Blog Archives

Today "D" is for Deer

7/31/2014

The joy of completing my Initially Yours "D" was dampened by the devastation of a late night purge of my gardens. I suppose when one is handed lemons one should make jokes.

Mr. and Mrs. Deer and the kiddies decided to eat out last evening. Tired of regular fare of bark and forest lichens, they wanted something a little more exotic and decided to try out this place called Little's Garden that some of the herd had mentioned. It was casual dining, no black tails needed, just the way they liked it.

The menu there was varied and other deer had raved about it. Why just the week before, the Doe family had dined on great globes of Blue Hydrangea, a delightful delicacy. Word spread far and wide that the chef at this establishment really knew how to put out a spread, offering all the things they loved, unlike other places that were unfriendly to their patronage, offering bitter meals, things like marigolds and daffodils, smelly things that deer turn their nose up on. And this place was friendly and receptive to dining guests unlike others that had eight foot fences.

Much to their delight, the daily specials kept changing so there was always lots of variety and exciting appetizers. Right now lilies were featured and there is nothing better to stimulate the appetite than a tasty lily. A feast for the eye as well as the stomach, so many colours , so many sizes, something for everyone in this delightful smorgasbord. Yes, that Chef Christine really catered to their likes and they were thankful for all her hard work and menu planning.

They were a little nervous, someone said that the chef had been rude in the past, chasing patrons away with her broom, but tonight, dining by moonlight, the atmosphere was peaceful and serene at the all you can eat buffet.

As they sauntered into the garden, they stopped to sample some of the many hors d’oeurves, sweet shoots of new plantings, barely out of the ground these vealish cuttings were young and tender. New dishes, especially the Cape Breton Lily, pink and yellow tipped, was highly recommended, they gorged until they were all gone. They hoped the chef could put in a few more of those for next year.

They were ecstatic, so many delights and right in their own neighbourhood. Surely a place like this would get a lot of attention so close to the forest, you know what they say….location. location, location.

Hosta flowers, always appreciated, were devoured, but by now they were so full of prized lilies, they left the leaves for another day, maybe they would order the big salad next time, lovely variegated leaves, so big and juicy, they could hardly
wait to return.

And for dessert, they spied a gorgeous yellow lily, the pride and joy of Chef Christine. She had been watching it grow for weeks. Taking extra care watering and weeding to develop the largest blooms possible….a prize snack for sure! And appreciated it was, now all that remained were nibbled stalks, even the unopened buds were devoured.

The Deer family roamed the three gardens that surrounded the house. The greedy little gluttons ate so much the restaurant might have to close down for the season, leaving little in the way of leftovers.

They left satiated and slowly sauntered up the hill, bellies full and happy they had discovered this new place. They would be back and they would surely tell all their friends. If there was one complaint they would have liked to see a few vegetables, maybe get rid of all the rhubarb and put in some Swiss chard and maybe a few apple trees or strawberry plants so they could have dessert, something sweet to top off a meal of greens.

Although what they devoured was worth more than a few bucks, Mr. Deer paid for the meal with a steaming pile of coins, gratuity included. The whole family agreed, this was the best meal ever, and gave the dining experience two hooves up!

4 Comments

D is for darling....

7/30/2014

12 Comments

Ah D, how do I love thee, let me count the ways…..

I love the fall colour palette of course, but outlining each motif and D with a #3 cut Eggplant really made everything pop. The subtle rust plaid doesn’t show the striping but that’s okay, there is enough going on with all the interesting little leaves and flowers that a solid looking background is fine.

I’ve been a bit distracted with this humidity. The heat pump lost its coolant so it’s been rough hooking and the last three days have been hell. I wear scissors on a lanyard and it almost drives me insane from the heat the material traps to my neck. I’m not a happy camper in the heat and as mentioned many times I swell to an uncomfortable bloat. I waited until quite late in the evening but there wasn’t much cool air outside to bring down the core temperature of the house and let me tell you, I suffered for my art!

To keep my feet from hurting because they blow up like balloons I had to hook with them propped up on a stool and that only served to make them go to sleep so getting up for more wool each time was a bit of a hobble. Really, life shouldn’t be this tough! I feel like moving north to hug an iceberg.

Anyway the repair guy came this morning to fix the problem so tonight I’ll be back at the wheel blasting down the hooking highway. Only the wide cut background remains and I can whip that off in no time.

The colours used in this one are Shamrock 3 Value, Goldenrod 3 Value, A bit of rust solid, and #022 rust plaid. #6 cut Eggplant for all the vines and #3 Eggplant to outline everything.

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Sunday's Beginning Class

7/29/2014

1 Comment

I slept in as long as I dared and then after zapping fruit flies all morning, I taught a beginner class on Sunday afternoon. What lovely gals. The four students were all enthusiastic. Three were newbies and one was looking for some tweaking tips. When she started her loops were all different heights and when she left they were as smooth as glass across the top.

There is a great rush that comes from showing beginners this craft we love so much. I always wonder which ones will stick to it and which ones will get the TShirt and move on. Sometimes you can tell by how bubbly they are, how their breathing quickens and pulse races. Or maybe that's just me....

It was hot upstairs, in the teaching part of the studio, so we sat in the downstairs back room in air conditioned comfort. I got them all started and then talked to them the entire time, walking around the table to make sure all was going well. We start with straight lines and I teach them how to skip spaces in lines and rows and how to pull loops the same height, talking about rhythms and the technique of uniform loops.

Next we move on to hooking circles. The holes no longer line up as they do in straight rows, but you learn quickly about staying inside the lines to keep the size and shape of the object and how the loops should look as you work around the curve. It is amazing how quickly it all becomes second nature and all the students made lovely circles. Then they started working on their actual projects and it's fun to see them evolve. All in all, teaching is always a satisfying afternoon.

Then I went home to swat more flies and nap. It was a very full weekend!

1 Comment

Fruit Fly Central!

7/28/2014

8 Comments

Today’s blog is coming to you from Fruit Fly Central!

This was the first year I haven’t been swarmed with fruit flies, although this reward came with a lot of diligence on my part. I may not do my dishes on a regular basis but I rinse them thoroughly before stacking them along the counters and I removed all compost to the bin every night and before I leave for work. It’s as simple as no food supply, no flies.

A few years back a visiting friend boughts us
one of those but bug zappers, probably after

experiencing a dense fog of fruit flies from bananas that has been left out. When the humidity hits, things spoil faster and they come!   Although I don’t like the thought of killing things that crawl or fly into my home, there has to be some sort of maintenance or you'll be overrun. So far this year I’ve been especially careful about leaving perishables out and with the heat pump the house is cooler which they don’t particularly like, so the zapper was still in the closet.

But oh Saturday night, they came in droves, so thick they obscured my vision. Everywhere I looked I could see dozens happily weaving in and out looking for a good place to reproduce themselves. They were imported into the house by Mary, stowed away in two boxes of strawberries that were slightly beginning to give up the ghost. Overly ripe and soft they were the perfect enticement and Mary told me her house was full of fruit flies so I put two and two together and came up with a million, fruit flies that is. As she hulled the berries, the little stowaways escaped the plastic wrap and invaded my kitchen. There had to be hundreds of them, no exaggeration!!! They all had to die and fast before they spread like peanut butter and then it would take days to defeat them all. The zapper is quick and does the job and sure beats the old way of hauling out the vacuum and chasing them down with the hose. The little devils can be illusive so you have to be on guard in a wait and watch game.

