A productive day....

No pictures to share today, but thought I'd just say what a beautiful day it was today! The sun was shining, and we had a cool breeze all day long. Started my day by doing my exercises (trying to be faithful with them). Helped my mil today with a few things and on the way back stopped at a few yard sales. Got a few tins to make some pin cushions with.
Daughter went out this morning to help out at church, but called me a couple hours later not feeling well and I needed to go get her. She's been battling something and we aren't sure what it is. Had her to the doctor's on Friday and they did some blood work and tested her for Mono and he said he would do a complete blood count. We'll find out Monday what's going on I hope. I think she had a migraine today, and being out in the sun wasn't helping. Plus there was loud music and a bunch of kids there. It was a safety program that they were helping with. She even asked me to turn off the radio in the car. She slept for over 3 hours. She's feeling better since she woke up.
While she was sleeping, I was outside. Spent 5 hours out there today trimming bushes. I have these little cutters that I like to use, but it takes me forever. Also trimmed a tree and a tree like bush. Did some weeding, which there wasn't much of, so that was nice. I just enjoyed being out there today listening to my husband cut the grass, and a neighbor was working on something. He had a saw going for quite a while. Just a peaceful day!
I'm tired now, and was going to go Spackle the holes in the wall of my sons room, but I changed my mind. Women do that quite often, don't they lol? I think I'll go water my plants since the sun went down and then just watch a bit of tv before bed.
Sure would have been a wonderful day to lay in a hammock if I had one. Tomorrow is supposed to be just as nice. Hmmm, wonder what I'll get done??
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

What a day!

As usual hooking at Linda's shop was a blast. Her and Pat had an all day hook-in, and Joanne and I were there ALL day. Joanne ventured out to my house (a 2 1/2 hour ride) and got here around 11:00 I believe. We took our lunch with us and ate it there. Whenever I go to Linda's, I can't help but look around first at all the wool, see if anything is new, look at the rearranging they have done, etc. While doing all that, it's a bunch of oohing and aaahing. Just can't help it lol.
It was still a work day for Linda and Pat, and I got Linda ironing a piece of a uniform they were making. They were back and forth out of their work room to visit with us. We just made sure we talked loud so we could hear each other lol. Pat finished her basket rug and it is just beautiful. I took a picture of the wool she over dyed for the background. I'm probably going to screw this one up cause I didn't write it down, but I believe she used olive and khaki drab, and quite a bit of each to get the deep shade. Isn't it great?!
Also got a shot of the back while the other girls were drooling over it lol. Joanne had sent Louis a stuffed sheep since he can't have the sheep that are in Linda's shop. The dog goes crazy over them. Too cute! Anyway, he loves playing with it, and Linda's husband Rick put it on the table so we could watch him get it down. It's also a squeek toy.

Can't forget about Bo. He just sat and watched everything going on lol.

The two of them go every where that Rick goes. Too funny to watch. Got a shot of Joanne holding Louis and his new friend. Just wondering Joanne, did Riley and Miles sniff you up and down lol?
Ok, so we got down to hooking, and Joanne made some real headway on her pattern she drew up. She's not sure about the birds yet, so I'm curious to see what she does.
Doris called and said she had car trouble. We missed you Doris! I will keep the pattern I have for you in my bag for Blue and Gray if you are going to be there. I was hoping Marion would be there. Missed you too Marion!

Jill and Beth came, and you can always guarantee some laughter with those two.
Jill put in a call to her son Isaac. It was too cute to listen too. Beth is not quite finished with her snowman rug, BUT...... I know she will finish it soon, right Beth???? And I hope you bring it with you the next time we meet. She picked out a new pattern to start on AFTER she finishes the snowman. NO starting it before lol. We helped her pick out some colors for it.
Sherry was there and was finishing up a border on her rug.
Patty was also there and she finished up her pocket book. What a beautiful job she did! Loved how she did the finishing of it all! She was working on another pattern, and I can't believe I didn't get a shot of it. Very pretty flowers.

Like I said we were there ALL day. Linda treated us to some pizza for dinner. THANK YOU again Linda for dinner. It was wonderful.
Here are just some random shots of our us hooking.

I didn't get as much done as I had hoped, but I was able to finish the entire leaf area on the right. So I'm really pleased. I want to get to more hooking of it this afternoon. And I plan on DOING IT!!

Of course there was lots of talking, lots of laughter, lots of sharing in ALL areas... Love these gals! So nice when women get together and just share all sorts of things. I will leave you with one picture of Linda, and lets just say, you look sooooo slimming LOL (little inside joke of the evening). Oh how we laughed. Perhaps Jill will put a picture up on her blog of Linda trying to unlock the bathroom. Somehow, someone, and Jill swears it wasn't her, the door got locked. Linda perservered and got it open. Too funny.

