100th post GIVE~AWAY ~ ~ ~

Okay, I'm a few posts late. This was meant to be for my 100th post.

I still have not come up with those wonderful pictures...

or the witty repartee,

but I have managed to hook this little mat for a give~away.

It's not as little as I thought it was going to be.

I am forgetting that hooking with an 8.5 and a 9.5 cut,

things tend to be a bit larger.

This mat is about 12 3/4" x 13 3/4" in diameter out of round.

The background is a wonderful as-is wool

and the heart and hit-and-miss border are an assortment

of many different shades of reds and pinks.

{{I will bind it before I send it to you...honest! }}

And now the fine print.....

You must leave a comment on this post...

OR if you are having trouble leaving me a comment,

send me an email ~ lauren@centurytel.net.

Please put "give~away" in the subject line

so I won't miss it.

If you don't have a blog, be sure to leave me an email address.

You don't need to be a follower ~ ~ ~

but I would appreciate it if you were ;-)

Feel free to post this on your blog...

but only one entry per person.

Please, only residents of the United States and Canada

due to the cost of shipping.

Oh, by the way.....

this will come complete with a few pug hairs.

(The downside of loving a pug!)

I will draw a winner on Saturday the 6th at 5 pm.

Thank you for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Rugs I did not hook ~ ~ ~

Today I thought I would share with you rugs I own but did not hook. All were purchased on eBay, about 2005 - 2007.

These are 2 small mats hooked by Bonnie Stahl. Her hooking style is rather low loops that are tightly packed.
This is also by Bonnie. The true colors are much more muted.
A small rug by Jane Augenstein of Liberty Homestead Rugs...

...and a closeup view. The first picture shows the truer colors (but still not totally accurate).

I believe this is by eBay seller primitiveglory, though I did not buy it from her. It is unsigned.

Another unsigned rug that I adore. It's 11 1/2 x 16 and so primitive. Its only fault is that it was not hooked on the straight of the grain and doesn't lay quite flat.

Another unsigned rug that is 23 x 37. It was hooked by the seller (I have no recollection of who that was). Her loops are very low but very even. It is a wonderful rug that I got for very little money. Lucky for me but not for the seller. That's all for today. Thank you so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs (to keep you warm) :)
Lauren

Hookin' at the Library ~ ~ ~

Friday I finally got the chance to head to the library to hook. It's been ages since I have been able to make it and this is the first time I was able to go during the day. I showed up with my little weenie rug that I have been whining about for so long. Let me tell you, I was embarrassed to take it out of my bag. These ladies can hook and they hook BIG, BIG projects. I didn't get pictures of everyone's rugs, but here are a few.

Take a look at this rug. This is Sylvia's and she probably started it less than a month ago. It must be at least 3 x 5 feet if not bigger. The first picture shows how big it really is....

...and the close up gives you a better idea of the colors being used.

Here's Karin's antique adaptation.

Doesn't Carol's rug just make you smile? Carol is the go-to woman for color planning!

Here's an Edyth O'Neill adaptation very close to completion. The colors are so rich.

Jane started this rug in a class. These are her two dogs Sadie and Haley. Look closely and you can see the names hooked in the bodies. This is another HUGE rug. I bet it is at least 4 x 5 feet.

Last but not least is Kaye's rug. BEAUTIFUL!!!

I did finish my little weenie rug and after I get it mailed off (belated Christmas gift, remember?), I will post a picture of it.

Thank you all for stopping by. I hope you've had a great weekend!
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Can a rug hate me?

Thank you to each and everyone who left me a comment on my last post wishing me a speedy recovery. I know it is only a cold, but it has knocked the wind out of my sails for over a week now. I've heard it said that if you take meds for a cold, it lasts seven days and if you do nothing, it takes a week...lol! I just want to feel human again!

