Friday, January 29, 2016

Five on Friday

It's a beautiful day here and they're promising temperatures around 75º for the weekend, how great is that.  Time for Five on Friday, please check out the other bloggers who are joining in at Amy's Love Made My Home

My First is my Christmas Afghan Throw, a bit late, but finished.




My Second is a painting I'm about to begin.  For Christmas Mac gave me a black canvas, yes I said black, not blank.  I immediately though of a tall white bird to go on it.  It is drawn and when I finish this post I'm off to begin.

This is the picture I'm working from


This is my drawing



My Third is a movie we watched this week, The Woman in Gold starring Helen Mirren.  A nice little movie, what a chameleon Helen is.  We love her in the Red movies where she plays an assassin and here she plays a Jewish octogenarian.  Funnily enough at Christmas time our daughter said she wanted to be Helen Mirren when she grew up.  I totally understand.






The Fourth is a struggle I'm having with 2 books:  The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.  Both excellent books and award winners, but I'm struggling with them.  I want to like them, and parts of them I do.  At times I quit reading books I struggle with but these 2 I feel like I should push on.  Do you finish books when you're not sure if you like them?





The fifth is just for fun.  I collect teeny, tiny things because they make me smile.  I have little shelves and my family is always giving me things to fill them up.  So here's one of the shelves that sits on my desk.



That's a cat in a jack o'lantern, a small stone,  a mouse, a cat with a guitar, a silver thimble, a snow globe, a bear, a sheep, a lock and a gudetama














19 comments:

  1. Your blanket looks really great doesn't it! All ready and organised for Christmas, you can now consider yourself to be ahead of schedule! Hope that you enjoy your painting, I look forward to seeing more! Thank you for joining Five On Friday, happy weekend! xx

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  2. Such a striking pattern for your afghan throw - I love it.
    I'm still reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog - I pick it up and read some and get a little bored. However, I do keep coming back to it so persevere.
    I like it because it's set in Paris which I've visited often and understand the life of the consierge, but it needs to step up the pace!
    Lovely to meet you here
    Shane

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  3. It's satisfying to have finished your blanket and now you're able to make a start on your painting. That's a lovely subject and I look forward to seeing your progress. I like the collection of small objects. You've reminded me to look out for GOLD on DVD. I do give up on novels if I'm not enjoying them, thankfully borrowed from the library, as life is too short and I've plenty others I want to read.

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  4. I read a lot, though do not know these books. Sometimes I quit, maybe 90 % get finished. I wish you much fun with your bird painting!

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  5. I've never seen a black canvas! I think your painting for it of the white heron is going to be beautiful! I would like to see The Woman in Gold...glad for the reminder.

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  6. I did enjoy reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Sometimes it does take perseverance, though. I usually manage to push through. We really enjoyed watching The Woman in Gold with Helen Mirren. Such a great story of a little person winning. Your heron painting will look great. Hope we get to see it when it's finished.

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  7. I love your afghan - it must have taken such dedication! I have not tried the ripple designs yet- they do look complicated! Helen Mirren is certainly a force of nature and I just love her. A wonderful aspiration for your daughter! Your painting will be lovely, I think. I can't seem to get through a book that I don't like - I have a stack of recent ones. Maybe I am getting fussy as I get older....My time is certainly more valuable now! I have started a new one - I hope this is one I can finish :) x Karen

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  8. Your blanket turned out so lovely. I'm happy you found the matching yarn. I've wanted to watch that movie with Helen Mirren; it sounds great. I'm excited to see your painting. Take care, Pat xx

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  9. The blanket looks wonderful glad you were able to match the wool and complete it. Helen Mirren is a wonderful actress, I must look out for that film. I have given up on a few books over the years, often the ones that people rave about, I do try to finish a book if I can sometimes it is worth sticking with them but others you just have to let go. The white bird on a black canvas will be so unusual and very striking:)

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  10. I like Helen Mirren too, so believable in all she does. Great works of art. :-)

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  11. Your throw is lovely! I hope you will show us your painting when it's done I would love to be able to paint. If I don't like the book after a few chapters I give up, I think life's too short to waste on something that's just going to take up time where you could be doing something more productive. I think Helen Mrren is a great actress too. Have a great weekend. :)

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  12. How proud you must be to finish that throw! I once crocheted all the squares, but could never put one together. I gave it away in a garbage bag to someone who wanted to finish it. I'm happy yours got done.

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  13. Looking forward to seeing the egret painting when it's finished
    Jill

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  14. Lovely blanket. I decided last year that if I'm not getting into a book I'll stop reading it. I've struggled through too many and it's a total waste of time. Read the ones you enjoy.
    xx

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  15. Great 5 things. The blanket is lovely and I envy you the painting skills to create a gorgeous painting. Looking forward to seeing the finished picture.

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  16. I think egrets are stunning. We have lots of grey herons, but I've seen an egret only twice in migratory stopovers. Looking forward to the painting.

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  17. Hello! I too am looking forward to seeing the finished picture. Your drawing looks very elegant. Yes, I enjoyed "The Elegance of the Hedgehog". In the book the characters' behaviour makes sense, in the film not.
    Have a lovely weekend!

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  18. I have the same problem with books sometimes. Usually if I have read something good and then follow with a book that's a bit lack lustre I really struggle. I do try and persevere but I hate it when I'm reading the same book for ages...I should just give up! Love the tiny shelves. Have a good weekend. Barbara x

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  19. I think you should think of your blanket as done in plenty of time for Christmas ... next year! It will be interesting painting on a black canvas and I think an egret is a good choice. I don't always finish books if I don't like them. Life is too short and I'll never be able to read all I want to,read so why push on with something that doesn't appeal to me, is my thinking.

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