Hook, Hand and Heart

A Little Bit of Winter

2012-01-27T11:00:00.001-05:00

On Saturday when I got up about 6 a.m., this was the scene outside my kitchen window.
Finally some snow!

When it got to be daylight, we had several inches of white. Enough to make it feel like we were really in the midst of winter.

But now, a week later, the snow is all gone and it has been raining for the past two days. I guess we can be thankful for the mild temperatures since we have gone through most of the winter so far only having to use our wood stove. A good thing because the price of heating oil is outrageous.

In the morning when I wake up I head first to the kitchen for coffee and then sit down at the computer. Yesterday I had dire error messages on the screen about failed attempts to download upgrades and that I was unable to connect to the internet. The little box that houses the electronics to my high-speed connecting had all four of it's little lights on (good sign) so I think, 'Oh no! My crappy old puter is going to die!!!'
Panic!!!

How did I ever get so attached to this darned machine???
I remember the first one I bought, way back about 20 years ago. It was a black and white screen and worked on the dreaded MSDOS. I took computer programming courses at our local college to learn to use the thing. I wanted it as a supposedly quicker and more professional way to print up charts for the needlework samplers I was selling at the time. I could have done it faster by hand!

I don't know if there was such a thing as the Internet then. Mine certainly didn't have it! It was mostly used by business people for spreadsheets and word processing and a few puny games. But somehow, I haven't been without one since those times. I can't even imagine not having this interactive connection to the rest of the world. I could do without a TV, but not a computer.

Anyhow, I found out later in the day that it was my service provider that was on the blink, so no new computer yet. Thank goodness!

I've been having a little vacation from sewing. Brad and Kami are off at a week-long re-enactment, so I have been goofing off. Zip and I have been feeding their cats, but are otherwise unencumbered.

The knitting is progressing on the test knitting of Julie Matthews (Knitting at Large) Carnation vest. Since I took this picture, I've gotten twice this much done.

With the heavier bulky yarn, its harder on my hands and shoulders. It does knit up quickly. I will definitely have it done to wear this spring.

My doll is also coming along nicely (I told you I have been playing!)
(copyrighted by Dixie Redmond, Izannah Walker inspired doll)
She is looking like a very proper 19th century little miss, which is the whole idea. Somehow when I sculpted her head i have her looking slightly to the side. I'm telling myself that this is not a mistake, it just adds to her demure look!

I didn't get to finish her hair because I didn't have the right paint color. It's hard to choose from the acrylic paints based on those little color circles on top of the bottle. She will be given an 'antique' finish and then a sealer of some kind to be determined later.

I love the way the boots turned out.

These are the fabrics that I plan to use for her dresses.

The light one with the tan stripes will be her dress for good and the other will be the everyday dress.
I think they would be most authentic looking sewn by hand. Can I still do that adequately? The old fingers aren't as nimble as they once were.

Hope all of you are having a great week.
Thanks for stopping by!

Blogger Blues!

2012-01-18T14:50:00.001-05:00

This is my 200th post and I'm celebrating with WHINE!

A while back when Blogger changed over to the 'new and improved' format, some parts of the features no longer worked right on my computer. I switched my browser to Google Chrome even though I was perfectly happy with Internet Explorer. But the switch solved most of the problems with Blogger.

Then recently the picture loading feature went wonky. I would load my pictures in preparation for inserting them at the appropriate spot, and when I clicked back to the picture loading box, they had all disappeared. In the past week, this was miraculously fixed.

Now, the worst torture yet!
I tried to leave comments on several blogs (notably crafty-cats-corner and Orange Sink) and wasn't able to do the word verification entry necessary for submitting a comment.
My comment comes up in a preview box and I can just see the very tops of the word verification letters, but can not scroll down far enough to see the whole thing and type in the letters.
Grrrrrr!!!

I know my puter is getting old, as in every year of a human life is like 25 years in computer life. Mine is now about 250 years old. So the problem may be my outdated equipment.
But still, I'm frustrated!!!

So if I haven't left a comment lately, it's not because I don't want to!
Please know that I am reading your blogs and thinking of you.
And wondering if a new computer would really fix the problem our would I get the whole thing set up and encounter the same darned thing!?

Julia (Of Petals and Wool) directed me to the slider bar that's farther to the right that brings the word verification up where it can be seen. Sometimes my impatience with things technoligical gives me tunnel vision and this seems to be the case here!
Maybe I'm getting too old for this!!!

Where Does the Time Go???

2012-01-15T09:11:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe that January is half over already.

Wasn't it just New Year's Day not to long ago???

Since the holidays are over, I feel so much better. My positive outlook on life has returned and the winter depression has lifted. Maybe from now on I should say I suffer mainly from the Family Obligation and Expectation Depression with the all expense paid guilt trip thrown in!

Next year I will be making it perfectly clear well in advance that there will be no participation on my part in any holiday celebrations. None what-so-ever!

So on to January and a new creative energy boost.

I think in my last post I mentioned that I would be a test knitter for a vest pattern designed by Julie at Knitting at Large. There have been a few glitches in the pattern so that is on hold for the moment. Isabell was looking forward to this project. She had taken the yarn into her own paws and was ready to help.

But now we have to wait!

In the meantime, I'll be starting on a sweater for my Mom that will be a smaller version of the a-line cardigan with the collar that I made for myself.

Not to worry, there are other fun things that Izzy can help with. Like helping me finish up stuffing the bunnies. Would you believe there isn't a scrap of poly stuffing anywhere in the house when I really need it. But this bag of washed wool fleece will work just as well. I had cleaned this wool many years ago and must have been a little too vigorous because it's slightly felted in some places. Not good for spinning, but makes fine stuffing. And cat beds.

The finished bunnies.

I've been working on my Izannah Walker inspired doll using the Dixie Redmond instructions.

The basic body is cloth and the head and shoulder plate is then covered and sculpted of paper clay.

I have never used this product before, but am finding it easy to work with. It dries nicely without cracks.

My helpers are nearby as usual. Several times this morning Isobell has emptied my plastic water container onto the floor and Penny likes to chew the bristles of the paint brushes.

I've drawn on the outline of the hair and features just for reference. It still needs several coats of paint.

I'm certainly no sculptor, but this is fun. I'm pleased with the results so far. Brad and Kami and I went to Needle and Thread near Gettysburg several days ago and I purchased two Civil War era reproduction fabrics to make dresses. By my next post I'm hoping to be ready to start the clothing.

And yes, I've been getting out of the house! Horay! Even on some of the coldest days of the month so far, I've been out doing errands and taking small trips.

Last week my friend Marian and I went on an international grocery excursion to Frederick, Maryland. And would you believe I didn't take any pictures! I guess the moment just swept every thought of the camera out of my head. Any way, we had fun visiting two Indian groceries and a Mexican bakery, all of which were along Route 40 west of Frederick. Then we went back to Hagerstown and ate at an Indian restaurant (I think it was called Sitar) that's in the shopping complex across from the Valley Mall.

It was an excellent day! I came home exhausted. It's been a while since I've worn myself out having fun spending the day with a friend. Thanks, Marian!!!

Goodies from the bakery. The layered pastry with cream filling at the top right was soooo yummy.

I just couldn't resist these tiny eggplants at the Indian grocery.

I thought they were baby eggplants, but when I cut them open, they had fully developed seeds. Must be a miniature variety. The green vegetable is a bottle gourd. I stir fried the veggies and the gourd was very much like zucchini but it wasn't as watery and didn't get mushy when cooked. Maybe we'll try some in the garden this year.

Hope the year is off to a good start for all of you.

My only regret is... Please, don't shoot me!!! We haven't had any yet....

Maybe we could have just one nice wintry snow storm so we don't forget what time of year it is.

I love sitting inside warming my hands with a cup of hot chocolate and some wooly craft work in progress watching the snow fall!

Oh, What a Night!

2012-01-01T09:25:00.001-05:00

We had a delightful New Year's Eve.

Zip and I have never been big celebrants of N-Y-E. We are stay home and have a nice dinner and watch TV types. Who wants to be on the road after midnight???
Then about ten years ago, our friends Chuck and Willa asked us if we would go out to eat with them. Of course we said YES! We went to a local Japanese restaurant. It was fun and somehow sushi seemed just the thing for the celebration. So after that we went every year, sometimes with their children and ours joining the fun.

Afterward there was the option of going downtown in Shippensburg and watching the anchor drop. SHIP-ensburg. Far from the ocean and certainly not named for the nautical, but I guess you have to drop something. Being a farming community, I would have suggested a cow (not a real one, of course! I'm an animal lover!) but it would be more interesting than an anchor.
Well, there is no way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks that this woman would be caught downtown after dark anyhow. Not in winter, not in the cold, not after 8 p.m. No amount of music and dancing in the streets and fireworks could make me do that!

Chuck and Willa have since moved to Missouri, and last night we expecially missed them.

But not to be dismayed, we went to a new Japanese and Thai restaurant with Brad and Kami.
The food was delicious!!! We had such a wonderful time that I forgot to take pictures until the meal was half over. Not cool showing partially eaten food! I had the least disturbed plate so will show it

This is Chicken Pattaya, with fresh pineapple, green peppers, mango and onion in a hot sweet chili mango sauce. Yummy! Isn't the flower made from daikon radish pretty?.

We all shared a scrumptious smoked salmon and mango sushi roll.

Before Kami and Brad met, she had never eaten Oriental or Mexican food. In the four years they have been together, she's become quite adventurous. I guess you have to be to go out to dinner with us.
We ended the meal by sharing an order of fried banana topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
We all had plenty of food left to bring home and enjoy again today.

Willa and Chuck, I wish you could have been here with us!

* * * * * * * * *

With my sweater knitting finished, it was time to do the blocking, the part I HATE most about making a sweater. I've been stewing over this for a week, dreading this crummy chore. Then I had an idea. One that would hopefully be fast and easy and not require a zillion pins and those darn blocking wires. A method I could use and not need a large uncluttered space which is very hard to find in my junky messy house.

I had Zip go to Lowes and get me a piece of 1/2-inch foam insulation board and on it I drew a full-sized schematic of the sweater body. I made two separate sleeves, leaving enough excess so they could butt together at the center front. I cut all these out..

I soaked and spun dry my sweater and 'dressed' the Maxi-Me cut-out, sticking the arms in last and securing it all with t-pins. As an afterthought, I added a twisted coat hanger so I could hang it from the rafters near the woodstove to speed the drying. The only extra pinning needed was down the front band to keep it straight. Voila!!! Sweater blocking made easy and reusable!

My yarn for the next project came yesterday. I will be test knitting a vest that Julie Matthews of Knitting at Large (check my sidebar) has designed and will be offering as a pattern on Ravelry.
I am so excited to have been chosen to do the test knit! Pictures of the yarn will be in my next post.

Speaking of which, my camera seems to be out of adjustment lately. Without the flash everything seems to be too dark and then when I use the flash, everything is too bright and washed out. Guess the instruction book will have to come out of hiding.

And....Blogger seems to be having a brain furt again. I load pictures and then they disappear before I'm able to add them. So I've been loading them one at a time as needed. Is anyone else having this problem???

Hope your year is off to a great start!
Happy 2012., everyone!!!

The Race to Finish

2011-12-30T08:39:00.002-05:00

The madwoman has been knitting like crazy!
The sweater must be finished by the end of the year!!! Am I laboring under the Presidential Mandate, 'No Project Left Undone'? You would think so. Or maybe it's just a good excuse to neglect all the things I should be doing around the house. Like that sink full of dishes....

Yesterday Zip and I drove to Lemoyne to the PA Factory outlet to get buttons for the almost finished sweater. I took a skein of yard along to match them up. I thought these looked good when laid against the yarn, but when I put them on the sweater....Blech!!!

Now what to do??? Not another 50-mile trip back to the outlet. I guess I could use them temporarily?

Then I looked at the back side of the button and EUREKA! they looked cool!!!

They might be wrong-side-out, but I think they look 100% better. What do you think???

So last evening I finished the last few inches of sleeve and the sweater is done with a day to spare.

I still need to block it to stretch out the ribbing a little bit. It is soooo nice and warm!

This is the third sweater I've done since reacquainting myself with my knitting needles last January. Thanks to Julie at Knitting at Large, they all fit perfectly. My faith in sweater knitting has been renewed!
Some of the important lessons I've learned are ALWAYS knit a gauge swatch, take accurate body measurements, draw a schematic and DO THE MATH! You can have a sweater that fits your own personal shape every time.

I guess now that the excitement is all over, it's time to go to the kitchen and apply my creative talents to cleaning up the dishes. SIGH!!!

A Tale of Two Feasts

2011-12-26T08:51:00.000-05:00

It's over and for that, I am thankful. All the hoopla can be stashed away for another year
All the obligations and the guilt-laden reprimands for not conforming to the demands of family will now be packed away until the next big holiday.

We (Zip and I and Brad and Kami) had decided to simply visit with Mom on Saturday afternoon so she wouldn't have to cook us dinner. She called two days beforehand and INSISTED on making dinner. And if *I* didn't want to eat, that was OK with her. I am, of course, the Bad Guy here!

So we went. She had invited my sister, Linda and her SO, which was nice. I enjoy my sister's company though we don't often get together other than family holidays.

Things went fairly well, with only a few little negative remarks from Mom. As usual these revolved around cleaning your plate. Both my sister and Kami are very thin. They ALWAYS leave some food on their plates. So we had the lecture! Not quite the 'starving people in less fortunate areas of the world' speech but very close to it. Then we went on to complaints about the price of groceries and the cost of each of the ingredients that made up the meal. (The rest of us did bring food to add to the table) And last but not least, how some people's eyes are bigger than their stomachs. Oh, well! Happens every year!!!

At least Linda's laberdoodle, Simon ate well. He's watching the table, choosing his favorites and hoping there are lots of leftovers.

Brad didn't have any trouble cleaning his plate. Here he is having a happy moment contemplating the dessert selection.

Mom is a Christmas collector. Her favorites are antique ornaments and vintage Santas. She has about a half dozen feather trees in several rooms of the house, each with a different theme. She can tell you how much each of the ornaments cost her, too!
\

The curio cabinet filled with the little stuff.

I was having trouble taking good photos because of the light levels in the house. Dark inside and bright outside with back lighting from the windows doesn't make good pictures even with a flash.

I finally got one good picture of Mom.

So that is over for another year!

Onward to the FUN feast!
On Christmas day we had dinner at Brad and Kami's. We each made what we wanted and it all come together harmoniously. There was no stress, no recriminations, we ate what we wanted in whatever quantities we desired. Nothing fancy, just delicious food. There was happy conversation and lots of laughing.

Words can hardly express how much I appreciate our son and Kami. I could not have gotten a better daughter-in-law if I had chosen her myself. Brad has turned out to be a good sensitive man.
And they love Cats!!!

Here is their new little rescued kitty Cosmo. He's laying quietly at the moment, but there were a few wild leaps onto the table. Their two older cats weren't interested in Christmas dinner.

After dinner we watched 'A Christmas Story', my favorite Christmas movie. I guess having grown up in the fifties is why I can so relate to it. I remember my father doing battle with the coal furnace and he probably was using some of the same language! And the nightmare of being stuffed into the snowsuit! The minute Mom zipped them up, we had to go to the bathroom! LOL!!!

Yep, there on my dusty and cluttered mantel is a small leg lamp!

Hope all of you had a Christmas to be remembered!
I still can't help breathing a sigh of relief....
IT'S OVER!!!

Celebrating the Sun

2011-12-22T08:53:00.001-05:00

For those of us with seasonal depression and suffering from lack of light, this is a day to celebrate.
The Return of the Sun!
Today is the winter solstice and the day with the shortest number of daylight hours in the year. Also the longest night of the year.
But tomorrow the day will be longer! Only by minutes, but over the next few months, those minutes add up to more Light!
I realize that the coldest, and possibly snowiest part of the winter is still ahead in January and February, but it sure makes me feel better to know that the darkness is now turning the other way.
So HORAY FOR THE SUN!!!

I want to thank all of you for your supportive comments on my last post about the winter blaaaahs.
Seems like a lot of people suffer from this malady and deal with it in many ways. Thank you all for your suggestions!

