I haven't shared many needlework accomplishments here lately, but as I picked up one of my projects from the framer yesterday, I thought I would let you have a peek. This is where some of my free time, and a small chunk of my money (though I am trying not to buy new needlework materials right now) goes. This design was charted by a company called Historic Stitches. It is actually a reproduction of a sampler stitched in 1885 (that is in the designer's collection) called "John Foster". The original is of British origin, and it contains many Quaker motifs. I thought it was a very handsome sampler, and it was stitched by a young man, which is somewhat unusual. I am particularly fond of beehive motif, which was another draw for me. I will be hanging it in my living room, where hopefully someone other than me will notice it!
Last night I finally got around to watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the first two hours of the Masterpiece Theatre production of The Virgin Queen. As much as I love Johnny Depp, to be quite honest, Charlie sort of creeped me out. I think I will stick with the original Gene Wilder version. They did a pretty good job of remaking it, but Willie Wonka was a little too bizarre, and the whole squirrel scene (however cute the squirrels at their nut cracking job might have been) I found a bit disturbing. I might be the only one who feels this way, though, as most Amazon reviewers seemed to loved it. That's okay, it was just borrowed from the library. I did vastly enjoy the Elizabeth movie. I only caught part of it when it was on PBS earlier this year. I hope to be able to squeeze the last two hours in tonight. I had been working on watching Middlemarch a few weeks back, but I think I will have to start over again as I was watching it in such a disjointed way. Another reason to love your library--rent free movies (and you get to keep them for three weeks).