From This ~

~ to this.  I am so tired of unpacking boxes and trying to figure out where to put things 😢  I have more cupboards but they are configured differently.  I have been unboxing for several days.  I really am trying to purge things but don't believe I am being too successful.  I come by the hoarding gene justly.  My dear mother . . . a product of the depression.

So here is today's pile.  So funny.  I have never been one to shy away from pounding nails in to walls, but hate to put nail holes in my pristine walls.  In due time . . .  

These are items that I am either going to redecorate with, give away or perhaps some of the better stuff, try to sell, but I know I will get almost nothing for the items so not sure it is worth it.  What do you do with a 35mm SLR camera you spent a small fortune on?  I do have another box that is going to the thrift store.  I just want to be DONE.  It doesn't help matters that I woke up today feeling like crap.  Scratchy throat and watery eyes.  I am hoping it is allergies and not a cold.  I have too much to do in the next week to not feel well.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

The Wool Room ~

Anyone who has a wool/craft room knows it is almost impossible to keep it clean and organized.  I have been trying to fold and sort wool by color.  Problem is the wool is different sizes . . . and then deciding what color the wool is.  Is it blue?  Is it green?  Which shelf should it go on?  Is the piece too small to put on the shelf?  

I failed to take before pictures.  The shelves were a total disaster.  Here is what they look like now.  Much better but sadly I know as soon as I need to pull wool for a new project they will be a mess once again.  Another issue . . . too much wool!!!  I ended up having to put wool in two large plastic totes.  A terrible problem to have 😏

As any hooker knows, worms multiply while we sleep.  I finally sorted them.  I need to learn to cut as I go!!!

I will be dealing with this for quite some time.  It will take me a while to figure out where everything goes.  Some items will return to their previous cupboard shelf, but since some cupboards are configured differently, too many decisions on where things should go.  Plus trying to eliminate useless items!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Week 7 ~ FINI

The kitchen and bath reno are DONE!!!  If you need to see what the kitchen looked like before, you can check it out here.  I purchased my house 24 years ago this month, and the kitchen was the first thing I was going to renovate.  Obviously that did not happen, but I guess good things are worth waiting for 😉

The kitchen is small and changing the size or rearranging appliances was not an option.  I was able to squeeze in an 18" dishwasher.  

I have said several times I am not a green person, but I chose sage green for the beadboard and I love it.  This is pretty much the true color.

This empty wall will once again be home to an antique cupboard.  I am not sure if I will put the same one back.  I have 2 other pie safes that will fit there.  (I still need to purchase outlet covers.)

That wall was once the outside wall before the house was connected to the garage in 1990 and the little door was the milk chute.  I just thought it was cool and did not want it removed 😁

I used the same color scheme in the bathroom, now 1/2 bath/laundry room.    Hard to get pictures because of the size of the room.

I gained some much needed storage space in both the kitchen and bath, and there are many items that have not been used in MANY years that will not be put back in the kitchen cupboards!!!  I don't look forward to putting everything away, but it will be so good to have my house back in order.

I hope you enjoyed following along on my reno journey.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

New Old Treasures ~

I really need to stop finding new treasures!  Daily I think about purging but then come home with "stuff".

Last Friday my new sister-in-law Lyn (smile) texted me information about an antique barn sale that morning.  She could not go Friday and so I texted friend Laura who said she would pick me up as soon as she got dressed . . . lol.  I had not looked at any of the items from the sale, but Laura texted me a couple pictures.  There was this really cool pug picture and it was still there when we arrived.  How could it not come home with me?  Sorry for the angled shot but it was the only way I could avoid glare.

It is an original charcoal drawing measuring      18 1/2" x 24 1/2" excluding the frame.  Note how different a pug looked way back when.  It had a pronounced snout and much longer legs.  They have bred these characteristics out of pugs.  The flat face they are now noted for has contributed to many breathing/health issues.  Friend Julia says that itinerant painters would have part of the charcoal done and just add the head to the already completed body.

The frame is most unusual.  I am not real wild about it.  Made of wood, I am not sure how it was made.  Based on the back of the frame, it has been in the frame for some time but most likely, IMHO, not original.  It is not two separate separate frames as it appears.

Yesterday between hooking and a doctor's appointment, I had time to kill.  I stopped at an antique shop I haven't stopped at in many years.  In all my years of antiquing, I have not come across another crock like this.  It is in commemoration of George Washington's 200th birthday.  It does have a crack but a cracked crock never has bothered me.

One more item to share.  Lyn gifted me this pin drum several years ago for Christmas.

At a show on Sunday a vendor was selling pin drums she stitched and her mom sewed and I decided to treat myself (once again 😁).

Can you believe they are the same pattern, just with a different name?  I don't believe it!  Here they are side by side.  Same count linen but Mary was finished a tad smaller.

There is still time to purchase raffle tickets for this WONDERFUL rug, but it will be given away to one lucky person this Saturday.  You can get the details here.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Week 6 Progress ~

At the beginning of the week Bruce said he thought he might be done at the end of the week.  He was not feeling well a couple days and had some back issues, so did not accomplish what he had hoped.  One day he worked on my cupboard doors at his shop (remember he customs makes everything) and he texted me to say he would not be here.  How refreshing to have someone you have hired let you know he would not be at your house and would return the next day ~ and did!

The washer and dryer are now functional.  How ironic.  My old dryer . . . from 1992 . . . died four days ago.  Talk about good timing 😁.  I have water in the kitchen sink.  Yeah!

My appliances were so old I just had to turn a knob or push a button to get them to work.  I swear I need washer/dryer for dummies, stove for dummies, microwave for dummies, etc 😡

Drawers are taking shape.

Trim is being added.

It is hard to get a picture because space is so limited.  This will be my vanity.  It was an old cupboard that I used for years behind my couch.  It is a little low, but the top of the vessel sink will be the height of the old vanity.

I love the old repair.

The mirror will be an old one I have had for years that has been sitting under my bed.  It is missing silvering but I think will fit perfectly above the vanity.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

The Fat Lady ~

They say it ain't over until the fat lady sings.  I think she has sung, but I would not hold my breath 😂

I guess I must start at the beginning.  I have barely hooked in months, but finally dusted off my hook.  I took a class from Cathy Stephan back in May, and the rug I started, an antique adaptation, will be my largest rug to date.  As Saundra puts it, she likes to have a "plus one" to take a break from a major project.  I have many patterns in my stash, but not one I wanted to start.  This antique adaptation has been on my hooking bucket list for years.  

Normally I would enlarge it and put it on linen myself, but with the chaos I am living with, did not have a surface large enough to draw out a pattern.  Enter Saundra.  She offers that pattern in her shop, so told her I wanted to PURCHASE it from her.  She had the size I wanted (though she could have drawn smaller or larger).  When my pattern and invoice arrived, I was told she would not accept my check because she had it on "good authority" that I write bad checks.  She also would not accept payment via credit card because she had it on "good authority" I steal people's identity.  WTH???  There was one more smarmy comment about our "so called friendship" (we go back MANY years here in blogland) but I have lost the invoice so can't share that.  All I can say is THANK YOU, SAUNDRA.  THAT WAS MOST KIND OF YOU!!!  I VALUE OUR FRIENDSHIP 💕 Which leads to this post she made.  I felt so guilty she went to all that work and expense that I had to reciprocate.  She thinks she got the better end of the deal whereas I think I did.  

Here is the pattern drawn to my specs at 18" x 30".  All the little dashes are to help me with the color changes.  This will definitely be challenging for me.

I have not yet started 1890 Roosters, but I have made a little progress on Primitive Horse and Birds.  I finished one of the birds and have started on the branches.  (I didn't realize how off the color was until I uploaded it to the blog.  Hopefully next time I will do a better job!)

XOXO my friend.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Raffle Rug ~

ARGH!!!  I forgot to post the raffle rug and how to purchase tickets.  So sorry I have waited until almost the last minute.  So . . . if you wish to purchase tickets, the are $1 each or 6 for $5.  You can send me money through PayPal . . . FRIENDS & FAMILY . . . so I don't incur any charges or mail me a check.  The hook in is September 23, so it would need to be mailed ASAP.  I will then fill out the tickets.  The guild will ship the rug to the lucky winner in the U.S.

The rug is called Four Patch Pumpkins, a Therese Shick pattern sold by the Wool 'n Gardener.  It is 30" x 30" and was hooked by members of the Crooked River Rug Hooking guild, including yours truly 😉  It really is a gorgeous fall rug.  

Bill and Lyn's wedding went off without a hitch.  Oh, wait, they got hitched so I guess there was a hitch 😁

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

NEVER FORGET ~

 

~GOD BLESS AMERICA ~

Week 5 Progress ~

The kitchen and bath remodel is progressing.  It doesn't look like much was accomplished last week, but with the holiday Bruce only worked four days.  As I said before, it did not go as quickly as he originally predicted, but when he said three weeks I thought he was being overly optimistic.  Even though there is still much to be done, I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I don't believe it is that freight train 😁

I am happy with my floor choice.  It is waterproof vinyl flooring.  He just has one small area to finish.

The washer and dryer will be functional soon.

I love my undermount sink!!!

That's it for today.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

This 'n That ~

I do have a rug finish to share.  I finished hooking it many months ago but wanted to tweak the eyes a bit and it took this long . . . sigh.  You know me and faces and eyes.  We don't play nice together.  Anywho . . . the eyes are better than they were . . . but definitely primitive!!!  This is a pattern by Caroline Twigg of Eagles' Nest Woolens, started in a class with Caroline in October 2022.  Titled Fierce Lion, I affectionately have called him Fierce Lion with the Batman Mouth 😁  I am happy to finally have him hooked and bound.

After 33 years of being together, my brother and his significant other are finally getting married this Saturday.  Lyn and I go waaaay back.  We lived together long before they got together.  I love her dearly and the other day she told me she was happy because she always wanted an older sister.  Smart a**.  (I am a grand total of 4 months older . . . lol!)

My Las Vegas son is flying home for the wedding.  Just a quick trip, arriving Friday before the crack of dawn and leaving Sunday evening.  It will be so good to see him.  Thankfully he won't mind the chaos of my house.  He is a carpenter working in homes so understands that it always has to get worse before it gets better.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Jimmy Durante Santa ~

I have a terrible time hooking faces and/or eyes.  Saundra hooked that wonderful Mother face . . . 

. . .  and I've struggled with this darn primitive Santa face.  After tweaking it four times, I declared it done.  So I added the glue to the back and took a good look.  Santa has quite the honker, don't you think, but after the glue treatment, it was too late to tweak once again, so he is D.O.N.E.  Oh well, oh hell 😁

Overall Santa is 13 1/2" tall and the pelt board is 20 3/4" tall.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Week 4 Progress ~

 

Still not a whole lot to show, but I think things will begin to come together this coming week.  The project has not gone as quickly as Bruce predicted, but hey, I've waited 24 years for this so what's another couple of weeks.  I am still handling the chaos and stress much better than I had anticipated I would 😁

I did get appliances this week.

Unfortunately, the dishwasher wasn't unboxed until day 3 after delivery, and you only have 48 hours to report damage.  I was just sick to find out the dishwasher had a dent in the front.  The box had absolutely no damage, so it had to leave the factory dinged.  Thankfully Samsung has a 30 period to report issues so I will be getting a new door.  That was very upsetting!!!

The current state of the kitchen!  I am happy with my countertop choice.  Just Formica because I just could not justify spending the $$$$ on a solid surface . . . or soapstone countertops (which I really wanted!).

Soon I will actually have some hooking stuff to share.  Not much but at least I am dusting off my hook!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Happy Labor Day weekend.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren