Feb 27/09

I just got this one back from the framing shop yesterday. "Wreath of All Seasons" has framed up very nicely and the framer was able to remove the gob of hair dye that fell on the piece one night. It could have been covered by the matte, but he was able to remove it with masking tape! Who knew?!

Now that it is framed, my co-workers and I will be selling raffle tickets on it as part of our fundraising efforts for the Relay for Life in June. I am very excited about this raffle because it should raise a fair bit of money for our team!

Feb 23/09

The back stitching has begun! Back stitching is my favourite part of projects because the piece just seems to come alive under my needle. I have been stitching at night when I need to clear my brain of the research I have been doing on microfinance. My current focus for the research is poverty and the theories surrounding it. The interesting part for me beyond learning all kinds of new information is that I find my self being challenged on all fronts on what I thought poverty and its solutions might be. Well, speaking of research, my boss just called to tell me that the drugstore will open later today because of the 30+ cm of snow that fell overnight so I should take advantage of the time to do some more reading. My driveway is already shoveled (I was out doing that when he called) so now all I have to do is wait for a snow plough to clear the roadway!

Feb 15/09

Happy belated Valentine's Day. My day was so romantic as it started with cleaning up kitty barf and the afternoon was spent at a local cafe drinking coffee and using their free Wi-Fi to do some reading for my university course. Mind you, a friend came to take a break from his studies and he gave me a big hug as he was leaving so it was not a complete romantic dud! Then I ran into my brother and his girlfriend while I was running errands so we chowed down together at Dairy Queen for supper. It was not the Valentine's Day I had thought I would be having this year, but it was the one I had.

I have been putting a few stitches recently into my stocking project instead of running on the treadmill. If I could only find enough time in the day to do everything I love to alongside everything else that has to get done........Magic wand anyone??? Speaking of getting things done, I must get back to my reading on microcredit/microfinance for my research paper. The books are due back at the library tomorrow and I still need to scribble out my research notes from the pages marked with little scraps of paper.

Feb 10/09

Not much stitching going on because I have been busy trying to read and digest 3 books on Muhammad Yunus and his microcredit organization Grameen. I do not understand much about economics and how capital works, but it is a very interesting and long overdue idea to focus on the bottom half of the poor to stimulate economic activity. According to Yunus, Bangladesh should be able to meet its UN Millennium Development Goal of decreasing poverty by 50% by 2015 with its current rate of development. By extending capital through credit in the form of small loans, Grameen has been able to free so many people from the crushing cycle of exorbitant interest rates when they were able to borrow money and to allow them to develop their own economic activity instead of it being a top down activity like so many aid programs.

Well, back to the books. They are on loan from other universities and due back later on this week!

Feb 1/09

Who can resist Winnie the Pooh! Not me, that's for sure! I stitched up this bib from a kit for a new little boy named Carter who is quite adorable I must say. He is just over a month old and we had a lovely visit the other day. I will have to go back soon once this is washed and ironed to give him his welcome-to-the-world present. I also could not resist digging out my pot of honey to pose with the bib. Some day when I finally get around to doing something with the 10 acres of land I own in the country, I would like to try my hand at beekeeping. There is a stand of 20 apple trees there plus I am a bit of a flower growing nut so bee keeping seems like something to try.....some day.