playing catch up!

I have managed to restore the blog files and voila!, it's back online sooooo huzzah!

I'm playing catch up but here are some visuals of recent days worth.

Her Thoughts, a Jane Austen Sampler
NEW design available on The Sampler Girl website
Model & photo by Mary Kathryn Peter 

The weekly farmer's market visit yielded a delicious farmhouse-made apple turnover for brekkie one morning plus juicy summer ripe tomatoes that donned, with salt & pepper, some biscuits later in the week.

Bookclub pick for June is When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Quite a thoughtful and  moving memoir written by a brave neurosurgeon who was stricken with cancer; his pages of tender reflection live on in place of him. There were several passages which I did skim over as they were Physican-minded but otherwise, it is a very easy read.

Knitting occurs any day with a y in it ... usually. And the summer weather has been absolitely gorgeous / almost Fall-like recently, but warmer days are coming, like this afternoon. It was quite warm yet I was working away on yet another wool shawl that I can't wear for several months time but well, it's just so fun to knit. I'm participating in A Knitter's Life Podcast's Miss Marple KAL; this design is simply called Miss Marple Shawl; it is mindless knitting and keeps me company as of late. The darling progress stitch marker is from my mom; it is too cute!!

I promise it won't be a month till I write again ... gather JOY in the meanwhile.

podcast episode 72: Thursday musings, blame it on the rain

podcast episode 66: blizzard knitting & non magical tidying up

SHOW NOTES:

bzmama on Instagram
The Sampler Girl on Twitter and Facebook
tanyamarie on Ravelry

OFF THE NEEDLES
Barley Hat
Maize Mittens
Slipt Colour Hat (test knit) designed by Clare Devine

ON THE NEEDLES
Paris Toujours
Maya's Shawl
Fingering Weight scrap cowl

TO BE ON THE NEEDLES
Golden Wood Cowl
Scarf with No Name
Highland Peaks Shawl

PODCAST MENTIONS
Inchigo Knitter / video podcast
Fluffy Fibers / video podcast
Legacy Knitz / video podcast
North One Knitting / video podcast
Arctic Knitting / video podcast
Smojalin / video podcast
Masterpiece Studio PBS / audio podcast
Cultivate and Create / audio podcast
In a SKnit / video podcast

ENDING THOUGHT
Book review of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo

Book Review ~ My Wish List by Gregoire Delacourt

The spine of this thin, 163-page quality paperback struck my eye at the library over the weekend and when I slid it off the shelf for a closer look, I knew immediately it was a book I wanted to read. The cover had colorful spools of thread around it and the brief synopsis about a woman in her late 40s, owning a fabric shop in France, winning a large sum in the lottery ... well, I had to see what this author's story was all about. There was another library patron browsing the same book section as myself and I was thrilled her eyes didn't fall on the same book as I'm sure she too would have grabbed for it.

My Wish List by French writer, Gregoire Delacourt, translated by Anthea Bell, is a gem of a book. It's one of those novels that steals you completely away into its pages and holds you there until the very last page. It was the perfect read for a Sunday evening. I was actually surprised the story came forth from a man's pen as it was quite spot-on in so many places from a woman's point of feeling and thought. Jocelyne is married to Jo - she a fabric shopkeeper and he a factory worker for ice cream. The two have a plain, ordinary life. Jocelyne wins the lottery and finds herself undecided on the best way to proceed with the winning money! I was quite shocked (I did gasp!) at how the book twisted at the end ~ again, a story that holds on and doesn't let go until you finish. Delacourt delivered a beautiful character in Jocelyne and one that was most believable. If you come across this book at your library or bookstore, I hope you read it and please let me know what you think.