Around the Yard ~

Now that the mulch is all down (even though I probably could use a couple more bags ~ ain't happenin') I can concentrate on deadheading and just tidying up.  

Random pics around the yard today . . . in no special order.  My yard is small, but lots of perennials and yard junk.

My helper today who wasn't much help 😁

Martha Washington geranium.  I have never purchased one before because of the cost, but well worth it with its prolific blooms.

Love my head planter ~ found at Michaels.

Sweet little lamb ~ a gift from a friend who know me well.  (Thanks, Laura!)

Hard to see, but the brick says OHIO.  An old glass insulator on a piece of rebar used as a hose guide.

Maypop, also know as purple passion flower.  So very pretty but so very invasive!

Lake Erie this morning.

Monday - Wednesday I am off to a hooking class with Donna Hrkman.  She is a true artist.  I will be a fish out of the water hooking with a smaller cut than I prefer, but I have heard she is such a wonderful teacher that I want the opportunity to take a class with her.  You can view some of her amazing rugs here.

Two of my all time favorites.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Oh, the things you find . . .

. . . when you haven't cleaned out a cupboard in MANY years!  DSO and his son (God bless them both!), took the old stepback cupboard from the dining room and put my new old one in its place.  In cleaning out the bottom of the old old cupboard, I found birthday cards from my older son's 21st birthday (he will be 46 next month!!!), a card from my sister from 2000 and other paperwork from the early 2000's.  Kind of embarrassing to admit 😬

But this takes the cake!!!  An old cigar box . . . and in it a pencil pouch from when I was in the 7th grade, about a hundred years ago.  WTH??? Seriously.  Why do I still have that . . . and why was it in the bottom of that cupboard?

Here's the old old cupboard.  I still liked it, but was ready for a change.  I just need to get off my butt and get it sold.

And the new old cupboard.  With the closed doors, I won't have to dust 😁

In the last three days I have put down 25 bags of mulch (I had previously put down 30 bags) and my body is telling me enough already.  I am out of the mulch business.

Sue's diagnose was correct and I do have a heel spur.  I am doing what Dr. Sue said and my PCP confirmed to do what she suggested plus added some exercises.  I think it may be a tad better but it is still killing me.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

On our way to 250 ~

Every year DSO has a 4th of July cookout.  He is a most patriotic guy and lines his yard with American flags in addition to the large ones displayed.  He lives in a former shipyard and his front yard is a water filled channel.  Once upon a time the channel was a dry dock where they built 1,000' ore carriers.  When the carrier was finished, they would flood the dry dock and it would proceed upriver to Lake Erie.

The city puts on a great fireworks display and from his upper deck we have a perfect view.  There were many other private citizens also shooting off  huge fireworks.  I cannot even begin to imagine how much money individuals spent!

He also displays a listing of all the American casualties from the Revolutionary War to present day.  Some very sobering statistics.

About a month ago, my left heel started to be painful.  It has gotten really bad.  I mean bad like when I get up I can barely walk.  It does get better the more steps I take, but the pain never goes away.  I did not do a Google search because I was afraid of what I might read.  Ignorance is bliss, right?  Anywho . . . in a text I mentioned it to to Nurse Ratchet . . . er I mean retired RN Sue of Vernon Junction.  She said it sounded like a heel spur.  I did a quick search and it sure does sound like she has diagnosed me correctly.  I have my annual appointment with my PCP on Monday.  One more thing to discuss . . . sigh.

I hope everyone had the most wonderful 4th of July, doing whatever made you happy.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Happy 249th Birthday!!!

 

~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA ~

I am proud to be an American and live in this great Land of ours.

Nowhere else can a person go and enjoy the freedoms we have.

Thank you so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

A (very) Little Progress ~

Just wanted to pop in for a quick second!

I have been working on Proud Lion, but I sure haven't made much progress in the last week, but as I always say, a little progress is better than none.  I really need to figure out what color the lion's body is supposed to be.  Hopefully that is not wool I "borrowed" years ago.

I did another cross stitch on the rug linen.  I have a plan for this . . . well maybe . . . but executing said plan is another story!  (What appears to be brown yarn, is more of a barn red but I'm not in the mood to fight with my camera to get better color!)

I always say that once the 4th of July gets here, summer is half over.  Tell me it isn't so!!!!!!!!  We went from chilly and rainy to stinkin' hot and humid.  Today we got some much needed rain.  I am always amazed how quickly things dry out.  I'm sure the flowers are doing a little happy dance tonight.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

More Cross Stitch ~

You'd think I had not start doing counted cross stitch five decades ago.  I think I did more frogging on this piece than I have ever done.  Not sure why I kept making so many counting errors 😡.  It was supposed to say God Bless America, but I didn't plan my spacing so it didn't fit.

