Finishes ~

I just don't get it~

I really want to hook. I want to finish my Magdalena horses rug. Have I been working on it? Barely. I want to hook a Maggie Bonanomi pattern. I want to hook a hit and miss rug with hand torn strips like Cathy G over at Orange Sink hooked. (I have rug envy!) There are so many things I want to hook, but I'm not hooking!

Here are a few things I've been working on instead. I just punched this little fall mat ~ a design by Kelly Belfast. I've even sewed on the backing (and Woolfind Kathy-I've labeled it!).

I finished the second of the Pat Cross Bird Dog punch needle pieces ~ once again the back is on and labeled.
Here are a couple of cross stitch patterns I have finished. They need to be aged a bit and then I must figure out how I will finish them.
The first is a little Stacy Nash freebie pattern found over at Pattern Mart. It was charted as Emma age 6, but I changed it to Eema age 8. (Eema is doing so well. I'll post some pictures soon.)
Another Stacy Nash pattern. I don't know how I measured, but as you can see I started the angel much too far down on my linen and had to make some adjustment at the bottom so I did not run out of fabric. Luckily I realized it before it was too late.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Did I jinx myself?

By buying a laptop computer? I finally broke down and bought one a week and a half ago. Just a very basic, low end model. Not to replace my regular computer, but I sometimes wanted to be able "compute" somewhere other than holed up in my computer room. Last night my desktop computer decided to crash on me. No warning whatsoever. Did I have my computer backed up? Unfortunately I think you know the answer to my question. I am just sick about it and tomorrow will head to the computer repair shop and hope that somehow my files can be retrieved, especially my digital photos. I hope all you are there are much wiser than me ~ if not, BACK-UP YOUR COMPUTER.

Thank you so much for all the kind comments regarding my fostering Linnie. All of you have much more confidence in me than I have in myself, but I am feeling a little less overwhelmed. Linnie and I seem to be adjusting. She has calmed down and is no longer pacing non-stop. She slept through the night last night without waking up crying. I've actually had to make a chart so that I remember to give her all the meds. She is on ear medication for two weeks to rid her of a nasty infection. I bought some Glucosamine to give her daily in hopes that it will help with the arthritis. She is also on eye ointment and drops five times a day. Her poor eyes are so dry. The medications must feel really good because she lets me put them in without a fight. She knows how to find her food and water and is usually sleeping in her bed in the kitchen. She has been peacefully sleeping in the dining room for the last couple of hours. She no longer seems to be in pain and for that I am thankful.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have all had a great weekend. It is a beautiful day here on Ohio's north coast. I even washed a couple of windows today ~ just the outside but what a difference it makes. Now if I could only find the ambition to do more.....

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Special Needs ~

I'm sitting here wondering what I've gotten myself in to. I guess I need to start at the beginning. I got a phone call this morning at work asking if there was any way I could pick up a pug at a kennel in Cleveland today and could I possibly foster her. The only thing I knew was that she was an eight to ten year old fawn female who needed to get to the vet ASAP because she had very bad dry eye syndrome. I'm not sure I was ready to foster so soon and I REALLY liked not having a dog to walk at 6 am. OK, so I agree to foster her. The first thing to decide is a name. No two pugs coming in to Ohio Pug Rescue are given the same name so after many hundreds (thousands?) of pugs, names can be somewhat of a challenge. Lately, they have been picking a "theme" each month and naming accordingly. Last month was cereal month, so we had Chex, Kix, Apple Jack (AJ), Kashi, etc. The month before, rock stars ~ Cher (Eema's pug sister), Bon Jovi, Aerosmith. Get the picture? Well, this month is fabrics. Suggestions were Taffeta (Taffy) or Polly Esther. Polly wasn't too bad, but I thought something to do with my hooking might be good. I was told Wool(ie) sounded like a boy, so when I suggested Linen (since I hook on linen), they loved it. I guess it's a good thing I don't hook on monk's cloth (monk-ie?)! So I figure she will be my Linnie.

Anyway, back to the story. I leave work early to pick her up at the shelter. The first thing I am given is her eye ointment for her dry eyes and told she is blind from it having been untreated. OK, I guess I can handle that. I have heard from many people how well blind dogs adapt. I carry her to the car for the drive home. If you know anything about pugs, you know that they shed ~ A LOT!!! By the time I got home, I was pug hair head to foot. I'm sure it was partly due to stress and partly due to the fact that she is a pug.

So Fritz takes her to a grassy area while I run in the house. Now I find out that she has problems walking. What else could be wrong? At the vet, I find out. An ear infection and really bad teeth and severe arthritis in one hip.

She's had a bath and smells so much better. It was good to get rid of the awful kennel smell.

She has paced the house this evening (as my mom would have said "more nervous than a whore in church"...lol!) running in to walls and stuff, but she already knows where to find the food and water. She's finally worn her self out and is sleeping contentedly on the couch next to the computer desk.

If you've stuck with me this long, let me introduce my Linnie.

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading about my new foster. I will get on my high horse once again and ask that your PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER buy an animal from a pet store. There are too many dogs (cats, skunks, horses, etc) just like Linen looking for someone to love them and get them out of those awful kennels.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Cat and Dogs ~

That's Sam the office cat. He works for mice! From my understanding, the building I work in is not a nice place to be without a resident mouser. The picture above is him chillin' under my desk. The pictures below are him hammin' it up on the spare office chair.

Here's a couple of pictures sent to me by Eema's new mom. Two pugs so snug on a rug soaking up some sunshine. That's Eema on the left and her new pug sister Cher on the right. Cher's ears always look "perky".

Saturday Eema and Cher went to a Howl-O-Ween party with their mom. She is helping to collect signatures supporting a ballot campaign to ban dog auctions in the state of Ohio. Aren't they just too cute? I swear Eema is smiling at the camera. Doesn't she look terrific? I do believe that is one happy pug :)

I love this snaggle-tooth picture of Eema. She had seven teeth pulled when she came in to rescue, and every once in a while her few bottom teeth stick out.

It's been so long since I've posted pictures of my Loocie, I thought it was about time. I think she has been feeling left out. She spends most of her time with Daddy (the flyboy), but tonight he was teaching so he dropped her off on the way to school. The poor thing was so tired I could not get her to wake up for a picture!

Now that is a tough life!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope your week is off to a great start.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Maiden Voyage!

Well, today was the day. The FAA finally signed off on all the paperwork and it was a perfect day for flying. My DSO Fritz was ready to take off - the culmination of over 1000 hours of construction time, 12,000+ rivets (I put one rivet in!) and nearly two years of work. Fritz lives in a condo and built the entire plane in his garage. His experimental light sport Van's RV-12 kit plane was ready to take to the skies!

Here he is leaving the hangar. I am excited but a nervous wreck!

This is rather disconcerting - duct tape. He says it's to hold the wings on! Actually just a stop-gap measure until the plane is painted.

On the taxi-way.

That is him! It really flies. I had no doubt, but it still is mind-boggling to think that HE built it.

This picture says it all.

I am so proud of him! Love you, Sweetie!

Thank you so much for allowing me to share this momentous occasion with you.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

My Winnings and a Couple of Rugs ~

Welcome one and all. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my blog!

In today's mail, I received my give~away goodies from Becky at PrimitivesnStitchin. She grubbied up the votive ~ it smells wonderful ~ and she even sent me the little vintage tin. She also stitched the sweetest little pumpking mat.

Check out this witch crow!!! Isn't it just the most wonderful creation? I just love it and of course my photo does not do it justice. Thank you so much, Becky. Stop on over at her blog and tell her the pugs sent you! (Even though I am still pug-less.)

Tuesday evening was the monthly hook-in a the library. Here's Karin, Lisa and Polly hard at work. Carole, Mitsuko and Deanna were making sewing rolls but I failed to get any pictures of their handiwork. Candie and Andrea were also there but no pictures :(

This is Carole's rug. As always, just magnificent and so close to completion.

Lisa is hooking a Wendy Miller pattern she purchased at Sauder Village. You can't tell by the picture, but she hooked the rooster in a very nubby-looking manner. It is going to be a wonderful rug.

Here's Deanna doing her Wilson impression from Home Improvements.

That's it for tonight. It's about time to fall in to bed, though I probably won't get there for another hour. I'm just not smart enough to get to bed at a reasonable time. I guess I'll just never learn :-)

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Congrats to...

If you get the chance, stop by Cathy's blog. She is hooking an amazing rug that is HUGE! I think it is something like 4' x 4'.

Thank you to all who entered. I'd love to send everyone a prize, but there just aren't enough hours in the day or days in the week to punch that many things. I really do appreciate each and everyone one of you and I thank you from the bottom of my pea pickin' little heart :)

Pug hugs :)
Lauren