I'M BACK ! ~ ! ~ !

Last week, I had a beginner rug class on Wednesday. Three fun gals ~ two are friends (I think one 'encouraged' the other to come with her!) and my friend from back in Homerville (that's where we grew up)!

 Class starts at 10 a.m. with a house tour and showing them the various rugs that I've done and then we start hooking.  There's also time out for lunch and we hook till 4 p.m.  These girls really got a lot accomplished in their time here ~ I'm very proud of them!

 This is Dara's crow ~ my friend since 12 years old ~ that's a long time, readers!!!  Dara has been hooking on her own with help via emails and I think she's doing very well!

Peggy did this little lamb ~ she was the one brought along by her friend!  I think she said something like 'she's gotten me into a lot of things but this one was the most fun'!!!  That was a good thing!

 Tonya hooked the crow and gave it a little different wing design ~ I like that ~ it will show up better when the rest of the crow is hooked around it!  They all are creative in some fashion or another and I could see that in the little things they chose to do!  We had a great afternoon together and I'm sure they'll continue on their journey ~ hookers in the making!!!  What's not to love!








Ta da!!  Sonny made a driftwood tree for us! Looks good doesn't it?  Those nice lake-washed pieces of driftwood are perfect colors for our lake place! 

This weekend was Sonny's 50th class reunion!!  He has had this '67 Corvette for nearly 25 years and did a lot of work on it this past month or so getting it ready to show off to his old buddies!!  We drove it to the afternoon festivities on Saturday ~ it brought the old guy a great deal of pleasure!!  Mostly, he just talks about his car ~ one of our lake friends thought it was a figment of his imagination!  Maybe it will be on the road more this summer!! 

We've had a little bump in our road the past couple of weeks.  Sonny had cellulitis in his leg ~ he was off for a week and on part days last week ~ very nervewracking on my end and very aggravating to him to be sidelined for a bit.  He's on the mend ~ we had a great Memorial Day weekend at the lake ~ went to Put-in-Bay on Saturday and Kelley's Island to our friend's birthday party on Sunday!!  But when he tried to work all day last Tuesday, he pushed it too far.  We're hoping this week goes better!! It's enough to drive a good woman to drink!!  In fact,  Sonny always says you don't have to drink to live here ~ but it sure does help!!!  Bottoms up, friends!!!

Hope all is well wherever you are! 
Alice

WEEKEND FUN ~ ~ ~

Miss Luci was a darling kitty cat at her dance recital Friday night!

Looking at her adoringly is 3 year old great granddaughter, Blakleigh! She sat thru the nearly two hour program and watched all the 'princesses' dance across the stage.  You can tell she was in awe of Luci ~ who did look like a princess!!  Luci has been dancing for quite a few years now and we've gone to all of them ~ this year Tad went along!! That was big for him to leave his TV, cd player and IPad!!  It was a fun evening!

I have to tell you that this hallway was busy with kids and parents and grandparents after the show and I told Luci just give me a quick picture!  When I looked afterward, I realized she was standing in front of a mural and right over her head was a caveman in a loincloth ~ see his legs!!!!!!!!   We laughed like crazy ~ I cropped the caveman out as much as possible but the picture of Luci is so good and her adoring fan, that I'm posting it anyway!!!!!!  We're going to keep it for her high school graduation ~ won't that be a nice surprise!!

Yesterday was opening ceremonies for Little League!  We have four grands playing and since they started their games two weeks ago, these grandparents have seen a lot of baseball already!  So we went to the opening at 9 a.m. ~ came back for two back-to-back games in the afternoon ~ and Luke had a game at 7 last night!!  We do know they make very good cheeseburgers at the concession stand ~ we'll probably have quite a few of those over the next few weeks!

This is a picture of a Wooly Woolens pattern "Hazel's Runner that I admire every time I see it on a blog or Pinterest!  The other day, out of the blue, I ordered it!!  It came yesterday and I'm so excited!!  Don't know when I'll get to it but it's here when I'm ready!!  It's 20" x 60 1/2" ~ kind of big ~ and I have a great place for it in the entry hall or maybe even on the dining room table!!  Stay tuned!!

