Review: Ancestor

Ancestor by Scott Sigler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I discovered Scott Sigler years ago with Infected. I was instantly hooked and couldn't wait for the sequel back then (and now the last one in the trilogy, Pandemic!). I soon got my dad hooked on him too, and he was the one who recommended Ancestor to me.

This is the story of a company called Genada, who is trying to create an animal that could potentially make human organs for transplantation. The doctor in charge of the program thinks shorting the meds for the genius, Jian, who has bipolar disorder and who designs the DNA for this project, will make her work more productively and more creatively. However, she goes off the deep end in her design of this "creature," and they were expecting docile herbivores, what comes out ends up being unimaginable predators that will destroy everything in their path.

The reason I'm giving it 4 instead of 5 stars is that it took too long to get to the crap hitting the fan. I was starting to wonder if the mutant things they were creating were just going to gestate for the entire book. I was on pins and needles waiting for the births of these creatures. Finally, it began, and once the nightmare started happening, I could not stop reading. I finished the book in one day.

My other issue was it just didn't feel as fleshed out as Infected or Contagious. I felt there were a lot of things left out from back history that would have helped really tell what was more to the story.

All in all, it was a great book that I enjoyed reading. A really fast paced enjoyable biological thriller.



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So busy...

I've been so busy.  I feel such guilt for not posting anything the past few days.  But don't fret just yet (giggle)!  I have two tutorials I have all done up with pictures, I just have to write them up.

The reason I've been so busy is the Creative Collective, where I have my microboutique, is having it's grand opening this weekend!! I've been sewing my rear off to finish up a bunch of stuff from dresses to wipes to upcycled stuff.  It's all going up there tomorrow, and I'm not quite done wit a few of the things.

Tomorrow, we are going on a little "minivacation."  My older two are on the local swim team, and during the summer we have a swim meet every weekend in June.  This weekend, it's about 3 hours away.  And, when you have to be there at 6 AM for warm ups for a meet that starts at 7 AM,  a night in a hotel is worth it.  So, on our way out of town for the night, we are stopping to stock my little store. 

I'm going to take a ton of pics of my restocking, and will attempt to blog from the iPad in the hotel room tomorrow night to share some sew and shows and maybe write up a tutorial.

Review: The Language of Flowers

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I loved this book. I didn't even mean to start reading it as I was in the middle of another book, but I picked it up and started reading and could not put it down for 2 days. It felt like sitting down into a nice warm bubble bath.

 It's about a girl who was orphaned at birth. She was an angry child who was moved from home to home.  She ends up in group homes and then ages out of the system to become homeless at 18 years old. In one of her homes, where she came closest to having a real mother, she learns the Victorian meanings of flowers. This knowledge is a gift she is able to hold onto through her tumultuous life, and it's allowed to flourish and survive. And eventually, it makes her into an impressive florist.

A lot of horrible things happen to her, and she makes mistakes.  Then, she makes what she thinks is a a really big mistake, but you see her grow up into a woman along the way of this mistake.

I loved the story. It was very sad at times, but I loved seeing this unloved and lost girl who had noting grow into something amazing. I loved all the Victorian meanings of flowers, and it really put a fire under me to learn this lost art.

Ugh, I just realized the one thing I really want to talk about I can't. I don't want to spoil the story. I'll say this -- I just had a really difficult time reading during her big, big, big mistake. It's something that the author described so perfectly through the eyes of this new role -- the enormity of this responsibility, of this nourishment -- I just felt her pain and overwhelming feelings of not feeling like she can go on and do this because I've been through something very similar. I didn't want to read at that point and really considered stopping the book, even though I loved it, because I just didn't want to remember those feelings of being a failure.



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Rootin' Tootin Cowboy Pants - Make Your Own!

I found this fabric at Joann's forever ago in hopes of making these adorable little cowboy pants when Mr E was just a toddler.  It fell to the depths of my fabric stash until last night when I rediscovered it.  It's this super soft baby wale cord with these adorable appliqued felt stars.  The first time I saw it told me it was going to end up as cowboy pants with fringe, and sure enough, it did.  I had just enough for a pair of toddler boy shorts and a pair of baby pants. 

Apart from the wrinkles because they had been in my bag, they came out just as I envisioned, so I wanted to share.  So cute and colorful!  I wish I had bought more of that fabric....sigh.  Don't you hate that? You find a fabric you absolutely LOVE in your stash and it's just a yard or two and you bought it like a million years ago? 

I just took both pairs over to my booth at the Creative Collective in Fort Worth today.  They are finally having a grand opening next weekend on the 16th from 10 AM to 2 PM.  If you are local to the DFW area, there is going to be food and music and lots of giveaways.


These was made from my Boutique Cowboy Pants tutorial.  Check it out to make your little boy (or girl!) a pair.