Almost Friday ~

It has been a very long week.  I've worked over every day.  The reports are close to being done.  I just need a little more information from the crew leaders and then hopefully I can get them printed and distributed to the powers that be.  I hate being so far behind.  Once these are done, I need to work on the mounds of paperwork hiding my desk.  Bills need to be paid.  LOTS of bills.  2013 paperwork needs to be filed.  ACK!  I am tired of being stressed but remember, stressed spelled backwards is desserts :)

Does this look familiar?  I hooked this with hand torn strips and added a proddy edge.  If you'd like a chance to call it your own, leave me a comment on this post or send me an email with give-away in the subject line.  I will choose a winner in a few days . . . Monday or Tuesday at the latest.  My only "rule" is that you must contact me within three days or I will pick a new name.  (Oh, and please don't mention this on your blog.  It's for people who are actually reading my blog.)

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Just a Worker Bee ~

I'm just a worker bee.  I don't tell the plow drivers how or where to plow.  Call me and report a problem and I will pass it on to the Street Commissioner.  I will add it to the spreadsheet of streets needing attention.  Please don't yell at me. It does no good to swear at me.  Yesterday was a really tough day.  Thankfully today was better. Some people can be so nasty.  I understand they are frustrated, but they have to realize I can't solve their issue ~ I can only pass it along to someone who can.  

The other day I had a 30% coupon for Kohl's. What a racket.  I'm to the point where I don't like to shop there with only a 15% coupon and if it's not on sale, I won't even consider buying it.  Since I had the coupon, I decided to treat myself to this.  

Well, it didn't even last two days and I was the only one eating it.  I have absolutely NO willpower.  I guess I won't be buying any more again soon.

Finally finished the lavender sachets.  I must say I am quite proud of myself for actually finishing them.  I should reward myself with some chocolate, right?  Oh, wait, I already did that.

Hope you are staying warm and that this deep freeze will end soon.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Numbers ~

FIFTY TWO

Number of days until spring.

* * *

THIRTEEN

Number of days in a row that I worked.

We have been down one person in the office since June.

I am SO FAR behind and

annual reports are due this week.

Even with all the extra days I worked and

hours I worked over,

I will be hard pressed to get the reports done.

SIGH . . .

* * *

MINUS ELEVEN

Our predicted low Monday night.

* * *

THREE

Our predicted Tuesday high.

* * *

NINE

Number of lavender sachets finished.

I hope to finish the last three this evening 

but am not sure that will happen :)

I hope everyone is staying as toasty as possible.  I know I am not alone in this, but I am so tired of winter.  I hate the cold and the older I get the more I hate it.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Hooker's Crack ~

Don't you just love that term?  (It's something I stole from Kim over at Millie's Mats.)  My wool from Rebecca Erb arrived yesterday.  Beautiful :) Now if I'd just get something on my frame to hook . . . sigh.

Next week the mailer will arrive from Betsy. Nobody ever said hooking was a cheap hobby.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

One Down . . .

. . . eleven to go.  I assembled the first lavender sachet this evening.  As you know, I am terrible at the finishing process and my hand sewing skills are not the best.  Here is the first sachet, measuring about 5" wide and 6" tall.  

I backed it in the same wool that I hooked with.  It took me less than a half hour to hook the heart, but almost twice that to finish it.  Hopefully the next ones will go more quickly.  I will try to do them a little more assembly line style.  I will also use a little less lavender and cut the backing slightly larger.  I don't like that a bit of linen is showing between the front and back, but since the wool is light colored, you probably would not notice unless I pointed it out.

I hope that your week is off to a great start.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

A Little OCD ~

My amaryllis is gorgeous.  I bought it late so I knew it would not bloom for Christmas, but it is a welcome sight.  (Plus I only paid $1.99 and it has another bud that will bloom at a much later date.)

I sometimes think I am a little obsessive-compulsive.  I didn't have a rug ready to put on the frame, so I thought I'd hook a few hearts and hopefully turn them in to lavender sachets.

They hook up quickly so I just haven't stopped. Ideally I should be in my worm bags/baskets (note plural) using what is already cut, but it is so much easier to grab an uncut piece of wool.  One of these days I need to separate them again and actually use some . . . sigh . . . one of these days.

I've even ordered the lavender, so only time will tell if I will actually make any sachets. Remember, the road to hell is paved with good intentions :)

It started snowing just a short time ago and is accumulating quickly.  I know it's only mid-January, but I've had more than enough winter.

I hope the sun is shining in your little corner of the world.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

How Does One Lose a Rug?

I don't often build a fire on a work night, but this evening was the perfect time for one.  It's 28 degrees but it's a cold 28.  Perhaps it's the dampness.  No place to go (yeah).  Even Ellie enjoys the warmth.  

Normally there is a hooked rug hanging here, one I purchased a few years ago from Kelley (Kankerdoodle) on eBay.  I put it away for the holidays and it is nowhere to be found :(

I recently bought another rug on eBay.  It would not lie flat and appeared as if it had been folded.

Thankfully a good steaming did the trick.  It amazes me what a good steaming can do. It's a rug by Tonya Robey designed for the first issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine.  

She has a unique way of signing her rug and adding a rod pocket to the back.  Too bad my handwriting is so lousy.  

I need to find a dowel and hang this in place of Kelley's rug.  I'm sure it will turn up . . . eventually.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Almost Back Together ~

Thank you so much for all your kind comments on my last post.  They truly touched my heart.  I loved Robyn's idea of a memory jar. Unfortunately, most of the pieces were just unrecognizable chards of glass and were too quickly thrown away.  Of course, in hindsight, I wish I had saved some of them.  I think I was in too much of a state of shock.  The pieces I did salvage are safely (???) tucked away.  

I spent a good part of the weekend putting the house back together.  Most of it is done and after at least twenty trips to the attic there are no more boxes cluttering the house.  The only major thing left to do is return the featheredge to the dining room cupboard.  I have been collecting it for over 25 years.  You can read more about my collection here.

I still don't have a rug on the frame so decided to hook some small hearts and hopefully turn them into lavender sachets, but you know how I am about "finishing" things.  

Not much else going on in my world.  I hope all is well in yours.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Disaster ~

Last evening the only things left to come down were the outside swags and the big tree.  I was in the basement when I heard a crash.  This is what I found.  Haven't a clue why/how, but it somehow twisted in the base is the best way I can describe it.  One has to wonder why after if had stood for several weeks.  No kids in the house, no cat and Ellie was upstairs.  I just don't get it. 

This is what's left of my one true antique Santa ornament, and of the six pysanky eggs my niece brought me from the Czech Republic 15 years ago, only two survived.  

I think this is the one that hurts the most ~ the angel from my grandma's nativity set. Thankfully she will be glued back together.

A snowman ornament from my friend Judy (Ellie's mom).  It, too, can be glued back together but he will forever be without his nose :(

Tiny Tim survived the crash, but got broken in the clean-up process. 

As I'm boxing the ornaments, I am finding lots of small breaks and chips.  To say I am devastated is an understatement, but I am trying to put it in perspective.  I'm not doing a very good job but I am trying.  I only lost some ornaments.  How does one cope when there is a catastrophic event in their lives, be it a fire, hurricane, etc?

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Just Stuff ~

There is still nothing new on the frame . . . sigh. I've made a little, actually very little, progress on my Christmas sampler, but I feel I NEED to show that I've taken a bit of time to work on something.   It's so small, I should have finished it long before Christmas.  Oh, well . . . may it will be done before Christmas arrives again :)

The un-decorating, de-decorating or whatever you want to call this PIA job, is not going as well as I had hoped, but it never does :(  Here are just some of the boxes that need to be hauled up another flight of stairs.  I am so fortunate to have a walk up attic and let me tell you, it is full. I pity my boys if anything should happen to me. I keep warning them that all the "old stuff" that they find totally worthless should not be hauled to the curb.  It's their inheritance . . . lol.  I still have the big tree and lots of odds and ends to box up. Then I have boxes of stuff that needs to be put out to make the house look "normal" again.  I will just never learn.

So how is everyone faring in this weather? Thankfully by tomorrow the temperatures will be rising.  Last night it was a balmy -11 and today, even with the sun shining, 0 is cold.  I know many of you have it even worse.  Poor Ellie is having a terrible time with it.  I've never tried to get a dog to wear boots, but I'm about ready to try with her.  She truly screamed last evening after walking outside for maybe a minute.  I quickly picked her up and it was just so pathetic.  I've never heard those noises out of her before. Today was a bit better.  Has anyone tried footwear on an animal?

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Dreaded Day ~

. . . the day the Christmas decorations start coming down.  Thankfully they come down much more quickly than they go up.  It will still take me a few days, and then the house will look so naked until everything is back in place and I'm once again "used" to it :)  

I so admired friend Sheila's collection of salt glazed Santas (read about them here).  When son Bill asked what I wanted for Christmas, I had the perfect answer.  The tall guy in the middle was my gift from him and girlfriend Melisa.  Lucky me.

I know I don't have much time to hook or stitch the month of December, but I had no idea it would take me over a month to hook this little snowman rug (Star Rug Company pattern).   Of course in person the red is not so RED and the green is not so GREEN.

The hooking is finally done . . . so in to the finishing pile it goes.  I don't have another rug ready for the frame :(  I need to plan a little better . . . not that I don't have enough patterns to choose from. 

Tonight I think I will work on the Country Rustic Primitives Christmas cross stitch sampler started over a month ago.

As with many of you, we are expecting more snow and heading in to a deep freeze.  Have I ever mentioned that I HATE winter?  Well, maybe once or twice :)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Please stay safe and warm.
Hugs :)
Lauren

HAPPY NEW YEAR ~

Happy New Year!  Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy lives to read my blatherings. I appreciate you spending a bit of your free time with me and your comments mean so much.  I can't believe another year has passed us by.  Time sure is flying, isn't it?

I had a wild and crazy New Year's Eve ~ NOT.  As the new year began, I was on the phone calling snow plow drivers in to work.  The storm arrived hours earlier than anticipated, so I needed to get the drivers in.  Guys that planned to work today at 11:00 am were called around midnight to come in ASAP.  I don't know how they do it on little/no sleep.  We've gotten 4-5" with at least that much more predicted for the duration of the day.  I may be heading in to work . . . haven't yet heard if they need me (I DO NOT drive a plow).   My desk is piled high so I have plenty to do to keep me busy.  Basically I would be there to answer the phone of people calling because "they are a taxpayer and we NEVER plow their street" . . . lol!

May each and everyone of you be blessed with health, happiness and a bit of prosperity in this new year.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren