The counting down begins

Wow, tomorrow is December 1st already.  And the feeling of panic to go along with it for some people.  Not feeling it though this year. That is a good thing! It is what it is.......

Our Thanksgiving went very well. Food was great and we had a full table with the kids and their boyfriend and girlfriend.  I just loved sitting there and watching and listening to them all. So much laughter, it was wonderful.  Even had help with clean up and it went so fast. I think I was more amazed at the clean kitchen than anything else lol.

Went out Black Friday. Not for any bargains, because I didn't feel there were any for what I wanted. Have already started my shopping and am almost done with the kids. Great feeling!  Even almost done with my husband and he is theeeeeeee hardest! Especially since his Birthday falls on Christmas Eve.  So I just wandered in and out of the stores and left everyone in line :).

Ended up taking a ride out to East Berlin to see Becky and her pottery. She was having her open house. Bought a few pieces of stoneware. I just love them.!

Went to the Little Log House which was close by and was able to see it for the first time. I did not have my camera with me, but wish I did. It's such a sweet little place that housed quite a few vendors inside. The group I hook with out there was invited to participate this year. So it was nice seeing our things. We did very well. It was a 3 day event. What was even nicer, was that we didn't have to be there. They took care of everything.

I forgot to mention that before Thanksgiving, Jill and I met up for lunch and then were going over to see Barb in the hospital. She had one of her knees replaced. She was doing very well I thought. I little groggy from pain medicine, but we got her laughing.  Of course I had my camera that day LOL.

This past weekend was spent clearing out the computer room. I call it our computer room because it has the computer in there.  I need to come up with a better name for this room.  It is supposed to be a dining room, but we are not dining room people.  So everything had to come off the bookshelves, then all the stuff out of the top of the hutch in order to move them in to the center of the room.  Holes were spackled then sanded. Tonight I get to paint the ceiling. Was hoping to do that last night, but no energy.

The no energy part has finally been diagnosed.  I went to work yesterday, but left for a little bit to go pick up my blookwork order and ran downstairs to get the blood drawn.  Was back to work in half an hour.  Stopped to pick up the results on my way home. Was sooo thankful it didn't take long.  My thyroid is off. Just as I had suspected. I will be in contact with the doctor this week to have my medicine adjusted.  Will also see him next Monday to discuss some other issues.  So I'm sure I'll be feeling better and back to my old self with LOTS of energy  in a few weeks. Not a pill that works over night unfortunately. 

I did manage to stitch a piece on Saturday for a Christmas gift with our group on line. Can't share that with you. Took quite a while, but glad I was able to finish it.

Have been enjoying reading everyone elses posts about how their Thanksgiving went. Now I look forward to seeing all the Christmas decorations from you all. I will post a picture of the  computer room when it's finished. The Christmas tree will be going in there too. Hoping to get that this weekend. Not sure how everyone's schedule will work out for that. So we'll see. 

Raining here today. Not looking forward to going out in it, but I will.  Hope you are all snuggled in your homes and stitching or hooking or crafting away !! 
Have a wonderful week :)

I would love some cheese

To go with my whining these days....  I'm even sick of hearing myself. The weather, good or bad  hasn't seemed to help my mood. I'm amazed at my attitude on just about everything. It's an "I don't want to, because I don't care" attitude, plain and simple.   It doesn't matter what it is. I just don't want to.  Call it Winter blues, Seasonal depression, whatever.  But it got a hold of me and I'm struggling to shake it. I know I will. I'm aware of it, aware of my behavior. It will just have to run it's course I guess. I could have crawled under those blankets this morning and gone right back to bed. Glad I didn't. But did I get anything done? Nope. I am however waiting for my son to call so I can go over there and help him out. They are moving in tomorrow.  Hopefully, It will inspire me to keep moving.

So that's the reason why I haven't been blogging, why I haven't been doing anything. I am supposed to have made a few things for a little show this weekend, but thank God there are a few of us girls and I'm counting on them to provide the load of it. I have hardly anything made.Nobodies fault but my own. 
However, I have been able to upload some pictures from yesterdays hook in and the previous week as well. 

Yesterday Joanne came out and showed a few people how to make a wool feather tree. It wasn't a set time to be taught. Whenever you got there, Joanne was gracious and spent the time with them.

Sherri and Sandy were the first two to learn.  Joanne got them started and then brought whipping to do inbetween.

Then Genny... the one that is still folded up is Sherri's all finished! they are supposed to wait a day for them to dry before they pull down the branches and shape them..

Bonnie and Jackie joined in too. And... Joanne whipping some more :).

Genny finished hers too.  In fact, everyone finished theirs.  and each time they did, Linda rang a bell lol. It was cute.

