Patches of Snow: Top section completed

I have been thinking as to the reason(s) why I decided to do a Christmas project and I think I know why. It is a very simple reason, actually. We are having a heat wave and it has been rather uncomfortable for me to stitch in my stitching/computer room, which as luck would have it seems to be the warmest room in the whole house and unfortunately I can't move it :-(

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Stitching some Christmas project brings me back to a place with much cooler temperatures, even if it is only in my mind.

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This new photo shows how much I have been able to accomplish under these warmer/hotter conditions. It has been around 93-95 degrees outside and the air conditioning in the afternoon just can't keep up with it and this is only the beginning of June. What will happen in July and August, and even September? I don't even want to think about it. Last year our air conditioning decided to quit us when the temperatures were over 100 degrees. We have an air conditioning unit for upstairs and a different one for downstairs. Now, my stitching room is upstairs as well as the bedrooms and of course that is the one that broke. Since we were not the only ones that had such bad luck as it puts quite a strain on air conditioning units when temperatures go that high, I think that it took approximately 4 to 5 days before they installed a new unit. Not happy memories, I can tell you that :-(

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A few days ago, I have received a book that I had been wanting for quite some time. The title is Embroidered Knot Gardens (using three-dimensional stumpwork, canvas work & ribbonwork) and the author is Owen Davies from Britain. I really did not know what to expect from the book as I had heard good and not so good comments about it, so it was with a bit of apprehension that I opened it, wondering if I was going to be disappointed or not (again). To my immense relief, I can report that it is a wonderful book and it has already given me some great ideas as to where I will apply some of the information found in the book. I need to say here, that if someone is looking for a very specific project that would be described from start to finish, this is not the right book, but that being said, all necessary information is right there in the book to make it possible to create something wonderful. All stitches are very well explained with charts, lots and lots of beautiful photos with close-ups of some of the stitches. One that has stood out for me is on page 63 where he explains how to make needlelace leaves that are extremely pretty. He even has a photo that shows a small matchbox container that had been adapted to create a courtyard garden inside it, which gave me the idea of finding a box the size I would like to have my little garden and use that instead of having to build some container from scratch. And you should see the brick walls that he has made with threads. I could go on and on as I really love the book. I purchased mine at Amazon as I always want to take advantage of the free shipping, so I added another book to it to cover the minimum $25.00 purchase required to get free shipping.

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I have received my threads and canvas yesterday from Pam for Mystery in a Corner by Gay Ann Rogers, so will be starting to work on that as I have a little bit of catching up to do. Will put some photos a bit later.

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Pierrette =^..^=