Hungry Mouths to Feed~A 40 Dollar Skirt!

There sure are a lot of hungry mouths to feed around here lately. Last but not least the big one in the photo above. Every few hours the trip to the basement finds it waiting to devour another chunk of that carefully seasoned firewood Dave so judiciously prepared earlier this fall. With temperatures in the 30's at night already we have gone through a fair amount of our pile usually preserved for the later part of November. With Mother living here we are keeping the house a tad warmer than we would like. I don't like to see her shivering and uncomfortable after her recent heart surgery not even a month ago. Turning up the gas heat would likely be easier but financially a disaster! So it's down the steps to the cast iron beast like a faithful march to the alter of Old Man Winter.

Then there was the 40 dollar skirt. While searching for wool for the background of my hooked mittens, I discovered that my stash is lacking much in the creams, whites, and lights. Anything I've acquired in those shades I've tea dyed and dirtied up because of the primitive hooker I am. I've always considered them to be nasty, not fitting in with the drab, dull colors of the primitive patterns I tend to favor. Not that I don't like color, oh yes I do.......but WHITE......I've only recently started to use it in rugs, and then only for Santa's beard! I found a few little pieces of cream that I decided to use for the background(Gayle you were right, the cream did it for me too) but not enough for both mittens. Then I remembered I had bought a cream wool skirt at a thrift shop a while ago. Upon finding the skirt still in the bag from the store I proceeded to throw it in the washing machine. Whoa!! I hadn't noticed the original price tag still attached when I bought it. The skirt was brand new with the 40.00 price tag and extra button too. A size 10.......MMmmmmm.....Maybe not. Don't think my waist is going there any time soon. What the heck, I only paid 3.50 so throw it in the washer and get it over with. Now I'm wondering if I am the only one who ruthlessly washes beautiful wool clothing to shrink and strip for rugs. I've closed my eyes and plunged gorgeous Pendleton jackets, skirts and pants that cost a pretty penny into the washer and dryer. I must say it has gotten easier over the years and sometimes a downright pleasure when I've scored a particularly beautiful piece of wool for a song!

Here are the mittens in progress. The hooking is complete on the left one. I hope to get the hooking done by this weekend and then try and figure out how to sew these little babies together! Wish me luck!

Some Prevention Tips for H1N1 Flu

Some Good Advice for this time of year..... My sister is a respiratory therapist and sent me this email today. It has some simple things we might not think about doing and could be very helpful.



> Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid
> specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked
> in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee
> Hospital , Tata Memorial etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear
> Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and
> Critical Centre, Malad (W).
>
> The following message given by him.
>
> ========================
> The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In
> a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming
> into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is
> not so much of a problem as proliferation is.
>
> While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1
> infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms,
> and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not
> fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced
> (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):
>
> 1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official
> communications).
>
> 2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to
> touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).
>
> 3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you
> don't trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the
> throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms.
> Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt
> water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an
> infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful
> preventative method.
>
> 4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every
> day with warm salt water . Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or
> Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but blowing
> the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds
> dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral
> population.
> Neti pots and sinus rinse kits are available at the drug store
> and relatively inexpensive..under $15.
>
> 5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in
> Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with
> Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.
>
> 6. Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can.
> Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the
> reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat
> into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.
>
> I suggest you pass this on to your entire e-list. You never
> know who might pay attention to it -- and STAY ALIVE because of it.
>
>

Progress on The Hooked Mittens!~ A Choice to Make

You gals are pretty good guessers!  Gayle and Kim from Cabin Creek Farm guessed mittens and so it is! I bought this kit/pattern from Tish Murphy (Tishkits) Minneapolis, MN.   I don't know if she has a website.  I will do a search later and let you know what I find.  The kit has all the wool and fleece for the mitten linings included. It looks a little tricky to sew them together so we'll see how that goes.
I'm not real crazy about the colors of the background wool that came with the kit. As you can see they are teal and blue. Beautiful colors but I just don't like it with the colors  in the circles.  So.....I am faced with a choice.  What direction do I go with the background here.  I've been holding everthing from black to grey, cream, lime green(the color of the fleece lining), a soft mauve pink.  I've changed my mind at least twenty times already.   I have to decide something pretty soon as I get real impatient to finish something when I finally get  started.  I hook all night sometimes like a crazy woman.  Lately though, with all the care giver duties and stuff going on with my Mom  I have been so dead tired at night I can't stay awake.
We have Dr. appointments this afternoon and I need to grocery shop so I will have to wait to get back out in the studio until later.
Speaking of the studio, Dave and two of our best buds installed electric baseboard heaters out there last weekend.  So far I have been keeping real toasty. We will have to see how well they work when the temperature falls below zero this winter! The pic above is of the fellows, cute as heck don't you think?  Dave is on the left, Dann and Mike (from PA.)  Thanks guys..........
On a side note: Kim from Cabin Creek Farm asked about the little white resin Jol in the photo with my White Jol Hooked Mat.  I bought several of them last year at a country shop we have near here. I have been trying to find the company that makes them online, but no luck yet. They are the best looking little things I've found and use them throughout the house.  If anyone knows the company that makes these let us know. It would be fun to offer them for sale on my selling blog (just a thought).

I Can Hardly Stand It!~ I'm Hooking Away Again!

I'm so excited! I finally started a new hooking project! Something I've had stashed away for nearly two years now. Any guesses as to what it may be? I'll elaborate tomorrow.
There I go changing the look of my blog again.....Why you ask?   I guess because it's just too fun!  So please bear with me until I find something I think will do......for now.

~A Halloween Doodle~

Hocus and Pocus

Crow Witches two

Conjuring up

The Halloween Stew

Spiders and crickets

Rabbits and hops

Simmer together

Serve with some chops

Crow you old Witches

Stew you old pot

Three One of October

To be not forgot

A Halloween Doodle and Poem by Orange Sink