I still haven't wanted to go out much, but I'm not feeling so down in the dumps. Most of the Christmas parties are over and I bowed out of all of them. Zip went to his pot luck dinner with his fellow music students and to his Sunoco luncheon by himself. He doesn't mind going out and socializing and I like the time to myself.
We have a small quiet dinner planned with Mom on Saturday and are eating with Brad and Kami on Christmas Day. That's it! All I really want to do.

I've been sewing and knitting. Never did start that Santa rug.
The sweater seems to be taking a looooong time. There are so many times when I wish I were a size 6, and this is one of them! The first sleeve is almost done and then only the other one to do and it's finished. I wanted to have it done by Christmas, but that isn't going to happen.
After that, I have one to knit for Mom who is a size 0 or something. That shouldn't take long.
And I want to plan a nice big rug, something to work on for months. Or maybe work on some quilting.
So many projects, so little time!

Here's Deiter, asking you to remember to keep your furry companions safe during the holiday season!
Poinsettias are poisonous to cats and dogs (the ones in the picture are artificial!). Tinsel can get caught in their intestines, as can pieces of ribbon and string. There are so many exciting new things to play with that animals can get carried away and eat stuff that they shouldn't. But Deiter says he hopes that pet parents will be generous with the appropriate kitty and dog treats. Wishing all the furry ones a safe and happy holiday surrounded by the humans they love.

Hope all of you have a happy and relaxed Christmas, or whatever Holiday you celebrate.
Enjoy food, family, friends, and conversation!
Peace on Earth!

The Holiday Blaaaahs

2011-12-09T08:22:00.001-05:00

Warning!!! This is a really depressing post!

The Happy Holiday spirit is lacking in our house.
No decorations. Minimal parties. Definitely NO shopping!
Is it seasonal depression???

Lately it's been a little scary. I no longer want to go out of the house.
I Googled agoraphobia, just for my own info. I don't have any of the symptoms. I'm not AFRAID to go out, it's just cold and I don't want to bother. No social anxiety. No panic attacks. Just don't feel like being around people right now.

The Wenger Christmas gathering has been cancelled. I am relieved.
This past week Zip's Mom fell and cracked her hip and needed hip replacement surgery. She's doing OK for a dear lady in her early nineties. The family dinner is postponed until she's feeling better.

We planned on having Christmas Day dinner at Mom's. She gets really stressed out cooking family meals so we were all going to help with the cooking. Then I find out that she has invited twice as many people as originally intended. Twice the cooking and ten times the stress and confusion. She's not happy with me but I had to bow out to save what little sanity I have left. Zip and I want a quiet, non-stressful day.

Then there's the Blue and Gray rug hooking party on Monday. I've decided not to go to that either.
One by one I'm eliminating the situations in an attempt to make it through the season intact.

What I really want is to stay home with the kitties and work on my knitting, hooking, etc.
This is my ideal way to spend the time. Out of the picture is a big mug of hot chocolate!

I didn't get my Santa rug started, but I've been hooking. These standing rabbits are for a friend. I told her that they'd be done before Easter (that was back in the summer!). She probably thought I forgot all about them. Am I ahead of the game or what??? Oh, they're not done yet...

We haven't taken this loom down yet so the kitties are still having fun. Can you imagine what they'd do to a Christmas tree???

I hope the rest of you out there are having an ENJOYABLE Holiday Season.
Please don't let the Grinch bite you!!!

More Experimentation

2011-11-30T21:47:00.001-05:00

Still trying to get this irritating stuff to work!
I'm now trying to put the video on YouTube.
Seems to be working so far! (I think!)

Thanks Daisy the Curly Cat for the suggestion!!!

And Thank You! Sharon from Moosecraft, for giving me another suggestion!
And now it's right here!

Thanks to all of you who have helped the technologically impaired (me!) to accomplish the impossible!!!

Not Yet Successful!

2011-11-30T07:56:00.001-05:00

I guess I should have known that putting a video on the blog was not quite as easy as it seemed!

It appeared to work at first but then after getting this warning and reloading repeatedly with the same results, I'm going to have to do more research. But at the moment, I'm too busy. So it will have to wait.

We've been moving furniture and looms around in an effort to make a bigger sewing area, one with room for a 6-foot cutting table. Those of you who have cats know how they can be sleeping peacefully one minute, and come fully awake in an instant the minute you start doing some work.

Looms are not light, and we old farts are trying to get one up the stairs to a spare room so I can finish threading and get some weaving done. Meanwhile the three young heathens are running up and down the stairs under our feet! And of course, I'm screaming 'get out of the way!!!' We managed without any one getting seriously injured, but next trip the kitties were secured behind the kitchen door.

Then we brought in the cutting table and immediately there are five cats all over it, sniffing the underside, and swatting at each other for position.

Then we folded up the treadmill and pushed the other loom aside till we can take it apart and carry it upstairs. It just happened that these two items were right under the ceiling fan. Horay!!! Another new game!!! This is why I wanted to be able to take a video. The live action was hilarious!

They had the two balls on the end of the pull chains swinging wildly in all directions! At times there were three little wild beasts up there swatting madly!

There are reasons why people who love cats have to be slightly insane. And if they aren't already, the cats will gladly drive you in that direction!

The new cutting table is working out nicely, when I am able to use it. It's a great afternoon napping spot.
Brad and Kami had hired a new seamstress and I thought my retirement from sewing was within reach. But don't get hasty! She didn't work out for them and I will now be back to uniform making. I knew it was too good to be true! Oh well, what else do I have to do with my life???

Thanks to all of you who left comments and helpful info on my video attempt!
Hope your week is going well.

This is a Test

2011-11-29T10:01:00.001-05:00

Can you find the cats in this video???

No that's not the test!

AAAAARG!!!

I took the video off because it just was not working!

Guess more research is in order.

I knew it was too easy to be true!

Will have to try again at a later date!

SORRY!!!

I've never done this before. Obviously (duh!) the camera needs to be oriented on the horizontal.

But what I would like feedback about is how long it takes to load when you click on my blog. If it takes forever, I won't be doing this!

Does the video work on your browser???

Thanks for any input you leave!!!

2011-11-24T07:21:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope your day is filled with the joy of spending time with family and friends, much feasting, and counting your blessings.

We are indeed blessed!
We are fairly healthy for our ages.
We have a wonderful son and daughter-in law (who is more like me than is sensible. LOL!)
Both Zip and I have mothers who are still doing well at ages in their late eighties and early nineties.
Brothers and sisters with which to share childhood memories and commiserate with about growing older.
Friends that we get together with often and ones we wish we had more of an opportunity to see.
And last but not least, our five delightful kitties!

And where might those kitties be??? What are they up to???

Up is the answer! Deiter has learned how to open the bathroom closet doors and Penny and Izzy climb right up. Now how do I get down???

The doors at the top are right up at the eight-foot ceiling and she jumps! Usually they try to land on the back of the toilet.

Sometimes Zip gets the ladder and climbs up to get Penny. Izzy is too skittish and will claw us if we try to carry her down. She has to do it her own way. If Deiter goes the whole way to the top, we have to rescue him because he's too big and heavy to land safely. He's also VERY HEAVY when you try to carry him down the ladder!!!

Reggie still jumps up and walks along the top of doors. Someday I expect to see him upside down, hanging from the ceiling.

Cats certainly know how to entertain themselves. And give us heart failure!!!

Have a good day, everyone!

Returning

2011-11-17T10:34:00.001-05:00

It seems like a long time since I last posted.

I started this month with cheerful motivation to do lots of new projects. Then illness hit me upside the head. It started the day after I had a very stressful incident over my Mom's long distance phone card which involved dealing with the phone card company and my credit card company, and Mom. By the time the whole thing was resolved, I was a nervous wreck. And then the intestinal disruption started. And on and on it went for over a week. The bathroom was my best friend and worst enemy. There was no getting away from it! I could not go anywhere for a week.

At first I thought it was an intestinal flu, but now am wondering about irritable bowel syndrome. I have all the symptoms (except weight loss!!!). From now on when I get this affliction, I should take note of the stress level preceding the incident.

I was able to get some knitting done. I started my Braids Cardigan in the brown wool and then decided that the color was too dark to show the braid pattern effectively. So I selected a blue yarn and awaited it's arrival. Since there wasn't much else that I felt up to getting involved in, it seemed a long time coming!

I chose the color to go with a silk scarf that was a gift from my dear friend Willa. She hand dyed this beauty. I think they will look nice together.

On Monday I finally felt as though I could go out of the house and make it to the Blue and Gray hook-in without having to wear Depends! Just joking!!!

It was nice to get out and talk to other hookers after my seemingly long confinement.
I didn't get any group shots, too busy talking.

Our featured Hooker of the Month was Pat Donahue. I hope I spelled that right!
She is a very talented primitive hooker. Her colors are perfection!

This flower basket is my favorite!

This is only a portion of the rug. It was so large that I couldn't get a full shot without standing on a chair (which I did not attempt!)

Isn't this dog portrait wonderful??? Even in a wide cut, it's so realistic.

The day was lovely for the drive down to Biglerville. There were only a few trees left with leaves still on them, but they were the ones with very rich exciting colors. I wanted to stop and photograph every one, but driving on the narrow curvy roads with no place to pull off didn't allow it.

This lovely tree was at the edge of the parking lot at the church where we held the hook-in.

Hope next time I post I will have some rug progress to show.

Project Optimism!

2011-11-02T09:54:00.000-04:00

I think I'm going nuts!!! There are so many things I want to do right now!

Between sweater projects, while waiting for my yarn to arrive from Knit Picks, I finished this beret. I used Paton's silk bamboo yarn. It's sooo soft and wonderful to work with, but slightly pricey. I wish I could afford to make a whole sweater from it.

So that's my ONE finished project.
Now for the MANY that I want to work on in the next few weeks.

Proposed Project #1
First is The Doll! I've been following a blog by an artist and dollmaker from Maine named Dixie Redmond. For the past five years she has been documenting and studying Izannah Walker dolls. Ms. Walker was a dollmaker in the mid-eighteen hundreds and made the most delightful folk art dolls.
You can check out originals and dolls made by Dixie's students here http://izannahwalkerworkshop.blogspot.com/

Recently Dixie has published an e-book detailing her research for making a representation of an Izannah doll. Of course, I had to purchase one! And yesterday we went to Michael's and collected all the supplies for sculpting and painting.

Way back in my creating history, I made reproductions of antique porcelain dolls. This endeavor required hundreds of plaster molds, jars of liquid porcelain slip, a kiln, wigs, eyes, shoes, fabric for dresses and scads of other supplies too numerous to mention. The molds and kiln are still cluttering up the basement and the rest of the stuff is taking up space in the attic.
But I still love old dolls!!! So here I go again!

Proposed project #2
The Braids cardigan by Deb Gimmell at Cabin Fever.

I love her designs because they are knit all in one piece and there are no seams. A knit along for this cardigan will begin on Nov. 7 on Ravelry and I'm gonna do it!

Proposed Project #3
Start a rug!
Since I missed Halloween and Thanksgiving is fast approaching, I thought that going straight for Christmas would be the best idea.

Better transfer the pattern to backing. Is there hope of finishing by Dec. 24th?

Proposed Project #4
For quite a while I've been wanting to make a tailored jacket from a Connie Crawford pattern (Butterick). In fact I have FOUR different pieces of fabric set aside for this purpose! I think I'll start with this herringbone twill.

It has a nice winter look.

That's it! Project Optimism! Ha-ha! Maybe two out of four???
Oooops! No time for housework! He-he!

Deiter will have plenty of opportunity to sit by my side while I work. And chew the cord on the camera.

I love these big fat furry paws!!!

Have a great week!

The PA Dutch Market

2011-10-28T11:30:00.001-04:00

Lately when I have called Mom her phone beeps with a low battery halfway through our usual 20-minute conversations. She tried to get the back off the phone to see what kind of battery she needs but with limited strength in her hands, wasn't able to do it. Zip and I decided that after his music lesson yesterday we would take her to get the new battery. He was to drop us off at the Pennsylvania Dutch Market in Hagerstown while he had his lesson.

The lesson was cancelled at the last moment, but the plans went on anyhow. I must add here that family outings are not without stress. Mom is a perfectionist and is always right. Always! She likes to make moral judgments about people based on their physical appearance and many times voices them out loud within hearing of the offending person. This makes me cringe!!! She and Zip get along fine, so I usually let them walk along ahead and talk and I slink behind them trying to be quiet, hoping for invisibility. So that was the scenario yesterday.

This is a nice market! Clean, neatly organized and well run with quality products. (thankfully it was CLEAN, or remarks would have been made!) It isn't huge, but is as nice as many of the larger markets found in Lancaster County, the heart of our Amish country.

We'll start in the dry goods and grocery section and work up to the really yummy stuff last.

A nice selection of specialty flours and pasta.

Pickles and jellies of every description.

Zip checking out the ingredient labels. Yes, he looks like he ran into an Indian scalping party. He went to the salon to get a 'trim' and returned home with inch-short hair! Not his best look!

Mom checking out the chocolates. She kindly bought me a box of dark chocolate raspberry jellies for bringing her along on the market excursion. Sugar Free! This was a hint!!! (see what I mean???)

They are excellent and you can't tell they are made with no sugar. I bought myself a small box of dark chocolate with mango puree. Also yummy! But how did I miss that espresso truffle???

There is a very impressive meat counter. I wanted to get a picture of the wonderful selection of sausages, but there was a crowd in front of that area of the case.

The steaks were a thing of beauty! We had to try two small filets.

A lovely selection of cheeses. When we talked to the young man in charge of the cheese counter, we found that he lives only a few miles from us near Newburg! I forgot to ask if they sell from their home.

My favorite part is the bakery.

Even if I don't buy, I love to look!

They are mixing up dough and making these treats right there on the spot so you know they are fresh.

There are several lunch stands, a section of Amish-built furniture, handcrafts and seasonal decorations.

Just as we were leaving we ran into Jill, my rughooking friend from Grant Street, her husband and son. Jill was the kind person who offered us Penny for adoption. That gives her a special place in my heart!
It was nice to get a chance to chat with her for a while.

We all had a great time at the market. I went home physically and emotionally exhausted! All I could manage in the evening was some knitting.

I've been working on a lace knit beret in a silk bamboo yarn that is sooo soft and nice. I can't show a picture because I got up this morning and ripped it all out and am going to start over adding more stitches after the ribbing. I want it to be a bit more pouffy.

The rughooking meeting of the Cumberland Valley hookers is coming up on Monday. I guess it's time to start another project.

The Scent of Apples

2011-10-25T18:08:00.000-04:00

Aren't these fall days lovely???

We took a ride down through Adams County, our local orchard country, to view the leaves and pick some apples. We don't actually go to the trees and pick. Hollabaugh's Orchard staff has already done that.

But every year they have huge bins of apples from which you can fill a pre-purchased bag as full as you wish with apples of many varieties. Of course by the time we get home we forget what their names are!

They have their fruit stand decorated with lovely mums in vibrant colors.

Gourds for sale in all shapes and sizes.

Indian corn in a rainbow of colors.

Pumpkins. Lots of pumpkins!

And best of all, inside is a nice selection of honey, herbs, and yummy baked goods. All kinds of gift items too.

Unfortunately, through the whole trip, Zip was having an allergy attack. He had been outdoors helping Brad work on his front porch remodeling all morning. We no sooner started down the highway to the fruit stand when he started coughing and sneezing. Our stay at the fruit stand was severely shortened. I took over the driving and got him in to Shippensburg by the fastest way possible. We made it to the walk-in clinic just before it closed. He is now using a once-a-day inhaler and hasn't had an attack since. He goes for some breathing tests next week.

Here are about half of the apples we brought home. We will be eating our apple-a-day for the next several weeks.

When we had the Animal Shelter benefit hook-in at Joan's a while back, one of the ladies brought the most delicious home made caramel popcorn. I asked her about the recipe and she replied that it was a oven baked recipe. I have been hungering for more of this delightful treat so I looked up recipes on the net and found many, all basically the same.

So how hard can it be to make oven baked caramel corn???
I made two batches of air popped corn and cooked up the caramel syrup. After pouring it over the popcorn, I decided it was way too much caramel for the amount of corn so I popped up another batch. Now all of this is supposed to go on a pan and in the oven and bake for about an hour. I now had such a huge batch that I didn't have a cookie tray big enough. I had to dig out a large disposable foil turkey roasting pan and it was filled to the brim.

My stove is an antique gas stove from the early 1940's. The oven temperature regulator no longer works. If I want low temps, I have to vent the oven door with a wooden spoon. Even with this venting system, it got too hot. Instead of my corn becoming caramelized, I had burnalized corn instead! But in the end, I discarded the burnalized stuff and the rest turned out delicious.

This bucket is about half of the huge batch.

Zip complained that it got stuck in his teeth. I did the good deed and gave Brad and Kami a big bag.

Last week I noticed that Penny seemed to have an ear mite problem. She and Isabel were due to go to the vet for vaccinations anyway, so we made the appointment.

They were such good girls! No complaining in the carrier on the car ride. No one seemed intimidated by the vet tech taking temperatures and weighing them. She even dug in their ears to get samples of the possible mite infestation without a complaint. They gave Isabel her injections first and left her down on the floor so she could go back in the carrier. Penny was taken to another room to have her ears cleaned and medicated.

Zip and I heard scratching in the cage and I thought, 'oh no! she's going to the litter box in the carrier!'
Zip went over and looked in and this is what he saw.

Isabel was not going to the bathroom. The towel had been folded neatly and was lying flat in the bottom of the carrier. She had torn it all apart, fluffed it up, and constructed a barrier so that no one could get in and find her for more vet torture. We both laughed and Zip folded the towel and laid it back in place. Minutes later, more scratching and scraping, and she had re-erected her barrier. Apparently her good humor and patience had reached it's limit!

This time we left it stand until Penny was ready to get back in and head home.
All done for another year, we hope!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!...

2011-10-21T07:02:00.001-04:00

Yes, Sharon of Moosecraft, you're the winner!!!

I'll be sending out your mat in the next day or two, the chicken dinner may have to wait. hehe!
Please send me your mailing address.

Since Sharon of 'I Forget What I Forgot' was the actual 100th follower, I will be sending her a handmade item also. Sharon, I know now is not a good time so I will get back to you later.

Thanks to all of you who participated in the give-away. And thank you to the new followers as well as the people who have been reading my ramblings since the beginning. I do appreciate all my Blogger friends!

Give-Away Time!

2011-10-17T12:32:00.000-04:00

Two months ago this blog reached the 100 Follower mark! So it's time we celebrate!

I just finished the star runner, so let the give-away begin!

Star Runner 9 x 21

First, I want to thank all the people who follow this blog. Some of you have been with me since the beginning and others have just joined, but whichever you are, I'm grateful for your support.

The guidelines are:

For this give-away you will need to be a Follower because that's what I am honoring this time. So before I hear cries of 'No Fair!', there will be at least one give-away in the near future when I reach my Anniversary or The 200 Hundreth Post and that will be open to everyone. So if you would rather not to be a Follower, I appreciate your reading the blog and there are still chances coming up.

Simply leave a Comment on this post. Or email me at patandzip@hotmail.com if Blogger's comments aren't working properly.

When Comment Moderation begins after three days, the contest will be closed. I will announce the winner early on Friday morning.

That's it! Good luck!

Battle for the Box

2011-10-14T19:25:00.000-04:00

This week I worked on and finished a uniform for Brad and Kami. The bolt of wool fabric comes from Woolrich in a nice handy box that is great for keeping the fabric from getting messy during storage.

But the minute I open the box and start unrolling fabric to cut, I have COMPANY!

Hey, Mom! I love this box!!!

Wool is nice to snuggle in.

I can hide under the flap.

And act a little silly!

Oh no! I think I see trouble coming!!!

She is not welcome here!

HA!!! Look who's in the box now!

She's a feisty little thing! Look at those angry eyes!

Best to casually back off.

The box is MINE! (it takes a while to settle down, my tail is still whippy!)

I'll take a victory nap to calm my nerves.

And through it all, Isabel crouches on the back of a chair and watches with great interest.

Life settles quietly back to normal.

Rugs and Another Finish

2011-10-12T13:28:00.002-04:00

NOTE:
I just changed my comments to a pop-up box instead of 'imbedded' to see if it helps for those who were unable to leave one. Thank you, Lauren for the info!
I want to get this problem under control before the give-away!!!
So please email me if this still doesn't work. patandzip@hotmail.com or wengerweaver@ gmail.com
Thanks!

On Monday I took the scenic drive down through Adams County to Biglerville to the Blue and Gray hook-in. The weather was delightful, the trees are just starting to show their wonderful colors, and there was the fragrance of ripe apples in the air at the orchards.

We had a small group, everyone must have been out enjoying the weather.

Our featured hooker for the month was Becky M. She is an expert at choosing colors and textures for the primitive look. Her rugs look like antiques from the start.

Aren't they great???

Here is another one that impressed me. I'm not sure now who was working on this. Aren't the colors lovely.

Hard at work on a big one.

I'm almost finished with my little star runner. All done but the whipping for which I need to dig out some navy blue yarn.

I finally finished the sweater that I started in January. The knitting part has been done for months, I was dragging my feet on the blocking. I decided instead of soaking, spinning dry and pinning it out on a board, I would press it with the steam iron. It's not a perfect job, but it will have to do.

I don't know why.... well I DO know why I bought such a boring color. I thought it would be practical and go with anything. Now I'm contemplating whether or not it will fit in my big dyepot. Maybe I'll wear it in it's present state for a while before I take drastic action!

I need a new project.

A Finish and a Start

2011-10-02T08:29:00.003-04:00

Last Sunday I attended the annual hook-in at Joan's in support of her local Adams County Animal shelter. The pictures of the rugs have already been posted twice on Joann's Snippets and Scraps of My Mind and Kathy's Rugs of Mine...in Time, so I won't post them again.

I just wanted to mention that I love going to this hook-in! The setting is so lovely. Joan lives along this beautiful little trout stream near the South Mountain and it is one of the most relaxing places a person could be. This is the driveway going in. It was a cloudy day to begin with, but it cleared in late afternoon.

Joan made us a scrumptious lunch (with donations from a few other people). I wish I had gotten a picture of the buffet. There was a lot of hooking, talking and eating. Hookers seem to excel at all three!

Jill found a day-old kitten abandoned by it's mother in her barn and brought the tiny one along so she could feed it regularly. I have never seen a kitten so small. I don't know if the little guy has survived the week or not.

There were games and prizes, a raffle, secret auction, and show and tell with two special guests who are working on a secret project that will soon be unveiled in Rughooking Magazine. So keep an eye out for some amazing hooking of...hint! It starts with an A and involves fur, feathers and scales.

I had a wonderful day! Boy, was I exhausted when I got home!!!

In addition to the monetary donations, and proceeds from the raffle and auction,
Look! we Filled the Truck!!!

It has been rainy and dreary here for days (weeks???). Where was this water when we needed it so badly for our garden earlier this summer?

Zip and I have had a lot of 'indoor time' to work on our favorite hobbies.
As many of you know, Zip is a flyfisherman. He Goes most evenings of the week when the weather is good. Right now he's trying to get in as much fishing as possible before the weather turns cold.

He ties his own flies. He has help. Just can't do it on his own!

Notice the little white paw on the flytying tool. Also check the difference in Zip's hair in the two pictures. Is he becoming frazzled??? Ha-ha!

With all the tempting feathers, fur, and threads, who could resist! Penny is resting while Isabel takes over the harassment.

Check out the crossed tails! Is that like a kitty high five? Kinda a 'look what we did to Daddy now!!!' kind of thing?

And now! Ta-daaaaah!!!
The sweater is finished! I am so happy with this pattern from Deb Gemmel at Cabin Fever.
It is knit from the top down, all in one piece, with no seaming at all. When you are done knitting, you're done! It is done with A-line shaping for larger women and it fits beautifully.

I had trouble finding buttons. Our Joann store has such a tiny selection and when I did find anything I thought would work, there was only one or two cards left. And darn, I needed more!

So after reading about other knitters who had purchased really pretty handmade buttons on Etsy, I decided to make some from polymer clay. Working with Fimo and Sculpey is not my favorite thing to do but I bought the clay and went home with three different colors to mix and create the perfect button (ha!)

This easy little project took HOURS! I tried using all sorts of things to get texture on the darn things. I even tried stamping them with a piece of burlap. Finally I used the blade of my serrated tomato knife to make a woven look. Then the baking had to be done twice because I thought they were still too pliable after the first round. And still not the right color!!! Yikes. So back to Joann's for some acrylic paint and sealer. Finally a finished product that is acceptable.

Here they are! Half a day's work and two trips to Joann's worth of buttons!

Now you may ask (as I did) will they hold up in the wash??? They did! And the dryer too!

I needed a project to take along to Joan's last weekend so when I got up I quickly drew up this little mat to take along. As soon as it's finished there will be a give-away for my long overdue celebration for 100 Followers. More about that in a future post.

Have a good week, everyone.
Happy Hooking!

Hooking with the Blue and Gray

2011-09-22T08:43:00.000-04:00

Nothing exciting has happened here for quite a while. It rains, we sit at home! Thus there isn't much to post about.

On Monday the sun was shining and it was a glorious day for a road trip down through the Adams county orchards to Biglerville where the Blue and Gray Rug Hookers meet. When I first walked in there didn't seem to be much of a crowd, but by lunch time the room had filled up.

Of course we had 'show and tell'! This beauty was hooked by Marian who as you can see is an expert hooker.

Here is a closeup of some of the center portion.

She just creates one masterpiece after another. This is what she's working on now.

Doris is another of our expert hookers. Usually she works in the very fine wool strips, but her primitive lion is done in 8 and 8.5 with some smaller cuts used for detain in the face. Isn't he a joy!?

Here is Marian M. with her fall rug featuring pumpkins, leaves and a cute squirrel.

I think Brenda hooked this cute little guy. If I'm wrong about whose rug this is, I'm sorry!

Here is Joan, hiding under her new wig! Her rug is a large abstract that is actually a hugely enlarged FINGER PRINT! It really makes a fun rug.

Violet is working on this lovely old-fashioned pictorial.

I especially liked the effect of the tiny little flowers.

Violet also brings some of her luscious hand dyed wools for us to enjoy (and purchase) each month. It's very hard not to leave without at least one special piece!

There were so many rugs that I did not get to photograph, all of them unique and interesting. I just couldn't resist this primitive kitty!

Our featured Hooker of the Month was Naomi. This dear lady has been hooking since before I was born and so you know how long that's been!!! Most of her rugs, and there have been MANY, have gone to family members and friends. Here is just a small sampling of all her work.

Thank you, Naomi, for sharing your wonderful rugs with us!

At the moment I'm rugless. On Sunday Joan is hosting her annual 'Fill the Truck' hooking event in support of her local animal shelter. Hopefully we'll get a great group of hookers and lots of donations for the critters. And I need to get a rug drawn off so I have something to work on. Though I guess in a pinch, I could just sit and talk!!! Haha!

I have not been totally idle. I have tried making the mango mousse cake with some success. This is not the pretty version, only trying to get the flavors right at this attempt.

Here's what I did. I used a regular yellow cake mix and added a can of coconut milk instead of the water, plus an extra half cup of sugar, mixed it up and baked as directed on the box. The cake came out moist and with a slightly denser crumb that normal. I did not want a crumbly cake and the coconut milk did the trick and did not add too much coconut flavor.

For the mousse, I used a bag of frozen mango, thawed and pureed in the blender. I whipped up a pack of Dream Whip topping, but a small container of Cool Whip or about 2 cups of real whipped cream would work as well. I used 2 packs of plain gelatin in a small saucepan with about 3/4 cups water. Let it soften for about 5 minutes and then heat and stir till it all dissolves. Let cool and then pour into the mango puree. Fold in the whipped cream. Let cool in fridge till starting to jell before putting between cake layers.

I used a 9 by 13 pan for the cake.

NEXT TIME will be the prettier version, I hope.

I think I'll use a springform pan and if there's excess cake batter, make cupcakes.

I'd like to cut the cake into three layers.

I may also try a different cake. Maybe a chiffon. Several recipes I read used pound cake.

The mousse was a little more jellified that I hoped. Next time I'll try one envelope of gelatin.

And to make the lovely topping that I didn't bother with this time, I'll hold out about 3/4 cup of the mango puree with the gelatin in it and spread it on top of the cake.

All in all it was a successful first effort. The flavor was good, just not as pretty as I would like.

My sweater is finished!

No, Kathy, I didn't put a label on it! LOL! Or buttons yet. Haven't gotten out to get any. And there are a few ends that need woven in, but the knitting is done....I think.

I'm still debating taking out the sleeves and making them not-so-snug. When I started on the sleeves they were wider and I took them out and made them fit tighter. Now I think I may want the wider sleeves after all. The joy of knitting is that it can be ripped out and redone without any ill effects to the finished project.

I posted this picture on Ravelry and someone commented that I have no head! I was so excited to have finished that I had to try it on right away and take a picture so I didn't take time to put my wig on. In fact I had just gotten up in the morning and done the binding off. So....major bedhead!

The beauty of this pattern from Cabin Fever is that it was knit from the top down and there were no seams to finish, NO sewing together!

I love this pattern and want to make another one.

Did you make it all the way to the end of this looooong post???

Maybe I should just post more often and keep them shorter.

It's Nice to be Kneaded

2011-09-09T12:17:00.002-04:00

We had one wonderful week of delightful weather and then the rains came.
Anyone who lives on the east coast knows how bad it was. I hope most of you have made it through without too much damage and inconvenience.

We are lucky to live in an area where flooding seldom occurs. We did have a nice trout stream (Zip wishes!!!) running through our front yard.

With the cooler weather, the cats have been VERY active. The earlier hot weather had them laying low under the fans. Now they are in high gear, running wild through the house and jumping on the furniture. Though once in a while they do take time for some "Mommy Moments'.

Penny loves to knead on my arms while I'm sitting at the computer. But an arm covered by clothing will NOT DO! She will knead on my hand if it the only part uncovered. Those little feet can do some pressing! I've been left with bruises several times.

Look at those lovely copper eyes. Perfect for a girl named Penny

Hiding in the trash can after we put in a clean bag. Those eyes are looking a bit wild and excited.

Isabel had loved Deiter from the moment she came to live with us.
He wasn't sure he wanted to be friends with a pesky little female, but finally he had surrendered to her charms. She is charming, isn't she?

They like to lay in the sewing table and keep me company while I work.

In the evening there is the excitement of watching for moths on the window screen. Reggie and Isabel are having a little stand-off to see who gets control of the window sill.

There are times when living with cats boggles my sanity.

I used to have a little sage green wallet. It was small and thin and didn't hold much because it didn't need to.This was back in the days when the only cards I had to carry were my driver's license and social security number. Way before credit cards, bonus cards and three forms of picture ID were necessary. I hadn't seen this wallet in probably thirty years and had no idea what had become of it. If asked, I probably would have said that I threw it out long ago.

This was laying in the middle of the living room floor yesterday morning when I came downstairs!

Where they found it, I have no idea!!! They can't open dresser drawers. They hadn't been to the attic. I can not imagine where they were digging around! It just blows my mind!

And more crazy-making, only not so mysterious. Our faucets on the bathroom sink recently went bad beyond repair so last weekend we decided to go to Lowe's and check out the options. We came home with a nice attractive brass set. While Zip was taking off the old faucets, I kept hearing grumbling about how darn heavy the old sink (an antique) was. So I finally asked if he would rather get a new pedestal sink and install it along with the new fixtures. Another trip to Lowe's.

We got home and unpacked our purchases. Zip sat the basin on the treadmill until he was ready to install it. Guess what! It fits!!!

Doesn't it look great???

The strip of wood along the back is to hold it tightly in place so when the 20-lb. monster jumps up he will not cause it to wobble. It's also fastened to the wall with a sturdy bracket. We keep a stool beside the sink to discourage him from jumping directly on the edge of the sink. We will be painting the strip to match the wainscoting.

We also installed a Biffy Bidet on the toilet. I've been wanting some kind of bidet device for years and have finally found this fairly inexpensive one.

And yes, after a week of using it, I love my Biffy!

In my spare time, I've been working on the sweater. I'm below the underarm on the body and I have one sleeve finished. It's kind of fun to work from the top down so it can be tried on for length as I go along.

No rug hooking right now, but am going to start on a project for a friend which I can't show yet and I want to do something for fall.

I'm getting tired of typing! I think it's time for a break.
Have a good weekend everyone!

Salad Days

2011-08-28T09:41:00.000-04:00

Even though the tail end of the hurricane is still circling over south central Pa, we have only mild rain and moderate thrashing of the trees.

The weather for the past two weeks has been heavenly! Daytime temps have been in the low 80's with lovely cool nights that make sleeping a pleasure. The curse has been lifted and we are getting some much-needed rains. The garden, what's left of it, is recovering from the drought of the last month and a half. We've been getting enough fresh veggies to make some tasty salads.

This is the way summer is supposed to be! It makes getting up and viewing the sunrise a joyous occasion.

The only unhappy note is that my dear friend, Willa, is moving back to Missouri. She and Chuck have been planning this for about a year, and now the time has arrived all too soon. On Thursday evening, her last night here, we went out to eat together at Biscotti in Shippensburg. I will eventually be updating my restaurant review page with the pictures, but for now I just have to show you the dessert.

This is their mango mousse cake. In my sixty-plus years I have tasted many cakes. Some good and some left a lot to be desired. May I say that I have found the PERFECT cake? Oh my goodness, is this cake DELICIOUS!!! The mango flavor is sublime! I checked for recipes on Google and found several. I can't wait to try reproducing this wonderful treat. It was the perfect ending for the farewell dinner.

My legs have recovered but the trips to the hospital for wraps continue twice a week. These doctor visits are seriously cutting into my free time. On Tuesday I will be measured for the compression stockings that I will be wearing from then on. Then back to the fun stuff like day trips to interesting places instead of sitting in a waiting room for 45 minutes.

But I have not been idle. While sitting around with my feet propped up (NOT!!!) I started a knitting project. This is a knit-along group that is beginning on Ravelry on Sept. 10 with Julie from Knitting at Large. Last weekend I found myself without a current project. The yarn began talking to me to get my needles and start playing with this sweater.

It's a Cabin Fever pattern by Deb Gimmell and is knit from the top down. There is no seaming necessary to finish the sweater, which means the pieces don't have to be BLOCKED before it can be put together. Sounds ideal for me because I HATE blocking!

I've been knitting like a madwoman! The obsession is to get an area done so I can see how the next part works. Will it fit??? I just couldn't wait to get to the underarm part to very carefully try it on. I am using an acrylic yarn in a worsted weight that is knitting up into a very sturdy fabric. I'm thinking of making it into a jacket by adding a matching plaid wool lining.

This is the progress so far. I started on one of the sleeves to check how the decreases would work.

I love the pattern of the collar and the front bands.

Since I haven't quite decided how the lining idea is going to work, I haven't put in any button holes. I think the buttons will be sewn on the outside on top of large snaps for closing on the inside.

Isabell has been a close companion. She loves when I knit. Do you think she has a rather devious look??? She's waiting her chance to run off with the yarn ball.

Hope all of you have survived the hurricane with a minimum of stress and damage.
Until next time, happy hooking, or whatever creative endeavors you enjoying.

They Gave me the Boot

2011-08-11T20:51:00.003-04:00

First, an update on Zip.
He got the report from his 24-hour heart monitor and it was fine. His heart is only skipping a beat occasionally. He's quit smoking and has cut way back on the caffeine. I just wish more restaurants offered decaf iced tea! The doc says he is good to do whatever he feels he can handle. Mostly playing the guitar and fishing!

This past month has been soooo hot. Ever since I was pregnant with Brad I have had problems with fluid retention and varicose veins in my legs. It's worse in the summer heat and because of it I wear generic low cost support hose. This year has been particularly bad because the heat has made me so sluggish and unwilling to do anything that amounts to the tiniest bit of exercise. Through that high 90's stuff I sat in the house in front of the fans trying just to breathe. Also my legs were so swollen that I could only get my most stretched out support hose on, which totally defeated the purpose.

My legs have paid the price. They became so infused with fluid I began getting blisters. When the blisters began to seep, I was freaking out over the chance of infection. Sooooo....I bit the bullet and went to the doctor, knowing that I would not like what I would be told. He made an appointment for me to go the wound clinic in Chambersburg right away. Yikes!!!

The looked at my legs and were very positive about the outcome. They have the cure! But first....they had to SCRAPE the affected area. With a SCALPEL! Discomfort is a gross understatement. Excruciating is more like it! But then a soothing gel was applied and several layers of nice tight leg wraps that felt wonderful. This treatment is called the unnaboot (pronounced uni-boot).

I go twice a week for a rewrap.
The swelling is way down and the seepage has stopped. I think I'm on the way to recovery. They told me I can go about all my normal activities, but must take time out periodically to put my feet up and sleep with my legs elevated. I actually feel so much better that I've been using the treadmill and spending extra time walking around in the grocery story. At least I may end up with two thinner body parts! Ha-ha!!!

As part of my recovery, Willa, Diane and I went out to eat last evening.
Our pick for this month was the Cafe d'Italia on the square in Chambersburg.

We've eaten here before and enjoyed it.
Our appetizer was baked brie on fingers of Italian bread with a topping of fruit chutney.

Diane chose the special of the day, chicken and spinach ravioli topped with cream sauce and more spinach and chicken breast.

Eggplant parm is Willa's favorite.

For me, chicken salcicci with chicken breast, spicy sausage, spinach and onion in an oil and white wine sauce with lots of garlic. Yum!!!

It was a huge portion so half of mine went home for Zip and I to share for lunch.

The desserts: a frozen pistachio pudding with swirls of chocolate and nuts on top and in the back is limoncello.

They have an open kitchen so that you can see the food being prepared.
It's one of Chambersburg's nicer places to enjoy a meal.

Several weeks ago Lauren from Rugs and Pugs visited our town. She showed a picture on her blog of our lovely fountain in the center of town. You can see the fountain from the outdoor dining area of the Cafe d'Italia.

There are two other fountains in town which most people don't know about unless you have grown up here. One is at the Chambersburg power and light plant near the firehouse on south Second Street.

But my favorite is the fountain at the intersection of King Street and Glenn Street in the lovely early 1900's residential area in the west end of town. It's a little treasure!

I want to thank Sharon from Moosecraft for the wonderful book I won in her give-away. It's the Rughooker's Bible written by Gene Shephard. I don't know why I haven't already purchased this book because it's so full of useful information. Even though I try to be a primitive hooker, I'm still interested in being able to do shading. This book has so many wonderful pictures and instructions
for things I've been wanting to learn that I've decided my next project will have to be designed around some of these techniques.

Thank you, thank you, Sharon! I love it!!!

The weather has been a bit cooler the past few days. The sky is clear and blue and the breezes are mild. Perfect weather!
I hope it's as pleasant where you are.

When it's Done...It's Over

2011-07-31T16:16:00.003-04:00

My toy sheep rug is finished.

I always start out thinking primitive, and somehow as things evolve, they end up, well....COLORFUL.

The whipping took longer than expected because I changed my mind again. I had planned to do it in navy like the border, but after pondering, I decided I wanted the small outside edge to look like the background. I went to several yarn shops trying to find yarn with the right combination of dark green, olive and brown with little tweedy flecks of tan. I guess you figured it out before me, that particular yarn is impossible to find. I didn't think trying to spot dye to match would be successful.

My next best choice was to do the whipping with wool strips, but I only had a little piece, approx. 6 x 8, of the background fabric left. I had purchased this piece of plaid wool several years ago in East Berlin at Woolgatherings.

Off Zip and I went on a field trip. Hopefully not a futile one! Thank goodness Carol had two pieces left. The day was saved! To celebrate Zip and I went to eat, of course.

This is Hog Wild on the main street in East Berlin.

They have THE BEST smoked pulled pork sandwiches! Other specialties are smoked sliced pork, pit beef, barbequed ribs and chicken. We have been buying sandwiches from Rick and Tina for years and they just keep getting better. If you are in the area, stop in and try these delicious sandwiches filled with meat smoked right there in their back yard. It's worth going out of your way to try this place.

I love this planter they have out front with the water running out of the pump.

Now for the reason for the post title.

Quite a few people ask me what I do with my rugs when they're finished. Do they get put on the floor? No, they'd be a mess with cat claws and hair sticking all over them. Do they get hung on the wall? No, I don't have that much free wall space. Do I give them away? Not usually. Most of my friends are also rughookers. Giving a rug to a rughooker seems kind of...redundant.

What I do is photograph them and then roll them up and into the top of the closet they go. When I tell people, I see shock on their faces.

Why would I do that??? Because for me all the fun, the ROMANCE, is in the designing, color planning and hooking. I love the designing part, the drawing and tweaking, copying and enlarging. Then there's the excitement and angst of color planning, looking for just the right piece of wool to make it look the way I hoped. I love the sitting and hooking while listening to a book on CD, it's hypnotic and relaxing. Then there's the little snags along the way when a planned color doesn't quite work out and the hunt for another better wool keeps it interesting. Then when all the colors come together it's smooth sailing, with just the joy of mindless hooking. I even like whipping the edge.

For me all the fun is in the creating and doing.

When it's finished, the love affair is OVER! And I want to be on to the next challenge without a backward glance.

No sense getting attached.

I guess I'm a HOOKER.

Trying to Beat the Heat

2011-07-22T19:25:00.001-04:00

As everyone who lives in the northeast and lots of other places across the country, we are in the grip of a major heat wave. The temperatures here for the last few days have been hovering around the triple digits. We don't usually need air conditioning because our house is surrounded by large shady trees. Yesterday and today A/C was a necessity if we wanted to be able to catch a breath. Our air conditioner is a small one and only is effective in two rooms. Right now those rooms are the kitchen and Zip's flytying and guitar playing area.

I moved one of my sewing machines to the kitchen table so I could at least do some work. I haven't been very productive because even with the A/C it's not exactly COOL! Just barely bearable!

I do not like the having to close all the windows and doors. It makes me feel closed in. In summer I LIKE all the windows open with the breeze blowing. I remember as a child, Mom and Dad did the 'closing of the house' thing with all the windows closed at a certain early time in the morning to conserve the little bit of coolness from the night. All the curtains and window blinds were pulled shut to keep out the sun. We sat around in stifling darkness every summer afternoon. Then late in the evening, the house could be opened up again. It used to drive me bonkers!

I was so thankful this afternoon when a small front of cooler air went through and we could turn off the A/C and open up the house. The kitties loved it too. One of their favorite places is on the windowsills.

They did attempt to find their own cooler spots during the hottest part of the day.

Some cornhusks right out of the fridge are a cooling treat for Deiter and Izzy.

Reggie likes to lay on the cool metal of the woodstove.

Mom and Tippy have the fan and a book on CD to enjoy while hooking. In fact, hooking is all I've wanted to do while sitting and sweating. My sheep is now done except for finishing the edge. Picture next time.

Deiter finds the porcelain bathroom basin to be a nice cool bed.

I never thought I would hear this from Zip who HATES the cold. But today he said at least with cold you can put on a sweatshirt, wrap up in a blanket or throw another log on the fire. With the heat, you just can't get away from it.

I want to show you a picture of one of my young willow trees. Two years ago this tree was a little stick in a bucket of dirt, given to my by my friend Dottie. In just two years it's taller than Zip.They are so beautiful! And grow so fast. A all it takes to start one is a small branch from another willow tree.

Hope you are keeping cool!

Thank You, Blogger Friends!!!

2011-07-17T06:50:00.000-04:00

Zip and I would like to express our heart-felt thanks to all of you for your concern over his recent health problems. He's doing MUCH better!

Zip read every one of your kind comments. He sincerely thanks all of you.
He also would like to thank you for the excellent suggestions and encouragement for quitting smoking.

He has cut way back on the caffeine by mixing regular coffee with two thirds decaf and hasn't had any negative side effects. He's not smoking, at least not that I have SEEN. I have to TRUST that he will do what is best for his health and not be a NAG! His family doctor seems to think he has the motivation to quit without medication.

With just a few days of changes, his pulse is already skipping fewer beats. The doctor has asked that he wear a 24-hour heart monitor tomorrow to rule out any other problems.

My stress relief during all of this has been working on my rug. (NOT eating!!!)
The blue really shows up bright in the picture! I may have to tone it down a bit.

I usually work inside at the kitchen table where I THINK the light is good. But does it ever make a difference when I take the piece outside and see it in natural light! I know my eyesight isn't the greatest any more, but I can't believe it makes that much difference in the way I see the color.

I've fallen behind in leaving comments this week. I am sorry!!!
I have been READING your blogs and hope to spend some time going back and commenting later today.

Thanks for stopping by!
I sincerely appreciate all of my Blogger Friends!!!

The Big Scare

2011-07-12T19:04:00.002-04:00

On Sunday evening Zip went fishing. Because he usually fishes till dark, he came home about 10 p.m.
We were sitting around talking and I noticed him looking at the inside of his elbow. I asked what he was doing and he said 'I never saw it do this before'. He has thin arms with very big veins and you can see his pulse in one of the vessels. The pulse was beating
*** *** ** *** ******** *** ***!
Lots of skipped heartbeats. I checked his pulse and it was the same thing. I mentally go into panic mode but try not to show it.

I check the internet and don't like what I see. Too much caffeine or nicotine (guilty as sin!), heart disease, congestive heart failure, heart attack. NOT GOOD!

So I ask if he wants to go to the ER and he says let's wait till morning and call the doctor's office. We go to bed and I cannot sleep. I keep checking to see of he's OK.

In the morning he is still sleeping and I call the doc. The nurse consults and comes back with 'the doctor says go to the ER'. I call Brad and Kami and they are spazzed too.

Zip gets up, pulse is the same, and showers, shaves and gets dressed. He says that he isn't in any kind of distress, no weakness, dizziness, or chest pain. I am WORRIED SICK!

After having done an EKG, bloodwork including cardiac enzymes and electrolytes, and a chest xray, the doctor says he's OK to go but mentions that he should switch to decaf coffee and try to quit smoking.
We stopped on the way home and got a big can of decaf. The quitting smoking is going to be the rough one.

Brad and Kami now are on a campaign to keep us on the straight and narrow healthwise. They also decided to come down once a week and do some of the chores around the house so us old folks don't get so stressed and tired.
They bought us a cell phone. I've been thinking that it would be a good idea, but hadn't wanted to make that technological next step. I'm glad they did it!
They win the award for being The Most Caring Kids of the Year! Thank you guys!!! We love you!!!

Brad and Kami - Christmas two years ago
Today Zip seems fine. He's drinking the decaf and I don't think he's had a smoke. This evening his pulse is steadier.

Tomorrow we both have doctor's appointments. His is a follow up from the ER visit. I have some questions for sure, like how can such an irregular heartbeat be 'OK' and healthy? But what do I know???
I'm having a sebaceous cyst removed from my scalp. Good grief! I have fatty things growing on my scalp. I just can't seem to escape the fat!

We are just very thankful that the Old Guy is going to be OK! We want our dear husband and dad to be around for many more years.

We love you!!!

Old Dog...No New Tricks!

2011-07-10T09:03:00.001-04:00

The rug is progressing nicely when all of a sudden I run out of navy wool. I start digging through the stash.
My wool stash is now a large plastic storage bin with a messy wad of small pieces.

Isn't that PATHETIC for a rughooker???
I do, every once in a while, take it all out and make an attempt at organizing by color, but within a few weeks, it's back to chaos.

After digging through the whole conglomeration of pieces, there is not one scrap of navy! I will also add that there are less than half a dozen nice intact quarters in the whole mess. I keep trying to get it whittled down to where I can feel not-so-guilty about buying some new wools, but no matter how much I take out and use, the bin always seems to be full. It's some kind of wicked magic!

I picked out handfulls of little narrow junky pieces and proceeded to the dyepot.
This is the kind of stuff I try to use up when dying any DARK backgrounds, borders and other large areas.

All dyed, dried and ready to hook. The navy really is darker than it looks in the picture.

As I'm pulling my first loops in the border, I think OH NO!!! I could have dyed my yarn for the whipping!!! Where is my brain???
I do this EVERY TIME!!! The Old Dog just cannot learn even one new trick.

Do you think this will help???

Tipper just sits quietly and looks at me as if to say, 'the Old Woman is just plain crazy'!

While I am dealing with my rughooking, Zip has been at a harvesting demonstration being done by Amish farmers at our local Rural Life Festival. They were cutting grain, thrashing, and digging potatoes with horse drawn machinery. When he got home, his allergies were going strong. Runny nose, couldn't stop coughing, his face beet red, he was in misery.

We had plans to go out for dinner with Willa and Chuck, but Zip took some medication and decided to go to bed. Chuck was golfing with friends and we were to meet him at the restaurant, so Willa and I drove to Mechanicsburg to the Bombay Junction.

I'm so glad we went!
Of course we wanted to try everything on the menu!

These are the appetizers. The long tube is a dosa. It is a crispy crepe that comes with several side items of lentils and vegetables, spicy ginger mustard, extra spicy cooked potatoes and onions and a coconut sauce. Totally funky!
The little fried things are vegetable fritters called pakara. The small dish cntains a cilantro dipping sauce.

My entree was lamb in a mild mango curry sauce. It was delicious. I didn't take a picture because by that time we were so involved in talking and eating that the camera was forgotten. The rice pudding for dessert had to come home with me.

This is a delightful restaurant located on the Carlisle Pike in Mechanicsburg near the junction of route 114. They have a buffet lunch Tuesday through Sunday (closed Monday). The buffet is a great way to sample a variety of interesting dishes.

I can't wait to go back!

Hope all of you are having a great weekend!

Heat Wave!

2011-07-07T20:57:00.001-04:00

It's been hotter than blazes this week. And there has been no significant rain in about a month. The grass is dried up, the yard is brown. We get our water from a well so there is no garden watering. That means our garden is a loss this year. We have Swiss chard that usually grows about 12 - 18 inches tall that's only about four inches high and it's been the same for weeks.

I check Weather Bug's doppler page several times a day, watching storms going all around our area, but not on Newburg. It's like the desert here. But the thing I will NEVER understand is how the ground can be dry as a bone and the humidity in the air is so high. It's like a sauna! Does that make sense???

I'm trying not to think about the garden situation. My time is being spent inside with the fans on and rughooking and listening to books on CD.

Last week before going to Grant Street I decided to do this small easy pattern that I happened to have made up long ago and never started.

I didn't want a stark white sheep so I cut some textured grays to take with me.

I started pulling loops at Grant Street and right away did not like these three fabrics together.
I bought some tans. Lucky I was in a wool shop, huh???

The tan sheep was OK.

Until I hooked in a yellow base with red wheels. The tan and yellow did not work at all well together. I liked the base and wheels a lot, so the tan sheep had to go.

Yeesh! Now what? I dug through a bag of wool that Doris had given me about a year ago. In it was a piece of very textured tan and gray with nubs of natural. I was skeptical of using this fabric because of the nubby stuff, but decided in desperation to give it a try.

Whoo-hoo, it worked to perfection!

Next I had to choose a background. I thought of blue but didn't have anything that seemed right except navy. Not very exciting.

These dark olives seemed like a possibility.

They didn't really look that great right next to the sheep so I outlined in the navy.

I don't know why something that was supposed to be small and easy always seems to turn out to have so much trial and error. Even after 20 years of rugs, I'm still doing major reverse hooking.

Now I have to decide how to do the small squares in the border, or even IF I want to use that border. I was also thinking of stars...

Thanks for stopping by.
Hope you are having a good summer.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T07:16:00.001-04:00

This lovely patriotic display was in Linda's shop, Grant Street Woolworks, on Thursday when we arrived for the hook-in.

What a day we had!
I'm sure you've read Kathy's, Joanne's and Doris's blogs and already have heard the news that we had visitors from afar. Lauren who writes the Rugs and Pugs blog and her friend Mary came from northern Ohio on an antiquing trip and stopped at the wool shop.

I'm just going to add a few more pictures.
Not much hooking was being done, but plenty of talking. Meeting blogging buddies is like a reunion with old friends, we seem to know each other right away.

Joanne and Lauren sharing a laugh.

Mary is a coverlet collector. She's contemplating Linda's collection.

There was a lot of shopping going on. Everyone was stocking up on much-needed supplies. I think there are going to be some new rugs in the near future.

Lauren kindly brought us gifts, which included treats for the dogs and kitties she sees on our blogs.
My guys were digging in the bag the minute I put in on the kitchen table.

I am so impressed with the 'rug hooker' spoon pendant that Lauren made herself. Isn't it beautiful. The hammered silver almost has a mother-of-pearl look. Thank you so much, Lauren!

Speaking of kitties, this little guy is one of the wild outside babies. We call him/her the 'baby bat', because he's the runt of the litter and has these big ears and such a tiny face with beady little dark eyes.

The tiny one is not afraid of heights!!!
No, he did not jump off the roof, he's just looking from the high vantage point. He comes back across the roof and jumps onto the front porch. The outdoor cats also climb two stories up in our huge maple trees. So far the fire company hasn't had to come to get anyone down.

Whenever I pay bills and have my papers strewn all over the table, I always have help from the big guy.
He seems to think it is his special obligation to help Mom keep her papers from blowing away in a stray breeze.

Doesn't he make a great paperweight???

Cats can do so much more than just keep mice out of the house. They can be useful to Mom in so many ways. Don't forget to mail these envelopes, Mom!

And when I've been working long enough, there's the gentle paw to remind me that I should stop, take a sip of coffee, and pet the cat. Deiter, you're my Hero!!!

Hope all of you have a wonderful July 4th!
Ours is going to be corn on the cob and steaks on the grill for two.
Quiet, relaxing, just the way we like it.

Vegetating

2011-06-22T18:31:00.001-04:00

I must quit vegetating!

Over a week ago a friend emailed me and made a statement about life after the kids are gone and retirement that really slapped me on the side of the head. I realized that I am really wasting what I have left of my life. Sitting around with no motivation and no energy is not the way I want to spend the next twenty years.

I have been so sedentary over the winter and now it is continuing into the summer. And when I'm depressed and sitting around doing nothing, well....I'm doing SOMETHING and it's usually eating. And the pounds have a sneaky way of adding up and on. Shortness of breath and more lethargy are the result. Vicious Cycle!

The decision to try Weight Watchers *AGAIN* has been forced upon me if I want to have any life at all. But does it ever take time! And planning. And I become obsessive. All my creative energy will now be channeled into planning meals, trying to make them healthy, and attractive enough to keep me from straying off into the lazy world of prepackaged food. Eating non-healthy is so EASY!

So which of my other creative outlets can I sacrafice? Rug hooking? No. Knitting? Probably. Staring out the kitchen window? Yeah, that one I can do without. And less weight means more energy. Right?

So to celebrate the life-changing decision, Zip and I took a trip to the Kitchen Shoppe in Carlisle PA. The shop is housed in a lovely historic barn. Down the hill behind the barn is the famous LeTort trout stream.

About twenty years ago I used to work here as a sous chef. It was great fun and I got to meet quite a few rather popular cookbook authors. They have a delightful teaching kitchen where you can watch the meals being prepared and then get to sample them.

The shop is FILLED with every kind of cooking equipment imaginable.

The pots and pans.

Check out this huge selection of baking pans. On the other side of the shelf are all the cake and bundt and specialty baking pans.

These are just part of the 'gadget' walls.

Small kitchen appliances for every need.

The coffee and tea counter always has a few samples for tasting.

A peek in the door of the teaching kitchen. They were just finishing up a class so I didn't go inside. The large mirror over the counter makes it possible to watch the chef as food is being prepared.

You can hardly go there and not come home inspired. They also have table settings, fine china, linens, cookbooks and tempting things too numerous to list. If you love cooking and kitchen decorating, this is a great place to visit.

Afterward we drove down to the bridge and looked at the beautiful meadow with the stream flowing through. Such a beautiful and peaceful place!

So now my vegetating needs to take a different direction.

More greens have come into the house and been consumed in the last week than all of the last six months.
I am trying to keep it simple but interesting.

Here are some of the results. Yeah, I'm taking pictures.
Ham, eggs and asparagus for breakfast.

Tabbouleh for lunch. This is made with avacado, zucchini, cilantro and lime juice instead of the middle-eastern version with cucumber, mint and lemon.

Our local Weis market had a really good sale on seafood this week.
I sauteed mahi-mahi in fresh tomato and cilantro.

The leftovers made a great next-day lunch in a pita with avacado, greens, and some taco seasoning.

A summer feast! Lobster, corn and a fresh green salad.

Summer rolls stuffed with greens, zucchini strips and imitation crab, with an Oriental dipping sauce.

See what I mean about taking a lot of time? Planning and preparing creative meals is a full-time job.
I just hope I can stay interested for more than a week.

So there is no new rug being started. My sweater is still waiting to be blocked and sewn together and the socks are back in the knitting bag.

I have done some sewing. Brad and Kami are going to be at Old Bedford Village this weekend for a "wild west weekend". Brad needed a pair of late 19th century pants so that was my one productive effort of the past week.

The fabric is 100% wool so the leftovers can be used in a rug.

I will close with some cuteness.

We have a small group of stray/half feral cats in our neighborhood. We put out food, but only one or two are tame enough to touch. This is one of the wild babies from this spring. I know I have ENOUGH cats, but if I can ever catch this one, it will be an indoor kitty.

Thanks for stopping in!

The Great Activity Slump

2011-06-13T22:00:00.001-04:00

Life has been pretty boring around here for the past week. You'd think now that summer is here we would be doing interesting things. Not so!

Zip has been mowing grass and going fishing. I've been working on sewing orders and knitting these boring socks that I'm sick of already. And listening to books on CD. Lots of books on CD.

Even the cats are in a stupor from the heat.

Yesterday the weather was a bit cooler so we drove to Carlisle to check out the Aldi grocery store. These are kind of hit or miss discount stores. I had found some yummy ravioli with cheese and hot Italian sausage at the store in Chambersburg. We were hoping to get more of it in the Carlisle store. Big disappointment. But it got us out of the house and on the road for half a day. Zip stopped in Boiling Springs to get supplies at the flyfishing shop. I walked over to the lake to take a few pictures. I love this area!

Flower planters on the bridge at the end of the lake.

A duck peacefully swimming. There were more crowded around a family who were feeding them.

Some lovely old homes surround the edges of the lake.

There were other things I could have photographed as we went flying down the road, but by the time I am able to say, 'gee, that would have made a nice picture', we are half a mile past. Zip doesn't waste any time. I think he's afraid I might want to stop at a yard sale!

Today we spent the afternoon with Brad and Kami and grand-daughter Emily. We had lunch together in their screened patio which is decorated like a German beer garden.

A small part of Brad's stein collection.

He did the painting of the German sayings. Don't ask me to translate!

They have been working on their water garden. This year they added the waterfall part at the top left. All the components have been gotten at yard sales for less than $20. They plan to add more topsoil, stones, and plant hostas to make it look more natural. Last year some frogs came and took up residence. We're hoping they come back this year.

Another water garden features a Gem hand pump that they found at a flea market. More flowers will be planted around it. The vine in the background is a hops plant that covers the whole front of the patio area.

On the home front. I haven't started another rug yet. It's on my To-Do List!

Here are the socks I'm tired of working on. I wanted to work them both at the same time on two circular needles, but I kept getting confused as to which row I was on and when to make my increases. Plus taking the two strands of yarn from the same ball caused a lot of tangling and the need to untwist. So they are now being made one at a time.

The bummer is that on the first sock the heel turning went perfectly. When I began the heel on the second sock, things didn't go as well even though I was using the same instructions. What's with that??? I did the heel over three or four times before I got an acceptable heel. Yeesh!

I will close with one of my favorite pictures of Deiter.
He always makes me smile!

Hope you are having an enjoyable week!

Horay for Summer!

2011-06-01T20:40:00.001-04:00

Hot weather is usually more than I can handle, but you will not hear me complaining....yet!
It has been beautiful outside the past few days. And inside all the fans are whirring. I am happy!

From the garden we are getting fresh strawberries and tomatoes.
We just planted the six strawberry plants last year and we are getting a nice bowlful every two or three days.

In the past Zip and I have declined to purchase 'patio' tomatoesw because we have a large garden area and selecting compact growing plants has not been necessary. Last year we went to the local greenhouse to get our usual full sized tomatoes and were seduced into the patio brand by the lovely ripe tomatoes already on the sturdy little plants. They turned out to be nice medium sized tomatoes with great flavor. Good for sandwiches or salads. This year we bought two plants and already have had about eight yummy tomatoes.

Zip has planted sweet corn, green beans, beets and some herb plants so far.

I was looking out the kitchen window a few days ago and say this brown 'thing' in the grass beyond the garden. We are trying to keep an eye out for those pesky groundhogs. This did not move fast enough for one of those critters. I made another guess and Zip took the camera and went to check it out. I was right! A snapping turtle!

And she had dug a hole. I hope she laid some eggs in there!.

On Friday, Zip and I spent the whole day out cruising around to some favorite places.
We went to East Berlin to Woolgatherings. Carol is selling her knitting supplies at closeout prices. I bought a big bag of yarn and some needles.
I've been obsessing over sock knitting lately and wanted to get some yarn to make contrasting heels. The two variegated yarns came from Joann's and Hobby Lobby. We stopped at Mannings and got the solid color. It is much more lime green than shown in the picture.

Here is the sock so far. Now I have to decide which technique to use for the heel. The yarn has more purple than shows in the picture.

In our travels we stopped at Ashcombe greenhouse. I know I've shown this place before, but it's so lovely I couldn't resist a repeat.

As you walk in the gate you are greeted with a gorgeous display of color.

Inside the greenhouses are packed with a huge variety of flower and vegetable plants.

Herbs for every letter of the alphabet.

Orchids!

This display made me smile. It looks like the garden patio for the modern witch!

I love this elaborate finch cage.

On Memorial Day Monday, Willa and Chuck invited us to their house to enjoy the peaceful setting around their goldfish pond.

The built a small stream that trickles down a bank and spills into the pond using some natural rock formations and other stones found in the mountains.

Their backyard is shady so hostas are featured plants.

We had a nice dinner of pasta and salad with flatbread. They are getting ready to sell their home and move to Missouri. Willa has been busy cleaning and packing and Chuck has been painting and fixing. Zip and I will be sad to see these good friends leaving.

The kitties have been seeking out the coolest places to nap. Deiter likes to lay in the bathtub where the porcelain is cool on his fur. Penny and Reggie lay on the sewing room floor under the ceiling fan. Tipper lays in the window on the shady side of the house. Izzy is on the kitchen table where I'm cutting fabric with the fan going full blast.

Hope you are finding your own comfortable spots to enjoy the summer weather.

When Life Gives You Lemons

2011-05-25T12:53:00.001-04:00

Make lemonade for breakfast!

These beauties came from my Meyer lemon tree that lives outside in the summer and in the basement in winter. Zip moved the tree to it's summer place and removed the fruit so it can bloom and make more.

Meyer lemons are less tart than the lemons available at the grocery. Their skin is thinner and there is no white bitter pithy part under the skin so the whole lemon can be chopped and used in a recipe. I haven't decided yet how I am going to use these precious little darlings.

On Saturday I attended the meeting of the South Cumberland Fiber Guild which meets in the Shippensburg Library annex. My friend Dottie was giving a talk and demo on how to knit socks from the toe up. The toe up method makes it easier to get the correct foot length because you can try on the sock as your knitting progresses.

Some of the socks Dottie is working on.

About a year ago I took a picture of Dottie at another event and she didn't like the result so I was only allowed to take a shot of her foot this time! LOL! I did OK on the sock modeling, didn't I??? Have I redeemed myself?

Nancy brought some interesting yarns and colors for her socks. The bag at the right side was handwoven by Nancy.

Shirley brought a few show-and-tell projects. She's been knitting hats with her handspun yarn.

This is her crocheted spinning wheel mat.

This is the starting row of my sock.

To make the toe you knit in a circle and make a stitch at the beginning and end of each side. I took it home and worked on it until the toe portion was finished. I didn't like the look of the 'make one' places so I tore it all out and will be starting over as soon as I get two new sets of circular needles. I've decided to do both socks at the same time on two circular needles.

On Monday I went to the Cumberland Valley Hookers hook-in.

Ruth was showing the wools she dyed at a recent class at Grant Street Woolworks taught by Joan Straussbaugh (hope I spelled her name right!) The wools in her hands were done by the 'marrying' technique.

Here are some other random shots of rugs that people were working on.

I came home and spent the afternoon finishing the background on my rug.

Today I dyed some gold yarn to use for the binding. I tried to match it to the gold wool used for the outline on the vines and the outer border. I'm pleased with the results.

I will leave you with a picture of some lovely flowers that were on the porch of a little greenhouse we visited yesterday. Thanks for stopping by!

Window Wars and Lots of Other Stuff

2011-05-20T12:22:00.002-04:00

The weather here has been terrible to say the least. Last week we had a few nice days and then this major weather system blew in and has been hovering and circling over the east coast for many days. We've had thunder storms and heavy rain, brought in from the Atlantic. Yesterday we started the woodstove because it was so cool and damp.

On one of the few nice days I opened some windows and thus began the altercations. Open windows have become such a novelty that everyone wanted to get in the action.

Deiter and Izzy were right there checking the great outdoors, sniffing the air.

Penny and Reggie joined the crowd and Deiter decided to hand the space over to the young ones.
Things went well at first. Everyone minding their own business and enjoying nature.

Then they start looking around. Not enough personal space! Mom, she's looking at me funny!

And the 'picky paw' begins! The kids are fighting again!

Small but feisty and determined, Penny wins the undisputed place in the window.

The others retreat to the living room window.
Meanwhile Tipper is taking a nap somewhere.

When I finally got a chance to look out the window, I saw this!

Even though we only live a few miles from the base of the mountains, we seldom see deer in the front yard.

* * * * * * * *

On Thursday evenings at the Shippensburg Public Library, my friend Dottie holds an informal knitting group that is open to anyone who wishes to participate. Dottie is an expert knitter who will help with project questions. She has been one of the teachers at the Knitter's Day Out in September for many years.

Since I've started knitting again, I decided to check it out to see what interesting projects are being made. One of the women was knitting several different sleeveless cotton shells for summer.

She had just finished her gauge swatch in this lovely cotton and linen blend that she had gotten at the recent annual Salvation Army fabric sale. This very soft yarn was only $15 for a large enough bagful to make a full sized sweater.

She also had underway a beautiful cable shell in another cotton yarn.

Dottie was knitting socks.

She will be teaching a class in the toe-up technique for socks tomorrow (Sat. May 21) for the South Cumberland Fiber Guild meeting in the Library Annex. The meeting begins shortly after 10 a.m. for anyone who is interested. Also check out the South Cumberland fiber Guild website for more information about this fun group of spinners, weavers, knitters, shepherds, etc.

By the way, I've finished knitting the components of my cabled cardigan and am ready for blocking. I hate this part and have been dragging my feet! I'm determined to get it done this weekend so I can go on with the front bands and the collar.

Yesterday I traveled to Chambersburg to Grant Street Woolworks for the weekly hook-in.
There usually isn't a large group in the afternoon, but there's no lack of conversation.

Kathy is seriously working.

Kathy's friend, Beth was making yoyo mats.

Barb's patriotic quilt.

I think this project of Linda's is going to be a purse.

Joan brought several interesting things for show and tell.
This is, I think is a Karen Kahle design, for a tote bag. Joan plans to use the gold wool for the trim on the bag.

She made these delightful dolls, too. Love the wool clothing!

Detail of one of the faces.

My final decision has been made on the border for my rug. It is only half the width I started with. After doing about half of the narrower border, I didn't like the amount of blue in it and pulled it out and replaced it with green. Then after finishing the border in mostly red and green, I changed my mind and thought it needed some blue, but not a lot. Linda suggested just putting in little blips of blue. They don't show up very well in the picture, but they are in the center of the dark red part of the border.

There's only the background to fill in. I love it when all the difficult decisions are behind me!

I want to thank all of you for stopping by. Welcome to the new followers.

Many of you left comments on my last post but because Blogger was having technical difficulties, over half of them have been wiped out. I'm sorry about this and hope you continue to leave comments. Blogger seems to have recovered from it's brain fog.

Until next time, sunny skies (I hope) and happy hooking!

Food and Rughooking

2011-05-11T08:24:00.000-04:00

Two of my favorite things.

I started this blog for rughooking, but I've strayed off in many directions. One of the tangents has become my eating out experiences. I love going to new restaurants and photographing the food and decor. But I don't want to bore anyone from afar with interesting places in my area of south central PA that you may never have a chance to visit.

I've been mulling over the idea of starting a separate blog for restaurant reviews. Nothing decided for sure yet. And there IS Yelp, so maybe it isn't necessary.

So for this post I'll start with the rughooking and then if you don't want to go on the restaurant tour, you don't have to.

After I had asked for suggestions on the border, I kept hooking along, hoping I'd like it better. I didn't!

I had taken the gold stripe out of the edge and that toned the brightness of the border down a notch, but it still was too big and overpowering.
You gave me many good suggestions! Thank you so much for all your input!
I tried to use the ones that would require the least amount of reverse hooking.

I tried rearranging the colors in the stripes, but ended up liking this conbination the best.

My final decision (for now!) is to cut about an inch off the outside edge and make the arches shorter.

I cropped the photo to see what effect that would have.

They also seem to look rounder, which I think goes better with the circular flowers.

I'm going to have quite a bit of reverse hooking and adjusting to make it work, but what else do I have to do with my time???

I'll see if this fix is acceptable.

A few days ago I had this pasta craving. I love pasta in all it's variations, with sauces of every kind, but once in a while I just want it simple.

I sent Zip to the grocery store to get fresh basil.
I probably posted a similar recipe before, but this is one of my favorite fast, easy and delicious ways to make pasta. It's also vegetarian for those who don't eat meat.

Favorite Pasta

1 lb. box of spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine.
1 large can of petite diced tomatoes or 3 - 4 medium fresh tomatoes, seeded
3 or 4 garlic bulbs, very thinly sliced
about 1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves cut into strips, plus a few for garnish
4 T. butter
3 -T olive oil
Salt and pepper

Cook the pasta till al dente. Drain and set aside.
Microwave the garlic in olive oil for about 40 seconds.
Put the tomatoes in a large pan (the one in which you cooked the pasta will work), add the garlic in olive oil, the butter and basil, simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the pasta to the pan plus the salt and pepper as needed.
On low heat, stir until pasta is thoroughly warmed.
Serve and enjoy.

Last week when Zip went to music lessons, we decided to get a light dinner in Hagerstown.

The Safron Bakery is a delightful little eatery near the Community College just off Robinwood Drive. I forgot to take a picture of our paninis. They were turkey breast with fresh greens and cheese grilled to perfection. Zip and I shared a sandwich so that we could have dessert. The desserts are to die for and created by the owner himself.

A friend of mine who lives in Hagerstown says that the macaroons are a favorite of her husband's. She likes the donuts. Zip and I went for the fancy pastries. I got a cream puff with the most delicious pastry cream I've had in a long time. Zip opted for tiramisu. We were there just before closing time so the bakery case was getting empty.

They open early for people on their way to work, but close at 6 p.m.
To see more of the Safron Bakery products, please Google Safron Bakery Hagerstown MD.

Then yesterday we tried a new restaurant that just opened in Shippensburg PA. on north Earl Street near the entrance to Shippensburg University.

We stopped for lunch but they also serve breakfast and dinner.

Zip ordered the cheese steak sandwich. He shared some with me. WOW! One of the best I've tasted in a long time (maybe ever!)

I had the grilled chicken with roasted red peppers and feta cheese. Yum!

They were very generous with the feta.

Everything was very nice. The greens were fresh, the french fries crispy. Service was decent. Tasteful atmosphere. Prices were about normal for the area.

By the time we had finished the place was getting full.

We took lunch leftovers with us.

Since we had eaten enough, we ordered dessert to go.

This is the blueberry and lemon mascarpone cake. Isn't it lovely? And quite good!

But the one Zip and I both thought tasted the best was the cheesecake. Light, creamy and better even than I make. And I make a darn good cheesecake!

I can't wait to see their dinner menu!

If you're in the area, check it out. It's a step above the usual around here!
Happy eating and hooking!

My Baby Girls are a Year Old!

2011-05-08T19:07:00.001-04:00

And what a wonderful year it's been!
I don't think I've ever had two such delightful kittens, but then we've never had two at a time before. It kind of takes kitty fun to a new level. They are rambunctious to say the least! And then we added Reggie to the mix.

We didn't celebrate with birthday cake or anything, just a few extra kitty treats and lots of attention (which they get EVERY day).

They were such cute babies!
We took this picture of Penny sitting on my shoulder right after we got her home. Her birthday was last week.

Isabell's birthday is next week. Here she is on her first day at our house.

Penny had to lay on a pillow and have Mom hold her all afternoon after her first vet visit! She was not a happy camper!

They have grown up into such lovely young ladies.

I love kitten antics and their nutty sense of humor, but the truth is, I prefer the intelligence and companionship of adult cats.

Izzy will now sit quietly with me and enjoy being petted.

One of her favorite things is to lay all over my sewing.

Penny is very loving and sweet but is still too busy playing to stay for long.

Penny is Zip's favorite little darling. He spoils her shamelessly!

These two little girls have been a joy to us for their first year. We are looking forward to many more years of love and companionship.

Thank you for gracing our lives, Penny and Isabell!

We Love You!!!

Question of the Day.

2011-05-01T06:10:00.004-04:00

Some opinions, please!

What do you think of this border???

Is it 'too much' for the primative look of the urn?
Would smaller rounded tongues look better?
Or something totally different???

The view without the flash. I think the first picture is closer to the trrue colors.

This issue needs to be worked out before I go much farther.

I'm not always good at decisions.
So thank you for your input!!!

A Can of Worms

2011-04-29T09:34:00.000-04:00

More accurately, a deli tray of worms.

I do not like leftover worms!
My first instinct is to throw them out as soon as I a finish a rug. That would be wasting wool.
I do not like wasting wool.

When I designed my flower urn rug last week, I purposely put in those little circle flowers to use up worms.

I didn't do ANY color planning. I just took out random pieces of wool I wanted to get rid of and put them in a pile. What to take along to Grant Street today so I have plenty to work on?

The kitchen table before sorting and folding the wool. A MESS!

It was a beautiful day for driving to Chambersburg, cool breeze, sun shining, fluffy white clouds. Who would have guessed that the night before we had tornado warnings and severe thunderstorms and torrential rains?

I arrived about noon and there wasn't a lot of people there. Most of the hookers arrive later in the day, appropriate for Ladies of the Evening! So we had time to chat and check out each other's rugs.

Marian is hooking a commemorative rug for a family member's wedding. There was a lot of discussion about which textured wools would look best for the border.

Kathy has one horse finished and is starting on the red one.

Barb is working on a small colorful quilt.

This is Linda's rug. It's a large Jacobean style design in soft colors.

Linda also made these cute carrots (which I thought were ears of corn. LOL!) I can see them done in some of the textured wools to look like Indian corn for fall.

I really love this dog rug which was hooked by Nancee. I'm amazed with the color choices which make it look like an instant antique. I'm envious!!!

For once I didn't spend ALL my time talking. I worked on my rug and got a nice amount finished. Since I used so many colors in the flowers and the urn, finding a good shade and color for the background wasn't going to be easy.

Kathy pulled wool quarters off the shelves and we debated the pros and cons. I was hoping for three slightly different textures and shades of the same color. We tried gold but I thought it was too bright. Purple/lavender just didn't work. We finally settled on a sage green. My leaves and stems were already hooked and showed very dark. I thought the much lighter sage would have enough contrast to look OK.

When I got home and cut my strips, the stems and leaves blended into the sage background. YUCK!!!
Luckily I had bought some much-needed gold wool and used it to outline the foliage. I can live with that!

I want to welcome the new followers who have joined recently. I hope you enjoy what you see and read here. And a big Thank You, to all the regulars who put up with my foolish wanderings.

Please have a great weekend, everyone!
Good weather and Happy Hooking!!!

Who Sews There?

2011-04-26T08:27:00.002-04:00

Yesterday morning I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and went to work at the sewing machine.

Too many times lately, a sewing order that I've HAD to get done has interfered with my hooking social life! I was determined to get this pair of pants done so I could go to the Cumberland Valley hookers meeting.

Deiter thought I was crazy. Any self-respecting person should still be sleeping.

By 6:30 I had put in the last buttonhole. Finished! I even had time for an hour nap before getting ready to go.

When the sun came up I could see what a glorious day it was going to be. It was warm and beautiful. Just the kind of day that I would create if called upon to make the 'perfect day'. Trees are in blossom everywhere.

We didn't have a large crowd at the meeting, but there was lots of chatting going on. I'll just post pictures and not make a lot of comments.

I have to comment here! Karin looks like she just heard some shocking gossip! Did I miss something juicy???

I took my rug and my wool, and my cutter and frame. Dragged all that heavy stuff in and never pulled a loop! I hadn't talked to some of these ladies for several months so there was lots to catch up on.

For those of you who did not attend yesterday, we are trying to get the word out that the meeting will be a week early next month due to Memorial Day. So please mark your calendars that we will meet on the 4th Monday instead of the last Monday.

I was tired when I got home so sent Zip off to his evening music lessons by himself and I took some quiet time. Well, kinda quiet. The kitties were enjoying themselves sitting in the open windows checking the great outdoors. They fought over windowsill space and clawed the screens.

Reggie finally won the battle of window space. See how clawed the wood is on the windowsill from years of cats jumping up.

I settled in for some knitting, but instead became a leg rest for the Big White One.

This morning I got up and tried to pull a few loops before seriously getting into the day.
Check the large white paw creeping into the picture!

Well, it was a THOUGHT!

My Constant Companion! I love that cat!!!
He's sitting with me now as I type my post.

Happy Day, everyone. I hope the sun is shining and the air is warm!

What a Sweet Mess!

2011-04-22T08:16:00.004-04:00

Most of you who know me know I love chocolate. And sweets.

Several weeks ago when I went to Ligonier for the get-together at Kathy's Kreations yarn shop. One of the other ladies brought these amazingly yummy chocolate covered Easter eggs made by a small candy company in her home town. They came in a variety of different interesting flavors. One I really liked was fruit and nut (the healthy choice! hahaha!!!)

I've always wanted to make Easter eggs and never tried them. I went to the internet and found some recipes I thought would work for me. I like easy! One began with butter and Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk, the other with butter and cream cheese and then you added flavoring and powdered sugar to both. Since Eagle Brand is already very sweet, I went with the cream cheese so it wouldn't be overpoweringly sweet. I bought dried pineapple and cherries. There was already dried cranberrys and peanut butter on hand.

I chopped the fruit VERY fine, added 1/2 stick of butter, 1/2 of an 8 oz. block of cream cheese and then started pouring in the powdered sugar. I worked it in with my hands until it became a stiff dough that no longer stuck to my hands. The peanut butter eggs were made the same way but I added about a 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter. Then I shaped my sugar dough into egg shapes.

When they were all shaped, I put them in the fridge to harden for a while.

Both recipes used chocolate chips for the coating chocolate with the addition of a little butter. I had semi sweet, milk chocolate and some leftover white chocolate coating wafers.

Working with chocolate is an exact science. It's tricky, at least for me. I started out with a makeshift double boiler affair with two pans, thinking the water would keep the chocolate nice and fluid while I did the dipping.

It started out fairly well. Long ago I had bought this little loop-shaped device for dipping candy (in case I ever got the urge). Did the eggs stay on the little loop? No they did not! Next I tried a two-tined fork. Not ideal! I tried a skewer, but that definitely did not work. Back to the fork. But it left holes in the egg! I want pretty!!! Oh well, time to settle for just OK.

I completed about eight decent looking eggs and then I slopped a few drops of water into the pan by mistake. Voila!!! Chocolate turns to concrete!!! My chocolate had seized up and the party was over.

The eggs went back in the fridge and I made a new attempt the next morning. This time with the white coating chips. I used the microwave with no chance of splashing water. Things went much better.

Emboldened by success, I decided to try the other bag of chocolate chips. For some reason the chocolate was not very melty right from the beginning. I soldiered on, determined to finish and not waste any more chocolate. I ended up with a nice batch of spiny looking eggs, but they taste good.

I only put the prettiest ones in the picture! There are some REALLY lumpy ones.

How do the ladies at the churches make those hundreds of eggs and they all come out pretty???

