Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Oh My!

Well this week has been busy with all these groups from my title already and that's just the start of this week. My oldest son Connor has boy scouts last night and I had to spend some time there just so I would know what is going on, otherwise I never get the info. (a group of boys run by boys...seriously!) Then I did a rug hooking demo for the local girl scouts group. They were working on a badge. Tonight Logan has cub scouts, and I usually stay & help with those meetings. I am also the chair person for St. Mary's of Shelby's fish fry this Friday. I keeps we running with shopping & a lot of prep, but I do have help. So hooking for fun is looking a little grim this week. I am posting my progress today and another picture of my home. This is the view coming down the stairs. This wonderful skinny bucket-type bench fits perfectly in this small space and it gives me a great way to display some of my old books. I also love these amber jars that my grandpa (papa) gave me. When I finish this rug, I am going to take a photo of all the wools in their uncut form & explain how & why I picked them. How's that for something to look forward too!

Sunday Inspiration

Today I am still working on that darn border. It is so repetitive, I wish it were done so I could play with some new colors. I hadn't touched it in a week though, and I'm pretty sure it won't hook itself. I received this email the other day, and it has such a comforting message that I thought I would share it here. It's back to hooking for me. Enjoy!
Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of Passage? His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morningsun shine through it.. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad mustcome into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified.He can hear all kinds of noises Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some humanmight do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, andshook his stump, but he sat stoically,never removing the blindfold.It would be the only way he could become a man!Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us,sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.If you liked this story, pass it on. If not, you took off your blindfold before dawn.Moral of the story: Just because you can't see God, doesn't mean He is not there.'For we walk by faith, not by sight.'

The Story of Jimmy Dean

One cold November evening my youngest son & I came home from a scouting event when a little black flash zipped between us and towards are front door. My son was busy yapping & he didn't even notice what had happened. We followed the meowing to find the sweetest little black & white ball of fluff. We had to feed him of course. And we played with him outside in the cold until daddy got home. Even he couldn't resist the homeless fur ball, so we invited him in. We already have an indoor cat, Travis, who is now 18 years old. Poor old Trav's life took a turn after that night.

It seems this adorable little fluff has another side. Once he had a warm meal in his tummy and a good nights sleep, his tough guy attitude started to shine through. The nameless kitten started to make himself right at home. It was like he belonged here from day one & he knew it. We struggled to come up with a good name for him for at least three weeks. It soon became clear to us that he didn't like being called cute, he wanted to be tough.

He showed our basset hound Wags who was boss right away. Poor old Travis, being blind & deaf, never even knew what hit him. Travis has always been such a lover, and in his younger days, he sent the tone for the other cats in our home. Now that he was the only one left and used to sleeping uninterrupted for 22 hours our of the day, he had no interest in sharing his space with an over grown kitten.

After much debate, this rebel cat was given the name Jimmy Dean. Tough like James Dean with the cute fluffy part being the "e" in Jimmy. His nick names include: Mr. Dean, Jimmy, JD, Demon cat and "that horrible creature." Now don't get me wrong, we love this guy. He's a lot of fun. But he is awful at the same time. He's been with us for over a year now.

Jimmy Dean spends his days attacking Travis just to listen to him howl. He plays with Wags and they take turns chasing each other through the house, which I find humiliating for a hound dog! He loves to play in water. He likes to spill it and then stand in it while he drinks. He will jump in the shower with, given the chance. He likes to attack & chew on any number of household items. At night he like to drag my wool through the house. And I don't mean the little strips waiting to be hooked, he like the larger pieces waiting to be cut.

On night my little mohair mouse from Debbie Miller went missing and it took me over a month to find him huddled up under the fridge in the way back hiding from "that horrible creature!" I will be posting his pictures from time to time. He's always up to something. Today I am posting him in the sink, awaiting his spa treatment. Playing the drums from Rock Band, on Christmas Day. Oh, and don't even get me started on the havoc he reeked on the Christmas tree and decorations!

Happy President's Day

Oh for the advise of our founding fathers today! And I use the word today in a broad way meaning this time period of ours. I don't want to get political on this blog, because that is not what I started it for, but I do want to take a minute and just say that we need to pray for our country! And we need to not be afraid to do it. I think our government tries to make things to complicated, and likes to keep us all confused. We need to stand up for good old fashioned principles, the kind this country was founded on. We also need to let our leaders know that they work for us and we surround them. I just hope we can all wake up and be the "united" in the USA before it's to late.

On a happier note, I finally feel like spring is right around the corner. We cleaned up the storm damage in the yard yesterday. It took all day. We were exhausted last night. But there are some signs of spring out there.

Today I am including a couple pictures from the wall in my kitchen. The little mice were made by Debbie Miller, and the snow gal was made Tammy Speicher. I hooked the rug in a class in Arrow Rock. The pattern id available through The Woolley Fox (link above).

Run for the Border

What a week! We had a huge wind storm here and lost a big cedar tree in out front yard and my poor old outhouse blew right over. It was suggested to me by mother nature to take down my outdoor winter decor, after she blew half of it all over my yard. Tomorrow I will find out the fate of my outhouse when we try to tip it back over. It was given to me by my dear friend, and I have only had it a few monthes. It has to be 100 years old and I love that thing! I feel confident it can be repaired.

I did start the border of my rug last weekend. I have worked on it some this week as well. Since I didn't post until now, I am going to try to post more than only once this week. I also want to get my taxes done, so we'll see.

I am also including some more pictures of my home. Happy Vane tines Day and enjoy!

Coming right along...

Here is the latest progress on my rug. I will be going to Ault's Rug Hooking Store on Saturday for their hook in and I hope to be working on the boarder. I am going to try to finish the last tree this week, but I don't know if I'll make that for sure or not. Here's hoping!
I couldn't resist taking this picture of the group I found in my lying in my bed this afternoon after school. The lump is Connor, my oldest, he invited the basset hound Wags up and Jimmy Dean the cat decided it look like a good place to take a rest too. What a group!
I am soooo sick of this weather! Today at least the sun came out and it wasn't as could, but we have just been getting hammered with sun lately. I can't remember the last time we've had snow that actually stuck around for awhile. It is pretty, but enough already!