Just wanted to share with you a picture of this scrumptious pie that I baked for the Thanksgiving dinner ~ type into your web browser Old Fashion Paradise Pumpkin Pie for the recipe! It's a layer of cream cheese filling, a pumpkin layer and topped with a streusel layer ~ yummy! I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to link to the recipe but when the page comes up, look at 'recently viewed recipes' and you can view it there!

Yesterday, Sonny and I took a little field trip to Holmes County Pottery for their Christmas kiln opening. Cary, the potter, makes the most wonderful functional pottery ~ we use ours every day and expect them to last forever! These are the pieces we added to our collection yesterday ~ a pie dish, four small bowls (now I have 12), and four small tumblers. We have dinner plates, dessert plates, soup bowls, wonderful little casserole dishes and some odd little tumblers for wine or water or whatever!! The pottery is located out in the heart of Amish country so it's a step back in time just to drive there.

After we left there, we picked up a niece of mine and took her with us for the rest of the day. Tracy's life is not much fun most of the time and I try to take her out occasionally ~ we went to Charm, a small town that has the largest lumber company/hardware store ever. Sonny takes saws there to be sharpened ~ we dropped him off and then we went to the fabric shop, which until the last few years was lit by kerosene lanterns! They are electrified now and it makes it lots easier to see all the many bolts of fabrics. Next door is a quilt shop with lots of patterns for household things and lots of samples made up to inspire their shoppers. I picked up a pattern and even though Tracy doesn't sew, she had fun looking at all the projects and found a couple little things to take home with her! We went back to Keim Lumber and picked up the old guy and headed for lunch at Grandma's Kitchen, where we stuffed ourselves with homecooked Amish style food!! After dropping off Tracy (she had a great day!), we headed home for what we thought was going to be a quiet evening!! We ended up going out and meeting Sonny's kids for a drink at the local Moose Club and a good time was had by all!

I've spent most of today at this crazy computer catching up on my blog reading ~ not very productive but fun for me ~ and soon we're going to drag out the turkey day leftovers for a little supper! I hope you were able to spend your day doing what made you happy!
Alice

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ~ ~ ~

I just want to wish one and all a Happy Thanksgiving from here in Ohio ~ it's a clear sun-shiny day with snow on the ground ~ kind of picturesque! We're going to my son's for dinner ~ yippee!! I've made the salad and baked Friendship bread and have a pie and sweet potatoes yet to do. We're going over this morning for pumpkin roll and coffee to start the day ~ that was the plan last night when we left, at any rate!! I'm waiting for the phone to ring any minute now!!!

There is a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving ~ healthy family and friends ~ and we have lots of family and friends that we are so grateful for ~ lower gas prices ~ food and clothing and shelter ~ and even grateful for the lessons we are learning through the economic challenges that we face personally and nationally. It is a time for learning ~ learning to be more conservative ~ learning to share ~ learning that abundance comes in many forms. I always think that a day that I haven't learned a new thing is a day wasted!!! And believe me, I could fill a book with those things lately!!!!!

So to each of you I wish your day to be filled with lots of good food and people you love to be with ~ have a happy day!
Alice

This is little Isabella's rabbit rug ~ she is my one year old great niece ~ last year I hooked a rug for her big sister, Ariana ~ don't they have beautiful names? I had the greatest weekend doing just what I planned to do ~ I hooked all weekend!!!! We didn't even leave the house ~ for us, that's amazing!!! We ate in every night and Sonny fixed a nice omelet breakfast yesterday ~ it was a GREAT weekend!!!

The rabbit rug is Margo White's pattern and perfect for a little child's room. The background color is a muted purple heathery kind of wool ~ it is very pretty yardage but hooked up kind of blah looking. So I pulled out of my strip basket and filled in little places with some textures that blended but yet gave it a little spark. If you double click on it, you can see over the flowers there is a different wool entirely ~ just to break it up and make it look like I ran out of background ~ I love that look in old rugs. You can also see in the close-up that little Isabella is one of the flowers!!! I mentioned before that I copied her picture onto fabric that can be run through the copier and then stitched it into place and hooked up around it. I think it ended up being a cute rug and I know my nephew appreciates the effort for his little girl ~ I don't give many pieces away unless I know it will be well received and this one will be!!!

This is another of Margo's patterns that I hooked some time ago ~ it's way too pastel for me but I thought these were the colors to use at the time. It's going to a great niece's little boy baby since the colors are blue ~ I feel that there's a message in this rug ~ the word BELIEVE and I want her to 'believe' there is something wonderful out there for her and her baby!

One of the things I did over the weekend was add a 'gadget' to my blog. It's the one that lists my favorite blogs in the order they post! I saw it on Trudy's blog and finally got around to doing it ~ it saves a lot of time checking in on what my online 'friends' are doing ~ now, I check when I see they've updated. Aren't these technical guys just so smart?! And I felt pretty darned smart just being able to make it work! Oh, I added 'Fearless Followers', too ~ because I saw on the layout part of blogger that I actually had a follower and I wanted her to be listed ~ so now, friends, you know the truth of it ~ I have one very important follower ~ thank you Jacque!!!! That's it for today ~ enjoy yours!
Alice

HAPPY THINGS ~ ~ ~

Aren't these the cutest gloves? Actually, they are 'Glittens' ~ a happy combination of a glove and a mitten, done in these crazy colors! I found them in Ligonier, when we were there and you can find them at www.littlemissmatched.com ~ they have a really cute website!

This week has been spent mostly in the office, getting on top of my invoicing and bill paying. The worker's comp audit went well but he was here two hours and really scrutinized things closely ~ it was routine but it covered the last two years and it's a good thing I'm organized (which it doesn't look like it, but I am) because he had me pulling invoices and insurance certificates for our subs, etc. I was really glad when that was over!!!!!!!

One thing I am very excited about is that I got into Jule Marie Smith's class at the Sauder Village rug show next summer!!! I have wanted to take from her and she'll be right here in Ohio ~ yippee!!! My friends and I always go to the show for the day but we'll be there for the whole week ~ I'll have lots of time to take pictures of the rugs and hook and see lots of people I know!! The day it came online, I was sitting at the computer ready for the 10 a.m. entry ~ me and how many other rug hookers, I don't know!! I was pretty happy when the reply came that I was IN!!! When we went to England a couple of years ago, Jule Marie was on the trip but we didn't get to talk much ~ we mostly saw each other on the bus trips. She is certainly well-known for her borders and color planning and kind of 'out there' approach to hooking, so I'm going to soak up all the knowledge she has to offer!

On Thursday evening, our homebuilders group had their annual auction for charity. Many of us bring things relating to the holidays and after much spirited bidding, builders and suppliers and guests go home with great gifts ~ more importantly, is the help we are able to give the needy families we adopt each year! Happily, we took in over $4000 and that is something in these precarious times! The building industry in our area is no different than anywhere else right now and we are soooo grateful for the outpouring of support we got that night! We ~ Sonny and Alice ~ donated 'Dinner for Six' at our home, prepared by US!! We used to do it every year but took a couple years off ~ it seemed time to resurrect that little event! Well ~ it ended up we are doing three dinners for six ~ at three different times! It turned out a little different than we planned, but it helped garner $1200 for our fund ~ one of them will be in the spring on the deck and one might be at the lake and one is right before Christmas ~ I'll get plenty of blogging material out of all those little dinner parties!!

Sonny just brought in another frame stand he finished ~ yippee ~ he's on a roll! And now ~ I'm taking my coffee and a nice muffin and heading to the hooking room!!! I couldn't be happier ~ I'll turn on Lifetime Movies and have a nice quiet afternoon doing one of the things I love to do most!! Hope you're doing something that makes you happy, too!
Alice

WINTER WONDERLAND ~ ~ ~

At least it was this morning, here in our corner of the world! Believe me, I'm not looking forward to winter in Ohio but I definitely can appreciate the beauty of the snow here in our woods ~ especially from the inside looking out! Now, at 1 in the afternoon, most of it has melted ~ Eastern Ohio got their fare share according to the news ~ so we were lucky to have escaped that!
One of the nice days last week, the birds were entertaining me from outside my office window. If you double-click on this, you'll see a really nice pileated woodpecker ~ he was darting from tree to tree ~ hammering his little head off ~ by the time I got the camera, he had darted kind of far from my window, but I got this shot before he flew off to find another dead tree!
Then this nice little cardinal was hanging out right outside my window ~ looking in to see what was going on in here! Mr. Kitty would have had a spasm if he had been in here ~ he dearly wants to go out and see the wildlife but in order to keep him safe from harm, he has to be house kitty!!