I entertained this weekend.    Friends arrived from Ontario so I invited Yvonne and Joe, and Peter and Mary for a BBQ Saturday evening.   I spent Friday cleaning and was up until 1:00 am beating back the cobwebs and vacuuming up months of debris that makes it into the house. Grass clippings that stick to the dogs legs, and other bits of this and that from outside, the table tops were almost white from dust and oh the dishes! The cupboards were pretty much bare as all the china sat on the counters, piled up and waiting for the dishpan. I have a lot of dishes, thirty Blue Willow plates to be exact, so I can go a long time before having to worry about washing and if I’m still not inclined I can extend it by using paper plates. I’m a practical girl, sort of like a bachelor, I don’t waste any more time than necessary doing the domestic. There’s gardening and hooking, not necessarily in that order that demand my time. I am not, have never been, and will never be, a slave to housework.

But I do have my pride and although I don’t mind writing about my shortcomings, I don’t necessarily want you to see them. This way you can walk away, shake your head and think I'm exaggerating. When I know people are coming over I make an explosive effort so they continue to think I’m up there with Martha, and just hide upstairs if they come by unannounced and hope they don't look in my window.

So Friday evening I cleaned and cleaned and then it got dark so I couldn’t see as well but I continued until bedtime. In the light of the following day I saw a few places I missed but overall it look pretty put together and wouldn’t tell any tales. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer a clean house, would like it to be spotless all the time but that takes so much effort which at the end of the day I run short on. Sitting and hooking is about the only speed I can handle. I work six days a week, sometimes seven when I teach. My days aren’t a normal 10:30 – 5:00 as I am there more times than not. I need my down time!

I only had time to clean the downstairs so I warned my guests if anyone ventured up the stairs I would have to kill them. Luckily we have a downstairs bathroom so there wasn’t any need to risk a cleaver in anyone’s back. Its’ amazing how the threat of company can force me to do more in a short time than I’ve done in months.   I’ll bet my dear mom would turn over in her grave if she knew I didn’t practice her white tornado custom. She might even wonder if she brought the wrong kid home from the hospital as this nut doesn’t seem to have fallen from any of her branches.

So now with cleaning checked off the list, I needed to concentrate on the food.   I worked all day Saturday and hoped to escape a bit early to do the grocery shopping and prep before the quests arrived at 6:30 but last minute an old school acquaintance arrived and delayed my departure. I really didn’t mind as it was nice to catch up but my head was doing mental calculations of how long it would take to boil potatoes, cool and make salad, prepare the snacks, make all the side dishes and precook the ribs in the oven and then clean up the mess of the prep. I didn’t get out of the shop until almost 4:30 with shopping yet to do, it was a race against time. I needed to have it all under control, relax and freshen up before the guests arrived, once again pulling off the effortless Martha, persona. It’s amazing what I can do in 90 minutes. Many years of short order cooking, not so much making fast food, but the speed to which it is done, prepared me for slapping a meal on the table in very little time. Once started I can do a dinner from pan to plate in minutes, a feat that my husband marvels over. In the kitchen I’m a tornado, slicing, dicing and cooking like a machine. Too bad I don’t apply myself that way for cleaning.

So the company arrived and we broke out the wine. My hubby is away right now so Peter manned the BBQ to finish cooking the ribs.   He’s funny, I’ve never seen flames like that before. My guy doesn’t rush the process and has cooking a steak down to a science on a medium heat. Peter is one of those chaps who ram it to high and keeps water handy for the flames and I tell no lie, at one point shot in the air and licked the ceiling of our back deck. I checked for blistering paint! I’m surprised he left with his eyebrows in tact! The few dangling spiders up there got a nasty surprise as a blowtorch flame burned them out of web and home.

But you can’t look a gift chef in the mouth so I announced I would keep my mouth shut and go back inside. The ribs were tasty and only a little charred around the edges.   The meal was fabulous and I was happy to have made the effort. Being such a stick in the mud I sometimes let things pass but it was nice having people over. I’m always happy after the fact, it’s the work up to the moment that I groan about. In a fantasy world it would be so nice to have the energy to live in a clean house.

The evening went off without a hitch until I noticed a zillion fruit flies hovering around the area where Mary had hulled the strawberries…..billion, zillion, quadrillion fruit flies. I was a nervous Nelly now, all I could think about was those flies would lay eggs and make more flies. After the meal I jumped up and started scraping the dishes and throwing out all the food to stop the breeding and then the flies became my entire focus. I hope I didn’t seem too nutty I just couldn’t sit there and watch them flying around, especially around my guest’s heads. It was gross!

They all left shortly after dessert, hope my zapping didn’t put them off, I was on a mission and completely focused on the kill. I was still killing them after well midnight and I ran a beginning class at my studio Sunday afternoon and arrived home to still hundreds! I've been zapping them steadily, even this morning! There is no food to feed on so they are torturing me as I write this, like I’m some kind of rotting delicacy.

So I suppose I should say a bit about dinner. We dined on corn on the cob, asparagus, BBQ ribs, potato salad, bean salad, broccoli salad, coleslaw, watermelon, started with salmon pate and pita chips and ended with ice-cream and strawberries.   Now that my house is somewhat tidy I’ll take advantage and maybe have a few people in or just enjoy it myself; ride the clean wave while it lasts……

Our friends Yvonne (black blouse), who is also a rug hooker, and her partner Joe (to Yvonne's left) are heading for the Bahamas in their sailboat and will be gone until next year. All the best to you! Mary is at the head of the table in the white blouse, smiling Peter is at the other end and Aunt Audrey is to the right.

A weapon of mass destruction and hero of the evening...the bug zapper. It's called "The Executioner" and can be purchased in hardware stores and big chain stores.

8 Comments

Workshop with Michele Micarelli

7/25/2014

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Phone the shop to resister on our toll free line 1-855-624-0370 or use our Contract Sheet and I will send you a PayPal invoice for the deposit. http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/contact-us.html

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"P" is now pink all the way!

7/24/2014

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I’m a bit off my game today. I think this hot weather is taking its toll on me. I awoke this morning to swollen hands and feet, very uncomfortable.   My shoes are tight and my rings are in a dish on the counter. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a sun worshipper and try to avoid being in the heat for too long, about as long as it takes the pups to do the business and water the garden and dash from the cool car to the house or the shop.   I don’t mind warm weather, nor does my body, but the stinking humidity makes me bloat like a dead whale on the beach. Yesterday it was 31 and breath taking and not in the good sense. I think a bit of a soak in the claw tub, a book and Epson Salts is in order for this evening.

I worked on my letter P last night.   I ripped out the rest of the ivory and put in the pink and I love it now although I think I need to change the darker green herringbone vines to a purple colour to add to the glow of the pink hue. I’ll do that this evening and then maybe start the D if my I can put my feet up to hook.

The shop has been filled with tourists this summer. Sometimes it’s standing room only. I am amazed to hear that some folks travel to wee little Mahone Bay just for the rug hooking shops and museum. To be a destination for someone’s vacation is mind boggling and the best feeling ever! I burst with pride when I’m told they’ve marked our shop as their to go place. Imagine that!

