Read a loud - summer 2015

We read aloud Thomas King's "The Back of the Turtle", a story from five character's points of view. There has been a catastrophic environmental disaster affecting an entire reservation and lands beyond. The main plot line centres around the aftermath of this event, not as a physical survival question but as an emotional one. There are the stories of the characters as they live now and their pasts. There are the stories of how they interact and there is a variable story of the Woman who Fell From the Sky. It is an intriguing novel, the settings and characters well drawn. I think this worked well as a read aloud. Thomas King is a master story teller, so the outloudness of the reading was never a problem or boring. However, the length of time it took to read was a detractor, simply because the threads between readings took effort to remember. I think this is an excellent read it to yourself novel. Either way, you can't go wrong. (here)

  

"Wee Free Men" by Terry Pritchard has been our July story and we blew through it, laughing most of the way. Tiffany wants to be a witch and decides to find out how. Monsters are showing up in her hills and she isn't about to let that happen. Not only that, but her brother, Wentworth has been stolen by a Queen who uses dreams as a weapon. The Wee Nac Mac Feegles, a tribe of blue pictsies rush alongside, offering unpredictable help. We really enjoyed this book, the pacing of the story is solid, there is a lot of good episodic humour and the plot is well designed. Tiffany is a strong character and her supporting cast is full of quirks and oddities. (here)

  

I have been working on the ledger pages of the paint brochure.

The stitching is fun.

Figuring out the strategies for inserting the new elements is also interesting. The stitching above replicates the tracks the bird might make in wet sand.

 The weaving stitch from the buttons on a previous ledger page is being explored here a little more. It was much harder to sketch than it was to stitch.

I have a few ideas on what else could happen with this ledger but my heart isn't in it. I have other things that intrigue me more.The piece below has been stitched down and is getting decorative stitches on all the perimeter edges whenever I watch TV.

 

I need to gather up about 40 hours of stitching to take to the camp. I have 12 pairs of bootees to knit for my Mom's charity, but that is too remote control-ish. Must dive into the pile of unfinished projects. See you later.