I'm so Bummed

I'm so very bummed - I asked my husband to be sure to wake me up when he was done in the bathroom - I wanted to get an early start - I was awokened to "Holy Sh*t!" He looked outside and saw it snowed! Neither of us heard this on the weather report!

Yesterday I had my projects all packed, a cake baked, and everything waiting to load in the car and get an early start. I was supposed to meet up with Kathy first and go grab something to eat and then on to play at Grant Street.

Well I sat and waited until my husband got to work and he said it wasn't too bad - a little slippery but he had heard there were wrecks and overturned vehicles and such on some of the major roads. Grrrrrrrrr - so I thought I would wait it out. It was still spitting snow for a few hours and by the time it stopped and the sun came out it was too late for the 2 1/2 hour drive.

So here I sit with a chocolate cake and no one to share it with!


I normally would freeze it and save it for the next time I go out (which i hope is in a few weeks) but my freezer is stuffed full as I did major grocery shopping this past week! May cut it up and squeeze it in but then in pieces it dries up faster! Guess I'll just have to make another one.

If anyone wants the recipe for this one - It's a Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake - and one of the very easiest I ever made:

Take a box chocolate cake mix - make it according to the "pound" cake directions on the box - but pour the oil right in the bottom of the baking pan - then dump the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, and water and mix up until just mixed with a fork - dump in a bag of chocolate chips and stir! Bake according to package direction. So moist and tasty! I made a cooked icing and just poured it on so it's very a very thin layer of dark chocolate icing.

I guess on the bright side of "being bummed" - I have three clean bathrooms (why 2 people need 3 bathrooms is beyond me), 2 of the 3 bedrooms are cleaned (except for the rug hooking room of course), one more load of laundry to do, dinner is made waiting to heat up, and the day isn't even half over!

Hope everyone is having a great day - I'm sure the girls at Grant Street are!

I Won a Giveway! Cat Naps and No Hook Zone

A few weeks ago I won a give-a-way on Jennifer Manuell's blog at Fish Eye Rugs. She had a New Year's Giveaway stating that she had a huge stash of wool and wanted to share - we had to post one of our New Year's resolutions and what colors we would like, and hers was to challenge herself to hook with what she had in her stash. I was one of the lucky winners and picked Red since I have a hard time dyeing a good red - I don't like bright fire engine red but do like a rich red or a brick red.

Yesterday I received my bundle of wool - It's truly beautiful - the pic on my monitor shows more pink but every piece is a nice rich true red. Thank you so much Jennifer - What a generous giveaway!



Now that it's cold out - I am thinking maybe we we keep our heat too low? Every time Riley goes down to the "mancave" in the basement he lays in front of this vent - so much so that my husband put an old pillow down! Hmmm is he trying to tell us we don't keep the house toasty enough? We do keep it at about 65 degrees and if we have it higher you roast on the third floor where the bedrooms are and also my rug hooking room.

Do you remember the days of being young and just getting a really good nights sleep? Oh to be young again!

Well this past weekend I did try to get some hooking done - but someone I think has turned my frame into a "No Hooking Zone" - Again to be so comfortable in any old place we lay our heads!

I actually did get some hooking done when he was downstairs playing - not as much as I wanted but some - It was a dreary rainy Sunday and Monday so good to stay in and create!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Another Receipe

Promised this receipe to a few people so thought I would just post it here. What's nice this makes two loaves and it freezes well - it's always nice to have something on hand if you need something quick and do not feel like baking! Enjoy.


CRANBERRY TEA CAKE
¾ cup Milk
6 Chai Tea Bags
2 Oranges – zested and juiced
2 cups Chopped Cranberries
1 cup Butter (2 sticks)
¼ tsp Baking Soda
1 ½ tsp Vanilla
6 Large Eggs
2 ½ cups Sugar
3 cups Flour
1 ½ cups Confectioners Sugar

Prep: Heat milk 2 minutes – add tea bags to steep for 5 minutes; zest orange – about 2 tsps. Juice orange for about ½ cup orange juice; Chop fresh canberries.

Beat Butter to cream – gradually beat in sugar. Add eggs one a time, add vanilla. Add orange zest. Add flour & baking soda alternatively with milk mixture until well blended. Stir in cranberries.

Bake 350 degrees in a buttered/flour tube pan or 2 loaf pans. Bake for approx. 1 hour depending on pan.

Cool cake on rack – when cool – mix together 1 ½ cups confectioners sugar and ½ cup orange juice with whisk – pour over tops of cakes to glaze.

