Wild Mage series

Another four books have been devoured. Similar to the ‘Song of the Lioness’ series, the ‘Wild Magic’ series is an incredible read. Again they are geared for young teenagers but they are such fantastic stories and exciting writing that I read them over and over. This series follows Daine, a young girl with Wild Magic. It gives her the ability to speak to animals, heal them and even shape shift into them. It’s another great series from Tamora Pierce that incorporates characters from the ‘Song of the Lioness’ series (it is set in the same place, just a few years on).

They are truly wonderful books and I wish there were more!

The Touch

I finished an amazing book today. It was ‘The Touch’ by Colleen McCulloch. I have read some others by her;  ‘The Thornbirds’ (probably her most well known), ‘Angel Puss’ (one of my favourite books) and ‘On, Off’ (a creepy psychological thriller). I am very happy to say that ‘The Touch’ completely lived up to my expectations. Her style of writing is so engaging. I spent most of Friday night finishing it because I couldn’t put it down. 

It is the story of Elizabeth, sent from Scotland to live in Australia circa. 1867. She is sent to marry a man she has never met, Alexander Kinross. Alexander has made his fortune in gold and built an entire town around himself, it also being called Kinross. The story follows the journey of Elizabeth,  Alexander, Ruby (Alexander’s mistress) and their children through to 1890.

It is a truly wonderful story. Colleen McCulloch is one of the best writers around and if you liked her previous stuff, you would love this. This book was another Bookfest find and another one that will be handed on for AJ to read (although I’m not sure she has read the others I’ve passed on yet).

Skirt Progress

So close, yet so far....

I am so close to finishing my skirt but still not quite there. I finished the yoke and the facing and put in the zipper. I have now discovered that zippers are not fun. I got a little bit frustrated when I couldn’t get it sit right but luckily Bron was there to help me. I have decided that I am just going to have to do zipper after zipper until I get used to them. They will not beat me!!! My next challenge will be an invisible zipper, which I am told has a completely different technique.

My skirt is nearly done, I just have to finish off where the zipper joins the yoke and finish the bottom stripe of colour which will be simple. I would have liked to have got it finished yesterday but I got hung up on the zipper and ran out of time.

My next project will be one of my dresses and I have set myself the daunting task of having it finished in time to wear to my birthday. This will mean that I will have to do a lot of sewing at home on my own, which is a little scary but also exciting. I am getting much more confident on my machine now so I should be ok. I am still going to continue classes though because there is an unbelievable amount still to learn.

Trickster series

My love affair with Tamora Pierce’s writing continues. This series was actually the one that got me started on her writing. I read it as one book (rather than spilt into the two as a series) and just fell in love. It is actually the more recent of the books of Tortall (the fictional land where this series, Lioness and Wild Mage is set) and the way that histories, events and people from the previous series are interwoven is truly spectacular. When you first read it you don’t notice but when you read it after reading the other two series there are multitudes of ‘ah ha’ or ‘awww’ moments when you associate back to the other series.

This is the story of Ally, a young girl who is captured as a slave and sent to work for an upper class family. However the family, the Balitangs, and their household are not all they seem. They are the main conspirators in a plot to overthrow twisted dictatorship under which they live and install a rightful queen on the throne. It falls to Ally (with the help of the Gods) to use her considerable talents to help achieve their goals.

Although most of Tamora Pierce’s books are geared towards teenagers they are truly engaging and great reads, even for adults. Definitely some of my favourite books!

Pin Cushions

Mandy’s Quilt-A-Long is next weekend. I am very much looking forward to it but I am not feeling at all prepared. My charm squares I ordered off Etsy haven’t arrived so I not able to buy backing, sashings, bindings etc until I see exactly what I have to match it with. Fingers crossed, crossed, crossed they arrive this week or I don’t know what I’ll be doing on Saturday!

As part of the quilt-a-long day there will be goody bags that everyone will be contributing to. As my contribution I made some very funky pin cushions.  

 Inspired by Carolyn's Homework, Sew a Straight Line, Hungry Hippie (found on Tip Junkie with some other amazing but more complicated pin cushions) and some craftiness of my own I followed their tutorials (for the most part) and this is what I produced.

They aren’t 100% professional looking, there are some minor glitches but I think they look pretty darn awesome and I’m proud that I made them.

Fabric Star

Felt Flower

Felt Cupcake

Denim Twist

Fabric and Foam Giftbox

100+ challenge blitz

This week I finished four books. It’s a little bit of a cheat because they are teenage fiction and I have read them all before but it is truly a great story written by Tamora Pierce and I could happily read them over and over again (which I have!!). But this is the first time I have read the series since starting the 100+ challenge so it still counts.

The series is called ‘Song of the Lioness’ . It is split into four books called ‘Alanna: The First Adventure’, ‘In The Hand of the Goddess’,  ‘Woman Who Rides Like a Man’ and ‘Lioness Rampant’. The series follows the story of Alanna, a young girl who dreams of becoming a knight. She disguises herself as a boy and heads to the palace to fulfil her dream. It is a great series, wonderfully written and so easy to read yet so engaging. 

Messages of Love

Today I got a lovely surprise. Actually two lovely surprises. They were text messages from friends, out of the blue. Just simple text messages saying they were thinking of me and checking I was ok. This may not sound exciting or even particularly special to some people but this morning I was feeling a little bit down and the fact that at least two people in this world  were thinking about me and wishing me good things truly meant a lot to me and made me feel a whole lot better.

Getting those two message of love and friendship cheered me up immensely and so I felt I owed it to the universe to pass on those good feelings to others. In my own small way of paying it forward, I sent messages to two friends I haven't seen in a while, wishing them happiness and love.

If there is one thing in this world that we could all do with more of it is love and friendship and today I felt truly blessed that I have so much of it in my life, without even realising it. I would call that a positive moment...

I feel like my life has been worryingly short of positive moments in the recent months so this particular moment carried more weight than perhaps it would have at a different time in my life. I am very thankful for my family, my friends and those around me that support and carry me, even when they don't realise it.