Move It On Over

Wow I didn't realize I haven't posted in so long!  Hard to believe it's nearing the end of February rather than the beginning!

Well this month I managed to turn another year older (and don't you know it that darn AARP is still sending me info - don't they understand that 51 is really 31 and I'm not ready for their stuff!).  I was, however, walking thru a store the other day, and they said "Join the 50+ Plus" club - on Tuesdays you get 10% off your total order.  Okay - anything to save a buck I will do - but I still say it's hard to believe it applies to me.   It's just a number but I just am not feeling that its possible!

Last Friday we had the 2nd update for the Primitive Homemade Mercantile.  If you have a moment, click on the picture on the right side of the blog and check out everyone's wares.  You won't be disappointed!

I did a few items for the update and also some "smalls" for the Cinnamon Stick in Hereford (Spice Cupboard Blog). 

Here's some pics of some of the items that went to one or the other- not everything got pictured: 

(this sheep I backed with a cream/black ticking and made it into a pillow)

(These are backed with cotton prints and made into pillows)

So when I can I hook (as you can see I have a very cute obstacle!)...

I managed to get a few of the above rugs done!  Mr. Q has become quite the helper - if he's not helping with my hooking, he literally rides the "Swiffer" when I try to clean the floor, if I have a duster out - he steals it and runs off with it (now to only get him to clean with it!); if i'm hanging laundry on the drying rack he plays on the rack like a jungle gym, any piece of paper in the house is still not safe from his clutches, neither is a "cap" to a soda or a bottle of water - the second you set it down he's off with it.  Let's just say he puts in a very busy day - he rarely will nap unless you are sitting somewhere near!  Oh and he can often be found bothering his brothers and "wrasslin" with them.  I am so happy they all get along and have fun with each other - they are quite the characters to watch! 

It's hard to believe how big he's gotten and he's still got some growing to do!

Tomorrow my little "baby" will be 5 months old already! Can you believe it!

Oh I did manage to pull the last loop on my antique adaptation rug we are doing thru my group AAPG on Sunday night - Still have to "whip" it (finish the edges) and not sure what color wool I will use - gold? dark brown?  Haven't decided if I want the "framed" look using the gold or a dark brown to just blend in. 

Nothing much has been going on around here - but I will say the weather has been wonderfully mild and hope it continues - I can handle winters like this!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

You Got a Friend

It's February!  Image that - weren't we all just preparing for Christmas!

One thing that has been so nice is the mild weather we have been experiencing on and off.  As long as the white stuff stays away, I'll be happy - we had it a few weeks ago - now that's enough!

It was a week of getting some chores done, grocery shopping, and even some hooking.  I decided to start working on the antique adaptation of the What Not rug our group is doing and have now put it away for a bit to work on some smaller items to sell.  I didn't get very far and am trying to stay to the original and there are some elements I wish to change...

original...

my start...

I decided to venture out to Grant Street this week.  I went out on Wednesday and on Thursday was the hook-in.  ONCE AGAIN, i totally forgot to pick up my camera - let's just say there was some great rugs being worked on.  I believe Kathy got pictures.  At one time, I think there wasn't an empty seat in the house which was nice to see - plus it just inspires each other!  One thing I will say, I think I am starting to get a complex - seems Sherri and Joan only show up on the weeks I don't - hmmm what's up with that! LOL

I have to say, I have the best and most generous friends that I have met thru rughooking!    Really really really soon I will be celebrating another year older and I was totally spoiled with packages at the hook-in (along with a chocolate cake - yum!)

We have "secret pals" that we gift things to during the year.

My secret pal left me this - not sure who it is and if she reads blogs or not but if she does - Thank you! Love everything!

I got a tin heart filled with candy and some red beeswax candles and a birthday and Valentine card!  Thank you!

Kathy gifted me with this great footed wood crate/box and filled it with wool! She hand dyed some and some pieces of as-is - Oh my - just beautiful! Told her I would come home and roll around in it! I didn't but Jonesy and Quentin did!  Oh and she put my favorites Reeces PB cups in there!  I won't tell you if any or missing from the package or not!  THANK YOU KATHY !

And if that wasn't enough - Linda gifted me with a yard of the new red wool (fav color of course), a Lang mug - isn't he cute - the name on the mug is "Piglet Smith" - he reminds me of my Nicky who passed about 6 years ago now (wow hard to believe!), and a subway giftcard!  THANK YOU LINDA!

Well the boys still like to be close while I'm hooking...

Quentin often takes up residence in my basket...

Or he snuggles with Riley...

Yep with Riley again - poor Riley - I'm thinking he wants a good nap alone now and then - right now he's in the basket on top of the cobbler's rack - a place the little guy can't get to him...yet

Quentin went for his 3rd set of shots today and has been declared healthy.  Right now he's zonked - guess the shots really did him in, i even crinkled paper and he didn't come running for it!  In a few weeks he will be going back to the vet for his "man operation!"

Wishing everyone a very happy weekend!

Witchy Woman

Okay it's not Halloween or anywhere near October (But I wonder if Kathy is still celebrating her birthday! Oh wait - we won't go there....) Anyway - I had a woman ask me if she gave me her pattern pattern, could I hook it for her.  She was in no rush since it after Halloween and I told her I would get to it after the first of the year since I was working on things for the Folk Art Sale.

So in between Quentin's helping me hook...

I finished it...

Certainly not my normal color pallet but I did have that "green" wool that was an accident in the dye pots a long time ago - Glad I didn't over dye it now - worked for the witch.

The pattern is by The Country Cupboard and called Witchey Treats.

I took a bunch of rugs to whip at work today but only finished the above (since i used two wool yarns to whip with took much longer) and 1/2 of another one!  I even brought a book - There were too many people in the shop today looking around and wanting to talk!

Well I better go see if I can find a seat yet...

Stray Cat Strut

Well it seems Quentin (a.k.a. The Devil in Grey Fur) has taken over my house!  He is not a "napper" - much to my chagrin at times! (Do parents with human kids say this all the time??)  He loves attention and demands it! 

I have been motivated to hook and of course all those worms/noodles are more than he can bear - he loves rolling in my baskets and running away with the noodles - been finding them all over the house.  If he's not doing that while I'm hooking he's sitting atop my piece on the frame or inside the frame (Jonesy and Riley did this too - boy I can't wait until he's big enough not to fit in!).  He is totally fascinated when I use my Townsend to cut strips - he "helps"! Oh my!

If I'm in the kitchen - he insists on helping me by laying on the rug at my feet and watching - of course when you are in the kitchen you move around a lot - let me tell you - he's been near squished many times - I always make sure I don't have shoes on since he's continuously underfoot!

If I'm paying bills, he's off and running with receipts.  Hmmm, do you think if I miss paying a bill I can use the excuse "My cat ate it"?

I could go on and on but I will say as much as he's a little "pistol" at times, he can be a total sweetheart at other times.  His purr is still louder than his size should allow.  He still has that "gaze" that just makes you melt (okay okay it doesn't take much with me and a fur face!).  So rest assured he's got a permanent place in my heart!

So here's some pics.  Oh by the way - this little guy turned 4 months old the other day - I'm still amazed he survived and can't believe how time flies!

He just discovered sitting in the window sill and loves checking out the neighborhood kitties and birds in the yard...

Now how can you resist...

Sometimes (late night - cause he's an early bird) he can't stay awake so falls asleep in my lap)... (guess my jelly belly is comfy!)

I got this basket out to help me sort some of my noodles - well needless to say it didn't get used for that...

Jonesy is still Jonesy - he gives me this look everytime I am walking out the door - he hates it when anyone leaves....

Riley is still a "treat" hound... he often sits in front of the TV so I can't see and picks up the bag and shakes it at me and then drops it - then jumps down and inches it towards my foot!  Crazy man!



So besides all this "fun", I have managed to get some hooking done - I had an order to make a pattern (supplied by the person I'm hooking it for) - so finished hooking it and now have to "whip" it - it's a Halloween pattern - used colors out of my box for sure!  Will post a pic when I whip it.  Also did a couple of mats using worms from my box and hoping to start on an antique adaptation that our group is doing.

Hope your week is going great!

I'm Ready

First, just wanted to tell you a little about the Primitive Handmades Mercantile.  Today is Opening Day!  You can click over the banner on my sidebar and it will take you there.

There is some wonderful merchandise to purchase.  These ladies are very talented and I was just there and boy do they have some awesome things to buy!

This week if you sign up for their newsletter, you will have a chance to win a prize! So go check it out!

Thanks to Teresa and Robin for inviting me to join and make it all happen.  A few posts ago I asked for help in thinking of a "name" to use for this.  I loved so many of your suggestions and just had a hard time choosing.  I wanted something easy - I ended up going with "My Primitive Hook" since the majority of my items will be primitive and/or hooked!  Still this could change if something comes to me!

Enjoy shopping over there!

This week I had my sidekick glued to me most of the time - he's very helpful ON the computer...

And of course while I'm trying to hook...

Great at hooking and picking out noodles at the same time...

Finally, nap time - this is my left hip...

This is my right hip...

And this would be my lap...

Isn't it wonderful to have so many friends and so much help!

And speaking of friends.  I just have to say I am truly amazed at the generosity of friends I have never met and would probably have never met but through the Internet.  My last post showed you some of that with the package from Kelley and Ann, and I even forgot to mention Ginger and Patijane who sent all of us gals on AAPG a Happy New Year gift of a snowman made from a pair of gloves and Hershey bar - it was so cute and so clever!  I know I'm probably forgetting more over this past holiday season, but I want you to know - I am so thankful for having these ladies in my life - even if they do "live in my computer" as that email that gets passed around says! 

What is up with friends you meet thru the Internet?   Is it that we share like interests and that's what brings us together on our groups?  And isn't it amazing how you just "click" with some and so many at times?  Some of these friends that you have never met even face to face "get you" sometimes more than ones you have known for years or grew up with!

I've been lucky to make many wonderful friends through "meeting" them on the Internet and even getting to meet so many in person!  There are many more that someday I would love to meet and just hang out with!

One of these people is my friend Ev from Alaska.  She sent me the coolest package this week!  Inside was a rug hooking pattern on linen, some paper patterns, a baseball cap with Moose (I don't think she quite gets my fascination with Moose being they are a nuisance where she lives but I've never met one...yet!), Macadamia Nuts from Hawaii, and a "Hawaiian Diamond" - a beautiful silver turtle with a peridot!  I think there may have been more in that package - I was truly overwhelmed once again !  Thank you Ev!

Okay it's time to get my day started so go get a cup of coffee, sit back and relax and check out the new Primitive Handmades Mercantile!

Getting It Together

Happy New Year!  I didn't realize it's been so long since I last posted! Oh my - time gets away from me.  I really need to "get it together".  Seems that's how I've been lately - just unable to get anything together, done,  accomplished, finished, etc. (just fill it in!)   However, lots of things to "report"!

First up - an update on Quentin!  He's been so busy getting into everything, playing with his brothers, and he's become very helpful with working on the computer and project I'm working on - I think he thinks he can do it better!    He absolutely loves paper - no piece of paper is safe in this house anymore.  Also plastic bags - he's forever crawling in them - and i can't tell you how many times he's running around with a plastic bag around him!  He also loves to be around someone at all times, if it's not me and my husband, he's constantly seeking out Jonesy and Riley.  Riley just loves him and has been "showing" him things - it's really sweet.  The other week my husband got out this toy that Riley and Jonesy outgrew - it's a ring with a ball in side and the cat can roll the ball and try to get it out but can't - Well Quentin was staring at it and didn't know what to do and Riley was watching him watch it - he went over and showed him twice how to use it and then sat back and let Quentin play - again so sweet!

Being with him everyday it's hard to see his growth - but at times I do think he's grown and other times I think not. 

Sunday sunbeams....

I told you before - leave my tail alone!

Nap time...

I'm great at scaling mountains...

I'm tuckered out - time for a nap in Mom's lap...



Okay time to get up....stretch...................

Excuse me, but I have my receipt, I need to return an item...

Watch out - here I come...

BOO!!!!

Time to help Mom on the computer...

Nap time with Riley...

So that's how it's been around our house - always having to watch your step because of some little guy with grey fur.  Have to say he does make me laugh on a daily basis and I do believe the other boys are happy he's here!

A couple of weeks ago in my mailbox was a package from Kelley  .  She hooked me, or should I saw Quentin, this little pillow to commemorate his new home with us!  Now I have to say she got inspired because she found some "bright pink" wool strips (in reality - they are a nice prim pink - Bright is here word!) in her stash and made this pillow - If you remember most of the pics of Quentin when he was smaller he was laying on a pink fleece! 

She also sent some of her primitive noodles/worms - Isn't it great - Love it - Thank you so much Kelley and Quentin thanks you too - he often lays up against it but of course he moves when I grab the camera!

And if that wasn't a big enough surprise to get the mail that day - I got another package on Friday (However did not know about it until later - my husband sat it on the dining room table and i hadn't been in there all weekend!)  Anyway - my husband said "Just what is in the box you got - the boys are all over it!"  I said what box!  I saw it was from Ann!  And my first thought was her kitties Shadow and Frito - hmmm didn't think she would pack them!  Well inside was a basket she made along with some kitty treats!  Ann has a selling blog - 1803 Ohio Farm Baskets - and does the most awesome work.  Oh Ann - I'm speechless - thank you so much - absolutely love the basket!  "1862 Woolhooker Goods".  And she did this all because she won my give-a-way - I'm thinking I was the one that won!  What a treasure!

Oh and about the kittys and the box - the kitty treats must have opened in transit and the boys smelled that - along with the fact that I bet Frito and Shadow probably helped her pack the bag!

After I unpacked it - I think Quentin was having more fun with the styrofoam..

Again, thank you Ann ! Just love it!

Haven't been doing too much hooking but have been working on some woven hearts.  They have gone to the Cinnamon Stick for sale. 

Last night I finally organized some of my wool room so I'm hoping to get busy and get some new hooking projects started - that is if a certain someone with gray fur lets me hook - it's a challenge to even pay the bills with him (remember his paper fetish?)!

Have a great week!