Going home... Family Strong.

The call came late Tuesday night, March 4th that my Grandma Pat in West Virginia was in the ICU. With more details learned on Wednesday I was heading home EARLY Thursday  morning. All of the family came home; from Wyoming, Louisiana, Alabama, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Maine. We traveled two hours one way from Maryland to Winchester, Va. to visit my grandma.

On our way we pass through Harper's Ferry which is a special place to all of us, so we took a few pictures along the way.

We had an amazing day on Saturday. Grandma was her feisty self, recognizing all of us and cuttin' up with everyone. We had strong hope after this terrific day. Her situation deteriorated Sunday and Monday. I had to return to Maine on Tuesday. My 78 yr old grandma, grampa's second wife and love of his life, passed away peacefully on Wednesday morning, March 12th, with family by her side. We are so grateful for the time we had with her on Saturday and Sunday. We all have special and fond memories of this tenacious woman; may she rest in sweet peace.

My grandfather, who is 90 yrs old, is a strong, salt of the earth man; it has been so hard to see him so sad and tired. My mother has been staying with him at The Farm in West Virginia. We are so appreciative of her staying with him to help get things in order and keep him company. Eventually she will head back to Wyoming.

Me, Grampa, my brother

Grampa's kids

The Three Granddaughters

My brother, mommy and me

Three generations 10 years apart; 

my mother, her sister, me, my cousin, my daughter and my cousins's son

It felt good to be with all of the family for those five days, reminiscing, laughing, crying and hoping.  It gave us strength and peace.

My husband and I were trying to make it back for the service this weekend but Mother Nature was in a winter fury. We got almost 20 inches of snow on Thursday. It was too much weather from here to West Virginia. I will cherish the blessing of being able to be there for her on Saturday and Sunday.

I did some stitching on Love Never Fails during my travels. I did some planning out for a hooked mug mat for a swap. I will share pictures in my next post.

It has been a long and weary week. May everyone have a peaceful and productive day.

Now you see it...

Now you don't.

I had abandoned this project years ago but could not toss the material and knew some day I would use it. So last Saturday afternoon I spent three hours frogging the over one stitches. Once she was all cleaned up I was ready to get to work on a sweet freebie from The Primitive Hare- Love Never Fails.

I needed a simple piece to keep my hands busy. I needed a break from HRH and hooking. I am doing this one in honor of our 15th wedding anniversary in April. I hope to have it done by then. Hahaha. I am making a small change to customize it with our year. :)

I worked on Winter's Day the week before, while watching the Olympics. I like what I have so far.

 This is supposed to be a rug in a day project.... 

I am finding I am picky...plus I am trying to go slow to get a neater loop.

 I am still working on NOT packing them in there. 

I am pleased with my improvements.

I dabbled with some painting too! It has been so long since I've put paint on canvas. 

I picked up this Warren Kimble print on wood while we were in Kansas in December. Well, I got it for a bargain as there was a strip torn in the upper left corner; the width of the top plank. It was a wedge of WHITE. I thought I would just stain it with coffee stain to brown it up but that didn't go as good as I had envisioned. THEN I remembered I had some acrylics from when my GF and I worked up some paper boxes to look old.

I just need to get some Bri-Wax to put the finishing touch to age it up. 

Turned out pretty good; if I do say so myself.

We had a tease of spring like weather this past weekend. It was in the 40's and sunny. I had the windows open to air the house out, took the dog for a walk, moved some wood and snow; taking full advantage of this small reprieve from Old Man Winter...I knew he was coming back this week. And he has....at 0.7 degrees this morning!

Looking forward to another get together to stitch in Belfast this weekend. 

Hope everyone has a successful weekend in whatever you are doing.

Keep on stitching.

P.J.

Thar she BLOWS!

Looky, looky what I did with my little hooky! 

Whale Done!

Whale Back

I finished The Whale today at Winterport Hookers. The ladies are so encouraging and inspiring. The hooking, beading and knitting projects today were no exception to the showcase of talent. It was a smaller group today due to the snowy days behind us and the one barreling down on us now. A predicted 14 to 20 inches tonight!! We'll see what we get. But makes for great hooking and stitching time! It was good for the soul getting to connect with the ladies on a more personal level. Many of these ladies warm my heart with their life tales, adventures and antidotes. Most endearing to be included in this circle.

I already have my next project lined up; a little 9x9 mat from Lois Roy- Olde Scotties Primitives Patterns; "Winters Day".

 An appropriate project for the BIG ONE! I am using wools from the generous hand-me-down gizzard pile

Last weekend I hung out with my GF for some good stitching, hooking, antiquing and girlfriend time. It was most needed. I worked a little on my Spanish Mystery sampler (update pics soon) and really put a dent in my whale sky. Hence why I was able to finish it up today. :) We spent Saturday hooking with a great group of ladies. Mary was a terrific hostess with a view to die for over looking Southwest Harbor. I was too stunned to take a snapshot. Maybe if we get to come back in the summer to hook on her amazing porch. She made two wonderful soups for our lunch. A four mushroom soup that was like velvety heaven in my mouth and a delicious kale and chicken sausage soup. Yum!! Or should I say slurp? These ladies are very talented; each with a unique style, and so inspiring. We even learned of a hooking retreat in Southern Maine that we plan to attend for the fall session. They even have a food drive and donations that go to the local food pantry. We really thought that was cool! I am enjoying all this exposure to such talent and creativity.

I had a marvelous find at the Creamery Antique Mall. We were just about out of the door when something caught my eye in the little case in front of the register. I spy a HOOK! Would it be considered rude to tell you I only paid $5 for this....

Isn't she perty! I put her to work that very night. I wonder what kind of rug stories she could tell. I found my hooking to be easier with this hook. As one of the ladies pointed out at the Saturday hooking, the size of the shaft makes it easier to pull the wool through the linen. And they said size doesn't matter...*snicker*.

I will share my other find when I post about my stitching progress.

When I got home Sunday afternoon I worked a little repair work on the old hit n miss rug in the hall. I used some wool from the hand-me-down gizzards; pretty good match if I do say so. In working this closely with the rug I noticed that it is not mostly wool but other blended fabric scraps.

I hope to get many loops pulled and stitches laid this long winter weekend. I have a date in early March to meet up with Patti from Stitching in Lobster Land and Barb of Mainely Stitching. I look forward to another fantastic creative Sunday with them.

 Happy Birthdays to President Washington and President Lincoln. 

Wonder what our founding fathers are thinking right about now?

Keep on stitching and hooking.

P.J.

Groundhog's Day

I am the first to say I enjoy winter; not my favorite season, but I love how clean, simple and peaceful everything becomes with a blanket of snow. I enjoy cozy sweaters, thick socks, flannel PJs and sheets, snuggling under a blanket in front of the fire with a hot drink....really I do. But I was just as disappointed as the rest of the you that old Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow. I am of hope that the next two months will be milder and provide a break to those not usually under these extreme winter conditions.

I got some good hooking done Saturday. I had started with some formed clouds and I didn't like the look so I pulled them out. I am really, really liking the way the sky is working out.

 I did not hook much this morning. I've been up since 1:45AM...I took a nap at 4:45AM hahaha. I had breakfast made and done by 8:30AM.... Seriously not my norm. Hubby noticed I was getting crabby restless; so off  we went on our annual winter excursion to the Fairfield Antique Mall. We usually end up there about this time every year just to get out of the house. It is a pretty decent sized mall so we get some walking in.

We had a couple of good finds. I picked up this nice, not so old red-ware deep dish. 

Love the wave paint work.

The Man picked up this great Lodge cast iron grill/griddle. 

Oh there will be some great grilling goodness this summer!  Cannot wait.

Check out this gorgeous textile art!!

 Love this piece. Old silk/satin quilt piece stretched on a frame. You can see the ties on the back. Would have loved to brought this home with me to hang on the big wall on our stairs but The Man wasn't feelin' it AND there was no price....a pet peeve of mine. Nothing aggravates me more than no price tag on something YOU are TRYING TO SELL!!

I got to work in the kitchen this afternoon; with complete enjoyment 

I baked mini zucchini bread for the Navy Girl. 

I am putting together a birthday and Valentines care package for her. If I was really on my game I should have stitched up a little freebie Valentine. Oh well its not like she has a whole lot of room. I have another freebie I want to stitch up for her.

Here is what I got done over a few lunches on my C@HRH. Need to get the arms on my snowman.

And Patti sent the sweetest thank you card; how appropriate it is a peacock, as we were discussing the many peacocks in this piece with a young lady that was curious about what we working on.

Hope everyone had a wonderful creative weekend.

Keep on stitching, hooking, baking or whatever else puts the wind in your sails.

P.J.

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.