Today a woman told me that she has wanted to come to my shop for the past seven years. Wow! Unfortunately I had to disappoint her as we didn’t have her patterns choices in stock or else they were on the wrong backing. Nancy was leaving at 2:00 so we couldn’t make them up on the fly like we sometimes do and they weren’t able to come back the next day. I can do them if the shop isn’t busy but I have to be available with my undivided attention if called on for help.    We bend over backwards when we can.

We have a large inventory of patterns but can’t have them all available all the time. Some of the more detailed ones take hours to do and once sold it takes time to reproduce them and they are on lists to be done.   We do the best we can but it is always a good idea to email or phone ahead with requests to make sure you aren’t disappointed, we hate to disappoint you! Lots of times travelers will opt to have us mail it to their home so they don’t have to carry it around or over stuff their luggage.

I had a great chat with Aryl and Harvey Polokoff from Indianapolis today. Aryl hooks with the Puckihuddlers, what a fun name!   It means something like Cottage Industry With Hands.   There are 100 members of their group and Aryl is the president. Harvey stood out in the husband department. Very supportive of his wife’s interests, they are on a rug hooking tour of the province. A love couple on a lovely journey!

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Balance

7/23/2014

3 Comments

Life is all about balance and I’m a failure at it. I’ve never mastered the art of scheduling, allotting time for work and play. Work seems to pervade every time and play is always something I’ll get too. Good intentions, that’s me. I’m full of them.

It’s painfully obvious I can’t serve more than one master at a time. If the house is a mess, the gardens are divine and vice-versa. If I hook, everything suffers inside and out. I can’t seem to do it all, make time for a bit of everything and it’s frustrating!

A couple weeks of humidity and rain and the gardens were a mess and when I take the time to beat them back to submission, my house suffers. Lately I’ve been hooking more than anything so the inside and outside of my home went to pot. Right now I’m back to hiding if the doorbell rings and I live in terror every time the pups bark that someone might have pulled into the yard.

Storm Arthur curbed the garden excitement. My precious plants were beaten up and pushed to the ground like a run in with a school yard bully. My peonies lost their petals, stripped naked by the winds and pounding rain.   Then to make matters worse, a herd of deer came down and devoured every one of my hydrangea buds on the big bush in the back that usually drips with blue rapture. The other plant in the front yard has a few flower heads left, thank-you for small favours you four legged poachers! I suppose I should be thankful they left the hostas alone, knock on wood, they haven’t annihilated those yet as usually I have nothing but a bunch of chewed off stocks, all the leaves chomped off like a big salad. What a barren, pitiful sight for a gardener’s sore eyes, when hostas, as large as table tops, are mowed down to a jagged mess of stems.

Maybe I have to think long and hard about this venture I’ve undertaken. Is it too much for me? Am I out of my mind to think I can have it all? Balance home domestic stuff and garden? Can I learn to budget time for everything that needs to be done? Nature doesn’t come with guarantees, if I schedule time in the gardens it can be crushed by a blistering heat or rain. The perfect garden might be a pipe dream, a game for the young and energetic who can leap tall buildings with a single bound.

I garden for my own pleasure, no other reason. But does the beauty that I revel in, the accomplishments of a job well done, outweigh the need for a clean house and human contact? Wouldn’t I derive more pleasure out of sipping ice tea on the deck with a friend, instead of being up to my elbows in the dirt? I see a lot of people in the shop so I’m not exactly a hermit but to spend all of my free time doing manual labour, is it fair? Can flowers, no matter how beautiful, take the place of social interaction, of fun?

I really love to garden. I love the smell and coolness of the earth. I like to plant and watch things grow. I like what it does to my body; the stretching and bending, all great to keep this frame limber.   Pushing and pulling the wheelbarrow, digging with the spade and trowel.   Unfortunately a garden is like a baby, needy and time consuming, sucking the life out of my free time teat.

I brought the Initially Yours Letter D home to hook this past weekend and I had to exercise a lot of control to leave it alone. I had to be firm, “work before play soldier!” If I didn’t clean up the kitchen and do some laundry I’d be going commando this week.   I’m so far behind in my chores I think about moving out to the garage, it’s cleaner! So I forced myself to do things around the house, freed the counter-tops from the piles of dishes and did a few loads of laundry that were spilling out into the hallway. Then the rest of the day was dedicated to the gardens. I worked until the sun set, capturing back 75% of the territory sieged by the weeds.   At the end of the day I happily crawled into the house covered head to toe in sweat, streaked dirt. It was glorious!

Sometimes I think maybe the gardens are bigger than me. At least bigger than the time I have to work them. I think maybe I should spend time growing a social life, something that lasts more than one season and doesn’t involve so much back breaking work.   I’m never going to be a runner, my mother’s name for people who can’t stay home, but something to plan and look forward to once a week, a couple of times a month like a meal out or invites in could be the catalyst to help keep things in check in my house, beat back the cob webs, be company ready.

But, then I think about all my precious perennials that I’ve nurtured for the last 15 years. How can I give up my flower babies? Maybe it’s as simple as getting some help. Maybe that guy I see in various gardens in the Bay could be employed for a bit of maintenance in my backyard. Free up my time for the domestic chores that will allow me to invite friends over for an afternoon tea, an evening of relaxing, maybe some hooking or pot luck.   At this point as the summer quickly sails by, I need to do something before I mourn the loss of another season where all I did was work.  Then I look at the faces of all my little beauties and think, I'll work on balance next year......

There is always something blooming in my gardens, filling me with joy.

3 Comments

Jacquard Acid Dyes

7/22/2014

10 Comments

We have ordered in Jacquard Acid Dyes to sell and use at the shop to add to our fine array of dyed wools. 40 new colours to play with.... that could never be a bad thing! As the shop continues to expand, we figured it was time to diversify and not put all our coloured eggs in one dye basket. Acid dyes can be blended and mixed with other acid dyes such as Majic Carpet, Cushing and Pro Chem.

We have experimented with the Jacquard powders with fabulous results and Shane is looking forward to coming up with some spectacular colours. Who knows where this might lead. So we are now a Canadian Distributor for Jacquard Acid Dyes! Shipment is due this week!

Stay tuned, we will also be stocking Cushing and Pro Chem dyes in the near future.

I was hoping that I could get a little feedback from you.....if you have any experience with Jacquard Dyes I would love to hear about it....especially any tips or things to watch out for.

40 Fabulous new colour choices!!!! Mix or use as is!

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A Horse of a Different Colour

7/21/2014

5 Comments

Guest blogger: Heather Gordon

PHOTO #1

When my father saw or learned something unexpected that changed his mind, he used to say “Now that is a horse of a different colour.” When I saw Christine’s first 2014 calendar rug design, I knew that I had to hook it but, it would be hooked a little differently. I, too, prefer a horse of a different colour. Perhaps this is because I like to break rules and put my own touch on things, sometimes jut to be different. Doing things in the prescribed or expected manner is a little too boring.

This is the year of the horse and this is my year. For that reason, I knew immediately that I wanted my horse to be permanent and not tied to the year 2014 alone. I was born in 1942 in the year of the horse. This Chinese zodiac sign honours the bravery and loyalty of the ancient Chinese war horse. It is reliable, intelligent, friendly, and – wait for this – independent. I think they got it right.

