Meeting a sister blogger

My creative Sundays continue. This past Sunday I was invited by Patti of Stitching in Lobster Land to join her and Barbara of Mainely Stitching at the Co-Op in Belfast for some stitching fellowship. Barbara was not able to make this visit; but I do look forward to the chance to meet her in person in the near future.

It was a snowy, sunny drive over to Belfast. The rolling hills provided beautiful wintery vistas. As I crossed Plymouth pond I had to stop in the middle of the bridge to take a picture of the ice fishing shanties; as I was struck immediately with an idea for rug hooking design.

 I will sketch it out with water colors; but I can see a very narrow wall hanging for this one. The sun was in my face for the morning shot...on my way back I pulled off in the turn out to take a few more pics.

 The wind was plowing across the pond; you can see the snow being kicked up.

 Now I will need to start collecting winter whites, grays and blues for all that snow.

I had such a terrific time visiting and stitching with Patti. Funny thing... We are stitching the same project, have same first name, same type of job just different industries and we've both been in Maine for the same length of time. Oh and we both have hound dogs. Hahaha. I truly enjoyed our conversations while we stitched by the window soaking up some good sunshine. Well the sun chased me around the table, but I was grateful for the rays to brighten these gray winter days. We have a couple more months before we feel the sweetness of spring.

We both made some nice progress on our Christmas at HRH; 

she's working hers over two and I am working mine over one. 

It was fun to see them together and the size difference. 

I hope to be much further along at our next visit...I have some catching up to do.

I've been working on it during a few lunch breaks this week; progress is progress. I put a few loops in my whale last night. I am playing with my sky. First I had defined clouds but I pulled those out. I was perusing the hooked rug images on the web for inspiration and I found a sky that I really like. We will see how it goes. Hope to share some updates this weekend. It's taken me all week to post this one. :)

Keep on Stitching and Hooking.

P.J.

A whale of a time hooking & stitching

I am just on a roll/hook!!

 I am so pleased with the way my water and whale have turned out.

I had some help on Monday; I happened to look up to see those gorgeous green eyes staring at me. 

She is a real mess... I love her personality.

Worked on the sky today and hope to hook a bit more after dinner, by the fire.

Can't forget to share a picture of the Pillow Queen... Our Queen B (Bassett). Isn't she a cute pooch?

I've been stitching a few lunch hours lately and made some progress on my C@HRH block six. 

I am enjoying these little skaters.

Just for fun... I will throw in a pic of the scrumptious meal I made yesterday. I had the privilege of working from home so I put a pork roast with some fried apples in the crock pot. I added sauerkraut after a few hours and made dumplings.

Pared with Angry Orchard Apple Cider Wine it was the perfect winter meal.

Keep warm and stitch on.

P.J.

P.S. A big hello to Kim from Millie's Mats; thank you for joining my blog. I just loved her post with the season harvest; I laughed hysterically and my hubby flinched!! Hahaha.

Noodles, thrums, gizzards, worms...

Wool worms, noodles, thrums or gizzards; such interesting names for those lovely strips of wool to be hooked into rugs.

Well my wool worms runneth over.... Although I like the name gizzards...appeals to my south of the Mason-Dixon Line frame of mind. :)

One of the talented and generous Winterport Hookers brought in her "leftovers" as she is thinning out her stash. Her gizzard pile covered an entire utility table. I only took a fistful at first but she encourage us too REALLY take as much as we wanted...I did not want to be greedy. She grabbed a kitchen trash bag and told me to go to town. She said she had just as much if not more at home; all leftovers from completed projects. One of the other ladies said that just goes to show you the body of her work. For someone who is just getting started I cannot imagine. I thanked her for her generosity;  the work of cutting the strips is a gift in its own, much less ALL THAT WOOL!

I had my antique hit and miss rug in mind that I want to replicate so I can hang the original. I even grabbed a handful to add to the caddy I had bought my GF. How fun to fill one of the sections with a stash of wool worms/gizzards.

Here is my booty of gizzards!! 

 Aren't the colors so rich and beautiful.

Here is a progress snap of my Whale... almost done with my water. 

Which, by the way, I am loving the way it is turning out. 

We had our holiday exchange as well. We had to bring something made by hand. There were lovely hooked pieces, punch needle, crocheted washcloths and home canned goodies.

 I crossed stitched my exchange gift.

Here is the beautiful hand stitched wool mitten I received in the exchange. 

It is just lovely. 

We discussed and agreed to do a mug mat for a spring exchange. Since I am still learning I did a bit of research last night and I have come up with something different and special. AND I am going to use the gifted gizzards. Stay tuned.

Speaking of canned goodies my crafty, creative co-worker brought in a bounty of jarred foods from their garden this year. She had more than they would eat. I picked up a few jars; dilly beans, chunky applesauce, blueberry & raspberry jellies and tomato rhubarb chutney.

I used a jar of the chutney Friday night; simmer pork chops in the chutney with a side of cheesy gnocchi. Lands...was that a scrumptious meal, simple but delicious. Such goodness!

My GF gave me the coolest little Rug Hooking book; "Full of tidbits of Information for beginning rug hookers and experienced hookers alike. Can't resist sharing these two definitions:

HOOKER -The jokes are endless, and you've probably heard them all. User your imagination. See stripper.

STRIPPER - Of course it means the machine that cuts the wool into strips. However, when combined with hooker, it takes on a new meaning.

*****Funny Stuff*****

As we reflect on Dr. M.L. King's message, hopes and dream, may we each in our daily actions bring a bit more peace in this world.

A warm welcome to my newest follower; Cathy from Acorn Hollow. 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Keep on stitching and hooking.

P.J.

P.S. Can't help but share a few snowy pics as it is coming down again.

 It is just such a peaceful beauty.

P.S.S. I couldn't resist these adorable kitty lips!!

Too sweet!!

Art imitates Life

I spent the majority of Saturday working on the icicle draped bridge on Block Six of my HRH Christmas as an ice storm was upon us outside. Keeping the fire going we found a few good movies to watch while we puttered around the house and I got some good stitching in.

 I am very happy with this progress.

Before

                                              and progress                                                    

Thankfully this one did not generate the power outage as the Christmas ice storm did. BUT the roads were very, very treacherous.  We never left the house. It was amazing watching the icicles form on everything as the freezing rain layered the bushes, tree branches, fence posts, etc. The critters were not deterred; the birds, squirrels and turkeys feasted.

I stitched just a smidge this morning while watching Marly and  Me. I got the little tree done. I had read the book years ago and could never bring myself to watch the movie.... I knew it was going to be a mini cry-fest but it was this or Behind Enemy Lines (also an Owen Wilson flick - not one of my favorite actors). I had not had a good cry in a while and I knew would be crying later in the day as we were heading to funeral service.

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Today we honored  William Franklin Knight(91), Retired Navy (32 yrs), the original Maine Troop Greeter. He is the guy that started it all. He was an honorable American Hero. Th service was simple, emotional and with full honors. It was a privilege and a honor to have met and worked with him as a Troop Greeter on several occasions. Rest in peace dear sir! Thank you for your service.

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Wicked COLD!

The new year is starting off with a cold snap vs a bang! In the negative teens and twenties up this way. We got over a foot of snow the Monday before New Year's so we needed to rake the roof for the second time in front of the storm that was headed in on Thursday. Luckily it did not make it this far, we only got 3 inches this round.

The husband raking the roof.

 I did help the first round....hung out the bedroom window (where I took this shot from) to break up the ice from the peak on the garage.  Very grateful the main house is a Gambrel roof, no raking needed.

The Christmas ice storm was not so kind.... Many folks were without power for over a week. We were fortunate to not have lost power.  A few shots of the beauty created by Mother Nature.

The snow is up to the bottom of the top rail!! 

I am so excited to share this next piece. It is my first finished piece with the sewing machine. I mentioned it in my previous post but did had forgotten to take pictures before I gifted it. My friend was very sweet to take a few pictures and a fine job she did.

 

I love the antlers...

She  used antlers in her wedding decor....

This is the centerpiece she created.

 Very creative girl!

Then I stitched up this little freebie from Sampler Girl for my Winterport Rug Hookers exchange.

It also filled with balsam.

Due to the ice storm our December meeting was canceled; we will have our exchange in January.  I am currently stitching one up for myself...it sure is cute. :)  Then I hope to plunge my needle into The Spanish Mystery Sample for a bit today and tomorrow as I sit cozy by the fire.

In closing I wanted to share a couple of non-stitchy pieces I had finished by my framers. I love how they turned out; especially the Moosehead Lake piece for my husband.

Polly and I have such a good time picking out framing; should have heard us squeal a little squeal of delight when we found the perfect combination.

No profound insight to what I hope for in the new year... Simple peace and happiness to all. Hope everyone has a delightful and warm weekend.

Take care and keep on stitching.