The Sun, Palace Dwellers, and Books

You know how it is. When you look at Etsy, browse a bit, find an amazing chart... BAM! Suddenly, your project pile (that you just promised to stop growing) is in sudden need of a new chart. Here's what I saw.

Hobbiton looks amazing, but I want Rohan too.

Okay, so this one needs to go on my rotation as well...

I might need more project bags and Q Snaps.

Exciting developments this week on the Mystery band sampler by Linen & Threads! I'll let the picture speak for itself:

The sun has arrived, and the first dragon has too! Now I can start brainstorming a name for it. Leave a comment below if you have any ideas.

You know how when you go on city tours, the tour guide lifts her umbrella and says, "Follow the umbrella! This way please!" Well, follow the umbrella to the next WIP, Paris Market:

Isn't the 10 x 10 method remarkable? You can cover a TON of ground in no time flat. This part of the chart is almost exclusively half stitches as well, so that has something to do with the amount of progress that I've made.

Have you ever read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens? I picked it up when I was much much younger, and only made it through a few pages. I recently checked out the audiobook from the library (the narrator had an English accent, naturally) and boy oh boy, was that a thrilling read. About three quarters of the way through I made a rough guess about a few plot points and was proven right. Don't worry, I won't give away any spoilers :) I love libraries, and books, and the artwork and architecture of different libraries. What I didn't know was that bats like libraries too.

According to this Atlas Obscura article:

Most libraries control such pests with ethylene oxide, methyl bromide, or gamma radiation, but the Mafra Palace Library has a very special force of airborne defenders: bats.
During the day, a colony of bats sleeps behind the bookcases or out in the palace garden. At night, after the library has closed, these small bats swoop between the stacks, hunting down the very pests that would otherwise chomp through the pages of the library’s precious collection.

Read the whole thing.

Here's an aerial view of the Portuguese palace. No doubt a familiar view to the bats:

One last thing. Although the blog is nice (I really like the pink and white theme) sometimes people prefer to get their blog posts via RSS or email. I have an RSS widget in my sidebar to the right, and if you like getting updates via email, you can subscribe to my Substack newsletter, or my Buy Me a Coffee newsletter. As far as wip updates go, it's the exact same content as the blog, but in newsletter form. All the WIP update posts are completely free, just like on the blog.

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Jane Eyre, a Horse, and an Irish Harp

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Hot Chocolate, a Horse Ear, and Bonbons

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Meet Nikolai, and Eat Mississippi Pot Roast

Meet Nikolai Or at least, meet Nikolai's head. See that dark block of stitches in the middle? Yes, that is Nikolai's head. He has one of those warm Russian hats on, so he won't catch cold riding through this winter scene. I really like stitching in 10x10 squares, it's amazed me how much progress one can make when using this method. Russian hunting is absolutely stunning, but maybe it's time for a change soon. Here's my tentative plan: keep stitching on Russian Hunting until the end of January, then at the beginning of February put it away and start working on one of my other wips. We'll see. Mississippi Pot Roast If you've had this dish, you know it's heavenly. If you haven't had it, you're missing out. Simple as that! Beef, ranch dressing mix, pepperoncini peppers, and au jus. It sounds like a weird combo, but trust me- it is amazing. One of my all time favorite meals ever. The flavors mix together beautifully. There's r...

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