Out of my pile of Christmas projects I managed to finish one thing over the holiday. I'm not quite sure what I will make out of it. It was designed as a Christmas ornament, but I will probably finish it as a pinkeep (which looks like this). If I'm feeling especially industrious I will actually do the finishing over my break rather than adding it to my 'stitched but not finished' bin!
I've already started a new project. Instead of browsing through my bins and pulling out lots of different projects (which usually then just sit by my bed for weeks before noticing them and then deciding I'm not really in the mood for them after all), I've just picked one that I really like and started stitching. It's always those first stitches that are hardest. Once a few motifs are there I tend to be more interested in adding to them and making progress. Well, we'll see if it works this time. This is called "Sampler Farm" by The Goode Huswife. I wonder how much I can stitch in a week's time?
I don't expect to be out and about much this coming week while I'm on vacation. This holiday was a bit of a bust thanks to the snow. Plow trucks have still not cleared my street yet (three days after the snow has stopped) and someone decided to abandon their car partially in an intersection at the top of my hill making things even more messy (I don't think a plow can even get through). It's a bit disappointing not being able to see friends who are in town over the holidays or hang with family. If nothing else it would be nice if the sun decided to poke through the clouds just a bit as it makes for very dreary days. I'll stick with my reading (stitching and my Inspector Lynley marathon--am on season three).
I don't think I'm going to finish the last two books from my end of the year pile. If not, I'll just carry them over. It's taking me ages to read Wives and Daughters, though I'm going to make a push to get through the last 300 pages before Thursday night. And I'm really enjoying The Alchemy of Paint, but there's just too much information which makes it impossible to breeze through it, nor would I want to.
I'm juggling a few other books, though, and enjoying them enormously. If I was a little disappointed by The Last Kashmiri Rose, A Duty to the Dead is completely making up for it. From the first page I've been totally engaged with the story, which is quite action packed at the start at least. I've also been reading Rumer Godden's The Greengage Summer. If I finish it before the end of the year it may well make my favorites list! I'm so glad I was asked to read along or it would be sitting buried in a book pile right now! I've also been dipping into The Greatest Knight, which is another totally absorbing reading and pure escapism. I'm still eying this pile, though I'm trying hard not to start too many new books. I won't be starting the new year with quite the small stack of books as I had hoped, but I guess by now I should know I just can't kick the book habit and be happy with my piles (no matter how towering they become).
I expect the rest of my posts this week will be to wrap up my reading year. I've not looked at my list of books read yet, though I have a few in mind that stick out as favorites. And I have a few (hopefully very few) plans for next year, but I'll save those for the next few days. Is it just me, or does it seem like 2009 simply flew by? I don't think I'm ready for 2010 yet.