Maybe I should become a volunteer....

Happy Easter, Everyone!

Long Dry Spell

2011-04-17T09:29:00.003-04:00

No, not the weather! It's raining buckets and there's thunder and lightning.

It's the rughooking long dry spell of which I write. I decided it's time to get back to the hooking whether I'm inspired or not. I was laying in bed Friday night unable to sleep thinking of designs and not coming up with much. Finally I decided on a primitive, very simple flower urn. Something that could be done in an 8 cut and I won't have to think too much about color planning beforehand and just let it evolve.

I got up yesterday morning determined to get something on paper and maybe even on the backing. It was the task of the day.

Of course I had much-needed help from my darling Deiter. The minute I picked up the pencil, there he was, settling in on my paper. At our house it is impolite to refuse a cat the attention he wants whenever he wants it. So before I can continue my work, we have to talk and have a petting session.

A word of caution to those of you who do not have cats. You may have heard that cats are independent, aloof, loners who would rather be by themselves. NOT SO! They are independent thinkers, you can't tell them what to do very often. They can be aloof if they are offended or just don't want to talk at the moment. They do need some alone time every day. But most of them LOVE human companionship. They NEED Mommy and Daddy time. They will DEMAND it!

I was hoping a little bonk on the head with the pencil would move things along, but he stayed until he was good and ready to move. Meantime I drank coffee and planned rug stuff.

Deet finally decided that Mom time was over and I finished my drawing.`

I do the enlarging at home on my computer because I'm impatient and it isn't always convenient to run to Staples. I did all the appropriate math and the print setup and started the printer. YIKES!!! My design was coming out humongous! I sized it down a bit and it was still HUGE! What on earth??? I checked back through the cropping, math, and setup and discovered that somehow during the cropping of the excess around the edge of my design, the sizing had increased. I'll have to check that more carefully in the future. Meanwhile I wasted enough paper to make about a quarter of a tree.

All laid out and ready to put together. Note that I have another 'little helper'!

OH NO! No tape!!!

We were leaving shortly to meet Chuck and Willa to have dinner at the Pizza Grille in Carlisle. We could get tape on the way, if it became possible to get out of the car without drowning. The lightning was flashing, thunder booming, and the rain was falling in heavy curtains! We saw small stream flooding everywhere.
We were lucky to make it home, but we did get the tape. Hey, no food pictures this time!

This morning I got up early and transferred to my sheer fabric. This is a drapery fabric that I get at a local fabric outlet that is stiff enough to make it easy to work with but finely woven enough that I can easily see through it and
get good detail in the transferring. And it's inexpensive.

Now if only it were sticky like the 'crack stop' that so many hookers are using now. It has to be pinned on.
Another thing I like about this fabric is that it doesn't suck up the marker ink like 'red dot'.

All the while I'm working, The Big One is close by. Look at that wide behind! I think we're both sitting around too much!

Finally finished! I have no specific color plan. I know I want the urn to look like yellow-ware and the leaves to be a sagey gray green. Beyond that, it will just have to evolve.

It's so nice to be happy about working on a rug again!

While I'm trying to write this post, guess what!

He's Baaaack!!!

Not stomping on the keyboard, thank goodness. But clawing the screen instead!

Have a great day!
May all your cats be Big Fat Lovey Ones!!!

Out of Hibernation

2011-04-13T08:53:00.001-04:00

This past Thursday I decided I MUST join the outside world again. I came slithering out from under the rock and was met with a wonderful warm day in the high 60's, How delightful!

Zip has music lessons on Thursday in Hagerstown and occasionally I ride along and he drops me off at my friend Marian's. Her house is conveniently located en route. We had been working on a rug design together and wanted to do a little more tweaking before committing it to backing.

But just for fun we also visited the Asian Market in Halfway, MD.

I had noticed the sign while Zip and I were traveling through and have wanted to see what they had to offer. It is a small market, but had all the ingredients I had been looking for to make a batch of spring rolls plus the wonderful sweet hot chili sauce for dipping. In their freezer section I found not only the spring roll wrappers but a package of about two dozen spring rolls already made up. If only I had taken a cooler.

Check out all those noodles!

They had some bright golden yellow mangoes that were about half the size of those in the regular grocery. I bought one of them and that little darling was yummy! The Japanese eggplants looked nice and fresh, but I didn't get any this time.

This pastry is made of a delicious soft Phillipine sweet roll dough and contained long strips of sugar-soaked coconut called 'coconut strings'. Zip and I both loved it.

Then on the way back to Marian's we stopped at the Dutch Market, which features Amish vendors selling their produce, baked, goods, meat, cheese and candies. I was so thrilled with the variety and clean, beautiful arrangements that I forgot to take pictures. Please believe me, it was an excellent market. Another 'bring-the-cooler' venue! Everything looked so temptingly good that you just wanted to BUY!

Good thing I didn't indulge too heavily because later we were invited by Willa to join her at the Lions Club spaghetti dinner in Shippensburg.

Her husband, Chuck is a generous supporter of local charitable and civic organizations and he kindly bought our tickets. Thank You, Chuck! unfortunately he had to work so could not join us.

On Saturday Zip and I traveled to Ligonier PA which is about a two and a quarter hour drive to the west. I wish I could show pictures of lovely countryside along the way, but the weather was atrocious. Gray clouds, fog and periods of rain prevailed.

Ligonier is a pretty little town. As we arrived they were having a wedding in the gazebo on the square.

Fort Ligonier was built in the time of the French and Indian war (mid 1700's) as a staging point for driving the French out of the western part of PA. It opened the area for further exploration, making it possible for the settling of Pittsburg. Amazing that they had chain-link fence at that time. LOL!

But you may ask, why did we go there???

Because I joined an on-line knitting group through the Knitting at Large blog by Julie Matthews. I've shown pictures of my sweater in progress and now the participants who lived within a reasonable distance were getting together for a meet and greet day for showing sweaters and generally having fun.

Sweater parts for show and tell. Kathy, who came from Brookville PA brought the delicious Easter eggs made by a candy company in her town. To die for!!!

We met at Kathy's Kreations, a lovely knitting shop owned by Kathy Zimmerman, the designer of the Waltham sweater we are all working on. I had not met Julie, Dottie and Kathy until now but had commented back and forth on her blog and Ravelry. Kathy Z. was kind enough to sit down with us and have a discussion about what plus-sized women wanted and needed in knitwear patterns. So many designers and pattern publishers only offer their patterns in S-M-L and are missing a huge (pun intended!) market by not offering plus sizes.

I was so busy talking and shopping and eating that I didn't take time to get out the camera. I only got a few shots of the shop. I will be returning and will do better the next time!

And since I mentioned food, there is a delightful little deli next door where we had lunch. The panini sandwiches were excellent. They were so satisfying that we didn't even sample the gelatti! For once, no pictures of the food!

All in all, it was a fun day. I hope when we finish our sweaters we can get together again and model the sweaters. By that time I will have decided which of my new patterns I would like to try next and will be ready to buy YARN!

The new patterns and books. I'm doing my part to support the plus-size pattern industry by voting with my dollars!

Monday I spent most of the day sewing with Brad and Kami. When I arrived home it was in the high 70's outside and Zip had opened several windows in the house. The kitties were in HEAVEN! Aaaah, smell that air!!! I didn't get any pictures, but Penny's eyes were even bigger than usual and she had her little pink nose pressed right against the window screen.

Deiter wasn't really impressed with the great outdoors. He would rather lay on my shawl and sniff where I had been lately.

One of the signs of warmer days. FLIES!!! Izzy will protect us!

Today it's back to cool and dreary with rain. The winter was dominated by cold. Now spring seems to be dominated by rain! But last week when I posted, the buds on the maple trees were only showing green tips. Now they are blooming!

I'm going to try really hard to stay out from under the rock.

Can You See the Green???

2011-04-06T09:16:00.002-04:00

These buds are on the maple tree right outside the kitchen window.

The rain is over (temporarily) and the sun is shining. I hate to mention that this has seemed like the longest winter of my life. It really put me in a funk! I'm hoping it's over.

Another thing that has put me into a funk and almost put an end to my interest in rug hooking is my Grandmother's Trunk challenge rug for Rug Hooking Daily. When I signed up for this challenge I loved the idea of commemorating my grandmothers who were the inspiration for my childhood needlework. I still love the IDEA, it's my DESIGN that I Do Not Like! And I can't come up with anything better right now.

I kept dragging my feet, not wanting to put it on the linen.

Then I dug out some wool. This has all happened over many weeks of procrastinating!

I finally started pulling a few loops.
Then Deiter sat on it and everything came to a halt.

Petting the cat was way more fun than working on a rug that I didn't like anyhow!

Aaaaah! The joys of bonding! These are the best moments of our day.

So give it up, Mom! Forget this rug, it's not your best work! And I'm gonna be here for a while....

The only part of the rug that I like so far is this yarn ball!

I just think the design sucks! It is going to be ripped out and I'll draw something else on the back and go on with life. I can't have this blocking my love for hooking!

I decided to quit the challenge with a great sigh of relief!

The only thing that has kept me sane (I guess that's debatable!) through this long crappy winter has been the cats. Every day they make me laugh and amaze me with their intelligence and imagination.

We have a ladderback chair with a soft pillow on it in front of our phone desk. This is Tipper's favorite sleeping spot. Last weekend the complaints started. First she began jumping up, sniffing around, looking meaningfully at me and then would finally settle. Then she didn't want to jump up. More meaningful looks. Yes, there the pillow cover was looking a bit grungy and there was cat hair on it. Her Hair!

The verbal complaints began. She was downright GRUMPY!

So Zip and I collected up all the cushion covers, kitty blankets, and washable cat beds and did Cat Laundry.
We replaced everything with clean covers. Is this appreciation??? They were sooo happy!

Deiter took Tippy's favorite spot. We put the little fleece bed on top of the desk and Izzy and Penny climbed in.

Then Penny took Tippy's chair and Reggie used the fleece bed.

Deiter back on the chair and Penny in the bed. Tippy was forced to use the wing chair.

Who would have imagined that clean laundry could be so inspiring!

Hope the sun is shining on your life today!
Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. Deiter would like to welcome Kelly and the women from the Creative Catalyst blog.
He approves of any blog that has a Cat as a logo and the word Cat in it's header and appreciates having humans who enjoy pictures of him.

Happy Spring Equinox!

2011-03-20T07:50:00.001-04:00

This is one of my favorite days of the year.
The First Day of Spring!!!
From here until fall the days are longer than the nights. For a person who enjoys light, this is a significant milestone. Yes, we'll still have some below freezing weather occasionally, but this means warmth will prevail!

I've been neglecting my blog lately because I haven't had much for show and tell. No rug hooking is happening. I've been knitting and cooking. The search for the 'perfect' loaf of bread goes on.

This one is getting close.

This week Weis market had cod on sale for a very good price. Last evening I made fish chowder which we ate with the homemade bread. Pretty yummy!

Fish Chowder

3 medium potatoes
1 medium sweet onion
2 ribs of celery
1 can of corn
1 1/2 lbs. fish of your choice (cod, catfish, talapia)
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tablespoon parsley
salt, pepper and cayenne, pinch of each
1 can chicken broth
about 1/4 cup flour
milk

Cut potatoes into bite sized pieces, leave the skins on. Chop celery and onion. Put veggies in a soup pot, add corn (do not drain) and chicken broth, and spices. Cook for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are almost done. Add fish and cook until it flakes easily. Sprinkle the flour lightly over the veggies and fish while stirring the mixture. Add some milk and cook a few minutes longer till soup thickens slightly.
Fast and Easy!

My knitting is progressing. I haven't done much knitting in recent years because it's soooo slooooow! That's why I don't have much to show for the past two weeks of work.

The sleeves are done but not blocked yet. They are done in a ribbing pattern.

I had planned on taking a little break after the sleeves and do some hooking, but the lure of the cables was too much for me. I had to start the back! Just to see if I could do it without too much problem.

A closeup of my first little cables. Aren't they cute!

Since I took these pictures, I've gotten another three inches done. The cables take some thought but are not difficult. But I was lying in bed this morning thinking, 'why am I spending all this time on a sweater that I won't be wearing until next fall?' Good question! No answer...

The kitties are enjoying the return of the birds and squirrels outside in the yard. They also keep a watch on the neighborhoods cats who roam through. Next month the girls will be a year old. They no longer look like kittens! They are becoming more settled and willing to sit and be companionable.

Maybe too companionable! This is Zip's fly tying desk in the evening. They LOVE Daddy!!!

Deiter, Isabell and Reggie

I don't know what Penny was thinking about, but those eyes just make me smile!

Hope all of you are having a good weekend.

Happy First Day of Spring!!!

The Shades of Gray

2011-03-06T18:27:00.005-05:00

Dreary, damp, sloppy wet, cold...you get the picture!

We have been inundated by the wet stuff this weekend. It's not over yet. The creeks are beginning to overflow their banks. It's a miserable time to travel.

But travel we did. Not that far in miles, but a cultural world away. Our friends Chuck and Willa went with us to Harrisburg, PA to the Asia Mall. This is a small strip mall featuring all Asian businesses, including several restaurants, a gift shop, a video store, a nail and beauty supply store and a large Asian grocery.

We had a lovely lunch at the Thai restaurant.
Chuck and Willa are studying the menu trying to make some serious decisions.

For appetizers they chose a chicken satay with peanut sauce and some spring rolls.

I chose several appetizers instead of getting an entree. The spring rolls were delicious. The little round dumplings that look like pot stickers were quite yummy. The tofu would have been rather bland without the peanutty sauce.

Zip ordered chicken with vegetables in a sweet and sour sauce.

I thought Willa's eggplant dish was the best! And look at the colors! Love that purple eggplant with the green and orange and the sauce was to die for.

We decided to pass on the dessert and go to the bakery for take-home treats.
I've had the fruit turnovers on a previous visit. They are wonderful! I like to live dangerously and get some totally unfamiliar pastries like the yucca dessert that looks like custard pie. They also have some savory meat and rice pies that are wrapped in banana (or plantain) leaves. All are interesting and good.

The grocery is one of the largest Asian food stores in the area. It's one of my favorite places to stock up on cooking supplies.

They have a huge selection of canned goods, sauces of every kind, candies, cookies, teas, fresh vegetables and noodles. Oodles of noodles!

And there's fish. Dried, frozen, pickled and fresh fish swimming around in large tanks. They will butcher them right on the spot to your specifications.

We managed to make a dreary day into an enjoyable outing!

Now we are home with the woodstove warming our chilly bones.
Zip is strumming away on the guitar and I am planning to do some knitting. I have one sleeve on my sweater almost dome. This is the cardigan that I'm doing with some other ladies from the Knitting at Large blog.

So far it's been fun and fairly easy. I wonder if I have the skills to manipulate those intricate cables.

The book is called Knitting Plus (by Lisa Shroyer) and is an excellent collection of sweaters especially designed for the larger woman.

The pattern we are knitting is by Kathy Zimmerman who is a designer who has a shop in Ligonier, PA. I hope one of these days to get out there. I hear it's a fantastic place. It will be a lovely drive when the warmer weather arrives.

It's Baaaa-aaack!

2011-02-24T07:27:00.001-05:00

Last week we had a few warm days in the 50's and once even up to 60 degrees. The snow had melted and there was a green tint in the dry brown grass. Spring is coming!

Well, here we are with snow. AGAIN! And temps down into the single digits at night. I guess the good news is that it is supposed to get gradually warmer through the end of the week. Maybe this white stuff won't last long.

Meanwhile I've been waiting very impatiently for yarn and books to come in the mail.

I'm not sure what has possessed me. I signed up for an online rug hooking challenge on Rug Hooking Daily in January and have the idea drawn on paper with it almost the way I want it, but am not moving along too fast on that. Then I joined a sweater knitting group on Ravelry that was initiated by Julie on the Knitting at Large blog. It's a really lovely cardigan that can be seen by accessing the blog on my sidebar.

Plus I have lots of sewing to do for Brad and Kami.

I'm not sure why I'm piling up so many 'to do' projects. Sounds like a good formula for lots of UFO's! And I doubt if I'll have time for housework. Since I have all this fun stay-at-home stuff lined up, I needed audio books to listen to (and drown out the constant strumming on the guitar!) so I can concentrate. I've been wanting for a long time to show pictures of our local library. I love this place! Shippensburg is so lucky to have this lovely old building for it's library.