OK. Can a rug have a personal vendetta against me? This belated Christmas gift I have been working on since November shouldn't be so difficult. It's only about 14x19 and a very simple design, but it has been giving me fits from the get-go. I started it on this linen I hate working with and finally started over on the primitive linen I love. Things were going ok, and then came the holidays and the decorating and all that goes with it, so the rug got set aside. I apologized profusely to the recipients when I didn't have a gift to give them and figured I'd get the rug done in no time. Here it is going in to the third week in January (is that possible?) and it's still not done. The lettering gave me fits ~ one letter too big and the next too small. Okay, I think that is finally resolved and I'm STILL NOT done. I've only used a few colors of wool in the entire rug and I'm not sure if I'm happy with the choices. I think I just have this mental block that I need to overcome. Hopefully I'll be a little happier with the rug when it is all done, bound and shipped to Alaska!

Tonight I've got both the girls. I was hoping to get a picture of the two of them together, but they insist on being on opposite ends of the couch. Here's Eema ~ still with me. (I think that is my finger in the top of the picture ~ sorry.)

This is Loocie. She was a bit "under the weather" and Daddy didn't want to leave his little princess home alone while he taught this evening. Isn't she just the cutest little thing?
Here's a Mom update. We (my brother and I) brought her home from the nursing home on Monday and not only will she have caregivers 24/7, hospice is now coming in, too. I met the hospice nurse and social worker today and they were just the most caring ladies, and the social worker also has a pug so she has to be a special person...lol!
I hope all is well in your little corner of the world.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

100th post ~ ~ ~

I thought my 100th post

Would be filled with wonderful pictures ~

A great give-away ~

Something you couldn't tear yourself away from.

Boy, was I ever wrong :(

I don't get sick often.

I'm generally blessed with good health,

but every 5 or 10 years

{{ACHOO!}}

I get a cold that just knocks me on my butt!

I slept until almost 11 today

and took a three and a half hour nap this afternoon.

Eema and I were supposed to go charm people

at the Moochie Pet Store this afternoon.

That didn't happen.

It took all my energy just to read the newspaper

and sort through the mail.

I'm sitting here with the heat cranked up

and a portable heater keeping me warm.

Hopefully I will begin to feel better tomorrow

and write that witty 100th post (albeit late)!

Thank you for dropping by.

Stay healthy!

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

I prefer the dog days of summer ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ but I'll have to settle for the dog day of January.

Sunday, Ohio Pug Rescue set up at the Moochie pet store at the Beachwood Mall about an hour east of me. I'm not wild about driving that far to an event, but it is a chance for a pug to meet his/her forever home. This is Don Juan ~ aka DJ ~ and yes, his tongue is always like that! He was one of the lucky ones. He met his new forever mom and dad and I'm sure he's now leading the life of a spoiled Don Juan!

This handsome devil is Fang. He was so hard to photograph. He wouldn't stay still for a minute. He is 8-9 years old and was an adoption return. Claudia, who is fostering him was also his first foster mom and she is thinking he may be a "foster failure" ;-)
And here's my dear Eema. She is such a sweetheart. I think (and hope!) she may have her forever home soon. She deserves all the happiness and love she can get!

It's hard to believe, but this is my 99th post!!! Time does fly when you're having fun.

Thank you all for stopping by and please come again soon.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Is it un-decorating~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ or de-decorating? Whatever it is, I'm tired of it :) Decorations do come down much more quickly than they go up, but with all that has been going on with my Mom (thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers!), it is taking me forever. I got the ornaments off the big tree and now need to haul it up to the attic. That is a real chore. I swear, the tree is losing more needles than a live one. I really need to consider getting a new tree!

Yesterday, Mom was transferred from the hospital to a skilled nursing facility for rehab. Hopefully she can regain some of her strength and perhaps walk a little again. I know the dementia is not going to get any better :(

I'm not making too much progress on the rug I'm hooking for the belated Christmas gift. I am just having a really hard time doing the lettering. I've only done letters one other time and find it very difficult. I'm trying to follow Kris Miller's advice (http://www.spruceridgestudios.blogspot.com/), but it's still not going as well as I had hoped. I'll get through it, just not as quickly as I would have liked. It was also suggested that I reverse hook the letters using a slightly wider cut, but I don't like reverse hooking!

Tonight I have a date with my grandson Jake. We are going to visit my Mom and then go see the Squeakquel Chipmunk movie. He should enjoy that.

Speaking of movies, last night we watched "the Proposal". We thought it was a hoot ~ predictable but enjoyable.

It's trying to snow again, but we haven't gotten nearly as much as was predicted. It is so funny. I live in northern Ohio. It snows in northern Ohio ~ every year ~ but the news channels make it out to be such a big deal. I guess they have nothing better to report.

Well, time to get that tree to the attic.

Thank you for stopping by.

Stay warm!

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

This 'n That ~ ~ ~

A big THANK YOU to all of you who left a comment or said a little prayer for my Mom. Thankfully she's still in the hospital where she can get the care she needs (though sometimes I wonder how much care she really is getting). I'm hoping they will put her in inpatient rehab to help her get some strength back. Yesterday two people were not able to get her to stand and today they were talking about sending her home! The social worker was supposed to get back with me, but guess what? The only information I got was from questions I asked her nurse this evening and that was sketchy information at best. I don't think the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. Keep those prayers coming.

Tonight was hooking night with the gals at the library but between work and the hospital I did not have time for the 35 minute drive. Maybe next time {sigh}. I finally have been working on the Christmas present and hopefully I can finish it in the near future and show it to you once it has reached its destination.

Thankfully, taking down the Christmas decorations goes much faster than putting them up, but once again I am knee deep in boxes. I love Christmas and all the trimmings, but once the new year begins, I want my house back in order. Hopefully by this weekend I can breathe that sigh of relief when it is all done.

I'll leave you with a few more Christmas pics.

Pug decorations from dear friend Belinda ~

Another of my plastic light up Santas. I love this little guy :)

My sled I showed you in an earlier post. I wasn't too sure what to do with it. The red, green and white piece is a couple yards of fabric I bought years ago. I put it in walnut dye and it just came out dingy. I think I need to stain it again and sew the edges. I was lazy and just turned them under.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

A great deal for hookers ~ and how NOT to spend New Year's Day

Thanks to Joanne at Snippets & Scraps of My Mind (she's on my sidebar) for this little tidbit of information. Larry and Gloria Ault (www.aults.com/blog/) will take certain unused gift cards and exchange them dollar for dollar for Townsend products, hooks, Ault's gift certificates, etc. Check out their December 25th post. I'm getting a new Townsend cutter head. Woo hoo! I just love my Townsend and am so happy I got it.

Now what NOT to do on New Year's Day...spend it at the ER. I took Mom in because of shortness of breath. Poor dear. I did not have her go by ambulance even though I know things would move more quickly. She did not want to go that way and I still try to honor her wishes. The hospital brags that patients will be seen and treatment begun in 30 minutes or less. Well.....after an hour we are finally called and as she is being asked questions, I see the sign prominently hung about the 30 minute promise. When I said we had been waiting an hour, the response was, "We've been really busy". I then asked what happens since it was over 30 minutes. The response was "You get an apology". I'm trying to figure out if that was the apology because nothing else was said.

So on to the triage area for heart patients. They allow her to leave her slacks on but remove her sweater and give her a flimsy hospital gown with the promise of a blanket and pillow. Well it took 2 requests for a blanket and 3 for a pillow. Is that too much to ask for an almost 90 year old? I was told that they got 4 patients in a short period of time with only one nurse. Sorry. I know you are busy but how much trouble is it and how long does it take to grab a blanket? There was someone sitting at the desk at all times. (She was the one who finally brought the pillow. Thank you!) I just can't imagine the care ~ or lack of ~ that people receive if no one is there looking out for them. They did admit her and for that I am thankful. (She has fluid in her lungs, bronchitis and who knows what else.) They also discovered that when she fell on Christmas Day she did break the clavicle even thought the paramedics said she was fine and would not transport her to the hospital. No wonder her pain was so bad!

GGGRRRRR!!! That make me so mad and I am generally an easy going person. Her last stay at that hospital was no better, but that is the hospital where her doctors practice.

OK. Off of the soapbox.

I hope your year is off to a great start. The weather in Ohio is frightful ~ with the wind chill it must be near zero.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren