OUR LIVING ROOM ~ ~ ~

Today's post is what I think is a neat picture of our living room ~ it was in the picture file, so thought maybe you would like to see it! I think my Mr. Kitty is hanging over the arm of the big chair ~ he thinks he's part of the decor!

Last weekend's wine tasting party went great! If anyone asks you to do one for them, you should take the opportunity to have a gathering of your friends!! We had the best time and the wines were mostly very good ~ we lean toward the sweeter wines but our wine lovin' friends loved the dry wines! It was an assortment of our lake friends, a couple of nieces, some of our kids, some of their friends and their friends' parents ~ about 20 in all !! In two hours, I whipped up an assortment of appetizers ~ some I made, some came from the deli. At 2 p.m., it seemed like maybe I should start working on food and by 4 p.m. they were finished (including a little lemon cake) and we were off the marina bar for a pre-wine tasting cocktail!! That's life at the lake and we love it!! We had seven overnight guests Friday night and six on Saturday ~ two of those we never saw (they got in late and left early!).

On Saturday, we went to Put-in-Bay with a couple of our lake friends and then met up with some of our kids and their group!! It was a packed island that day for their annual Christmas in July celebration!! Almost too many people for me and I usually love lots of commotion!! We came back on the 10:15 Jet Express boat and what a ride!!!! The wind had kicked up earlier and we were rockin' and rollin' for about the 35 minute ride back to the mainland ~ usually an 18 minute ride!! It was just like going to Cedar Point ~ only on the water!!! We were pretty glad to get on solid ground that night!!

There was no hooking time for me this weekend ~ Mr. Catfish is still waiting to be bound! Last night I started the first of four purses that I have an order for. The patterns have been drawn but I just needed to get started ~ they are for a shop in southern Ohio for her fall open house! The hooking of the purse fronts goes fairly fast for me but assembling and lining them is more tedious. But I'm on my way ~ I'll post pictures when I'm finished ~ which won't be for a while!

That's it for today ~ a relatively quiet week for me this week. Today I went to my friend, Vivian's house and did some 'staging' with her accessories. Her house looks great ~ it's a colonial reproduction like ours (my husband built it for them 8 years ago) and she has great accessories to work with!! Then she took me to lunch!! What a deal for me!!!! Talk to you later!

Alice

KREATIV BLOGGER AWARD ~ ~ ~

This is just so nice ~ Julie Butler awarded me this Kreativ Blogger award on her blog http://www.plumruncreek.blogspot.com/ ! I love her blog and have been going to post a link to it and now, I must get that done! Julie posts pictures of her rug hooking and her beautiful gardens and her life in general. As it turns out, she has known one of my daughters-in-law since they were kids!!

Along with this award comes instructions and they are:

1.The winner may put this logo on her blog!

2.Post a link to the person who gave you the award!

3.Nominate 5 of your favorite blogs and post their links!

4.Leave a message for them on their blog!

I am happy to nominate the following but I love all the blogs on my list and some that I haven't even posted ~ check them out by going to MY FAVORITE BLOGS ~

Sunnie Andress' Blog

Gene Shepherd's Blog

Kris Miller's Blog

Dulcy's Blog

Trudy's Blog

Thanks again, Julie ~ Have a great day!

Alice

HOORAY ~ ~ ~

Well, he's finally done ~ Mr. Catfish is now a rug!!

He's steamed and ready to be bound sometime this weekend ~ if there is time!!

This rug was definitely a labor of love ~ he's one of my favorite rugs, me thinks!! The paisley points worked out great ~ I cut the small piece that I had left from the first point, into 8 strips ~ and blended two other orangey-red paisleys in with it and voila! It turned out just swell!! There was some reverse-hooking that took place ~ as I tried to follow the exact drawing of the circles, some tended to look really loppy ~ so I fixed the worst ones and then left 'well enough' alone ~ Mr. Catfish is primitive folk art ~ and primitive, he is!! Now to find him a proper place to hang at the lake ~ a place where he can be enjoyed by all!!

Tomorrow, I'm meeting a rug hooking friend at Lakeside for a home tour! They have so many cute cottages and homes there ~ it should be a fun day!! I'm staying at the lake to prepare for a wine tasting party that we're hosting on Friday evening ~ cleaning and a little food preparation!

One of my nieces sells wine on the party plan ~ The Traveling Vineyard! Sounds like fun and as is typical for us ~ it's going to be a zoo up there this weekend!! Nieces and husbands staying, my son and his wife and some friends of theirs staying ~ it will be like a dormitory ~ we're just grateful they want to hang out with us!! It will make interesting blog material, I'm sure!!

Here's to a fun weekend wherever you are!

Alice

FUN WEEKEND ~ ~ ~

As you can see, we made it to the Prehistoric Forest ~ and Mystery Hill ~ that was a bonus that we didn't know about!!! And it was the best part!! Sonny's son and wife and these two cute kids were thrilled to go on BoBo's great adventure!! The Mystery Hill is a couple of rooms built on a slant and the optical illusion that we were standing at an angle, just made us hysterical with laughter!! It was pretty darned funny and was much better than the mosquito-infested forest with fiberglass animals. But the effect was good ~ the four year old was really scared of the dinosaur sounds that came out of the woods!!! So we took him to the ice cream place in Marblehead and we all felt better!! I shouldn't publish this unflattering picture but just wanted to show that we were really there!!

That was Sunday's fun ~ on Saturday we went to the paint-your-own pottery place and the kids painted their own banks ~ the parents got in on the fun and painted their own projects, too! We had a really nice weekend with grandkids ~ a departure from our usual hilarity!!

Mr. Catfish is very close to being finished!!! I hooked today and am headed back down this evening ~ all is done except for the paisley star points!! Pictures tomorrow ~ if all goes well!!
Have a good evening ~ what's left of it!!
Alice

GARDEN PICTURES ~ ~ ~

This morning it was so beautiful outside that I decided to take some garden pictures for you! The hydrangeas are gorgeous right now and I love the moss on the waterfall. The black-eyed susans are starting to bloom and there is a garden full of those wild things ~ one little plant has spread like crazy!!

Two more circles got hooked on Mr. Catfish ~ I'm hoping to finish the old boy this weekend! We're off to have some fun at the lake ~ one of the kids and his family are coming up for Saturday and Sunday and wouldn't you know ~ the dear weatherman says there may be thunderstorms both days!! We'll hope it happens in the night when the little duffers are sleeping so they can go to the pool and have outside fun! We want to take them to a paint-your-own pottery place up there ~ the kids can make some really cute things! And there's a Prehistoric Mountain thing I want to take them to ~ we've never been but hear it's not much ~ but when I was a kid, my mom would take me to places like that on our travels and I LOVED it!! So I'm gonna drag them there and see for myself!!

Have a good weekend, one and all!

Alice

MR. CATFISH AGAIN ~ ~ ~

Here's one more picture of the Catfish! I had two really good mornings of hooking time this week and it makes a huge difference! Many times, I'm hooking late at night and it's an hour here and an hour there ~ but I really covered some ground this week!

The points of the star are being hooked in antique paisley ~ therefore, I'm leaving them till last. I hooked one point early on and it is so shreddy (if that's a word) from lifting it off and on the frame, that I decided I would wait till the rest of the rug was done ~ put it on the frame one last time ~ and hook all the points at the same time!! Good thinking, hm?

Well, the one thing I did not realize until yesterday, is that I had picked up a piece of paisley from several pieces I am lucky enough to have ~ and it wasn't from the nice big piece that I bought ~ but just a small remnant ~ therefore, I only have enough of that particular burnt orange color to hook one more point!!!!!!!! So ~ my decision now is to cut the remnant and muddle it in with the other paisley that I have lots of ~ or maybe reverse-hook that one point and start over. That will be very hard for me ~ as that paisley will be lost, since it shreds so badly ~ and I am pretty opposed to reverse hooking unless absolutely necessary!! My friend, Heidi, has offered me to look at her paisley stash and see if there is a match there ~ if not, the dilemma begins!! But I'm not going to stress about it until the rest of the hooking is done ~ I'll let you know!! I know ~ it's not brain surgery ~ but a piece of hand-made folk art that doesn't have to be perfect, as long as it's made with love ~ and this piece I do dearly love!!!

If you've never hooked with antique paisleys, they can be very fragile and the wider the cut, the better! But the life and light it gives to a piece is just amazing to me!! When I suggested to Barbara Carroll, as we were color planning this rug, that I use the paisley ~ she agreed ~ that was the PERFECT thing to use in that place on the rug!! Yippee ~ I was a happy camper!! So stick around ~ it will all work out!!

Our builder's association had their annual golf outing today and I drove one of the 'beverage' carts along with two of our daughters-in-law and a variety of other people!! How fun!!! I've done this for years and it's just a great fun day for the old girl!!! It is really heart-warming to me, to be greeted so warmly by all the old guys that we've known for years and all the young guys that are friends of our kids and of us!! We all need all the positive strokes we can get and this was just a great fun day out in the sun with people who work so hard in the building industry and related services!!! This has been a challenging year, not only for our industry but for many ~ so it was just great to see everybody laughing and enjoying the day!! The serious golfers weren't laughing so much ~ they were out to win!! And one of the bonuses is that my son belongs to the country club where they played ~ and he had the wait staff put my 'beverages' on his tab ~ that's a Happy Day for a mother, when the kids pay your bill!!!!!!!

More tomorrow ~ have a good evening!
Alice

SONNY'S FRAMES ~ ~ ~

These are images of the frames and stand that Sonny builds for me ~ I sell them at shows and out of my home studio. Someone had written in to Wool Snippets requesting info about frames, so I decided to post on my blog about his!! They're made from hardwoods ~ maple, Brazilian cherry, walnut and oak ~ whatever wood he might have on hand. We have a building business so he has access to some beautiful materials! The frames tilt and swivel and fold up into themselves for easy travel. The stands are unique in that the pin pulls out and the stand height can be adjusted. Everything is pegged and hand finished with an oil rub and they look like a fine piece of furniture ~ if interested, you can email me at gfraizer@neo.rr.com for more information!

We had a fun weekend ~ went to Kelley's Island on Saturday to visit our friend ~ she fell and broke her shoulder (poor thing) so we went over to console her!! She has a great place to recuperate on the water! We made a couple of stops while on the island and finished up with a bite at the Village Pump (famous for their Brandy Alexanders) ~ we had one of those, too!! The ride back on the 9:30 ferry was just swell ~ an absolutely beautiful night!! We capped it off with a stop at the local ice cream place before we drove back to our condo ~ no wonder I look like I do!! I'm trying to do better, but that wasn't one of those times!!!!

This morning, I actually hooked for two and a half hours ~ yippee!!! I love to hook uninterrupted!! I watched the news and soap operas ~ yes, there are still a couple that I check in on once in a while!! Tomorrow, I'll show off Mr. Catfish again ~ right now I'm heading outside to do some much needed weeding!! Have a happy day!!

Alice

MR. CATFISH PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

Good Morning! It's a beautiful day out ~ sun shining ~ no rain and it's FRIDAY!! Finally, some real progress on the Catfish rug! Tuesday and Wednesday night, I hooked the color into the circles and yesterday, when we went to Akron hooking, I filled in the black background. So it just makes me feel like I covered some ground. Usually I cut a few strips, hook and cut some more ~ but since this rug has been travelling to the lake and various hook-ins, I have cut a bunch and it does seem to move faster. I have a little stand that I attach the Townsend cutter to and keep it right by my chair ~ I'm not jumping up and down to cut ~ it's right by my side!! Mr. Catfish is off the to the lake this afternoon ~ hopefully, there is some hooking time this weekend in between the fun!

My sister went home from the hospital YESTERDAY! They don't keep you in the hospital very long anymore, regardless of how serious the illness ~ I think pretty soon, we'll just be driving through the parking lot ~ they'll treat us ~ and send us on our way! So, with rest and medicine, I hope my 'seester' will be her old self soon!!!

Have some fun and sun this weekend!
Alice

LIGHTER STUFF ~ ~ ~

This is a picture of my PRIZE that I won from Polly and Laurie Minick on their blog!! They just started one a few weeks ago and have had some really nice give-aways! Last week, when I checked in, Polly had just posted a question a few hours before and I was the first one to answer ~ Yippee!!! She sent me this lovely pile of patriotic binding tape that will get put to very good use at some point in time. You can access their blog off the minickandsimpson.com website - it's really a nice one. Thanks Girls!!!

On Monday night, my grandson's Litlle League team won their championship game ~ undefeated for the season! They were a happy bunch of boys along with my son, The Coach!!! They had been rained out of a couple of games, so we were happy to get that last game in and topped it off with a trip to the local ice cream place! It was really a fun season and after years of sitting on bleachers for our own boys, it was good to be back at the ball fields! I had told Luke earlier that I would be his biggest cheerleader that night ~ he told his mom, he thought I meant the "biggest" cheerleader!!! We had a laugh over that!!!

Yesterday, they found my sister had a stomach ulcer, so they had to take care of that situation ~ I pray today is better day for her ~ she didn't talk long last evening. I'll call her later today ~ this morning my friend, Heidi, is coming and we're going to Akron to hook with a group up there. That will be fun and always uplifting to spend the day with a bunch of 'hookers'!! I actually have hooked on Mr. Catfish the last two evenings (late-night) and he's making progress!! Have a good day all!!

