the trip that I have decided to take. I am BEYOND excited that I will be able to take a holiday this year. I am technically going on my own but I will be part of a tour group. This is the first thing I am truly doing on my own without really knowing the people I am traveling with beforehand. Part of that terrifies me and the other part is screaming for this adventure.

I will have so many stories of this adventure when I return home. I can't wait to write about it all.

I am sick with a cold...and now have to attempt to get some rest.

Happy Musings.

I-T-A-L-Y

Today was my first day of work. I had an amazing time!! Everyone is so nice...and no one's thumb is stuck up their ass...(like at my last job)...or at least from what I have seen and I have met the team a couple of times before. I am given two weeks holidays this year, which I think is totally amazing since you normally don't get holidays until after you have worked for the company for a year.

So if you haven't guessed where I am taking my holiday...I've decided that this year I am going to Italy for two weeks on a Trafalgar tour! With my fibromyalgia I have decided to do a tour instead of doing a trip on my own...plus this way it is less stressful and I leave all the planning to someone else.

I just have to decide if I want to go for 11 days or if I should for 14 days. The 14 day tour has a day trip to Switzerland and the 11 day tour only goes to Italy.

Tough decisions right? I have set up hyperlinks to both the tours I am looking at.

11 day tour

14 day tour

Both the tours go to Verona and stop at Juliet's Balcony. Not only is it the balcony from Shakespeare's famous play but it is also the setting in the movie "Letters to Juliet".

I have to say that I love the play (even though it is a tragedy) and I am absolutely in love with the movie. How could I go to Italy and not visit one of the most inspiring places of love?


Once I have decided on the date of when I am leaving my countdown will begin. I am terrible about that...but I know it will. It happened on my last two trips to Europe, so be prepared for a constant update on that front!!

Happy Musings!!

Dangerous to Know

This is the fourth book that I have read in my goal to read 101 novels in 1000 days. It shouldn't be difficult...but I get easily distracted by my crafts, or my postcards, or guides....or geocaching...OMG!! Can we say ADHD Manda??? Want to go for a bike ride??

Read "Tears of Pearl" before you read Dangerous to know...it picks up very close to the ending of Tears of Pearl. I wasn't paying attention and picked up Dangerous to Know before the other one. I wasn't sure that I wanted to to read the previous book...but since I own it, I know I eventually will.

I am still undecided about how I feel about this book to be honest. I had the murderer down to two suspects by the middle of the book although I have to admit that I had it wrong until the 'ah-ha' moment.

I cried when I read this book, with everything that Emily went through all I wanted to do was give her a hug. I have felt the way she did...to an extent. I am as emotional as her at times...I wear my heart on my sleeve. If someone doesn't like me I take it personally and I try and figure out why (after I have had my pout).

This book takes place in Normandy in 1892 at her new mother-in-law's house. A young woman is killed and Emily is the one that finds the body. Her new husband, Colin, doesn't want her to help him with the investigation as she had done with previous cases because of what she had recently suffered. She takes great offense to this because they had agreed that if she were to marry Colin she would keep her independence.

I feel like I can relate to Emily on some level. I may not be a rich woman or a detective but her stubbornness and independence I can. I use to be meek and mousy, now I have a new found independence and I am afraid that if I am with someone...if he doesn't understand...that I will lose that again and I don't want to.

Emily found a new sense of self after her first husband was murdered. I found a new sense of self after I left my husband. I wasn't under his thumb anymore. It scared me at first when I left, I moved back home to my parents house and I asked for nearly everything. I asked if it was okay if I ate something...or if I went out with one of my girlfriends. There are times when I still catch myself asking if I can have a can a pop or an apple.

Now...I like the new me...someone that answers to no one but herself. Some people haven't liked the change and I have had to stop talking to them...while other people like Andy has embraced the new me and has told me how proud he is of me. My parents have noticed the change too and when I get overly emotional or I get really quiet they suggest that I go back to see my counselor. They are proud of me too, they are proud that I was able to leave the situation I was in. I thank every single person that is proud of me.

Most important...I am proud of me.

I like how Emily stands up for what she believes in and how she always holds her head up high even when those around her don't think that she has done the right thing. She truly is my new favourite character.

My 101 things in 1000 days Project

I was terrible and lost track of how many postcards I had sent out...my original goal was to send out 750 postcards but I have now bumped it up to 1000. Am I crazy? Quite possibly...but I have 944 days to send out 1000 postcards and I am sure that I can handle it!

I have also completed another task without even realising that I had it on my list...DUH!! I didn't think that I had put it on my list, I had put 'get a job' on that list. I had a job, it wasn't very consistent...I was temping but now I have a real job and I can't wait to get going on it! And now that I have this job I can start putting $100 aside for every challenge that I have completed.

Do you realise that I will have $10,100 in my savings when I have completed all the items on my list? Perhaps I will use it to take a fantastic trip somewhere...somewhere I probably would never go...Perhaps I will to South America and snorkel with the penguins...A girl can dream right?!? I think I will do that trip next year...

I am going to go through my list over this weekend and see what I can complete before Fall 2013 to make sure that I have that money put aside for the trip. OK, so this my plan. I want this holiday more than anything.

Now that I have gotten slightly off topic...

I have seven items completed:

1. My Crochet Blanket
2. Donate to Kiva
3. Walk in the Rain
4. Go to the Zoo
5. Buy a Zoo Membership
6. Get a Job
7. Go to Dinner by myself

Only 94 more things to go!!

My Blanket

I finished another item on my 101 things in 1001 days. I am making progress on other items as well but I have not kept track as well as I should...I keep forgetting with the postcards (which is really bad!!)

But onto my favourite completion...(even if at the end it was anti-climatic). I finished crocheting my blanket!! When I got to the end it was anti climatic because all I had to do was weave the yarn back into the knots and then it was done...I said 'What??! That's it?!?! Ugh!!'

The first picture is fuzzy (sorry for the quality, it was taken with my phone), but is shows the socks that my mami had knitted me and when she made them she didn't realise how much they would match with the blanket that I was matching. We both thought it was quite hilarious!

This picture when near the end of the blanket, I had six more double rows left and a row of single crochets. I had been doing double crochets my whole blanket (except the first two rows to start it) I had completely forgot how to do single crochets. Mami had to show me how to do them.

I finished the blanket while I was watching The Oscars. Speaking of which...I bought the DVD The Help...must watch that tomorrow lol!!

I have four more items on my UFO list at the moment but I am unsure which one to work on...although I believe that the last four are all on my 100 things list...and if not...they should be!! I will have to look at that more later. Perhaps while I am more awake? I am itching to do something crafty again...between geocaching, me being crafty and my postcards...oh!! Not to mention my blogging I wonder how I find time to breathe some days!

I love my blanket! I am always using it...if I am cuddled on the couch or if I am sleeping in my bed it is with me. I suppose you could say that it is a security blanket of sorts!! I don't think it's a bad thing though, it is good to have something that brings you comfort...I just won't take it out of the house like Linus does from Charlie Brown...or suck my thumb :P

Happy Musings...

Too Long!! (A totally random post)

I am sorry that it has been too long since I last posted anything. I have been sick and really tired with my fibromyalgia and haven't felt like doing much of anything. and that includes posting...I'm sorry for that.

I'm back now and I hope to be back to posting regularly again.

I got a new job!!! I am a certification administrator (a mouthful I know!)  I haven't started yet...start on Monday so I will let you know what all that entails over the next few weeks.

Hmmm....today being the leap day and with that came a special badge you could get if you found a cache today. Since I was going to the monthly pizza and beer event I would get the badge but Geodreamcacher said that he would give me a ride home (thanks!!) and we stopped and his daughter and I grabbed a cache on the way home!

I was able to drop two of the coins in my possession at the event so now Geodreamcacher has one and Kinderken has the other. I grabbed a couple to move along and might take pictures when I move them. I haven't quite decided yet.

Super exhausted, off to watch Survivor (guilty pleasure) and then off to bed. I must fix the coordinates for my micro cache tomorrow and perhaps I will go find a couple of caches along my journey...I feel the need to cache again. I need to cache!!

I built my very own cache!!

 Last time Heather and I went geocaching I forgot my camera in her van. Needless to say I was quite upset with myself. She sent it back to me with a mutual friend of ours and I got it back the following Monday when we met downtown before work started. Inside the bag was a bunch of goodies to make caches, on the left is one of the containers that Heather nicely supplied. This lock 'n' lock container is perfect for a cache because as long as fellow cachers close it properly it will stay free of water.

I had bought some camouflage duct tape from Bass Pro that turned out to be completely useless (like the store)...I went to return it today because the layer of the camo was stuck on the tape and rendered it completely faulty.  Bass Pro is completely useless because when I asked if they had another brand of camo tape they looked at my like I was on glue. It will be a very bad day indeed if I have to shop there again! 

I went to another store (that is thankfully across the street from my house) and I found some new camo duct tape and it works a lot better as you can see from the picture on the left. It took me awhile to completely cover it but I think I should be able to hide it fairly well.

