Color Me Crazy ~

Less is more.  HA!  Not in my life.  I don't know if I will ever learn that lesson.  I have been decorating for a week.  I still have lots of odds and ends and piddly stuff left to decorate.  Plus the big tree.  The reason it takes me so long is because I am basically packing up all my "stuff" to make room for the Christmas decorations and those who have been reading my blog for a while know I have lots of "stuff".  And would Christmas be complete without me breaking a few ornaments.  Of course I always drop the vintage ornaments that are the oldest made of paper thin glass.  They don't stand a chance against a hardwood floor.  I broke one of my favorite red, white and blue ornaments.  I did save some of the pieces 😢

The tinsel tree had new lights strung on the top half and the ornaments put back on.  The angel tree topper was a gift from Saundra a number of years ago.  Isn't she sweet?  The angel and Saundra, too.

Mr. Jingles is done and ready to be gifted!  Hopefully next week I will find time to do some hooking.

Now I must brag for a minute about the super shopper that I am.  I had a return at Kohl's so lost $15 in Kohl's cash.  I ended up spending $58.76, but I SAVED $166.81 . . . plus I got another $10 in Kohl's cash.  What a game 😁😁😁

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Gotcha Day

"Gotcha Day" is the day you adopted.  Today is that day.  Three years ago Molly became a permanent part of my life.  She is definitely more than I bargained for, but she is my baby.

Here she is when I first got her.

And here she is today ~ much more grey and with a host of medical issues.

First of all she is the world's meanest pug.  So un-puglike.  I lovingly call her Bad Molly.  She HATES all other dogs.  Cannot be near them or she goes in to "kill" mode.  It makes is difficult to be around DSO and his pug Ernestine, but we deal with it.  Initially they got along ~ not sure what went wrong!  Not easy but it is what it is . . . and the hatred between the two is mutual.  Thankfully she loves people, except for the mail carrier 😁  

In addition to being so mean, she is deaf, prone to UTIs (cha ching $$$), and has pug myelopathy.  Myelopathy is an incurable, progressive disease of the canine spinal cord that is similar in many ways to ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).  Bottom line is that she is losing the use of her back legs and bodily functions.  Oh, what I do for this baby!!!  The good news is that is does not cause her any pain.

Happy Gotcha Day, little Miss Molly.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Saying Bad Words~

I normally start Christmas decorating after Thanksgiving, but this year since my Las Vegas son was not home (boo-hoo 😢) and my niece and family did not come from Chicago, I decided to get an early start.  I was so happy to have my 6' tinsel tree with all vintage glass ornaments done, even though I broke two old ornaments in the process.

I was happy until last night at bedtime.  This is what the tree looked like 😡

Pre-lit trees are wonderful until they are not.  I have never replaced a fuse on a light strand and I am guessing that would be too easy a solution.  I hate the thought of undecorating half the tree to add a string of lights.  (Before I posted this, DSO came over to see what he might be able to do.  He had even watched some You Tube videos.  After replacing several burned out bulbs and the fuses, NOTHING!  I will be undecorating tomorrow and adding a string of lights.)  Did I mention I might have said a few bad words?

Today is Charles M. Schulz's (aka Sparky) 100th birthday.  It was so cool because most of the comic strip panels in today's newspaper paid tribute to Charles, Snoopy and the Peanuts gang.  We visited the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA, in 2017.

A sampling of tributes to Sparky.  I hope you can enlarge them to be able to read.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Happy Thanksgiving ~

Gobble 'til you wobble.

I have much to be thankful for.  Family, friends, a roof over my head, living in the U.S.A. and so much more.  Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to continue to read my blog.  Love you all 💖

My papier mache turkey flock continues to grow each year.

Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Neither Molly nor I are very happy with the cold, windy weather we have been having, but I am thankful I do not live in the Buffalo area.  I cannot even begin to imagine 5' of snow!!!