Kindness of Strangers, Wonderful Friends, Sweet Treasures

Friday Nite - I sit here with one of my tigers at my side -

and another on the other side (on my hooking frame so no hooking is going on!

What a week it's been. It started out quietly enough - nothing really too exciting. On Monday I made two shepherd pies and took one over to my parents. My Mom is making me a queen size bed quilt and gave me a challenge to find some more fabric she needed for a border (i think that's what she said)

It's a beigy/tan color. She has something in the same color family and I told her to use that - but her being a perfectionist would like to match it! Oh well - I told her to lighten up and "let it go" it wll be okay to mix! LOL

Most of the week was spent as normal

Tiger's playing -

(Notice again on the hooking frame - hmmm when will i ever be able to hook again)

Tiger's napping:

Will you please get that camera outta here!

Then comes the decision - In the same words of that Clash song - Should I stay or should I go? To Grant Street that is. It is a 2 hour plus drive for me and they were calling for bad weather Thursday nite into Friday. So I decided not to go. Normally I would email Kathy and tell her I'm coming out and meet her at her house but told her I wasn't coming out this week. So fast forward late Wednesday nite - I really wanted to go - haven't been there for a while. Weather still says it will be crappy late - now you have to remember we generally don't get our butts out the door until at least midnite which means I get home close to 3:00 a.m.! Anyway - I get up early Thursday morning - still wanting to go - check the weather reports - woohoo - for this area it's pushed off until early Friday morning, Chambersburg area - after midnite - so I'm thinking I will go and just make myself leave early to avoid any possible bad weather. So i get myself and my hooking stuff together and jump in the car and off I go - When I get closer, I'm driving down I-81 first thinking I will go straight to Grant Street since Kathy probably already left her house then I decided I needed to stop and get something and will stop in Shippensburg first, go to Kathys to see if she's still home and wants a ride with me to Grant St. So I did my errand - get in my car - decide she's probably already left and head for Grant Street. I'm a few blocks from there and something made me look on my seat and I realize my wristlet is missing (basically a wallet with a strap - sometimes I carry this rather than a whole purse) So I pull over thinking it was under the seat or something - tore the car apart and nope - no wallet. So I did a U'ie and tore back down to Shippensburg - park and look around - nope - no wallet, ran into the building I was in - nope - no wallet, ran into a framing gallery which I was parked in front of asking if anyone turned in a wallet. Nope - but he said the meter man was just up and down the street and if anyone found it he would have! So I left my cell phone # with him and then drove up and down the streets (in between stopping three more times to tear the car apart) looking for the meter man! Well at this point I'm thinking the wallet is gone, lost - no use crying in my bottled water nothing I can do about it - just chalk it up to my carelessness. I lost my credit card, my debit card, my license and approx. $100. So off I go to Grant Street (all the while thinking -I best do the speed limit as I have no license anymore! LOL) I got to Grant Street and explained my drama - and Pat was kind of enough to lend me some money for tolls for my drive home! Thank you for your offer Pat - it's so nice to have friends like you!

Well I made the necessary phone calls to put a hold on the credit card, cancel the debit card, called the Shippensburg Township to find out if the meter man turned in a wallet, notified the Ship police and then proceeded to relax and get on with the reason I came out in the first place - to visit with friends and work on some rugs. In the meantime Miss Kathy was in the backroom working so I really surprised her (wish I had a camera to take a pic of her face when it registered I was sitting there! LOL too cute) and Kathy, bless her heart, was so worried over my wallet - She left, on the pre-tense of getting my Christmas gift from her house, but I knew she would go back to Main St, Ship and go over my steps! Well she did and unfortunately, no luck either, but she did bring me some wonderful Christmas gifts! Oh wow Oh Wow Oh Wow - can you say generous and talented! She totally spoiled me! Check out this wonderful box she made me - she painted it, antiqued it, covered in fabric, etc. She cross stitched this wonderful design and lined the box in oldtime newspaper print - It's an absolute treasure - I love it! (My favorite colors too!)

Inside of box -

The rest of the items - She gifted me with an old ticking pillow, a ticking table runner (yes I love ticking), some reeses cups - mmm good, a "clean" cloth (hmmm has she seen my house lately!), a yard or more of my favorite wool to overdye, a make-do star with Peace on it, a jar with an old looking label "Wool" - so cute!

Thank you so much Kathy - I just love everything! You are the best!

