Post 199 - Last Chance to Enter to Receive an Antique Adaptation Hooked Rug

Finally I am at post #199 - If you check out my August 4, 2010 post here I am doing a give-away for this hooked rug

As I said before the photo isn't great - it's more muted than in the photo and old looking.  This is an adaptation of 4 antique rugs.  If you like to try to win this rug then feel free to leave a comment here or on the August 4, 2010 post.  

Wishing everyone luck and feel free to let someone know about the give a way if you think it's their "style"!

On my 200th post I will announce the winner - hint - there were be a few days yet to enter.  I am going away for a few days tomorrow and when I get home end of the week I will pick a winner either with th random generator or the old fashioned way of throwing everyone's name in a bowl or hat!

Thanks for all your comments, I love getting comments on everything.  Lots of times it makes me feel good to know I'm not the only one that deal with the same type of things, and I do enjoy your like stories.

We are expecting another heatwave here in Pennsylvania this week but I have so been enjoying the past few days of breezes and no humidity.   Yesterday I even put out my pumpkins and black cats and fall things.  My husband just commented "What's with all these pumpkins, it's not October"?  I told him it doesn't have to be October to enjoy pumpkins! Men! 

Hoping everyone has a wonderful upcoming week!

Finally - Another Post - Post #198

Didn't mean not to post for so long - I thought for sure I would have been at the 200th by now!  Just didn't feel like I have much to say this past week.

Been trying to get some hooking done and I have - not as much as I would have liked but it is what it is.

Thursday I went out to Grant Street (I know! Two weeks in a row!)  Kathy and I met up for that decadent frozen mocha - yum is all I have to say!  Then it was off to a day of whipping more rugs for me and sharing and talking and laughing.  There was a lot of eating going on too - I brought cake, Pat brought pizelles, Joan brought chocolate chip cookies the size of Texas, Barb brought chocolate peanut butter eggs, and of course that yummy coffee early didn't help!  I think I gain 15 pounds sitting there that day!  In my defense though I did have a salad somewhere during that day!

Here's Barb and Pat - Barb is working on her hand quilting, and Pat is relaxing.  Of course the topic of conversation between Pat and I is always cat stories - She has some new babies and they are so adorable as are her older kids!   You can see pics of their sweet faces on blog (Hook Hand and Heart!)

Doris came too - Haven't seen her in a while.  She's working on an "epic" pictorial rug.   She's taking a break and walking around - Hmmm she's not even looking at those peanut butter eggs or pizzelles!

Jackie is going like gangbusters on her rug - beautiful colors in person.  She's going to dye some of her background - Can you believe this is her second rug!  Taken to it like a duck to water!  Can't wait to hear about her first time dye experience.

Joan came and was whipping a cute little fall mat and finished it.  Not sure if she's going to use it as a stair riser, a little mat or a tube top!   Would have to be a tube top for winter - wool you know!

Kathy is making make-do turkeys - Aren't they adorable!  She actually got to sit and hook for a bit!   Love the colors and can't wait to see them stuffed and done!

Yesterday I needed to hit the phone store.  I figured it would be easier to stop in and get my problems solved rather than trying to talk to someone on the phone.  Why is it they always say you need a new phone?   "You are eligible for an upgrade" is always their stock answer.  Okay, I have been having trouble with my phone (do they build in problems exactly at the right moment when you 'are eligible for an update'?).  I also wanted to discuss my plan since my husband is like a teenager and has been a texting fool - we do not have unlimited texting and he's going over!  Now my parents who are on my plan do not text - according to the phone store dude, Phone Number 610-xxx-xxxx has no texts  - Got a giggle out of that - I just can't see my 80 year old parents texting!  Anyway - I got a text message saying we were incurring charges now being over the limited so that was one issue, second issue I seem to sometimes get voice mails three weeks after they were sent, and of course the fact my phone won't shut off after a phone call.

Well resolved the problems and walked out of there with a new phone.  At least it's red! Not sure about the touch screen - everyone that has one their phone always looks dirty - but I guess since I don't use mine much???

Oh well, another gadget to figure out.  One plus for the first time was the car charger I have fits it - didn't have to spent $30 for another one.  Finally two different brands fit the same charger - Love that part!

When I got home after a day of errands and shopping there was a little package for me.  On our group, AAPG we did a 2nd Anniversary Swap.  Well Kelley (the groups Mama!) had me and Kelley always sends great packages!  Inside was this awesome punch needle piece of two kittys (Kelley's another kitty lover) and the back is as adorable as the front, she also sent me a rug hook pattern I wanted to hook from a design in the Seven Gates Farm book with a great sentiment around the pattern, a beautiful tin cookie cutter pin - I have a moose on similar and just love this cat one - she said it was something of hers from years ago she bought, a cat bookmark, some recipe cards and a cute card!  Thank you  Kelley!

Hard to see and couldn't get a clear pic of the rug and of course that would be Riley under the rug in the pic.  The little pin and bookmark are in bottom right corner -

Isn't this a great pic and colors!  Front of PN piece

How cute is this label on the back!

Okay folks - do not forget about my giveaway - It just may be this weekend I will get to my 200th post!  Check out the August 4, 2010 post for details.

Have a great day!

Post 197 - Another Thursday Hook-In

Well no more really bad days since the one the other day - thank goodness!

Thursday I ventured out to Grant Street again - another fun day - and once again (boy oh boy I know you are tired of hearing this) I had my camera out but forgot to use it most of the time.

Me - I was working on a pile of small mats I hooked and and brought to finish them off by whipping.  I wasn't going too fast - just felt like sitting and relaxing and talking.  I did manage to get 5 whipped though.  Will take pictures when they are all done.  Oh and Kathy managed to get a couple of hers done too! She's always so busy running around helping everyone else - I kept telling her "workie and talkie, workie and talkie" (I think she was ready to slap me! heheheheh)  It was a day of everyone busting on each other (in a good way of course!) I guess someone that doesn't know all of us might think it's brutal at times but it's all in good fun. 

Linda was busy helping everyone with picking out wool and color planning, etc. so she didn't sit too much either.  She alsosells antiques and other things in the shop besides just wool so she brought how some trays of sterling silver jewelry she has.  She's such a sweetheart - she gifted me with a garnet sterling poison box ring (you know me - red is my favorite color!) I love vintage looking rings and this one is cool. .  It's funny because I've been watching the old Dark Shadows series - and I saw one of these rings on Angelique (she opened it and poured poison into a drink) and never knew it was something that was actually worn - just thought it was a prop for the show - So now I have one - Now, what to put in my little ring - bahhhahahahaha (insert evil laugh here!) Thanks so much Linda!

Linda's grand daughter, Madeline, was busy making and selling us lemonade.  It was very good and refreshing! 

There were a lot of people in and out and everyone was busy getting stuff done!  There were also plenty of laughs also.

Beth listening intently to her sister Jill...

Madeline showing off her rug progress... 

Sherri, who is always smiling!

It's a long drive out there - then a long day fun day there that goes by in the blink of an eye - then a long drive home.  At one point on the way home I was listening to my Elvis cd and he was singing about Burning Love, me I was singing about my burning butt from sitting all day! Oh My!  I have to remember to hook and whip standing up next time I go out there! LOL!

Again, don't forget about the hooked rug give-a-way sign up on the August 7, 2010 post.  If you have any friends that may be interested in the rug - have them sign up too!   I was talking to a friend at the hook-in and she said she didn't know how to leave a comment.  For those of you that aren't registered on blogspot you do not have to be.  Under each post you will see a number and then the word comment - just click that and it opens up a comment box - leave a comment then and follow the rest.  You do not have to be a registered member. 

It could be a matter of days until I announce a winner on the 200th post - so sign up now! 

Enjoy your weekend!

Post 196 - Bad Day Gone Good!

Well the past few days, I have been trying to find my motivation to hook some rugs - so got out some wool and on Sunday sat and cut some "worms" to sit and do some miscellaneous hit and miss type small rugs - I have so many small pieces of wool - like 1/4 of a 1/4 yard - that I figured I would just try to use up!  As you can see, I was being strictly supervised...

I have pulled a few loops so that's good - just need to get my 'groove on" and get moving!

Seems the "boys" have no motivation either - lots of summertime naps - sometimes all alone...

And sometimes with a friend...   (Who's body goes with which head?)

Well on to my bad day, maybe not so much a bad day but an off day...

Day started out with the "Little Nipster" (a.k.a. Jonesy) - he got the back of my knee  at around 6:00 a.m.  He's lucky he didn't land out the window - I'm very ticklish the back of my knee and anyone that gets near that area gets kicked! LOL He just wanted to play - he dropped a toy next to me.  He loves early mornings and I guess if he's up everyone should be up! 

I wasn't about to get up that early as I had been up to about 2:00 a.m. or so (watching DS of course!) so after a little bit of playing he let me sleep in until about 8:00 when he brought another toy and nipped my hair!  Okay time to get up.  Riley was all snuggled so I literally had to get up the "wrong" (opposite) side of the bed! That tiger wasn't about to move for me.   Hmm was this my first indication  of how the day was going to go? 

Went downstairs and what do I step in?  Yep, vomit, from Miles (the meds aren't helping and he's just wasting away to nothing - we have to call the vet Monday and let him know the progress. Not sure what the next step will be).

Then I'm making my tea and getting out some cantaloupe for breakfast and my nose starts bleeding! Haven't had a nose bleed for many many years!  Thank goodness for my kitties.  Jonesy came over to the couch after I layed down on it trying to get it to stop and sat near my head and put his paw on my arm  - He was too cute and then he curled up on my stomach and just watched me!  Maybe he was making sure I didn't get up too soon. 

Next indication of the day was I was in the shower and picked up a shaver and started shaving my legs.  Well I don't know about you but it sure helps if you take the cap off the shaver!  Yep - actually did a few strokes before I noticed! Geez!

Later on it was off to lunch with my husband at the Mexican restaurant.  Was meeting him at 11:30 a.m. since he had to be back no later than 1:00 today so I left at 11:00 - plenty of time, right?  Wrong!  Road construction on our road and detoured (let alone the detour because our bridge is out) - Every light red on the way - and more road construction and one way traffic up on the main road! I got there around 11:40 - should have been no more than a 20 minute drive at the most! Grrrrr

Decided after lunch to hit the thrift store. No problems there but no "finds" either.

Stopped at WaWa for coffee.   Getting into the car and the lid comes off - hot coffee all over the car and ME! Yep I was saturated and so was my gear shift and my cup holders, etc.! Ugh - Of course only ONE  tissue to wipe it up - so just drove home!

Got home and got the car and me all cleaned up and walked over for my mail - now this is where the day turned good!  One, no bills in the mail, and two a wonderful package from a friend- it certainly was a perfect day to get this!

My friend Cathy, of Hooked on Primitives, sent me the coolest stuffed hooked kitty face.  She's the Queen of making 3-d objects from rug hooking!   Why did she gift me this - Just because it's near the end of the summer!  Aren't friends great !   Now how'd she know today would be a great day to receive this!  Anyway - thank you so much Cathy - I just love!

So that's my day and it's only the afternoon!  Hopefully it will only get better!

Post 195 - Hooked Rug Give-A-Way

Just a reminder to sign up for my Hooked Rug Give-A-Way if you are interested in hooked rugs and antiques, then this is the rug for you.   You can sign up here!    On the 200th post I will name the winner!

Of course, as always, I'm not a very good photographer - the rug is more muted in person and more "uniform" looking if that makes sense.

Today I decided to do a "drive-by" cleaning of my hooking room.  I have absolutely no motivation and really need to get going on some projects (I know you are probably tired of hearing me say that over and over again!).  My thinking is if I semi-unclutter the room I can sit and get started.  Well I spent the morning, with my helpers of course (And someone please tell Riley that when you throw something away you leave it in the waste basket not dump it and take it back out - he's taking out balls of paper and his empty treat container! LOL)  Maybe he thinks he's helping - who knows! 

I just do not know how this room gets this way - I totally clean it and organize it and in a blink of an eye its a mess again.  Well today I made some progress - decided to just make neater piles and put what I can away (we won't talk about the closet right now) and just make it so you can move around.

I actually just cut a few pieces of linen and am about to zigzag around them and have a few sharpies handy and some shapes to trace around.  One can only guess what I will come up with!  Remains to be seen!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Post 194 - The Hot Days of Summer - This and That

Geez - this has been one hot summer - seems everyone is suffering from it! But then again I think back to the back breaking mounds of snow that needed to shoveled  only a few short months ago and just maybe this heat is doable

Wonder if we would have year round beautiful Fall or Spring temperatures we would miss Winter and Summer?  Guess we are always ready to move on to the next but then miss the past!

We got the results of Miles.  Apparently his thyroid levels were out of range and he has hyperthyroidism.  We are treating him with medicine at this point.  I am keeping my toes crossed it helps.  Dr. W said the most important thing right now is to get some weight back on him.  He's never been a big cat - Abyssinian's are not big cats - more sleek-but 5 pounds is too scrawny.   Today was a bad day with the throwing up - he just didn't seem to stop - the past few hours he's been resting so let's hope that bout is over.  The medicine will take a week or so to do anything.

It's hard to tell from these photo's (I had just given him a rub down and a brushing since he doesn't groom himself anymore) but he's just a bag of bones with fur!  Just breaks my heart.   These were taken this afternoon when I was working in the kitchen.

Oh and check out the boys new "fountain".  Our water is so yucky here we only drink filtered water so about 10 years ago I bought a fountain for my cats Sid, Nicky and Miles at the time, and it was leaking all over the place last week.  So it was time for a new and improved model.  I bought them (at the suggestion of a friend who has one) the Drinkwell 360 - it's pretty cool - holds a gallon of water, and the top part you can change heads to make the "fountain" part different   We have on the 3 fountain fall and have it turned so it's not so noisy.  Miles at least loves it - he's always practically standing in it! He loves water! 

Now I don't know what's up with my cats getting hyperthyroidism. I keep wondering is it something in this house that's causing it, is the food they eat, is it me?  I know that's all unreasonable but when Sid was 12 (we lost him in 2004 at age 15) he suddenly lost weight and became hyperactive, no other changes as he was always a big eater - just always hungry - had him tested and found out he had this hyperthyroidism.  I do not remember anymore why medicine wasn't the answer but they do a one-shot radiation deal on cats and it basically cures them.  After research, we found University of Penn had a vet area that did this treatment but they were closed for renovations, so we took him to a place called Radiocat, and next thing you know he was back to normal.   Then almost to the day a year later Nicky go the same dam thing - back to Delaware and Radiocat and he was 'cured".  Nicky was 12 at the time also.   Just plain weird - I remember saying to Miles when I took Nicky that be best not plan on getting this either!  Well now almost 8-9 years later Miles has it!  I just don't get - none of these boys are from the same litters, nor the same breeds!

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of taking my car in for inspection and was wheel-less! Not my favorite feeling even if I have no where to go!  Well what a bill I had - close to the $1000 mark but I really can't complain my car has nearly 120,000 miles on it and have only put in the normal stuff like a set of tires and the most major repair on it was a new clutch a few years ago.  The guys at the garage were joking I had a brand new car out there.  One thing though to feel really really good about is that the timing belt didn't break down on me say 2:00 in the morning driving home from the Thursday hook-in's when i'm alone.  Apparently it was just about gone!   So I am very thankful it didn't leave me stranded all alone in the middle of the night!

Since I was wheel-less spent the day doing chores and cleaning and laundry and all that really fun (not) stuff!  More of the same today.  I did manage to get a few meals made (why not make a big mess at one time) and some potato salad today and then made a peach pie - I'm not a pie lover but I do love peach pie with the "cake like pie crust" - I think I posted about this last year as I only make one a year and it's for me!  I don't share - well my husband can have some but he really doesn't care for bake goods!  Usually when I bake I give everything away so I don't eat it! LOL - Not this - no way - came out great looking for a change too - can't wait to take a bit piece out of it!

Oh and for you rug hookers out there, I decided to list one of my Townsend cutter heads, a #7, it's sitting collecting dust as I never ever use it - Normally my 8.5 is in my machine - I would love to have a #9 or a #9.5 but guess that isn't going to happen with the company no longer around.  Anyway - if you are looking for a #7 - i started the action at $9.99 on eBay - you can check it out here.

Riley and Jonesy are creatures of habit.  Riley everyday around 3:00 gets his treats out and starts meowing at me to open them! He's too cute.  He will not eat any "people" food but he loves his treats.  Now Jonesy will eat anything!  I've taken to keeping a pack up in the hooking room in a basket - he gets them out and tosses them on the floor! Too funny!  If we are downstairs he stands in the middle of the kitchen and meows at top lung!

Isn't he handsome - he had just had a brushing too - His fur is so soft - just like velvet and he just loves to be brushed!

Hoping everyone is having a nice relaxing day and staying cool!

Post 193 - Pin Cushions - Done!

Well the ball jar pin cushions are done!  Been working on them on and off all weekend.

They have taken over the rug hooking room floor.  My husband has been encouraging the cats to play with the "hockey pucks".  Well he got the hairy eyeball and the boys have been good and haven't even bothered with them!   Thank goodness they listen to me once and a while and not him!

If you want a chance to own this rug

Don't forget to enter my give-a-way here, (The August 4, 2010 post).   I have really been enjoying the comments from everyone - So thank you!

Wishing everyone a great week.