* Well I'm all recovered from the cold except for an occasional nagging surprise cough. Being sick put a dent in my resolution to keep my resolutions. But I did get something done! Behold my pineapple cooler!

I'm proud of this one, think I finally got the hang of the stem stitch. The lazy daisies are too loose, though.
Edited To Add: washed the towel today and the french knot dots on the butterfly fell out but the daisies were all okay :)

This was stitched on an Aunt Martha's tea towel using DMC thread. Here's the funny thing - we have tea towels/dish cloths out the wazoo, so the last thing we need is more kitchen towels. But the designs are soooo cute!

The February stitch along has 3 themes: love, redwork, or weird and wacky. I'm looking at stitching a couple of lovebirds on the hem of a pillowcase.

* Hmmm, I think my Feb resolutions will be:

• volunteer more. My current place has reduced me to 2 hours every other week, and I need to be doing more than that. The Royal BC Museum seems to have a good volunteer program, and Fernwood was looking for people to distribute organic food boxes.
•  take my vitamins. I know my diet isn't the greatest so I try to supplement it with ... supplements, but I'm not always successful. 

Maybe that'll be it, since I'm still working on January's as well.

* This has been a good movie week. Today we went and saw The Artist. We had previously seen Jean Dujardin in OSS 117, a wacky take on James Bond spy flicks, and remarked what an expressive face he has. He was absolutely perfect as a silent film star. It was weird watching a silent movie, because in certain places it is really silent. 
A couple of days ago,  we got Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. HILARIOUS! I love me some horror movies, and this one takes those silly slasher tropes and turns 'em around. Plus, Alan Tudyk - Wash!

And Tucker & Dale gets bonus points because it's Canadian! well, half Canadian at least. Filmed in the province right next door! Between that and Fido being filmed over in Kelowna, I'd say the west has a lock on the funny horror flicks.

* I'm out of stuff to talk about, so later 'gators!

apparently, it's Do Not.

After my wonderful proclamation last time, I got hit with a cold. Sure, at first it was fun, my voice all sultry like a nightclub singer. Now, pain and coughing and tiredness and sleep. Therefore, no "getting off mah butt" or "stitching," but yes to "more fruit and veg" if you count juice.


bleah.

"Do or Do not. There is no try."

* Happy New Year! Hope you all had a pleasant holiday season. We ate at several different houses and played lots of games (crokinole is fun!)
But now, the eating is over and the resolutions begin. I know, it's silly, nobody ever keeps them, etc. but that won't stop me! I'm going to break it down, concentrate on a few things each month, that way it doesn't seem so BIG.

Here's the plan for Jan:
- do more stitching! I have 37 vintage embroidery patterns just sitting around begging to be used. So I joined my very first stitch-along! Since it's January, the theme is ... resolutions! Since I'd like to eat more fruit and veg, I'm putting this fellow on a tea towel.

from Vogart hot iron transfer set 198

so far I've transferred the pattern and picked my thread. I've been waiting for a sunny day to start stitching, ha ha. 

- eat more fruit and veg! See above :) 

- get off mah butt for at least 20 min, at least 5 times a week. (This unemployment thing is not good for your health.) I even broke out the Wii Fit board, and my segway skills are growing. 

- make some dinners! I'm not the greatest chef (I could live on pizza and cheese dip) but I need to up my game. Today we visited The Whole Beast* courtesy of a gift card, and got some andouille sausage for jambalaya tomorrow. Perfect weather for it!

So there ya go, 4 items for January. I'm doing good on 3 and 4 at least.

* Tomorrow is Epiphany, also Twelfth Night/the last of the 12 days of Christmas, also Three Kings Day. I'm not religious, but after living in Spain and in the Southern US, I couldn't avoid it. It's also the beginning of carnival season, leading up to Mardi Gras. I'm considering making a king cake, since I didn't see any up here last year. 

mmmmmm! it's actually more doughnutty than cakey.

And I have some spare tiny plastic babies! 
It's also the day that I consider proper/timely to take down decorations. I'll miss the pretty white lights in the living room. 

* In other news ... not a whole lot. I'm gradually tidying up/decluttering my studio and making a pile o' goodies for my eventual Etsy store. Still looking for a job, still volunteering once a week, still reading (vintage) lurid pulp and trashy gothic romance novels. 

Later 'gators! 

* The guy behind the counter had this pig tattooed on his forearm - wicked!