Normally I have one, maybe two (as Saundra would say, a "plus one") hooking projects going on at the same time.  Somehow I managed to have five ? 1.  Raffle rug.  As posted previously, my hooking part of the rug is done and passed on to the next hooker. 2.  Askew.  I started this in early March, planned to have it done before vacation, then before rug camp.  Ha ha!  Haven't pulled a loop in weeks. 3.  Mr. Jingles.  So close.  He hasn't seen the light of day in a long time.  I think I am going to need to outline the holly leaves and chang ..read more

After our carriage ride, we took a half hour boat ride out to Ft. Sumter, which is where the first shots of the Civil War were fired on April 12, 1861. Note the unusual configuration of the American flag.  You can read more about it here. After our return to land, we headed to Patriots Point to see the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier built during WW II.   We then toured the USS Laffey, a destroyer also built during WW II. Sadly it was time to take the two hour drive north to our hotel without seeing all we had hoped to.  Upon arriving at the hotel, we needed t ..read more

 My first sight in Charleston . . .  I thoroughly enjoyed the carriage ride around the city with our guide Trey and our four legged guide, Ron.    A few images from around town. Too bad the wires are in the picture ;-( Now I am going to climb on to my soapbox!!!  The Amish have the reputation of being a "kind and gentle" people, but if you would ever do an internet search, you will find they are notorious for horrible puppy mills and the mistreatment of their farm animals.  The draft horses used by the carriage company (the company we use ..read more

Our whirlwind trip to Myrtle Beach is now just a pleasant memory.  We had a great time ?.  I knew Myrtle Beach was a tourist destination, but didn't imagine how tourist-y it would be.  We were fortunate to have an oceanfront room.  That was one of the best parts of the trip ~ looking out, seeing and hearing the ocean.  Falling asleep to the sound of the waves.  We had great weather, sunny and mid to high 70's. A beautiful sunrise ~ I thoroughly enjoyed my morning walks on the beach.  I did find some shells, but nothing out of the ordinary.  I was surpri ..read more

Typical me.  We are leaving at 6:00 am tomorrow morning, and knowing DSO, he will actually be here at 5:45.  All will get done, and if not, oh well.  I guess I am doing pretty good for noon the day before departure.  The lawn is mowed and the houseplants watered.  Hooking projects are ready to go.  Of course I will not get half done of what I am taking, but a hooker must have hope ?.  I have pulled out some summer clothes because here in northern Ohio, even on warmer days, I am still in winter clothes mode. Nothing more has been accomplished on Askew.  ..read more

As previously stated, I had hoped to have Askew finished before running away from home on Monday.  I didn't see it happening, and the last two days I have worked on my guild's raffle rug, so now I am sure it is not going to happen.  I had said I would hook the background ?  The rug was hooked in a smaller cut than I like to hook, but knew I could hook most of the background in my favorite 8 1/2 cut.  Here it is when I got it. Wednesday at guild, the rug was passed to a volunteer who planned to hook the leaves.  The leaves are to be hooked in a dip dyed wool IN A 6 CUT ..read more

My first blog post with Askew was on March 6 and at that time I had 8 circles hooked.  I really hoped to be done by now, but progress has been very slow the last couple of weeks.  I am so tired of hooking it.  I have to force myself to pick up the hook.  It doesn't help that yard work season has begun, although my heart isn't in that either.  So far I have only used my worms, but I am running low on dark ones.  You know, blackish, dark gray and black.  I still have lots of browns, but since there are blacks in all the stripes already hooked, I need to continu ..read more

I am heading to rug camp in West Virginia in a few weeks.  Usually I agonize over what rug I am going to start in class.  I purchased this pattern on a Facebook buy and sell group and knew I wanted to work on this.  For me, it is a large pattern at 26" x 36".  I just love the funky horses, but not the color palate that was used. I thought I would dye wool ~ easy peasy, no?  NO!  I decided to use formulas from this dye book. I wanted a horse of a different color - teal.  I did not have any teals in my wool stash so . . . I had some leftover dye, a formula ca ..read more

My son's girlfriend got Zeke almost two years ago.  He is a pomsky.  What, pray tell, is a pomsky?  A pomeranian/husky mix ?  So I wondered how that could be possible.  Well, it involves artificial insemination . . . lol.  Zeke looks so much like a husky, but in miniature.  He is not as big as he looks, is all legs and weighs a whopping 15#. After my son's other dog, Kali, got her wings in early February, he was thinking about another dog.  But let me tell you I was totally floored when he said the birthday cash I gave him went for a puppy.  (I tho ..read more

  Northern Ohio has gone eclipse crazy.  I did not realize that is was such an historic event.  According to examiner.org, the last total solar eclipse to traverse Ohio skies was more than 200 years ago in 1806, and the state won't see another until 2444. Here is the path of the eclipse. This is how it will travel thru the northern half of Ohio.  Lorain County, where I reside, is in the centerline totality area.  You can see us just west of Cleveland. I've circled Lorain where I live.  The absolute center line is only a couple miles from me. Our county alon ..read more