8 Days Remaining

We're down to nearly a week, people! The New Year is coming soon. I spend so much time enjoying the anticipation for Christmas, that I always forget that another year follows soon after. Anyway, lately it's been all outlining for me. Backstitching Winter Wonderland is an eye-strainer!! The blue on the trees is the worst, and I can't even see the backstitched sections after I've done it anyway. >:\ The leaves look excellent now though!

The outlining is all worked on the left side, from the centre of the arch and down toward the foxes. The deer's eye is done, and the last stitches around the horns on the tree are making their painful progress. It's a lot more difficult to start three strands of thread for a single stitch than using two after being familiar with loop starts. Hopefully nothing will start unravelling!

I finished the third Fablehaven book, and began the fourth! This is an additional four books on top of those that I have completed already this year. :DD This book feels different compared to the first three, and for a while at the start the two main protagonists, brother and sister Seth and Kendra, are separated instead of together in their adventures, as well as this book beginning in winter around the Winter Solstice (fitting for the current season!). All of the previous books have taken place over the summer holidays, each including the Summer Solstice. Though I haven't reviewed the other books, this one confirms the evilness of the character known as the Sphinx, and the introduction of the dragon preserves rather than generic magical-creatures preserves as Fablehaven is. I do love them, but re-reading them I wish there were more non-Greek based creatures: lots of the typical satyrs and centaurs, dryads and nymphs about. The brownies, house-spirits of Eastern European, and what is commonly known as Slavic, lore make a few appearances. The rest are generic 'fairies' and a smattering of heavyweight demons.

Today in my family, thanks to my Grandfather, is known as "Christmas Adam," since the 24th is called "Christmas Eve." It's the calm before the storm, as the last-minute panicking for cooking starts kicking in, and tomorrow is the time for us to have a family gathering, which for some reason seems to make the wait for Christmas Day even longer. Family gathering days feel like a week in and of themselves. Being around so many people at once is draining. You basically end up sitting there with a plate of food and waiting for the day to be over. I love how everyone has this story too, but then they're the ones talking to all and sundry and having a great time. Dx

Anyone made any resolutions? A few members of the cross stitch groups I'm part of on Facebook have written up official lists as to what they will [hopefully] stick to over the coming year. One of the groups is working on everyone having 15 projects as it's 2015 - and none of them are picking easy projects! Lots of Heaven and Earth Designs, and pieces as big and detailed as the Yuu patterns - there aren't even enough months in the year now to accommodate working on each by month, how on earth does anyone expect to anything completed?? XD I made a big program for myself a little while ago, all in a frenzy over a new moon, which is good, though I'm thinking about reviewing it and changing a few points still before the New Year. I don't know that I'll put in cross stitch, as I'm doing alright with that, and the Yuu projects will take a long time - which will overpower the interest in working on other UFOs.

Right, that was a bit of a post. See you on the flip side of the holiday!

~x~

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