Freaked me OUT!!!!!

Tango and I were hanging out on the patio, just taking in the sun, when along came a HUGE bumble bee!!! It flew right to Tango and attached itself to his face, right by his eye.


FREAKED ME OUT!!! I hate bees...am scared to death of them! I tried swatting it off, but it hung on for dear life. Then, I thought I was going to make it angry...ohman...what if it stung Tango!?!
Tango thought I was hitting him, poor boy. Course, I was freakin' out BIG time, swatting at his face and yelling in a high-pitched voice, so what else could he think???? Man, that bumble bee didn't want to leave sweet ole Tango...he then attached himself to Tango's front leg feathers. ohman...

Cream City Rug Hookers Hook-In

Janer and I went to the hook-in on Thursday, April 24. I've gone 3 years as a vendor, but since my helper moved away, I decided to not do that any longer. So...this year, I went as a HOOKER! {grin} And, took Janer as a guest...there were a LOT of gorgeous rugs.

~See the Flickr badge to the right for a viewing of some of the rugs on display.~ Or, click here.

I did not pull one single loop while there...too busy looking at all the vendor booths and watching everyone! haha!!!

Janer's Visit - Day 4 & Good-bye!!!

Last night, Janer decided we needed to add this dresser (to store ongoing/unfinished projects in) & the Boston rocker to the dining room. The walls are not quite as bright as they look, but they are awfully bright. We put the sheepie table Janer painted for me out in the living room...These are the paint colors we decided on...Janer will come back sometime before summer's end to paint the kitchen & dining room.

Day 4 -

Today. We sat around in our pajamas and gabbed the morning away. Janer was sad when saying good-bye to the dogs.

Got to the bus depot in plenty of time, though the Greyhound desk person told Janer that she was supposed to have been there an hour ahead of time. Plenty of room on the bus, so no biggie.

Bye, Janer...thank you for 'The Shepherdess', the birdhouse, the wool (dark value pieces bought at the hook-in), the help with the decor...and all the great conversation. I am so proud of you. And, miss you already. I love you!

Janer's Visit - Day 1, Day 2, & Day 3...

Day 1 -

Janer came bearing gifts! A toy for each dog...

Tango, Tag E. Butt...and their Aunt Jane E. Butt!

Tag can carry more than one toy...

Tag apparently doesn't know the meaning of the word SHARE!

Janer and Tango in a deep discussion...

And, 'the shepherdess' framed picture for me (keep reading to see what we did with this!)...

Day 2 -

Janer and I went to the Cream City Rug Hookers Hook-In on Thursday...some very nice rugs in the display! Will show photos in a separate post.

Janer always has such great ideas on decorating...so we rearranged the living room. Decided my cherub needed to be darker, so Janer antiqued it for the second time (have had this cherub for over 20 years...painted/antiqued by Janer back then).

Here are photos of the living room. I need to get different drapes! Otherwise, am really LOVING the new look!

Day 3 -

Friday...went shopping...added a few things to my fireplace shelves. Thank you so much for the birdhouse, Janer!
The dogs LOVE sleeping with their Aunt Janer...

more later...time for breakfast!

She's Here...

YAY!!! Janer, my BFF is here! More to come!

Here are the woolens I dyed to match the fabric I mentioned earlier...and showed you in a post a bit ago. I had a difficult time matching the olive drab fabric (shown as a narrow stripe in this photo). I even tried the dye which is named olive drab...nope. But, I think if I double the formula of this one, I'll be happy.

Working on my 'fruit of the spirit' rug requires a certain amount of concentration...which I am a little short of, lately. Therefore, I feel the need to work on something that requires almost no thought. How's this??? I will hook 2 or 3 circles and/or squares (~12") to put here and there & use as wallhangings, table mats, or chairpads.

Hook on...

Sunday...

The sun is out today and it's going to be in the low 70's...YAY! I have much to do inside to prepare for company this week, but will enjoy taking breaks out in the yard with the dogs.
I dyed wool yesterday to match the fabric I bought not too long ago...turned out fairly nice...will post photos later.

YES! My BFF Janer is coming down to visit...taking the Greyhound ("...leave the driving to us!") on Wednesday. The Cream City Rug Hookers Hook-In is on Thursday and we will go to that (this year, I am going as a hooker not a vendor). Not sure what else we will do, but I will post photos.

I played in the dye pots yesterday and this morning...trying (and somewhat succeeding) to match the fabric I showed you not too long ago. Will post photos later.

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I remember when Paul Potts won last season's Britain's Got Talent...absolutely took my breath away. I love this video of the final night when he is announced. Pay particular attention to Simon Cowell and how really very nice he is.



For the past 9 months, Paul has been travelling around the world sharing his amazing talent. He quit his regular job just a month ago.

That's all for now!

BGT

"Britain's Got Talent" is running now.

Watch this...keep your kleenex handy!



Absolutely breathtaking.

Who knows the name of the Walt Disney movie

about the choirboy whose voice changed?

Maybe from the 60's???

...& AFTER!

WE DID IT!!! The fencing is on the posts (didn't have enough of the zip ties or whatever they're called - those plastic thingies - so will need to add more tomorrow)!!! YAY!!!! I cannot quit smiling...

The dogs had their first romp in their fenced yard and had a great time! Here are the first photos of the 3 enjoying their freedom, such as it is...

Again, many thanks to Kim...I love ya!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~the wise eyes of an old boy~~

Before....During...

Kim & I have an outside project going on here at my house in the country...a fence for the dogs!!! YAY! Nothing fancy AT ALL, and not real large...probably about 1800 square feet...but still! I am very excited!!!

For the first 5 years of Tag's life, he had a huge fenced yard...but since we moved out here, he's been stuck on a long line. No running around for him. And, with his hip dysplasia (he is totally asymptomatic), I like to keep him in good shape.

Here's what the yard looked like yesterday...


Yes, I know. I need to rake. I'll get that done...the snow hasn't been gone that long & then it rained! All in good time.

See the big hunk of concrete on the patio in the photo below? I have no idea how much it weighs, but I can barely move it. I have the cable attached to it and when the Collies are on the line and get to the end, they stop ("ohhhh, it's pulling!"). However, Tag has dragged it all the way across the driveway ("OH! Is there something at the end of my line?" guffaw "is that rock supposed to keep me in one place?")! {grin}

Here's what Kim & I got done today. Well, truth be told, I just stood there and told Kim where to put the posts!!! Kim used the post driver like a pro and drove the t-posts nicely into the ground.

Tomorrow is the big day...we'll be attaching welded wire to the posts and then that will be that!!! As I said, nothing fancy, but certainly doable. After living here for 10 months, the dogs will have a place to run.


Thank you, Kim! You're the absolute best!

Music That Moves Me...

What an amazingly talented woman Annie Lennox is!

This brought me to my knees...

very emotional and expressive song.


I am absolutely thrilled to hear all of the

Christian/Inspirational music on my favorite shows of late!

Here are the American Idol Final 8...

...& here is Sheryl Crow on Dancing With the Stars!

Idol Gives Back & some progress...

"Idol Gives Back" was on tonight...I must say, I was impressed. Great show! Great performances! Carrie Underwood sang 'Praying for Time'...George Michael's song. He's always been a favorite of mine. Here you go...                  

I've done a bit of hooking on my Fruit of the Spirit. Here is one leaf...and the basket is almost done...




WOW...put your shades on! That watermelon is BRIGHT!!! I am trying to reserve judgement...gotta get some of the other fruit colors in there. I DO need to redo the 
 seeds...they look retarded!

 

That's all for tonight!

Fruit of the Spirit

I hooked on my rug today...YAY!!! I actually started it 2 years ago (which is when I bought it), but then put it aside. It was fun to go through all the wool again - mostly textures, except what I have chosen for the different fruits. I think I hooked at least as much today as was done from before. I would have gotten more hooking done tonight, but I couldn't cut more wool strips...I couldn't loosen the nut on my cutter!!!! I tried and tried!!! Geez...must not have had my Wheaties this morning! I needed to change the #8.5 cutter wheel to a #6. (Yup...gonna do everything but the background in #6 cut wool strips!) I'll try to remember to take my cutter with me to work tomorrow...perhaps someone there can loosen the nut for me.

and the winner is...

"VERNAL JUNGLE"

I posted the results over on Wool Snippets
and Gail Becker, the designer/hooker of the mat
will have her rug featured on the homepage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For those of you who tried guessing which mat I did, here it is...


"Promise Kept"

This was a fun challenge to coordinate and to participate in. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Played in the dye pots yesterday...playing with new wools from the Dorr Mill Store.

Here are some pieces I dyed...

'darkness,darkness'

'ramble on'

'heartbreaker'

'promised land'

I used a grey/natural herringbone and a primitive natural from

Dorr Mill Store...both woolens I had not used before.

These turned out great for me!

I had an idea yesterday...we shall see where it takes me.

Involves wool is all I'll say at this point...

Trouble with clicking???

Use this link, instead. New Life Challenge

New Life Challenge mats...

See the Flickr badge on the right side of the page??? These are the mats that 10 wonderfully talented women hooked for the challenge that I coordinated.

The challenge was to hook a 12 x 20 mat with the theme of 'new life'...whatever it meant to that person. I sent out 4 strips of wool that needed to be worked into the mats...and the women had to title their mat with anything other than 'new life'. Right now the photos are anonymously posted on Flickr because I invited all of the Wool Snippet members to vote on their favorite! The tally thus far is very interesting...anxious to see how it turns out!

I am absolutely amazed at what these women came up with!!! Each one is special and it would be very difficult for me to choose my favorite! Which one is your fave???? I can't even tell you which one is mine right now. But, when the voting is over this weekend, I'll post a photo of it.

Be sure to click on a photo to open up the Flickr page where you are able to view them all full size.