YESTERDAY'S HOOK-IN ~ ~ ~

 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 ~ ~ ~

 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 ~ ~ ~

 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 ~ ~ ~

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 ~ ~ ~

 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 ~ ~ ~

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 ~ ~ ~

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