 Look at all the fun goodies I have placed inside the cache!! There is a logbook, pencils, pencil sharpener, batteries (for those who forget their batteries for their GPS), a FTF (first to find) prize - starbucks gift card, and other little trinkets.






I can't wait to place it tomorrow!! My First Cache ever!!!

Travel Bugs and Geocoins

Besides writing a lot about Lady Emily Ashton I seem to also be writing a lot of about Geocaching. I have to say that I can't believe that I had let this hobby of mine lapse for so long!! What on Earth was I thinking??

Today after stopping at the library I went to the Starbucks in the bookstore with one goal in mind. To get a $5 gift card from SB to put as a prize in my cache I am 'releasing into the wild' this weekend. I ran into a guiding friend of mine and when she asked me what I was doing there I said that I was on my way to find a cache. She got all excited and asked me to move a geocoin for her to which I readily agreed. Leanne had it in her possession for awhile and I was glad to take it off her hands. :)

 Are some of you still thinking "what the heck is a geocoin?" The image to the left is the one that I took off Leanne's hands today. It has a special tracking code on it and it is tracked and logged on www.geocaching.com

These are a couple of the geocoins I own. I am going to try and get another one like it so that I can keep one and send one out. I really like the gnome one!! (Hence, the reason why I want to keep one and then send one out). Travel bugs and geocoins also occasionally go missing so it would be nice to have an extra...especially for my own collection.

Now...onto travel bugs. My mission today was to release one of the travel bugs today. A travel bug is basically the same as a geocoin only it can be anything...from a small stuffy with the TB dog tag to a figurine with the dog tag with the special tracking number.

This is the "My Little Pony" travel bug that I have created. I bought the little figure at Toys 'r' us and attached the dog tag. I registered the dog tag and she was ready to go. I will have two other 'my little pony' travel bugs as soon as I can find my other dog tags lol!!

I started this one on Sunday when I went out to try and find a couple of caches but didn't place her anywhere. I think she will be happy in the cache I placed her in and I can't wait to see where she travels. Perhaps I will post how many KMs she travels once a month depending on how much and how far she travels.

Off to plan my next geocaching adventure. I think I am going to grab some caches after my interview and my dentist appointment tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

More Musings to follow!

~Manda

My Friend, Lady Ashton

I seem to be writing a lot about Lady Ashton lately but I can't seem to be able to put down Tasha Alexander's books. I finished "A Fatal Waltz" last night and I loved it. It was full of adventure and intrigue like the other books.

There was one critic that said something along the lines of  'if Jane Austen had written the Da Vinci Code, it would of been this." When they were asked what they thought of "Only to Deceive"...the first book. I tend to agree with that critic.

In "A Fatal Waltz" Emily has been asked by her best friend, Ivy, to join a party. Lord Fortescue and Countess Kristiana von Lange are making her life hell. Lord Fortescue is murdered and Ivy's husband is accused of the crime because of Lord Fortescue threatening to end Robert's (Ivy's husband) political career.

Emily is sent to clear Robert's name before he is hanged for a crime that he has not committed.

I thought I had the murder solved after I was about halfway through but there are twists and turns that I really didn't see coming to be honest...or I was so focused on Emily that I wasn't paying attention to the clues. I would make a poor detective!!

I just started reading "Dangerous to Know" and I have placed "A Poisoned Season" on hold at the library.  I'm kind of sad that there are only two other books after the one I have started reading of Lady Ashton. I will have to find another series or another author to read. It does seem a bit tedious though doesn't it?

Nano Caches *Spoilers*

The smallest of all geocaches are called 'Nano Caches'. They seem to be the bane of my existence! The hardest one that I found was in Airdrie in a metal picnic basket. Heather (my caching buddy) was looking everywhere and I was determined to discover it in the basket. I eventually found it after looking in the same dang spot numerous times!!

Over this past weekend Heather and I found two nano's. This one is our favourite one:

Here is Heather and Miss V (our geocacher in training) at our nano geocache site. Miss V likes the bigger caches that have little toys in them so she can trade something. Even in ones this small she asks if there is something that she can trade!
Very cute.

 There is a little magnet on the bottom of it and it was hidden where the chain would connect to the anchor to the ship.

This cache was no bigger than the top joint of my index finger. If I had dropped the bottom in the rocks I would of been in some serious trouble since the ground was covered by rocks. It is these kind of caches that make me wish I had magnetic hands lol!!...or at least my ring was magnetic!