Busy Day, but lots accomplished

Yesterday was my first official day of retirement. Yes, it's true! I'm no longer working in the sewing room at Great War Militaria. Linda found a very capable replacement for me. So now I am a woman of leisure...well, kinda!


Yesterday I celebrated by finishing the hooking on my gameboard. And I got up with all good intentions of taking it to the hook-in at Grantstreet Woolworks. But...I got so involved in working around the house that I decided to just stay home. It's not often that I get the urge to do housework!

Zip got into the spirit also and here he is fixing the faucet in the bathtub with assistance from Deiter! What a good little helper he is!!!

And here he is helping Mommy, too! I'm getting ready to slice peaches for a dessert I'm making. He loved rubbing his head against the fuzzy skin of the peach. And look at the size of the peach! We got these giants at the Round Barn down near Cashtown.

We pulled about a half bushel of beets to pickle. A few years ago I took a fit and decided to sell my pressure canner at a yard sale. I had decided NEVER to can again! I had spent 30 years of summers canning and I was sick of it!!! Now I wish I hadn't been so rash. But I have plenty of big pots that will do the trick.

The first batch of jars is out of the water bath. I just love to see the finished canned goods lined up on the countertop!

I haven't done so many constructive things in a day since I was...well...lots younger. Now I'm sitting down having a quiet cup of tea and working on whipping the edge of the gameboard.

Over the past two weeks I have purchased several dye formula books. I don't know what my next project will be, but I know I want to dye some interesting colors for it. Right now I feel really inspired and invigorated, but that probably won't last long! LOL! I just need to make the most of my energy while it lasts.

Happy hooking!

Now I can 'Finish' my Rugs...

Kathy always tells us that a rug isn't finished until it has a label on it. Well, Kathy, I finally made some labels.

Took me a while to decide how I wanted to do it- print them on the computer, just write on it with a micron pen, or....what???. I can't seem to get permanent archival ink for my printer so ruled that one out. Didn't think my own handwriting was really what I wanted either.

Decided on the dreaded embroidery machine! When I bought this machine, reading the literature makes it seem like it is soooo easy and everything is done automatically. There are icons on the computer screen with Auto-this and Auto-that, but......! And the tutorial is a breeze! Just click on the line in the drawing and it automatically traces around the drawing and makes outline stitches! NOT!!!

As you have probably guessed, the reality is that everything has to be done manually and it takes an age! LOL!!! Sone lettering fonts are provided with the embroidery software, but not many. And there are a few small decorative embroideries.
But the nice thing is, you can purchase wonderful designs on the internet if you don't have the time or patience to use your own designs. Embroidery Library is an especially good site (and reasonably priced!)

So here are the labels. The top one I'll use with designs that are not my own. I plan to write on by hand the name of the rug and the designer. The bottom one I'll use for my own designs.

Here is the machine in action. No hands necessary! It just does it's own thing until it needs a change of thread color. The sewing is the easy part. The setting up is the pain-in-
the-butt!

We had a really bad weekend with kitty health problems. I have been a total wreck!!! After finding out about two months ago that Sophie had diebetes (she is doing well at this point!), her brother Robbie fell off the window sill in the kitchen and now has some kind of neurological problems. We are not sure whether he had some kind of seizure that caused him to fall or if the fall was the cause of the problem. Anyhow he seems to lose his balance frequently now. We took him to the vet on Sat. morning and the bloodwork was fine, no inner ear problems, etc. And while he was at the vet's, he wasn't showing any signs of balance problems.

Sunday He was really schitzy and distressed. Yesterday he seemed better, with only one minor loss of balance that I noticed. This morning he had a small episode. Unfortunately without lots of expensive tests and ones that our vet is not equipped to do anyhow, we probably will not know what is causing this affliction. If it doesn't get any worse, he will be able to adjust. We will just have to wait and see and pray for the best.

Since I was such a basket case over Robbie, the only thing I had any concentration for was hooking. My gameboard is a no brainer at this point! The picture came out kind of dark. I took it on the front porch where there is better light than inside, but the sun wasn't shining directly on it. But you can see that it's progressing.

I'm getting tired of doing little red and black blocks! There are an awful lot of them!!!

Hope to see some of you at the hook-in at Grant Street Woolworks on Thursday!

Just Hookin'

On Thursday Grant Street Woolworks had their weekly hook-in. Jill K. from Virginia came and brought a friend along. We had a nice morning chatting and picking out wools for Jill's next project. This is the crow and sunflower rug that she has just finished. I love her colors! And the hooking is perfect! Way to go, Jill!

Doris came in the afternoon, and Kathy came later. I don't have any pictures because neither were working while I was there. We all just sat around and talked...and ate! LOL! Doris brought her 'purple project' to show, but since this is for presentation at another group, I didn't photograph it. I will say it's lovely! I did TRY to get some work done, but the conversation was more interesting. hehe!

I had my gameboard started. I got out the wools I had dyed, and in the fluorescent lighting, the yellow gold looked hideous! It was VERY bright and almost yellow green! Yuuuuuck!!! How embarrasing! Why didn't I get out those paint chips before I did that? What was I thinking????

Went home that evening and went through my wool stash and tried some other colors. Decided the golden brown was a decent choice. Of course there was only two small pieces. Got out the dyepot...AGAIN! This time I am happy with the results!

Now for a quiet day when I can make some real progress.

Happy Hooking, everyone!

Rughooker's Lament

Tell me why...why, why, why?! Oh why don't I ever have the right color in my stash?

Zip should be accompanying me on the guitar. This is a very sad song! LOL!!!

It seems like no matter how many pieces of wool and any color under the sun and then a few more, I never have the color I want for a specific project! I thought this checkerboard was going to be a good way to use up wool that I already have without needing to go to the dyepot. NOT!

I do have some red I like, and started out making the squares red and tan. Didn't like the tan. Re-decided on black. Do I have any black? NO! Overdyed some stuff that I didn't like with what I thought might make a nice antique black. Not dark enough against the red. Getting frustrated already! Got out (gasp!) a pack of BLACK dye. Overdyed again. Now I like it! Horay, a small success!




Since this is a gameboard I kind of want it to look like an old primitive painted one. Promary colors, but grungy. Here are the reds and a sage green that I thought would work.

I wanted the background behind the tree to be a gold/mustard color. Didn't have any of that either. Ended up overdying more odd pieces of light colored wool. Then dyed a dark green for the leaves and grass.
I do have some leftover brown worms from another project that will be the tree branches. But the whole point of all of this is that my 'sijmple' little gameboard turned into another dyefest, which was what I was hoping to avoid.



I think from now on I am going to just buy lighter neutral colored wool and dye everything, instead of purchasing lovely pieces that strike my fancy with no clear idea of what they will be used for. Because...and here the light bulb comes on!....I end up overdying them anyhow!

My final commnet is:
I need to be more like Doris. I KNOW she does not have these problems!!!



The last time I was telling you about learning about the settings on my camera. Look at the difference between the two pictures! The first one is on the 'normal' setting.


This one was taken right after, but with the setting for 'trees and leaves. Isn't that amazing?! I am just fascinated with the cool things a digital camera can do!

The veggies are from our garden. Those are cherry tomatoes. The baby eggplant is only about two inches long. Isn't it cute. Unfortunately when I went to chop him up for my salad, he was tough as leather! Oh well!

New Projects

Thought it was time to begin another hooking project so I have something to take along to hook-ins. Hate to go empty handed! Since it's a good summer theme,I drew up the moon and stars watermelon pattern. Then realized that almost all the colors I would be using would have to be dyed. Well, I must admit that dying is not my favorite thing! And it's going to take time, thought, and planning.

Soooo, needing instant gratification, I drew a quickie project that will use up some of my wool that's already on hand. Zip and I had been to Cracker Barrel restaurant last week. While we were waiting for Brand, Kami, and her realtives to arrive, we played checkers on the porch. It was kind of fun, meaning we didn't get mad at each other! haha!! Thought I'd make a gameboard to use during those long boring winter nights.

Then I had some monks cloth left over at the end and drew the apple tree to use as a small table runner. It will probably be a gift at some point. Now I have two samller stress-free (I hope!) that I can work on while getting the wool ready for the watermelon rug.