Of course I still have not re-hooked Proud Lion's eyes.  The reverse hooking on Gypsy is nearly complete.  Mr. Jingles is in the process of being bound.  I normally would bind with the wool used in the background, but I would have had to piece it together to have a strip long enough.  Instead I chose to bind in the red wool I used for his scarf.  After the binding is complete and he is steamed once again, his scarf tails will be added and buttons will be sewn on for his eyes and chest buttons.

Yesterday I went and "played".  The very upscale antique mall in Seville was having their Christmas open house.  Most items are totally out of my price range, but I did snag a couple bargains.  

This crock has no cracks and just a few flea bites on the ears (handles).  

It was priced so reasonably because at one time it was a lamp and has a hole drilled in the bottom.

This sampler was unbelievably cheap.  Yes, the bottom half is pretty much illegible, but I find that kind of endearing.  I suppose in my spare time I could get a magnifying glass and figure it out, but that is not likely to happen😂 I am not a purist and price is definitely a consideration in my purchases.

She is showing her age . . .

. . . has obviously been in this frame for many years.

And of course I could not resist a little box of ornaments.  Do I need them?  Heck no, but temptation got the best of me 😁

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Home Again ~

How can it really be Thanksgiving next week?  I love that it is early this year ~ more time to get ready for Christmas 😁

As usual, I did not take pictures at the hooking get away.  Only got one of friend Linda's rug that she started in a class with Cathy Stephan a while back.

I did get some hooking done, but of course not as much as I would have liked.  Nothing new there.  I finished Fierce Lion, except I still need to redo the eyes, and of course I will procrastinate for quite some time.  He is not nearly as white as the picture shows.

Progress was made on Gypsy.  Not too much more to hook, and some reverse hooking needs to be done.  The colors are WAY too washed out, but if I try for a better picture, I may never get this post done!  Sorry that my pictures are worse than normal!

I also started Mr. Jingles ~ a Christmas gift.  He is such an easy hook.  He will most likely have antique shoe buttons for his eyes and buttons.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Land of the Free Because of the Brave ~

God bless our veterans.

God bless America.

Glorious Weather ~

 

Our weather has been absolutely gorgeous.  Temps in the 60's and 70's.  The only issue I see is that we have barely had any rain in months and it is so dry.  I, thankfully, am getting lots of yard work done.  All the stuff I could not accomplish when wearing "da boot".  I probably won't get it all done, but as I always say, some is better than none.

I still have a few flowers blooming.  What a treat!

Blue jays enjoys a quick afternoon bath.  The third one flew away before I could snap the picture.

Thursday morning I am heading to Millersburg, OH, for a few days of hooking.  It is always fun to run away from reality every once in a while.  As stated in a previous post, I hope to finish Fierce Lion, maybe even Gypsy . . . and start on Mr. Jingles, a Christmas gift.  Sadly, I never accomplish nearly what I hope to.  Such is life.

My sentiments exactly . . .

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren 

Gypsy ~

Gypsy was started at Cedar Lakes Rug Camp in May.  I have pulled a few loops since my return from camp, but not for quite some time.  The wool I took to camp has never been sorted.  I should have removed the wool that was not going to be hooked in to the rug, but of course I did not.  Plus I "borrowed" a few pieces of the wool I used to put in other rugs I started.  Dumb, dumb, DUMB!  I have this entire large tote full of wool.  I really should sort through it and remove wool that will not be used.  Right now it is a hot mess.

I can't find a picture of what the rug looked like before I started hooking on it today.  I was not happy with part of the horse so I have been reverse hooking some of him.

I only have background left to hook on Fierce Lion - plus some serious work on his eyes.  I will take him to work on at guild Thursday.  No brainer hooking.

Next week the Twenty Dollar Hookers are meeting for a few days in Millersburg.  I will take Fierce Lion to finish and hopefully will make progress on Gypsy.  That will still leave me one rug in progress from a camp this year, Love Birds.  It, too, has been neglected.

I have often said I am a city dweller, but have woods nearby.  Deer are a huge problem.  It's not unusual to see them in the yard or walking down the street.  Last evening I was coming down the stairs and this young buck was approaching my bird bath that sits about five feet from the house.  I had to walk to the kitchen to get my phone and he was in no hurry to leave.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren