(Ripley's) Believe It or Not ~

Passing through Pigeon Forge on the way to Gatlinburg, we saw the Titanic attraction and then I saw this and it just made me chuckle!

Now Pigeon Forge is an absolute zoo.  Tourist attraction after tourist attraction.  Horrendous traffic.  I pity the people who live there.  Getting from point A to point B must be a daily nightmare.  I thought Gatlinburg was going to be the same, but it was a little more subdued.

The Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies has been voted the best U.S. aquarium and I must say it was pretty awesome.

Jellyfish totally mesmerize me.  I could watch them for hours.

I believe these were the lionfish.

There are some very strange . . . and ugly . . . creatures in the ocean.

My iPhone and PC are not playing nice today so I will share a bit more in my next post.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Always the Procrastinator ~

Typical me.  We are leaving early tomorrow morning for a quick trip to Gatlinburg, TN, an 8+ hour drive from home.  Have I packed?  Heck no!  Am I thinking about it?  I've done yard work, run some errands, started on the laundry.  Maybe now I can think about it 😁  I do have my wool chosen for the hooking project I will work on while on the road.  Easy peasy hooking.  Similar to this but I sure did agonize over my color choices.  Hopefully I will be happy with the wools I am taking.

I finished the binding of Scaredy Cat.  I have whipped with wool strips once or twice before, but have never color coordinated the strips to the hooking.  I am happy how it turned out, but not my favorite way to bind.  OK.  Binding.  NOTHING is my favorite way.  In case anyone is wondering, I used 8.5 wool strips.  (I have taken countless pictures in different lighting and just cannot capture the correct green color.  ARGH!)

The color in this picture is pretty accurate.

Thanks so much for stopping.  Will be back upon my return.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

~ God Bless America ~

 

~ LAND THAT I LOVE ~

I am thankful each and every day that I was born in this great Land of ours where we have our freedoms.  Let's not take them for granted. 

It has sounded like a war zone in the city for weeks.  So ironic because there are many fireworks stores (and would you believe during the Covid lockdowns they were considered an "essential business" so remained open when the mom and pop establishments had to close?  WTH???)  yet it is illegal to shoot them off.  Does that make any sense whatsoever?  When you purchase them, you must sign a statement that you will not shoot them off in Ohio.  I think if you looked up "absurd" in the dictionary you would find that law.

Enjoy, my friends, in however you choose to celebrate the day.  Please pray that we may always enjoy the freedoms we have ~ that they may never be taken away.

~ GOD BLESS AMERICA ~

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Hook-y Happenings ~

 

The little patriotic pieces are finished ~ even labeled ~ and two have been delivered to their new homes.

And finally!!!  The binding on Madi's Favorite is done at long last.  It has been steamed once again.  It just needs a label.  I suppose it is time to put the forsythia away for something more summerlike. 

Scaredy Cat was a fast hook.  It is ready for binding.  It is small, just 9" x 11 3/4".  It was a free pattern offered by Lindsay Bowles on Facebook.  (Sorry.  I looked for a link to the pattern and cannot find it.)  

My rug that will be in Sauder's rug show is ready to be started.  I got some ideas on color planning (from the oh so talented Connie of Connie's Wool), but even though small, I think I may struggle with this little rug a bit.  It is something out of my norm.  I will share when I've got something worth showing.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Yard Happenings ~

Two years ago while leaving Millersburg, I stumbled upon a shop that sold concrete garden statues.  I loved the sheep and wanted to bring him home, but didn't want to spend the $$.  Surprisingly I was able to find their business card and found out they still sold them.  While in Millersburg for my hooking class, I drove the half hour to the shop and had him loaded in the back of my little SUV.  Isn't he the sweetest?

These are the Bubblegum petunias Marly raves about every year.  On June 1st . . .

And today . . .

The little rusty silhouettes are totally hidden. 😁

The hydrangeas are beautiful once again this year.  This is just two plants.  Hard to believe the color variations on the plants.

Molly loves being outside with me while I work.  I guess she found it cooler in the plants.

Any ideas on what these little sprouts may be?   Every year I get them by the hundreds under the burning bush.  The garden center was no help.  They just said "probably some kind of weed".  (I don't remember if my friend tried to find it with a plant identifier app.) 

And here is another plant that in the 22 years of living here I have never had.  They have inundated the neighborhood.  They are in the lawn, in every sidewalk crack, flower bed and pot.  I have been pulling them out by the hundreds!  Plant identifier said they may be poison ivy . . . which they are not.  Once again the garden center said it was most likely "some kind of weed".

Thank so much for the visit.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

In the Hooking Queue ~

 

 

So many hooking projects are in the "queue".  It seems like I have been working forever on the binding of Madi's Favorite.  I don't know why it is taking so long, but I am very close.

I hooked three small patriotic mats and they are awaiting the binding, also.  The largest is for my brother's DSO's footstool.  I think this is the last of the seasonal mats I needed to hook for her.  The rectangular one is for my old drawer and the small round one is for a friend's mini cast iron skillet.  I think this, too, is the last of the seasonal mats for her.

Scaredy Cat (look familiar, Robin?) is being hooked for another friend.  We go way back, to when our boys were young.  We reconnected after many years.  She mentioned she liked Halloween, so I thought I would gift her a little mat when we meet for lunch next month.

Brother's DSO, Lyn, and I go way back.  I mean WAAAAAY back.  Years before she and my brother got together.  Her birthday is at the end of July and I want to to hook her a mat using my brother's old ties as tongues.  I blogged about it here.

Next up is a mat that needs to be hooked for the rug show at Sauder Village in August.  Our guild had a challenge, "Anything Chicken".  I committed for 2020.  2020 didn't happen for obvious reasons, and I really forgot about it . . . or maybe chose to forget it.  Since I said I would do it, well . . . I guess I'd better get busy on it.

Geez, when all these are done, I may finally get a chance to work on The Poser.  I have not pulled a loop since class.

I hope everyone's week is going well.  I can't believe we will soon be heading in to July.  HOLY HELL!  Where is the time going?

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Summer Solstice ~

Another June is closing in on a finish.  Today's summer solstice marks the day with the most daylight hours of the year.  It's all downhill from here . . . sigh.

Here are some random pictures from the rug show at the Buckeye hook in.

I have this pattern in my stash.  I love the colors Gwen chose.

I have this Karen Kahle design in a paper pattern.

This wonderful Santa is a pattern by Donna Hrkman.

Another paper pattern I have in my stash.  There are a number of vendors who offer similar versions of this oh so cool flag rug.

Annie Oakley.  Pattern by Donna Hrkman.  Hooked by Kathy Wright in a 2, 3 and 4 cut!!!  She hooked the pattern over several years in several classes with Donna.

It was great to attend hooking events three weekends in a row.  A little bit of normal in our lives is good for the soul.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren