FINALLY ~ ~ ~

I'm back to blogging ~ life gets incredibly busy and complicated here ~ yikes!! This is a picture of the dining table for the Red Hat group that came for lunch last week ~ once again, something I threw together at the last moment- the centerpiece, not the lunch!!! This beautiful gerbera daisy was outside in the sunshine so I threw it in a pot, put it in the wooden tray, and put two pincushions made of mohair on either side ~ it made no sense but it helped balance out the tray ~ the candles were in my show stock and since I had FORGOTTEN to buy the tealights that I ordinarily set at each table setting, I had to grab these two big candles, put them on some little tin plates and adorn them with rosehips ~ it worked out swell ~ I think candlelight adds a lot to a table!

I told all these girls to look for themselves on my blog ~ so here you are, ladies!! Pauline (in the red and purple shirt) brought her group from Willard to spend the day lunching and touring our house and gardens! They were very complimentary ~ they made my day!! Pauline's sister sits for my son, Tad, and she offered to be my helper that day as well as my friend, Vivian ~ and believe me I need all the help I can get!! Before they arrived, I dumped the contents of my waterpik all over the bathroom counter and I got in a bit of a hurry when making coffee in the big coffee maker and turned the darn thing on before I put the water in!!!!! Smoke rolled out from underneath it and the bottom of the empty pot was sizzling!! I thought the day was not off to such a swell start!!


Nothing like pictures of a bunch of women eating but I want to show them all so no one feels left out!! The two I did leave out were my helpers ~ holy crow ~ next time, girls!! Lunch was a familiar menu of potato-leek soup, chicken salad on croissants, frosted apricot jello salad, rosemary lemonade and black forest cake!! I can cook up a storm sometimes!! Sometimes, not!!

So ~ all's well that ends well ~ some of the gals had to leave before the "photo shoot" ~ but they all had a wonderful time and I enjoyed them a lot!! They want to come back at Christmas!! What could be a nicer testimonial than that?!

Saturday, there was a local hook-in ~ very fun ~ the next post will be about that!! Have a good day and thanks for stopping by!!

RUG FROM MY PAST ~ ~ ~

I love this rug ~ done in a class with Emma Lou Lais ~ and because I didn't label my rugs then, I don't know when it was hooked! Good lesson in labeling your rugs! Emma Lou had this pattern with her and a similar one is on her website ~ but it's not drawn just this way ~ it might be a one-of-a-kind!! Emma Lou is very into textures but when I asked if she minded if I used a vintage army blanket for the background, she was all for it! It was pretty flat looking, so I used some of my hand-dyed here and there to pick it up a little ~ and an old pin that I had bought at an auction, kind of set it off! It will always be one of my favorite pieces ~ more for the memories of hooking with Emma Lou ~ an absolutely great gal ~ who used to be a big band singer many years ago! She sang for us one evening and her voice was still like a song bird!

This has been a quiet week ~ lots of ball games ~ graduation parties and birthday parties! The great granddaughter was one year old last Saturday! And my husband's high school class had a 65th birthday gathering as most all will turn 65 sometime in this year ~ it was kind of fun ~ Sonny got to see his friends Roger & Fred ~ and I got to sit next to a fellow who shared with me (three different times) that he was a millionaire!!!!!!!! And that when he and his girlfriend go dancing in Arizona in the winter, that they dress like a cowboy and a cowgirl!!!!!!! And that he's bought her many cowgirl outfits and hats to match!!!!! And his girlfriend happens to be the old wife of Sonny's friend, Fred!!!!! And we all sat together!!!!! I said it was a quiet week? Now that's funny!!

On Tuesday, I have a luncheon for a Red Hat group ~ so, as usual lots to do ~ we are home this weekend as there was a graduation party last night for my great nephew. It seemed prudent to stay home the rest of the weekend and get a head start on the meal planning and grocery shopping for Tuesday. Right now it's raining and pretty gloomy out ~ it would be a great day to hook ~ I haven't done that in several weeks!! That floral stair riser that I was working on is still on the frame ~ it's for a challenge for a hook-in next week ~ wonder if it will be done!! My friend, Heidi, said hers isn't going to finished ~ it's a great little pattern but evidently not our style!!!! Stay tuned!

I hope you're having a good weekend ~ have fun!
Alice

YESTERDAY ~ ~ ~

Miss Luci came to call!! She spent part of the day with me and when I asked what she wanted to do, she said "let's go to your hooking room and make crafts"! Music to my ears!! I had already decided I would make her a little purse and she loved that idea! And this is what I came up with ~ I have a cupboard of felted sweaters for just such a project ~ she picked this navy sweater! It's pretty dark, so to lighten it up, a yellow sweater worked just swell for the flowers ~ I let Luci cut out the orange centers from another piece and then she just cut little pieces parts the rest of the time! The centers of the orange are done with some glittery wispy angelhair type stuff ~ it just had to have a little sparkle!

I'm fortunate enough to have a Babylok embellishing machine so it was a snap to needle felt the flowers and stems onto the purse front. This is the backside of it and even that looks nice ~ a more subtle look but using that technique for a more simplistic design would look great as well! I also needlefelt by hand with those long barbed needles using a thick piece of foam as the base ~ but those needles must be used with caution!

The purse handle is just a piece of the sweater cut from the length of the sleeve ~ I folded each edge to the middle and used a zigzag stitch on the sewing machine to fasten it down. Then I applied this nice multi-colored roving-type yarn to the stitch line with the embellisher and I also flattened each end of the strap with the embellisher so that it would lay flat against the purse body.
The same roving was used to needlefelt the flower stems ~ I did that first and then applied the flowers to the purse front by needlefelting only the centers ~ that allows the flowers to be free floating! And one of my hand-make buttons from the class I took was perfect for the closure! I also hand-stitched in a lining made of a soft yellow cotton fabric printed with little navy blue hearts ~ my little stash of supplies comes in handy!

Here's the proud new owner of the recycled sweater purse ~ MISS LUCI !!!!! We had a nice day together ~ we made fruit smoothies for breakfast ~ for lunch, she had lettuce leaves and crackers and fresh strawberries with chocolate syrup drizzled over ~ if I ate like that, I would be a skinny mite, too!!!! Last night, we went to yet another little league game and there was Luci with her purse ~ in it she had a baggie of carrots and cucumbers and a little sandwich in case she needed a snack!! What can I say!!! Once you give a gift ~ you must detach yourself from it and let the owner do with it what they wish!!! Something I try to remember always!!!

Before we went to the game, which was at 8 p.m. ~ we went to a 70th birthday party for a friend I haven't seen in years!! We were friends as couples when I was formerly married and as happens, we kind of lost track of one another! Her husband ~ an interesting fellow ~ went to our local police department on Tuesday and asked if they knew us ~ everybody does (it's a small town) ~ and had the policeman call me to see if he could give my phone number to him!!! It was pretty funny ~ so, we went to her surprise party in a neighboring town ~ I saw people I hadn't seen in years ~ almost 30 in fact ~ and I was glad that we made the effort!! It was just odd the way it came about! Yesterday, I got a call on my cell phone from a lady who thought we had a house for rent ~ which we don't ~ I asked how she got my number and she said she called the water department and they thought we owned that particular house ~ so they gave her our number!!! Now is that a weird coincidence or what? The police department and water department are across the hall from one another ~ they must think we're very popular right now!!! And actually, we are in the phone book but no one spells our name correctly, so they can't find us!! Just a bit of weirdness to share with you!

Have a good weekend ~ make some memories!
Alice

MRS. TURKEY HAS ~ ~ ~

left the building ~ flown the coop, so to speak ~ ~ ~ taken her turkey babies and gotten the flock out of here!!!!! So sad ~ I was looking forward to watching those babies for a few days ~ but I guess she couldn't stay!! After I posted yesterday, I went out and she had moved them under a Japanese fern ~ then she moved them across the walk underneath the rhubarb plant! Later, when I looked again, there were three big black crows hanging out in the tree above her ~ and around 5 p.m. when I checked, she and her brood were gone!! So it really was a lucky thing that I was home yesterday and could get some pictures and see what all this egg sitting produced or I would have missed it entirely. Thanks Mrs. Turkey for giving us some entertainment for a few weeks ~ it was fun!

And one of those times that I was going to check, I walked around the garage to get a better shot of them under the rhubarb ~ and there by the compost boxes was MS. DEER!! Lucky I had the camera turned on and she posed politely and I got this nice shot of her ~ we were about 25 feet apart! It's pretty darned interesting living in these woods ~ we are in town but it's like being in another world! We are so fortunate to be in this place!

It seems like I should do some hooking ~ I'll have nothing to blog about now ~ except maybe all the little league games this week ~ last week, there was only one or two since it rained. This week there is one or two every night ~ I don't know if it means as much to all the little grandpeople as it does us, but we're there!! Hopefully, we're creating memories for them! I didn't have grandparents as I grew up and I always envied my friends who did ~ I guess I'm trying to be the grandparent that I wished I had!!

Okay ~ I'm off and running ~ have a good evening!
Alice

THE BIG DAY ~ ~ ~

has arrived!! I leaned over the brick wall a little while ago to check on Mrs. Turkey and there, up by her head, were two little turkeys!!! So cute they are!! If you double click, you can see their little speckled bodies!!

Then while I watched, she got up and took a stroll ~ I think she was looking for some that strayed away from the nest! It looks like 9 eggs hatched ~ either 2 more to go or they just aren't going to. They really are cute little chicks ~ much more attractive than Mrs. Turkey!!

She was having a walk-about ~ no doubt, very weary from sitting on that nest so long! She strutted around clucking and chirping or whatever the devil that noise is ~ and then left a 'deposit' down on the little brick walkway outside my studio door. If this is any indication of what we have in store for us in this back garden ~ times 9 ~ you can bet my future postings will not be so warm and motherly!!!! This is not gonna be a good thing!!

I just checked on her and now she's moved them away from the nest into another area of the garden and is sitting on them (that has to be comfortable) because it's raining. Stay tuned!

We had a fun weekend at the lake ~ beautiful weather ~ no 'midgies' like my friend, Lauren, who is about 30 miles east of us along the lake. We sat on the rocks and enjoyed the sun, took a walk every day, went out to eat and on Saturday night, stopped at a place just up the road from us ~ they had a great band ~ we danced ~ and then our friends, who were driving, were ready to go home!! But not I ~ so we went back and got our car ~ and then we (me & the mister) returned for more dancing!! It was fun ~ we weren't out late but you sure see some interesting sights ~ we always manage to see something crazy that makes us feel better about ourselves!!!!

Back to reality ~ hope you had a fun weekend, too!
Alice

ANOTHER RUG ~ ~ ~

I always like to have a picture along with the blog post so today's picture is a rug that I hooked early in my hooking career!! It's a pattern by Margo White and I started this in a class that she used to have at Shaker Village in Kentucky. I picked the pattern ahead of time and asked her to color plan it for me and that I liked dark colors ~ this couldn't have been a better choice for our decor and it looks perfect in front of the tv cabinet. Now, at a class, I play a big part in the color planning along with the teacher or do my own color planning on rugs I do here in my own studio. When we go to a class, it is for a reason ~ to gain knowledge from that teacher in whatever area that is their expertise. So if it's color planning, I think we should soak up what they have to share with us and combine that with our own tastes ~ and we leave that class with a great rug!

Mrs. Turkey is still sitting on her eggs ~ I would think they would be having their 'coming out' party soon!! I'll show pictures as soon as the big day arrives!

It's been a quiet week here ~ only one evening of little league games ~ one night we got rained out!! Our friend, Rita, had invited us over for a gathering and we were going to have to go late ~ but the rain allowed us to join the group and we had a great evening ~ lots of yummy food! ~ and lots of laughs for sure!

Kathy of Sweet William Primitives, (the winner of my secret giveaway!) and I have shared some nice emails this week. She and I have a lot in common and our paths have crossed before! Kathy reminded me that we met at a show I was doing in Columbus a couple of years ago and then she called me to find out where I bought my eyeglasses (I got them on a trip Seattle and had to beg the salesguy to let me have only the frames and have my eye doctor make the lenses here in Ohio - I actually left the store and went out for lunch with our kids and after a cocktail or two, went back and made my case ~ I got the glasses!)!!!! And now she has them, too (she didn't have to go to Seattle, though)!! That was quite a compliment! I hope our paths cross again ~ we have LOTS to talk about!

That's it for today ~ I need to make sense out of this office! Sonny and Mr. Kitty left for the lake at 6:30 a.m. this morning!! He had a small job up there so I asked him to take that cat with him ~ we've finally figured out if we don't play the radio, he travels better ~ it doesn't make sense, but it works! Tad and I will journey up there later this morning ~ it looks like a beautiful day today and tomorrow!! Have a good weekend, friends ~ do something fun if at all possible!! Ta ta ~
Alice

SECRET GIVEWAY ~ ~ ~

Yes, this giveaway was so secret, the entrants didn't even know they were in it!!!!! I love seeing all the giveaways on other blogs and some I enter, some I don't ~ I thought it was time for one here so ~ a while ago I decided that when my FEARLESS FOLLOWERS list hit the magic number of 15, I would draw from their names and give one a little reward!! It has taken from January 9 till today for 15 people to want to claim out loud that they follow my drivel ~ THANK YOU, GIRLS!!! Some blogs have huge followings and I am so grateful for each of you ~ at least I know there are 15 people for sure that check in on these random bits of my life that I share with you!!

So ~ on to the LUCKY winner of the day !!!!! It's Kathy of Sweet William Primitives and your lovely gifts are ~ ~ ~ a vintage linen towel with a sweet little pattern on it to embroider (I see on your blog that you are a stitcher so I picked this just for you!), a candle to light while you stitch, and a little hooked heart! I hope you're as happy to be the receiver as I am to be the giver! Send me an email and I'll get your little package off in the mail today!

And thanks to each and every one of you guys who check in on my life of rug hooking, kids, grandkids and friends!! Speaking of grandkids ~ Nick, the oldest, turned 20 on Saturday!! Time flies!! Take care ~ I'm off to do something, even if it's wrong!!
Alice

YESTERDAY ~ ~ ~

Finally, I did some dying! A customer was coming and mentioned pink wool for a flower rug she was going to do and since I didn't have pink wool and had never really dyed any before, I jumped right on that!! I did two different colors ~ rose antique (kind of dusky) and soft hot pink!! So if either of these appeal to you rug hookers, it's for sale!! When my customer came, our visit ended up with her thinking she wouldn't do that rug right now so she bought a new pattern and the wool for it. It won't have any pink in it but it's going to be a great folk art rug!!

And I have hooked a little on the stair riser rug ~ my progress is kind of slow ~ and I'm not thrilled with the little bits of white ~ I think it's to look like queen anne's lace ~ so there might be a re-hook in those spots ~ it's not trimmed yet but I don't like that choppy look of all those tails ~ I'll wait till it's finished and then figure it out!!!


Today, on Gene Shepherd's blog is a picture of the rug I did for his blog hook-in. It's vastly different than any of the others that have been done ~ he said to make it our own ~ tweak it ~ and tweak, I did!! It is a beautiful rug in person and if you click on "Alice's rugs" under Labels on the left side of this blog, you'll see what I think is a better picture than the one I sent in. Connie Litfin is the designer and I do have some patterns of that particular design and another one with stars in the flower basket, if anyone would like one.

If you check Gene's blog post of May 28, the second picture is Connie's pattern that she hooked and my black background rug with the sparkly wool and paisley's is my rendition of her pattern. It's interesting to me how mine turned out ~ and does make me wonder what goes on in this head of mine! I used to say that my greatest fear was being like everybody else ~ doesn't appear to be any danger of that happening! Someone that I was talking to the other day, mentioned that a hooking group she attended recently seemed very dependent on one person's guidance in how their rugs were hooked, finished and color planned. Both of us agreed that we like to do our own thing ~ use our own ideas ~ step out of the box, so to speak!! I think that is a sign of real creativity ~ when we take chances ~ do what we like! Remember, the rugs we hook are going in our homes and becoming part of our daily scenery ~ they should be something that we really like and speaks to us!! So as you go about hooking your next rug ~ or piecing your next quilt ~ or decorating your home ~ or just living your life ~ do that thing that makes you really happy and sets you apart in this world!!!!!!!

Hope you enjoyed your visit here today ~ stop by again ~ and have a good rest of the day!
Alice