In the month of July both my Mom and grand-daughter Emily have birthdays. We celebrated (at Emmy's request) at Bonanza at the mall. Here is the 13-year-old birthday girl, Zip (looking like he has eaten the sour pickle!) and in the background, my sister Linda.

And this is the 84-year-old birthday lady!

I got to do the cutting and serving of the cake.

With Brad and Kami looking as though they are sharing a joke. We had a delightful evening of family togetherness!

On the home front, the hummingbirds have finally arrived. Don't seem to be as many this year and they are late getting here. Must have been the cool weather and rain. The little guys flit around so fast that it's hard to get a decent picture, even with the zoom.

The feeder is hanging from a tree limb about 12 feet from our kitchen window.

I am still trying to learn how to use many of the features on my new camera. There is a setting for 'tree and leaf' setting that is supposed to make the greens more vibrant. The hostas do look vibrant.

And a setting for sunsets. This lovely one was a few evenings ago. I love sitting outside (except for the mosquitos!) in the evening and watch the sun go down behind the mountains. We have a few bats that flutter around overhead, and a whole herd of cats that wander through the yard and go down to the run to look for rodents. No, they are NOT mine! Our neighbor, unfortunately, does not believe in kitty birth control! Even though I deplore animal over -population, they are lovely to look at.

Good evening! Enjoy summer while it lasts!

After Midnight

This is the night!

One of the buds on our night blooming cereus is about to open. Most of the year this amazing plant from the jungles of Central America looks like a very ordinary spindly not-very-attractive plant. It's scientific name is epiphyllum oxypetalum.

I first became acquainted with this plant as a child. My paternal grandmother had a huge one planted in a galvanized metal washtub. It stood about 5 feet high. I remember staying at grandma's way past the usual departure time to view the opening of up to three dozen buds.


The large bud on the table will be opening tonight. The smaller bud at the top of the picture will wait until tomorrow.

You can see the size of the bud by comparing it to the coffee mug.

This picture was taken about 10;30 p.m. The bud is fully open. In the jungle the flowers are polinated by bats and large moths. Here we have never had one that became polimated, due to a lack of the proper large insects. The blooms are fragrant, with a scent reminding me of peonies.

This is a closeup of the center of the flower. It looks like a sea creature.

The blooms last all night long. By daylight, they are closed again and their stems are drooping. In a day or two the stem and bud fall off.

Good Night!

Aaaahhh! Summer!

This has been a really nice summer so far. Warm in the daytime and cool at night. Pure Heaven!

Our garden is finally producing, after the waterlogged spring. This is a row of lovely mixed variety lettuces that Zip somehow managed to plant right along the edge of the grass!

Mom came down to visit last week and here she is in the zucchni patch with Zip. If any of you who are nearby need some zucchini, we have extra. We only have a few plants, but they are prolific! We also picked our first batch of greenbeans on Wednesday. We cooket them with ham and new red potatoes.

Deiter has decided that summer time is best spent napping. Here he is, sleeping with his head in one of my knee pads. I think the knee pads would make great kitty bicycle helmets! LOL!!!

On the kitty subject, Sophie is doing well so far on her insulin.

This evening we are going to Harrisburg to the Top of the Hill Restaurant for the annual Sunoco awaards dinner. Even though Zip has retired, they still invite him back for special occasions. As usual, I had nothing to wear (being mainly a jeans and t-shirt type!). So for the past several days I have been working on a top and a light jacket to wear.

Was hoping to make some pants to go with it but that didn't work out. Yesterday Kami and I went to the PA Fabric Outlet and the ONE THING I really needed was a zipper. I picked one out and put it in the cart along with the many bolts of fabric to be cut. And the zipper is still in the shopping cart!!! Boohoo! So we made a quick trip to K-Mart for some light beige pants. Wish I could have gotten a good close-up of the jacket buttons. They have little leaves in the middle.

Yes, my Santa hooked piece is finished! I haven't decided yet what my next project will be. Didn't get to the hook-in because I had absolutely nothing to work on. Since I am off for the summer I want to dust off the loom and do some weaving.

Happy hooking till next time!