What A Day....Already!

So today started out like any other day.  Drag myself out of bed, take Winston out for his morning constitutional

This is Winston gazing longingly at our neighbor's yard hoping beyond hope that his girlfriend, Rosie was outside as well.  Rosie is a couple of years older than Winston....quite the cougar..er, dog!

Headed back inside, got ready for work, told Aaron and Winston bye and drove off.  Well, drove about halfway there and had to pull over because of a flat!  Panicked call to Aaron and my knight in shining armor showed up and not only changed my tire, he took my car to Joe's Tires and had them all replaced!  I'm a lucky gal! lol

So, I did check out "the farm" as Aaron calls our greenhouse, and there's green everywhere!  Here's a few pics of the seedlings as well as my make-do plant identifier.

My seedling list.  The yarns correspond with the same yarns in each little pot.  Hey, it works!

Not much happening in the last two trays, but I bet by this weekend, there will be green here too!  So far I've planted broccoli, green beans, snap peas, kale, Big Boy tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, Romaine lettuce, salad cukes, pickling cukes, brussels sprouts, bottle gourds, beets, sunflowers, sweet peppers, and hot peppers.  I might have missed a couple, but I'm so excited about our garden!  We are going to do some rearranging of the garden, but here's how it looks now.  The newest addition is the Tibetan prayer flags I hung up a couple of days ago.  I love the pop of color they add!!

Hey...there's Winston!!

This is our greenhouse, and I can't tell you how much fun it is!

Tonight is a meeting of  The All-American Valley General Store Fiber Arts Group, and I'm heading there after work!  There's a great group of ladies who spin, knit, crochet, and rug hook (that would be me), and just chat.  I'll try to get some pictures to post tomorrow.

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year!  Ok, I'm a day late, but yesterday was filled with putting away Christmas and cleaning.  We had a great celebration at our friends, the Neals, then headed home so hubby could sleep for a few hours then head to work.

Our 2012 is going to be a year of changes. Hubby's job is doing a weird flip flop, which could have been pretty devastating, but because of his hard work, is going to be pretty great!  I can't really say more than that because the whole situation is a bit hush hush.  Let's just leave it at I'm married to a great guy that has been working for the past 17 years to do what he's doing now....he just didn't know it...lol  I'm sure as the year progresses, I will be able to tell a bit more. 

I'm not good at resolutions, but this year, I would like to hook more and get a lot better at my spinning!  I also have a "secret" resolution which is something I've been wanting to do for a few years. After a tarot reading I had in December, I am really going to knuckle down and go for it.  I do believe if something is talked about a lot, it loses its power, so this is something I'm going to just do, and talk about later..lol

I'm planning on more rug pictures this year for my blog, and have been loading up in Pinterest board with ideas! 

Today.....

Today is a beautiful sunny day....very much like this same day 10 years ago. Aaron and I were watching the Today show at 8:46am eastern time when the world changed. Aaron, who works in the aviation industry, knew it wasn't an accident. I held onto the belief that that's exactly what it was, and not what was feared. All denial fled at 9:03am.

We watched for about another hour, all the time debating whether to pull our kids out of school. We decided to leave them where they were and headed into town. We live in a relatively small town in Connecticut, so finding the streets virtually empty and quiet was not so odd. I went into our bank and while business was happening, people spoke in whispers, as if saying anything out loud would make it too real.

The next weekend I went with some friends to a renaissance faire in Tuxedo Park, NY. As we crossed the Tappan Zee bridge, the traffic was at a crawl. On clear days, you can see the New York city skyline, and it's an awesome sight. That Saturday, it was all clear except for the smoke still pouring from Ground Zero. Nobody honked, nobody yelled at the others to "get a move on", we all just looked. Again, it was made real.

I watched the tributes on tv today, so wrapped up in the scenes from ten years ago, it almost felt like it was happening in the present. Today is a day to remember....remember the heroes that are the first responders....remember the people lost in the World Trade Center towers....remember the families. While it is a difficult thing to do, don't think about hate for who did this. They don't deserve a second of our time today. September 11 should be a day reserved for love, respect, and pride.

Decompressing

While I should've been busy stitching and hooking for the Harvest Moon Festival last night, hubby came home with the idea to take the kayaks out. I agreed immediately and off we went!! His job is stressful, and he usually de-stresses by taking out his boat. Unfortunately, the water was about eight feet too low for a propeller, so it was paddle power time!


This is coming down the channel and into Lake Lilinoah.


After the hurricane, everything from the shore headed out into open water. This is a huge tree trunk that looked just like a submarine floating through the water.
Here's hubby (Aaron) giving what we call the "Andrew" pose...lol


That rock is what Aaron calls "Deadman's Island". We took our nephew to see it, and at the time, he was swimming around it and we saw a little family of snakes...it's now high and dry.


On our way in. What a beautiful way to end the float!

This weekend will be all hooking and sewing!

Bring it on Irene!

So the pantry has been stocked, chainsaw bought, cars gassed, water bought, my boy is home from Alaska, and our daughter .....we're ready for ya Irene!!! The chainsaw was a last minute addition....let's hope we don't have to use it!

I have two projects on the frame so I'll be plenty busy. It's two more Nook covers, and I really like them. Here's a picture of the first one. I'll take a picture of the second one when I start working on it.

I love sock monkeys!


Two finished products....not perfect but a lot closer than the first tries!

Last but not least....pictures of Andrew back from Alaska and Jess heading to her first day of college.

Keeping an eye out for flying monkeys!

So....some nasty weather is headed our way! Hurricane Irene has decided to make a visit and we're ramping up for the possibility of losing power for an entire week, not to mention 100 mile an hour winds and up to ten inches of rain! Guess that means hooking will be limited to daylight hours only...Oh yeah, and bailing water out of the unfinished side of the basement! Wish us luck!!

Movers and Shakers

We had some excitement on the east coast today in the form of an earthquake! Luckily nobody was hurt, but there was quite a bit of property damage especially in Virginia and Washington DC. It was felt here in Connecticut, especially in the tall buildings.

Now we just have to cross our fingers that Hurricane Irene heads out to sea before the weekend!!

I need a vacation from my vacation!

So I took my two weeks of vacation and proceeded to run myself ragged until the last three days! Our daughter, Jessica graduated from high school, so we had mucho family visiting from Arkansas, a huge grad party for Jess as well as JD, Andrew's g/f Tricia's brother. We have been lucky enough to become very good friends with Tricia's family since she and Andrew started dating, so since we combined Andrew and Tricia's grad party five years ago, it only made sense to combine Jess and JD's grad party. We got a Little Mermaid bouncy house as well as sumo wrestling suits, which were LOVED, and there's was a ton of food! Here's a few pictures from the party. I have to start collecting pictures from everybody else because I was too busy to take many.

This is hubby Aaron in the bouncy house with his sister Brenda. She came down from Maine to celebrate with us.


Jess in the sumo suit daring one our younger partiers to wrestle her! She was successful in getting her into the suit, but then was out-wrestled!



Our favorite gal Tricia creating the ever favorite bean dip. She dove right in and helped from start to finish. I don't think the party would've been as much fun without her!!

Our son Andrew (who is also Tricia's boyfriend) , had left the day before the party for a job in Alaska. He was originally accepted for a job on the slime line (that's where they gut and clean the salmon) at a fishery on Petersburg Island. Once he went through orientation, the freezer crew manager took him aside and asked if he'd rather work in the freezers. Andrew jumped at the chance, and it really sounds like he's in his element. The day he left had a bunch of us crying a bit, but we all knew it was something he had to do, and he'll be back in a few months....unless he gets a job on a fishing boat in Alaska! I told Tricia she will need to start buying cold weather clothes soon!! :o)

I did get a chance to start a new rug, and got everything but the background hooked.


This is a shot without the flash. The flash made the colors look almost neon (lol) and they really are quite primitive. I'm debating about adding large yellow squash on the very right, but might just leave it as is. Tomorrow, I'm going to work on something I've had percolating for a few weeks. If it works, I'll let ya know, if it doesn't, then mum's the word...lol. I will get back to work on the horn of plenty in the picture above to get the background hooked some time next week if I survive going back to work...*sigh*.

Now it's off to watch a bit of tv, then to bed. Because Aaron and I are kid-less we are off the hook for any fireworks! While I really like fireworks, I hate the going home traffic, so we're just chilling at home...yeah!!

Tired of traveling!

Vacation is on the horizon! In the last two weeks I was in Ohio, then Texas for work, and I am quite ready to be home for a while. We really thought we saw the end of the work list when the hot water heater decided to give up the ghost. 50 gallons of water in our basement soaking into the rug and pad underneath. Poor Aaron spent the better part of the week and weekend replacing the water heater then drying out the rug/pad. He is such a worker....I would've given up by then...lol

I am itching to start a new rug, but there just isn't enough time. I still have four more afghans to knit up in the next month or so, and Jess's graduation to get through. Here's a few pictures of the downstairs spare room and my rug display, and hopefully I will have a couple more to add during the summer.

Our Ranger

Our sweet dog Ranger has gone on to heaven. He was 15 years old, and up until just recently, still had times when he would act like a puppy. Even with all the work and responsibility that goes along with owning a pet, he brought more joy to our family than I could ever imagine. Our vet is wonderful, and made the end process much easier and brought us much comfort.

We still have our Coco (lhapso apso), and two cats, Zeke and Lily, so our house is still full of animal chaos, but Ranger was the dog that grew up with the kids. He will be missed.

Work to do before boating season!

This winter hubby and I decided it was time to replace the floors on the first floor of our house. Our dream has always been wood floors, so we dove right in....we meaning he does the hard work and I stay out of his way! I'm helpful like that. We picked amber bamboo floor and have planned on doing a room at a time starting with the bedroom. With that finished, a new bed all set up, and the walls are still bare...filling the wall are my job..lol Here's a picture of the floors and I have to say I'm really happy with our choice!


The living room is next, and right now is a complete shambles!



The walls will be a lighter color and the floor is the same as the bedroom, so I'm pretty excited about it getting all done. Tomorrow I leave for a work trip so hopefully the painting will be done and the floor started by the time I get home.

On the crafty front, I've been knitting afghans for presents. I have six to do and they have to be done by June....once they've been gifted, I'll put up pictures of the afghans and the "giftees"...lol I'm sure they don't have a clue about my blog, but I don't want to take any chances. I have also drawn up an easter rug that I need to start hooking.



I could only fit the main pattern in the picture...it's a rectangle with a simple border and I'm planning on prim pastel colors. Prim to me, has always meant dark colors, but I'm trying to break out of my "color box"...lol I'll post pictures as I get it hooked.

Back to NASCAR and the Indy 500....always makes me hook faster...lol

Signs from the Universe?

I have a confession...I'm a chatter. Ask my husband or kids, I seem to have conversations with people when I'm out all the time...lol During a few of these little chat sessions, I've discovered quite a few closet rug hookers in my area! Whether it's someone that hooks rugs with great detail using skinny little worms, or funky primitive rugs made from a design they draw themselves is pretty great. These fellow hookers all seem to be looking for a local supplier of hand-dyed wool, so when I tell them that I dye my own wool and have sold it online, they ask for my contact info. Now if this happened once or twice, I'd just look at it as a coincidence, but this has happened no less than four times in the last week and a half! Short of being hit over the head with a bag of wooly worms, I think I get it! We need a hooking group as well as a place to get some really great dyed wool quick, and I'm going to be the person that gets the group started and really start working on getting my name out locally.

Can't wait!!

Everybody should find this much joy at least once a day!!

SNOW DAY!!

Aaahhh....back from Pennsylvania just in time for the snow! Glad to make it back before the storm so I'm comfy and cozy at home. Here's a couple of pictures of our house buried in snow.

The view from our garage.

The picnic table on our deck.

Maybe I'll get some hooking done today. I'm finishing up a smallish rug, so I'll post pictures later on when it's finished and ready for binding!

A lazy Sunday....

preceding a busy week! Watching "Singin' in the Rain" and doing a bit of stitching. Gene Kelly - dreamy.....Donald O'Connor - great dancer/funny man.....Debbie Reynolds - beautiful singer/dancer....Cyd Charisse -hauntingly beautiful.....a great movie all around!!

Happy New Year!

What an interesting year 2010 has been. I count my blessings before making any resolutions, and the blessings have been many! Aaron and I are both working (which is a huge blessing in this economy), and both kids are happy and healthy. Our daughter is graduating from high school this year, and is looking forward to heading to college and really work on her art. Our son is doing well at his job, and has some pretty great friends. All our critters are happy and healthy, and we're pretty lucky considering Rangers age!

My resolutions are pretty simple....I want my own business, and eventually, I would like to be able to move to a farm and really get into the fiber business. I've broken it down into smaller steps which are going to be great fun, starting with brushing up on my spinning, and really learning about owning sheep. If you check out a couple of bloggers on my sidebar http://coonhollowfarm.blogspot.com/ and http://pamsfiber.blogspot.com/, you'll see some cutie Olde English "Babydoll" Southdown sheep that just seem to smile all the time. There will be more rug hooking, more wool dyeing, and creating patterns. My goal toward this business will be to use my Etsy shop more and really try to post on Ebay at least three or four times a month.

I hope everybody has a safe and fun New Year celebration! Talk to you in the New Year!!

The Blizzard!

What a storm we had! The wind is still blowing, but the snow finally stopped around 7:30 this morning. It's tough to tell because of the drifts, but Aaron thinks we got about 15 inches in our area. Luckily we didn't lose power so everybody stayed warm and cozy and I worked from home (lucky me!) and made chicken and dumplings for dinner....YUM!! Here's a few pics.
Shoveling a "potty path" for the dogs!


Coming in after a few minutes at the beginning of the storm.
Aaron looking not to thrilled while shoveling!


My poor car after the storm. She usually lives in the garage but between putting in new floors downstairs and working to rebuild an old horse drawn sleigh, there's no room.


I knitted some after being done with work, but am going through some kind of creative block! Since I'm having this block, I'm going to try hooking a freebie doodle offered by another blogger. I really try to create my own patterns, but it's just not happening right now. I'll draw it up this week and pick colors. Hopefully I'll have some hooking pics to show here in the next couple of days! The blog is on my sidebar if you're interested in seeing her freebie doodles. http://birdinthehandprimitives-robin.blogspot.com/2010/12/first-freebie-doodle-of-new.html

Hope everybody is staying warm tonight!

I'm back!! :o)

So, my last post had spring in the title....long way from spring now! lol Christmas is almost here, and the northeast is looking at a possible walloping from a Nor'easter on Sunday into Monday. I could use a good snowstorm, but as hubby says, "You're not the one out there shoveling!" I always answer..."Yep, you're right!"

I haven't made time to do much hooking lately. I have been doing so much traveling for work that any down time is used for laundry and reconnecting with the family. Our daughter Jessica is a senior this year, and is due to take her driving test. Boy am I glad she's the last one we are teaching how to drive! I don't think my nerves could take another new driver even though she did just finish driving school! Andrew is still living with friends one town over, and is planning on taking a trip to Alaska to work in a fish cannery. I think his goal is to get on one of the fishing boats, so the cannery is the way to get there. I'm not thrilled with the thought of him going so far away, but I guess when you're 22, adventure comes in all kinds of disguises (even stinky, fishy ones...lol). We are still a two dog, two cat family......
Lily and Zeke relaxing on the table....


Ranger and Coco waiting for dinner!
Ranger is now 15 and on about four different kinds of meds. He has arthritis, old-age vestibular disease, and dementia.....but still gets around just fine. Coco, our Lhapso Apso is blind, and just as bossy as ever.

As for hooking, I have managed to get at least one new mat finished, and have one on the frame. I have been doing quite a bit of knitting seeing as that it's more portable than rug hooking. Here's my new mat....I like the background, but it seems to blend too much with the inside of the tulips.



Tonight I am going to attempt to make my own feather tree. I have wanted one for about five years, but while they are quite beautiful, most are out of my budget. I think I have figured out how to create a "faux feather tree" and will take pics of the process. If it turns out even half as good as my imagination has it pictured, I'll be thrilled!!

Spring is here!!

I can't tell you how happy I am to see more warm days than chilly/cold! I've been doing some rug hooking and even cross-stitching, but when I'm not at work, I'm out in the yard and garden. Aaron has been hard at work building me an arbor as well as some raised beds for the garden, I've kept him busy! :o) Jess and I also spent a week in Arkansas visiting my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew and had a great time!! Here's a few pics of our visit and the work Aaron is doing in the garden. I'm a lucky gal!!

Evening out the dirt!!
Our front door ready for spring.
Jess, Jake, and their artwork. The raised beds all ready for the garden.

While at Home Depot last night getting the boards for the raised beds, I took a look at the veggie plants and boy was I overwhelmed!! While driving to Home Depot, I was so excited and had a long list in my brain of what I wanted to buy, but as soon as I saw all the plants, I went blank. *sigh* I'm going to make a list and head back over one night next week after work. Tomatoes are definitely on the list, and Aaron wants cukes. I've also got a space for an herb garden which already has chives, thyme and chocolate mint growing.

Welcome Spring!

This weekend was so beautiful and really needed around here! I love each season for what it brings, and right now, Spring is bringing exactly what I need to see. Aaron worked on the yard the last nice weekend we had, and since it's still not planting time, I looked over gardening magazines and seed catalogs and started making plans. Pellet stove off, windows open, it was wonderful! Jess had friends over Friday night and Saturday, then finished chores on Sunday. After her chores, she was outside painting. Daffodils are her favorite flower, so out in the sun she went, paints, paper and pencils in hand.

Jess is such a natural artist, and I must say I'm quite jealous of her talent. She has a list of requests for artwork from family, including me....not sure when she'll get around to it. ;o)

Our next door neighbor's yard is covered with a cute little spring flower which I think are called "Snowdrop". They are almost like a trail leading from their yard to ours, and I just love it.

So as you can see, I'm ready for Spring! Red geraniums in pots on our front steps to greet visitors and all over the deck just because, a vegetable garden bursting with tomatoes, cukes, and all kinds of herbs, and our rock wall spilling over with different types of hosta, astilbes, and ferns. Hope this weekend got your Spring and Summer dreams started!