Back in England

Well I returned just over a week ago now and already we've bought a few kitchen goodies in a quest to make more meals rather than relying on bottled sauces for pasta and quick make noodles etc. We also went on a visit to Ely which was small, quiet and absolutely lovely especially with their food market that was on.

The food market at Ely (my own photo).

After getting an idea on stitches for an occasion, I ordered some more DMC threads. I do hope this brings my stitchy bug back. However I feel like I need to make some progress on trio of poppies especially as it is to be hung in our living room. Therefore apart from my little idea I won't move on to any other cross stitch designs until I've finished the trio.

I decided to buy "Let's get Crafting!'s Knit & Crochet" and found that there are some good beginner designs in there though a lot of it seems to be a theme of stripes! I'm struggling with crochet but I seem to be OK with knitting. My only problem with the knitting needles provided by the magazine is that they are made out of wood and seemingly it is harder to slide the stitches. I had done some knitting as a child and remember it being easier to move the stitches up and down the needle when they were metal. For now I'll persevere with the wooden ones and we'll see what happens.

Having a lovely time!

I finished The Bleeding Land, like The Last Caesar I managed it on a long train journey. The battles were very detailed which gave you a good insight to what it looked like. As for the story I felt like it ended well although there seems to be a follow on in the pipe works.

I've started reading Meridon though haven't had much time to read as I've been busy here...

La Rochelle, France. This photo is one that I took from the top of one of the towers. This is my second visit and I don't think I could tire of the beautiful sights and buildings. There's only a day or two left of my trip here and I've loved every bit of it...well minus the itchy arms and legs from sunburn

Trio of poppies

Well I've not stitched much these past 2 months but once I finish the lower part of the sky I will have the bottom half of the chart completed.

Currently my eye is on a chart in the Heaven and Earth Design sale...well there's a few charts but my wishlist went from 0 to 13 in the space of half an hour! Just one will do as I have plenty of charts sitting here but can't not take advantage of the 50% off. I'll sleep on it and see what I think in the morning. With the long train journeys coming up I hope to get through The Bleeding Land and start on Meridon.

Another good book by Phillipa Gregory

Well yesterday I finished reading The Favoured Child by Phillipa Gregory the second of the Wideacre trilogy, the series had been recommended to me and I have not been disappointed. I was expecting the story to be similar to its predecessor, Wideacre but I was wrong. The book dealt a twist to the story which honestly left me sitting with my mouth hanging open in shock. When reading I kept telling myself that one more chapter wouldn't hurt and before I knew it I had finished the book. Before I read the last installment Meridon, I will read The Bleeding Land by Giles Kristian as part of the Transworld historical reading challenge. On another note one side of my biscornu is almost complete :)

Hi there :)

I finished The Last Caesar not long ago which was a good read about the events to overthrow Nero with a great insight to life for Roman soldiers and the battles they faced. This morning I've just received the next book in the Transworld Historical Reading Challenge The Bleeding Land but that is on hold till I finally finish reading The Favoured Child....

I'm hoping to finish the biscornu I designed soon as it's just been sitting there while I worked on a Trio of Poppies by Maria Diaz, I've still got two thirds to go but I'm pleased with how it's looking.

For now I'm enjoying the Olympic Tennis match between Federer and Istomin.