I still haven't put away all the wool from last week's vending ~ I just have to go down there now!  One thing I have been doing is sending pictures of our house to a group that may be interested in photographing it for a magazine.  It may or may not happen, and if it does, you'll be the first to know!  I have to say, it's an ordeal (at least for me) to get decent shots and label them properly.  They're very specific about what they want and since I'm kind of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl, I had to re-do some of what I sent!  So ~ stay tuned for that info, too!  That's how I keep you coming back here!!

On the top left sidebar, I have info about a beginner rug class. We have three students scheduled and I would be happy to add a couple.  If you would like to join us, let me know! 

Have a good Sunday afternoon ~ it's really nice outside!  Here's wishing sunshine to you all!

Alice

LAST SATURDAY'S FUN ~ ~ ~

This sweet bouquet of hooked and felted flowers was made by the members of the Western Reserve Rug Hooking Guild and it was one of the door prizes at their annual hook-in this past Saturday!  I was a vendor there and this was won by my friend, Heidi!!  I was such a gadfly and actually very busy, that I didn't take one picture of all the great things there were to see! Tonite, Heidi let me come out and take a picture of hers so that I could have one hook-in picture to share! Lauren of Rugs and Pugs has a few on her blog if you want to wander over there!

The WRRH Guild has 90 + members ~ Heidi and I are two of them but we are far away!  Lots of the gals worked on these ~ there were a lot of them given as door prizes.  There were over 60 rug -hooking related gifts in the Chinese auction that were donated by vendors and various teachers around the country.  Last but not least, a beautiful rug hooked as a  joint effort, two wool tote bags and a wool sunflower pocket were raffled off with a share of the proceeds going to local charities.

Everything about this day was just great from the lunch to the decor (really big flowers hung from the ceiling), and a cute flower cut-out where you could stick your little face in to be photographed!!  There was all this wonderful blog material that I missed out on but I had a wonderful time seeing old friends and making new ones.  Our booth was busy most all of the day and I want to thank everybody who stopped by to find  something they couldn't live without!  I have been doing shows for over 30 years and I can still honestly say that I just love doing shows!!!

When I was at Heidi's, this cute arrangement was hanging right about where I photographed the flowers ~ so that gave me one more picture to show you!  Cute isn't it?  The hostas at her house were mammoth ~ I should have taken a picture of those!  And I got to see Heidi's rug that she started at the Woolley Fox ~ very nice purple animals!!!

Not much more to talk about tonite  ~ I'm trying to get my act together after the weekend.  We've been going to our share of baseball games and we have a junior high choir concert coming up and a dance recital!!  We should get a ribbon or something for perfect attendance!!

Monday and Tuesday nights are consumed with Dancing with the Stars and the little online Facebook party we have!  Next week is the final week and my online peeps are wondering what we're going to do with our time ~ we'll miss each others caustic comments a lot!! 

Hope you're having a good week and enjoying our weather!  I worked outside a little this morning before I got my nails done ~ I have plenty of work and weeds awaiting me, for sure!!  Talk to you soon! 
Alice

 P.S.  I think there may be a pattern available later for the hooked  flowers ~ I'll let you know when I find out. And I have a few of the paper patterns left for the Bee chairpad, if you would like one!

THE GARDEN ~ ~ ~

These pictures are of some of the gardens on Saturday before our guest rug hookers arrived!  If you're a long-time reader of this wordy blog, you will have seen something like this every Spring!

I like to put a welcome bouquet on the garden gate.  I have this little pottery pocket vase from Holmes County Pottery and just fill it with whatever is in bloom at the time!  Last week's flowers were wild phlox, Lenten Roses,  a sprig from a brunnera plant, hosta leaves and a broken stem from the potted plant on the right!

Looking across the driveway from the gate, you see the waterfall ~ with no running water!!  Our fish went to fish heaven two winters ago so we don't keep the water on ~ maybe later.  It's like a dry creek ~ sort of ~ with a pond at the end!  The red Japanese maple is surround with May apples that grow wild in the area.  There are grapevines to the right and some nice grasses on either side of the walk that will grown taller than me by the end of summer.

Ta da ~ the surprise patio set looks good on the deck!  The wood set we replaced had been there 18 years ~ out in the weather and held up very well until last fall!  We picked up a couple of new side chairs, too, for a song!  For once, we were in the right place at the right time!   

  As you come through the garden gate, you walk toward this area and often you see a kitty cat at the window, just like in this picture!  Mr. Kitty is desperate to get outside and waits for any opportunity to slip out!  All of the potted flowers you see are combination planters ~ I cut the hangers off and voila! ~ we have full and lush plants to adorn the yard!

The breezeway looks kind of ho-hum to me this year, but this was what I could put together before the ladies came calling!  It's simple but it works. 

 The dining table is set and waiting for lunch to be served.  I bought a flat of pansies and put them in these enamel pots that Sonny bought a couple of years ago!  Thank goodness he did ~ they worked great as a table arrangement!  I'm not much of a tablescape person ~ some people have beautiful center pieces but mine are usually pretty simple.  I like to focus on the food and hope that carries the event!

The kitchen keeping room table seats six ~ cozily!  With the dining table seating eight, it was pretty easy to accommodate 14 for lunch!  I love a candle in a hurricane ~ this one came from Shaker Village in Kentucky.  All their dining tables are set that way and I love that atmosphere!

Getting ready to pack for the Western Reserve Rug Hooking Guild's hook-in tomorrow!  I dyed 5 more yards of wool this morning and now need to get everything  ready to load in the truck when the man of the house gets home!  After we do that, we have two Little League games tonite!  I may not stay for both ~ we have to be on the road at 5:30 in the morning!  Are we crazy or what?  Don't answer that!

If you live in the area, maybe I'll see you tomorrow?  I hope so!  If we don't know each other, make yourself known!  I'm off to see the wizard ~ ~ ~ !!!

Have a happy weekend!
Alice

SATURDAY'S FUN ~ ~ ~

Last Saturday, The Ladies Of The Wool, rug hooking group came for a luncheon, house tour and day of hooking!  They came from Columbus and surrounding areas ~ a long way!

 I didn't get everybody's picture ~ having too much fun to take pictures until some had left!  There were 14 hookers and they were all lovely ladies! It was interesting to me that most of them were fine hookers ~ fine meaning narrow cut ~ not a wide hooker like me!! 

This is Karen and Annette with Annette's adaptation of  Emmet Kelley Jr.  Karen, who is a teacher, was giving her some help with Emmett's eyes!!

 I wanted you to see a close-up of this piece.  This is Annette's second rug ~ second mind you!  She's doing a great job ~ an amazing job to me!

Karen brought her rug done in a class with my friend, Maria.  Quite a colorful background and a nice contrast to the softer colors in the pumpkins.  Very nice ~ and so was Karen!

 The gals brought a few rugs for a rug show!  We put them in the exercise room right off the hooking room and of course, I didn't get pictures of all of them. 




I was kind of a busy bee that day but managed to get this one before it's owner went home.  I love this rug and could easily have made it work here in our house!  She almost left it ~ that would have been too sad!!

I had to take a picture of Annette's shoes ~ toe shoes!  Aren't they cute?  Each little tootsie has it's own space!  The feet belong to Emmett Kelley's hooker!  Oh ~ that sounds terrible!!  But I'm leaving it in! 

This beautiful rug belongs to Jane ~ a lady I have done shows with in the past for many years.  We hadn't seen each other in a long time and now through rug hooking, we have reconnected!  She and her crafting partner made many jumpers and sweatshirts and I was a doll maker at that time ~ we spent many a weekend peddling our wares at the same shows!

This group of gals were so nice, so appreciative and complimentary ~ it was a pleasure to have them here.  Thanks to Sharon for bringing her group and I hear they want to come back in the fall!!  We'll be ready!! My friend Vivian helps me serve lunch and I sure couldn't do it without her!   If you have a group you would like to bring, email me or call me to set up a date!  You'll have a homemade lunch, a tour of our house and can spend the day hooking in my hooking studio! 

By the way, in just a few days, I will have Lori Brechlin's paper patterns of the Bee Chairpad to sell.  They are $12 and I should have them in time for the Western Reserve Hook-in where I'll be vending this Saturday.  I'll also have available some of the dyed blue background wool that I used in mine.  Let me know if you would like one!!

I'm working at my desk today ~ scary in here again!  And sometime, I will squeeze in some dyeing between now and Saturday!  Thanks for stopping by ~ hope you're having a good day!

BEE CHAIRPAD AND YESTERDAY'S DYEING ~

Finally finished! It really did turn out so cute! Lori Brechlin is the designer and the pattern is sold through SpruceRidge Studios, Kris Miller.  When reading Lori's blog post about her chair pad, she mentioned that she used homespun to hook the outline of the wings.  I did the same and love the subtle effect rather than a solidly hooked outline.  Pat Cross also talks about using homespun and flannels in some of her books, so it's something to think about for your next project!

When I was hooking this mat up at the lake, I ran out of background wool.  Rather than cut into a new quarter yard of hand-dyed, I waited till I got home and used these three wools from my stash to fill in the empty spaces.  The two little strips are all that is left of a Karen Kahle piece that she gave us at  Tipp City last year.  I think they add character to the piece  and I like 'making do' the way the old time hookers did!!

When doing the finish, rather than use rug binding, I used the same wool that is the border of the rug.  I tore it in 1 1/4" strips and hand-stitched it just like I would with the binding tape.  It really worked better in that the wool molded itself to the round shape and when stitching the inner circle to the mat, I could ease the wool in between stitches and not have little 'pleats' going around the mat.  It gives a much neater look and really worked out great!!

This is the result of yesterday's dyeing ~ I quickly put four pots of color on the stove, in the afternoon and was happy with what came out!! They show a little brighter here than they are in person ~ the greyed blue would be good for the background on the bee pad!  I left the dusty rose cool in the pot while we went out for dinner and although, I liked the color when I checked it before we left, it picked up some brown mottling from the dye bath.  I'm not crazy about it but it will be just perfect for somebody's rug, I just know it!

A little story for you ~ this morning I went to Menard's to pick up some planter pots and thought I would check one more time to see if the patio set I like was on sale.  It was ~ and with a rebate to boot!!  I was so happy that I bought it right then and there and called Sonny to ask him to  pick it up when he was out that way.  He said "Go back in and get your money ~ I just bought it for you this morning and it's here at home waiting for you!"  In the morning's newspaper ad, he saw it was on sale and pulled the ad out so I wouldn't see it so that  he could surprise me! Wasn't that sweet?  Is the old boy buttering me up for something?!

 

And one more little story ~ I decided it was time to take the Christmas wreath off the front door (since we have hookers coming on Saturday) so I opened the front door and reached behind the wreath to take it off the hanger and OUT FLEW A BIRD!!!!!  Fortunately, he flew out the door and not in (one year, a little birdie flew in the living room but that's an ordeal for another day!) and in the meantime, I got bird doodoo on my hand!  There is one little egg in the nest which Sonny boy moved to a nearby tree ~ his daughter thought he should have left it there, but that's between them!  I'm waiting a couple days before I put up the other one so he doesn't move in there ~ the bird not Sonny!! Compared to some stories I heard today of people with real problems, a little bird doodoo is minor ~ I'm smart enough to know what's really important!  

We went to a Japanese steak house tonite  for grandson Luke's 13th birthday ~ can't believe he's that old ~ seems like yesterday that he would call me on the phone when he could barely talk and say 'come get me, Bobo'!!  The years go fast for sure! 

I hope you're having fun wherever you are ~ I know we're just having a ball here!!!!!! Night night!

Alice

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CLEANING DAY ~ ~ ~

Next Saturday, I'm having a hookers luncheon ~ that equates to a little spring cleanup! Our porch between the house and garage gets lots of weather and everything is covered with a layer of winter grime ~ or was! The bell jars are washed!

And all the primitive stuff has been hosed off since this picture was taken! The brick porch is next! Sonny has been doing windows for two days and dusting chandeliers! Having guests is such a great motivator ~ gotta go now to hose down the porch!! Thanks to Sharon for bringing her guild next week!

If you would like to bring a group, let me know ~ gfraizer@neo.rr.com