ufos, austen, and tarot cards

Of course everyone is aware that the first two are both valid stitching topics – I’m working on Bushel & A Peck by La-D-Da and I want to be working on one of Tanya’s Jane Austen designs ever since joining her Yahoo! group. Since I’m unable to stitch two designs simultaneously, I took a short break from Bushel to take this quiz and find out once and for all which Austen character I am.

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!

You scored as a Elizabeth Bennet

As one of Austen’s most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet represents what most women would like to become: strong, independent, and loyal. Of course, she has her faults including a stubborn will of iron and a clinging to first impressions. Overall, Lizzie is bright and lovable…something to admire and aspire to.

Elizabeth Bennet 84% Elinor Dashwood 78% Marianne Dashwood 56% Emma Woodhouse 56% Jane Bennet 53% Charlotte Lucas 41% Lady Catherine 31%

It is a long quiz, but it’s all in good fun.

So, where am I now with Terra’s wedding sampler? I almost lugged the sewing machine downstairs to finish-finish yesterday’s Sleep Tight happy dance, but I decided to work more on this UFO instead. I love the idea of finally completing all the UFO’s I’ve hidden away. Anyway, I got a bit of a late start due to a general feeling of Sunday laziness. It’s funny – as a child, I really dreaded Sunday because it was so boring; as an adult, it’s my favorite day of the week. Here in the Netherlands, you have no choice but to stay home with your family because nothing’s open (unless you live in a big city like Amsterdam, or if it’s a special ’shopping Sunday’). As you may have noticed, I like nothing better than staying home with my family. Or going out and enjoying a nice walk or bike ride with the same chaotic crew if the weather is agreeable.

Anyway, here is the current standing on Terra’s wedding gift – I only wish I’d had more time to stitch today!

For those who don’t know, Terra was one of two very special friends who helped Niek and I get our romance off the ground. Terra was my trusty babysitter and fashion advisor. Niek still talks about the outfit I wore for our first date, and I owe that totally to Terra’s excellent advice. Left to my own devices, I may have made such a blunder that there’d have been no second date. LOL! Unfortunately (for me), after a few years in the Netherlands she decided to return to her native Canada … and we miss her still, though she’s been gone for over five years now!

It’s been awhile since I talked about books – mainly because I haven’t read much, and what I’ve read hasn’t impressed me. I recently finished Sepulchre by Kate Mosse (and those who’ve read it recognize the tie-in with the tarot cards mentioned in the title). I started this while in the hospital with Arden and I was quite pleased with the beginning. The parts of the novel that deal with the characters from the past is, IMHO, pretty compelling. I felt caught up with the characters and with their plight, even when it stretched credulity. Unfortunately, I found the modern characters unbelievable two-dimensional ’sketches’, as if Mosse had intended to better develop them and their story but ran out of time. The ending of the modern part of the story, with the evil uncle finally getting what he deserved was absolutely unbelievable. If one of the members from my old fiction class at Brandeis taught by Sue Miller had written that ending, you can rest assured that Ms Miller would’ve raised blisters with her criticism and comments. And rightly so. To those who enjoyed the novel, I apologize if I’ve offended. This is just my little opinion – that and a buck fifty will get you a decent cup of coffee someplace.

After feeding Arden this afternoon, he got all snuggly on my lap so I decided to try to snap some one-handed photos of him. I think he looks like he’s smiling slightly in the first one. Nicky decided to creep in for a bit of the action in the second one. Is that an adorable face, or what?

And before I sign off for the day, I have to share that Ruth nominated me for You Make My Day! Ruth’s a fabulously talented crafter who originally hails from Australia but who’s bravely gone off to South Africa for a few years. She also has the cutest baby girl believable. I’m so happy to have met Ruth online – another reason to be ever-so-thankful for the Internet!

I’m not going to nominate anyone because it’s just impossible for me to narrow the list of blogs that make my day down to a mere ten. I have about 150 feeds and I treasure each blog in there for the writer’s unique insights, humor, creativity, goodwill, wryness, and other talents. You guys and gals ALL make my day!