Saturday, January 20, 2024

FNSI

An early start was made yesterday after a long lunch to celebrate hubs and mine 51st wedding anniversary.   Hubs favourite meal is fish and chips and I cannot go past the salmon fillet and dessert is a real treat for us as we do not eat it at home. I enjoyed the lemon tart and hubs the mini pavlova with fresh fruit and of course a glass of bubbles each.      

After Miss M left us during the week to return home the domestics that had been ignored during her stay were attended to it was time to head to the sewing room and pick up where I left off with the cross body bags.   All that was left yesterday to finish them off was to sew up the side seams, turn them right way out and give them a quick press.    Here is the result

That now completes my #6 nomination for the Chookshed stitchers monthly challenge.  Looking forward to seeing which number comes up next month.

The saying "do not judge a book by its cover" is so true when it came to reading the last book club choice.

When given this book my first thought was "this looks suitable for an 8 year old and rather silly".  I had put the book aside for several weeks as we had 2 months to read it due to the Christmas/New Year period.   When making a start I was repulsed at an early stage in the first chapter when the octopus grabbed the cleaner by the arm - my horror that some creepy crawly will get on me - and left what looked it suction cap marks all up her arm which she tried to hide for several days until they faded.   At that point I said to myself give it until the end of Chapter 2 and then decide if to continue reading or just skim enough to discuss with the group.

By the end of Chapter 2 I was hooked and found that I was picking up the book at every available moment and could not wait to see how it finished.    While the octopus was the main theme of the book there were several other characters who were vital to the story line each with their own story to tell.

It was interesting to hear that the other members of the group also had my initial thoughts about the book and we all ended up being pleasantly surprised and would highly recommend it to anyone.   This book was a "wild card" pick by the library for us.    It was noted that this was the first book written by the author and we hope that she has further books ahead of her which we look forward to reading when available.  

Our next book is one that I listened to as an audiobook last year so it will be a skim read just to refresh myself as to the storyline and characters.   


In the meantime my reading pile includes these four books


And this audio book is keeping me company in the sewing room.

Don't forget to go over here to see what other crafters did last night during FNSI.

Linking with January chookshed  challenge

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

10 comments:

Anorina @SameliasMum said...

Happy anniversary! Thanks for the book suggestions too. It's often tricky deciding on a book to read when there are way too many options available.

Janice said...

Happy anniversary. You celebrated in style. Good on you for completing your challenge for the month. I may have to hunt out that book. It sounds intriguing.

Maria said...

A lovely luncheon with hubby to celebrate your anniversary.
Good job getting No #6 challenge done and like you I’m looking forward to the next No.
Oh yes octopus 🐙 do leave suction marks as I remember when one of swimming laddies had on latched onto her leg.
Great selection of books there.

Lin said...

Good to get your #6 done, you have used some gorgeous fabrics. Always interesting to see what you are reading - they are usually authors I have never heard of. xx

kiwikid said...

Happy anniversary! Great to get #6 finished! I like all the authors of the books you have waiting.

Ondrea said...

Happy belated anniversary! More lovely sewing finished and some good books to read. I have read one of them.

Raewyn said...

Belated Anniversary wishes, Karen - it sounds like you had a lovely meal to celebrate. Well done on finishing *6 for the challenge. Will the bags be for the sale table? Lots of good reading there. The Octopus one sounds interesting!

Jenny said...

Happy Anniversay, I cant resist salmon on the menu either. Great work on completing number 6.

dq said...

Happy anniversary! It is a wonderful accomplishment to be married that long. We are 33 yrs and can't even think of life without him.
Congrats on #6 finish.
You have my attention with the octopus book.

Chookyblue...... said...

congrats on your big milestone.........the celebration meal looks delicious......
well done on getting the bags finished.........
glad you enjoyed the book in the end........