Brother Update and a Request ~

Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers for my brother Bill.  He had a heart catheterization done and one stent put in.  I can't believe they released him from the hospital the following day.  He is doing great I am happy to report!!!  The lung issue once again is said to be pneumonia but his lungs are more clear and he is on antibiotics to rid him of that.  Darn guy really gave me a scare.

My request . . . 

I cannot believe I did not know an Ohio friend had a blog!!!  How did Saundra know and not me?  She hasn't posted much over the years but has become more active.  She is a fast hooker and an amazing quilter.  Please stop by and welcome Sue.  Blogging is such a dying social media form so I'd appreciate you paying her a visit and encouraging her on. Vernon Junction can be found on my sidebar.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren 

Fluffle ~

Did you know that a group of bunnies is called a fluffle?  Or a colony, nest, herd or warren?  

I had seen bunnies on Facebook that were bought at Dollar Tree.  Of course I had to hunt some down.  This is what they start out looking like.

After a coffee bath and some embellishments . . . and they now all have bows.

I actually made a few more but didn't take any more pics.  I kept one and gave all the others away.

There is very little quality control in these bunnies. Initially I didn't pay that much attention when buying them, but discovered several had glue slopped on their faces and of course the coffee does not stain the glue.  I was able to pick the glue off with moderate success.  The last fluffle I purchased (3 for me and 3 for a friend . . . they were hard to find), I carefully looked at each face.  A couple had glue near the nose and a couple were missing the nose.  I bought the 6 best ones of the 9 they had.  After getting home, I discovered one had no arms 😁😂😁

Please keep my brother in your prayers.  He and his DSO arrived home Monday afternoon from 2+ months in Florida.  That night he ended up at the ER.  The initial diagnosis was double pneumonia, then the next day sent home with "pneumonia like symptoms".  Just a couple hours later while his DSO was out picking up scripts, he called 911 because he was having trouble breathing.  It had to be bad for him to call for help.  Next told he probably had a mild heart attack.  He has been transferred to a different hospital.  Now not sure if he had a heart attack.  Lung issue may be bronchitis.  ARGH!!!  Hopefully will have a heart cath later today for some answers on the heart and someone can diagnose the lung issues.  This growing old is NOT FOR SISSIES!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Happy Spring ~

 

I recently purchased a #10 cutter blade.  Wasn't really planning on purchasing one, but DSO said he would buy it for my birthday, so I figured what the heck.  (For you non-hookers, a #10 blade is the equivalent of 10/32" strip of wool.)  I normally hooked with an 8.5 (8.5/32") which is my absolute favorite size to use.  I tried the 10 on a pumpkin, and oh, I do like it and with a wide shank hook it is very easy to pull through the linen backing.  After comparing the handtorn pumpkin with the 10 cut pumpkin, I prefer the handtorn look on a pumpkin that size, but the 10 cut is easier on the hand/wrist.  I am amazed at the size of rugs some people hook with handtorn strips, but I don't think I will be attempting such a project.  (You know who you are, Jo . . . lol!)  Yesterday, after hooking with the 10, I started a small project with the 8.5 . . . and it seemed so skinny 😁  I'm sure Julia, who hooks with 3's (3/32"), I believe, is just shaking her head.

Thank so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Hooky Stuff ~

So many wonderful hooked pieces shared during last week's Twenty Dollar Hookers' retreat in Millersburg, OH.

Here are a few completed pieces that were brought.

Lora was the over acheiver 😁

Lynn's hit and miss mat.  I'd say hooked with mostly #10 strips.

Look at this fat proddy edge!  These are the true colors.

Tammy's Beside Still Waters.

Vicki is super hooker.  She completed a wool applique project for her mom (thought I took a picture but I guess not) and got this much hooked on a new rug.

Melissa is making progress on Henny, Penny and Streak.  It is much larger than it looks.

Lee got lots of Rufus hooked.  She says a 9 cut goes so much more quickly than her normal 6 cut.

Julie was gifted this rug partially hooked.  I believe it is 5' x 7'!!!

The butt of Tanya's Proud Lion.  Tanya always picks the most wonderful colors.

Ruthellen finished a paisley pattern started long ago.

Of course I missed pictures of a few rugs, but I did much better than I normally do.

Miss Molly.  What can I say?  Minutes after giving her her two anti-seizure meds Sunday evening she had a seizure . . . the first in 6 weeks.  It was milder than the others, but nonetheless upset me and broke my heart 💔  Think good thoughts, please.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Back to Reality ~

 

I arrived home last evening from my little hooking get away with the Twenty Dollar Hookers in Millersburg, OH.  Always fun to get away for a few days but good to get back home.  Today I have been playing catch up.  Even being gone just 3 days there is a lot to do.  Thankfully the pug sitter had no issues with Molly other than the fact she was peeing almost non-stop yesterday.  I am hoping she doesn't have another UTI as they get very expensive!

I did get my two pumpkins bound . . . 

. . . and finished hooking Love Birds, started in a class last summer with Sally Kalin.  There are just a couple minor things to tweak . . .

. . . and hooked 6 circles for the centers of sunflowers that will be put on an old bed spring.  

I actually feel I was more productive than usual!

I even took some pictures of projects hookers were working on or had finished.  I will share those in the next post.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

How do you bind a rug?

 

The same way you eat an elephant . . . a little at a time.

Two more of my little mats are bound . . . and two to go.  

Hopefully soon I will finish hooking the two remaining class rugs from 2022 before I head to my Kris Miller class next month . . .  and Cathy Stephan the following month 😁

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Back to . . .

Love Birds, an antique adaptation, is a rug I started last June in a class with Sally Kalin.  It had barely been touched since then, but it is finally time to finish it.  I was smart and did not "borrow" any of the wool to use on another project, but it was still hard to get a grip on what needed to be done.  I completed the hooking of bird #2 and now only have background left (other than a little tweaking), and I do like hooking background.  Hopefully this will be done sooner rather than later.

Next week the $20 Hookers are meeting for a few days so I need to plan my projects to take.  Maybe the hooking on Love Birds will be done so I can work on the binding.

Another RAINY day in Ohio . . . but you don't have to shovel rain.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

And Now There Are Four ~

 

Gypsy has been bound.  It was bound in one of the wools used in the background.  One down, four to go 😁  The four have been trimmed, steamed and the edges zigzagged (I don't have a serger).  Thankfully they are smaller than Gypsy.

In October I am vending at a show that is not a hook in.  I am determined not to wait until the last minute to make non-hooking related items.  (Or did I already tell you that?)  I did make 15 wool wreaths.  All that's left is to add a bow.  It's a start!

Did you know that black dogs are usually the last to be adopted from a shelter?

And speaking of black dogs, Molly is still seizure free, but is having great difficulty walking.  It is just heartbreaking to see her dragging herself across the floor.  That gray face just melts my heart.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

And Then There Were Five ~

I suddenly went from having no rugs to bind to FIVE.  Argh.  The two pumpkins . . . 

. . . and two small hit and miss mats.  The mat to the right was also hooked with worms except for the black. 

Gypsy.  

Plus soon Fierce Lion will need binding, too.  I suppose it is a terrible problem to have 😁  My goal is to bind for at least 1/2 hour every day, and even doing that will take quite some time to finish them.

Thank you for all your comments on the cluster in East Palestine.  Several of you are no-reply bloggers, so I was unable to personally respond, but please know I appreciate the comments.  I am just gobsmacked that our president could fly to the Ukraine and give them another half billion dollars in aid, but do nothing for the citizens of our country.  Shouldn't they come first?

Molly is still doing good . . . fingers crossed, though yesterday she was having much difficulty walking.  I took her antiquing Saturday, so she got to be a diva in her pink stroller.  Let me tell you.  It absolutely wore her out.  It is hard being that cute.  We got to DSO's about 6:15 pm and the only time she moved a muscle was to swallow her meds and go potty.

SSHHHH!  Today I took her to the hooking guild meeting at the library.  Overall she was good but if I left her sight, she started yipping.  She was once again the belle of the ball.  She rarely laid down but just happened to be prone when I snapped this picture.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Venting ~

East Palestine, Ohio.  My heart breaks for the residents.  Why is our government not stepping in and calling this a disaster area?  Do the demographics not check the right boxes?  How many EPA officials have you seen drinking the water?  Other government officials?  Where is our so-called transportation secretary?  Property values?  Do you think anyone has a snowball's chance in hell of selling and moving away?

I live about 100 miles west of East Palestine, but I have railroad tracks within a quarter mile of my house.  What if this had happened in a more densely populated area?  WHY ARE THE CONCERNS OF THE RESIDENTS BEING IGNORED?  The government is saying to just trust them.  Yeah, right.

Please keep all the residents in your prayers.  

Lauren

Miscellaneous Stuff ~

Like Saundra, I just have miscellaneous stuff to blog about 😇

We, too, have had some very spring like weather and you will get no complaints from me.  It is fun to walk around the flower beds and see what is peeking out.  The snowdrops have been above ground for the last month and they, along with the winter aconite, were blooming yesterday.  Daffodils have buds and the hyacinth are beginning to emerge.

Yesterday Molly enjoyed soaking up some sunshine.

Since passing on the raffle rug to the next hooker, I am back to "my" hooking.  This October I am vending at a show that is not a hook in, so want to hook a few small mats to hopefully sell.  Two pumpkins with hand torn strips are hooked . . . 

. . . and the hooking is nearly complete on this little hit or miss mat.

Photo bomber 😁

I finally finished the hooking on Gypsy, started last May at Cedar Lakes rug camp.  All I had left was about 15 minutes of reverse hooking.  The rug is OK, not one of my favorites (but they all can't be, right?).   Now on to steaming and binding.  I find steaming as tedious as the binding.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Feeling Blue ~

Sorry I did not give a Molly update on my last post.  Thanks to all who are praying for her 💖

She is doing much better.  Walking more and more before falling over as long as she is on a surface with traction.  She has been seizure free for almost 2 weeks.  Last time she went 3 weeks.  I am praying she can remain seizure free.  She is on two anti-seizure meds (morning, afternoon and night) and never misses a dose.  Thank goodness for phone alarms.  FINGERS CROSSED!!!

Though yesterday's needle felting class was great fun, I am now certain it is not another "craft" I care to embrace.  Friend Heidi was a great teacher and very patient with this problem student 😁

Heidi's sample is on the bottom left.  Mats were hooked prior to class and the heart needle felted in class.  

A couple close ups.

The long mat in the back was hooked by the amazing Deb in a 3 CUT!!!

Thanks, Heidi, for allowing me to feel blue.  I am not a pink person and the reds were just a little too bright for me.

A little pin back can be added to the small heart or a chain to wear it as a necklace.

Happy Sunday everyone.  I am not a football watcher so will not spend any time in front of the TV watching the game.  In fact, I so rarely turn the TV on (it has been months!), that I was looking for the remote and cannot find it.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊
Lauren