Quickie ~

Just finished this little mat for yet another door prize for the Crooked River Rug Hookers hook in this Saturday.  It is titled Pumpkin Kitty, but I think mine turned out looking like Pumpkin Owl.  The pattern is by Teresa's Primitive Treasures and can be found here.

Saturday while gadding about, I came across a tin doll head to add to my collection.  She is the tiny one on the right.  She is in such perfect condition.  I think I prefer the "much loved" girls.

Just for fun, I am having a little give-away and I do mean little.  Hooked in 2017, this mat has just been sitting in the closet so it's time for it to find a new home.  It measures only 6 1/2" x 9".  I will pick a winner on Saturday.  As always, the rules are simple.  Leave a comment on this post only or send an email with give-away in the subject line.  The winner must contact me within three days.  My apologies to my Canadian friends.  Due to high shipping costs, this is for US readers only.  Please no sharing on any social media.

Tomorrow my class starts.  I'd better get busy and pull some wool.  Gotta scoot.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Busy Week Ahead ~

The next few weeks are crazy busy, but doing fun stuff.  Next week I have two hooking classes.  Tuesday and Wednesday is a class with Nola Heidbreder.  I have chosen to hook her pattern American Clipper.  I will be hooking the small version which is 22 1/4" x 16".  Hopefully I will get it hooked and bound to give as a Christmas gift.

Thursday and Friday I will be in a class with Caroline Twigg of Eagles' Nest Woolens.  I've had Caroline before and she is lots of fun.  I will be hooking Vintage Blossoms, a pattern by Payton Primitives, purchased from Heavens to Betsy.  It measure 22" x 29".

Saturday is my guild's hook in.  I have volunteered for several duties throughout the day so no hooking will be done.  Unfortunately (???) I will find time to shop.  We have a great line up of vendors including the Wool Studio and the Wool'n Gardener.

And I wonder why I can't get anything done at home . . . sigh.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Ever Wonder ~

Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic wins lottery"?

Why is abbreviated such a long word?

Why is is that doctors call what they do "practice".

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes?  Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Only in America . . . 

Only in America . . . do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes up front.

Only in America . . . do people order double cheeseburgers, large fires and a diet coke.

Only in America . . . do banks leave vault doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

Only in America . . . do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Only in America . . . do they have drive up ATMs with Braille lettering.


Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Catching Up ~ This 'n That

Total randomness today ~

Every 9-11 I post asking that one NEVER forgets what happened to this great Land of ours that day.  I was out of town on the 11th, so better late than never.

Tomorrow fall will officially arrive.  So not happy (like I can do anything about it).  Picture snagged from the internet.

Yesterday was a near perfect day.  A little hot but with a wonderful breeze, hooking on the shores of Lake Erie for the day was heaven.  A small hook in put on by an individual, it is always a first class event.  Thank you, Rita, for this wonderful day.

She kindly asks me to vend each year.  It is so nice because I get to sit and hook all day and people track me down if they want to purchase something :)   A  couple close ups of my goods.

I did some goldenrod dyeing.  I forgot to take a picture before soaking, so here is one of the wet wool.

It's hard to see the difference, but the wool is a subtle yellow color.

After having been MIA for quite some time, my frog has returned.  Marly reports that it's a lithobates clamitans and by its coloring is a female.  Thanks, Marly.  Glad she is back :)

So hard to believe but it's been THREE years since my retirement.  Time flies when you are having fun and I'm having a ball :)

Last but not least.  I have a guest today.  She loves to follow the sun around the dining room.  What a cutie patootie.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Honky Tonkin' ~

Franklin, Tennessee, is just south of Nashville, so we spent a day there.  I can't say I'd ever been to a honky tonk.  I learned they were very loud ~ so loud with bands playing you can't even hear yourself think.  They were mostly packed and this was in the middle of the afternoon and already past peak tourist season.

Our first stop was the American Pickers store.  What a tourist trap!  Mostly a souvenir shop, with a few very overpriced antiques.

Also, a few oddities.

I had no idea vintage Tennessee license plates were in the shape of the state.

The same building that housed the above mentioned store, was once home to Marathon Motor Works.  That is a car company I had never heard of.

There are only eight known Marathon cars, and three of them were displayed.

I had no idea there was a full size replica of the Parthenon in Nashville.

Forty two foot high statue of Athena inside.  (The tallest indoor statue in the U.S.)  She is holding a six foot statue of Nike in her upturned palm

Friend Wink jammin' :)

The main reason we went to Nashville was so that she could find another pair of cowboy boots.  She did!

A party bike :)  They actually pedaled it down the main street.

This sign cracked me up.

Our last major stop before heading home to Ohio was to tour the Carter House.  Part of the Battle of Franklin took place on this property.  You can read more here.

 A log cabin on the property.

Another building situated near the main house.  Note all the bullet holes.

It was a great little get away with a dear friend.  She and I go WAY back . . . I actually met her in Spain.  She then spent the school year at Bowling Green State University where I was an undergraduate student and she was pursuing her master's.  Friendships like ours are one in a million and I am thankful to call her friend.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Tennessee ~

Our first stop on the Tennessee trip was at the Ellington Agricultural Center and Brentwood Hall.  This antebellum mansion is the home of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.  I was fortunate to know someone who works on the grounds and was able to give us a personal tour.  It pays to know someone :)

This "someone" is Carmen who I met a couple times in Ohio and just last week saw her at the Woolkeepers hook in.  I sort of invited us to her house and she was the hostess with the mostess, giving us a tour and feeding us a yummy dinner.  She is a cross stitcher extraordinaire, excellent hooker, quilts and who knows what else.  Oh, she also designs cross stitch patterns.  Carmen, Wink and I thank you and hubby for your hospitality!

I'm embarrassed to admit how little I know about the Civil War, but this trip has inspired me to learn more.  The Battle of Franklin was fought there on November 30, 1864.  In just five hours, there were nearly 10,000 casualties in its wake; 2,000 dead, 7,000 wounded, and 1,000 missing.  You can read more about it here. 

The Confederate Monument, also know as Ship, or our Confederate Soldiers, is located on the grounds of the Williamson County Courthouse in the County Seat - Franklin Tennessee.  Installed in 1899, it is an Italian marble statue portraying a single Confederate soldier atop a tall column and base, intended to commemorate contributions of the Confederate States Army.  

On August 17, 2017, a petition was circulated calling for its removal.  Another petition to keep the monument was also started.  Both petitions had thousands of signatures by late August.  Franklin's city administrator said the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act prevented the city from removing the monument without the consent of the Tennessee Historical Commission.  As of December 2018, the issue was in litigation.  I personally am against removing the statue.  History should not be erased.

Carnton, seen below, was used as a Civil War Field Hospital.  You can read  more here.

On the grounds, the family cemetery houses two distinct sections.  In one are the graves of McGavock family members and friends.

The other portion has many crudely marked graves.  It is believed this is the burial place for some of the McGavock slaves and later laborers.

Throughout the cemetery stone columns marked how many from each Confederate state were killed.  

The Rest Haven Cemetery is located in Franklin.

Also at Rest Haven Cemetery.

Thanks for coming along on the first days of our trip.  More to follow.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)

Lauren