Long Ago and Far Away (Sampler Sunday)

I pulled out this UFO today, and now it has become a WIP. I'd forgotten how much fun it was and also, how huge (it's a little more than 3 feet wide!). I bought it years and years ago (maybe 17) and started it, then put it away and didn't cross stitch at all for a number of years. I had taken up knitting then and I remember being really tired of stitching it. Back then there weren't as many cute smaller projects for taking a break from a major project as there are now. It is called Stockholm and came as a kit. It lists only "evenweave fabric" and DMC cotton. I ordered it from a beautiful catalogue from Eva Rosenstand, which is still in business and now has an online presence although you can still order the printed catalogue (you must order the kits from a dealer or from the catalogue I think). I discovered this design is still in print. I searched for it and found it in a few U.K. shops for about 75 British pounds--yikes--that's about $135 U.S.! I know I didn't pay nearly that much when I bought it. The design is described as a "map," and there are others: Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Oslo, London. They are all extremely elaborate.

It was nice to get this out because I am taking a bit of a break from stitching Whale Hunting. Partly I was getting a bit bored (although I'm determined to finish it sooner rather than later so that I can have it framed to hang in our new house) and partly it's the demands of the season; Christmas shopping, house hunting, my neglected accounting class, resuming an exercise program. I'm determined to give myself the gift of weight-loss and physical fitness. I think from time to time of what I would regret if I were lying on my deathbed (other than all those UFOs) and I feel that although I've lived a full and rich life so far, I live too much in my head. I'd love to be fit enough to run a marathon. As an over-40 runner, I'd be considered a master, but I kind of like that title anyway. Think how many things that can apply to. Master stitcher?
We are still looking for a house but we still haven't found the perfect residence for us. We saw about eight houses this weekend. One of the houses we was a bargain-basement price because, aside from the really terrible housing market, there is a scorched-earth divorce going on and it needs to be sold. Although it's a beautiful and hardly-lived-in house, I'm uneasy. My X-DH used to say it was bad luck to buy someone else's tears.

We visited this house yesterday. Although this is an artist's rendering, we toured the model, where the sun was coming in through the large windows and bathing the bed in the wonderful master bedroom with warmth. What a fantastic place to curl up and have a nap, surrounded by cats and stitching.