Sunday, October 31, 2010



CATCHING UP -

Several years ago I made it a point to give my daughter and my grand children rugs for Christmas. I did this for a number of Christmas's since they expressed a great interest in the rugs. None of them wanted to learn how to hook, they just wanted the finished project. Since I have a small house I can only display a few rugs at a time. I do rotate the rugs so that I get to see them all and to give the rooms a different look from time to time. Both Richard and Joan brought several of their rugs back to me a few weeks ago and asked that I put the tabs on them for hanging. This gave me the opportunity to take some pictures.

I call this rug "Gone Courting."
The design was adapted from an antique cigarette advertising
card. My husband enlarged the design and I converted
it into a three by five rug. I a sorry there is no overall
picture of the rug but I have altrophobia and cannot
even stand to go up one step of a step ladder!

This is a closeup of the "Tom" that is courting.
He looks like a nice fellow to me - don't know why
the girls don't seem to like him.
This rug is titled "The Mischevous Cat" and was
designed by Quail Hill Rugs.
He certainly has been busy messing things up.
He spilled the coffee and unrolled the yarn.
Such a busy boy!
On Wednesday, last week, I had my flue's cleaned so that I can now use my woodstoves. I have had the same company come for the last few years and their service is excellent. The young men that come are very polite, and so efficient! They are very careful of my house and I honestly believe that the living room and den are cleaner when they leave than when they arrived.

This is the vacuum cleaner that they use to clean
the chimney


The woodstove is out of the fire place and
the cleaning is started. When the stove was removed
the stink bugs were in the chimney, and there were a lot that invaded
the living room! The technician told me
that they had had that problem with
every chimney they had cleaned that day.

Masked and gloved, starting to clean the flue.
This vacumn that they use is a very powerful machine
and really does the job in a hurry.

This is a safety precaution that I take every year. If you have a wood stove I suggest that you not only have your chimney's cleaned but that you also have your dryer outside vent cleaned. More than one house has burned down because of a fire in the vent. I think it is something that most of us tend to overlook because we clean the inside vent with every load and we forget about the outside vent.
On Friday I went to a delightful social hook-in. This group of ladies and one gentleman are not affiliated with any organization. They try to get together once a month and just hook, chat and have a meal together. Good friends having a good time. The hostess always makes the main dish and everyone brings something to add to the table. The host and hostess this month were Jack and Sandy. Sandy made a delicious ham and potato soup, and in addition, there was homemade apple sauce, two types of pumpkin bread, scones, dips, spinich salad, cookies, and I am sure I have skipped some things. What a bountiful table! Sorry I forgot to take my camera because some lovely rugs were being worked on and several knitting projects were in progress.
Last week was busy. I am looking forward to a slower pace this week with time to work on my current rug. I am also in the process of color planning the rug that I will work on in the Cynthia Norwood workshop in early November. More on this later.
Hope all of you have a happy spooky halloween!
Doris
































6 comments:

Julia said...

Doris, thanks for posting some of your earlier rugs. I agree with you, that Tom cat looks pretty special with his blue bow, I cant see why the girl cats are not interested. The rugs are so clean and still look like new. You are very wise to have your chimney professionally cleaned every year.
I'm terrified of chimney fires especially on really windy days. I had mine done last year and really should have the guys check it out again. We had a lot of wet wood last year which didn't help. Thanks for the reminder. JB

Happy Halloween, BOO!

acorn hollow said...

your rugs are lovely and how nice family likes them. do you burn pellets? We burn wood and I have never seen the chimney cleaned with a vacuum. Of course we have a large 3 story new England Saltbox so that may be the difference.
Cathy

weaverpat said...

Hi Doris,
Thanks for the pictures of your rugs! Love those kitties! You keep amazing me with all the rugs you have finished over the years.
We've been using our woodstove these past few weeks. I'm glad yours is now ready for action. Since our chimneys are big enough for a Santa to descend, we don't worry a lot about them getting blocked. We do clean the swift nests out of the bottom part where the pipe connects each year. For some reason this past year there were very few swifts. Don't know why. No bats either.

Rugs and Pugs said...

Doris ~
You are such a talented lady. I'm glad your kids appreciate your rugs. I'm not sure my boys ever will...lol!
Oh, the heat of the wood stove will feel wonderful.
How lucky to take a Cynthia Norwood workshop!!!
Hugs and Happy Halloween :)
Lauren

Linda Keller said...

What is an est-in? I am always interest in learning new words or slang but this is not in the dictionary and everyone I've talked to never heard of this? Thanks, Linda

Doris said...

Sorry Linda - typo - should read "eat-in"