My first impulse was to hook the horse like the ancient bronze statue on which the design is based so I gathered some rich bronzy golds that looked marvelous with the deep blues that are scattered through my house. Photo 1 represents the plan. Then, I decided to use Dorr hookable wool as a backing and chose the one with a little gold speck to pick up the tones of the horse. Then I found a small skein of hand-spun yarn that had a soft blend of grey-blues and golds. I think I picked it up in Newfoundland a couple of years ago, based on the theory that if you love something, you will eventually find a project where you can use it.

Photo 1 – original fabrics and colour palette

I started with the dark blue mane and found that it needed an outline to accentuate the flowing lines. Rather than using a solid colour of Briggs & Little yarn, I tried the hand-spun. Then, I wondered whether it would work as an outline for the body. It looked so beautiful alone against the wool background that I decided not to hook the horse at all. The piece needed more blue so that went into the Chinese characters in the corners. Since I only had about ten inches of the hand-spun yarn left, I turned to other aged bronzy tones from Briggs & Little used them in the hooves, the cloud under the horse’s hooves and to outline the corner characters. Then, I made it into a pillow cover, using the same hookable wool for the back.

Photo 2 – the finished project.

Time and time again, my projects evolve and take on a life of their own. I did end up with a horse of a different colour. This time it has no colour at all, but it works and I can enjoy it through all the seasons of all the years ahead.

PHOTO #2

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Breakfast At Tiffanys, say what?

7/18/2014

4 Comments

I’m pretty far behind the eight ball when it comes to movies. I might be the only one left in North America that hasn't seen Breakfast At Tiffany’s.   It’s deemed a romantic comedy but I have to confess, I didn’t get it. For me it lacked romance until the end kiss, and as for comedy, I didn’t smile once. Holly was billed as an hilarious heroine....not in my opinion. I seemed to be appalled more than anything. The story was all over the place with one crazy moment leading to another. I don’t think my funny bone is broken, I laughed a lot at the shop all day so it must be the movie that left me untickled.

Mickey Rooney’s poor imitation of a bucktoothed Asian, Mr. Yunioshi, was an offensive ethnic caricature. It was horrifying and overtly racist.   His character left me feeling annoyed, and not only was his presence unnecessary to the overall plot, if there was one to speak of, he was loud and obnoxious, a screeching pollutant to the peace and quiet of my living room.

There is no denying that Hepburn is a fabulous actress, but this role was too spacy and all over the place for a woman of her beauty and grace. They wanted her to be quirky but she was a contradiction most of the time. And sorry for being blunt… her character was basically a prostitute although I read that Truman Capote, the author, called her an “American Geisha” which, is just splitting hairs.

The part where she opened her door to find the chap from upstairs while holding her housecoat up to her naked front, told him to turn around and then said that she would instead, turned her bare backside to him and donned her robe. Yup, that happens a lot. Why just last week I did that to the plumber who came by. And the scene when she crawled through a window and climbed into bed with the guy, and laid her head on his chest to sleep with a virtual stranger, actions like that can get a girl killed, cut up in the deep freeze or raped in a back alley.

And what was up with that party in her apartment? Some of those women were beyond tipping the elbow.   I’ve seen falling down, floor licking drunks before, but these gals acted spaced out. There was a strange scene between a woman and a mirror that left me wondering what the director was thinking.

And the cigarette smoking. Everyone seemed to have one in their hand as if it was a cure for cancer. I coughed a few times remembering all the smoke I ingested as a child. I make jokes I burned through a pack a day during my childhood from both parents who smoked unfiltered, hand rolled cigarettes. The second hand smoke and tar had to blacken my lungs, considering what it did to the ceiling in the kitchen.   Being a non-smoker it’s hard to believe that smoking was flogged to be dignified and classy, sexy if you will, oh such clever marketing.

And where did the name come from. The only hint of a breakfast at Tiffany’s was the opening scene with Holly eating a croissant and sipping coffee while looking though the store window. An absurdity really, since Tiffany’s doesn’t serve food. Yes, I know it was just a goofy wishful dream on her part, something a space cadet would yearn for. Why not ask for something attainable.....what's so great about mixing diamonds with bread crumbs! I guess that was just another metaphor for something I’m not smart enough to figure out!

Then she threw that poor little nameless cat out of the cab in the rain. I almost turned the TV off right then, but an innate curiosity kept me watching to see if Hollywood would actually go that far and happily they redeemed themselves with a rescue. I’ll bet the studio received a few bags of mail over that one!

And Buddy Epsen, or Doc as he was called, appears as her husband. That was about as plausible as a union between Sylvester the cat and Pepe le pew, and once again totally unnecessary to the plot. Although, I never realized Jed Clampett had such beautiful blue eyes or maybe the film was colour enhanced? I might have been more inclined to concentrate on a bit of dental work for the poor guy, I'm just sayin....

I wonder how many friends I would make if I changed their name to whatever was floating around in my empty little head when I met them. I’m sure customers would love it. Hi Christine, I’m Lois from Texas. Really? I’m going to call you Hazel!   That’s just bat crap, tree hugging crazy!

I wonder how I would have felt about this movie if I watched it in my early 20’s when I was still wide eyed and bushy tailed. I wonder if I would have swooned for George Peppard or wished to be the slender gazelle that was Audrey Hepburn?

The best part of the movie was Moon River. A favourite for years, I never knew it was the title song. I read it won an award. For me, Henri Mancini was the only thing that rocked this movie!
If I was a Roger Ebert, I’d have to be honest and give it a thumbs down.   I did read a bit about the movie and all the nuances of Holly’s character, there were pages and pages of a psychological profile, why she did this or that, but for me, if it has to be explained it didn’t work. Maybe I’m too grounded to understand a broad like that. I’m more of a “don’t beat around the bush, shit or get off the pot” kind of gal. I’m not interested in trying to be exotically clever or mysterious….I is what I is, and like my peeps to be the same.

Remember this is only my opinion. I'm just calling it like I saw it, not that I want to trample on an American Icon. It won awards so what do I know?

4 Comments

We've got it licked.....

7/17/2014

15 Comments

Come hell or high humidity, the diehards were out last evening. It was a fun group once again. They listened to me rant and whine a bit. I usually hook on burlap but didn't have time to draw off the J so I grabbed a linen one off the rack. I'm not liking it and every loop I question whether I should just cut my losses and start again on burlap. I like the stiffness that burlap offers, the linen is so soft and kinda stretchy. I keep poking through the strands and my hook gets caught which slows me down. I'd have this one almost finished by now. I'm an old dog, I do old dog things. I started with burlap and will probably end with it, unless of course the sources dry up and I'm forced into another backing. In the meantime I'm not concerned about what happens to my stuff when I'm six feet under although with proper care my rugs should last at least as long as grannies did, considering the quality materials I use. I'm going to chew on this one all day and decide before I go home if I want to start from scratch on forge ahead and whine all the way to the finish line.

Then, as mentioned before, I am not enamored with the cream background behind my P. I made a quick decision on a Sunday and didn't want to bother dyeing so grabbed a hunk of wool off the rack and hooked it up but was always thinking I should have waited and added colour. Now that I am thinking about the poster and a book, I don't want that cream background against a white page so I'm ripping it out and redoing it with a lightly dyed red violet. Tell me what you think...stick with the ivory or go with the pink? I'm rooting more for the pink and put it out to the group last evening, most liked the pink but said I should ask the readers.

So I couldn't convince anyone to try the Mahone Bay Three Churches wine. I suppose that's a good thing, in this heat I wouldn't want to send them out there tipsy on the drive home! The talk seemed to center around desserts and a particularly delectable treat called a Kit Kat Square that was detailed layer for layer until my tongue was licking drool. So I jumped up and said "Ice-Cream for all, I'm buying!" and like the pied piper led the crowd to Chris's Convenience next door where he scooped up our choices. If I was going down, I was taking them all with me! I haven't had an ice-cream in over ten years and went for the Rum & Raisin, an old favorite and it was as good as the memory. In this heat, you had to lick quick but we suffered through! It was pretty quiet while we were all devouring our cones! Yuuummmmmm!

When I arrived at work this morning a little elf (Deanna) had dropped off some of those Kit Kat Squares discussed the night before.....they were as good as described! So happy she removed all the calories before bringing them by!

Glenna holding my ice-cream while I snapped the pictures.

I missed some of the rugs that left early but the ones that stayed behind to colour plan and chat, got their picture taken.

Anne is hooking "Alice". We colour planned the next background (field) colour to use. If I say so myself, this pattern would be a winner in every colour combination imaginable!

Charlene's stained glass piece looks like a church window in the sunlight!

Deanna is closing in on completion of her House Tessellation from the workshop with Heather Gordon.

Pam is almost finished the brick work on her Stepping Stones pattern.

I blew up the Greenfield & District Fire Department emblem and put it on a backing for Glenna to hook for her fire department. Glenna is a volunteer fire person (don't know what is politically correct these days), and is certainly gutsy! It's always good to support the local fire departments...you never know when you'll need them!

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It doesn't get much better than this!!!

7/16/2014

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Good gravy I’m having a great week. Lovely compliments and eye candy coming out of the woodwork. So many talented rug hookers bringing my patterns to life! What’s a girl to do but gush and post. I tell you now, it doesn't get much better than this.

I don’t mean to steal these gals thunder, I don’t pretend that my little drawings place more importance over the rug hooking, but I do feel like a small part of a team when I see pictures of my completed designs.

All in all, this sure is shaping up to be a fantastic week! 5000 plus likes on my Facebook page, the compliment of the year from a customer and eye candy to feast on.....candy might be dandy but rug hooking doesn't rot your teeth!

This first design is called Peking Dragons, and I designed it for Armenia Corkum back in 2001. The Main Street Hookers all decided to hook an Oriental design and I custom created this pattern for the occasion. She choose the colours she loves and although they were beautiful, Caroline went with the colour palette that makes me jump for joy. I'm a primary girl, give me red, yellow and blue any day and I'll be singing in the rain! This rug would fit in my house perfectly!

I asked Caroline to say a few words about her masterpiece.

Hi Christine - Thank you for your kind comments about my rug, and more especially, for creating Peking Dragons, such a great design in the first place. You're probably wondering how I came to have that pattern. Apparently, about 10-12 years ago, you drew it out (or as I was told, had a Chinese lady draw the symbols) for a fiber artist here in Fredericton. I know her first name was Mary, but I can't think of the last name for the life of me. Anyway, when she died, some of her rug hooking materials were passed on to the Cathedral Matters to do with as they saw fit. Thus, earlier this year, for a donation to the Cathedral Matters, I acquired the pattern. The linen still had the original tag on it, with a price of $70. I fell in love with the design at first sight, and after some thought, decided to dye the wools in colours I thought would suit both it and my living room. The background is 4 shades of blue, mixed together in a bag, and randomly selected and hooked in straight lines to conform to traditional oriental rugs. The brick shade used in the symbols was abrashed with black to give it a mottled colouring. I've been a little obsessed with hooking for the past couple of years....this was a great piece to try as my first "large" rug. I started it on April 7, and finished it this past Saturday, July 12th, hooking virtually every evening for 2-3 hours. You would think I'd be glad to be finished (and I am!), but of course, I got right back to work on another mat. One day, when I finally get down to your part of NS, I'm looking forward to dropping into your shop. Your patterns are really wonderful.

Best wishes, Caroline Montgomery Simpson

And next but definitely not least, Janet Delo is hooking "Alice" and was in the shop on Saturday for a bit more wool and some show and tell. She certainly made my day. After seeing this work in progress I was floating, my feet barely touched the ground. There are not enough words to describe how much something is liked, loved and appreciated. Janet's colour plan is perfect for this design and she's working in the traditional #3 cut. She's used spot dyes in some of the floral motifs and Eggplant (Dorr) for all of the scroll lines. Everything is perfectly balanced and complimentary. I see Celebration Magazine in its future and I'm going to use this plan in one of my Initially Yours letters!

Thank-you both for sharing and helping to make me current and interesting on my Facebook and Blog. Without everyone's help and constant supply of delicious rugs to view, I wouldn't have the wow factor! Bless you all for sharing! Both patterns are on my Signature Designs page. Click the link to view. http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/signature-designs.html

Louisa Horne is exercising her artistic prowess in the drawing and hooking of her three King Charles Spaniels. I remember that one is Casey and another Finnegan but sorry I can't recall the third one's name. For all you Canadian baby boomers you'll remember the beloved children's show with Mr. Dressup and his two sidekicks, a boy Casey and non talking puppet pup, Finnegan.

This rug is going to have a huge appeal. A forever keepsake of her precious furry kids. They look so real you want to stretch out your hand to get a lick and give a pat.

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G-lorious G is done!

7/15/2014

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Yesterday was amazing! A customer phoned the shop and said that I was the most current and interesting rug hooking shop or something to that effect. Usually words like that would be etched on my brain forever but we had such fun chatting that a senior moment made me forgot the exact quote. I do believe I'm relaying the gist of it though. All I can say is flattery will get you everywhere! My head, already known to be abnormally large, swelled like the Grinch’s heart and there was rubbing, flaking paint chips and wood splinters in my hair as I attempted to squeeze through the door after work.

Those kinds words will pilot my entire week and the humidity and heat won’t be able to dampen my spirits. I am titanium; nothing will bend or break me. Right now I feel as if I could leap tall buildings and deflect bullets. Compliments are better than paycheques and provide more comfort that money in the bank.

It made my day and my evening. We work very hard to offer quality and have an easily navigated website that shows all our products. For those who can’t visit and touch the wares we provide excellent quality photos to have the “almost here” experience.   I write blogs to share my day and hooking knowledge and post on Facebook some of the wonderful people who visit the shop and share any rugs brought in so we can all bask in the glow. I am constantly posting ideas and eye-candy to inspire and receiving feedback for my diligence is fabulous! Thank-you Carole for making my day!

And other news.....Heather Gordon was by for the daytime hook-in last week and I was telling her about my poster idea with the Initially Yours patterns and she one upped me with an even better idea. She said I should make these alphabet rugs into a book.   I don’t know why I didn’t think of it myself but luckily Heather did! In the book I will describe the process of each piece, offer beautiful colour plates of the design, the wool used and then the finished piece. With dye formulas, story lines and maybe some of the lovely comments left by you on my blog posts or Facebook.   I’ve already started the writing and I’ll do each featured initial as I hook them so by the time I finish the series, the book will be ready to go to the printers. Very exciting stuff!!! I’ve always wanted to do a book on Nova Scotia Rug Hookers and this will dip my toes in the publishing waters.

A new shipment of hooks are in. Some new and exciting colours! To see close-up details of the individual hooks click this link: http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/hooks.html

5 Comments

Golly "G" I'm loving it!

7/14/2014

5 Comments

I suppose there aren’t any rules on what to do with a day off, but wasting them seems like a crime. I was pretty tired on Sunday, not from lack of sleep from the night before, no that seems to have repaired itself once again, but I’ve been drained from too many nights without sleep so it took its toll yesterday and I spent a lot of time horizontal catching up and catching flies.

I planned to go to work because of the Treasures of Mahone Bay Festival but good intentions are sometimes undermined. I did actually make it into the shop around 1:30 and sat here like a stringless marionette wondering if I should get up and work, sit and hook, or nap in the chair. Three choices and not enough grey cells to choose, after they had melted into one big blob. No one came in for over a ½ hour which is typical of Sundays, festivals or otherwise. Sundays are flea market crowds and after 14 years of business I know that Sunday is never worth opening for. And besides, I do need a day off every week; the precedent was set by a higher force than me.

So I thought unenthusiastically, go back home and spend time with the pups. I locked up.   Before heading for the air conditioned car, I got the crazy notion I should walk down to the Save Easy parking lot to visit Charlene at the Flea Market who sets up shop to sell jewelry and bling related items. She has quite the operation, a lovely canopy tent for shade, although even the shade felt like being burned at the stake, and her hubby has made wonderful display cases to enhance the viewing. She was packing up as they close down at 2:30 so I walked back to the shop with the pavement burning my feet through the two inch heels of my sandals. A blistering day, fit only for cactus and mars.

So I make it home and fell into a chair. I napped a bit, hooked a bit, napped a bit more and that was the revolution of my day. We waited until 8:30 pm to play ball on the hill as I didn’t want the pups running in that kind of stinking heat, although they probably wouldn’t care so much with a pool to cool off in, but I wouldn’t be able to walk up the hill as the sweat would weigh me down and the pool is dog sized not me sized.

So I hooked a bit more after dark and managed to get over half done but wasn’t impressed with the slow progress, I hoped to complete this one for today's blog.   I shouldn’t beat myself up because sometimes I place unrealistic goals and there doesn’t need to be a deadline. Truthfully, I’m rather impressed with myself at the rate I’m progressing considering I’m really busy this time of year and I haven’t hooked much lately. I seem to be back at it and it’s a good feeling!

So this one is the letter G for hubby, Gregg. Not exactly manly colours but I’m not designing them around any particular person or event. I’m just playing around with colour. These gorgeous tones are very tasty. I love the way the background plaid enhances the Egyptian Red and Gneiss Brown accents. This piece glows and is so darn happy I can’t help but smile every time I look at it.   I’ll miss this one but do look forward to the next exciting colour plan and letter….hmmmm so many to pick from still, which one to do next?

PLAID #23

To view the lineup of Initially Yours patterns that have been hooked so far, click the link:
http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html

5 Comments

Blame it on the moon!

7/11/2014

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Yesterday was not a great day. From the moment I awoke shit started rolling downhill. I was exhausted, dragging my feet around and my eyeballs felt watery and squishy. I was clumsy, everything I touched dropped or I stubbed my fingers. I swore more yesterday than all of the month before combined. Coordination being off can mean sleep deprivation and the fact that I sat on the sofa and immediately fell asleep after just getting out of bed, well you don’t have to be rocket scientist to put two and two together.

I was tired all day at work and everything crawled under my skin. Not a good day to tackle paperwork, that’s a pin in the eye most days and today it was a double dose of needles. In order not to show my greyness, I hid upstairs paying bills and that was a great mood builder...not! It was stinking hot outside and upstairs in my office felt like a sweat shop. Downstairs is divine with the heat pump but cool air doesn’t rise so I was a bit of a Mrs. Hyde, barely standing the skin I was in.

So I was a big ole cranky pants and left work at five minutes to five and drove home in a robot state, I was staring and not as observant as I normally am. I could feel that I wasn’t on the ball and I’m thankful I made it home without crunching metal. I took the dogs out for a pee and then barely made it to the sofa and was asleep before my head hit the cushion. I was out for hours and woke feeling like I had been hit by a log, my mouth was dirt dry so I must have been catching flies. Boy, that was the most tired I’ve felt for a long time. A physical as well as a mental tired. Zombie tired!

Coincidentally, I recently read an article about sleep deprivation symptoms and I had most of them. I’d been on one of those insomnia trends that seems happen once a month, a perk of menopause that plagues a lot of women. It comes and goes like a bad smell and I’m in the middle of one right now. Apparently, the lack of sleep can make you overeat comfort food and alter your mood. Check and check!

Then an evening nap took the edge off and I actually slept better through the night so I was more on the ball today. Last night I had big plans to start the next Initially Yours letter but I’ll start it tonight for sure. Sue was in today and we talked about insomnia and she mentioned that the full moon can play havoc with sleep patterns. I’ve never put that two and two together but maybe I should keep a journal. If it’s the moon I wouldn’t feel so bad, it’s always nice to place blame elsewhere for your problems. That way it takes the heat off of me because I always think I’ve done something to cause it. All that water I drink, liters a day hmmmm….the moon determines the tides for bodies of water, maybe it’s messing with the water in this body?

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Another sleepless night.....another pattern finished!

7/9/2014

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The night before last I felt as if I was bedded down in a seedy motel equipped with a faulty neon light flashing on and off right outside the window. No, I’ve never stayed in a seedy motel, but I’ve seen enough dives on TV; roach infested, pay by the hour rooms, that left little to the imagination and more than enough experience to offer a comparison.

The Mahone Bay power was rocking to a steady beat of on and off. I was still awake at 1:30 am when the power cut out the first time. Click and then blackness. Click and then everything started flashing. The heat pump kicked back in and the motion detector light in the hall came on. The house alarm groaned, the smoke detectors coughed and the clock radio sputtered. It was out and then in and then out again, sometimes all in the same split second. At first it was like repeater gun fire, on and off bang, bang. Then it stayed on for a few minutes and then went out again. Each time causing a series of clicks and hums as electrical components whirred back to life and then croaked again from the lack of juice. All in all there were about 25 outages, hopefully controlled from power central, if not, there was some crazy stuff going on that needs investigating.

I noticed around the third outage, Honey, my oldest poodle started to do the shimmy shake. She’s always been nervous around loud sounds like gun fire, (hunting season noises from the wooded area behind our house) and fireworks. I guess she thought we were being invaded because she crawled up and laid over my neck, her soft underbelly vibrating like a washer during spin cycle. I wrapped my arms around her and snuggled tight but the tremors continued.   The crazy off and on continued for over an hour with lights flashing and clicking sounds to disturb all of our sleep…except of course for Fiz, my red girl, who is always undaunted.....her snores adding to the din of the night.

The power has never fluctuated like that. Sure it goes out occasionally but never spasms like a nervous twitch.   At one point I started wondering if it was our house or the entire town and got out of bed to keep an eye on the street light down the road. I didn’t have long to wait for confirmation, within minutes the town to was in blackness. I crawled back under the covers and snuggled Honey and then noticed that Jake was taking up some of the paranoia, standing and panting and then shortly after Henri followed suit. Both of the boys crawled up around my head and snuggled so close it was like wearing a dog hat. Poor little things were nervous Nellies but I loved that they came to momma to protect them. They like to act tough but really they are like little children afraid of the big scary things of this world.

So all these interruptions, compiled with the fact that sleep was eluding me, I might as well have got up and hooked, put on my miner’s head lamp and pulled a few loops in the dark. There is nothing worse than wasting time in bed awake, waiting, waiting, waiting for sleep to engulf me. It’s frustrating but you can’t get up because you never know when the sandman will hit.

I finished the O today at the hook-in, sadly pulling the last few strips to complete the rug. I really enjoyed this one, the colours were electric and I couldn’t help but smile from the glow. I asked a man once which dog he loved the most. He had just lost an older guy and had adopted a new fellow. His reply was interesting. He said he loves the one he has now the most and I marveled at the sense of it all. Being a bit of a pathetic drawn out mourner, I could never get over the lost love of a precious pet and move on easily, but as life goes on so does love, it needs to be nurtured and spread around like butter on toast. We should always be in the stasis of love, never sad from the past that is now gone, we have our memories to carry us forward.   Our hearts have many chambers to fill with love for our furry kids. I talk a big tale; hope I can follow my own advice when old, old, very old age claims one of mine.

This is how I feel about these Initially Yours patterns. The one I like most is the one on my frame. As I near completion of each initial I begin to grow excited over the next one. I’ve decided to do the G next. G is for Gregg, my hubby and the colours are subdued on this one. Browns, Turkey Red and a delicious plaid that encompasses all of the colours and will blend a custom mix.   I was so busy at work today I didn’t get the G drawn out so I am hookless tonight. Maybe a break might help get some laundry and the dishes done. Not as much fun but a necessary evil.

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The ABC's of rug hooking!

7/7/2014

6 Comments

What a fabulous weekend. It was too windy Saturday evening and too hot all day Sunday to work outside so I was happy to play, and play I did. I hooked my heart out and then hooked some more. The storm came and went and left a few leaves in the yard and knocked over the clematis tuteur, but other than that we were unscathed. Other didn't fare so well.

I opened the shop on Saturday despite the wind and a few people wandered in while Charlene, Patsy and I hooked.   I started and finished the A and then began the O Sunday afternoon. I'm pretty jazzed about the greens and purples, they literally glow.

So far, I am still pushing the endorphins as I think about, and colour plan each letter. This O represents the 9th letter with more ahead than behind me, but the creative juices are flowing so I’ll ride the wave as long as I’m having fun.   I feel the poster, the end result from all these letters, will be perfect for colour planning so it will be practical as well as pretty. I can see it in my head as clear as day and that's what lights my fire.

The A was hooked for my Aunt Audrey. I'm still picking through the letters that mean something and then will fill in the ones that don't. I could have said the A was for the storm "Arthur", but who wants to celebrate something that causes destruction. A is also for Ashley, Shane's girlfriend. Pretty with delicate pink flowers and a mossy green letter. I feel the darker green plaid offers a depth to the background as if looking through a dense bit of foliage.

The O is hooked with three value Mint and Blue Violet, Purple Rain spot and Jolly Green Spot. O is for Olsen, my mother's maiden name. It could also stand for "Over" the moon because this is the 9th letter I've worked on! I am in love with the Purple Rain effect!   I have enough of the letters hooked now that you can see how colourful the poster will be. If you would like to see how they are shaping up, click this link: http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html

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Keep in the loop......join us on Facebook!

7/5/2014

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In case you didn't know, Encompassing Designs has a Facebook page. I post a lot of pictures of rugs and shop items that don't all get listed on my blog. If you wish to keep up with all the excitement of our studio, give us a LIKE to keep in the loop...pardon the pun. Click the link below to link in! See you there!

https://www.facebook.com/EncompassingDesigns?ref=hl

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Celebrations!!!

7/4/2014

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Happy 4th of July to all our American friends!!!

I love the American flag's stars and stripes. Red, white and blue are favourites of mine so I thought I would design a chair pad to marry the flag elements with the compass rose. The background of the compass is an abrashed sky and the other fun thing was I whipped red around the navy star quarter and navy around the red and white areas. This project was great fun!

Adena Clark, your version of the April Pattern of the Month took 1st prize!!!!

The judges loved the red umbrella!
Adena wins a three pack of Dorr Natural for her submission, value $79.00.
Play along with us next month when we draw for May's design!
Click this link to read about our contest, you can jump in anytime!
http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/contests

1 Comment

Privacy, there's no such thing at my house.....

7/3/2014

7 Comments

It doesn’t take much to confuse me these days. It seems I’m always working things out in my head that used to be second nature. I’m hoping it’s senior moments and nothing more serious but really, I’ve been fighting back a haze that seems to engulf me and looking in the fridge for missing things a lot. It seems to be the dumping ground for anything in my hand that I'm not focused on, from olive oil to toilet paper, no a fresh roll, not used stuff.

I seem to be distracted more as I get older. I guess I’ve reached a level of retaining too much knowledge....at least that's what I'm thinking, so it would be nice if I could purge the mundane and inconsequential stuff to make room for more of the important things to come. Maybe the bad first marriage, family disappointments and the like. Who wants to be one of those old farts (no disrespect to the elderly) who live in the past and remember yesteryear more than yesterday.

So yesterday morning, in all its muggy, breath stealing heat, I was panting and watching the pups work through their morning eliminations when I notice the garbage truck two doors down. Strange I thought, in our town, waste removal is always on a Wednesday, so why was it a day early? The July 1st holiday threw me off and quite frankly couldn't tell you what day it was without some heavy thinking.

This isn’t the time of year to let garbage pile up inviting a waft that only a maggot would appreciate, so I did a quick calculation to see if I would have enough time grab the bag and hoof it to the road before the truck pulled up out front. The worry was that I would be seen, with no time to fix my sleep hair, falling out all over the place and an oily, make-upless Halloween ready face and T-shirt with no bra. A sight not to be seen with sore eyes or otherwise!

I estimated I had enough time and clicked into action. I ran like my life depended on it, well at least my pride. And that pride thing that goeth before the fall stuff, which I prayed wouldn’t become a literal translation with my sloppy slippers, skimming over grass soaked by morning due, as slippery as a greased wheel. Going thingamajugs up on the lawn in front of two young fellers would give them a tale to tell and worse, in this age of cell phones, something to capture and post on FB for all the world to enjoy, a new worry in this day and age of social media.

So I ran like the wind and made it to the edge of our grass as the truck left the neighbour’s front yard and bore down on mine. There were two guys this time, usually only one is doing double duty, driving and picking up, but there was buddy #2 hanging off the side ready to jump off. He sported the perfect vantage point to watch me. I had run out of time, the truck and I would collide any second if I continued to advance, so I just threw the bag the last ten feet, turned on a dime and beat a hasty retreat.

As I was a legging it back up the lawn at a heart pounding rate, I was suddenly aware of the movement under my shirt. My untethered breasts were flopping up and down, north to south and then east and west, round and round, like a broken compass. It was amazing I hadn’t knocked myself out as they rose high and then snapped back down like a stubby, fat and well-rounded whip. I know the guy had to see it, all that action under my shirt had to attract attention, I’m not exactly small there, probably the size of chubby little ground hogs tossing about. I raised my hands to cup each mound to stop the dance, which probably looked worse. So now my hands, not big enough to do a full containment, are bouncing up and down as the hunks of flesh beneath the shirt continued to react to the motion. It’s not easy to run without arms outstretched for balance and they were pinned close to my waist to support my hands. I didn't dare look back to hide the look of horror on my face, or maybe I didn’t want to see the horror on theirs. I ran the rest of the way to the house and slammed the door behind me, finally able to breathe. It's obvious, there's no safe place to be natural, not even in my own backyard. This is the second time in just a matter of days I've been painfully reminded that I don't fall out of bed day ready.

While on the topic of chesty things, here's a related picture. Shane is 6' 4" and is always hitting his head on the hanging mermaid. Just a bit of fun in the shop on a hot sticky day!

The finished M!

7 Comments

How to hook a thin point with an 8 cut.

7/2/2014

4 Comments

I’m pleased as punch. The M is turning into a big time winner….in my humble opinion of course.   I showed the progress to Shane and got a thumbs up, no greater praise will be found. He’s as fussy as his mom about how things coordinate in his apartment; this nut didn’t fall far from the tree!

A mentioned before, the heat was sweltering yesterday. I strayed little from my hooking station and pulled loops all day long in temperature controlled comfort.   I highly recommend a heat pump. Compared to a noisy air conditioner cutting in an out, this gadget purrs like a kitten, barely audible in the background. It uses little power so it’s all win win.    We don’t like it cold, just a comfortable, dry, slightly coolish temperature, set at 20 on a medium fan is divine!

So I almost got through the M and was a bit wired when I went to bed. I don’t know about anyone else but I get excited when I hook and that doesn’t wear off immediately. So sleep evaded me and I tossed and turned until 4:00 am. Along with the millions of thoughts I could shut off, I colour planned Initially Yours A and Shane is dyeing up the wool today. I might even start that before the O. It will be soft pink and greens. I am in love with all things pink. There isn’t any in my house to speak of although I’m wearing a pink linen top today.   I love pink flowers, especially Peonies, I have two bouquets in the house right now. Someone once said if you want to appear feminine wear pink. I’m not sure if it works for me, inside I feel a bit on the butchy side, was always a bit of a Tomboy and lived in trees as a kid. I suppose I was trying to get closer to the sky because my head was always in the clouds.

This pattern was hooked with lots of texture. A charcoal herringbone and a grey herringbone, both as is, and our dyed Heart Red two value, the darkest value is on herringbone.    I was torn between making the background the charcoal instead of the grey but I want to reserve black for another letter's background in a Victorian style like the old needle point chair covers. This way I still have the option to use black as I want each rug to look totally different.

As I was hooking the M yesterday and was successfully making very sharp points with a #8 cut wool I thought maybe I should share this pearl. A lot of times it is difficult to form the point on a star or fill in an area without bulging out the side of the surroundings or coming off with a round tip when you were shooting for a point. So this is what I do.

In the picture you can see the point I made inside the letter M’s crease. First you pull up the tail closely inside the point and bring it up flat and in the same direction as the v is pointing. The next loop will be pulled up on its side, not flat across horizontally. Use your hook to do a twist and turn it sideways, pointing in the same direction as the tail. With the next loop, still do the twist but less so it is slightly wider and diagonal. Get wider with the next twists until you are able to now pull the loop horizontally. Once the loops no longer fill the space between the V then you would continue down one side with the loops and the gap on the other side would be filled the same way with a flat tail turned sideways and the loop twisted and work this the same until you are making normal loops.

4 Comments

Happy Canada Day!

7/1/2014

5 Comments

All I can say is thank god I never tried cigarettes and liquor as a teenager. With my kind of addictive behavior I would be a two packer and big time boozer today. I’ve always gone at things with a fever. It’s all or nothing, hot or cold, no in-between or half way. I’m gung-ho and think of nothing else until the fizzle as I burn down to ash. Over the last few weeks it was my gardens, but now that the infernal heat has set in I’ll be hiding indoors for a stretch and focus on other things.

Now I’m consumed by the Initially Yours patterns. I want to sit and hook them all which comes with a load of frustration that I can’t do them fast enough. Like all true obsessions this current one is ruling my life. I can’t sleep because my brain is colour planning and I’m staying up way too late at night when I should be in bed, not that I sleep when I crawl under the covers, because I’m colour planning!!!!!

Words that best describe me are that my eyes are bigger than my stomach. This statement usually pertains to food and I’ve had plenty of obsessions there as well, but overall it describes me to a T. Some might say it’s a bit manic but for me I get excited about different things at different times, I focus with tunnel vision on the topic of the day and those thoughts fill my brain exclusively until I move on to the next big idea. With my Initially Yours patterns, I hope I can keep up the momentum to do all 26. I have 6 completed now, 20 more to go and that seems daunting. Twenty!!! I might need a hurrah from the crowd to keep it up! The killer of this desire will be procrastination, an annoying attribute I’ve not been able to conquer. I bought a book once on how to cure myself of putting things off, but of course I didn’t finish it….. Hopefully the fuel that flames my butt keeps burning hot and strong so I don’t become complacent in this latest dream.

I brought two new patterns home for the holiday, not that I have a chance in heck of getting them both done. I have the M and the O. The M is for McWhirter, Shane’s surname and the O is for Olsen, by grandparents on my mother’s side. The dilemma is which one to start first. If only I could tackle them both at one time but I have to be strong, I have to regiment myself to do one at time or past behavior dictates there will be a pile of semi-finished initials around the shop. If only I didn’t have to sleep and eat or go to work or perform daily functions, I would be able to bull ahead 24/7 and get them done by the middle of August. I can visualize them finished and made into a poster and I want to bring that to fruition asap because Christmas is a comin and I have more stockings to hook!

I had the O all ready to go with a palette of greens and purples, two very complementary colours but Shane has been giving me heck, apparently when I first started hooking the initials I promised him an M pillow for his apartment so I drew off the pattern yesterday and put the colours together. He wanted reds, blacks, greys and white. This intrigues me and I can see it in my head so I am dying to start it. So many itches to scratch and only two hands!

Just last week I was obsessed with the perfect garden. I can’t get too distracted with letters the weeds will creep back…..I have to balance all the compulsions. I jump from one thing to the next like a frog on lily pads. If only cloning could be perfected. I would love to have four or five of me to do all the grunt work, the housekeeping, the shop, the gardens, chief cook and bottle washer while I sit on my rump and hook or do the fun things in life. Right now it is so stinking hot outside it snatches the breath away. We are out long enough for the pups to pee and spray down my thirsty annuals and then back to the cool, dry air of the heat pump. Mr Fixit guy came over last evening and now my house is Nirvana! Even the pups don’t want to sit outside; they lift their legs and then run for the door.

So last night I finished the B and I was itching to start a new one but the clock hands were rolling up to 1:00 am and the angel part of my brain said it was time for bed reviled by the little devil that wanted to play some more, chase the endorphin rush of putting loops down on a fresh new backing. Usually I finish one project and then go to the studio to put together all the ingredients for the next one but this time two are all ready to go on the kitchen island. The temptation was strong to jump right in. This morning I awoke to the decision that the M is next and as soon as I post this I’ll assume the position on my favourite hooking chair, and tune in Juno, a movie I taped the other evening. The star, Ellen Page is from Halifax, NS. I must be the very last person in Canada to see this! The movie won an Academy Award for best original screen play.

Happy Canada Day all!! "B" Happy!!!!

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Happy Canada Day all!! "B" Happy!!!!

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