Well as we were sitting there working away - I was doing finishing work on a few items - I keep calling my home answering machine - about the sixth time I called there was a message from a woman from Shippensburg saying she FOUND MY WALLET! WOOHOO! I called her back and made arrangement to go pick it up from her. Later Kathy and I went back to Shippensburg and picked it up - She didn't want any "reward" for finding it - apparently she had her purse stolen out of her car and knew how I felt! What a wonderful soul - makes you believe again in the Kindness of Strangers! Will be sending her a little token of my appreciation! Thank you Jeannie!

Back in my possession - everything intact!

So back to the hook-in and everyone can finally totally relax!

I finished whipping my rug I made back in November - it's made from left over worms and started with just a blank piece of linen and this is what turned out...

Also finished a little mug rug and a snowman face tree skirt - which i forgot to take a pic of!

Even with Kathy's running about and working she managed to get some work done too!

Kathy's making some woolly noodles while Linda waits patiently for lunch!

There were several women in and out throughout the day working on some wonderful rugs - See Kathy's blog for pics - my pics were blurry - yep - you will never confuse me with a pro photographer!

It was a fun day - Linda had her son pick up lunch for us which was good! Thanks Linda! The day went by way too quick and I couldn't believe it - we actually left early - I was originally planning on leaving around 7:00 to avoid any bad weather but Tanya came and said it was pushed off a bit - so I think it was around 9:30 when we left - Funny - I hit way more traffic going home this time and things were still :"lit" up - usually it's pretty dark and desserted with a few truckers on the road!

Today I decided to get a few errands done. The local food pantry is out of food so I went shopping in my cabinets and filled a few bags and took them over. Then I went to the store where I sell some of my rugs and realize I need to stock some more in there. She's looking for more crafters to help stock the shop - so if anyone knows anyone let me know. It's not a rug hooking store - that's just what i supply but she mentioned she would love someone to make wreaths, and just different handmade local artisan crafters. Then i visited with my parents for a bit - worth the trip - I left there with a 100% wool kilt that will yield lots of wool!

When I got home I had another surprise - a package from Chris of Mystical Primitives - she had my name in our Secret Sweet Admirer swap on AAPG. Oh my goodness - no words to describe the wonderful items she made me - she is on talented lady and sells on ebay - I would advise you to bid bid bid on her items - she is so talented! Here's Chris's link to her Ebay lists.

She made me an adorable sheep pin cushion and covered the pins with hearts, a St. Valentine's Needlepunched pillow - really large too!, a little cupboard stitched Valentine hanger, a pile of red delicious wool - love red!, and some "Love Pasta" heart shaped pasta! Too cool! Thank you so much Chris - I just love everything

And if that wasn't enough, my husband comes home a few hours later with a strawberry cheese croissant for me and the new Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Anthology (a 4-cd set of live shows recorded form 1980-2007)! Oooh - this will be loaded in mycd player in my car for my next road trip! Can't wait to listen to it

So all in all even with all the drama it was a great week - I have wonderful friends and there are wonderful people out there in our world! A big reason to give everyone you meet a smile!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Ho Hum

Well it seems there must be something in the air. So many people are talking about and blogging about how "boring" their life is, or how they have nothing to "blog" about etc. I feel exactly the same way! Maybe it's the let down after Christmas - you have all that anticipation and things to do until Christmas and than bang - it's over. Then comes the not so fun stuff of taking things down - putting them away - then your house looks so bare. Sure Valentine's Day is next but if you are like me you may have only a few Valentine type decorations. I don't know - could be the weather in January too. Whatever. I guess life is what we make it!

I haven't been up to much lately. Last weekend I spent a few days with a friend. We went to a play "Sugar Babies" - it was a benefit for a friend of hers that needs a kidney transplant. They did a great job in a short time.

When I came home after being away from Sunday until Wednesday I received the "cold paw" from Riley - he does this all the time to me - however Jonesy was all over me like a cheap suit and so was Miles. Riley is just too funny, he won't let me hug him, pick him up or even "look" at him - but i catch him staring at me and the minute i look at him he looks away. Well I woke up the next morning and he was asleep on my butt! So I tried to get him to cuddle and he was still a little standoffish - took him almost a full day - but he's my buddy again! Guess tigers don't hold grudges too long.

Jonesy had another growth spurt I believe - I won't post any pictures for a bit then maybe you can see the difference. I do have to say it again - this kitten is a joy to have around. I feel so glad to have stopped in the SPCA the day - something drew me to him and I knew he had to come home with him. He makes me laugh on a daily basis almost to the point of crying - he is just so happy and full of joy it's contagious!

Poor Miles - if anyone has any ideas, I'd be open to them. He's still throwing up on a daily basis - several times a day (My poor hooked rugs that are on the floor) We've tried different foods, and nothing is helping - he doesn't seem sick at all after he's gotten sick - actually will go eat or whatever. We also am having problems with him being obsessed with drinking water - you can't leave a dish soak in the sink or you will find him drinking out it, you can't walk near a sink without him jumping up and meowing for water, you can't take a bubble bath without him standing on the side trying to drink the water, you have to watch if you step out of the shower he runs in to "dry up" the bottom of the shower! Urgh! He does not have diabetes - which was my first thought -had him tested and re-tested and tested again for this! Weird Weird Weird! I love him dearly but it's frustrating - we end up yelling "Miles get out of the sink" - and then feel bad but if we don't yell at him then Riley and Jonesy think they can jump up on the counter - and they know that's a big no-no! Oh my! Sometimes I wonder if he has Alzheimer's and doesn't remember he just drank something! Oh and it can't be a lack of attention thing - he gets loves of hugs and loving and attention! Well I will just have to keep my paper towels and floor cleaner stocked up.

On a creative note - nothing going on - just can't get that spark to start if you know what I mean. For me if I do start something I do not stop and can go to town. I have ideas swimming in my head - just need to get it started! Okay - I know, I know - I'm starting to sound like a broken record!

Wishing everyone a wonderful week and hope no one is stuck in first gear like myself!

Birthday Festivities

Here's some photo's from today's Birthday festivities in no particular order:

This is my niece Desiree and my Dad and that would be Bandit curled up on my red coat beside my Dad -



My nieces - Desi and Jessica - It will be Jess' birthday on Monday so we celebrated her birthday too. I am still amazed she will be 27 - Oh my time flies!



This is my Mom and my youngest niece Dakota (she's 4) LOL

Dakota again with her "baby" - She is an English Lab and just the sweetest thing - If you sit on the floor she will try to sit on your lap - ouch!

Getting ready to blow out some candles -

My brother Rusty, and my Dad blowing out his candles -

Jess blowing out some candles -

After cake Jess went to lay down - she wasn't feeling well - chills and fever. Hope she's on the mend - after all she has her birthday week coming up!

I'll leave you with a picture of my "nephew" Bandit - he's a real cutie - he's almost 18!

Easy Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Here's a recipe for a very easy Pineapple Upside Cake - I made this up in about 5 minutes then waited for it to bake.

Take a stick of butter (1/2 cup) and 1 cup of brown sugar - melt
Put in bottom of cake pan
Lay out pineapple slices - add some maraschino cherries (for pretties) inside each pineapple slice
Make up a yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines ) according to package directions.
Pour cake mix over pineapples
Bake according to directions.
cool about 10 minutes then put cookie sheet on top of cake pan and turn over!
(I happen to have two of the same cake pans so i used that)
And it's ready to eat!

This one is going with me this afternoon to my brother's house - we are having a small party (2nd one) for my Dad's 80th birthday this past week. I know my Dad likes this cake so that's why I decided on this rather than a traditional birthday cake.

Enjoy your day and Stay Warm!

Another Snow Day

Well it's another snow day - just a few inches - Not even to hunker down though so guess I still will go out and run my errands rather than sit in my jammies all day! I am so ready for Spring though - a few weeks of this cold weather is enough. I like to be able to run around in a light sweater and not a heavy coat and mittens!

The other day I was happy to see Miles get up and try to play! He actually brought me his toy - of course i dropped everything to play and it lasted only a moment because Jonesy wanted to play too but it was good to see. I feel so bad for him - he sleeps most of the time and this weather probably isn't helping his achy joints. He is also throwing up left and right again. Not sure what we will do since we had all sorts of tests and they can't find anything. I said to my husband I wonder there is kitty bulimia or something! Who knows - he doesn't seem sick when he does it and will go hit the food dish again but lately it's a daily occurrence again. Anyway - I will keep watching him and giving him hugs! If Jonesy is not trying to get someone to play with him, he loves to nap and lay in laps - if I'm at the computer - you can usually find him in my lap! The minute I stand up though he runs to the other room and stands besides on of his many toys!

Did you ever see a "crock sitter" (they just have a square bottom) -Last Easter I bought a cute bunny and then a sheep - they look so cute in a crock - Well I was at a country type (only handmades) store the other day and saw this Annie - thought she was fun and I couldn't believe the price - the woman that made this made the sheep and she practically gives her items away - she does such detail too - anyway - brought her home - and no - she's not in a crock but in one of my milk cans - that's a hooked flower I bought from Grant Street behind her. Not sure yet - may keep her or give her to my SIL who collects Raggedy Annies.

I did start working on something but can't show anyone. On our group AAPG we are doing a Secret Admirer - so what I make has to stay a secret! I have a few ideas (way out of my box) so wish me luck! LOL! And now that I have some wool dyed - I think I want to do another few yards of wool and then sit down and start hooking a things I have an idea for!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

New Year - Getting Some Wool Dyed

New decade – New Year – New Resolutions – Not!

I’m not one to make resolutions because I’ll only get upset with myself if I cannot follow through. Life has so many choices, detours and “bridge out” signs that you never know what is going to happen. So I am determined to just continue to take life as it comes and hopefully I will make the right choices for me. I’m planning on keeping a positive attitude, take advantage of opportunities (as I have a tendency to stick my head in the sand and life pass me by), stay away from negativity as much as I can, and do whatever I can to help out.

I have also decided to give myself a break – I am going to try to use my time more wisely but hell if I feel like laying on the bed and reading a book, I am determined not to feel bad about wasting the day, same with if I just sit and stare at this box “computer” and get lost on it for a few hours – so what – I am not hurting anyone – so why do I feel bad? And on those lines if I feel like hooking all day rather than picking up the dust rag – then I shall do that! The dust isn’t going anywhere! LOL

That being said – HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

January 1, 2010 would have been my Grandmother’s 101st birthday but we lost her about 2 weeks before her 94th birthday – I still miss her tremendously – she was a wonderful woman and everyone loved her. So I always remember her the first day of the year along with my kitty Sid I lost a few years ago (he was the first kitty my husband and I adopted when we moved into together) This January 1 would have been his 21st birthday! Wow!

My Dad’s 80th birthday coming up on January 6! My Mom had a little get together with a lot of the relatives on Sunday and next weekend will be a celebration with the immediate family. My Dad seemed very happy to have everyone over. I think this birthday is bothering him a bit – but it’s just a number. He had a bad year this past year so we are all hoping this year will be much better for him. When he is well he is extremely active and still has his “mind” so that’s a plus.

The other day I totally took apart the back bedroom and cleaned it from top to bottom – then I walked into my rug hooking room – again how does it get so “junked” up so fast?

Since I was on a roll I decided to keep cleaning – so I totally cleaned that room too – finally am at a point where I feel better about it and hopefully will get back to creating now that I have a clean room.

As you can see – someone is enjoying the newly washed daybed cover and pillows!

And someone else joins in for playtime...
Oh no - Jonesy just completely lost his head over the new clean room!
Now it's nap time - Wonder if they are comptemplating on what I will draw on that piece of linen - Maybe they can come up with something since I'm not sure what I want to hook next!

I'm sure Riley will come up with something in his dreams...

Well today I decided to dye some wool – My stash is low in blues, greens, and neutrals. I have the worst time getting good neutrals and lights – our water is so wonky that I always get different colors. This is why I do not dye wool to get a specific color – if I try to do that then I will get disappointed – so I just try to keep a “stash” to choose from. Today I had some happy results – I didn’t necessarily get the colors I was aiming for but still – some nice colors. I also over dyed some blues and greens with some awful brown and orange plaid I had – woohoo – that ugly plaid is gone and now some of it is some nice dark greens and nice dark blues!

Getting started….

After the clean-up and all the wool was dry…

While I was dyeing my wool the maillady brought me a big heavy box! What a surprise - My friend Ev who lives in Alaska (another wonderful rug hooker) sent me some stuff she's been collecting - I got the biggest laugh out of the "Moose Nuggets" - looks like moose poop in miniature form i'm sure- peanut butter filled pretzels in chocolate and rolled in toasted coconut. Also in there was a stack of rug hooking hooking books, an Moose mug with a "twin peaks" coaster she hooked in beautiful blues, a beautiful punch needle of cats on a tin frmae, some nice cozy warm socks, some gorgeous wool yarn for whipping, some "blueberry" colored wool (not how did she know my blue stash was almost non-existent! Thank you so much Ev - Sure wish she had a blog (yea in her spare time) - She is such a good writer and would keep you in stitches - I so enjoyed her notes pinned to everything! Again Thank YOU!

Hoping everyone is having a good start to their New Year – Wishing you all the best for a healthy and happy year!