A DAY IN THE LIFE ~ ~ ~

2012-02-07T14:03:00.001-05:00

Hi all! I wish I could post pictures to my blog but I can't right now! Follow me on Facebook - I'm Posting pictures there everyday of our Florida vacation! The old guy and I are having a great time! I uploaded blogpress as a way to post pix but there's a little something I don't know! Talk to you soon!

2012-01-31T16:02:00.000-05:00

OFF TO GATHER SUNSHINE WHILE WE MAY AND MORE OF THESE!!

SATURDAY ODDS & ENDS ~ ~ ~

2012-01-28T13:23:00.001-05:00

Another snow day!! Yesterday, I posted a picture just like this on Facebook ~ then, the snow melted all gone ~ and this morning, we awoke to this again!! It is very pretty ~ a Winter Wonderland! My friend, Cathy, suggested that it would make a great Christmas card with a little shot of color added to it ~ she is absolutely right!

Sonny made another driftwood tree up at the lake ~ first one went to friend Margo ~ the second one, to her daughter, Lynne. They do so many nice things for us ~ and entertain us so beautifully throughout the year. They both love all things beach related, so we know she'll love this, too! Maybe, the next one will be ours!

ULU ~ have you ever heard of an Ulu? It is this chopping blade ~ made in Alaska ~ the handle is some animal's antler! Son Chris, gave this to Sonny while we were in Seattle ~ we both LOVE it! It chops like a dream and came with it's own rounded out chopping block! I chopped my little heart out the other day to make vegetable soup ~ it made enough to feed an army ~ nice for the freezer for upcoming cold nights!

This is Seattle grandson, Hunter! His parents had this cut-out stand-up picture made for me for Christmas and I just love it! He stands on the desk so I can see him every day!

The two desk tops are finally cleaned off and organized ~ woo hoo! I rarely work at a neat desk ~ kind of weird not to be searching thru piles of paperwork!! I really do know where everything is, though ~ and now most of it's where it should be ~ that's even weirder!! I have to go thru the files now and pull out things from prior to 2005 and have Luke shred them ~ he likes that job! That will make room for last year's paper work and then, voila! The office will be in order!!

Last night, we went out for dinner with Cliff and Margo (she bought Sonny a birthday cake for dessert at their home). Tonite, we're entertaining grandson Luke while his dad and Luci go to the father/daughter dance. Have a good weekend whatever you do!! Stay warm!

Alice

LUNCH WITH FRIENDS ~ ~ ~

2012-01-24T10:12:00.000-05:00

This lunch date was actually last year ~ it takes me a long time to post ~ better late than never!! This is the home of our friends, Pat and Chuck Knapp ~ long time collectors and antique dealers. Everything in their house is either primitive antiques or primitive folk art along with some reproductions. Pat is the best at display and just a terrific person all the way around!

It's hard to believe but this is a condo! It was featured in one of Judy Condon's home decor books last year ~ I can't remember which one ~ but there are lots more photos there ~ a really nice tribute to Pat and Chuck's decorating style!

We were treated to one of Pat's wonderful homemade soups, some of her fabulous homemade bread, a great salad and scrumptious dessert! She even put out a cookbook last year with family recipes and family anecdotes ~ it's a treasure for sure. Sonny has used her recipes in the past ~ he keeps them in his own files because I tend to misplace things and he wanted to make sure he had them at his fingertips!

Pat's kitchen is huge ~ even though they are condo dwellers! The island is a combination of table and cabinet adorned with primitives and makes the perfect divider between the work area and the dining table! We were a small group of five that day ~ five gals that have known each other a long time but don't see each very often ~ we had a wonderful afternoon being entertained by 'the hostess with the mostest! It's great fun spending time with creative, strong women friends!

Sunday was Sonny's birthday ~ 68 years old ~ still cute ~ still working like a dog ~ still lots of fun!! We had our annual gathering Saturday night of his 5 brothers and their wives and were so glad that sister-in-law, Pam, joined us, too. This was the first 'brothers gathering' (as I call it) without their brother, Paul, so there was a lot of reminiscing and pictures and lots of great food! Those women can cook! I made 7-layer salad and barbeque beef for sandwiches ~ it turned out great but it was a combination of recipes ~ probably never to be created again! They brought scalloped potatoes, broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole and the greatest array of pies, brownies and pumpkin bars! Needless to say, I'm dieting this week ~ getting ready for a trip to Florida ~ hopefully, I can fit in my summer clothes! This is a battle I don't seem destined to win ~ so much good food in this world and too many adult beverages! We went out three evenings last week ~ all to the Happy Grape!! One night, a farewell to friends who are moving, one night our Homebuilders meeting was there and Friday night we went to hear a blues singer from Cleveland (who didn't sing blues) ~ some of our kids were there ~ they and their friends liked her ~ we're old ~ we didn't!!! But lots of fun was had by all ~ and you can see it on my hips!! I read a saying recently that indicated "regardless of what we write down that we ate, there is a permanent record right here on our bottoms"!!! Isn't that the truth?!

Last week, I told you I had just joined Pinterest ~ eeee gaddd ~ that can be addicting! Have you checked it out? There's a link on my sidebar if you want to take a look! You can see lots of great inspirational things on there ~ and some great recipes ~ that food thing again!

I'm working on year end things for the business ~ and clearing my desk so that Tad's sitter doesn't have to look at the piles of paperwork that loom high in front of me. It's sad that the thing I've mastered most in my life is procrastination ~ I've got it down to a science!!! I'm burning the midnight oil to get a handle on this before we leave ~ certain things have to be in to the government by the end of January ~ bills have to paid before I leave ~ clothes have to be readied ~ yikes! I gotta go now!!! Talk to you soon! Have a good day!
Alice

PRODDY RUGS AND OTHER THINGS ~ ~ ~

2012-01-18T13:59:00.000-05:00

Friend Pam came last week and brought her proddy sheep rug 'to see it's mama', as she put it! He's such a fluffy guy and I love the swirlies in her background ~ kind of looks like fireworks when I look at the photo! Both this rug and the next one, were hooked in a proddy class here last year.

Deb sent me this picture of her Lexington Proddy Sheep ~ same pattern as Pam's (my design, by the by) but done with a flag background and proddy edge! The paper is laying on it because it was on display at her guild's rug show ~ I love the bell and the deep rich colors!

I hooked this Santa pillow years ago, under the tutelage of my friend, Carol Rahall. She drew this on what she called 'hookable linen' (wish I could find some more) and gave me these narrow cut strip and roving and loop-by-loop instruction! I do love this pillow but know that I don't like hooking with those little 'threads' of a 4 cut. I actually did some of these to sell way back when I started hooking ~ maybe I should draw some patterns for those who want to hook their own. It could definitely be hooked into wool so that there is no background to fill in! I'll work on that for my upcoming shows!!!

The same Carol Rahall, also hooked this snowman ~ I bought him at a shop near Medina several years ago because I knew Carol hooked for them ~ I also knew I would never do one for myself! He sits in an old child's rocker all year long ~ I like him ~ and I like Carol very much! She has hooked for probably 40 years and really helped get me on the right track so that hooking was fun and not a chore! The advice to not hook in every opening was invaluable ~ you can hook a 'mountain' if you hook in every hole ~ take my word for it!

A very sweet blog reader, Cyndi Lott, sent this wool pincushion to me just before Christmas! That was such a nice gesture of friendship ~ very touching to me! Cyndi said she was cleaning out her 'stash' and I see that she has shared some things with other bloggers as well! Very generous ~ thank you, friend ~ I love it!

Another surprise present! Hooker friend, Jackie, knitted this neckwarmer/ shoulder wrap and sent it to me in December! It's very cozy and just my color! I had Sonny take three pictures ~ this was the best of the lot ~ I take dorky pictures but wanted you to see this great gift!! Thank you, Jackie and Cyndi ~ you guys made my day!

P.S. I joined Deanne Fitzpatrick's online class that will begin February ~ I'm looking forward to that since I can't go to Nova Scotia right now! If any of you are doing that class, I do have a few of her patterns on my website ~ it would save you the exhorbitant postage from N. S. Let me know if there is one you would like!

Also, I joined Pinterest yesterday! Not sure that I quite get the gist of it but I see so many posting pictures they've pinned from Pinterest that I decided to get in on the action!! I have 3 followers already ~ I'll let you know how it works out! I do read that it is definitely a time grabber or stealer or whatever! Like I need something else to use up my time!! Are many of you on Pinterest?

Have a great day ~ Alice

HOUSE PARTY ~ ~ ~

2012-01-13T23:03:00.001-05:00

I've been dying to show these photos ~ Blogger wouldn't cooperate this week, so I haven't posted in 10 days ~ and now I look at them really well and the pictures all have an ethereal look to them ~ as though taken through gauze! But, I'm showing them anyway! Such a nice collection of vintage clothing and red stockings in the guest room at my friend Lori's house!

We were invited to an 'after Christmas' gathering at Lori and Michael Corelis home last week. Lori is a well-known bear artist and this is her sweet little studio! It's hard to imagine that she does all her creating in this little room ~ but it is so well organized and she has such fun things stashed here and there that she uses to make her mohair animals come to life! Remember to double click on the photos to see all the details!

In the family room, this huge antique fan quilt hangs over the mantle and on the mantle are some great mug jugs, done by various artists. Their origin dates back to the mid 1800's and were made by the slave potters at the end of their work day ~ some say made in their own image from the left over clay. They fascinate me ~ anything with a face does ~ and we have a couple of smaller ones here at our house.

Look at this great stack of blanket chests! And wooden shoe molds to the right, hold antique pin cushions. Lori and Michael have great collections ~ each one showcased beautifully in their contemporary home.

This cute guy resides in the two-story entry and is dressed in red longjohns for the long cold winter! Pretty darn funny to me ~ wonder what the neighbors think!! I'm sure they find Lori a fun addition to their neighborhood! She and her husband are wonderful hosts and they made a houseful of guests from different walks of life, feel very comfortable on a winter evening.

This new addition to our house was made by my resident carpenter, Sonny!! He reminded me that we bought the table top at David T. Smith's tent sale years ago. He ran across it in his shop and made the splayed-leg base for it ~ then did a hand-rubbed oil finish ~ now we have a new table in front of the fireplace. It really is beautiful and made him really happy to be out in his shop creating. He's also been working on hooking frames for the upcoming show season ~ yay!

We had lots of snow today ~ no school in our area ~ there's also a lot of flu going around ~ I'm staying inside so germs don't get me!! Today was the wholesale market in Columbus ~ I love to go but not on these roads ~ good sense prevailed and I stayed home!

The beginners rug class for tomorrow is postponed and we're rescheduling in March ~ it's going to work out much better since the weather isn't cooperating and illness is running rampant. Son Teddy and grandsons, Luke and Camden were down with the flu bug this week ~ I dropped Luke's homework off to him and practically threw it in the door ~ I didn't want those people breathing on me! Thankfully, today, they're all on the mend!

Stay warm and stay healthy ~ winter has finally reared it's blustery head but Spring is right around the corner!
Alice

HAPPY NEW YEAR ~ ~ ~

2012-01-03T15:49:00.001-05:00

Fireworks in Port Clinton!

That was right after the Great Walleye Drop! We've been to almost every one for the last 13 years and this year, son Ted and family got to see it first hand! Some of their friends were up there, too! They agreed that it was what I call "stupid fun"! 12 year old grandson Luke wasn't that impressed ~ I think that's because he's 12. The weather was great and a good time was had by all!

We had an early dinner at McCarthy's Irish Pub and Princess Walleye dropped by ~ a perfect photo op for grandma and the kids! Luke and I are a little blurry ~ I felt kind of blurry on the inside, too! Miki fixed pomegranate Patron margaritas for her and I before we left home! Need I say more!

The kids left New Years morning so gramps and I went out for a little beach glass hunting! It was cold and blowy but we went anyway and came home with a fine 'catch'!! We fixed pork and kraut so that we'll have good luck this year and watched the latest BatMan movie ~ wow ~ that was different than any of the Batman movies of the past! On Monday, we had a long lunch at the Moose with our friends, Kathy and Jim ~ then packed up for the drive back to reality! Friday night, we had supper with a neighbor from home, who has just moved to Catawba. That was fun, too ~ it would be swell to live up there full time!!

My son, Tad turned 47 last week ~ one of us is getting old!! He's having great fun with his Ipad! Amazing! Now mama wants one!!

So, here we are ~ facing 2012 with all the hope that a new year brings! Looking back on 2011 and being glad we survived it! A lot of fun was had and it's important to focus on that ~ and to learn from the things that maybe weren't so swell! I appreciate all of you who read this blog and comment here and there ~ it's good to know I'm not talking to myself ~ THANK YOU! So onward and upward ~ here we go!!!!!!! Isn't it exciting to see where the path leads?

Thanks for stopping by and have all the fun you can have this year!!

Alice

2011-12-25T08:31:00.001-05:00

                  MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EACH AND EVERY ONE!

I just put Monkey Balls (better known as Monkey Bread) in the oven for breakfast at son Teddy's house! All of the kids will be here this afternoon for dinner ~ turkey and tenderloins ~ hope they bring the trimmings! We went to our friends, Margo and Cliff's, last evening for their annual Christmas Eve party ~ like the old fashioned cocktail party ~ we had great fun ~ laughed, ate, drank and were merry!   Then we stopped at Teddy's ~ Tad was there for a celebration! I hope I can get a nap sometime between now and 2 p.m. ~ I'm not as young as I used to be!! Have a wonderful day with family and friends ~ as we
                              Remember the Reason for the Season!

Alice

ALL AROUND THE HOUSE ~ ~ ~

2011-12-24T18:40:00.000-05:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!! This could be the last installment of Christmas decorating ~ there are more pictures but maybe enough is enough already!! We'll see! This great iron reindeer was a garage sale find this summer ~ you may have seen him then! He's looking good with pinecones and winterberries on a bed of fresh pine!

A small Santa collection done by an artist that I never met ~ she sent her work along with a friend and I bought each one as she would make them. The bodies are muslin and after she painted the faces on, she dipped the head and hands in parafin. All the clothing is stitched by hand ~ each one very different! I felt very lucky to be able to own them ~ she was elderly and soon quit offering them for sale. The little cupboard is very old ~ the tiger maple we bought from someone at a show years ago.

Two redware Santas keep company with a very old chenille Santa ~ he's pretty fragile ~ he's seen a lot of Christmases! Ginger Cazan, redware artist and rug hooker, made the little one on the top right and the bottom one is by well-known potter, Ned Foltz.

Handmade Santas on the top shelf of the corner cupboard ~ one carved, the middle one is wool made by an old friend, Dottie Schmitz, and the third one is papier mache by Tom Coe! The three on the bottom shelf are all antiques ~ the middle guy is a bank!

Here's Marge's cabinet ~ that's what we seem to call it ~ decked out with a little greenery and old bottle-brush trees.

The little tree resides at the bottom of the basement stairwell ~ years ago, I made hearts out of antique quilt pieces ~ and friend, Carol Mowry, made this little treetop angel out of muslin strips ~ lots of memories on this little tree!

This week we attended a high school choir concert and Camden's 5th grade talent show! We were amazed at how good these kids were ~ Cam was in a dance troupe that did a routine to "Thriller". And you'll be pleased to know we got our shopping done!! I took Tad out yesterday afternoon to do his ~ he buys for everyone in his family ~ that's a lot of presents! Last night, Sonny and I went out to finish up and stopped for a bite and beverage! Then we hit Walmart and got home at 11:30 ~ woo hoo!! Earlier today, I baked the cakes for my Black Forest Cake and will finish that in the morning ~ Sonny baked a fruitcake and has an apple pie in the oven! Dora Domestic rides again!!!! With a little more wrapping, we'll be ready for the big day!

Grandson Luke came over this morning for breakfast and to set up Tad's Ipad for us ~ call a 12 year old if you're in need of technical help!! Tad is going to love it! In fact, he is over at Teddy's now for a Christmas Eve celebration with their step-mother and family and Luke is going to show Tad how to use it!! Tomorrow he'll get all the accessories to it ~ SmartCover, stylus, etc. It's very impressive to me that even though Tad has Downs Syndrome, he can use these 'newfangled' technologies ~ these kids have their limitations ~ but they have wonderful and far-reaching capabilities, also!! One of God's blessings!

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve ~ whether you're alone or with somebody ~ think good thoughts and have some Christmas cheer ~ that's what we're going to do!

Talk to you soon ~ Alice

MORE CHRISTMAS AROUND THE HOUSE ~ ~

2011-12-23T09:30:00.001-05:00

A few more Christmas pix ~ I should be at the grocery but I'll go as soon as I'm done here! This is a little kitchen table where we sit to read the mail and Sonny and the cat read the Sunday paper! The handwoven mat under the candle was made by my friend Carol Rahall, who knows more about traditional crafts than anyone I know!

The fireplace looks well used ~ but actually not very often ~ although we have used it to cook our whole holiday meal in the past! The wool applique piece over the mantel was stitched by Joyce Sherk ~ we did shows together many years ago and occasionally I run into her now at rug hooking events! I've always loved that piece and every year it resides right there ~ wonder if Joyce reads my blog and remembers her little work of art?

This was Sonny's grandmother's dry sink ~ we bought it at her auction many years ago. To the left there are two butter churns that also came from that same auction! I love these lighted sticks in with the live pine ~ and the two little reproduction Santas in the tin salt box.

For many years, we would go to Yankee Peddler ~ a large folk art craft show here in Ohio. We would buy a salt glaze Santa every year from a potter from Pennsylvania ~ they're still some of my favorites.

This is the back door area ~ antique blue homespun aprons and bonnets ~ a laundry bag with redwork stitching ~ and some painted pieces from Maude Chiardi. We did shows with her for many years, too and I always bought a piece of her hand-painted Christmas. The Santa in the middle is an old chimney flue cover ~ anybody remember those?

Over the nearly 30 years that Sonny and I have been together, we've built a nice collection of antiques and folk art ~ I always wonder if any of our kids will value it and enjoy it as much as we do! I hope you enjoy looking at it and if you're one of our friends who comes to visit, we love to share it with you all! I have to tell you the other night, I made this fabulous pineapple upside down cake from the website smittenkitchen ~ it was scrumptious! By the way, don't type in smittenkitten like I just did as I was trying to find the link ~ you'll get more than you bargained for!!!!! Anyway ~ I found it by Googling for the recipe and they have wonderful looking things there that are tested by the blog author. We had friends in for dinner and it made a sweet ending to our meal!

Well, I'm off now ~ busy day ahead ~ it's kind of cold and rainy here ~ not very Christmasy looking ~ but I'm finally getting in the spirit of things!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!

Have a good day wherever you are!
Alice

CHRISTMAS DECORATING ~ ~ ~

2011-12-18T23:17:00.000-05:00

The decorating that's done now will be it for this season! There is more in the basement but I can't do anymore!!! Sonny cut and decorated the tree ~ he always does ~ I appreciate it a lot ~ he knows that!! At the top is a Santa tree topper made from heavy paper, given to me by daughter-in-law Cheryl many years ago! There are others, but this one is my favorite ~ tree toppers ~ not daughters-in-law!! Can't have favorites there! But they're all nice ~ thank goodness! And I have to tell you, the tree was a gift ~ someone we used to do business with and is retired, called and left a message to come get our 'free tree'!!!! Free is good and one of our Christmas blessings!

We love this centerpiece created by our friend Margo ~ it was a Homebuilders Auction purchase quite a few years back! In the background, the Norfolk Island Pine is decorated with glittery candy canes ~ that tree has been with us many years ~ I actually can't believe I've kept that thing alive all this time! It's a Christmas Miracle!!

The two Santas are by Twin Feather Trees ~ handmade and signed in 1988 and 1990! I was shocked when I saw those dates ~ 23 and 21 years old! Good grief ~ soon they'll be antiques ~ like their owners!!

For the first time, there's an artificial wreath on the front door ~ with a papier mache Santa suspended inside! It's always been fresh pine ~ I decided to spend the money once, instead of every Christmas!!

This is also in the front entry ~ this little table resides where the Christmas tree is right now. Over it is "Baby in Red Chair" ~ I've always loved that painting and brought this one back from Williamsburg one year.

Friday, I had a luncheon for five old friends ~ it was nice to get together ~ life gets so busy and we don't all live close by each other ~ so it was really nice to catch up! Tonite we had our friend, Marge, in for dinner ~ she is the giver of the antique cupboard that we got a while ago!! This is her second Christmas alone and she's doing quite well ~ her 'dance card' is always full ~ she has lots of friends including her in Holiday plans ~ that's a wonderful thing!

I hope to do some other entertaining this week ~ we shall see! We have another choir concert and a 5th grade talent show on our schedule so we'll have to squeeze friends in where we can! And shopping ~ there are three things that can be wrapped ~ three things!! We've never missed a Christmas yet ~ it's hard to know what to buy for all these kids ~ but we'll figure it out ~ soon, I hope!!

Sonny, otherwise known as Dora Domestic to me ~ made jam today ~ 24 jars he said! Strawberry-rhubarb and blackberry ~ I'm not a jam maker ~ thank goodness he is! Much of it will go to the kids and friends. Tomorrow is the library hook-in in Akron ~ I thought I was going to go ~ now, it looks like maybe I better put my nose to the wheel and figure out some gift giving!!

It's 11 p.m. ~ I think I'll drag myself up the staircase and 'dream' up something fabulous to put under the tree! Sweet dreams to you and hope you're enjoying the season!!!!
Alice

Oh ~ Free Shipping Friday produced a couple of orders ~ it was a good thing! Thank you!

FREE SHIPPING FRIDAY ~ ~ ~

2011-12-15T21:22:00.000-05:00

I've been reading that tomorrow December 16th is "Free Shipping Friday" ~ so just this moment I decided to offer that to any of you here in the States, who would like to take advantage of it!! Anything ordered between now and midnight tomorrow, will be shipped to you free of charge ~ wool, patterns, hooks, rugs from my website ~ whatever strikes your fancy!! Email me at gfraizer@neo.rr.com and I will get back to you as soon as possible!! And I have PayPal for convenient payment!!

RUG FINISHES ~ ~ ~

2011-12-10T19:09:00.001-05:00

The Berks County Floral is bound and steamed and has found it's new home! I hung it and moved it and hung it somewhere else and moved it again till it looked right! The first spot was too dark but this seems pretty good. I do love the colors ~ dark and rich!

The Shape of Things from my Tipp City class this

Fall is also done! I laid it on the floor of the guest bath ~ it needs a little rug in there ~ we'll see ~ for now it's back down in the hooking room! I love the colors in this rug, too ~ and the striated background.

These are all the different wools used in that background ~ and they all work well together to make a dark "black" color. It was kind of a learning tool for me and I'll use that style again sometime. There are three rugs down there waiting to be finished ~ I think I'll start on the smallest one first ~ it might need to be finished quick for a gift!

We've had a busy week ~ last Saturday, we spent at a wrestling meet for grandson Luke! It was kind of fun ~ I didn't expect it to be ~ but it was! His dad, Teddy, wrestled in Junior High, too and my stepson, Brian, was a wrestler in high school.

Went to Luke's Christmas band concert one evening ~ 7th and 8th grade bands ~ they were very good ~ better than my own high school band, as I remember ~ I played the trombone ~ can you imagine?! This next week we'll attend a choir concert and an elementary concert ~ we're vying for our Grandparents of the Year award!!

Last night, we went to a wine tasting (fun!) and then met Teddy and family at a restaurant for Miss Luci's 9th birthday gathering ~ that was fun, too! On the way home, we stopped at our local Happy Grape wine bar for some more socializing and then stopped back at Teddy's house to finish off the evening! It was a great Friday night ~ right up our alley!

Tomorrow, I'm dragging out the Christmas decorations in hopes of instilling some Christmas spirit in this old soul! So many of my fellow bloggers are in the same boat as me ~ lacking in enthusiasm for all that entails Christmas, as we know it these days! I even planned a little get together in the next week ~ very self-serving in that I need a boost! Life can be challenging sometimes ~ and I only need to look around me to know that we have many blessings. So, I'm getting on with it ~ join me in a little Christmas cheer!!!

Yesterday, a friend and I shopped for coats for a church that has a clothing program for the needy. Just by chance, on Thursday night, I was told that they had no jackets of any kind for their monthly clothing day, which was today! During my sleepless night, it occurred to me that we have all this money from our Homebuilders Auction ~ and even though, we aren't meeting to distribute the funds till Monday ~ that the gal who holds the checkbook and I could make an executive decision and make sure there were coats for kids today!! I called Joy and she wholeheartedly agreed and off we went to Burlington Coat Factory! We scoured their racks and found 17 coats that were $10 and $20 each ~ we were thrilled! Then we went off to Kohls and bought some infant snowsuit type things, hats and gloves and with the Kohls cash we got, I'm going back tomorrow with my 20% coupon and buy underwear that they'll have for their January clothing day! Now, I do have to say ~ that brightened my mood a bunch yesterday ~ Joy and I wasted no time in gathering a lot of things and spending over $400 very wisely, for sure. I know there had to be some thrilled kids ~ and parents ~ today! Actually, a good cure for the doldrums is to go out and do something for somebody else ~ note to self ~ remember that!!!!!!

It's going on 8 p.m. and we have not had supper yet ~ I'm fixing reubens ~ the first time in a long time that I've made those! Reubens and a nice Riesling wine ~ good combination, me thinks!!!!!! One night this week, I made tuna noodle casserole ~ something else I haven't made in eons! That worked out great because we ended up having grandsons Jakob and Camden for supper ~ they have never had tuna fish ~ isn't that odd? They liked it a lot and the universe was working for me that night!!!

Have a good Sunday ~ hope all is well in your world!

Alice

Notice that on the left sidebar, I have noted that I have gift certificates available. If you want a quick gift for someone you know that is a rug hooker or works with wool, please keep me in mind!!

SEATTLE TRIP ~ ~ ~

2011-12-08T14:20:00.001-05:00

My Seattle son and kids picking us up at Sea-Tac the day before Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day after Hunter's Grid-Iron Classic football game! It rains in Seattle ~ almost all the time ~ we were bundled up but Chris had rented us a "box" ~ very nice little room all warmed up and we could see everything ~ what a view! This high school stadium where they played was really nice!

Friday we went to Pike's Place Market downtown Seattle! Stopped for a beverage at the Virginia Inn ~ it dated back to the 1800's ~ great place!

Grandma and Grandpa helped decorate their tree and I posed like granddaughter Haylee always does in her photos ~ looks cute when it's a 13 year old!

My daughter-in-law Coni and I ~ she and I share the same birthday ~ both Aries ~ wonder if my son married a mother image??!!

This was taken a year and a half ago when we were there ~ kids have grown a lot since then. This is THE GUM WALL ~ famous to some ~ unheard of by me! It's in an alley somewhere near Pike's Place and this entire wall is covered with gum wads ~ nice, hm? This little band of people added some to the mix ~ we didn't go back this year to see if we could find their exact pieces ~ Haylee made hers into a heart so they thought maybe we could! The GUM WALL is one of the strangest things I've ever seen! Sweet Hannah is carrying a purse I made for her from a recycled sweater ~ nice girl to use it while I was there!

That's our Seattle trip in all it's glory ~ it was fun to be with the kids ~ their lives are so busy ~ and we certainly added to that busyness! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving ~ now on the next big celebration!

P. S. How do my blog friends like the new posting set-up? A little hard to find my way around but it worked!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ~ ~ ~

2011-11-25T08:52:00.000-05:00

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day wherever you are!! We are in Seattle with son Chris and family ~ the first time we've ever spent a holiday away from home
and all the kids that live around us! Grandson Hunter has two football games this weekend and we'll get to see him play for the first time ~ one of them is today, of all days!!! We're putting the bird in the oven and when we arrive home ~ hopefully, dinner will be ready!!

Yikes! I forgot to post this yesterday (I created the post before we left) so here it is - a day late!! Hunters team won 12-0, Gramps & I put the bird in before we left, mashed the potatoes, baked the sweet potatoes & green bean casserole and when we got home, dinner was ready to eat! Have you ever used the cooking bags? Son Teddy always does so we put the 17# stuffed bird in the bag and it was ready in 3 and a half hours! Amazing!

Have a wonderful day with your families ~ will post when I return ~ or maybe before from my Iphone!! Ta ta for now!

SATURDAY'S SHOW ~ ~ ~

2011-11-16T15:00:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday was the Gathered Treasures Christmas Show, held here in Mansfield, Ohio! Here's a picture of my helper and our booth at the beginning of the show. I swear, I think he's doing sudoku ~ or maybe he was counting out my change!!

Our friends, Vivian and Lou Schomburg had the booth next to us ~ they make all kinds of boxes and shelves and file cabinets and television cabinets, etc. ~ I could go on and on! We divided 3 spaces between us ~ a booth and a half each ~ it worked out swell! Then we went out to eat after packing up ~ we always laugh and have a good time!! We love doing shows ~ well, a couple of us do!

This is Sherry Davis' friend ~ don't know where Sherry was when I was taking pictures of her booth ~ she always has such interesting things. Eclectic ~ that's what she is and that's what she sells ~ you know what I mean! Actually, Sherry is pretty eclectic herself!

I thought this was a great looking booth, too. There were about 35 of us ~ lots of primitive antiques and folk art. I was a little concerned as to what I might sell as I don't have holiday things or gift type items ~ but bless those rug hookers' hearts ~ they shopped!! Thank you one and all!

Friend Lauren was there ~ Rugs and Pugs is her blog ~ and she just happened to have one of her silver spoon necklaces with her! We made a nice trade of wool for a necklace ~ she has them for sale on her blog ~ you can contact her thru there! I see lots of my hooker friends wearing these so I was glad to get one!

Last evening, I updated my website ~ namely, the pattern pages. I mailed out some yesterday and decided I need to mark "Sold" on what is gone (but I can order them if you'd like one) and added pictures of all the Liberty Homestead patterns that I have. These patterns are primitive and folk arty (if that's a word) and some are small if you want a quick project to hook for a friend or yourself. This small Rooster pattern is one of them ~

I also added the Sauder Rug Week class to my Classes page ~ and I was happy to hear from a gal today that has signed up herself and her friend!! Yay!

That's all for today ~ I was outside for a while cleaning up the garden ~ still some out there to put on the compost pile ~ hope I'm not still out there when the snow flies!! Off to pick up Miss Luci from the bus ~ she doesn't know it but we're going to make banana bread!! She'll like that ~ especially when she gets to take home a loaf! Have a good evening ~ a friend just called and invited us out for dinner ~ my evening just got better!!!!

Alice

RUG FINISH AND SATURDAY'S SHOW ~ ~ ~

2011-11-11T12:52:00.000-05:00

The Berks County Floral is finished! Actually, it was finished on Monday!! I emailed a picture to the Woolley Fox and it's on their website already! I'm quite happy with the finished product and now all it needs is to be bound! I might get that done tonite and take it along to the show this weekend ~ more about that in a minute!

When I was pulling out the 'junk' wool used to hook the numbers, I decided to leave the number seven just as it was. Two different wool strips were used and it looked kind of neat so it stayed in! This rug was hooked with lots of antique paisleys and lots of sparkly wool ~ not your typical primitive but a unique one, for sure!

Kathy works for Barb at the Woolley Fox and she brought in her almost finished Purple Peeps!! We all loved her bright, Spring-like version ~ she's almost finished ~ we got the idea that she had been working on it a while! Hook on, Kathy!!!

This Saturday, the "Gathered Treasures Christmas Show" will be held at the Richland County Fairgrounds! It's a new primitive antiques and folk art show put on by the gals that do the "Gathered Treasures Spring" show and "In The Spirit of Friends" at Malabar Farm in the Fall. It's from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. so if you're looking for a fun way to spend the day, come see us! As shocked as I am, Christmas is right around the corner and this would be a good place to start your shopping! We'll be there with wool, frames, etc. ~ gifts for your favorite hooker!! I am packing now and have a BARGAIN BASKET with some great mark downs (lights, pillows, candle holders, etc.). Also have some 1 yard bundles of wool for $20 and some $5 Christmas trees!! I'm cleaning out the shop ~ come to the fairgrounds and save some money!!!!!

My 'Finishing Touches' class is now added to the Coming Events on my sidebar. Sauder Village class sign ups started yesterday at 10 a.m. ~ I wonder if anybody's on my list?! We won't really know much until December. There is always a frenzy to get your favorite teacher but no doubt, there are some who are not full yet. So, if you're thinking you might like to experience Sauder Rug Hooking Week, you should check in and see if there are still openings ~ or at least, come for the day. They have one of the best rug shows in the country and Kathy Wright works very hard to assemble a list of very talented teachers and give us lots of choices ~ you should consider putting it on your next summer's list of things to do!

I need to get organized for tomorrow's packing ~ right now, I'm washing and wishing ~ washing wool and wishing I would get some new projects finished!!! Off to the hooking room!! Have a good weekend!

WOOLLEY FOX TRIP ~ ~ ~

2011-11-04T12:50:00.008-04:00

Good grief!! I hit publish instead of save!! And then, yesterday afternoon, I typed a whole big post and at the end, hit some darn key and it all went into cyberspace neverland!!!!!! I gave up! But, I'll start anew!

This is Barbara Carroll's Berks County Floral that she introduced at the ATHA Biennial recently. I have been wanting to hook it since I saw the sample last fall but had to wait until it was rolled out in Lancaster! It's 17" x 20" and I hooked all this in the three days we were at the Woolley Fox this past week! The background is a mixture of my sparkly wools and the hearts and gold flower centers are paisleys. Barb's loving it and I am, too! The numbers are hooked in just to hold the space and then I'll rehook after the background is in. That's a very good way to make sure they stand out ~ same for the flower stems!

Maria and Mary M. were having a fun chat! This was the only people picture that I got ~ we were really hooking up a storm!

Judy is hooking a new Magdalena pattern ~ I can see Happy Trio in the upper left of the pattern so that must be it's name!! Love the duck with all it's directional hooking! Judy also stitched a little pinkeep for each of us ~ very thoughtful!

Mary is hooking this monster of a rug!! It is a room size rug with pineapples on both ends ~ the colors she and Barb have chosen are beautiful mauves and creams ~ it's really going to be something! Mary says it's her winter project ~ for me, it would be my lifetime project!

Miss Maria just got in around noon on Tuesday and managed to get this hooked in her day and a half with us! It's Aunt Tillie's Garden ~ another sizable rug!

Donna ~ our leader ~ is hooking Magdalena's Great Grandaughter's Rug. When she was returning from the Biennial with a friend, they travelled the Magdalena Trail as set out in Kathy Wright and Evelyn Lawrence's new book. This pattern is painted on a barn that's on the trail and Donna is memorializing their trip with this rug! It's really going to be soft and old looking!

This is Donna's new friend ~ Gabby! She made herself right at home in Donna's hooking bag!!!!! We had a lot of fun with Gabby and Posey, the Woolley Fox cats ~ they go anywhere they want ~ and they're quite entertaining!

We had a great time on our trip ~ it goes so fast ~ it's time to head home when you're really just getting settled in. We ate some great food and I love the shops in Ligonier ~ we always find some great things there!

The day after I got home, Tad had to have a tooth pulled ~ we have been dealing with this tooth for a couple of weeks and Tad and I are both so glad it's over. Dealing with dentists and oral surgeons who are in no hurry to make things happen, made this mother have a headache!! It was quite an ordeal but he's on the mend and happy as a clam ~ thank goodness!!!!

Luke and Luci and their mom, Miki, were at the lake with us this weekend! Son Teddy was deer hunting so they hung out with us. Miki joined us and our lake friends for a trip to a local winery, Chateau Tabeau, in Fremont! Very nice little place ~ good wine and good food. It was a beautiful afternoon so we set outside for a while and then moved inside for a bite to eat. We have been doing this for a couple of years in the fall ~ just a nice way to wind down our season!

I have a NEWSFLASH!! I have been asked to teach a one-day workshop at the Sauder Rug Retreat next August!! Kathy Wright called me some time ago and I'm really honored to be included on a roster of such creative rug hookers!! I'm going to be doing a hands-on finishing class and want to make it fun and informative for you gals that want to know how to put that finishing touch on your artistic endeavors! You can check out my page on the Sauder Village Rug Retreat website. Come join me!!!

So that's it for tonite! I finally got this post done ~ and now I'm going to hook on my class rug!!!

GONE HOOKIN' !!!!! ~ ~ ~

2011-10-29T21:53:00.001-04:00

Wish I had a picture to post but alas ~ I do not!! Tomorrow, I'm heading to the Woolley Fox for three days of hooking, eating and shopping!! Woo Hoo!!! I'll have some pix to post and hopefully, stories to tell! It's going to be cold and maybe some rain ~ but we'll have our wool to keep us warm!!!!!! I'm going with Donna, Judy, Mary and Maria ~ it should be lots o' fun!! I'm going to hook Berks County Floral ~ the new rug that Barb introduced at the ATHA Biennial! I've been waiting to do it ever since I saw it finished in her studio but had to wait till ATHA was over!! I still haven't finished The Rooster Pair from my Spring class so I decided to do something more manageable!! Talk to you at the end of the week ~ unless I can figure out how to blog from my phone!!!!

Hope all is well with you and yours! Ta ta for now!!
Alice

ANOTHER FUN WEEKEND ~ ~ ~

2011-10-26T20:31:00.001-04:00

Tipp City rug progress ~ wish I would get it finished!! I took this photo with the cell phone in a lot of bright light ~ yikes!! But it's coming along!

This weekend, Sonny's son Chris and family came up to the lake and we were invited to Karen and John's (next door neighbors) for their annual Halloween lunch! They go to great extent to make it fun and tasty ~ there was pizza, chicken tettrazini and lots of appetizers and bags of goodies for the kids and even for the ladies! Very fun!!

Then we took the kids and their parents to African Safari ~ one of my favorite places to go up there! You drive your car thru and feed the animals!! This buffalo liked Chris a lot ~ but he needed a tic tac or two ~ whew! Some of those guys had really odoriferous mouths!! We laughed so hard ~ it's just crazy when these animals stick their whole heads in your car and snarf around for food! We took four bags of carrots and they give you a cup of pellets which don't last long and usually the animals yank it out of your hand!! Chris is a very meticulous fellow and he about had the big one when they slobbered on his car ~ that was almost as funny as the wildlife! We went directly to the car wash when we left! That night, we went to the Japanese restaurant, Nagoya, for dinner ~ always fun with the kids!!

Two weeks ago, we went to Kelleys' Island with our friends ~ this was at one of the pubs along the way ~ we were pretty happy by this time and I'm shocked at how big my arm looked that day!!

Our partners in crime ~ Carol and John and Karen (our Halloween hosts)!

Diane and Greg and Bill ~ Carol's husband!! We had a riot that day! Went to the annual Chili Cookoff at the Brew Pub and met up with our friends, Tom and Janet, who live on the island part time! Always lots of laughs ~ we love our friends!!!

It's been quite a couple of weeks ~ lots going on! Yesterday, I bought a new phone system and got that into operation ~ I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to these new fandangled pieces of equipment!! I also bought a new printer because the current one has a broken hinge (how, we don't know but it wouldn't print unless I laid on the top of it and now it won't even do that!) Tonight's project is for me to try to get the new one up and running! Wish me luck! I had to hand write paychecks today ~ that's not good ~ and then will have to print them to paper so the guys can have a copy!! And on it goes ~
I did it!! I have the fax set up and the printer connected to the Ethernet so it's wireless!! Woo hoo!! I have to say ~ the tutorial was so good that probably my cat could have done it!! But, there is no less sense of accomplishment!!!

Anyone watching Dancing with the Stars? It's getting a little dicey with tempers flaring a bit! Okay ~ I'm outta here for now!! See you soon!
Alice

TIPP CITY RUG PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

2011-10-21T00:39:00.001-04:00

A lot of progress today!! Because I hooked for several hours this morning! I just threw caution to the wind and didn't look back ~ therapy ~ I needed therapy!!! It's coming along!! Lauren asked the size ~ it's 16" x 24" as it is now, but there is a lot of extra foundation fabric so I could add a nice geometric border. I wanted to get this done ~ a border will slow me down!! We shall see!

When the teachers were talking about various aspects of designing our own rugs, Karen Kahle mentioned that it doesn't have to be perfectly symmetrical ~ I only had to hear that once!! Mine is not and I know now that's okay! I drew around a small drinking glass that was on my table to get the largest gold circle shape. The others were drawn freehand ~ shocking, isn't it? But, I like their funky shapes ~ same goes for the half rounds at the edges of the rug ~ not quite the same but pretty close for just being sketched on the pattern backing.

The ATHA convention has begun! FaceBookers and some of the blogs are already posting about it! The rug exhibits look great and of course, the vendors make me want to be there!! As if I don't have enough of my own stuff ~ but I love to buy dyed wool if I find something unusual!! So for now, I will enjoy my armchair visits to the Biennial ~ I see so many of my rug hooking friends and acquaintances ~ I know they're having a blast!!

I'm off to my bed now ~ big weekend ahead ~ have to dig out my woollies because it's cold and damp outside!!! Take care and enjoy this drippy weather!!

Alice

P. S. I got word last night that Linda of Simply Country Seasons blog is recovering from a serious surgery ~ she's doing well but will be in the hospital for another week or so. I know she has connected with quite a few rug hookers ~ some here at the proddy sheep class this summer and thru other blogs. I'm thinking you can leave her a message on her blog and when she gets home, I know she'll appreciate that we all were thinking of her and sending prayers for her healing. Linda is a great gal ~ lots of fun ~ even though her sense of direction allows her to see lots of new countryside!!!! I'll keep you posted when I hear something!

TIPP CITY RUG PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

2011-10-18T18:38:00.000-04:00

Just a short post ~ wanted you rug hookers to see this background! I'm loving it ~ learning to love it, actually. One thing about this Karen Kahle-type striated background is that you can't hook in straight lines ~ and you get better variation if you use some different widths. Most of this is an 8 or 8.5 cut but there are some 9's and a few narrower. So on it goes ~ it takes me a while ~ I've put two hours in on this background since the last photo from the class. But it will be a neat rug when it's done ~ a study in "The Shape of Things"!

I've been up to my ears in office work ~ preparing invoices and putting some order to my office. I've had grandkids for several days now ~ Luke is staying while his parents are on vacation and then Jakob and Cam took turns staying the night Sunday and Monday. Getting kids off to school in the morning takes some getting used to ~ fixing breakfast and shuttling them to the bus or school!! Whew!! I'm tired!!!

So, I'm off to put dinner on the table ~ one of the grocery store clerks said "Boy, I've seen you a lot lately"!! That's sad ~ they don't see much of me because we eat out a lot or do something simple ~ this cooking is getting to the old girl!!!!

I'm hoping to hook tonite while Dancing with the Stars is on ~ that show is a little ho-hum this season but I do enjoy J. R. Martinez ~ he's doing a fabulous job!! Have a nice evening ~ I'm going to!
Alice

TIPP CITY RUGS ~ ~ ~

2011-10-15T17:15:00.003-04:00

This is a long post of pictures of the rugs on display at our recent Tipp City class. Love this rug! Hooked by Marketa ~ it looks like a painting!

Also hooked by Marketa at Susan Quicksall's class this summer at Sauder.

And this is Marketa!!! I neglected to post her picture with all the other people pix in the first post so here she is!! I like her a lot ~ she joined us for dinner this year and last ~ she's a take-charge kind of girl ~ I like that in a woman!!! Love her necklaces, too!

This is Susan Quicksall's Crazy Horse tote pattern ~ I just helped my friend, MJ, color plan hers ~ can't wait to see it done!

Another Quicksall pattern ~ they seem quite busy to me but such a captivating design ~ I may have to try one sometime! Good way to use your scraps!!

Great Fall colors!

This dear lady is a 'fine' hooker ~ her strips look like threads compared to us primitive hookers! But look at her detail ~ we can't get that! Her geisha was gorgeous!

Debbie hooked this rug ~ if Debbie reads this, know that I have been thinking of you and hope all went well with your surgery!

A Halloween collection with a wool applique piece thrown in. Friend Lanna hooked and stitched the cute WitchiePoo in the back ~ and also the bat pinkeep right in front of her! We sat across the table from each other and chatted up a storm!

Such a pretty rug and the one below is just plain cute!

Another great fall-themed rug!

Love the swirls in the sky!

And the fanciful acorn!

This rug hooker is also a stitcher and quilter ~ her sampler is just perfect and the little book laying below it is a replica of a child's stitched ABC book. Both are displayed on an applique quilt ~ all of her work is really exquisite ~ me thinks she might be a perfectionist!!

I believe these rugs are Ali Strebels ~ some she hooked ~ others are vintage. I love the colors in the star runner. This week, we received an email from Ali, Karen and Nola telling us that their next class won't be till 2013!! We'll all look forward to it, I'm sure. It's nice to go and see the gals you've met in the past ~ we've definitely had fun and made some nice friends!

One of those friends is Jackie ~ this is her proddy rug from a class she attended here! Pretty colorful, wouldn't you say? Kind of like Jackie!! When you read this, Jackie ~ don't forget to outline the sheep's head ~ the photo tells us that outline is necessary to define his little sheep head from his big sheep body!! Send me a picture when you're done ~ signed, your teacher!

This has been such a busy week ~ don't know where the time goes but it does. Today is a windy one here in Ohio ~ we're home ~ Sonny is working and I am, too. Lots to do before I leave for Ligonier in two weeks ~ one of those things is to finish the Rooster Pair rug that I started at Barb's in the Spring!! Off I go!! Have a good rest of the weekend!

TIPP CITY RUG PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

2011-10-06T21:04:00.002-04:00

This morning, I took some time to go to the hooking room and start on the background of the Tipp City rug. Karen Kahle does lovely striated backgrounds and I'm trying to recreate that only doing it in an 8.5 cut. Karen uses a much narrower cut and gets a great effect ~ I usually hook in a 9 and a 9.5, which is very chunky compared to hers. Last year, when I was recreating another of Karen's background styles of hooking small bits of various wools, it worked out well. She suggested to me that I not change my style but try to make it work with what is typical for me. So I'm doing the same with this striated background.

The second picture is a close-up (blogger wouldn't let me move the picture). You can see there are lots of colors that equate to black ~ same values of different colors ~ I might be learning something about value after all ~ it's a hard concept for me!

I do wish I had hooked the outline of the entire rug before I did the designs ~ should have used whatever I had with me and then rehooked black when I returned home ~ lesson learned! It's making for a wavy outside line ~ since there is a generous border of linen outside that line, I may design a geometric border to make this a bigger rug. Stay tuned and see just where this goes ~ we're both going to be surprised, me thinks!!!

Look at this beautiful cabinet that our friend, Marge, GAVE to us! She's 84 and just kind of cleaning out things ~ no children ~ so she's giving things to people who appreciate them. Evidently, years ago, Sonny and I both admired this cabinet and she remembered that ~ neither one of us did!! The guys brought it home last week and set it in the garage where I attacked it with a vengeance!! I scrubbed it twice with Murphy's Oil Soap ~ buckets and buckets of it ~ and waxed it twice with Howard's Feed and Wax (love that stuff ~ bought it in Ligonier). It had been in their basement for years and it definitely didn't look like this when it arrived! I got it done in one day and they got it set in that night! Houseguest Jackie was arriving from Pa. and I wanted it all done before we left town. The Ethan Allen hutch that resided there moved to my son, Teddy's house ~ they were having a party Friday night and Miki was anxious to get it in place for their gathering!! We were motivated women!!!

On Monday evening, we had Marge over for dinner so she could see how great her gift fit right in at our house!! We took the doors off ~ they are hand beveled ~ great doors! But, I couldn't display my redware and pottery and with the doors open, it just overwhelmed the space. So, they're in the basement, marked so that when we're old and dead, someone will know where they belong!

This is it ~ things can go to pot around here in a hurry ~ we have unexpected house guests ~ just went to Subway and ordered a gourmet meal ~ yikes!!! I think it might be cocktail time!!! Talk to you soon!

Alice

TIPP CITY CLASS ~ ~ ~

2011-10-05T00:19:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday and Friday, I was in Tipp City, Ohio ~ north of Dayton ~ for a two day class. The theme was "The Shape of Things" and we were given templates to design our own geometric rug ~ this is mine! We were all given the same size foundation fabric ~ we worked within the outline of 17" x 22". We took some of our own wool and purchased some from the teachers. In this rug, I took the corner template and put it end-to-end to create the design on either side of the rather wild center circle!! The blue wool was in our packet and I really wanted to use it somewhere in my design ~ hence, what looks like an eyeball with a blue pupil! Somehow, I think this looks rather artistic ~ hopefully, not as I described above!

These lovelies are our teachers ~ Karen Kahle, Alice Strebel and Nola Heidbreder! They work really well together and have lots to offer in terms of color planning and creativity! I swear ~ I wonder if I'll ever learn what 'value' is ~ they talk about it a lot!! Even their mode of dress is creative ~ and has lots of ''value''!!

Pam, Sue and Charisse are friends and customers of mine that live in our area! I have lots of fun with them and admire the friendship they have with each other. Each one is very special in their own way!!

Two new friends are Valerie and Barb, on either side of Nola! They're new friends that I met ~ they've been friends with each other for many years ~ very fun ladies!!

Jennifer came all the way from Nebraska to join us! Such a sweet gal ~ we all enjoyed her a lot! She joined us for dinner, too ~ I think our reputation from last year preceded us and they put us in a private room!!!

This is Jackie from Pittsburgh! We met last year at this class and she has been to my studio for a couple of classes since then ~
this year she stayed with us on the way to Tipp City and back ~ I call her Princess Jackie ~ she's a little high maintenance but we like her anyway!!! We had a good time and I think she enjoyed hanging out with Sonny and I here at our house!!!

Our other table-mate, Lanna, got away before I could get her picture! She's a very creative gal in her own right ~ designing a pattern line and making great wool pincushions!! We had lots to talk about, too!

So it was a fun two days ~ it went fast! Saturday morning, Sonny and I drove to the lake and vegetated for the weekend ~ really, just rested ~ not something we do a lot of! It was great!

The next post will be of rugs that the gals brought to show ~ that's always one of the best parts ~ to see what others hook and how creative everyone is! I'm looking forward to the nice weather that's coming our way ~ need to do my outside fall decorating ~ I'm a little behind!!!

Have a good week wherever you are!

IN THE SPIRIT OF FRIENDS SHOW ~ ~ ~

2011-09-28T22:03:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, we had a great show at Malabar Farm just outside of Mansfield! This is my booth ~ hogde podgey ~ that's what I always think ~ but colorful!! Just like the the person who set it up!!! We had no rain ~ lots of shoppers ~ a great day! I love a show in this kind of setting when the weather is good ~ and of course, when my things are 'well received'!!!

These booths were across from us and at the entrance to the barn! Lots of primitive folk art and antiques inside and out!

Our friends, Vivian and Lou Schomburg, have great colonial boxes and shelves and cupboards! Perfect for the colonial or primitive home! We went to dinner after the show at the Malabar Inn ~ very good food and a welcome respite after all our hard work!! Sonny and I were celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary which was on Sunday ~ 29 glorious, blissful, fun-filled, crazy years!!! Many of them were, anyway!!

These two couples stopped by the booth and I'm sorry I wasn't more mindful of the lighting!! Mr. & Mrs. Gary Dundore and Mr. & Mrs. Glenn Krebs dress like this for fun and travel around to various places ~ they're not paid ~ they do it just for their own entertainment and to bring a bit of the olden days into the present! I enjoyed our conversation immensely and wish I had more time to talk with them. By the way, all their clothing was vintage ~ not costumes!!

Tonite, I have a houseguest ~ friend Jackie from Pittsburgh! Tomorrow morning we leave for our class in Tipp City with Alice Strebel, Nola Heidbreder and Karen Kahle!! We're looking forward to seeing friends from last year and working on a new project ~ which by the way, is kind of a mystery! We do know it's a geometric of some sort! So when we return, I'll have pictures and stories to tell ~ check in and see what we created!!

Have a good weekend, everybody!

IN THE SPIRIT OF FRIENDS SHOW ~ ~ ~

2011-09-23T14:09:00.000-04:00

TOMORROW from 10 A.M. - 4 P.M.!!!!!! Come join us at Malabar Farm ~ we'll be in the barn ~ with lots of dyed wool, as-is wool, hooks, frames, scissors, yarns, rovings, books ~ whatever you need for your rug hooking pleasure!!

This pumpkin lady is looking for a home, too! She's wearing antique children's shoes, hat and capelet and has on her best fall dress!! She's been to too many Fall shows, so she's at a bargain price of $75!!! Email me if you want her for your own before tomorrow!

There are two of these Turtle Creek Pottery luminaries ~ this one ($95) and a smaller one for $65.00. Great with a candle or a mini light under it for enhancing the soft lighting in your home!

Bundles of dyed wool ~ things that I've had too long and am bundling them in like colors ~ great for backgrounds or anyplace that you want to mix colors!

These are still on my work table waiting to be stripped into 1/8th yard pieces and yarns to be packaged! Whew ~ I've got a lot to do before tomorrow! As soon as I'm finished here, I'm hauling things up to the garage, hopefully, before Sonny gets home! He's worked hard all day and then we have to pack the truck and go set up!! As usual, we pack a lot into a day!!

Hope to see you tomorrow ~ think SUNSHINE for all of us down in the Pleasant Valley, home of author and conservationist, Louis Bromfield! An interesting factoid is that Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart were married in the big house at Malabar. It's open for tours and Malabar's Heritage Days are also going on this weekend ~ so there will be lots to do!!

See you soon!
Alice

BIG WEEKEND ~ ~ ~

2011-09-19T14:24:00.002-04:00

Friday, friend Vivian and I went to the Country Living show at Ohio Village in Columbus! This great fat tin chicken was one of our purchases ~ Vivian bought a black one! I took down several things off this wall ~ fussy looking things ~ and replaced them with this lone mustard chicken! I like it!!

This gives you an overall look at the little guest bath under the stairs - in my mind, I think you're interested!! What you will be interested in is that there were THOUSANDS of people at this show ~ the grounds were covered with folks who paid $16 each to get in! If they went for the Early Bird Sale, they paid $25 to get in! It astounded us both in light of the fact that a crummy economy surrounds us! We even heard of people who flew in from far away places to attend!

Ginger Cazan created these two redware pieces ~ I love her work and don't see her much anymore ~ we did a couple of shows together but not now! Our kids will probably sell all this stuff in a garage sale for 50 cents when we're gone ~ but I love redware so I'm enjoying it now!

Some other acquisitions were these beautiful skeins of handspun yarn ~ aren't they gorgeous? Even if you're not into fibers, the colors are so pretty!

This show was well worth the trip down to Columbus! Hundreds of artists ~ traditional and contemporary ~ some very funky and eclectic! We were there from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and only sat for a bite of lunch! I was so tired when we left and drove home to go out for dinner with my old friends! We met them in Ashland at 6:30 at Surella's ~ if you live near Ashland, you should give it a try ~ very good food ~ and beverages! We had a lot of fun ~ stayed till we almost got kicked out! Then Sonny and I stopped at the Happy Grape because Teddy & Miki asked us to join them ~ I hate to tell anybody no ~ they may not ask again! We got home at midnight!!

Saturday, was a Fraizer family wedding ~ at a farm ~ very simple but it did the trick! We got home at 10 that night ~ the old people are slowing down!! Sunday we went to Camden's fifth grade football game and then had a wiener roast here for all of our kids and grandkids!! Great fun ~ great food ~ lots of laughs!! Luke & Jake, the two 7th graders, stayed all night with us and I got them off to school this morning with homemade smoothies and eggs and toast!! Don't tell my grown kids ~ they will remember that I didn't quite do that for them ~ probably some cheerios and a pop tart!!!! Grandmas are smarter ~ and have more time!!

I have tried numerous times today to send photos from my 'smart' phone to my email but no dice! I wanted to show you my old friends and pix from the wedding. Oh, well ~ you'll have to imagine them! Silly me ~ I fogot that I can just download them from the phone to a picture file ~ here's the bride with her dad ~ the tractor and haywagon brought us all back to the wedding site! Kind of fun!! Especially watching this old girl get up on the wagon!

Today, I've been washing sheep fleece ~ now that's a stinky job!! Have a good week everybody ~ and you know I appreciate you stopping by!!!

RECIPE ~ AND STUFF ~ ~ ~

2011-09-15T23:52:00.001-04:00

I made this a while ago and it's really good ~ I tried to find a picture ~ it's out on the web but no photos ~ so just imagine how good it looks!! And besides that, I wanted to post a little bit tonite but alas ~ no photos!!!

Warm Bean and Bacon Salad

Start to finish: 20 minutes

8 ounces slab bacon or pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
6 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Two 15 1/2-ounce can navy or other small white beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground pepper

Place the bacon or pancetta in a medium saucepan over low heat. Saute, covered, for about 8 minutes, or until the meat has rendered much of its fat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for about 5 seconds. Transfer the contents of the saucepan, fat and all, to large bowl.
Add the beans, salt, parsley, vinegar, oil and pepper. Mix well, then serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 6 servings.

Source: Adapted from Jacques Pepin’s “Essential Pepin.” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011).

I wanted to publicly thank customer Sandra for sending her check, as she promised, for the wool she got Saturday! I trusted her and she's a woman of her word!! I love helping out someone and she helped me to keep my faith in the good guys and gals of this world!!

At the show last Saturday, I also had the nicest surprise ~ Dara, my friend from when we were young in the little town of Homerville, where we grew up ~ came to the show to see me! I only get to see her at class reunions and now that she has retired, she's branching out!! It meant a lot to me that she made the effort to drive down from Cleveland (we walked to school together every day for years!) and she also surprised me by wanting to get started hooking ~ rug hooking, of course!! I can't wait to see what she creates ~ she's going to draw her own patterns and just see where her creativity takes her!!! I'm on the sidelines, cheering you on, friend!!!

Another couple, Roberta and Dick, who still live in Homerville, stopped by and we've made arrangements to get together for dinner this weekend ~ along with Marge Dreher and her husband. Marge still lives in Homerville, too ~ she's the artist that is next to our booth at Quailcrest! Dick and I grew up across the road from one another and always argue about who was the poorer of the two families ~ I know it was us! We've known each other since kids, too! It was like old home week ~ very fun for me!

Tomorrow, friend Vivian and I are going to the Country Living Show at Ohio Village in Columbus. I've wanted to go since they started but always had a show that weekend! This year the date of Malabar got changed so we're free to go! We're looking forward to it for sure! I'll take pictures!!

Did I tell you that I got the new IPhone? They call it a 'smart phone' for a reason ~ it is smarter than me! It's been a bit of a challenge to get used to ~ I finally got email installed on it ~ and now to learn to take advantage of all the 'apps' that are available ~ some for free ~ some for money ~ I want the free ones!! It's good to stretch our brains and try new things ~ it keeps us young and sharp!! That's funny ~ to me!!

Have a good weekend ~ it's cool and crisp out ~ how quickly the weather changed!! We have an outdoor wedding on Saturday ~ guess I better get my longies out!!!!!!!!! Ta ta for now, friends!!
Alice

THIS WEEKEND'S SHOW ~ ~ ~

2011-09-12T14:10:00.000-04:00

Was really fun!! It didn't rain although it looked like it could at various times! It rained in Cleveland, Akron and even Wooster, which is 2 or 3 miles down the road from Quailcrest but it never rained there! We were ever so grateful! We sold lots of wool and remnants of wool ~ they liked my new colors!!

Lauren and Linda ~ friends/bloggers/hookers ~ met up at the show and stopped by to see us! They were having fun (they met each other at the proddy class here in the spring) and I swear Linda came by three hours later ~ still there!! She brought me some of her newest pieces to see ~ Linda is a woman on a hooking mission!! Stop by and visit their blogs ~ Lauren is a very frequent blogger ~ Linda, not often enough!

This little rug has a new home ~ someone helped themselves to it and a wool appliqued runner, this weekend! Can you believe it? It was before the show even started ~ while we were setting up and wandering around ~ not paying close enough attention to what was going on around us! It really saddened me ~ I've done shows for 30 years and to my knowledge, never had anything taken before. A hooked rug, no matter the size, takes a lot of time and effort to create ~ but even though that happened ~ I won't let it destroy my trust in the people who come to a show ~ I even let a gal take wool home and send me a check this week because she was out of cash! The incident will make me be more watchful in the future ~ and maybe it will be a lesson to all of us who put ourselves out there to pay a little closer attention!

We stopped on the way home for a really nice dinner at The Skyway with our friends Vivian and Lou. We were all really tired and it was great to stop at a nice quiet spot ~ like the old supper clubs ~ with very attentive waitstaff and no music blaring and low lighting ~ a real treat at the end of a long day!

Sonny, his son Brian and my son, Ted are all up at Lake Erie on a fishing trip today! Hope they bring home supper!!!!!! It's a nice sunshiny day here ~ hope it is up there!! Tad and I stayed home ~ I was just too tired to pack up and go up there yesterday! I thought I would get a lot done today but so far, not so much!!

Have a good week, everybody!! Enjoy this fall weather ~ I love the way the air feels and smells in the fall!

SNEAK PEAK ~ ~ ~

2011-09-09T15:51:00.001-04:00

Here are a few things I'm packing for my show tomorrow at Quailcrest Herb Farm ~ I should actually be packing my crates instead of blogging but when I saw this array of color, I just had to share!! You might see something you like!!

These are some of the remnants from the brights that I dyed last week! I'm loving this vibrant color! These are little bundles of the ends I cut off to square up the quarter yards and it's a nice way to add to your color stash!

I picked these up at the wholesale market a few weeks ago. The little red house is a cute little 'what not' that would look good perched on top of a table or cupboard. The splint baskets are woven of hand-split reed ~ very old but must have been out of harm's way ~ they look good!

Some woven table toppers for HaLLOween!

Bundles of fabric remnants from a weaver ~ I've made table runners out of the plain fabric to applique on. You could use them for lots of little projects!

I'll have lots of wool, frames, hooks, sari ribbon and green sparkly yarn ~ patterns and foundation fabric and some finished rugs as well! Come by and see us tomorrow if you're close enough ~ they have a very nice show of folk art and antiques and beautiful herb gardens to wander in!

I picked up friend Marge today and we went to the Senior Center for fish ~ $3.50 for two BIG pieces of fish and a side dish ~ Sonny and Brian have been lunching there since they're working in town!!! Since her husband passed away, Marge doesn't get to go as much, so I took her on my errands to Krogers, Kohl's and her bank ~ I think she enjoyed it! I hope when I'm old, someone will come and pick me up once in a while!! I'll let you know ~ when I get old!!

Back to the packing ~ we'll load the truck when Sonny gets home ~ I'd like to not be up till midnight tonite!! I used to do that ~ work till 1 or 2 in the morning and get up at 6 to leave for a show ~ those days are gone!! Think SUN, everybody ~ there's nothing better than an outside show on a beautiful day!

NEW SHOP IN TOWN ~ ~ ~

2011-09-08T15:11:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, as I was on my way home from errands and saw that a new little shop here in town was open! Shoppe 27 is it's name ~ at 27 East Main St. in Lexington. Fran and Suzie are the proprietors and they've assembled a lot of what I call 'shabby chic' furnishings and accessories ~ there are three nice little upholstered chairs that would be perfect for a little bedroom or sitting room! So, if you live in the Lexington area ~ stop by and see them Wednesday-Saturday from 11 to 5 p.m.

Just thought I'd give them a little plug ~ it's great to see new business come to town! We have a new bakery called The Itsy Bitsy Cupcake Shop ~ I haven't been there but wish her great success, as well! Also another business called Finderz Keeperz ~ I'm not sure exactly what they have but think it is recycled stuff ~ I'll stop there someday, too!

That's it for today ~ I need to start packing for my show Saturday ~ THINK SUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a little gloomy here in Ohio today!! Have a good day ~
Alice

P.S. This is the photo I was trying to add to my blog right from the phone ~ looks like it takes a pretty good picture, though!! Twelve year old Luke, said he'd show me how to use my phone!!!!!!!! I'm glad someone in the family is techno-savvy!!!

BLOGGING FROM MY IPHONE ~ ~ ~

2011-09-08T09:13:00.001-04:00

I have a new phone that is fun and crazy making at the same time! I tried to load a photo but there's apparently something I need to know! Anyway, bear with me ~ it will be fun if I can post when we're out on our adventures!

P.S. ~ it worked!!! Amazing to me ~ I'm on the computer now! Wish I could figure out how to load the photos from the phone ~ I will ~ and then there will be no stopping me!!!!!

We went to dinner at a friend's house last night ~ we only knew two people there ~ the other 7 were all strangers ~ very fun! It's great to stretch yourself and really engage with new people ~ we had a great time!!

Okay ~ I'm off to get ready for Saturday's show!! Ta ta for now!
Alice

P.S.S. ~ I never blog without photos ~ it feels like something is missing!!

NEW WOOL COLORS ~ ~ ~

2011-09-02T09:33:00.001-04:00

In the mornings, I've been putting on a couple of dye pots each day in preparation for my upcoming show at Quailcrest Herb Farm in Wooster ~ check it out on Coming Events on the left sidebar.

I'm trying ProChem colors here ~ lovely brights that will appeal to some more than others. I love the depth of color that came out came out in these batches ~ kind of a jewel tone effect and very mottled!

These formulas lean more toward the primitive colors that I know so many like ~ me, too! Deep rich color! Dyed wool has an appeal and gives an effect in a rug that as-is wools just can't do!

I have to tell you that I used citric acid crystals for the first time ever! When I had the red pot on and the water was rolling, I put the crystals in ~ take it from me ~ don't do that!! The water erupted like a freaking volcano all over my stove, counters, floor and whatever was within a couple of feet!!!!!!! RED DYE everywhere!!!!!!!! Of course, I was in a hurry ~ when am I not? So, I cleaned up all the liquid with paper towels and then thew them in the garage trash can because if anyone had looked in the kitchen waste basket, they would have thought I'd slit my throat!!! As I said, I was in a hurry ~ leaving to go to an appointment and had to leave the stained counters and floors till I returned! That was ~ of course ~ after Sonny got home from work!! It's a good thing he's not given to rage because it looked pretty darned bad in there!! But dishwasher soap saved my day ~ and my arse!! I pour it straight onto the counters and whatever else it got on and use a green scrubbie and it takes all the color right off!! Thank goodness!! Sonny's been wanting to get new counters and I'm fine with what's there ~ but as I went on my errands, I thought this may be the day when new counters become an option!!!

These are little bunches of dyed fleece ~ great for adding another texture to your hooking! I throw them in the top of the dye pot and I think the colors came out great!! They make great flowers or grass or even hair if you're into hooking people!

Last night we had a fiasco with a shower faucet ~ I went into it on Facebook ~ it will probably come back to haunt me ~ Sonny thinks I tell everything that goes on here! Believe me, I don't ~ you wouldn't even believe it, if I did!! It ended up with water shooting everywhere ~ me removing the contents of a guest room closet ~ Sonny cutting a hole in the wall to get to the guts of the plumbing ~ and then capping off the pipes until we can shop for a new faucet and call a plumber!!! Now we're sharing Tad's shower!! As I shared last night on Facebook ~ Sonny boy says "you don't have to drink to live here, but it sure does help"!!

I hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend ~ we're going to ~ I'm counting on it!

KIDS & DEER ~ ~ ~

2011-09-01T14:48:00.000-04:00

These are the 'kids' ~ Luci and Jordyn ~ on the first day of school!! One is my granddaughter ~ one is Sonny's ~ they are our granddaughters and they are cousins ~ in the same grade! Cute, aren't they? I was the grandma/stalker in the halls waiting to get them in the same place at the same time. I took one of Jordyn and her brother, Logan ~ he is a second grader ~ and made such a goofy face, I just couldn't put the little duffer on here!!

And this is Mr. Kitty having a staredown yesterday out my office window with one of our resident Bambi's!!!! The deer stood very still ~ licking it's chops and an occasional snort ~ this went on for about 10 minutes!! Finally, they both tired of it and went their separate ways. Later, we saw a mama deer and her two babies coming out from behind the grape arbor ~ no grape jam this year!!

Tuesday night, I went to grandson, Jakob's first Junior High football game. For me, a big thing, as I don't like or understand the game and it makes me sick when I see someone get hurt and know the possibilities of what could go wrong. But ~ I persevered ~ my grandma instincts got the better of me ~ I did what I knew was the right thing to do ~ the weather was perfect at 4 in the afternoon ~ and I went! Jake had a great game ~ he scored a touchdown, had a couple of tackles and caught a nice pass ~ and they won! I was very proud of him ~ and I would have felt terrible if Sonny had come home and told me what I'd missed! I'm guessing I will go to more ~ if the weather's good ~ or maybe even if it's not!

I'm still dying wool ~ in the midst of everything else. We had our 84 year old friend, Marge, over yesterday. She wanted to see my rugs and find out what this hooking is all about! She was really interested in the process and the dying ~ it was great ~ she wanted to hear about something totally new to her!! We had a good visit and fed her pizza and stromboli for supper! It's a good thing to spend time with an older person ~ we chatted away and it was good for us both!

The sun is shining ~ it's a good day!
Alice

DROP SPINDLE CLASS ~ ~ ~

2011-08-29T13:32:00.009-04:00

Saturday, a week ago, my hooking friend, MJ and I took a class on spinning yarn with the drop spindle! It was great fun ~ always love learning something new ~ and Janet Engle was a great teacher! There were only three of us ~ a gal named Chris was there as well and we all got very personal attention!

This lovely, lumpy skein of yarn was the rewards of my labor! We start out with about a yarn of wool roving (on the table in the photo above) ~ split that into threes ~ attach it to a piece of yarn that has been looped around the dowel underneath the disc ~ run it thru the hook on the top and spin away!! There's a little more to it ~ for me, lumpy bumpy yarn with a lot of texture will work fine ~ Chris had a very even tension as she spun and hers came out pretty darn perfect!! I spun a little blue roving into the white just to see what the finished product would look like! My intention is just to do a little handspun yarn to hook into a project ~ I'm not going to spin enough to knit a sweater or anything even close ~ just a little to say that I added my own handspun to a rug!!

The class was at the Overland Inn, which is located in McCutcheonville, Ohio ~ south of Fremont and Tiffin. Janet taught the class and since she is also a docent, gave us a wonderful tour of the old inn. This log cabin is at the back and is the original part of the building.

Everything has been restored and this is the reception area/bar of the old inn. It has quite an interesting history and Janet was well versed in the stories of the past!

There was lots to look at ~ this signature quilt done in the old redwork was very interesting to me. Very small and refined stitches made up the design and you could tell it had been washed many times thru the years.

In an upstairs bedroom, there are beautiful old handhooked rugs. Janet didn't realize that's what they were, so we enlightened her with what we knew about them! I love this runner ~ obviously, done with scraps of colors ~ very worn but almost a faded painting look to it.

All the rugs and furnishings in this room had been donated by a local family well known in the area.

I love the striated background and center and the unusual border treatment. Something to ponder for those of you who are rug hookers!

This rug was in perfect condition ~ it definitely hadn't been used. It was hooked in honor of the man's military service, whose family donated all of this. Janet said she would try to see that the rugs were moved out of the traffic pattern of the room, as this one was. The color is still very good in this rug.

There is another building on the property that had been a store and had lots of antique tools, etc. in there ~ not yet really organized but still fun to look at. In the corner, MJ spotted this rug, which is quite good looking ~ Janet was going to make sure it got out of the corner and put somewhere where it could be enjoyed!!

My thanks to MJ for finding this class for us ~ we had such an interesting day ~ and it's possible that I may teach some rug classes there in the spring ~ we shall see what comes of it!

We went to the antique show at Lakeside on Saturday morning ~ usually, there are lots of primitives but not this year. I did find this cute little old drying rack, though ~ and it will be perfect for displaying my marbleized wool so customers can see all the great variation of color!! It was a big $8 ~ I got off really cheap at that show ~ Sonny was glad! There was a beautiful Bride's Box that really took my eye but at $350, I decided to admire it from afar. I'm guessing that was probably not a bad price for it ~ it was beautiful and the color and condition were very good. At this stage of life, we don't need to be adding to our stuff, for sure!!

What we do need to do is have fun ~ and we sure had that this weekend! Friday night, we went for dinner with some of our lake friends and their out of town friends ~ sat on the water at Dock's Beach House and had a cocktail ~ it was great! Saturday, we had friends, Kathy & Kenny come up and 12 of us went to Put-in-Bay for the day! We started out at Heineman's Winery and went from there! Of course, we got split up ~ that's a lot of folks to keep together ~ and just laughed and had fun all day! We took the ferry out of Catawba Island and on the way back, we surely saw some sights! One little gal travelling in her teeny black bikini, with her two well-oiled travelling companions ~ and the one was trying to get "teeny's" dress on her to cover her up ~ we had some laughs over that, for sure!! Lots of other funny things ~ but what happens on the island, stays on the island!! Not really, but I can always find something to laugh at!

So ~ back to reality! Going to put the dye pots on ~ I dyed some very vibrant colors last week ~ pictures in the next post!!

A belated Happy Birthday to my friend, Diane ~ with all the hilarity, I forgot to get her a card ~ but we wished her happy birthday many times over the weekend!!!

Did I tell you the story of how last week, on Wednesday, Sonny mentioned how we had been together 29 years tomorrow? My eyes got big as saucers and I said " I CAN'T believe I forgot our anniversary and I must be losing it, etc."!! The next morning, there's a beautiful card waiting for me and I apologized again and thought, I've got to run to the store and get him a card before he gets home! I called him during the day and said again "Happy Anniversary" and blah blah. Then I was Facebooking my niece for her birthday and thought " I can't believe I never got it that her birthday and our anniversary is the same day" And then I thought ~ that's because it's NOT!!!!!! Our anniversary is in September ~ NOT August ~ and he was so sure (and proud of himself the he remembered) that he had me convinced, too!!!! I swear ~ we laughed so hard ~ Mr. Romantic said "put the card back in the envelope and save it till next month"!!!!!! We are quite a pair ~ seems like we might not have one good brain between us!!!!!!

Have a good week, people!! We're going to!! In fact, I saw a great quote the other day ~ think about it ~

Have a Good Day ~ Unless You've Made Other Plans!!!!!!

Alice

MORE RUG SHOW ~ ~ ~

2011-08-26T09:08:00.001-04:00

There were lots of great rugs there ~ I took pictures of the ones that jumped out at me!

This is Donna Hrkman's ~ she won an award for it ~ it looks like a picture!

Sunday in the Park ~ lots of detail.

Love these two displayed together ~ the flower pattern is by Primitive Grace ~ I only know that because friend Donna hooked it last year!

Two whimsical rugs and a small pictorial ~

Christmas rugs ~ I know the Santa is Kris Miller's pattern.

A little bit of everything here ~ I think the middle one is Maria Barton's "Hooligans" ~ I think. And the Halloween cat is Kris Millers.

The larger rug in the middle is April Deconick's ~ she did a loop-by-loop blog post about the hooking process ~

LOVE the geometric rug ~ it really speaks to me!

And last are animal rugs ~ purple might be my new favorite color! I just realized that two of these rugs are the same pattern ~ maybe Rebecca Erb's? They're cute, for sure!

So another Sauder Rug week is over ~ everyone I know that went really loved it! Kathy Wright and her little band of helpers do a great job ~ it must be an overwhelming project to display and label all these rugs and secure vendors and schedule the classes! Kudos to them all!

Yesterday, I took Luke, Luci, Jake and Cam out to lunch ~ school starts next week so this was our last hurrah!!! Luci giggled and laughed and made the rest of us laugh all day! I think she ate lots of sugar before we picked her up! What a character!! At one point, I laughed so hard I told them I was gonna wreck the car if she didn't settle down!!

Last night, Teddy and Miki and the neighbors came over ~ we shared the wine that we bought at the wine auction. Mary Ann and I had been bidding against each other ~ I should have let her buy it and gone to their house to drink it! What was I thinking?! We had a good time ~ had some appetizers and sat on the deck ~ I think it's nice when young people want to spend time with old people like us! Of course, these old people are to Put-in-Bay tomorrow with our lake friends ~ hope we don't do anything crazy!!

Another week gone by ~ Fall is right around our corner ~ enjoy the last weeks of summer!
Alice

PATTY YODER RUGS ~ ~ ~

2011-08-24T10:08:00.002-04:00

There was a large display of Patty Yoder's rugs ~ rugs that I'm drawn to because many of them are of sheep ~ I love sheep rugs! Her hooking style and the detail of her rugs is just perfect to me.

This collection is one of my favorites!

And this rug is probably very favorite of them all!

Imagine how much thought went into hooking the sheep over stars ~ imagine!

I love her self portrait. Patty Yoder left a wonderful legacy of rug hooking when she passed away in 2005 ~ how generous of her family to loan these rugs to the rug show!

Love the brilliant purples in the top rug! Still wishing I had remembered the camera ~ but you still get a sense of the beauty and the art that Patty Yoder created!

One of the first Sauder Rug Shows that I attended, there was a display of Patty Yoder's rugs ~ many of the ones we see here. There was a poster of one of her sheep for sale and I have always regretted leaving without buying one ~ afterwards, I thought "oh, well ~ I will see it again". Of course, I have not ~ it would have been a wonderful thing to own!

There will be another post of the Sauder rugs ~ and I didn't take pictures of all of them, by far. There were lots of rugs there ~ and as someone pointed out, not a lot of primitives ~ but beautiful things to enjoy!

I'm fairly successful at a less hectic week than usual ~ yesterday, I met a friend in Marion at a yarn shop ~ I bought a wooden drop spindle to continue my new endeavor ~ and a great jacket at a little shop that she had found! Came home and spent time with grandkids ~ Sonny's daughter took Jakob & Luke to the junior high for a tour of the school ~ they're getting nervous about next week ~ while they did that, I took two younger ones to visit Aunt Betty and then we all met afterwards for ice cream!! They think that's part of our routine ~ great for my hips! Next week, they'll have a new routine ~ and so will grandma!!!

Have a good day wherever you are!

THE MAGDALENA RUGS ~ ~ ~

2011-08-22T14:12:00.001-04:00

Please keep in mind that mama forgot her camera ~ these were taken with my phone ~ but I wanted you to get a sense of what we were able to see at the Sauder Rug Show!! On Wednesday evening, we attended a lecture by Evelyn Lawrence (who has unearthed a lot of the Magdalena Briner rugs) and Kathy Wright, Director of the Rug Show and Evelyn's sidekick in the search for these rugs. The top rug is the original and underneath is Evelyn's hooked version. Both are beautiful! The color of the original is still very good ~ seems like it might have been packed away for many years.

This is the original Magdalena's Dog ~ I, too, have hooked this pattern ~ seeing the original is a treat for sure! The fabrics are mostly cottons ~ and have their own patina from long years of use. The ones on display are from private collections and we're so glad they loaned them so that so many of us could enjoy the primitive folk art of Magdalena!

This photo shows the original rugs on the left and the contemporary hooked versions ~ all Evelyn's, I believe.

Evelyn has a wonderful way of just talking to you ~ not a speech ~ not scripted ~ just chatting away about what she knows. It was very interesting listening to her and looking at the many Magdalena rugs she has hooked! Behind her is 'Domestic Zoo' ~ a very interesting runner rug ~ the pattern is sold by Saundra Porter of the Woodland Junction blog ~ take a look at her recent post!

Kathy Wright also chatted with us about the personal life of Magdalena Briner Eby ~ she has tracked down lots of information herself. You begin to feel like you know the artist even though she was born in the 1800's.

And this is the book that Kathy and Evelyn have co-authored ~ I've read it from cover to cover and find it very informative ~ with lots of good pictures. You can contact Kathy at wrighttraditions@aol.com if you would like a copy! Many of us have hooked Magdalena rugs with Barbara Carroll ~ I have the Rooster Pair in the works right now ~ well, sort of ~ I haven't hooked all summer ~ but I'm getting ready to!

I'll share more rug show photos this week. We did have a great time at Sauder Village ~ Heidi and I took a tour of the Pioneer Village that is only two years old ~ complete with costumed interpreters in the houses that talked about life during that time and gave us a sense of how hard their life was. I shopped in the spinning shop and picked up some black fleece ~ nice for a sheep and a ball of roving. Now that I learned to spin (I use that term loosely), I'll put those to good use ~ I'll write about that soon, too! A very productive class!

Okay, I'm off!! My goal this week is to be productive and to have a quiet, unhurried pace ~ we shall see!! You have a good week, too!

BLOG CHALLENGE DISPLAY ~ ~ ~

2011-08-19T14:25:00.001-04:00

This was our 2011 Blog Challenge display at the Sauder Rug Show! Friends Heidi, Donna & Arlene joined me at our lake place Tuesday thru Thursday and we made a field trip to Sauder on the opening day! We had a great time ~ we got there at 10 a.m. and left after Evelyn Lawrence's lecture that ended sometime around 8 p.m. It was a full day, believe me!!

Here's all the Blog Challengers ~ Maria Barton, Ali Strebel, Kris Miller and me!! I was hoping we could get a group photo and it all came together by the hair of our chinny chin chin!! Maria got there just as Kris was heading off to a class ~ I thrust my cell phone into some lady's hands and we crouched down on the floor and all smiled pretty real fast ~ and then the youngsters had to help this old girl get up!! It turned out pretty good for a cell phone photo ~ I left my camera at the condo ~ of all times to do that!

So, all my pictures will be from my phone ~ they aren't the best but there are quite a few ~ I'll be putting them up over several posts ~ so be waiting for your virtual trip thru the rug show!! We had a great time for sure!! Very inspiring!!

More to follow ~ I'm off to pay bills ~ I've been gone all week and went to Columbus to the wholesale market this morning ~ so I have to do a little work around here before I lose this good paying job that I have working for my husband!! Happy weekend to you!

Alice

TIME FLIES ~ ~ ~

2011-08-11T23:55:00.001-04:00

When you're having fun ~ and boy are we!!!!!! Last Saturday, we went to a garage sale in our friends' neighborhood up at the lake. There is always something fun to buy and for the most part, it's pretty good stuff ~ and we all need more of that!!! I was so happy to find this little lamp filled with beach glass ~ it takes us a year to find that much!! Our lake friends, Carol and Bill, showed us all the beach glass they found in the Cleveland area last week ~ nice big pieces and a lot of it, from just one beach walk! We look and look to find little bitty pieces ~ in our area, there isn't a lot ~ Sonny and I would be in beach-glass heaven if we stumbled across that much in one walk! It has to do with the current and in some areas, there were dumps out in the lake and in some places, even little towns that were located out where the lake is now! But, we have fun looking and listening to the waves as we walk ~ it's very soothing and kind of a meditation of it's own!

I'm loving this rusty metal deer that I found in the first garage that day! He'll make a great holiday centerpiece and I can fill his little body with candies or something fun!! This particular neighborhood has it's own claim to fame ~ what I like to call "thong man"!!!!! This guy lives there and walks around in his thong swimming attire on a daily basis ~ he has an entire wardrobe of them ~ that's what we hear!!! We drive people over there just to see this weirdo!! And on the Friday before the sale officially opened, there he was in all his glory!!! May I say, that I have observed ~ that he is tan from tip to toe!!!!!! I would have taken a picture for the blog but I don't think it would pass the guidelines for good taste!! On Saturday, thank goodness, he had shorts on ~ I'm just guessing that somebody ~ maybe his wife ~ insisted on it!!!

This is last weeks' gathering of glass and shells and lucky stones ~ it took three trips to find this! We did have a fun weekend with our friends ~ going out to eat and just laughing and enjoying ourselves!! We missed our girlfriend, Diane ~ this weekend we should all be together again since we're going to a wine tasting in Sandusky ~ that's the one where Sonny and neighbor John ended up dressing just alike!! We'll see what the boys wear this year!

Another thing we collect is driftwood ~ friend Margo, sent Sonny a picture from a gift catalog of one that she really liked so he made it for her! It turned out really well so as he collects just the right pieces, he'll be making more!

We also went to Art in the Park where there were some very talented artists! I got my Seattle son a birthday gift ~ and bought a painted tin star that is made by handicapped kids that create things in their own art studio! We really enjoyed the day and since it was hot, I was ever so glad that I wasn't a vendor. I have two shows in September but the weather should cool down by then.

MJ came to pick up her stretcher frame that Sonny made for her proddy sheep ~ she was in my class this Spring! MJ has really taken to hooking like a duck to water ~ I'm very proud of her! She is taking classes at Sauder this next week and then she and I are taking a drop spindle class to learn to hand spin our own yarns for hooking!! I've always wanted to do that ~ I saw a beautiful skein of yarn this spring in spectacular colors that was done on a drop spindle and had a price tag of $90!!!! Yikes!! I think we can do that!!!

Today, I took four grandchildren to the local county fair!! I hadn't been to the fair in probably 25 years but Luke and Luci talked me into it!! We picked up Jakob and Camden (who wouldn't have his picture taken) and off we went!! They talked me into going into this fun house which seemed harmless because it's just small and kind of hokey! The boys ran ahead of Luci and me, of course, and then came running back laughing their heads off ~ to tell me that I was really gonna love the last part!! They were beside themselves, believe me! Do you see the big round cylinder behind the kids? Well, that thing was spinning round and round and I had to WALK through it to get out of the damned thing!!!! Yeah, they were laughing alright ~ and even more to see this not-too-sure-footed grandma try to walk through a rolling tunnel without falling on my keister!!! It was a sight ~ I am sure!!! Now I know why the operator gave me back $2 before we started ~ I wondered why he had a smirk on his old wrinkled face!!!!

But, we had big fun ~ ate lots of fair food ~ watched circus performers which were pretty entertaining ~ saw a live tiger show ~ watched the kids pitch ping pong balls into little dishes so they could win 5 goldfish to take home to their not-too-happy parents ~ they should be glad I didn't buy them each one of the whistles that they sold at the circus show!!! Summer will be over soon and the kids will be back in school ~ oh whatever am I going to do then?!

We have a busy weekend and a busy week next week ~ I'm trying to get my ducks in a row to be gone next week for a couple of days at Sauder! Some gals are staying with me at the condo and we're getting revved up to head to the rug show!! Have a good weekend and we'll talk soon!
Alice

I'M WAY BEHIND ~ ~ ~

2011-08-05T07:40:00.001-04:00

Behind in my blog posting ~ it's really hard to keep up with right now! Lest you think this is a member of my family ~ I have to tell you I went to the ZOO last Friday with son Teddy and Luke & Luci! There were lots of animals to take pictures of but I just love monkeys and gorillas ~ this guy was just happy to be leanin' against his cage and watching all the people watching him!

These beautiful birds are Lorakeets ~ we were in a cage with hundreds of these beautifully colored feathered friends! We could buy the little cups of 'nectar' for a whopping $2 each and go in and feed these guys!! They must not have eaten in days! They flocked all over us and the many other folks that were in this oversized birdcage ~ I couldn't wait to get out of there ~ especially, after one of them ripped my nectar cup out of my hands with his little beak!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was the only thing that made our day bearable ~ The Cool Zone!! This was one big monster fan that also sprayed a fine mist over us ~ Luke and I loved it and the other Misting Stations that were here and there around the zoo property! By the time we got to the polar bear exhibit, I was having a serious case of the vapors (as a southern friend of mine used to call it) and didn't take any pictures! Those big white bears put on quite a show ~ diving and swimming for all to see in the underwater exhibit ~ also in another space were HUGE grizzly bears swimming in a river! I would NEVER want to run into one of those guys in the woods! By the way ~ it was 94 degrees last Friday in Columbus ~ that's why this fan made such a big impression on me!!

The two girls on the left are DIL's Miki and Cheryl and friend Beth ~ they walked the 3-Day Walk for the cure last Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Cleveland ~ 60 miles!!!!!! It was in the 90's those days up there, too ~ I give them so much credit for doing it and I think they learned a lot about themselves on their journey! It was a tough one ~ but they said they laughed till their sides hurt and I think shed a few tears as well! That's why Grandma went to the zoo with the kids ~ Miki had to be in Cleveland and for a variety of reasons, someone thought that was a great idea!! It was! We did have fun and I LOVE the zoo!!

Saturday was the wedding of Sonny's nephew, Mark and his Valerie! Just a couple of pictures of this country wedding ~ it was on the bride's family farm ~ and they did a lovely job! This was the tent where the bride and her attendants were until the ceremony ~ hidden with lovely vintage quilts on a clothesline ~ to me, it was charming!

The arbor was adorned in tulle and wisteria and huge baskets of white impatiens at the seating area. The yard and all the outbuildings were beautifully landscaped ~ the family had worked so hard to see that everything was just perfect! Again, it was a beastly hot day and a welcome gift was their programs were made into fans for each guest ~ that was a wonderful thing!!!

In the center of a huge tent ~ set for 350 guests ~ was this fruit sculpture with real palm fronds at the top! The tables were covered in linen cloths with herbal plants set in vintage strawberry baskets and each setting had a jar of jam made by the bride and groom and the groom's mom.

Mark is the son of Sonny's brother that passed away two weeks before. It seemed sad that Paul wouldn't be there but I think the timing of this wedding was God's plan for healing ~ it was such a fun, uplifting day with lots of family and friends ~ everything happens just as it is supposed to ~

Not to let any grass grow under our feet, on Sunday we went to the lake ~ Sonny's daughter and her boys came up till Monday! We hunted beach glass ~ the boys loved that and went home with a nice bag of their own! They go to their dad's lake place and now, I know they will be out on that beach every day with heads to the sand looking for more treasures!! They swam and we ate and walked the beach ~ Jakob and Cam told their mom they want to come live there!!!!!!!!!!

This pretty butterfly was getting his own 'nectar' out of the lantana plants yesterday on the deck ~ a peaceful moment that I decided to capture! As you can see, not too many peaceful moments here ~ our life is just crazy busy and full ~ I wouldn't have it any other way!!!!!

A very happy note that I keep forgetting to tell you about is that at the Sauder rug show, coming up in a week and a half ~ our Blog Challenge pieces are going to be there!! Kris Miller, Maria Barton, Ali Strebel and I are sending all of our projects and Kathy Wright and her band of helpers will be setting them up in a special display ~ I can't wait to see how they look all together!! Some hooker friends and I will be going to our condo on Tuesday that week and on Wednesday we'll head over to the rug show for the day and back to the condo for another overnight! Who knows ~ we may even get some hooking done!!!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you all have a great weekend ~ I'm planning on it!!

MORE WEEKEND FUN ~ ~ ~

2011-07-31T08:22:00.000-04:00

Do you know who this is? We didn't ~ until one of our lake neighbors enlightened Sonny. Last weekend, this was sitting on the back of a landscaping trailer, parked at the end of the Moose parking lot. It is a bronze statue of WOODY HAYES ~ famed OSU football coach from 1951-1978 (I had to look that up)! There is a landscaper who lives in our complex and evidently, Woody was going to be installed in someone's yard? or in a commercial job somewhere ~ it was actually, pretty impressive!

Such a beautiful view off our deck ~ this lone heron looked like he was posing! We had weekend company from home ~ friends Cliff and Margo and their daughter and husband. It was so bloody hot, that we took a little tour around the area, and came back to the condo to cool our heels in the a/c! We took them to the Moose for perch sandwiches for lunch, the Islander Grille for dinner and I fixed a really good quiche (friend Carol's recipe) for Sunday breakfast and away they went! You know our weekends consist of lots of eating and adult beverages ~ it was so darned hot, we couldn't treat them to our favorite pastime of

sitting on the rocks!! We hope they'll come again when it's cooler!

This was our beach glass bounty from three mornings of scouring the beach! We were able to be at the lake for four days ~ a real treat for us! Lots of lucky stones in the lower left ~ a few bits of red and blue ~ and to the right (the white stick-looking like thing) is a fisherman's needle. Friend Heidi had shown us one and this was the first we have seen in our beach walks. It might be a real thing or it might be folklore but ~ it is the bone out of some kind of fish, at the top there is an opening that you could thread, and fishermen used it for mending their nets!! True or not, it's a good story!

Here are my efforts at jewelry making! The top bracelet is made with lucky stones ~ lucky stones are the earbone of a sheephead fish ~ I also just learned that from google ~ I had heard it was the cheekbone but now I know different!

The bottom is green beach glass ~ kind of bright but kind of pretty. I'll try my hand at making more ~ it takes 12 pieces of glass or stones ~ and the glass has to be just the right size ~ so it won't take long to use up what we have!
Have a good Sunday ~ the weekend is almost over! I feel like I'm on a spinning top ~ hanging on for the ride!! See you soon!
Alice

WEEKEND FUN ~ ~ ~

2011-07-21T13:54:00.000-04:00

Well ~ this, actually, all took place the weekend before last! We had friends, Vivian & Lou, up for the day and as we were driving around, this visual feast for the eyes was sitting at a local waterside pub ~ just waiting for me to take it's picture!!! Isn't this the craziest thing? I loved it and knew you would, too! Click on it to see all the fun things that make up what looks like a parade float!! But I think it was some guy's car!!!!!!

There was also a sailboat regatta that day ~ this picture is pretty far away but if you click on it, you can see what a beautiful sight those sailboats made!

This was our glass collection from that weekend ~ pretty good haul, wasn't it? See all the lucky stones in the middle? I just got some bracelet blanks and I'm going to try my hand at jewelry making ~ just like so many others are doing these days! Almost every craft or art show you go to, is overrun with jewelry ~ mine will be just for fun! If it works out, I'll show you some pictures!!!

Just in case, someone in the area of Port Clinton is looking for a fine leather chair and ottoman ~ here it is!! It's a long story (all of mine are) , but we replaced the upstairs sofa and loveseat ~ the chair didn't match the new set (of course) so we HAD to buy the chair that goes with them! At any rate, this one is in the lower level ~ hardly ever has anyone sat on it ~ and we're selling it and putting the upstairs mis-matchy chair in it's place. Email me ~ gfraizer@neo.rr.com ~ IT'S JUST LIKE NEW!!!!

Last weekend, we stayed home to gather with Sonny's family in honor of his brother, Paul. They had a bonfire and pot-luck at their farm ~ like they would do on so many occasions ~ and friends and family were together to comfort his wife and kids ~ and each other. It was sad but also Paul would have loved it ~ he was with us in spirit!

We are off for a four-day weekend ~ unheard of for us! Tad will be staying with his sitter for part of the weekend, while we have overnight guests. Yesterday, I took him out to lunch and shopping for cd's and dvd's ~ his favorite thing to do ~ because he hadn't been out in so long and I thought he needed a change of pace. On the way home, I asked him "did you have a good day?" He said " yes ~ it's 'kiss up' Wednesday"! I said 'what does that mean?' He says, in all his wisdom " Thursday, you go to the lake ~ Wednesday, I go shopping ~ that's 'Kiss Up' Wednesday"!!!!!!!!!! I laughed all the way home!!!!!!!!! He may be developmentally challenged but he's pretty darn smart and pretty darn funny!!!!!!!!

I hope somebody's 'kissing up' to you today!!!!!! Have a good weekend ~
Alice

KINGWOOD RUG SHOW ~ ~ ~

2011-07-14T10:41:00.000-04:00

These are the last of the rug show pix ~ no commentary ~ just enjoy! Well, I will comment on these ~ don't you just love that lady in her hooking chair? And that fat bird with a house in his middle? and the funky little blue bird? These are all quite whimsical and just tickle my fancy!

It was a fun day ~ lots of beauteous things to see and savor and friends to enjoy!

We have had some sadness in our family this week ~ my husband's brother, Paul, 62 years old, died on Tuesday of liver cancer. He has been ill since February and despite various treatments, it wasnt' meant to be. Sonny is the oldest of 8 brothers ~ now there are 6 ~ it's hard to lose your family. We've tried to be very supportive and uplifting to the family thru these months. This past Sunday, we hosted a wedding shower here for their son's fiance ~ they are getting married in two weeks ~ a bittersweet time for them now. I don't like to share the sadder parts of life on my blog ~ I like to tell you all about the fun things that might uplift you and make you laugh ~ and I have some fun things to share but I'll save it for another day.

Yesterday, Luke and Luci rode their bikes over ~ we went for ice cream in the afternoon and drove by the house of an elderly lady friend ~ she was out in the yard and I spied her little head over the top of a patio chair ~ so we whipped that car around and drove in her drive and invited her for ice cream! She said she was tired ~ getting ready for company ~ but she'd let us bring her something if we would come eat it there on her porch! So away we went ~ loaded up on sundae's, and cones and came back. We spent a lovely time with Marge ~ 84 years old, newly widowed ~ no kids or grandkids ~ and she showed the kids new baby bluebirds nesting in a birdhouse ~ and told us how she and her sisters are going to a bed and breakfast just for fun ~ and how she's giving us a big cupboard that we admired many years ago ~ but we can't have it now cause there are things in front of it ~ and when we left , Luci said "she's cute!" and Luke said 'she has the cutest haircut'! And I called her this morning and told her that at 84 years old, she's been deemed cute! She said 'you just made my day'!!!!!!!

So ~ try to 'make the day' of someone around you that could use it! I dare say our visit made our day and perked us up more than it did her!!!!! Thanks for coming by ~ talk to you soon!
Alice

KINGWOOD HOOK-IN ~ ~ ~

2011-07-10T10:11:00.004-04:00

It has taken me several weeks to post these rugs ~ no excuse ~ I'm just like a dog chasing my tail ~ round and round I go! I love Linda's rug! Linda is a new hooker ~ she came to one of my proddy classes and she has done a fabulous job on the Lexington Proddy Sheep! She has some border to finish but I couldn't wait ~ Linda, you have hooked a really great rug!!!

Stacie hooked this cute rug ~ it's a pattern that she bought from me ~ I can order some in if anyone would like to add it to your pattern stash!!!

Here's another sweet sheep ~ my weakness!!

There was a display of 'first rugs' ~ I thought this was a very ambitious first rug ~ and very well done!

This crazy rug is my 'first rug'!! I went to a retreat at Shaker Village, in Kentucky that Margo White and Sandy Kandris used to host! Friends Heidi, Danese, Gloria and I went for several years ~ it was always a great time! I met Betsy Reed there ~ and the infamous Jeanne "Red" Langston (one of the funniest and prettiest women you'll ever meet!) and lots of other great gals from all over the country. Actually, Betsy is hosting her own retreat there this month ~ wish I could go ~ I know they'll do a great job!

Friend Charisse saved me a seat so we could visit!!
I'm such a gadfly that I never hooked a loop!! I wandered ~ I ate ~ I visited ~ I looked at what everyone else was doing ~ I shopped from Betsy ~ and just had a great day all the way around!!

This lion rug is gonna be great!! Friend Donna started this at one of Barbara Carroll's classes ~ I like it a lot!! If I would get back to hooking, I would put this on the 'to do list'!!!!

Katie puts together a really nice gathering ~ there were lots of hookers there ~ and lots of vendors ~ she treats us very well! Next year, I'll be one of the vendors!! I'm excited!!

Have a good weekend ~ and hook something nice!! That's if you're a hooker ~ if not ~ just enjoy yourself whatever you do!!

Alice

FLOWERS AND GLASS ~ ~ ~

2011-07-07T00:26:00.005-04:00

This is my Mother's Day hibiscus from son Teddy and family ~ it is blooming profusely and the impatiens I planted below match it perfectly!! The color of the plant was a mystery until just last week so it was a pleasant surprise that the two colors went together! My big challenge will be to winter over this plant ~ but we won't have to worry about that for a while!! It's been pretty darned hot here in Ohio!

This lone lily was so pretty in among all the greenery. Most of this 'greenery' is gone now ~ I've been working in the flower beds and getting rid of things that are so overgrown and starting anew! I've left a few plants here and there but the wild geranium has really taken over ~ pretty in the spring but that's about it! One of these days, I'll show you the finished product!

Last weekend's beach glass bounty!! We were at the lake for three days and went out twice ~ there is a funky little fossil with lots of holes and three lucky stones in the lower left corner ~ should be a lucky week!

We had a fun weekend ~ tried three new places to eat ~ a Thai restaurant, the Gateway for burgers and Pappa Jimmies for barbecue! We eat and drink our way thru the weekends ~ holy crow, I've got to get a handle on this!!!

We watched fireworks from the rocks ~ we could see four or five different displays plus one the neighbors to our west put on! It's as good as any of the public fireworks!

Hope you had a fun Fourth! This year is flying by! Rug pictures coming next!!!

Thanks for stopping by ~ Alice

P.S. I wrote this post or one similar, yesterday! Once again, the damn thing disappeared!! I checked blogger and people are having all kinds of issues so I'm thrilled this one is posting!!

AND THE WINNER IS ~ ~ ~

2011-06-30T10:47:00.000-04:00

FINALLY!! The day is here!!! The winner is picked! I used Random Number Generator and I deleted my comment regarding how you might go about commenting ~ so the ending number was 108 rather than the 109 comments shown. I didn't think it fair to count mine in there and then throw off the counter!!!

Here is the photo of the actual pick!! And the winner is LELOOPS!!!!! So LELOOPS, please email me at gfraizer@neo.rr.com with your name and address and I will get this off to you!!! I'm going to include a few extra goodies ~ just to make it fun!

If you have a chance, read through the comments ~ so many interesting reasons why you all love rug hooking! Mentioned many times is the friends we make ~ that has to be one of the big bonuses of learning this art of ours! I have met so many great gals and a couple of fellows ~ friendships I would never have if it weren't for our common bond! One comment was that she couldn't paint or knit or other things but that she could HOOK!! It gives us all a wonderful creative outlet and opens a whole world to people who didn't know they were creative!

So ~ special thanks to Heavens to Betsy for giving me the opportunity to share this wool with you! And thanks to each of you for leaving your comments ~ this drawing had a great response ~ everybody loves a giveaway!!!

Alice

FUN WEEKEND ~ ~ ~

2011-06-27T23:25:00.002-04:00

Another sunrise! This morning at 5:30, this was the view out our patio doors!! Too beautiful not to share! We were able to spend another 3-day weekend up in P.C. and it was great!

Saturday, we walked from town out to the City Park ~ about 3 miles round trip ~ and found this antique hand-carved fish at a flea market that was going on in the park!! It really is beautiful and smooth from all the years that it's been touched and polished ~ the lady said a man made it for her dad many years ago ~ we were happy to give it a new home where the art of it will be valued much more than the $3 we paid for it!!

Beach glass hunting! We love to do that on the little beaches near us! The picture isn't the best but it shows off our finds from this morning's walk! Red is very rare and this little bit of red glass is shaped like a heart ~ I'm happy to have it! Sonny also found a fossil and three lucky stones ~ the lucky stones are on the bottom left ~ supposedly the cheekbones from sheephead fish ~ click on the picture and you can see the natural 'L' that is indented in the stone! I have a bracelet made with lucky stones and just saw a pendant necklace this weekend!

Saturday, friends from home joined us for the day ~ we had a little lunch, sat on the rocks with our lake friends, took them on a tour of some of Kenny's old haunts from his teenage years, went to a little marina bar for a bite and a beverage and ended up being invited to an impromptu birthday party for a mutual friend of ours from here at home! It was at a the NorEaster Club ~ very nice and glad to be able to share in their fun!

Sunday, we went to Kelley's Island to meet with friends that Sonny will work for over there! We took the ferry from Marblehead ~ a beautiful ride over and back! Our friends took us to the Island House ~ and we had the most WONDERFUL New England Lobster Roll with drawn butter and DUCK FAT FRIES!!! Have you ever heard of them? Oh my word!!! Talk about scrumptious!!! Topped off with a peanut butter martini ~ I was one happy woman!!! And I wonder why I don't have the figure of my youth!! I know the answer but I'm telling you ~ if you get to Kelley's Island this summer, you have to treat yourself to some Island House fare!

So ~ back to reality ~ work awaits ~ but it's easier to tackle the tasks at hand when we've had a fun relaxing weekend! Hope yours was the same!!
Alice

P.S. There's still time to get in on the Wool Giveaway ~ check my last post and leave a comment!

YAY!! A GIVEAWAY ~ ~ ~

2011-06-22T11:34:00.008-04:00

Thanks to Betsy and Erica of Heavens to Betsy, I am able to share these wonderful new wools with one of you lucky gals! This past weekend Betsy was a vendor at the Kingwood hook-in here in Mansfield and she sent home this nice collection of wool from their new flyer!

Leave a comment and tell me why you love being a 'hooker' and I'll send off a yard and a half (a quarter yard of each!) to a lucky winner! You have a week ~ the winner will be chosen via the Random Number Generator site on the morning of June 30! This giveaway will be only for the U.S. due to the excessive shipping costs out of the country!!

Thanks and I'll be waiting to hear from you!!!
Alice

GOOD GRIEF!! For those of you who get automatic notices of comments to this blog ~ ignore the one the says 'i am alice' ~ I was trying to enter a comment from my husband's computer, to check out why some comments won't publish ~ but, of course, that one did publish!! I was trying to figure out a way for someone without a blog to enter a comment to win this wool! But alas ~ I'm no help at all!!!

SWEET TREAT ~ ~ ~

2011-06-19T11:02:00.001-04:00

CRACKER TOFFEE

1 pkg. saltine crackers
1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 12 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

Line a sheet pan with foil. Cover the entire surface with crackers. Bring butter and sugar to a boil. Pour over the crackers. Bake at 400 deg. for 5-6 minutes until bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle evenly with choc. chips and spread the chocolate as it melts. Sprinkle the top with nuts ~ place in fridge to set up and cut into squares. This truly is a sweet treat!!

Last Thursday, Luke and Luci came to spend the afternoon ~ school is out so I thought they might like to come hang out! We made the recipe above ~ a big hit ~ you should try it!

Then, Luke spied some avocado pits that I had been saving so I decided to show them how I was going to use them. I boiled 4 pits in a pot of water ~ added some salt ~ and 1/4 yard of wool!! When the color seemed right, I also poured in a glug of vinegar to set it!

And this is what we got! The white is what went in the pot and this lovely peachy flesh color is the result! It was kind of interesting for the kids and for me, too. I saw it on The Crescent Lane blog a while back and I like the result! It's hard to find a good flesh color ~ I think this might be it!!

Friday night, we went to Miss Luci's All Star game!

She was one of two local girls chosen for the area 8 year old team and a good choice it was! She got up to bat 5 times and hit every time!! I'd say that's a pretty good average ~ our boys will all be jealous!!

Just as her game ended, we got a hellacious storm ~ by the time we got to our house, it was a hellacious hail storm! This is the deck ~ we were so glad the game was over and we were almost back in the driveway when this hit!

Today is Father's Day and we're having all the kids over for a wiener roast later on. The kids love to do that and marshmallows ~ it doesn't take a lot to entertain them right now! We stayed home this weekend for a variety of reasons ~ one of them was going to dinner at son Teddy's house last evening ~ the 'grillmaster' made wonderful grilled pork chops and asparagus and Miki did her oven-browned potatoes and onions ~ I made a new 'warm bean salad' (recipe to follow soon) and Sonny baked his scrumptious Rhubarb Custard pie! It was a feast for sure!

Another good reason for staying in town this weekend was the hook-in at Kingwood Center yesterday! That will be the subject of my next blog post ~ a great time, of course!!!!!!

I hope you're all having a great Father's Day with friends and family ~ we've had a good weekend for sure ~ enjoy your day!
Alice

6TH GRADE GRADUATION ~ ~ ~

2011-06-14T11:31:00.000-04:00

We'll try this once again ~ the blog that I lost ~ different words this time, I'm sure!

Last Thursday morning, Grandpa and I went to 'moving up' ceremonies for grandsons, Jakob (left) and Luke (right) (friend Foster showed up in the photo, too) in the high school auditorium! There were over 200 6th graders and it was a wonderful ceremony ~ the principal gave a very encouraging talk to them with the recurring theme of living their lives in service to others ~ that life isn't all about them ~ but of how we can help and grow our own character by serving mankind and serving our community! We thought it was a very inspiring way to send off these young people to junior high in the fall! Then we all went back to their home school for cookies and punch ~ the 200 + students ~ all their parents and grandparents ~ it was a zoo of happy kids and happy relatives! A fun day for sure! My great fear is that the 6 years from now to their high school graduation will fly by in the blink of an eye!!

On that same evening, we went to a fundraiser for our daughter-in-laws, Miki and Cheryl, and friend, Beth who are all walking the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk for breast cancer research. Their walk is the end of July in Cleveland and they each must earn a substantial amount of donations before their big weekend ~ they walk 60 miles in three days ~ yikes! The Happy Grape wine bar in our little town hosted the affair and it was a great evening of giving and sharing with lots of people we know and some new friends that we met! The highlight of the evening was a wine auction and then some added things to bid on like massages (those certificates came home with me!) and golf outings and salon packages, etc. The most expensive item was a bottle of Rothschild wine that brought $600 ~ woo hoo ~ that didn't come home with us!! There were wonderful appetizers, lots of fruit of the vine, live music ~ a very classy little gathering here in smalltown USA!! I'm very proud of all of them for taking on this challenge and also, my Seattle daughter-in-law, Coni, who will be walking this fall in her fourth walk! You go girls ~ mama will be watching from the sidelines!!

Yesterday morning, I was so glad to be awake and see this beautiful sunrise ~ 5:15 a.m. ~ there's lots of black looking Lake Erie under the sunny horizon but it was just so pretty to me ~ I thought you might like to see ~ because I know a lot of you are still sleeping at that early hour!!

We had a nice lake weekend ~ Teddy and family stayed Friday and Saturday nights ~ they went to Cedar Point all day Saturday ~ they were tired puppies when they got home!! Our friends, Adeline and Peter were in town from Florida and we were invited to dinner at their friends' home on Catawba ~ very nice evening ~ lots of laughs! Sunday, they came to visit us and spend the afternoon ~ we wined 'em and dined 'em and took them to the Moose club ~ hope they had fun!!! It was so nice to spend Monday up there ~ the first of Sonny's long weekends ~ we'll see how that goes ~ we took a 3.5 mile walk yesterday and a long walk on Saturday, too! It was a great way to begin our week! Now back to reality ~ and back to life!!

Have a happy day, everybody ~ and let's hope blogger saves this post ~ here we go!!!!
Alice

FURIOUS ~ ~ ~

2011-06-10T11:21:00.000-04:00

I just spent the last 45 minutes posting about fun things and it's gone ~ blogger is making my hair turn gray!!

BOB'S CAT ~ ~ ~

2011-06-08T11:39:00.000-04:00

The other evening, I went with Sonny out to cabinetmaker Bob's house ~ he grows annuals from seed and had some to share with us for our garden ~ very generous fellow! This is his kitty cat!! BeeBalm is his name ~ a 30# plus kitty cat!! I just had to show you ~ we visited him last year and I swear he's grown even more! There was a new cat on the property, Freeloader is his name and he was just as big and soooooo lovable. BeeBalm took off to hide under the hostas as soon as Bob put him down ~ a very big hosta, by the way! Isn't he just a great cat?

Nothing much going on here ~ planting and weeding and trying to make sense out of the gardens. Still no hooking. Lots of nice hot weather ~ I can say that because I can stay inside if I want. Going out for supper tonite with friends/customers ~ that will be fun! I'm starved already! I have to go to the doctor today and have blood work taken so I'm fasting and appointment isn't until later ~ I will be ready to eat everything on the menu by the time we go out tonite!!!!!

One bit of good news is that I'm out walking again! I've been at it a week and a half now ~ trying to be dedicated ~ wearing my wrist pedometer and trying to get in 10,000 steps a day. So far today ~ 9475!! Woo hoo ~ and I have more than half the day ahead of me!!!!!!!! The 10,000 step program falls into line with the Surgeon General's recommendation ~ that being that level of activity will help reduce disease and lead to longer and healthier lives for us all! It equates with 5 miles a day ~ and it says that a sedentary person walks 500-3000 steps a day ~ so by adding a 2 or 3 mile walk along with our normal activities, it's a do-able thing!! I'll let you know folks!!!!

It's going to be mid 90's here today ~ I'm headed out to water and then put some order to my hooking room! Have a good day ~ stay cool ~ and take a walk!!! Ta ta for now!
Alice

WHERE HAVE I BEEN ~ ~ ~

2011-06-05T21:07:00.000-04:00

I wish I knew the answer!! I decided to post tonite sans pictures ~ just so you'd know I was still kicking! Last week was a quiet one for me ~ I was home most everyday ~ working in the office ~ doing laundry ~ going to the kids games. It was a great week for me ~ no pressure ~ no deadlines. It's probably how many people live their lives. It felt good!!

Saturday, we went to the Cleveland area to a baby shower for my friend's daughter ~ that was fun ~ saw their new grandson who was born a week or so ago ~ saw our lake friends ~ it was nice. Then came home to go to a gathering of Sonny's classmates last evening. They get together once a year for dinner and chatter and next year will be his 50th reunion!! Woo hoo!!! We're getting up there!!!

Today, was a gardening day ~ when I finally got out there. We did have a fun Memorial Day weekend ~ I kind of forgot about that! We had a surprise cocktail party for one of our friend's from here at home and then all went out to dinner on Friday night. On Saturday, we went to Put-in-Bay ~ it was kind of uneventful ~ good grief, I hope we're not losing our touch! Sunday we had an impromptu feast of shrimp, left from our Friday night soiree and artichoke dip that Karen brought and margaritas ~ you know the kind you buy in a bucket and add tequila and freeze? Not too bad ~ it rained on our party, so we moved it onto the patio under the deck and it was fun! All of our neighbors squeezed into a small area with our lawn chairs and buckets of juice!!!

I hope everyone is doing well ~ enjoying their summer ~ and I'll try to post more often! I still have not hooked a loop on my Rooster Pair ~ I'm kind of coasting right now. Talk to you soon ~
Alice

A FUN DAY ~ ~ ~

2011-05-26T15:12:00.000-04:00

I am privileged to have many fun days in my life ~ and am very grateful for them!! This is a lovely little gift that was given to each of us that were invited to my hooker-friend, Sue's house on Monday! She had three of us for a scrumptious lunch of BLT dip with designer bread (well, maybe not designer but it was french bread baked in a fluted tube and when cut, each slice was like a flower!), salad made with baby greens, hot chicken salad, key lime cheesecake pie, and we topped it off with champagne in the afternoon!!! At each place setting were these little pots of flowers for us to take home! Sue is a very gracious hostess ~ her friends assured me that going to her house is a treat ~ and it was!

This is their property ~ it looks like a park! I should have taken my camera and taken pictures of her house and rugs. I took this with my phone just so you could see what a pretty place this is ~ a little slice of heaven, me thinks!! In the back is a Party Barn ~ the house isn't even in the photo! There were rugs and primitive dolls and all manner of primitive accessories in every nook and cranny! We had such a nice day ~ we should all be so lucky to have wonderful people like these three girls in our lives!!

This week, we've been to baseball games, a dinner with people Sonny used to work with before he went into business ~ that was fun ~ we ended up at The Happy Grape! Lots of rain and storms here in Ohio but nothing like the Midwest has had! I still haven't picked up my hook in a couple of weeks ~ maybe this weekend! We're looking forward to a fun-packed weekend ~ I'm trying to get all my work caught up so I'm foot loose and fancy free! Stories to follow!!!

Have a great holiday weekend doing whatever makes you happy!

Alice

FLOWERS AND "STARS" ~ ~ ~

2011-05-22T14:16:00.001-04:00

Last week was a blur ~ busy beyond words! Monday, a friend took me to see some wonderful hooked pieces ~ that will be for another post ~ and then off to a fun day of lunch and chatter ~ as only we can do! Wednesday ~ greenhousing with friends, Donna and Cathy ~ look at the bounty I gathered! Hanging baskets ~ I cut off the hangers and put them in stands or pots and voila! Instant beauty!

Flats of impatiens, beautiful coleus, lantana and the hibiscus planter were all waiting to be planted or set in the garden somewhere! Some of it has been placed ~ impatiens still waiting!

Thursday, friend Vivian and I went to a small wholesale market ~ and I mean small. Found a couple of things there and went to lunch at Molly's Tea Room in Medina ~ pretty yummy! Then I took her with me to plant my Memorial Day flowers on my mom and dad's graves ~ it was all in the same area and I have to make my time count! It's a pretty place ~ peaceful ~ and I'm always glad to that ~ my dad died when I was a little girl and I always went with my mom to do that so now it's my tradition to do for them both.

If you click on this photo ~ taken out the front window ~ you'll see this sweet little yellow bird ~ who has practically been banging his little brains out, flying repeatedly into the window!!!!!! He makes a career out of this activity ~ and if it's not the front window, it's the one in my office!! I don't get it ~ does anyone know why birds do this? I've heard it's their reflection that attracts them but holy crow ~ you think they'd tire of it after a while! But it keeps Mr. Kitty entertained for hours!

I just wanted you to see this flowering crabapple tree that I started from a little seedling that came from the tree to the left!! A landscaper friend told me it would never bloom ~ well, look at those blossoms ~ it's more showy than the 'mother' tree!!

Bluebells ~ don't you just love them? Maybe not everybody does ~ but they're such a pretty flower!

Thursday, after Vivian and I returned from our field trip to Medina ~ Sonny and I and Tad went to the lake to join some fishermen friends for dinner! Sonny and the guys went on a fishing charter Friday morning and I just putzed around the condo and went out to buy flowers for the condo pots!! It was a relaxing day ~ most of it! Until ~

When the charter got in at 5, we were waiting to pick Sonny up and drive straight home so that we could go to Miss Luci's dance recital!! It's that time of year again! We had to drop Tad at home and Sonny got ready in short order and away we went! A little late but in time to see Luci's (Star # 1) three minutes of fame on the stage!! What grandparents won't do for their grandchildren!! She and the other little court jesters looked very sweet as they popped out of a box to dance across the stage! Our daughter-in-law, Cheryl brought her little not-quite-three year old granddaughter, who was very good and very interested in all that she saw! Sonny and I looked at each other and said ~ guess we'll be coming to recitals for many years to come! Of course, we ended our evening with a little beverage and a bite at one of favorite haunts ~ our reward to us from us!!

Saturday morning, we headed for the ball fields for opening day ceremonies for Little League! This is Logan (Star # 2) ~ I didn't get a picture of Luke or Luci! Only three of our little people are playing this year ~ we really do wish the other three would ~ but their parents might be relieved!! Kids and parents today are so busy ~ it makes me wonder if they don't do too much (I should talk) ~ but then a tired kid is a good kid!! We went to two games after that and then to a funeral service and luncheon for a relative of our good friends. It was a full day and the end of a full week. We are grateful for all our kids and grandkids and a host of friends to do things with ~ it definitely keeps us on the go ~ and hopefully, keeps us young!

Today, the sun is shining and it's actually warm here in Ohio! I'm having a quiet day and enjoying it immensely! Kind of a busy week ahead of me so I'm resting up today ~ resting consists of laundry and a little yard work! I haven't hooked in over a week ~ my rooster rug is calling to me!!!!!

Here's to a quiet, restful day for you!
Alice

YESTERDAY'S HOOK-IN ~ ~ ~

2011-05-15T14:24:00.005-04:00

A great day yesterday at Lake Farm Park in Kirtland, Ohio at the Western Reserve Rug Hooking Guild's Hook-in!!! Mr. Sonny and I and friend, Heidi, left early in the morning to drive North to get all set up by the time 100 hookers came to spend the day! It was a busy day ~ a productive day (yippee!) ~ and lots of fun! I actually belong to the guild now and they do a fantastic job of organizing a wonderful time for rug hookers! This is a Deanne Fitzpatrick rug done by a fairly new rug hooker, who managed to hide behind her rug! I think this is her fourth rug and she watched a video of Deanne's and away she went! Absolutely beautiful! There are some patterns of Deanne's similar to this one on my website! I wish I had taken the rug hooker's name because she did a fantastic job of interpreting just the right colors and the hooking style that it takes to create such a work of art!

The room was filled with gals just hooking away and talking ~ it sounded like magpies most of the day!
Heidi and Laurel (in red) are in the foreground and way in the back right, standing is friend, Donna!! They had a huge Chinese auction ~ a raffle of a rug hooked by many of the members, a hooked doll and a mohair bear ~ a wonderful lunch ~ a buffet of pastries donated by members ~ all done to create a fun day!

This is a shot of the other side of the room! There were 7 vendors (I forgot to take a picture of our booth) ~ lots of wool and patterns to choose from ~ and great rugs in progress! The colors in this rooster chair pad were very vibrant ~ I definitely should have made more of an effort to get out and take pictures! As it happens, after I took this picture, the gal facing the camera won the pattern and wool that came from our booth! Hope she sends me a picture when she's done!!

This is a little of the dying that I did last week ~ I really like the nice mottling ~ it gives automatic texture and shading when hooked into your rug! I'm hoping to get some dying done this summer so I have a nice stock to begin the falls shows with ~ I'll post pictures as I go along!

The Guild also provided these great name tags and necklaces to each attendee and vendor ~ I loved my gifts! The necklace is inset with antique paisley and has a little sheep charm on it ~ thanks to Elaine Molyet who made them!

And a big Thank You to Sonny for driving me and packing and unpacking, etc. ~ I couldn't do it without him! He doesn't read my blog, so he won't know this is on here ~ but I appreciate his help immensely ~ and yesterday, Miss Heidi helped a lot, too ~ thanks a bunch, Heidi!!

Last night, after we got home, we went to supper at a new place ~ The Red Brick Diner ~ where my great-nephew, Louie, is part of the wait-staff! He's doing a great job ~ big smile ~ walks with purpose ~ waiting tables is hard work and he's making the most of the opportunity! I was really impressed with how they all helped each other with clearing tables, etc. One cute young gal came over to clear our dishes while Louie waited on other customers and when I mentioned that to her, she said "Teamwork Makes Dreamwork"!!!!!! I was very impressed with her attitude and think we can all learn something from her motto!! I wondered if she made it up or heard it somewhere ~ regardless, it's a good one!

Today is a nice quiet day ~ I've done nothing so far ~ we have the truck to unload shortly ~ and then Sonny's off to a soccer game ~ it's gloomy and drizzly so I don't know if I'll go today. Friday night, we went to Luke's ballgame and Sonny left to go see Camden play soccer ~ one night we went to a soccer game and two ballgames ~ last year, we had 6 grandchildren playing ball ~ this year, only three, so we're gonna have a lot more free time!! Sounds like lots of rain ahead this week, so it might interfere with their games ~ I hope not!

Have a peaceful day, wherever you are!
Alice

P.S. The blog counter that was installed in January of '09 reported 100,000 on the hit counter Friday night or Saturday morning! I am amazed and astounded that so many people check in on this blog! I thank each and every one of you for coming to visit ~ come back soon and often!!!! Thank You!!!!!!

ROOSTER RUG PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

2011-05-10T15:48:00.004-04:00

AND OTHER THINGS ~ ~ ~
This hooking progress is the result of Days 10 & 11 ~ the hit-and-miss background takes me a bit more time because I just can't be that random in picking out the colors!! I try ~ but I can't ~ I have to figure out what neutral will look best next another neutral. But it's coming long ~ I meant to take a photo of the background wools ~ I'll do that next time!! Since I hook pretty high, this rug has a nice cushy feel to it under my tootsies!!

We had a big weekend starting on Thursday with Luke's birthday dinner at a local Japanese restaurant! These kids have great taste when it comes to picking out where to go and grandma and grandpa are happy to go along! We sat at hibachi tables and watched this fellow work his magic with his chip-chop tools and a little cosmopolitan for me ~ it made for a very fun evening!

I'll throw in a couple of garden pictures ~ this is hellebore or Lenten roses ~ they're doing great this year. They're self seeding and I'm moving them around to other parts of the yard ~ lots of little baby hellebores are coming up so there will be even more next year!

Trillium and brunnera line the steps off the deck ~ thru the years, we've moved trillium from our woods up by the house and this is one pretty prolific patch of it. I love Spring and Spring flowers ~ this weather is bringing out the best of them! Hooray!

We travelled to the lake this weekend ~ Friday night we went to Mon Ami with friends for dinner and then we danced to The Traveling Lounge Lizards! Don't you just love that name? It's a group of guys, probably our age, and we like their music and love watching people our age out cruising the dance floor ~ thank God I'm married and don't have to worry about who's gonna dance with me next! But it's pretty entertaining to watch!

Saturday afternoon, we decided to go to Vermillion to the French Restaurant for their Derby Day party! On the way, we stopped at the little Key West style pub outside Huron, that we went to last year and Sonny walked down to their beach to hunt for beach glass ~ in the rain, I might add! Well, it started after he got down there ~ I waited in the car ~ after all, I was dressed nice ~ I thought! We got to Chez Francois and what a Derby Day celebration they had! All tables in the restaurant and the bar, Touche, had been reserved ~ including the seats at the bar ~ the brochure said 'come join us for a Derby party! Two of the four tables on the entry porch were for walk-ins and under-dressed folks ~ like us!!! We decided our money was the right color, so we stayed and watched the parade of beautifully dressed women and men out to celebrate the Kentucky Derby!! The hats were equally as impressive as those worn to the Royal Wedding last week and the clothes were beautiful! We had no idea that this was such a big deal but believe you me ~ we'll know the next time! I wanted to take a picture but decided against it ~ I wanted to show you because I could hardly believe it, myself! We had lovely appetizers and wonderful mint juleps and as always, I can find humor in most anything ~ since almost everyone had to walk past us, it was very funny to me to see these fellows dressed in their beautiful suits or very crisp sportcoats walk by ~ with the TAILOR TACKS still holding the vents on their jackets closed!!!!! It made me roar ~ it wasn't just one ~ there were several that I noticed ~ so it was pretty darned evident that they'd gone shopping for some new threads just to wear to Derby Day!!

We kind of ate and ran (it supports my theory that it's always better to be over-dressed than under-dressed ~ I had to get out of there) and stopped at Nagoya, a very nice Japanese restaurant in Port Clinton ~ found the only two seats at the bar ~ the Derby was about to start ~ we had front row seats ~ Sonny had sushi and me, shrimp tempura with a nice pomegranate martini ~ and ~ we were dressed just right!! Sonny and I had a great afternoon and evening ~ we were really glad that we struck off on our little adventure!

Sunday, we had breakfast at the local Moose club with friends, Jim and Kathy and headed home later in the day - Mothers ate free, by the way!!!! I had Mother's Day phone calls, emails and texts from kids, step-kids, and nieces ~ very nice! Teddy fixed us gourmet burgers for supper and I got a potted hibiscus tree, chocolate covered cherries, cards and fresh flowers ~ it was a great day and a great weekend!!!!! I hope you had a fun weekend, too! To all the mothers, Belated Happy Mothers Day ~ it's nice to be appreciated!
Alice

ROOSTER RUG PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

2011-05-05T00:20:00.001-04:00

Day 9 ~ I finished the body of the right hand rooster and got some of the background done. Seems like not a lot of headway for all the time that I spent at the frame. I may take out that red accent line at the top ~ it's looking pretty vibrant ~ but I'll wait till I have more of the neutrals in around it ~ it just may look okay to me then! Besides that, I don't like to reverse hook!!!!

Oh! I found the camera ~ in the car trunk ~ where I put it!!!!!

Monday, after school, grandson Luke and I had a date ~ to make Whoopie Pies! He wanted to take them to school for a birthday treat and his mom was just sure that I would love to do this with him ~ I think that was her story last year, too! He was a great helper ~ and cleaned up after we were done! I was impressed because I didn't even have to ask!!

The finished product! Well, some of them, anyway! We packed up 32 to send to school and a couple of plates for Luke's family and these for ma and pa!! I could eat this whole plate myself ~ they are so good! I will give you all the recipe but not tonite ~ too tired! One thing about it, they are a lot of work and we had to make two batches!

Sonny and son Ted got lots of mushrooms tonite! Sonny fried up a few and then froze the rest ~ cleaned them, sliced them and then laid them out on a cookie sheet to freeze and then bagged in Ziplocs. He's going to make mushroom soup, he says! I found a recipe online for him ~ I'm not that adventurous a cook ~ he'll tackle that next week one evening and I'm sure it will be good. Teddy thought he might try that, too! For once in their life, they actually found more than could be eaten at one setting! Woo Hoo!!

That's it for tonite ~ have to run to Columbus tomorrow to get my car serviced ~ might squeeze in a little shopping while I'm there ~ I hope to get in some hooking time, too! Have a good day!
Alice

ROOSTER RUG PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

2011-05-02T13:43:00.001-04:00

The tail is almost done ~ and the camera seems to have been left at the lake ~ this photo is taken with my phone! All it really shows you is that the tail has a short way to go and then I can start on background! I'm hoping that when 'his honor' gets home that he can tell me where the camera is ~ I think I know!

Until then ~ we'll forge ahead! Friday night, we went to the homebuilders' Reverse Raffle! Lots of yummy food, card playing, watching a mouse run down a hole otherwise known as The Mouse Game, and a 50/50 drawing ~ which my step-son, Brian, won! For those of you who know our family, you know that Brian is the luckiest guy when it comes to such things!! The other thing you'll know about him is that he is very kind hearted!! The 50/50 drawing was held by his wife Cheryl, our daughter-in-law Miki and good family friend/my hairdresser Beth ~ they are all walking the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure in July and the drawing was a fundraiser for their walk ~ Brian donated back his winnings to the girls ~ that was very kind-hearted indeed! For Brian, just to win yet another big drawing was reward enough ~ the whole room groaned when his name was called!!!!!!! We're very proud of these girls for taking this on ~ Seattle daughter-in-law Coni, has done the 3-Day walk for several years ~ she wanted them to come to Seattle and walk with her!!

We headed to the lake this weekend so Sonny could powerwash the decks ~ we had a little bit of dry weather for that to happen! Saturday afternoon, we met some Mansfield gals, who were up for the weekend and went out that evening with our lake friends ~ and hooked on Sunday! Perfect weekend ~ filled with fun and laughter ~ and a couple of Peanut Butter Latte Martini's with the Mansfield group! They were delish but they looked kind of spooky!! The drinks ~ not the girls ~ they looked fine!!!

Ta ta for now ~ hope you had some fun this weekend!
Alice

ROOSTER RUG PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

2011-04-29T13:28:00.001-04:00

This morning is Day 7 to hook on the Rooster Pair ~ how do like those purple feet? I like them a lot!! Every rug should have some purple in it!! I hooked while I watched the re-cap of THE WEDDING! At 4 a.m., I bounded out of bed to the sound of my phone alarm! I was really tired ~ we went out for a bite to eat last night and ended up stopping at The Happy Grape (that's our town's new wine bar) for a nightcap and found some friends ~ some old ones and some new ones!! It was fun, of course!! And so was the wedding ~ a wonderful respite from all the doldrums of life ~ every country should have a prince and princess or duke and duchess, as Will and Kate will be called now ~ it's uplifting!

This is the overall picture of how far I've gotten ~ it looks yellow ~ I don't like that ~ but in order to get it light enough for the colors to show, it goes yellow in the re-setting. If you click on the photo, it will be enlarged and you can click again and see it really close up! It's quite sparkly!! I might add that this rug is 29 x 50 ~ it's going to be a sparkly whopper of a rug!!

I've left that rooster's tail for last because the left tail is so beautiful and I don't want to do the very same thing on the right one ~ I keep thinking my wools will inspire me so that it holds it's own when finished!! Sometimes I think too much, me thinks!!

Yesterday, I spent another hour and a half at the dentist ~ getting this blessed tooth ready for it's permanent crown. In three weeks, it will be ready to be applied for good! In the meantime, I will be very cautious!!

Have a good weekend ~ hopefully, the weather has calmed down across the country and we can look forward to some beautiful Spring temperatures and flowers ~ but I think it is going to be more like Spring showers!! Oh, well ~ rejoice in what we have! Ta ta for now!
Alice

ROOSTER RUG PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

2011-04-28T09:33:00.000-04:00

Yes, progress is being made!! This is from yesterday's 6th day of hooking on the Rooster Pair! I hooked for maybe an hour ~ I never know how much time I spend but wish it could be more. These colors look kind of funky but when the whole rug is done, it's gonna be fabulous!!

On the sidebar, I still have the 10 MINUTES A DAY HOOKER logo up ~ I should take it down because that rarely happens but ~ the progress I'm making with this rug shows me, very clearly, that sitting down at the frame everyday really helps get a rug done so much quicker!

Morel mushrooms!! Sonny and son Teddy went mushroom hunting last evening and this is some of their bounty! I just took a picture of a few to show you but they got a really nice batch that Sonny floured and fried in butter ~ yummo, as Rachel Ray would say! Teddy, Miki and the kids stayed for supper ~ we had to order pizza to round out our meal ~ but at least this year, the guys are so happy to be finding enough at one time to make a little feast! Years ago, before we built on this property, they were much more plentiful. I never ate wild mushrooms till Sonny started hunting them ~ it was always scary to me ~ I would let him eat them first!! So far ~ so good!!!

Another thing he's been finding and reading about is ramps!! Have any of you eaten or cooked ramps? There was an article in yesterday's paper about them so we might have to saute up a few of those ~ they're a leafy green with a bulb that smells like garlic!! I'll let you know if we get that brave!!!

Off to have a manicure and pedicure and then spend another hour and a half in the dentist's chair!! But compared to listening to the news and all the tornado devastation across the country last night ~ I'll face that little task with good cheer!! Hope all you readers are safe and sound! The wind howled here last night but that was all ~ we're very lucky! I have to get a good night's sleep tonite because I have a wedding to attend tomorrow ~ I must get up at 4 a.m. to prepare ~ I think I'll wear my tiara and my best peach polyester ~ after all, it's going to be a very Royal Affair!!! Ta ta and have a jolly good day!!

Alice

ROOSTER RUG PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

2011-04-27T13:54:00.000-04:00

This is the 5th day of hooking on Magdalena's Rooster Pair, hooked last night ~ I'm loving this rug and anxious to work on it!! Today, I went down to take this photo and ended up hooking for a while ~ filled in the space to the left of the 'wild wing'!!! The day before I hooked a row all around the border ~ I want to use that wool in the background but needed to see how much would be left ~ so even though it took time, it felt kind of ho-hum in terms of how much I got done. Hopefully, there will be more hooking time later today and I can make some real headway!

I have two friends named Donna ~ hooker friend, Donna and non-hooker friend Donna. Non-hooker friend Donna dropped off this t-shirt with this lovely design on the front ~ a souvenir of her vacation! I LOVE it ~ won't this be a nice addition to my already fashionable wardrobe?!!

I took a little walk around outside between showers this morning! Flowers are really starting to pop up out of the ground and I can't wait to get out there and dig in the dirt! Okay ~ I'm off to do something ~ either office work and put the wool back where it belongs down in the hooking room. Last week, after the show on Saturday, everything got carried down there but nothing got put away because ~ I went to the Woolley Fox to hook! And it still awaits me ~

Last night we had our first batch of fried mushrooms. Sonny has actually found some nice ones this year ~ son, Teddy, also found some the other night ~ most years it's slim pickings here in our woods but he's been so happy with his 'catch' this week! Hope there are fresh morels in your life!
Alice

ROOSTER RUG PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

2011-04-25T09:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, before we left the lake, I got to hook for about three hours!! A perfect afternoon for me! I finished the body of the left rooster and started filling in over the wing and head of the right one. Even though these guys are dark ~ they're looking pretty colorful to me!! Stay tuned!
Hopefully, I can squeeze in some hooking time on this rainy drizzly day! For once, I have nothing looming large in my schedule ~ just day to day chores ~ it feels GREAT!!!!!

I've noticed that I have a couple of new followers ~ I appreciate each one of you that stop by to check in and love it when you take the time to comment ~ thank you and come back soon!!
Alice

HOPPY EASTER ~ ~ ~

2011-04-24T20:57:00.001-04:00

We hope everyone had just the kind of day that you wanted ~ we came home from the lake and had dinner at son Ted and Miki's ~ ham and all the trimmings! They just returned from spring break in Florida so they are nice and brown and have fun stories to tell about two ER visits with Luke! One for a torn off toenail and the other, a badly sprained ankle!! They do know how to have fun!!

I want you to take a close look at these eggs, done by friend, Sherry Davis. She dyes them with silk scarves and ties ~ absolutely beautiful!! I've known Sherry for years and she is one of most creative gals on the planet!! Don't they make a great centerpiece?

Yesterday, we made a trip to the lake and went to the Moose Club for lunch. They were having an Easter party for the kids and The Easter Bunny stopped by and had her picture taken with Tad! Such a cute and sweet bunny!

We haven't been to the lake since January and it was great just to be up by the water, if only until today. Went out with our friends in the evening for a little libation and then on to Mon Ami where we danced and danced!! It was fun ~ Darryl Gatlin playing all kinds of music that people our age just love!

I hooked on my Rooster rug ~ it's looking good! And this week, I get to start on a fun project at the dentist! I broke a tooth last week in Ligonier ~ now I have to have a root canal, a post and a crown!!!!! Do you hear cha-ching?! Yikes ~ I dread this but putting it all into perspective ~ I'm not ill ~ I'm not broken ~ it's just a tooth and FOUR visits in the dentist's chair to get everything done! That's the part that makes me crazier than the cost!! And I'm just guessing he's not looking forward to it either!! I'll keep you posted on the rug and my tooth!! Will the fun never end?!! Have a good day tomorrow!
Alice

LIGONIER VISIT ~ ~ ~

2011-04-21T15:27:00.004-04:00

You must meet Posie ~ the Woolley Fox mascot, so to speak! This is Barb's wonderful Maine Coon Cat, who was just a kitten last year at this time! Everybody in our group LOVED this cat ~ she lays on the color planning table, the work table the hookers share ~ actually, Miss Posie lays anywhere she wants to!!!!!!

Julie is hard at work and Heidi is explaining something very important!! We had a great time and got started on some really great rugs! We also got to meet Robin, Barb's daughter ~ what a ball of fire that girl is!! She can cook, draw patterns, organize, ride herd on her doggies ~ if you look up multi-task in the dictionary, I think her picture might be there!!!

Peggy and Cyndy hook away while Barb explains something really important to us! We had lots of great food ~ wallowed in the wool ~ and generally, helped the local economy by shopping in the little shops in town!

Peggy got started on Jonah and the Whale ~ the border consists of lots of theses beautiful paisley designs that would confuse the daylights out of me! Peggy spent some of the time 'bon-ding' with the cats and dogs that reside at the Woolley Fox ~ I wouldn't have been surprised to see one of them in her car when we left!!

This pattern might be called Hunter Weathervane ~ something close to that! Heidi is hooking it mostly in paisleys from her personal collection ~ which is a nice one, by the way! This rug is going to be so beautiful ~ it is already!

Burnt Hills, a Warren Kimble pattern, is being hooked by Cyndy ~ perfect soft colors that personify Cyndy to a T !!

Julie can hook up a storm ~ I'd love to tell you that she hooked this all this week but that wouldn't be quite true. But she hooked a lot of it in the last three days ~ she puts her head down and hooks while the rest of us are talking, ambling about the room, petting the pets, etc.! This rug is HUGE!! The pattern is Magdalena's Farm with Lollipops or something like that ~ the name is as big as the rug! Can't wait to see it finished!

Magdalena's Rooster Pair is be hooked by moi!! Lots of sparkly wool and a crazy hit-and-miss style back-ground that I've never done before! It's similar to the background I did in Karen Kahle's style but you hook in a more colorful wool on the squiggly lines and hook a variety of background wools in between those. I think I'm going to like it a lot! I have a place for this rug already ~ if I don't 'chicken' out ~ the place that needs this rug is in an area that gets some traffic ~ so we'll see when when it's all finished if I have the chutzpah to let people walk it!!!! Do you notice the purple chicken feet? Love that! I love it all really! Barb and I create some great rugs together ~ I value her opinion and I think she values mine! I'm ready to go down and hook away on this thing ~ wish I could ~ but I can't right now!! Will keep you posted!

Easter weekend is upon us ~ Spring has sprung ~ the deer or the little rabbies are eating the hostas ~ I'm going out and sprinkle cayenne pepper on everything green as soon as I'm finished posting. Yes! Spring has sprung alright!!

Thanks for stopping by ~ and thanks, too, for all the nice comments on the quilt show pictures! It's my way of taking you along! Have a good Easter weekend!
Alice

NOT YOUR MAMA'S QUILT SHOW PART 2 ~ ~

2011-04-17T07:25:00.001-04:00

This has to be one of my favorites of the quilt show,

if not my very favorite! Does this look like a quilt?

I would call it a thread painting ~ if you click on it, it is spectacular! You should be able to see the detail and it's just hard to believe that this is all fabric!

Such a cute piece ~ I love faces and people sculptures ~ this one just speaks to me!

Unbelievably ~ this is all YO YO's ~ imagine!! loved this one, too! A very creative fabric artist put an incredible

amount of thought and time into this work of art!

The colors in these pieces spoke to me ~ Loudly!
Love them both!

Again, people's faces ~ and look at those nice cows!

I loved the moon quilt ~ and the others were beautiful, too!

This one was fun and I just liked it lot! Heidi and Donna and I just loved this show ~ it was inspiring ~ I call it a feast for the eyes! I think seeing all this art and all the beautiful booths helps to make us more creative. This morning, on a blog, I read this quote that she got from somewhere else ~ ART WASHES AWAY FROM THE SOUL, THE DUST OF EVERYDAY LIFE! Isn't that a wonderful and comforting thought?
This was taken at the show yesterday ~ this was before the show began ~ by the end of the day, after we loaded up in the rain ~ we didn't look quite so chipper!! It was a nice day ~ saw so many people we knew ~ and talked and laughed all day ~ even sold some wool!! Went to dinner afterwards with our friends, Vivian and Lou ~ came home and unloaded the truck and car ~ and crashed!!!

I've been up since 5:45 a.m. ~ doing laundry and blogging ~ and now I have to pack some clothes and most importantly, pack up my hooking tools and at 10 a.m. this morning, my friends and I are off to Ligonier, Pa. to hook and eat and laugh for three days!!!!!!!! It will be fun ~ it's just getting it together to get there that's the crazy part! So, I'm off ~ talk to you at the end of the week and I'll have pictures of our rugs for you! Ta ta for now!
Alice

GATHERED TREASURES SHOW ~ ~ ~

2011-04-15T08:03:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow, Saturday, is the Gathered Treasures show at the Richland County Fairgrounds in Mansfield ~ if you're into primitives, this is a great Spring show! Of course, I always have lots of wool to sell ~ my own hand-dyed and as-is wool, patterns, frames, hooks, scissors ~ everything you need to hook a good rug!

But I have a few other things, too! Like these Funky Flower Pins ~ some of the things I saw at the Quilt Show that inspired me to put these together!

There's this vintage Easter Egg holder that I picked

up last year ~ very cute!

Two vintage hooked rugs in excellent condition and a really LONG hand woven runner!

There are two David T. Smith pottery luminaries and a

couple of neat pottery apothecaries with sculpted

birds on the lids!

I'd love to see you ~ we're going to set up this afternoon so I'm heading to the hooking room to pack and organize the wool. I'll finish putting the pin backs on tonite ~ along with some other things!! Some new wool came in the other day that I'm 'dying' to throw in the dyepot this morning! Along with that I have checks to write to Uncle Sam and get those in the mail!! A full plate, as usual!

Come see us, tomorrow!!!

NOT YOUR MAMA'S QUILT SHOW ~ ~ ~

2011-04-14T08:36:00.001-04:00

Last week, friend Heidi and I went to Cincinnati to the International Quilt Festival ~ it was held downtown in a big event center, whose name escapes me, connected to the hotel with a skywalk. We dropped the car at valet parking (well worth the $) and didn't get back in it till we left the next day! This booth, Country Threads, greeted us as we walked in the doors on Preview Night! Many of the booths were beautifully decorated and just made such a great presentation!

The first two quilts here are by Susan Shie from Wooster! The quilt show was large and for the most part were art quilts! This one was heavily embellished ~ about 20" x 36" ~ for sale ~ I had to ask the price ~ I still haven't recovered ~ talk about sticker shock - $14,400 !!!!!!!!!!!!!

This next one is Susan's as well ~ her quilts were presented as a One Woman show type of display ~ air-brushed ~ teeny tiny writing on them ~ each one it's own work of art!

There was everything at this show ~ the creativity of these quilters had no bounds! And the quilts were literally from all over the world! There were very few quilts like we grew up with ~ like we see down in Amish country that are pretty and very functional. These would hang on a wall and claim their very own place as a work of art!

This one intrigued me because the people to the left of the quilt were like little fabric sculptures ~ created as though they were walking into the 'scene' ~ very creative!

This one had lots of embellishment and heavy wool applique ~ if you click on the pictures to enlarge them, you'll be able to see the scope of their work. There were several wool booths there ~ beautifully presented. I've done shows for years and these were the top of the top, in my opinion!

Loved this Andy Warhol style of quilting ~ it looks like a painting, doesn't it?

I loved this black and white cityscape-type of quilt ~ it had lots of sparkly on it ~ and you know how I love my sparkles!

We shopped all the vendors on Thursday night and Friday morning, we toured the quilt show. I had to be back home in the afternoon because I had my class the next morning! But, we found we were right on target in doing the Thursday night thing because the next morning, the show was crawling with thousands of people! I didn't buy a lot ~ some Pro-Chem dye, which I've been wanting to try ~ some sari ribbon like we used in blog challenge # 2 (which I'll package into smaller bits to sell) and just some odds and ends of things. I got some good ideas and saw some things that sparked some good ideas. I'm going to be making some funky flower pins ~ wish I could get some done for Saturday's show! Going to make a cute apron to wear for shows ~ it was such an inspiring place to be. If you are a quilter, it would be like going to fabric heaven!!!!!!!!!!!! It will be in Cinci again next year ~ I have it on the calendar already ~ April 12 - 15th! Friend Donna met us down there, too ~ and we just all had a spectacular time!!

There are more pix for another posting ~ I'm washing wool that came in this week ~ packing for the Gathered Treasures show Saturday, here at the fairgrounds ~ and I'm on my way out the door to breakfast with friends!! No wonder I don't get anything accomplished ~ but if you know me, you know I love my friends!! Have a great day ~ Spring has sprung!!
Alice