KITCHEN PHOTOS ~ ~ ~

One of my online friends, JoJo, always asks to see pictures of our kitchen!! So this one's for you, JoJo!! I had to pick a day when everything was shipshape and snap some photos before someone came along and gave it that lived-in look!! We call it a kitchen/keeping room ~ in olden days the keeping room was the hub of the home and this is truly where we spend most of our time!
The kitchen area itself is not that big ~ kind of like a galley kitchen. I always say that I don't do much cooking but when I do, I have a nice place to do it in!! Actually, when we built the house, I told our friend, who was designing the kitchen, just to draw it out ~ I didn't really want one, but he said I had to have it for re-sale!! Sixteen years later, I guess it's a good thing we left it in! The cabinets are cherry with this really dark stain that I saw in a magazine ~ we love it still! Sonny got his Viking range ~ I always told people that was 'his stove' ~ but I'm glad we we have that, too!

The high counter at the left of this photo, as well as a place to eat, serves as a divider to separate the work area from the living area ~ if we're eating at the table, it kind of shields the messy part from view! And when all the kids are home or we have a party, this is where everybody hangs out! Had we known, we could have built just a really large kitchen with a really large counter ~ because it's the most used room in the house!
We spend our evenings watching Tv here (if I'm not in my hooking room or Sonny's not in his office) and we most often eat in front of the Tv, too. When we have company or the grandkids, we do eat at the table and they love to eat by candlelight ~ I think it's a nice touch for them ~ you can feed anybody anything by candlelight and they'll think it's good!!

These spatulas are Sonny's latest project ~ since we're home more in the winter, he spends a lot of time in his workshop and last week, he made these!! They're cherry wood and the flipper part is very thin ~ they're quite beautiful!! We have lots of wooden utensils we've bought at shows thru the years and we do use them ~ I guess he thought he would try his hand at it and I'm sure there will be wooden spatulas in the future of all the girls in our family!! They'll like that for sure!!

Today is a rainy day in Ohio ~ we've had several days of sun and that's a wonderful thing! I've actually walked every day this week, and as soon as the rain lets up, I'm heading out the door. I've fallen off my exercise/hook every day goal and I'm trying to get back on! This old body needs some serious work, so I'm trying to get some fresh air and exercise and work on getting back on track!! In January, I spoke of my 'one little word' for the year, change ~ it's still there ~ in the back of my mind ~ trying to 'change' some old habits and create new ones! I know that you all know how hard it is to stay disciplined and dedicated ~ I used to be both those things! Wish me luck!!
Alice

MORE AMERICAN FISH ~ ~ ~

Lots of hooking time this weekend!! Just perfect for me ~ love it when I can hook and not much else ~ and that's just what I did part of Saturday and most of Sunday!! As I worked on the background, it seemed apparent that I would run out of that wool, so I hooked around the pattern and left some big and some small areas so that when I filled in, it might look kind of random ~ and run out, I did!! In my stash of dyed wool, there was this beautiful really dark teal that I had done and I feel it worked out perfectly! A little bit of me wanted to call and order the background but in olden days, the little pioneer lady would have just 'made do' ~ and I'm glad that's the path I chose. It gives the background character and a not so planned look! So I'm on the homestretch with this one ~ the top border and the fish tail will finish it up! I'm running out of the sparkly gold that will go in the border and the fish tail, so that will be another little test to see what I can come up with!!

Last night, I watched the Oscars while I hooked ~ I thought it was really interesting ~ loved seeing the actresses who won in years past!! Sophia Loren looked wonderful ~ holy crow ~ she's somewhere in her 70's ~ pretty impressive!! I was disappointed that Mickey Rourke didn't win ~ I didn't see the movie but love a great comeback story and his certainly is one! It was just fun to watch all the glitz and glamour and it took us out of reality for a few hours!! That has value in itself!!

Saturday night, we went to the Kiwanis reverse raffle ~ it was fun ~ no, we didn't win!! Two winners shared the jackpot ~ I know the gal that was one of the winners ~ very deserving ~ a breast cancer survivor ~ I was glad she won!!!! Some of our kids were there and lots of their friends ~ I told Sonny that we were some of the oldest people in the crowd ~ that happens a lot lately!!!!!!!!


If I don't buckle down and work in this office ~ I might get fired from this good job!! So that's today's goal ~ TV off ~ no hooking ~ no more blog reading ~ just try to get to the bottom of the pile and see some desk top!! Have a great day!

Alice

P.S. As I reviewed this post, I see an 'orb' of light near the tree on the right!! Don't you wonder what that is?? I was going to retake the picture but no ~ I'll leave it in ~ it will give us something odd to think about ~ as if there isn't enough odd stuff to occupy our time!! Ta ta for now!!

AMERICAN FISH PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

Finally ~ some rug hooking to write about!! You know, once I get out of the groove of posting on the blog, it is so hard to get back ~ like exercise, I guess ~ I love it when I read other blogs that post often and here I am, dragging my blogging feet!!! So, I have background in around the tree on the right side of the pattern and two purple stars filled in!! PROGRESS!!!!! YIPPEE!!!!

And this is where I did it ~ at the monthly hooking in Akron that I occasionally get to! Now that my friend, Heidi (pictured here hooking on a BIG crow) goes along, I am getting there more often! Jane is right behind her, hooking on a big mama-jama flower rug!
These ladies were all hooking so diligently on their beautiful rugs ~ wish I had taken pictures of what everyone was doing. They showed us these neat hooked pouches they had made for their hooking tools ~ I might have to work on one of those!!

Karen is almost done with a pretty large star rug design ~ very nice!! And my friends, Donna and Arlene, are in serious conversation while the other gals are hooking away!! I enjoy these days so much ~ just seeing what everyone is doing and there are always new books to look at and just lots of information flying around! It's a great group ~ no president ~ no dues ~ bring your lunch if you want to eat ~ just come and get in some good hooking time!! I seem to visit a lot and probably don't hook as much as I think I'm going to!! Hope they all like seeing their pix on the blog!!

This was a crazy layout of pictures ~ two got centered and the text underneath ~ I just couldn't go back and move it all around ~ it looks dumb but at least you get to see the pictures!! It's been a quiet week for us ~ I'm having a hard time getting grounded after being gone on vacation ~ I'm still on vacation in my mind, I think!! I did go to Columbus shopping yesterday with a couple friends and we met a couple of old (they're not old - I should say 'former') neighbors who now live there, for lunch!! We had a great time ~ went to a new English Pub and had great food and lemon drop martinis and laughed and laughed!! We had such fun that we're going to meet there for lunch on St. Patty's Day!!!!

I'm actually headed down to the hooking room for a while ~ then tonite we go to a Kiwanis reverse raffle ~ the grand prize is a $1000 ~ maybe we'll win!! Hope you all are having a good weekend and that it's not too cold wherever you are!! Spring is on it's way!!!!!!!!
Alice

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY ~ ~ ~

BACK TO REALITY ~ ~ ~

Isn't this just a beautiful view? This was off the veranda at our friend's Lemon Bay condo one afternoon ~ such a fun spot to watch the seagulls and pelicans when the fishermen would bring in their catch in the afternoon. Those birds came out of nowhere to scarf up the little fish tidbits (nicely worded, hm?) left after the fish were made ready for dinner!! We didn't do a lot of sitting ~ we were on the go a lot and that works for Sonny and I! We walked every morning except the first two ~ it was pretty chilly those days but compared to what we left in Ohio, it was heaven!!

Two of our days, we went to the beach, which really were in walking distance ~ but you have to drive to take all the gear necessary to enjoy the beach ~ our chairs, umbrella, beach bag, hats ~ holy crow, people look like they're moving instead of just going for the day!! I just took a picture of Sonny's 'great shark tooth' find!!! He found a new hobby within minutes of landing on the beach ~ we watched this older gentleman, with a homemade gizmo, walking along the water's edge and scooping up something ~ of course, we had to ask! ~ and found out he hunts sharks teeth. He showed us what to look for and Sonny was off and running! On his two trips, he gathered enough to make up a little bag of teeth for each of the young grandkids and kept this nice big one (about 1 1/4") to take to the lake ~ we have a table made from an old window and have created seascapes in the windowpanes ~ so this big one will be a nice addition!!!

