Notes from the Lake

Well, it only rained three times yesterday which was a huge bonus - I actually managed to mow 20 of the 100 sites! Since it didn't rain at all today and the sun shone, I was able to finish all the mowing and am caught right up on that job.

The beavers are still determined to destroy what few trees that have managed to grow here on the bald prairie. Sooo frustrating. There are two of their big dams in the canal now so they must be multiplying. More beavers - fewer trees!

Carrying on with my summer reading, I have three Michael Slade books here in my pile.
Kamikaze: Michael Slade is actually a pen name for a father and daughter writing team from Vancouver, BC - more books by Canadians! I enjoyed this because I am familiar with Vancouver and can picture the streets and landmarks they refer to. For murder/mystery fans, Michael Slade is another author you can add to your list. Bit of a warning though - the violence can be quite graphic and gory in these novels. If you can get past that though, or if it doesn't bother you, they are pretty good mysteries jam packed with a lot of authentic information on the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and, in this case, quite a bit of historical facts relating to the World War II as it related to the Pacific region. I have always been disgusted by the use of atomic bombs on Japan and I picked up more information here that reinforced that - gained a better understanding of the political motivations behind it. What a shameful day in history!
Crucified, also by Michael Slade, is a similar mystery/thriller. This one didn't have the Canadian content to catch my interest but was an entertaining read nevertheless. The story was somewhat similar to The Da Vinci Code, and the timeline switched back and forth between WWII in Europe and present day, with additional scenes involving Rommel. Not a bad read
The third in the pile was Bed of Nails. After the second page I knew I had read this one before so didn't bother getting any further into it. If memory serves me correctly, it centered on a mental patient who believed he was Jack the Ripper.

For DVDs, I finally managed to see Slumdog Millionaire. I didn't see it when it was in the theatres and then when dd saw it she told me she couldn't see what all the hype was about. I bought the DVD and it sat there for another year before I finally watched it yesterday. Great movie! I can understand why it won awards.

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Giveaway Day! (CLOSED)

I am very happy to be joining in the Giveaway Day through Sew, Momma, Sew . I have chosen to share one of my finds from a shopping trip, or treasure hunts as I think of them. This is an antique sewing box - I could not resist it when I saw it for sale! Were you able to guess the item from the sneak peek earlier in the week? The box itself is fairly small, 8 inchs X 6 inchs and 4 inches high (20 cm X 15 cm and 10 cm high). From my research it is of Asian origin. Inside the sewing box is lined with hand-painted silk. The inside of the lid features a neat little needlebook. In the bottom of the sewing box there are more beautiful hand-painted blossoms and an attached pincushion. I hope you are as charmed by this little box as I was when I found it and that you will enter my giveaway. I will be pleased to mail internationally so everyone is invited to enter. To enter, visit my Etsy shop and then come back and leave me a...

BAS - Week 79 - Feather Stitch Variations

I have about the next twenty BAS stitches scheduled and by happy coincidence this week's BAS is a series of Feather Stitch variations which coincide with this week's TAST stitch if you are following. So, we can hit two birds with one stone! These hardly look like feather stitch but they are. They are created by making the "v"'s of the feather stitch vertical on the inside. Very simple to do but a different look to an old stitch. The second variation is created by doing two feather stitches at a time on each side, again making sure the inside of your "v"s are vertical and line up as much as possible. Same thing again in this one except they are in series of three. To me these have the look of stitching on old crazy quilts so they are nice to add to your stable of stitch variations. Hope you enjoy them and have fun!

Friday Giveaway - Last Week's Winner & a New Giveaway!

The winner of last week's Friday Giveaway of the current issue of Spin Off magazine is Marilyn! lol - an easy win for Marilyn since she was the only one who left a comment. Marilyn didn't leave an email so I would ask her please to contact me - just leave a comment with your email and I will email you right back to get your mailing information. (I will not publish the comment with your email) If I don't hear back from you by next Friday I will include the magazine in with the prize for next week. Last week I asked for comments suggesting what would make a good giveaway item in the future. Since Marilyn's suggestion was the only one, I will take it! So, this week I will be giving away some specialty threads as Marilyn suggested, along with a package of these great clock charms I just received in the mail. Aren't these great charms? When I found them I bought all that there were in stock, five packages, so I have enough to shar...

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