Meet my new foster pug ~ ~ ~

I'd like to introduce my new foster girl. I picked her up yesterday. Isn't she gorgeous? She came with the unfortunate name of Fat Girl. Yes, Fat Girl, and for a pug she is very thin! (I do hope we can give her a new name!) She is three years old and was given up along with two other pugs. Thankfully Ohio Pug Rescue came to the rescue. The pugs were flea infested when picked up and not spayed or neutered. Fat Girl has obviously had puppies. NO MORE! OPR does not adopt pugs out with the chance that they will be bred.

She has been such a good girl! She slept with me last night and unlike most pugs, slept close but did not crowd me. I didn't have the heart to crate her when I went to work today, so she was gated in the kitchen area. When I came home at lunchtime, she was very excited. She is a screamer! What a hoot to hear. I think the entire neighborhood heard her, too. Same thing after work. I just had to laugh.

Other than some sore areas from scratching at the fleas (which are all gone!), she appears to be in good health. She will be brought up to date on all her shots, heartworm tested, microchipped, and spayed. She will then be ready to go to her forever home.

I'm sure you wonder how I will be able to give her up. It is very difficult! I was told, "the first one is the hardest and you will cry and the second one is hard and you will cry....". Get the picture? When I gave up my first foster, I took a half day off work and spent the afternoon crying. I just knew that I was doing the right thing and that she was going to a wonderful new mommy who would absolutely spoil her. It is very bittersweet and so very rewarding to foster.

If you are considering a pet, please consider an animal from a shelter or from a rescue group. Just about every breed of dog has a rescue group. There are so many animals looking for homes. PLEASE!!! Do not buy a pet from a pet store. The dogs are from puppy mills and most live in deplorable conditions!

Pug hugs to everyone ;-)

Lauren

The daughter I never had.....

…is my niece Elise. (I was blessed with two boys, but I missed buying smocked bonnets and other such girlie things.)
For many years, every summer she would come and spend time with family in Ohio. During her college years at Auburn University, she would spend her summers working at Cedar Point.
She, along with hubby Michael and daughters Sophia (almost 6) and Alexis (almost 3) came in from Chicago to spent a couple of nights here before heading a little further east to attend her cousin’s wedding. Both the girls will be in the wedding party. I can’t wait to see the pictures.
Now I must tell my favorite Elise story. When I turned 40, she was a whopping 17! She told me I was officially middle aged, and to a 17 year old, I’m sure I was. GUESS WHO IS TURNING 40 VERY SOON? You guessed it, Elise. Guess who no longer believes that 40 is middle aged?

Here is Sophia and my grandson Jake after eating a popsicle last evening. They thought the blue tongues were way too cool!
Have a wonderful weekend.
I hope the sun is shining in your neck of the woods.
Lauren

How does my garden grow?

The gardens are looking pretty good, but I still have lots more to do. The bugs have finally subsided (at least for a little while), so that annoyance is gone. As you all know, it is a never-ending task to keep up with the yard. The little pond is in my front garden. The water plants don't do too well because they don't get enough sun. My water lilies leaf out but never flower. If you enlarge the photo, you can see one of my two goldfish.

This is one of the hydrangeas I planted last week.

Hostas and helleboros (lenten rose).

I believe this is called dead nettle.

A little geranium in a crock.

Asiatic lily.

Not sure what this is called.

Coreopsis.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Pugs hugs!
Lauren

Makin' progress ~ ~ ~

I feel as if I've finally made enough progress on my rug to share it with you.

I must be the world's slowest hooker :( A big part of my problem is that I "play" with my loops. I still have a problem getting the loops the same height, so I am constantly pulling on them to adjust. I also cut every loose thread when I see it. Am I being a little obsessive-compulsive? Maybe a lot?

I plan to put this rug on the floor ~ in a very low traffic area. Even though I've been assured they work well in high traffic areas, too, I'm just not ready to have too many people walking on all my months of work! I've only hooked one other rug that was a suitable size to put on the floor, but that one was given away.

Overall, I am pleased with the way it is coming out, but it's still not as primitive looking as I had hoped for. I do like hooking with a wider cut. I may never go back to a #8!
Thanks for stopping by.

Have a great week!
Lauren

And the winner is ~ ~ ~

Cynthia

Congratulations ;-) Send me an e-mail so that I can get your goodies to you.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by my blog. Please come again!

Lauren

A couple old footstools

I was planning to go to an outdoor antique show this morning, but since it was so cloudy and rainy in our neck of the woods, I decided not to go. Instead, I headed about a half hour south where a former primitive/antique shop owner was having a 50% off sale. I love to stack little footstools and/or hook a little rug to set on them. I picked up this little white one with the chippy paint for only $10.00. It's obviously homemade ~ look how the right legs splays out more than the left one. I also picked up a small mohair bear for a gift and a new runner for my table.

