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Hi There!

September's here but where did the summer go?!??

Saturday morning, Gilbert and I decided to go to yard sales.  Just outside of Saint John, 2 hamlets called Red Head and Mispec, were having a Community Yard Sale.

We hadn't been there in over 13 years,
so we decided to jump in the car and head on out!

At the very end of this "peninsula", is a lighthouse with a very pictoresque view of the Bay of Fundy.

Gilbert, overlooking the Bay...

A "dark" picture of the shoreline.

And a "lighter" picture of the shoreline.  

Don't ask me why my iTouch did this.  

*scratching her head*

And, a picture of the lighthouse!

I've started "hooking" again.  

Gosh, but I love hooking.  

Almost equally as much as quilting.

But I can create quilt tops faster than I can make a hooked rug.

Anyhow, my recent rug is of a SnowMan.  

I had seen this in one of my pattern books and

 had promised myself that I would make it... someday.

"Someday" is now here.

Saturday afternoon, I was able to sit outside on our deck. 
It wasn't sweltering hot but nice enough for me. 
Worked on my "hooking" as  Gilbert puttered around the yard.

And here's a close-up of my progress.

Then, yesterday,
I decided to make a batch of my Mom's "Uncle Ben Oven Rice".

Its the kind of recipe that makes a big roaster filled of yummy rice. Great to bring to a family get together, a potluck or to make at home. AND, the rice freezes very well.  Great to separate into lunch portions and freeze, for later!

Recipe for Uncle Ben's Oven Rice.

You absolutely NEED this rice. 

I've tried it with other brands of rice and it didn't work.

A close-up of the package.

This morning, my friend Elly, at Mad4patchwork, wrote to me 

and asked that I put on my blog, a "Follow by Email" option.

When I asked her how to do it, 

she wrote back with these instructions:

Go to your blog

Click design (top right corner)

Then click 'layout'

In layout click 'add a gadget'

From the list that comes up click  'follow by email'

Click save

et voila! :)

Turns out, I already HAD this option on my blog 

but you have to scroll waaaaaay at the bottom of my page to see it.

  I'll be moving to the top right hand side.... 

as soon as I finish publishing this post.

Anyhow, Elly gave me permission to copy her instructions - 

in case some of you might like to add this option on your blog.

Elly, I just went to your blog site 

and did you realize it's been 5 months 

since you last posted, girlfriend?!?!?

*grin*

And, this "following" topic reminded me of 

one of my favorite songs by Uncle Kracker....  

"Follow Me".

Here's hoping you have a Super September!!!

Rosa

Funky Chickens and Baby Bow Ties

Hi There!

Remember last spring, when I shared a picture of my "Funky Chickens", that I has finished hooking?



Well, Gilbert asked me how I wanted to hang this piece and I told him that I envisioned an old, wooden frame and chicken wire... to give it a chicken coop "feel".

Well, we couldn't find aged wood, so Gilbert made the frame and we hung the frame up on our upstairs deck... to "age".

It took about 8 months of sunshine, cloudy days, rain and snow to finally "age" the wood to a nice grey.

Then, Gilbert and I added chicken coop wire to the bottom half.

I think it gives it a modern yet old look.

What do you think?



And since I'm slowly trying to change the theme in my kitchen to roosters, chickens and such.... I thought this was the proper place to put this.

*grin*

Another "UFO" (Un-Finished-Object) out of the way!

Remember this past summer? When everyone and their dog seemed to be making Bow Tie Quilts?

Well, recently Gilbert found some time to quilt this for me.

Just this past Thursday, I finished the binding on it.

I told Gilbert to knock himself silly with this one....
to quilt whatever he wanted....
to practice a new technique, even....

Well, he did just that - he practiced a new technique.

Done by free hand....

"Wiggle Waves"

And today, we finally broke OUT OF THE HOUSE and went on a day trip to Moncton. Moncton's about 2 hours drive from here and the city 's got lots of neat restaurants and stores!

We had lunch at St-Hubert Barbecue.

LOVE their chicken!!!!

And Moncton's got my youngest son, now.

He moved to Moncton during the first of the year and I wanted to visit him...
Okay, okay, okay, I wanted to check up on him, too!

LOL

He's fine, he's happy and he'll survive.
That's all a Mom can wish for, eh?

*s*

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Rosa

First UFO of the Year!!!

Hi There!

Friday evening, Gilbert and I started a batch of "No Knead Bread". A few months ago, we had made a batch, I took pictures and forgot to share them with you. So, here are the pictures from the last batch of bread.... which are basically the same as Friday night's batch.

Recipe

and YouTube Video

You mix your 4 ingredients in a bowl, with a fork.



After 11 or more hours of resting, you roll and fold 2 or 3 times and place in a heavily floured tea towel. Let rest some more.



Cook in a heavy cast iron pot in high heat.



Slice and enjoy!



NOTE: Our "Miche" (or bread loaf) was cooked yesterday evening.

Friday evening, we decided to make a Sharlotka. I had read a blog or two, recently where the bloggers had made one and I REALLY wanted to try this out.

It was good... not excellent but good. And as the bloggers had written, this cake or pie certainly wasn't too sweet - the granny smith apples were a bit tart and the cake part wasn't too, too sweet. Just the right combination, I guess.

This is what it looks like, sliced.

Last February, while in Florida, my friend Frummie asked if I wanted to of her floor rugs, made out of pure wool. Her cute little fur babies had played with them and both rugs now had a few "bald" spots. *grin*

Frummie knew that I like to try and find the time to hook rugs...

Well, yesterday evening, I finally found the time and fixed one of them. It's now one the side of our downstairs bathtub.... as a decorative piece. *s*

These pictures look green but the rug's more blue and ivory.

Is spring just around the corner?

Even though it's only January,
I honestly HOPE it's just around the corner!

LOL

Right now, we're in the midst of a cool spell.

Minus 15 Cel.
or, if you prefer,
4 Farhenheit...

Bundle up... keep warm...

Rosa

T-Shirt Progress (cont'd)

Hi There!

This past week, I received a free wooly package, from "British Wool"!

All's I had to do was sign up - it was FREE!

How cool was that, eh?!??!



I received 2 braids of wool....
so soft!!!

Along with a lot of neat information about sheep and all, they included a plastified sheet with instructions on how to "felt" your wool.

I've never done this before.... should be a fun project!

The only thing missing was "time"... I turned that sheet around and around and around and they didn't tell me where I would find the extra "time" to play with this!

LOL

This afternoon, I decided to pick up where I had left off, with the "Tee-Shirt" quilt.

I've got ALL the blocks sew together into strips 'cept for the last one. There's a block missing. I plan on doing something special with this block.

I'll let you all see it, once it's done.
*grin*

Tomorrow's another day.

Still 2 more days of
V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N...

Rosa

Welcome to Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard.

Hi There!

Last month, when I went to our local "Hook-In", I had won one of their door prizes - a HUGE basket full of rug hooking goodies. Well, after a day of petting such goodies, I had to quickly find a home for them. My wool stash was fairly small and was still manageable, at the time.

I had to find a new home for ALL of my wool and other hooking items.

In a split second, I made the decision to empty my 2 top shelves - where I normally keep folded clothes - and moved my old and new rug hooking "stuff"!

Here's what it now looks like...

This is my bundle of "greens"...



And let me introduce to you,
my "greys"...

Here are my "oranges" and "caramels".

And here are my mauves and purples, whites, red dot paper and burlap and linen. Behind this bundle, I've hidden a plastic bag with my new and never touched (yet) Kool-Aide packages and other dyeing products.

Now, here you see my "blues" and my "reds", as well as a few skeins and balls of wool.

So, here's the scoop.

I'm working on a funny project of a sheep on ice skates. The first time I saw him, I just HAD to hook him! LOL

I've got his body almost half done, and I didn't have any "ice" colored wool, for the skater's pond. Our local wool shop didn't have any either.

Soooo, I took a split second decision yesterday to pick up my courage in my two hands and finally do some dyeing!

I broke out my packages of "Kool-Aide"!!!

My first one was the "orange" on the right side.

Then, I decided to try and reproduce "ice".... that's the "green" one, next to the orange.

I had gone on the net and some of these mix and match color programs and had it appear as if blue and green would look (somewhat) like "ice".

This didn't quite look like "ice".

Then, on a whim, I tried a small amount of "Crystal Blue" Kool-Aide and a trace amount of "Grape" flavor.

That's the one beside the "green".

EUREKA!

I had found my "ice" color!!!! I just needed to make it a bit darker.

What truly disappointed me was Kool-Aide's red colors.

Here, I used Strawberry, Cherry, Dark Cherry and Tropical Fruit Punch flavors.

Can you tell the difference, in the reds?



No? Well, neither can I!

I'm guessing that red is red is red, for Kool-Aide!

LOL

And one final picture....

Yesterday afternoon, Gilbert and I went to pick a movie at our local corner store and, while there, Gilbert snapped a picture of me.

Frummie - I TOLD you that I was using my new-to-me purse!

*VBG*

Hope you have a great Sunday!

Rosa
P.S. As I dunked my last piece of off-white wool into my Kool-Aide bath, it finally struck me and I said to myself, "Gee, Rosa. You know what? I don't think you saved any more of that white wool to finish off your sheep's body!"

Aaaaargh!!!!!!

Oh well! I guess I'll have to go and buy some more!

LOL

Big Honkin' Basket!!!

WARNING - PHOTO OVERLOAD !!!

Hi There!

Yesterday, I went to my 3rd Hook-In - WHAT FUN!!!

We all got the 2nd Rotunda rug-hook pattern, of the stained glass skylight, at the Saint John Arts Centre.



I'll probably try a different technique, again, for this one. Once again, they asked that we complete our mini rug and bring it back, to expose for our next Hook-In, next year.

Our Hook-In was held in the Saint John Arts Centre. This time, I was sitting beside the most moving picture that I think I've ever seen.

This fisherman looked either exhausted, or discouraged because they hadn't caught too much lobster.... or perhaps, they had lost one of their fisherman.... or perhaps, he was seasick - look at the waves.

In any case, many of the hookers commented on this picture, by Nicole Wolf.

Well, like most events, there's always the fund raising part. Our Hook-In was no exception.

For 5 dollars, I got 3 tickets.

Up for the draw were 2 baskets FULL of rug hooking stuff and 2 tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil, in my city.

GUESS WHAT!?!??

I nearly fell on my butt!!!

I won one of the baskets!!!!!



Inside, there was the cutest little pin...

Some rug hooking notions, as well as a signed copy of "Rags to Riches", signed by the author, a proddy hook, hand made by one of our local artisans.... a sturdy embroidery or rug hooking frame and some binding.

Some beautiful blue toned (felted) wool as well as a skein of GORGEOUS Briggs and Little wool.

A beautiful Celtic pattern!!!

Some white wool, as well as some peach/salmon wool.

Some LOVELY greens and plaids!

Some yarn to rove and other fun pieces!

And some incredible "greys", as well!

Oh.... I also got to finish my
"Funky Chickens".

It's not completely done. Gilbert and I will be doing a "montage" with this one and the wood, for the frame isn't quite ready. *s*

All in all, I had a LOVELY day!!!!

Rosa