With the help of our friends, Diane and Greg, I gathered a nice bunch of shells ~ Grandpa Sonny decided it would be nice to give each little person a bag of those, too ~ so I kept the most unusual for the lake and bagged up the rest for the kids!! Luke & Luci got theirs last night and were quite happy!! Actually, they were quite less expensive than buying everybody t-shirts and they won't grow out of them!! We're getting pretty creative in our old age and of course, the crazy economy helps!!

We did have a great time with our friends and got together with three other couples from Ohio at various times ~ we were on the go a lot, of course!! We ate lots of good seafood ~ I love grouper ~ and had lots of afternoon cocktails! One day, I begged them to stop at a little watering hole that we passed ~ I took a picture of Sonny and our friends on the porch of this place to put on the blog but decided I probably didn't need to be advertising for them!! It was a 'honky tonk' with a notation on their sign that it was a 'sunny place for shady people' !!!! Perfect ~ we had to go in!! There were eight or so local characters sitting at bar in a smoke-filled haze and when I asked the barmaid (yes, that's right) for a cocktail, she said "you'll have beer or wine"!! Okay!!! She could hold her own for sure! As we entered, my friend noticed they had smoked mullet on Friday night (although they didn't serve food) ~ not that we would be able to be there that night ~ and then the gal behind the bar said 'oh, you must come Friday night ~ the Smoked Mullet band will be playing!!!! Oh, we had a big laugh over that one! I bet those people all wondered what planet we dropped out of ~ we were a little out of place there! It was fun for me but I don't think our friends or the man I live with, will let me go back!!!

So, as the blog title says, back to reality ~ laundry, office work, cold weather and of course, rug hooking!! We are ever so grateful to our friends for giving us a week's respite from Ohio weather ~ we notice that everyone is so happy and cheerful in Florida ~ and we know it's the warmth and the sun ~ it's a wonderful thing!!! Thanks Diane & Greg!!!
Alice

LEICESTER SHEEP RUG ~ ~ ~

Mr. Sheep is done ~ all ready for his new home!! I love to hook rugs!! This rug was really a creative endeavor for me ~ the design, the color plan, all with the customer's wishes in mind! I loved doing it and forever will feel part of this rug! I loved using the Irish knit sweater as a catalyst for that crazy sky ~ when we decided to incorporate that into the rug, I wasn't sure where it was headed but I love the end result!! There is also a blue angora sweater in the sky along with a variety of wools and dyed roving to give it a lot of color and texture! I think that is the lesson in this rug for me ~ utilize different fibers and materials ~ think outside the box ~ color outside the lines ~ don't be a follower ~ look at this as one more step on my creative journey!!

I'm showing you this rug because a. I love it! b. I bought it in England when we went a couple of years ago and c. this rug gave me the idea to hook with the Leicester fleece!! Eileen Scholes is the artist who created the Herdwick Sheep from Herdwick fleece and I was fortunate enough to be at the hook-in where she offered it for sale! We haven't met but do correspond by email ~ I love the creativity of this rug as it is all recycled fabrics ~ ribbons, jerseys, sweaters ~ lots of nice fibers hooked into one lovely rug!! So Eileen, I must thank you for the inspiration and ~ for enabling me to bring your art work back home to the States!!

Blessings abound today!! This very delicate hooked pin came in the mail today from an online friend, Helen, from Canada!! Helen was the first to respond to the Pay It Forward post I did a while ago ~ I will be sending her something hand-made by me ~ but the dear lady sent me something first!!!! It measures 2" from leaf to leaf and is hooked with the thinnest cut I've ever seen!! And she sent the nicest letter ~ which I enjoyed immensely!! Thank you, ever so much, dear Helen ~ I will treasure this little gem of a pin always!!!

And I am so happy to say that I won't be able to post for a while!! By the grace of air miles and our wonderful lake friends who invited us to stay with them ~ we are going to Florida for a week ~ away from the snow and cold!! Yeah team!! I can't wait!! I'm doing laundry, billing, packing and tidying up all at the same time ~ trying to get it all done before we leave for the airport tomorrow evening!! Tad's sitter will be holding down the fort here ~ bless her heart!!! ~ while we're working on a nice tan ~ I hope! And we're meeting up with other friends who are down there, too!! So until next week ~ stay warm ~ hook something wonderful ~ and I'm sure I'll have something fun to write about ~ and pictures to show !! Ta ta for now!!
Alice