Nettie was whipping a rug she finished. Wish I would have gotten a picture of the completed hooking.

She also brought along some of her punch needle that she had done.  Great pieces!

Joan came and was able to relax and enjoy the laughter of the day.

Her rug and it's progress!!!  Just gorgeous!

She also makes sock monkies, and Linda had purchased one...or two :)

Somehow, someone got a hold of MY camera and snapped a shot of me.  I had BIG intentions of doing a lot yesterday. I brought hooking, never got to it. But I did manage to make up a couple coasters, with a simple blanket stitch.  Hey, I drew out the circles, cut them, AND got 3 done lol.  That's progress for me :).

Kay hooking and Sherri in the background finishing up her feather tree.

Brenda whipping her rug. It is a gift... A big gift!!!

I think I get the same shot of Nancee hooking this rug.  It's all houses, but seriously, she is moving along on it. Next time, I will have to get a full on shot of it!

Jill was busy at the table asking for help with color planning her newest rug.  Can't quite remember what Joan was doing, but... I'd say she was telling Jill how much wool she will need for this monstrous rug! LOL

Here is Jill's rug she has made for her son Isaac. It just needs to have the right side waves hooked and then she can bind it!

The previous week, we were showing people how to do punch needle.  And Cathy stopped by to buy some new wool for her horse rug.  Amazing, isn't it?? I love it!

 

And here are a few of the girls punching away~

Jackie is also coming along so beautifully on her rug.  Will try to capture the colors better on another Thursday. It's not so stark as in the picture here.

Well, that's it for pictures for now.  Trying to think of what else has been going on.  Oh, my daughter Nicole made the Honor Roll for her first marking period of being a Senior.  A's and B's! We are very proud of her. Had one email conference with her AP Biology teacher. She got a B this past marking period and already has an A so far heading into the second.  Go Nicole! 

Have spent some time over Craig's new home helping with the painting. I was still living at home at his age of 23, with not even a thought of moving out. And here he has been through 2 apartments and now owns his own place. WOW, we are sooo proud!  What a feeling :). 

This morning as I didn't want to move out of my chair, I did some Christmas shopping on line.  Feels good to have it started.

Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week already.  Are you ready?  I just ordered a fresh turkey a couple days ago.  Will pick it up next week.  Have I done any of the other shopping for it yet? Nope lol. Made a list yet of what I need to get? Nope on that one too!   Everything will work out just fine. The fact that we will all be together is all I need.  I'm looking forward to that!  

Hoping you all are spending your Thanksgiving with the ones you hold dearest!  Being thankful is a daily thing for me. I thank God all day long for the little things, the big things, the good things and the not so good things. Yep, even those. Because I learn from them.  It's how we grow.   And in case I don't post before next week....

Wishing each and everyone of you a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

A sea of Hookers ~~

Finally, finally I'm getting to posting about Brandywine this past Saturday. I know some of you have been waiting.  I slept in on Sunday (certainly needed it after this) and then went out to lunch with my friend Donna to celebrate her 50th Birthday! More Birthdays lol....  By the time I got home, we had no internet. We had cable, but no internet. Did not come back on till late yesterday afternoon. By that time, I was heavily involved with my wool room and didn't want to quit since I was on a roll.  I worked Sunday evening also since the computer was down. I am pleased to say that I have a floor again :), and my wire cubbies are nicely stacked with my wool.  Overwhelmed at how much? You Betchya!!  Need to really start hooking some so I feel better about having soooo much. 

Ok, back to Brandywine.  What a wonderful day it was. I teased everyone else not to be late when meeting up with Linda, and here I didn't get up when the alarm went off. BUT I was there on time and ready to go. Just not feeling so hot because I jumped out of bed so fast and I didn't eat.  By the time we got there, I grabbed a cup of coffee and a trail mix bar, and I was good to go shortly after.  We arrived early, but we weren't allowed in till 9:00.  Seems others had the same idea of getting there early because there was a line of us just waiting.  I was amazed at how fast the place filled up. And did it ever!  A true Sea of Hookers!! Will start with showing you a shot of the room...

Just a sampling of Rebecca Erb's wool :)

Linda with the girls from Grant Street.  I'm just laughing now because everyone is working, and I'm walking around. Look how serious they all were!! Might be from all the food on the table. They were tired from eating and figured they should get to working..

Now at my table, there's a different story. I caught them snacking :)

They had an auction to benefit the Biennial next year. Here is a shot of the auctioneer and the goods to be auctioned on the tables in the right of the picture.  There was a LOT to be auctioned off.

There was not a rug show this year. I'm assuming to try and make more room. Really don't know for sure. Plus with the Auction, I'm sure they needed the space to display the items for everyone to see what they would be bidding on.

So here are a few rugs that I did manage to capture while walking around with my camera.  I was bad at not taking too many. It was very crowded!  And forgive me if I forget any names.
Here is Louise on the right with her friend. . Just love this rug to pieces!!!! And HUGE!

Another beauty from Judy Carter....

Here is Sharon standing over her rug and everyone else is around looking at it..

It was soooo pretty in person. I'm so glad she brought it for us to see....

A close up of the corner.

Marion working on her fine cut.

Here is another one, and I'm not sure of who did it. Just was able to capture it as someone was holding it up. And yes, I asked first to take a picture.

Beth and her Aunt Mary Jane looking at a vendor's items.

And here is her Aunt's rug! Love it!!

Had to giggle at Sharon's camera case. It was a sock lol. Hey, it works!!

Another prim rug :)

This one was hanging at Rebecca's table. I just like the colors.

Deb's rug is soooo different, just love it!

I can't remember the name of the woman who did this one. She was sitting with the East Berlin girls. 

And here is Tanya  working on a hit or miss.

Look at this Prim beauty!!

And here is what I've accomplished with my rug.  This will show you how much hooking I got done there. If you look closely at the background color up against the top edge and bottom edge, that's what I finished LOL. One and a half rows.  I think I finally sat down at around 3:00 maybe? lol.  Yes, it is a hook in, but there is so much to see, so much to buy, and so many new people to meet!

And speaking of new people to meet!!  Here is another Kathy!  Hey you, you made it on the Blog! Now I can put a face to the name :). She had stopped me earlier in the day and told me that she reads my blog. I was a little taken back at first because I don't think of this blog as reaching as many people as it does I guess.  And when she told me her name, I knew she was the Kathy from NJ. What a coincidence, me too!  We talked for a brief time, and then I said I would stop by her table a little later on.  I'm so glad I did....  Here is the rug she is working on. 

She was sitting with two of her friends. Here is Annette and her rug..  Hi Annette!!

And here is Patty, Hey there!! 

Loved all of their rugs, and I hope I get to see them finished!! It as sooooo nice meeting you all. I had such a nice talk with them at their table. Who would have ever thought that I'd be recognized.  I told Kathy at one point that I felt like I was being stared at a few times. (wondered if I had something on my face lol). But perhaps someone else recognized me too.  It is just too funny to me. Kathy, I'm glad you stopped me and introduced yourself. And I hope to see you again :). Post on my blog when you can and let me know how you are doing, or drop me a line in an email to stay in touch.

The ride home went quicker than the ride there. It's a miracle that we got the back hatch closed to the Suburban.  LOL, it was THAT FULL~~  My friend Beth said we should have gotten a picture of it. I wish I did!!!  But I wish I would have gotten a picture of her Aunt's face when she saw it. Her mouth was wide open lol.  Too funny! 

When we got back, Linda and Janice went their ways. They were exhausted.  Thank you Linda for the safe ride there and back. Much appreciated!!  Sherry, Jill, Beth and I went out for a bite to eat for dinner and it was nice just relaxing with them and chatting about our day. 

Well, it's almost midnight and my computer has been shutting off on me completely and then restarting. I will have to have my son take a look at it soon. But until then, I will be posting from my laptop.  Not sure when that will be. All the excitement was this past weekend! I'm still on a high. So thrilled with what I purchased. I didn't get a shot of what I brought home, because the wool is washed, dried and put away already! I can just tell you what I got. Some wool of course, and I did behave myself, I don't care what Joanne says lol. I really didn't bring home too much, and then I bought myself a pattern called St. Nick, an adaptation from Spruce Ridge from Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farms. Also bought a small charm for my necklace of a fraktur flower, and I got a hand woven basket made from the women in Ghana. The money goes to them to help their families. I'll try and get a shot of that another day.  Oh, and I bought a Christmas gift already....  I let Beth pick it out :). 

I'm sure I am forgetting some things. I am just hurrying on here so my computer doesn't go out on me again.

Hard to believe that tomorrow is Wednesday already. I took the day off yesterday because I had to take care of a few things at my mil's home.  I won't know what day it is as the week goes on. Change one thing and I'm all out of whack.   And excuse any typo's in this post, I'm sure there are some.

Some good news today though. I got a call today that my son had his closing on his FIRST home! He has purchased a double wide mobile home. I am soooo happy for him.  George and I will be going to see it tomorrow night after I'm out of Bible class. 

Until my next post, have a wonderful week, stay warm (those cold temps are really sneaking in on us), and keep your hands busy......