For me, a new modern library just would not have the same appeal. This is the side entrance hall leading to the desk.

The main reading room, with computers available for public use.

It's so comforting to sit and read by the fireplace. A friend of mine holds her Thursday evening knitting group in this room.

Cumberland County has an excellent library system with a user-friendly online system for ordering books from anywhere in the area. If the local library doesn't have what you need, you can order from any library in the county and have it delivered to your local one. They encourage educational programs for both adults and children. The South Cumberland Fiber Guild meets here for their spinning and fiber-related meetings. Most days the parking lot is full.
For a small-town library, this one is very well used!

Plans are being made to expand the library (and hopefully the parking lot!). I just hope they don't build on too much of this lovely area behind the building.

It doesn't show on the picture, but there is a stone patio with seating available in summer for outdoor reading. The lovely little Branch Creek runs alongside the building.

OK, that's the mini-tour!

My box of yarn has arrived. Time to knit up a swatch to see if I can get the correct gauge for the sweater.

Hmmmm! Did I mention that my yarn is the same color as a cardboard box? LOL!

Meanwhile the kitties have a few yarn projects of their own.

That blur at the top left is Reggie, wrestling a ball of yarn into submission. He must have been measuring something, because there's my tape measure! They love twisting the yarn around the legs of the chair and ironing board. It's that much more exciting! Check the tops of the chair legs- that is the Official Scratching Chair. They don't have a scratching post like most cats. About ten years ago, someone started using the chair and it has been the scratching place ever since. Cats make their own decisions!

Guess I better start knitting.
Have a great weekend!

The Stash

2011-02-16T15:20:00.001-05:00

Sometimes cats are behaviorally so much like humans it's scary.

I've been getting ready to whip the edge of my little Amish mat. I was sure I had a little ball of brown yarn left from another rug but have looked everywhere and couldn't find it. No great surprise in my messy house!
So Kami had a skein of brownish variegated yarn that she donated to the cause.

I was saving this project to take along to the Blue and Gray hook-in on Monday.

On Sunday I noticed Reggie in the bathroom playing with SOMETHING, running and jumping and thrashing around with something BROWN. Would you believe it was the long-lost little ball of yarn???

It had been months since I had last seen this ball of yarn, but suddenly it was out in the open and being played with.
Which brings me to The Stash.
Cats, like so many of us, have their stashes. They are hidden away where we don't often look, behind cupboards, in the back of the closet, under furniture where only they can go. We give them toys and think they've lost them when we no longer see them, but they KNOW where they are! My first cat, Woody used to have food stashes. His favorite was a partial pack of saltines that he kept under the kitchen cabinet and when I wouldn't give him something he wanted, he'd go eat from his stash. There are stashes of toy mousies under Zip's desk and an oak cupboard in the living room.

But darn it! I wish they wouldn't appropriate things from MY stash!

Here they are helping me finish the edge. Weighting it down counts, right??? Adding a little extra fiber is a good thing???

Extra fiber!

Double kitty weights!

Izzy daydreaming of the next project.

Stealing the yarn, again!

The innocent Penny.

The mat is finished.
I took pictures with different color settings on my camera. The differences are amazing and NONE of them are accurate as my eyes see the color. What to do???

The pictures I took at the Blue and Gray hook-in seem to have more realistic color.

Our featured rug artist this month was Lina W. Here is a sampling of her work.

This is Doris's lovely Adam and Eve rug. It's all finished except for binding the edge.

I didn't get to the hook-in until late. Things at home conspired against my best efforts. But it was a good time with a nice crowd of ladies attending.

I'm happy to report that the thyroid medication seems to be working. I have more energy! Things are getting done without so many 'tired' days where I'm totally nonfunctional. With the days getting longer and the cold weather easing up a bit, I feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Onward to Spring!

Productive In-The-Kitchen Weekend

2011-02-06T18:40:00.001-05:00

I think I've mentioned before that there is nothing in the kitchen I find more enjoyable than baking loaves of bread. The 'ultimate loaf' is an illusive fantasy that keeps luring me on.

I have been fascinated by the efforts of Thomas on the A Growing Tradition blog to find that same wonderful loaf that I am seeking. He has been using several books to guide him. Last week I ordered a few books of my own.

The Bread Bakers Apprentice is quite technical. I hope I have the brain power to do it justice. After reading and debating I decided to make a one-day recipe to start out.

This is my cranberry pecan bread. It's yummy, with a nice crust and moist interior. It makes a superior breakfast toast.

I think next time I will tackle one of the breads that you start and put in the fridge overnight and then do the shaping and baking the next day. But that takes planning....

Then I decided to make a cheesecake for Kami's birthday dinner that Mom was making today. For years I've used a Cooking Light recipe that has turned out good every time I've made it. It's not quite as heavy and calorie-laden because you can use low fat creamcheese and some egg whites in the crust and batter.

I cooked a sauce from blueberries I had frozen during the past summer.

I'm sorry my pictures aren't the greatest. It was very sunny in the kitchen yesterday. I have a very small simple camera. With the flash, things got too light and bright and without the flash they seemed dark.

During the down time, while waiting for bread to rise and things to bake, I did some hooking. My Amish couple is finished except for the binding.

In the natural light coming in the window.

Without the flash.

The true color is somewhere between the two.

I'll save the binding to work on at a hook-in.

I've signed up for an online challenge on Rug Hooking Daily and also joined a few others in a knitting group at Knitting At Large. The RHD challenge piece I won't be able to show as it progresses. The knitting is not a secret challenge, so I can post progress.

Stay warm everyone!

A Much-Needed Day Out

2011-02-01T10:30:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I ventured to Chambersburg for the meeting of the Cumberland Valley Hookers. We had a room full of ladies, even a few new recruits. I think everyone wanted to have a nice day out before the Big Storm arrived.

I'm just going to show the pictures and let you enjoy.

I took my Amish Couple project, but with talking and catching up on what everyone else was doing, I didn't get much done. I hook so much better when I'm home by myself with an audio book.

This morning I did get some hooking done. What else can you do (housework, I think NOT!) when it looks like this outside?

I was getting nervous about running out of colors because I'm using up little pieces of 'stuff' in my stash.

There was just enough to do the sawtooth edge if I was careful with the placement of a few of the colors. I'm still debating the border. Are they at the 'used buggy dealership'??? Used car lots always have those colorful little flags decorating the the place. Hmmmm!

What I was trying for was a quilt-like border, but I don't think it turned out that way.
I'm going to put a 3/4 inch border of black on the outside yet.

Meanwhile the kitties are up to their usual mischief.

They have modified their fountain. We had this for a few months and it was a good investment for both drinking and entertainment. Sometimes they take baths here. Once in a while mousie takes a swim. Or are they trying to drown him? But there was something about this cap that fit on the top and controlled the water flow that needed to be 'fixed'.

See, Mom! It works so much better since we removed it!

I can't even wash the thing without them all hovering around the kitchen sink watching and waiting for it to be put back on the floor.

Here they are in the trash can. They love to play in it after being emptied and a new bag was put in. Penny's headlights are ON!

Innocent-looking Isabell is the little hoarder of stolen goods. On second thought, she does have a certain look in her eyes.

She was seen running through the kitchen with this in her mouth!

When Zip yelled at her, she promptly scooted under a cupboard where he couldn't reach her or the socket. Planning a destruction project, Izzy?

Penny is helping me at the computer.

This is a little smile of satisfaction because she knows I can't do a darn thing with her sitting on the keyboard.

Hope the Big Storm does not cause you too much inconvenience or extra work.
If at all possible, stay home and hook!

An Award!

2011-01-30T09:45:00.001-05:00

I wish to thank Cat who writes the Cat's Cats blog for awarding me the Stylish Blogger Award!
This is a surprise and I feel so honored!

Those of you who read her blog know that Cat is one of the kindest and most caring people you will ever meet. Through her writing and her actions she encourages supporting your local shelter, neutering and spaying, and keeping cats indoors for safety. Her own four lovely kitties were all homeless shelter kitties before she adopted them. And lucky little guys they are! Cat not only makes sure they are physically well-fed and cared for, she also tries to make sure they are the happiest cats possible. Read the story about driving for hundreds of miles to pick up Jimmy (formerly named Ash). Check the pictures on her blog. You will see what a dedicated Cat-Mom she is!

THANK YOU, Cat!!!

Cat actually gave me this award several days ago, and I am just now posting about it because I have been pondering my choices for passing it on. I probably take things too seriously, but it is meaningful for me to receive an award and I want to pass it on in the same spirit.

It is supposed to be passed on to seven other bloggers. I have decided on three.
There are lots of nice big fancy blogs that everyone reads and comments on, but I wanted to choose ordinary people who do good things in their life on an everyday basis. These are people I admire even though I have never met any of them in person.

My first choice is Lauren from Rugs and Pugs.

Lauren is the Angel of Pugdom! She is a volunteer with Ohio Pug Rescue. She fosters these dear little furry ones who have been abused and neglected until a forever home is found for them. She provides food, vet care and a loving home to these furry ones who have had very little kindness in their lives. Many of these dogs have multiple physical problems and trust issues. Lauren, thank you for caring!!!

My second choice is Kim from Millie's Mats.

What a woman! Kim works full-time in a stressful job dealing with The Public. She single-handedly takes care of two elderly ladies, her auntie and her mom who has health problems. She is assisted by her little dog Millie. Through the good times and the frustrations Kim manages to keep her positive attitude. She manages her household and job with wit and a zany sense of humor. Kim is a classy lady who keeps me laughing with her wonderful stories.

My next choice is Thomas from A Growing Tradition.

This young man and his wonderful vegetable garden are simply amazing. For a person who is fairly new to gardening, he has grown some of the most beautiful vegetables on a small backyard garden. He chooses organic and sustainable methods of gardening to reduce the detrimental impact on the planet and give his family fresh toxin-free food. He is also an excellent chef and bread baker. Thomas, your heart and hands are doing a good thing!

And now for the really hard part.
I'm supposed to tell seven things about myself that my dear readers may not know. Being a kind of 'spill your guts' and 'heart on my sleeve' type of person, I don't think there is much I can tell that you don't already know.
It's pretty obvious that I'm old, fat and have gray hair, so I can skip that one! Hehehe!

1. Once while I was in the woods, a squirrel jumped out of a tree and landed on my shoulder. I didn't scream, just stood still until he ran down my back.
2. The only foods I really dislike are licorice and black walnuts. There may be others, but I haven't found them yet.
3. I always buy cars with a gear shift instead of an automatic transmission.
4. I'm a really boring person. I can't think of any other interesting (or NOT!) things to say about myself.

The acceptance speech for my award has been postponed until the evening of the Golden Globe awards. It will then be televised. I've taken so long to write this post that I just need to QUIT!

Those of you to whom I have passed the Stylish Blogger Award may take the badge and put it on your sidebar and pass the honor on to those you think are deserving. Thanks for being an inspiration!

Get out of Jail! Free!!!

2011-01-24T17:03:00.002-05:00

Before I get started on my post I want to mention that I've noticed a few new followers have joined my blog recently. I want to thank all of you who have just joined and those faithful friends who continue to read my posts. Please know that I do go to your blogs and read your posts though I don't always have time to comment.

Welcome New Readers! Dear Old Friends, I'm so happy when you stop in to read and comment!

Aaaaaah, the sweet taste of freedom!

I feel as though I have been handcuffed to the sewing machine for the past week-and-a-half.
Brad and Kami were getting ready for a major WW2 re-enactment and had lots of orders to fill and kept getting more at the last minute. And of course, many were passed along to me. Don't get me wrong! They did their best, working from early morning to late night on this stuff.

In the past two weeks I made three pairs of piped shoulder boards, three bedsacks with pillows, repaired a dirndl top, made two pairs of men's pants and a child's heavy wool overcoat. I had to make up the patterns for the pants and overcoat. Drawing patterns causes severe anxiety!

I did have the comfort of loving kitties while I was working. Izzy loves to lounge in fabric.

Deiter joins the confusion and decides that this is the ideal place to give Izzy a bath.
Come on, guys! The table is getting a little crowded!

Zip usually leaves his guitar case on my loom next to the sewing table. Penny loves to snuggle down inside and take a nap.

Penny and Reggie are a tangle of kitty body parts on a messy shelf where I keep supplies.

'By the way, Mom! Your sewing is interfering with my nap!'

Everything is finished and was delivered yesterday afternoon. The kids are leaving for Fort Indiantown Gap tomorrow. Then all Zip and I have to do is feed their kitties.

So today I am out of sewing incarceration! Absolutely FREE to do whatever I wish.
It was a nice change to get up in the morning and do dishes (can't believe I said that!!!). Yes, they piled up nicely while I was otherwise occupied!

On Thursday, my friend Willa is coming here to make tamales. I've been researching tamale dough recipes on cooking websites. I like the milder flavor and fluffier texture of ones that made with a canned hominy base. After reading quite a few recipes, I formulated my own ideas and wanted to try them out ahead of time.

My tamale dough recipe:

1 can of hominy (a can the size of a regular soup can)
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup shortening (or lard, the traditional way)
pinch of salt
Chicken broth as needed to make a smooth, soft dough (less than a cup)

I put all the ingredients into the food processor and blended until the hominy was finely chopped and incorporated into the cornmeal, adding chicken broth a little at a time. I wanted the dough to be soft enough to easily spread on the cornhusks.

My filling was ground turkey breast, some cumin, taco seasoning and cilantro, with some finely diced white cheddar cheese and some cream cheese.

I will be taking pictures of the whole process when Willa and I make them again on Thursday.

I put the tamales in my bamboo steamer and cooked them for about a half an hour.

The dough turned out perfectly light and fluffy. I wish I had added some more spicy kick to the filling, maybe adobo sauce, but that's for another day.

Darn! I wish I had some guacamole!!!

Are We There Yet???

2011-01-18T11:15:00.000-05:00

The journey toward Spring seems to be a long one.
At least we did not get quite the mess that was predicted- snow, freezing rain, sleet and dire road conditions- until lunch time today.

By the time I got up at 7 a.m. it was all over but the gray look.

Yesterday I had a routine doctor visit. I talked to her about the fact that I have No Energy. We discussed seasonal depression and history of depression and decided that medication was probably not the way to go. She said that my thyroid is 'sluggish' and recommended medication for that in hopes that it will perk me up a bit. There was the mild lecture about Losing Weight. Now that's depressing!!!
On the whole, I'm doing pretty good for an old fat lady.

The week ahead is going to be filled with sewing for Brad and Kami. They are going to a large WW2 event at Fort Indiantown Gap next week and there are lots of orders that need to be finished. After that I have been promised a vacation so I can do some fun crafty things.

Meanwhile, the cats entertain (pester) me by hanging about on the sewing table. Izzy sits on top of my embroidery machine, looks out onto the front porch and issues verbal threats to the stray kitties who gather to eat.

Oh, she now sees a more reachable victim.
Yeek! Look at the CAT HAIR on the dust cover of the machine!

Is that a raccoon in the trash can???
Only Reggie innocently playing in the papers, threads and fabric scraps.

The fun is over, Reggie!
Hehehe! Don't I look like the Evil Big Sister???

Oh to have the life of a young cat! THEY are not lacking energy!

Recently some of the rugs that I had loaned to Linda at Grant Street to hang on the walls of the shop have returned home. This the first rug I ever hooked.

My sister and I first became interested in rughooking after seeing an exhibit at the Washington County Art Museum in Hagerstown, MD. They were featuring rug artists Mary Ann Storm, her mother and grandmother. We contacted Mary Ann and found that she gave lessons. We were ready!!!

I wanted a rug that was dark and primitive. I had collected a small stash of recycled wool, a limited palette. With help from my teacher, I dyed the greens for leaves and grass. I hate to admit how long it took me to hook this rug!

My Amish couple rug is progressing onward. You will notice that the man's hair kind of blends into the background.

I yanked out the plaid that I used for the outline and put in black instead. A small change, but I think for the better. I'm not sure yet if I like that sawtooth border. I may have to give that some more thought. But is it worth the effort for such a silly piece???

Well, that's it. Hasn't been a very exciting week. LOL!
Hope at least some of you are having a much more active life!