Alice

SERIOUS STUFF ~ ~ ~

Today, I received a phone call from my sister, 77 years old (she won't like that!), from her hospital room in Texas, where she lives. She told me she had a lung embolism and a heart attack on Saturday. That's serious stuff! She sounded pretty chipper, considering and just wanted me to know.

I don't talk to my sister often and actually, haven't seen her in several years. Last Thursday, I felt led to call and let her know I was thinking of her and wondering how she was. She had been in pretty good shape and they had just moved to a brand new house! I left a message and she returned my call on Friday. We had a good talk and before we hung up, I told her I loved her ~ not something we often do. Today, she told me she thought of that when she was in the middle of this thing and I think it meant a lot to her.

In telling this, there is a two-fold lesson for me and for us all ~ listen to that inner voice that speaks to us to make a call, write a note, do a kindness, etc. and follow through. The second part is not to miss an opportunity to tell someone you love them and care about them, even if it is uncomfortable or not the norm for you. Believe me ~ you won't be sorry! I am so grateful that I heeded my inner voice last week, so that this week, my big sister doesn't think I'm just being attentive now that she's not feeling so good.

For those of you who pray ~ please say a prayer for health and healing for my 'seester' Joyce ~ thank you so much!
Alice

MR. CATFISH PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

Here's hoping you all had a great 4th of July, including lots of food and fun! I actually got some hooking done this weekend and this rug could really move quickly now ~ if only I would light long enough to accomplish something! One thing about taking pictures of your project, is that it really helps to get an objective view of what's going on ~ and a couple of things stand out to me that might need a little revision ~ nothing to dwell on though ~ I'm loving this rug!!

We went to Put-in-Bay Friday evening for dinner and fireworks with our friends, Karen and John and my son, Tad ~ the fireworks were great ~ set off from a barge out in the lake right in front of where we were sitting!! The guitarist on the deck at the restaurant turned up his sound system really loud and played Yanni music during the display ~ a great combination of a great light show and an explosion of music ~ PERFECT!!

Saturday, we all went to Mon Ami Winery for more music ~ "Wally and Beavs" ~ and more food and some wine and some dancing!! We have the greatest group of friends up there and it was just a fun evening ~ then we headed back and had a fire and sat on the rocks ~ oh, a little ice cream ended the evening!! Now ~ back to reality and office work!! Have a good day ~

Alice

QUIET DAY ~ ~ ~

These pies looked 'pretty as a picture' when they came out of the oven, so here they are!! They were for the Red Hat luncheon ~ bumbleberry pies!!

I've done no hooking so nothing there to report. There's been no company, no excitement ~ well, there is one thing ~ grandson Luke's undefeated Little League team plays tonite for the championship!!! That's pretty exciting! They had games Monday night and last night.

So we'll head for the lake tonite after the game and we have a few activities planned for the 4th ~ most of them include food and fun!! Here's hoping your 4th of July holiday is safe and fun ~ and we keep in mind what we're celebrating ~ INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!

Alice

This morning while at my computer, a mama deer and her twin speckled babies walked by the office window!! I didn't get the camera soon enough to get a really good picture, but if you double-click you can see the little guy pretty well!! Nice way to start the morning ~ but if those little duffers start nibbling on the hostas ~ it won't be such a happy story!!

The little 'Welcome' mat was a big success!! Actually, when they opened it, I wasn't sure ~ but her sister loved it!! And the sister's husband said 'that isn't just rug hooking, that's art"!! Well, you can only imagine how much I liked hearing that!!! And then this morning, there was a message on the answering machine that my friend left last night, saying how much she really loved it and that she hung it over a door just as you walk in her front door and that she would always think of us when she sees it!! PERFECT!! This is only the second piece of hooking I have given as a gift because you don't know how someone might perceive it ~ since my efforts were well received ~ I am a happy hooker!!

Dinner at Chez Francois was wonderful ~ it always is!! My husband had soft shell crab and lobster bisque, which he loves and I had lobster-stuffed zucchini blossoms and red snapper dredged in almond flour and a benedictine sauce!! And a scrumptious pomegranate martini ~ well, two, actually!! And always healthy, sorbet for dessert!! Along with a complimentary dessert wine!! Believe me ~ a good time was had by all!!!

Saturday evening, we (our lake friends and us) went out for Mexican food, and a couple of other stops before and after and then came back and sat on the rocks!! The stars were shining brightly and there were no mayflies/Canadian soldiers to "bug" us and we even saw a couple of shooting stars!! As one of our friends said "it was so celestial" ~ yes, it was!! Other than that, we had a quiet weekend, enjoying looking at the water and having some down time.

That's it for today ~ hope all is well your corners of the world!

Alice