On the way home I stopped at an antique shop and picked up the other bench. If not used for stacking, it will make a great spot to set a plant ~ or some feet!

The weather ended up being beautiful, but I ran out of time to head to the antique show since I must take my son to the airport this afternoon. It has been so nice to have him home! Here he is with his 89 year old Grandma. How lucky we all are to still have her with us.

Here is a little birdfeeder I made for yard (well, actually my Sweetie did it for me!). Of course, the red is showing up much too bright. I hadn't found any old spindles in my travels, so this is a new one from Home Depot. The top is an old graniteware plate screwed on. You could screw on a bowl to make a birdbath ~ just seal around the screw with silicone or some such thing. A hole was drilled in the bottom of the spindle and a metal rod inserted to secure in the soil.

I will be picking the winner in the patriotic give-away this evening. Thank you again for stopping by!
Lauren

A few rugs and MILLIONS of bugs!

Since this blog is supposed to be about rug hooking, I thought I'd share a few little rugs I have hooked. I have this rug on one of my antique end tables in the living room. It is about 12 by 12.5 inches and not quite as bright as it appears in the photograph.I got the inspiration for this fraktur bird from a reproduction Greg Shooner redware plate I own. It's about 10 inches tall. It resides on an old shoeshine box in my upstairs bathroom.
This rooster is from a doodle in "Inspirations from the Heart & Soul" by Mad Hen Primitives, Tonya Benson. It's about 11 by 15 and currently lives in my wool closet.
Now for the bugs part! These are mayflies, also known as Canadian soldiers. Yesterday we had none. This morning, we had millions. They hatch from Lake Erie. Just like the midgies, the closer to the lake you get, the more there are. They are about 1.5 to 2 inches long. They live only a day and they don't bite or poop...lol, but I have this irrational fear of them. I feel like I'm in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. They just totally creep me out.

Walking in to work today I was wishing I had my camera when I came upon this white truck. One of my co-workers had taken this picture and shared it with me ~ thanks Dave. Now isn't that just too disgusting? Hopefully in a day or two they will be done hatching, but we never know.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're not feeling too creepy.

Lauren

My new granddog and more flowers

I hope everyone had a great Tuesday. Tomorrow is already hump day...where does the time go? It was a beautiful day on the shores of Lake Erie. Hopefully we will get some needed rain in the next day or two.

Here is my new granddog Selene. In these pictures she was eight weeks old. She is now eleven weeks old and I swear she is almost twice this size! She is absolutely gorgeous and just as soft as can be.

I've been busy working in the flower gardens. As usual, I am behind...lol! I did buy a few more perennials, including two hydrangeas that I planted on either side of my front steps. It is hard to find something to plant there because even though it faces west, it is almost full shade. I originally planted viburnum. They never did too well and one died over the winter. I almost forgot to get my cannas from the basement and plant them. They are the only plants I've ever dug up and saved over the winter.
Here's a few pictures I took today in the yard.

Stop on by Shabby Sheep (shabbysheep.blogspot.com ~ sorry I haven't yet figured out how to link it from here). She, too, is having a patriotic give-away. Don't forget to sign up for mine. There are two great vintage 48 star flags and a Statue of Liberty.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lauren

Patriotic give-away in honor of Flag Day

I hope everyone has had a wonderful day and proudly displayed our great American flag in honor of Flag Day. I hope you will fly it every day you can. If you can read this post, thank a teacher. Since you are reading this in English, please thank a veteran.

In honor of Flag Day, I am having a give-away. Just leave me a comment on why you love America or are proud to be an American and I will enter your name. A winner will be drawn next Saturday, June 20th.

If you are the lucky winner, you will receive the following patriotic items:

• bag clips


• pins


• swizzle sticks


• paper lantern


• socks


• wooden heart

And now for the good stuff:

• two 48 star flags sitting in a gold base ~ this is not a reproduction ~ so it is pre-1959


• a vintage Statue of Liberty


• a gourd painted by yours truly ~ I was going to make it a birdhouse but never did ;-(

Thank you so much for stopping by.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!!!!!

Lauren

Antique show was a bust ;-(

My antiquing buddy Belinda and I headed out bright and early this morning (8:30 on a Saturday is bright and early for me!) for the antique show. On their city's website, it stated that the antique festival, sponsored by their Main Street Association, was from 8am-4pm. Believe it or not, the show had been cancelled but never removed from their website. We heard others say it was also advertised in a local paper. Somebody goofed! So, while we waited for the town's two antique stores to open, we hit a few garage sales. I spent a whopping .50 on a Chutes and Ladders game to play with my grandson. Belinda picked up a couple pretty cups and saucers, a croquet set, and a child's book titled "No, David", a fun gift for her hubby ~ you guessed it ~ David.

For several years I have looked at ruby flash glass and thought I might like to start collecting it. I like the pieces that are dated, but thought that I really didn't need to start another collection. Well, last year I bought this piece dated 1910 and it has been sitting inside one of my antique cupboards. Having only one piece of ruby flash, I can hardly display it all by itself. I always thought you had to have three of something for it to be a collection.

I guess I now have a collection! The three pieces are about 2 1/4 inches tall and were inexpensive, ranging from $5-8. I still don't know where I will display them.

I also picked up this jolly old elf. He is just under 6 inches tall. His face is plastic, not celluloid, so I'm guessing he is probably from the 50's or 60's. He was half price, so I couldn't pass him up for $7.50.

I did get a little yard work done today, but those **** midgies are back yet again. A neighbor who has lived here for decades says she never remembers them being this bad. I also hooked a bit on the cat rug. Now it's time to take little Loocie for her night time walk.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow and sign up for my patriotic give-a-way.

Tomorrow is flag day. Please fly your flag.

Thank you for stopping by.
Lauren

Mini rugs in punch needle

To my first time visitors ~ WELCOME!!! To the kind folks who have visited before ~ THANK YOU!!! I hope everyone has a fun weekend planned. I'm heading to an antique show tomorrow. I can't even remember the last time I attended one. I'm thinking it was last fall. I do hope I find a few small treasures. Hopefully I won't find something too expensive that I just can't live without!

I really should have done some yard work this evening, but instead decided to pull a few loops on the cat hooked rug I am working on. I haven't made enough progress to post another picture of it. Hopefully soon ;-)

Here are a few punch needle pieces I have done and all have been given as gifts. I use 6 strands of DMC floss in all my pieces and I like to finish them as mini rugs. I actually learned to punch from Lori over at farmhousenotforgotten (I don't yet know how to link her from my blog ~ can anyone in blogland help me?). I usually am self-taught when I want to learn a new craft, but thought it would be fun to take a class from her. She has more talent in her little finger than I have in my entire body...lol!

Please stop back on Flag Day. I think that's an appropriate day to start my patriotic give-a-way.

Lauren

#1 BAD BOY!!!

This is my number one bad boy....er, I mean my number one son, Bill. I can't believe he will be turning thirty soon. He has been living in Las Vegas for the last year and a half. He is carpenter and had been working on the City Center project, which is the world's largest privately funded constuction project. Last week he got laid off...again. That's happened several times since he has been there (he says that's not unusual), but he always manages to find more work.

I got a call from him tonight saying he has a job lined up to start in a couple of weeks and he was thinking about coming home. I asked when he might be coming, and he told me to come to the front door! What a pleasant surprise that was. He has already gone out to meet with friends. That's fine with me. It's just great to have him home!

Welcome Home Bill!

Hooking at the library!

Last fall I found a wonderful group of ladies to hook with who meet at the Fairview Park Library. They are so very talented and inspire me! I want to hook like them when I grow up! I have been having some issues with pictures enlarging when you click on them, so I do hope it will work so you can see the detail and gorgeous wools that have been used. The top picture shows Lisa (on left) holding the rug she needs to finish by Thursday to give a friend she will be visiting. Good luck Lisa. Hook fast. With her is Karin.

This is Carol with her unbelievably HUGE rug.

Sylvia is almost done with her oh so sweet bunny.

Deanna is hooking a super long runner in the most gorgeous of colors.

Here's Heidi with her very colorful "Yellow Submarine" rug. Note the Beatles names.

Candy is chillin' with her snowmen rug.

Polly is working on the sweetest rug for her daughter.

Marian is nearing completion on a great fall rug.

Last but not least is Mitsuko's rug, Magdalena's dog and crows. It is phenomenal!

I hope you enjoyed the show.

Happy hooking to all of you ;-)

Lauren

Wine bottle tree

I bought my wine bottle tree last fall at a craft show. I thought I need a little whimsy in my yard. It may be kind of hard to see, but I still need to drink a couple more bottles of wine to fill all the "branches". (Oh, darn!) The little garden was dug after I brought home that section of picket fence from a neighbor's trash pile. The pump is on loan from my brother and the wheel barrow was a yard sale find my mom got me 13 or 14 years ago.

I plant my son's work boots every year with hen and chicks. The last couple of years I have had a real problem with the squirrels taking them and leaving them scattered on the porch, so almost every day I have to replant one or two of them.
Thank you for stopping!
Lauren