The last 3 to remain for the evening with Linda was me, Joanne and Sherry. Sherry had to be up at 4:00 a.m., so she left a little while before us. Joanne and I left right before midnight. I told you it was ALL day lol. I offered Joanne to sleep at my house, but the little bugger that she is, she drove home. And boy was it foggy coming back to my house. THICK fog! I was worried, but got an email from her this morning and she arrived home at 2:40 a.m. She said the fog cleared up after she got out of my area, and then just hit a few spots here and there.

Cannot wait till our next gathering at Linda's shop! I'm looking forward to seeing the group grow!!!!

A little note for Pat: I sent you an email to see if you'd like to drive with me to Blue and Grey in a couple weeks. Let me know!

And Linda: Have a safe trip!!

I'm so bad

I cannot believe it's been over a week since I posted last. I will really try to do better, even if there are no pictures to share. I think that is what keeps me from posting some times.
Last Friday I went to my dye group at Joan's and we worked on our braiding. Well, we had it out. We did a lot of talking that day lol. Joan is done her mock braiding, and so is Nancy. Louise and I are still working on ours. I finally picked it up last Thursday to start it. Really wasn't sure if I knew what I was doing. It took me a bit, but when I decided to forget about the lines I drew in there, the easier it came to me. All I have to remember is my center point. I will have to go back and fudge it a bit, but I get the idea now. It finally "sunk" in.

We talked about how we will actually braid our wool and attach it to the piece. I have a way to go before I get there, but I think what we discussed will be the right direction to go in.
Delores is not doing this project with us. That's what I love about the group too. If you really don't want to do what the group is doing, you don't have too. She did bring two of her rugs that she has finished though, and I'm so happy she did. They were wonderful! Here is her moose rug.

And here is her other rug. I have this pattern and hope to get to it sometime in the near future. I just love the pattern and seeing how others hook theirs. I'm going to put it above my couch. That's what the plan is anyway.
Joan is so close to being done with her rug. My picture doesn't do it justice. The colors are just wonderful.
It was such a beautiful day, we took a walk on her property to see the trout she had stocked. Gorgeous fish, and I'm mad I forgot my camera back at the house. Joan's husband has had some eye surgery. His retina became detached. I'm asking for prayers for his complete healing. He's home for a couple more weeks, so please keep Joan in your prayers too!

Last week I also got a package in the mail. On our group on line, we had a "green" swap. Our list was green floss, green wool, buttons, and a nice card. My friend Joanne had my name and she really sent me too much! I couldn't be more pleased. She gave me more than was expected. I got some beautiful wool, a JAR of buttons with floss inside, some cotton prints, some dyes, an adorable bird on a stick, and as I teased her before, a body bag lol. This bag is huge! I just love it!! Will be great for rug camps, toting rolled rugs, just about anything. Thank you again Joanne for everything!

Memorial Day weekend has just been the best weekend I've had in a while. After all the running that I've been doing, I was finally able to relax yesterday and today. And I took it very seriously, and did just that. I relaxed. I almost forgot what it felt like. Saturday I took the entire afternoon to do the cooking for Sunday. Unfortunately Craig and Lake couldn't join us. They had something come up and I hope they had fun. But I picked up Nicole's boyfriend after church and he came over and we ate outside. The weather couldn't have been nicer. They were calling for rain, but it never did until we were in bed. And I don't think it was that much. Last Thursday George and I went out to buy our new grill. It's a Weber, and he is tickled pink. He got his new toy. I was surprised he let ME cook on it today. He does the burgers and I do the chicken lol. We are hoping it's our last grill for many many years. So today we had leftovers and I did another day of doing nothing. It was wonderful. All I did was take Nicole to her parade and then afterwards her and Brandon walked home. I didn't even stay for it. I saw her in the parade she was in the week before.

I feel like I should have been doing something today, but I'm just listening to my body. Tomorrow is the start of a new week, and I'm setting some goals for myself. I'm hoping to achieve one or two of them. We'll see!

Wednesday Linda is having a hook-in at her shop ALL day. I'm up for that. Not sure what time I'll get there, but I'm definitely going. I've already got the go ahead from George. I missed the Chambersburg group today. With Nicole being in the parade, there wasn't much time for me to do it. I had to pick her up from her girlfriends mid morning. She slept over her house last night. So that would have cut my time even shorter.

Will do my best to keep up with more posting. Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and you were gathered with family and friends.

The big day, first Prom.....

Well, I guess you can say this is going to be all about Nicole! My daughter Nicole went to her first Prom with her boyfriend Brandon. He is a Junior at a different High School. When she first told me that he asked her, I started to wonder then, where we were going to get a gown for her. Well, my friend Donna's daughter Dani had been to quite a few proms, and Donna told me that the gowns were just sitting there. She offered them to Nicole to look at. So we took her up on that, and Donna said we could alter them for Nicole. Her daughter Dani has beautiful taste in gowns to say the least. When Nicole started to try them on, my heart dropped. She looked beautiful in each one of them. And NO alterations were needed at all. I was shocked!! And quite glad too, because I didn't want to do that to her gowns. So all we needed was the shoes, and that turned out quite well, since she needed a pair of silver shoes for a wedding she will be in in July, so it's double duty. She wore the pearls that were my mothers. I didn't realize she had been in my jewelry box. But when she asked me, I of course said sure. I can't thank Donna and Dani enough for their generosity of loaning us the dress. They also came down while we were taking pictures so they could see her. I'm so happy they did!

Nicole had her hair done by our friend LeeAnn. She also cuts both of our hair where she works. So we made sure to get an appointment with her before she was booked up. Nicole got her nails done on Friday night and then her hair done on Saturday afternoon. I'm warning you now, I'm going to bore you with pictures . I'll try to keep them to a minimum lol. Unfortunately Craig had to work so he wasn't here to see his sister.

I dropped her off at the hair place and went to pick up Brandon's boutonniere, and then went back. Nicole had been looking on the internet for something she thought would be nice. I think she picked the perfect style for the dress and for her. When I walked in, she had gotten this much done already. It went from this: To this: And then to this:

I thought LeeAnn did a wonderful job and Nicole was thrilled with it. So it was back to the house, and we were surprised that we had a little time to relax. She grabbed a bite to eat and then got dressed. Brandon came over and we started to take pictures. I'm not going to write too much. I think the pictures say it all!

Of course we needed some pictures outside too. And we were sweating it, because they were calling for some pretty heavy rain. They actually made it to the prom right before it came down, and it came down hard!

Can never get by without her being a clown. I just love that about her!!

Before they went to the prom, I took them to my mil's to they could show her how they looked. And of course she wanted a picture with her grandmom.
Ok, I hope I didn't bore you too much. They said they had a really nice time, and Nicole said she got Brandon to dance. Always a hard thing I guess for the guys if they really aren't into it. But she said he enjoyed himself. Glad to hear it!

It was late by the time I got to bed last night, as for her too. Then it was up early for church today and after that, she had a parade to be in with the band. I'm just now getting to the point where I can sit and not have to worry about running somewhere. Although, there is no way I'm cooking dinner tonight, so it will be one more run out for the pizza lol.

It's been a very long weekend, but i'm so happy Nicole had a good experience for her first Prom. I'm sure there are a couple more to come! Was hoping to get a little bit of hooking in tonight, but nah. I'm just going to put my feet up and do nothing. Right now that sounds really good........

Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead!

Thursday evening hooking

Hooking was at Grant Street Woolworks last night! My goodness, sometimes I couldn't hear myself "think" lol. So much laughing and talking going on. I didn't know which conversation to follow. Even though I have an ear on each side of my head, it's hard to listen to everything at once!

We had a great time as usual. Sherry finished whipping her cat rug, and it is so nice. What a fun pattern. I was really quick at getting a shot of Beth when I first walked in. Shh, don't tell her I took one! Her and Pat were discussing cats. Beth is still working on her snowman. I just "know" that she will have it just about finished by next month. Right Beth??? You can see a little of it on her frame in front of her.

Her sister Jill was busy hooking away. She is doing the same rug as Pat, and I just love how they look so different. Jill, your rug is wonderful, keep going with it. I want to see more done by next month!
And here is her rug! Wonderful!!
Marion (center) brought along her friend Donna, and they spent a lot of time looking at magazines. Sherry was busy whipping while listening to them two.
Linda is still working on her grand daughters rug. Linda, take a close look at this.... It is great! If you rip out one more piece of the sheep, I am not coming next month LOL. I can't tell you how many colors she has been through for the body of that sheep! Linda was talking with Sherry about her chair pads, and then Pat came along and shared a tip on how to keep it from getting wavy on the finishing. Pat got some cording and was slipping into the part that Sherry already whipped. Usually you would do this while you are whipping, and Pat got her to the point where she could just start covering it. Great tip!

And me? Well, I DID do some hooking! I told my friends Beth and Joanne that I would pull a few loops for them and for me lol. I pulled more loops than I had planned on, so that was great for me! I have a busy weekend ahead with Nicole going to her boyfriends Junior Prom. I will make sure to take pictures!

I hope all of you have plans on doing something fun........Enjoy!

A finished piece

Went to church yesterday to hook a bit with Genny and Betty. Betty was making some more dishcloths, and she was generous to give Genny and I one. Thank you Betty! Genny has finished her rug, and I couldn't be more happy for her. I think she did a fabulous job! She's a go getter and knew that she wanted her edges to be scalloped. This is her 3rd piece that she has finished. The first piece was a small sunflower mat that I drew up for her to see if she'd even like it. She finished that in no time. Then she did a dachshund rug with a really neat border. She drew it up herself, and then this one. This was a Joan Moshimer (I think) pattern out of a book she found. It had the scalloped edge but it had some geese on it near the cow instead of the dogs. She breeds dachshunds and she wanted them in place of the geese. She said she also had a basset hound, so she put that in there too. I am totally impressed with her desire for the art form, and love the way she adapted the pattern to suit herself. She purchased her next piece off of ebay, and it has a bird house with sunflowers and some blue birds. She is busy searching for visual references to achieve the look she wants. I know she will do great with it. So here is her finished piece. It was a full day for me yesterday. Made sure I got up early enough to get a roast in the crockpot, and had that on low all day. Nicole had a doctor's appointment at 8:20 to see what we could do for a wart that has been on her thumb for over a year. We have tried everything. Even duct tape lol. Somewhere she heard that, so she was trying it. Anyway, because of it's size, we had it removed. I watched everyting. It was really quite interesting. She turned away when he gave her the needle to numb up the thumb. Then he burned it and sliced it off. She watched a little. Told her I should have taken a picture lol. She is just thrilled that it is gone, so hopefully it will stay away and not grow back. We'll see what happens.

Made it back to take her to school and then I was a little late going to church to hook. I actually pulled some loops. Just wish I knew why I don't have the desire right now. I push myself to workout, even pushed myself this morning after doing my 4 mile walk, to take the longer way home up a pretty good size hill. Not sure how much extra it was, but it felt great. Just need to push myself into hooking I guess. Maybe it will make me feel as good as my walk. Genny really liked her gift of the hornbook, so that made me feel good. I also gave her a sunflower that I hooked a while back, and it is on a stick.

Finished there and went to do the grocery shopping and help my mil out. That took more time than usual. Made it home with time to clean up for dinner. We were having an old friend from NJ over. I remember my husband telling me that he had spoken with Skip and found out he had the gastric bypass done. Skip was about 330 lbs. The biggest teddy bear with the gentlest soul. What a shock to see him last night. He has lost 130 lbs!! He says he feels great, and he is able to run around with his daughter who is 5. You can really tell she is Daddy's little girl. I was able to get a shot of my husband George - left, and Skip -right on our deck last night. It was really nice to see him. He was out this way interviewing for a job. He doesn't feel it's for him though. He's a truck driver. So him and his wife are headed out to Arizona next week to apply for something out there. Wishing him the best of luck!!
I'm off to get my day started. Have to wait around for a package being delivered for my son. He asked me if I was going to be home for it, so I said sure. Perhaps I'll get the "desire" to do some hooking. I sure hope so. I am going hooking tomorrow night at Grant Street Woolworks in Chambersburg. Looking forward to seeing everyone. I'll be taking some pic's to show you all.
Wishing everyone a great day. The sun is shining and the birds are chirping. Such a beautiful day. Get out and enjoy it.........

Monday hooking....

Had a really fun time at Blue and Gray today in Gettysburg. I was running late. Had to make a few phone calls before I went. Always something to get in the way, isn't there? Was really surprised when I pulled into the parking lot, and saw how many cars there were. So nice to see such a large group. So glad I remembered my camera!

Marion is hooking directly into dyed wool here. It is really something to see in person! She will be framing this one to finish it off. Lovely how there is no background to hook.

Joan has been really busy. I don't know if this woman ever puts a hook down lol. She makes chair pads for her church bazaar every year in November. She's done with them already. They look great!

And this is just a scrappy rug of hers. She is always using up her worms. BUT always has tons left over lol. Thelma is just about done with her braided rug. She does amazing work. Love the colors in this one.
Brenda got a gift today for her birthday. Her friend is a beautiful quilter. It was very lovely.
Nancy has been hooking away on her mock braiding. Something I can't say of myself. I love how it's turning out. And here is another piece that Joan is doing. The color plan on this one is so soft. Great job! I'm sure she'll have it done and another started by next month. Wouldn't be surprised if it was done by the next time we get together for dye group in another week or so!

I was a bum today. I took along my hooking, but also took along a pn piece that needed the cording sewn on. I am giving it as a gift tomorrow to Genny at church. She turns 50 and I wanted to give her something. I had planned on finishing it off into something else, but it wasn't hitting me right, so I chose to put it on a hornbook. I had to paint this up and get it done. I hope she will be pleased. She likes sunflowers.

So needless to say, I didn't pull a loop today. Such a bum. I feel like I'm in a rut. Need to force myself to pick up the hook I guess and just get at it! I'm taking my hooking to church tomorrow, so cross your fingers....