My weekend turned out differently than planned ~ life is like that, isn't it? My son, Tad, who has Downs Syndrome and lives with us, had an ear infection and was miserable. I have a wonderful sitter for him, who allows me to live this crazy life I write about but I just couldn't leave him when he didn't feel good and make her responsible for ear drops and warm compresses, etc. So ~ we had a quiet weekend at home ~ and it wasn't a bad thing. We usually are running and racing, trying to squeeze as much into a day as we possible can ~ so, it was a very nice quiet time at home. Sonny got another frame stand finished for me and time to work in his workshop. I ironed and went through my closet and took care of things that I let go during the busy summer. Tad is feeling better and so glad his mom stayed home with him ~ my life is not very often altered because of Tad ~ he's very self-sufficient and says he loves his life ~ what could be better!!!! Tad is 43 years old ~ he and I have been at this a long time ~ I am grateful that he lives with us and that he has a good life, in spite of the wild woman he got for a mother!!

One of the things I got to do, was hook a bit on this rug for my great niece. I stitched her little picture in that I copied onto fabric and next, I'll hook around it ~ hoping that she looks like one of the little flowers!! Now I've got to do some office work ~ tomorrow a Worker's Comp rep is coming to do my annual audit at 8:30 in the morning!!!! His secretary said he likes to get an early start!! Yeah, me, too!! That's it for today ~ hope you're having a happy day wherever you are!
Alice

I'M BACKKKK ~ ~ ~

You guys are so nice to write or email and wonder what happened to me ~ thanks a bunch!!! What a life, people!! We went to Barb Carroll's Sunday, November 2, right after the From Our Hands show ~ five of us hooking and eating for 3 1/2 days ~ a great time was had by all! Here are a couple of pix ~ this one is Barb checking in on Gloria, who was hooking up a storm and that's the back of my friend, Mary ~ we made great partners in crime at cocktail time!!!!

And Donna was so serious about her hooking ~ right then anyway!! She was so kind to put this motley crew together and then put up with us ~ at least some of us!! We got a lot of hooking done ~ a lot of eating (the food is so good in Ligonier) ~ and lots of laughing!! Of course, it was election night on Tuesday and the Carroll's let us stay later than usual so we could watch the results ~ it made for lively conversation to say the least!!

Judy was into her rug at this point ~ she was our driver for the week ~ and we sure did run her around! Actually, she likes to drive and is ready to go anywhere her little band of travelers suggested! And those girls can sure shop ~ they made some interesting purchases and boosted the economy in Ligonier!
My project for the week ~ AMERICAN FISH ~ one of Barb's patterns. I took that and another one along ~ I couldn't decide ~ also took along a stash of sparkly wools that I had accumulated from Barb over the course of time ~ and a stash of paisleys. All of a sudden, the choice was made ~ almost more by the wool and paisleys then anything else! So Barb and I were off and running ~ and she added a couple more sparklies that she had squirreled away!

The body of the fish is entirely paisley ~ each stripe a different one ~ and outlined in a gold sparkle herringbone. What you see in the picture is what I got done in the three days we were there ~ I haven't hooked a loop since we returned home. It is going to be fabulous ~ when I go to Barb's, I like to take something that is challenging for me ~ color planning doesn't come easily to me and as I get more creative and kind of 'out there', I like to think that Barb and I work on that aspect of it together very well.

The day we left, I started sneezing and carrying on, and by the time we got back, I was really sick ~ and I still kind of have the remnants of what was a nasty cold. Then on Sunday, when we returned from a short weekend at the lake, the computer monitor had croaked ~ and with a little help from my friend (Sonny), the computer itself lost an important part, while he was unhooking all the cords to go to see the Geek Squad at Best Buy. After much consultation with a nice young man at the store, we determined that we shouldn't put money into a four-year old computer, so we bought a new one. That was the easy part ~ getting everything transferred onto it was the nightmare part!! After two trips back to the store and three of their Geek Squad guys working their magic and two long sessions on the phone and online with two nice men in India ~ they got the old girl up and running ~ well, not me, of course ~ the computer!!!! Transferring the accounting programs and data and the virus protection stuff truly was a nightmarish adventure for me. My head still hurts from all the instructions and right-clicking on this and that ~ BUT it's over now ~ and I'm able to email, blog, and account ~ life is good!!

My Seattle son is home this week to bow hunt with his brother ~ tonite they came out of the woods and came home ~ I don't realize how much I miss him until I see him. We talk and email often, so it doesn't seem like he's so far away ~ but when I see his smiling face, it really hits me. I fixed a dinner of white chicken chili, salad and a nice bread and took it to my son's house (my daughter-in-law worked all day so I tried to help her out) ~ then the kids could go to bed and we all had a crazy evening of everybody talking (Sonny's son and wife dropped by, too) ~ it always makes me wonder who's listening if we're all talking!! Tad even went over, too ~ he's always glad to see his brother. The hunters head back to the woods in the early morning and then Chris will head for the airport tomorrow night ~ no deer yet ~ maybe tomorrow!

So, here I am again ~ back to blogging ~ which, by the way, I missed terribly. Even my husband said 'your readers will think you died since you haven't blogged in so long' ~ I was actually surprised that he knew that ~ I didn't know he kept up with it ~ funny, hm? Tomorrow morning, I'm driving to Columbus for an early appointment and then we'll head to the lake late afternoon. Saturday, we're going to Indiana for my friend, Gwen's mom's 80th birthday!! I've known her since I was 13 years old ~ so I don't want to miss that celebration!! Happy trails, everybody!
Alice

THE SHOW'S OVER ~ ~ ~

The show, "From Our Hands" has come and gone ~ and I survived!!! It was a really good show ~ lots of shoppers and absolutely wonderful folk artists! These are a few shots of my booth ~ I barely got these taken before the doors opened and wish I had the time to take pix of the some of the other booths. We stayed in Columbus Friday night ~ had some wonderful food and a nice pomegranate martini! ~ and had a 6 a.m wake-up call on Saturday. Everyone had to set up Saturday morning so it was quite hectic for one and all to be ready by 10 a.m.

Kathy Wright is the show promoter and does a really nice job of gathering unique folk artists to display and sell their wares. I got to meet fellow blogger, Pam Gracia from "Soft in the Head" (www.softinthehead.blogspot.com) ~ I thought her creations were wonderful on her blog ~ they are stupendous in person! Tammy Speicer of Humble Crow was across from us and she and her sister had a great little booth of their stuffed animals and antiques! Kris Miller of Spruce Ridge Studios (a link to Kris's blog is at the left) also had a booth as well as the Buckeye Rug Hooking group who demonstrated and displayed their wonderful rugs.
As you can see, I incorporate some folk art in my booth as well ~ just odds and ends of primitive things from other artists ~ our rug hooking frames and stands ~ and a few finished hooked pieces.
Thank goodness for Sonny's help ~ I couldn't have loaded, set-up, and manned that booth all day alone. I really needed his help and although, it's not his favorite thing to do, he was a trooper. I even witnessed him selling Hartman hooks and talking about the proddy tools, while I was talking with someone else!!!!! You have no idea what a red-letter day that was!!!!!!!!!

I love to do a good show and aside from selling, one of the benefits is the contacts you make with other rug hookers. I met gals that are blog readers and gals that I email back and forth with ~ people that share the love of rug hooking and the creativity it brings to our lives! It was great day and on the way home, we met our friends Vivian and Lou, for dinner ~ they do the show, too. Lou makes great little primitive shelves and boxes and dry sinks, etc. ~ probably Vivian and I were the only ones who were 'bone tired' or would admit it ~ but it was great way to finish up our day!

So ~ as to not let any grass grow under my feet ~ I am getting ready to leave for Ligonier, Pa. to go hook at Barbara Carroll's for three days ~ I'm meeting a friend by the roadside again (I do a lot of that) at 11:30 this morning and five of us are off to hook and eat for three days!!!!!! What could be better??!! I'll post about that next week when I return! Until, then have a good week!
Alice