The colors do show up a bit better in person.  I haven't a clue what I will do with it.  Perhaps just tack it to a cupboard.

I thought this would be my last cigar box (#8), but the boxes are coming in a little more slowly than hoped for, so to help our cigar box "coordinator", I brought two more boxes home with me from guild today.

This may be my least favorite box so far 😒

The inside is just kind of blah.

That's it!  Only two more days of eye restrictions and I can wash my hair without help and not have to wear my eye shield at night.  YEAH!  But as anyone who has had cataract surgery knows, 2+ more weeks of eyedrops.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

One for Sue, One for Saundra ~

When Sue spent the night after the first day of our scrappy hooking class, she wanted to know why I had my Proud Lion wool in a cardboard banker's box and was not using one of my many vintage baskets.  It was in the same box for the past eight years and had not seen the light of day since the day the class ended!

So Sue motivated me to move the wool to this big ole basket . . . 

. . . and once the wool I will use for the background is cut, it will be stored in the top basket.

Thanks for the nudge, Sue.  The baskets looks much better me thinks.

Saundra had asked for an update on Proud Lion.  I had barely pulled any loops in the past month (but I did hook my pumpkin teapot, a couple cigar box tops, the sheep for the pie basket, and my scrappy horse in the interim),  Here's what Proud Lion looked like a month ago . . . 

. . . and here he is today.

A little progress in better than none 😁.  Hopefully I will continue working on him until my next class mid July, though I have been kicking a little project around in my head.

Stay cool everyone.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Raffle Prize ~

In addition to making the cigar boxes for door prizes, I will also donate a couple raffle prizes.  It is the biggest money maker at the hook in.  I love vintage baskets!  This one is a pie basket that still has the little pie shelf inside.

I hooked a sweet little Maria Barton sheep and attached it to the top in the same way I attached hooked pieces to the cigar boxes.

Now maybe I can get back to pulling a few loops on Proud Lion.  He has been totally neglected for a few weeks.

Happy summer solstice.  Argh!  The days will now start getting shorter 😢

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Horse Stitches ~

I often wondered if you could cross stitch on rug hooking linen, but of course never tried.  Jenny from the Wooly Horse answered that question for me.  She had a couple examples, but I failed to take pictures.  I grabbed a scrap piece of linen I had and gave it a whirl.  It is being stitched with hand dyed sock weight yarn that Jenny dyes.  The biggest alphabet I could find in any of my books/sampler charts was 11 stitches tall.  I could have charted larger, but chose not to be bothered.

These are definitely horse stitches.  Six crosses to the inch!

Jenny had pieces of linen that she had serged and were free for the taking.  Here is the start of God Bless America.

Not sure what I will do with these, but they are fun.

Cataract surgery went well.  Now it's the follow up visits and the eye drops for the next 3+ weeks.  It is wonderful to no longer have blurry vision.  As everyone says, colors are much more vibrant.  And I am much more grey than I was pre-surgery 😁  I thought I was just blonde . . . lol!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Attaching a Hooked Piece to a Cigar Box ~

A day late ~

I'm sure using glue on a hooked piece is a no-no, but rules are meant to be broken!

First I run a bead of glue around the edge of the hooking.  This time I used Aileen's tacky glue.  I have also used Elmer's.

Then smoosh it around to get a few threads of the linen and on to the last row of loops.

It may take a few hours to dry, depending on the temperature and how thick the glue was applied.  It will dry clear.

Then carefully trim away the linen as close as possible to hooked row., being careful to not cut the wool.

After trimming, I use a Sharpie to disguise the cut edge on the front.

Now run a bead of glue on the edge.

Carefully place on the cigar box top and weight it down to dry.  A heavy crock does the trick.

All finished!

And the inside.

Think good thoughts for me tomorrow.  I have had a slowly developing cataract for many years.  About six months ago it developed into a cataract on steroids.  I am so tired of blurry vision!!!  I just want to see well again.  Prayers appreciated, too.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

More from the Scrappy Class ~

Sue is way ahead of me in posting about our scrappy class so you can check more of it on her blog.

You can tell Jenny LOVES teaching!

A few before and after a walnut dye bath pictures!  Our overachievers 😁 

Just an after.

Darn blogger would not let me put this picture under Jenny's.  I have never had that problem before.  ARGH!!!  Jenny was adamant we must label our rugs.  If my penmanship was better, I would make a label such as this!

A few more rugs in progress.

Jenny's sister Laurie travels with her and is her right hand hooker.  She also hooks amazing rugs.  This rug is HUGE and gorgeous.

I will share my rug finish soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren