Merry Christmas from The Rugged Moose.

It's 11:51 and I'm at the office - doing a bit of work, but mostly revisiting all those lists in my head. Who have I forgotten? What did I miss at the grocery store? It will soon be too late to worry about it, and I'm sure everything will be just fine.

The most important thing is to be with family and friends and try to de-stress from all the other stuff in the world. And that is what I hope to do when we scoot up north on the 27th.

I hope you all find a way to do the same - not go up north - but relax into the new year. It seems the older we get the more frazzled life becomes. It's good to catch your breath from time to time.

All the best for the holidays. Talk to you all again in 2010.

Counting Down.

The tree is trimmed, the gifts are wrapped (mostly bagged actually - what did we ever do before the reusable gift bag?) and I think I am mostly ready. This will be the last Christmas in the house we've owned for 26 years, so it's proving to be quite an emotional time for us - and especially the kids. I took extra care in the trimmings, putting three more stands of lights than usual on the tree.

On my "Santa" list, I've completed: 10 hooked snowmen, 2 hooked santas, 1 hooked cat, 1 hooked footstool, 1 sign, 1 knitted snowman hat, 1 pair of yoga socks, 3 aprons - I can't think of anything else. 

Now just one newsletter to finish putting together and shoot out the door before Thursday. 

And I'm pretty sure there will be a bit more last minute wrapping and "second guessing shopping". But mostly I'm done.

My ma-in-law turned 85 on Friday, so we treated her to a birthday lunch on Saturday in Peterborough and brought her back to stay until Boxing Day. She's like the Eveready bunny - in the 30 years I've known her, she hasn't changed very much. Knock on wood she's still healthy and strong and I can't see that changing much in the next little while, God willing.

So now I can just get the work work done that haunts my sleep and look forward to some nice downtime between Christmas and New Years.

I hope all of you who have been following along with me have an incredible holiday, filled with family and friends and good cheer. May 2010 be an amazing adventure for all of us, and may we all find good health and happiness waiting for us there.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone.

Much love.

Wendie

Aprons for Christmas?

I am a recent lover of aprons. Perhaps because in the past few years, they have become beautiful and things that you would feel wonderful wearing – versus the ugly utilitarian things of days gone by. I think the love of all things retro has had a very positive effect on the apron business.

There was a woman selling wonderful ones at One of a Kind. And the ones at Anthropologie are incredible. But a beautiful apron comes with a price tag, so I decided to make some instead, after finding a pattern called Emmeline at Sew Liberated (an online site with beautiful patterns).

It’s a very feminine reversible apron that really appealed to me and I immediately thought of my daughter who is just learning to cook. How wonderful to put on a lovely apron and create things in her freshly painted yellow kitchen. (The bright yellow, blue and purple one with the striped reverse is for her.)

When I went looking for her fabric, other combinations kept leaping out at me, which is how I ended up doing three (or 6 when you count both sides of each apron). I spent a good deal of this past weekend cutting them out and sewing them. But at the end of the effort, I think they are really beautiful.

Living in a house with two men folk doesn’t bode well for the construction of aprons as Christmas gifts. They just kept saying Aprons???? Incredulously, which nearly made me second guess myself. And they did beg the question, is an apron the sign of oppression, which I’m sure the feminists would support, or are they a practical item that can also be beautiful?

Like every gift I give, the acid test is whether or not I would like to receive on as a gift. And the answer is a resounding “YES”. Now having made three, I know the pattern by heart. I have visions of all my leftover fabrics being put to good use in 2010. I can see these becoming a staple in my life.

The flakes and the fur flew.

Sorry about no post yesterday (to my regular tea and post folks). I was up north - taking yesterday in lieu of Friday. I'm still loving these longer weekends, regardless of where the extra day falls.


It was a weekend FILLED with snow. Amazing how just two hours north of the city and you're in a winter wonderland. We hit the storm on Friday night about 90 kms south of Parry Sound and it stayed with us all weekend. It snowed so that you couldn't even see across the lake. It snowed in slow motion. It snowed heavy and light. We shovelled twice on Sunday - about 8 inches each time. Definitely time for a snow blower....

On the studio front, I was definitely feeling like one of Santa's elves and my list got quite a few check marks. The snowmen are moving right along, with four of them stuffed and waiting for arms (too snowy up norrth to pick any). But some new fun things this weekend were this stool for my sister Nancy (hope she's not reading this week) and a stuffed cat for my friend Sheila. Nancy's cats Gus and Sam are depicted here and as you can see, Gus is like Garfield without the love of lasagna. Mostly lies around and eats a lot. Sam is like an electric cat who never stops moving. Their personality difference is really reflected in their body shapes, which made this little stool cover so fun to do.

And while on the subject of cats, I decided that instead of a snowman for my friend Sheila, I would hook her cat Hank. He is a wonderful cat who loves people and loves to fetch. I think he thinks he's a dog. He's getting up in age (and weight) now and suffers from diabetes, so we're not sure how much longer he'll be with us. This seemed like the perfect gift. He was very fun to do, and if time permits, I will do my grandcat Jasper for my daughter too. She'll love it and I'm sure he'll appreciate the company.

I must confess to surprising even myself with how well I'm staying on track to get everything done. If the hooking stuff is all finished this week, then it's time to dig out the sewing machines and tackle a few more goodies.

And I still have more than two weeks left to go.

The Hooked Snowman vs. The Punched Snowman

Following my friend Jennifer’s lead, I decided to make a few snow folk this year as Christmas gifts.

So far, I have hooked 2 large ones and punch needled two more. I have also hooked some half-pints, which are adorable and very fast to do. I have also thrown in a few Santa’s for good measure.

Looking at them finished (but not assembled), I am faced with the question, which do I prefer, the Hooked Snowman or the Punched Snowman? Both have good things going for them, and I’m pretty sure I’ll like them all once they are put together and have their eyes and arms and hats, etc.

The punching was definitely faster, and I do like the texture I got in mixing two yarns. But there’s something about the strip mixture in the traditionally hooked fellow that I really love.

Before I do any more, I think I’d better see how tough the assembly process is, cuz I have no idea and may end up with some flat ornaments instead. I’ll take pictures again when they are assembled and you can see for yourself which you prefer.

(I actually finished the punched fellow last nite, but I'm waiting till I have his arms and nose before I show the final result.)

See Jane hook.

This is my friend Jane’s first hooking project. Isn’t it great????

Jane is my longest non-Frederictonian friend. I met her when I first moved to Toronto nearly 40 years ago. In fact, it might be exactly 40 years ago.

She has moved around a fair amount – well anyone has compared to me, but we have always managed to stay in touch. She’s definitely one of my “quality not quantity” friends and we seem to be able to pick up where we left off, no matter how much time passes between visits. I love that kind of friend!!!

She lives outside Peterborough Ontario, which makes it far enough away that visiting spontaneously is a bit difficult. But email does help a bit, and one of her daughters is working here in Toronto and I got to have lunch with her a while ago. So, arm’s length, but still connected.

Two summers ago when I pitched my class idea at Trent, Jane came to see the rug display at the Open House. She was quite taken with the hooking and while at the show introduced me to her Wendy who is an experienced hooker, and another Jane, who also wanted to learn to hook. They cooked up a scheme to get together for lessons. And, although it took a year longer than expected, they did in fact get together. She calls the group she gets together with on Wednesdays, the Group of Seven. LOL.

I’m not sure why it’s such a thrill for me to have love of rug hooking be another connection with Jane, but it is. I guess whenever your passion “rubs off” on someone else, it’s exciting. I know I was thrilled when my sister Nancy fell in love with hooking.

So here’s to Jane! I think she did a fabulous job on her first project. And I hope there will be many more. I also hope that I can make my way to Peterborough and pull a few loops with her new hooking group. In the meantime, we will stay connected through email, this blog and our latest shared passion.

A very special studio.

From the moment you pull into the driveway of Martina Lesar's studio, you know you are in for a treat. This is the log building, with the amazing window box, that greets you as you park your car.

Then you venture inside and a warm wood burning stove and a cacophony of colours from wool and yarn and silk and more hits you in all your senses. Then you are greeted by Martina who is as warm and welcoming as her studio.

And then, when you're me, you give her a huge hug and thank her for sharing this special place with visitors. Here are a few of the pictures I took to inspire me when setting up my future studio.

And there's even more upstairs - this is magical place where the workshops are held and the patterns are drawn and kept, along with big bolts of wool. Isn't it perfect????

I am a huge Martina fan and have been sending students to her studio, particularly if they like primitive patterns - which she does oh so well. I had met her briefly at the last Annual, along with 4,000 other people. But this was a chance for Elaine and I to do a road trip to her studio and see what all the students were raving about. I'm so glad that we did. Because I, for one, am continuing the raving BIG TIME.

Her supplies are a bit different from other studios and she has a selection of frames to try from vendors I had never heard about. I think in her pursuit of the perfect frame, she has become quite the expert on frame suppliers, gripper strips and ways to improve upon existing frames (she gave me a great idea for my Cheticamp, which I can't wait to try).

Elaine and I left with lots of goodies (including one another's Christmas gifts) and wool and patterns and studio stories to share with others. And,best of all, (I believe) a new friend and great person to know in the hooking world. Martina has a warmth and geniuneness about her that few people possess.

To top it all off, we went for lunch at the Belfountain Inn and enjoyed the picturesque drive along the Forks of the Credit before returning to the reality that is Highway 10.

Before we left, we invited Martina  to be a vendor at our Hook In February And happily, she has accepted. So, if you haven't already done so, visit her website and see for yourself what wonders await you there.

Thanks again Martina for letting us trespass into your little part of hooking heaven.

The Jeanius of Port Perry.

These pictures are the Jeanius bags that were done at a workshop on Saturday in Port Perry. Aren’t they fantastic? All but one of the ladies are from a group that hooks together on a regular basis – constantly coming up with interesting projects and workshops, so I was flattered to be invited.


The one non-Port Perry hooker found out about the workshop while at Rittermere. She was doing bags for Christmas gifts and was using the article from A Needle Pulling Thread, so she was excited to come to the session. Hers are the adorable, non-Mola animals at the bottom of the images.

Actually the workshop was an “assembly” day, since all the flaps were hooked when everyone arrived. Thanks to a Mola workshop with Iris Simpson a month ago, there were beautiful, colourful Molas waiting to be turned into bags. And some other pretty wonderful subjects as you can see from the pics.

So the day consisted of making sure the flaps were the right width for the jean leg, whipping if they were and hooking additional or pulling loops if they weren’t. And then we were off on the assembly line. Among the group were a master quilter and another sewing machine maven who had both figured out how to attach their pocket using the machine. I still haven’t been able to figure that out yet, though am in full agreement that it would be much faster.
Every time I run a workshop, some kind of improvement that comes from the group. Since everyone approaches things a little differently, the cumulative thinking is always coming up with ways to make it easier.
As a result, the bags just get better and better.

The quilting guru also figured out a way to do a mitered corner border on this bag. It looks really good, doesn’t it? And it’s the perfect way to make a small image larger without additional hooking.

A ready-made shoulder strap from another purse (that had clips on the end) became a strap for one bag with built in key holders at the end. The clips were fished in through the lining, but will be most useful for holding keys. People just keep coming up with these brilliant ideas.

The group treated me to a yummy buffet lunch and lots of good hot coffee, which was great since we were working in a mid-reno church basement, in which the heat had been turned off. By mid day, we were all donning scarves and jackets to fight the chill.

All in all it was a very good day. They are a great and active group. It was great to spend the day with them. And as usual, they did me proud.

I can 'bearly' contain myself.

I love my new 3-day weekends!!! The very best thing about them is how much more hooking time I seem to get. And for me, more hooking time means I get to pick and choose which projects to focus on. This weekend, I spent time on three different things. I know that for some that appears a bit ADD, but for me, I like to think of it more like a curriculum – a way to divide my time and get a little bit done on lots of things.

So Friday after I did all my errands and grocery shopping, I spent a bit of time working up some more sketches for my 5 x 7 series. (I had a little exercise last week that convinced me that not every idea will work in this format. I would show you the result, but I’ve ripped it out already and will use the frame for another piece.)

After doing that, I designed a couple of pillows for our new quilt on our bed up north. I decided to base them on some cotton pillows that we have around the cottage that are piecework with a featured item in a centre window. I decided to make R and W be the featured visuals, and this picture is the first one well under way. They are polar fleece, which makes them really soft on the bed.

On Saturday, I decided to get back to the giant Max project and ended up focusing on the bear’s head, which is shown here. I ended up giving him quite a snout after doing some black bear research and I think he has real personality. He will definitely hold his own against the raccoon and the moose.

To put the size of his head in perspective, two of the little 5 x 7 sketches are equal to his head. That’s another reason why moving around among projects is so much fun. Scale and perspective are very different, as you might well guess.

Next weekend is an in-town rarity with a workshop on the Saturday, so who knows what projects will get my attention. But the city weekends end up being more work-oriented with less time for hooking, so Bear and the initial pillows will have to wait until I am back in Parry Sound.

Second sketch.

Here is #2 in my series of "on the waterfront" sketches. It is also a 5 x 7 study and was very quick to do - I think the design went on the backing on Sunday night (just before bed) and I hooked the entire piece in less than three hours on Monday night. Once I get going in such a small area, I just want to see what the next "bit" will look like, and so I stay up much too late getting them done.

I love the palette and everything is from my stash of yarns and wool bits. Again, it proves that you can fool the eye into believing there is a lot of detail when, in fact, there isn't very much. I have a few more waterfront ones planned, but may interrupt this series and go into my cottage picture stash this weekend. I'd really love to do a "fuzzy sketch" for each of my kids as a Christmas present, so will look for the perfect photo to begin the process.

A series of sketches.

As I am somewhat in between projects (that's only if you don't count all the UFO's - and Max up north), I have decided to do a few "sketches". This first one was completed in two short hooking sessions - probably a total of 4 hours from putting the design on backing to finishing. REMEMBER, it's only 5" x 7". (Sorry the image is a tad fuzzy, but my real camera isn't downloading properly so I used my phone camera.)

Since I am a huge fan of impressionism, I wanted to create a few "sketches" that would require minimal detail, but still capture the light and convey the impression (exactly what it's all about). I was inspired by this partly by one of the exercises that the lucky folks at Deanne's Impressionism workshop did, and partly by a little website of impressionist painters that I visit regularly for inspiration. They do 3.5 x 5 sketches that are amazing!! Check out this blog. This artist, one of my favourites, blogs and sketches daily. I know paint is faster, but the approach is the same.

When I used to paint, I always did small sketches before deciding whether or not to do a larger painting.
And I realized that there is absolutely no reason why this shouldn't work for hooking too. And I would say, based on my first one, that I think it will.

The first series I am going to do is all about water - since the theme for the 2010 Annual is "On the Waterfront". With all my cottage images, I have more than enough visual memories to create a series of these little practice pieces. And they would be wonderful as a collage - just the way they are.

I also figure that as a gift for friends and family, the sketches would be perfect! I can create something very personal that doesn't take a ton of time, and it will just be a little piece of textured artwork that should fit just about anywhere.

Plus it will be incredible practice for me to improve my impressionist skills.

Night at the Museum

Last night 14 lucky people got to have a "behind the scenes" evening with the rug collection at the Textile Museum of Canada. It was the second evening for rug hookers to go and learn more about the history of hooked rugs in Canada. The first was a presentation in September about "rugs and commerce" in Canada.

Last night's session was a very interactive experience of admiring, touching (with white gloves) and learning about several of the rugs in the collection. We also got to see some of the antique hooks in the collection. I didn't have my camera with me, but all the rugs are featured on the Museum's website. Plus, Jennifer Manuell took a lot of photos - and notes - and will be posting soon on her blog.

The rug shown here was one of my favourites. It's hooked from handspun wool, plus some roving on the sheep. I found it very timeless - almost contemporary in it's look. And the amount of detail was extraordinary compared to many of the others that we saw. It was hooked somewhere between 1925 and 1940 in Quebec. And the back was almost more beautiful than the front.

Many of the rugs were in a sorry state of disrepair, and not as much is known about many of them as about their quilt contemporaries, but they were incredible to see all the same. They ranged from the extremely primitive rugs (like those of the Gagetown Hookers) to really sophistocated designs created by two well-known Quebec painters who hired women to hook them. And of course, a few of Grenfell mats to complete the entire experience. What a privilege to get to share this collection with 2 of the curators.

I highly encourage you to spend some time on the website and take a look.  And be sure to watch Jen's blog for her post.

For those of you who are close enough to go to the Museum, there is also an incredible quilt display on right now, featuring 47 quilts owned by the Tannenbaum family. They are pretty remarkable as well.

Feeling a little punchy.

Here is my first nearly-finished punch needle project. I think of it as "test" more than anything else, since I really didn't know what to expect and I'm still feeling my way along. Although I had planned to have a private lesson last weekend at OHCG school, as it turned out simply seeing someone with the punch needle properly threaded was all I needed to have my "duh" moment and get started. Truth be told, I could still use a clean up clipping and shifting lesson, but for now this will do.

As suspected, it is incredibly quick to do, especially once you get into the rhythm. And for something as fun as a little snowman mat (which will probably go on a table top somewhere) it was a great exercise. If you look closely, I still have much shifting and clipping to do to clean it up. But overall, I am quite pleased. I love the little candy cane effect I got when working with red and white yarn together. And I think this indicates that choice of yarn and combinations created add greatly to the textural effect. The trees show a bit of that, although I had to pull from my current stash. I think I need to find some "sparkle" to add to this mat before I finish the edges.

Will it ever be a replacement for the other kind of hooking in my life? I'm not so sure. I don't find it quite as textural in appearance and, truth be told, I don't find the actual hooking as interesting. I'm sure with more practice, I would be able to master the "directional" hooking that would give it more dimension. So, it can exist as a complementary kind of hooking.

The other thing I realized is that I much prefer to look at my work "right side up" and see how it is evolving. For those of you who aren't familiar with punch needle, your pattern is on the side facing you, but the loops are formed on the under side of the frame, so you can't see your work unless you turn it over. And since the pattern is on the top side (while the loops are on the bottom side), there is no pattern to relate the loops to as you go. When you turn it over to "admire" your work, there are blobs of yarn with no pattern for context.

When I said in a previous post that the "veggie chopstix" rug would probably have taken me half the time (if not less), I think that was confirmed in this exercise. It would have been considerably faster. But I wouldn't have had the pleasure of admiring each veggie as it unfolded and running my hands over the loops (as I realized I am wont to do). Also, I learned that textured yarn, which is the entire border of the veggie rug, cannot be used in the needle, as it jams and pulls out loops.

Will I punch again? Undoubtedly, and it certainly is the speedy way to do simple designs. I have heard of teacher gifts that were done - start to finish - in a couple of hours and now I know that it indeed possible. And I have greater admiration for the more sophisticated punch needle projects I have seen.

But I think I will save the special projects for traditional hooking, which I now appreciate more for the tactile and admiration aspects that they offer me.

A Very Classy Class.

Once again, I seem to have lucked into an amazing group of women in my OHCG class. I knew a few of them this time, which is always nice, but none had been in a class of mine before. But as soon as we were together Thursday night, I could tell it was going to be a great group. And I was right!! The sharing of information between the more seasoned hookers and the novices, and the conversations going on between those who had just met demonstrated the great combination in the room.

Since there were many students who brought multiple projects, the volume of work at Show and Tell on Sunday was amazing!  Many of them worked Thursday night and Friday on one project and then switched on Saturday to the other project they had brought. Others just needed a little advice on their secondary projects.

The joy of an Open class is the variety. Each project presents a teaching opportunity to share with the rest of the group. Those are the things that a teacher can't anticipate before getting there. And, as usual, I learned as much from them as they did from me!!

So, in the room we had:

3 dog portraits
3 Deanne Fitzpatrick patterns
1 Penny rug
1 Giant geometric colour study
2 Orientals
2 Nutcrackers
1 Wisteria runner with birds (no picture)
1 Leaf rug with an amazing cat
1 Very colourful Hen Party

As promised, here are the pics to show how amazing the works-in-progress were:

I'm sorry that I don't have a picture of the other Oriental. Not sure why it wasn't in the show on Sunday.

As you can see, these students all did their teacher proud! Thanks to all of them for making my weekend so special.

There’s still something about Mt. Mary

Two years ago when I taught for the first time at the O.H.C.G. school, I blogged about it. That was in my early days of blogging and teaching. And it was very special. Here it is, two years later and after my second stint at Mt. Mary, I’m back to blog about it again.

Often, after a special experience somewhere, we believe that expression “you can’t go back again”. But I’m here to tell you that you certainly can. And many of the students in my class (and the rest of the school) have been doing so for years and years.

What is it about Mt. Mary that’s so special? All of it! Like every other school, it has its own DNA. It’s a relatively small school, compared to many others. It’s housed in a venue that is magical for so many reasons. The acreage upon which it is located is a study in serenity, which is a good thing for a retreat. The grounds are vast and tree-filled. Many returnees talk about seeing deer early in the mornings on their walks. There are ginkgo trees amidst every type of evergreen you can imagine. And the fall colours are gorgeous, despite the overcast weather. As someone said, the brilliant foliage out every window finds whatever light there is and shines it back on you.

When you enter the buildings, the tranquil feeling continues. As soon as I walked through the front doors of the main building, I had an olfactory memory of the place from the last time I was there. It seems to be a combination of wax and warmth, and like an old song, I felt instantly at home.

There were five classes this year, each in a room that reminds you of your childhood school days, complete with wooden desks and old fashioned windows. The rooms are all bright and cheery and soon were hives of hooker activity.

The meals are all homemade. Good basic stick-to-your-ribs fare, with delicious desserts. With breakfast, lunch and dinner and two snacks served, you really feel as if have eaten your way through the weekend.

The smallness of the school encourages mingling. You can visit other classrooms to see what they are up to. And over weekend, you can talk to nearly everyone in attendance. The camaraderie within the classrooms spills over into the corridors, the common spaces and at night in the Villa and Manor where everyone sleeps.

Although utilitarian, the rooms have a certain charm. The open-door policy encourages visiting from room to room. And the common area in the Villa is the perfect spot for getting together in the evening.

This year, Jennifer Curran the school Administrator, had a couple of “extras” that made the weekend even more special. A gentle stretch yoga class on the Friday night was the perfect way to work out the kinks of the day. And the unusual offerings at the Prohibition-themed party on Saturday night will undoubtedly live on in the stories of the school for years to come.

The standard attractions of every good hooking school are there in abundance. Lots of vendors selling patterns, wool and books. A great silent auction that allows everyone to part with some items so that they can acquire more. And a Sunday morning Show and Tell that demonstrates how amazing each class was and how much you can get done in a Thursday-night-to-Sunday-morning time frame.

Another little extra is the fantastic yarn store located directly across the street from the retreat – The Needle Emporium - where knitters and hookers alike can discover exquisite yarns to add texture and flair to their next projects.

As a teacher who now has a few more stints under her belt, I can highly recommend this school to hookers of all ages and stages. It’s intimate. There’s lots of opportunity to learn and share and enjoy the company of others for those glorious three days.

If the OHCG School is sometimes forgotten in the roster of places to go, let this be a reminder of all the wonderful reasons to reconsider the reasons why there’s something about Mt. Mary to charm each and every one of you.

I’ll post again tomorrow or later in the week about my own class, so you can see their projects and find out more about how very special they were. Stay tuned…

Wendie and the midnight veggies.

Well, not quite midnight. But I did stay up a bit late to finish the last pepper, beet and potato and their backgrounds. I was so close, I just couldn't resist staying up till the last loop of grey background was pulled. Don't we all back ourselves into those corners once in a while.

I am amazed that I actually finished all the hooking (except for finishing the black line around the outside), since I had a deadline of the end of October in my head for this rug, which I wasn't sure I'd make. I have a lot of other stuff on my plate - including a weekend OHCG school this coming weekend - and the prep work has been biting into my evenings. However, give this gal a deadline and I will usually come through!

This is the largest project I have done in all yarn, and I hope it meets the challenge of being easy to clean, since it is going in front of the sink at the cottage. It's nice to be able to strike this off the UFO list. Such a feeling of accomplishment when that happens.

Ironically, I will be having a mini lesson in punch needle this weekend and will probably find out that I could have done this rug in a fraction of the time had I punched it. That's o.k., I'll be doing a companion piece for the door to the porch, so will have an opportunity to practice on it.

Not sure it will be veggies (midnight or otherwise), but I will use the same colours to tie everything together.

It's all about the food.

Another Thanksgiving come and gone - at least for us here in Canada.

While everyone else was heading out of town, we actually stayed put this weekend. Rick's mom came on Saturday morning to spend the weekend. And his sister joined the kids, Rick, myself and Gram on Sunday for the feast. It never ceases to amaze me how much time and effort goes into the preparation of Thanksgiving dinner and in a matter of hours (or less if you happen to eat at the speed of the Davises) it's all over - except the leftovers.

Our bird was delicious and I tried a new Gingerbread Pear Cobbler recipe that I found in the paper last week. Many thanks to Bonnie Stern - it was delicious. And there is still some left for dessert tonite, along with a little apple and pumpkin pie. The turkey is pretty much gone thanks to a shepherd's pie last nite, and a goodie bag for lunch today.

Even when I wasn't preparing food this weekend, I was hooking it. My veggie rug is progressing nicely. I did my first sliced tomato yesterday and so now one of every type of veggie in the border has been hooked. The rest will just be pulling loops - 10 veggies left to go.

I was hoping to have this mat finished by the end of the month, but too many things have gotten in the way. With a new course of teaching just begun, there were beginner kits to put together and 8 mini kits for this week's class. Since Elaine is in Nova Scotia with Deanne Fitzpatrick (or wending her way as we speak) I will be on my own with the 8 students on Thursday, so I decided to do a "fun" lesson and let them play with yarns and suede and t-shirts and felted sweaters and polar fleece and panty hose and whatever else I come up with before class.

I could get used to have an extra day every weekend. I would put it to good use every week, I'm sure. But I wouldn't want to see that much food every time. In fact, I think I'm good till Christmas. The only veggies I want to see till then are the hooked kind.