HAPPY THANKSGIVING

FROM MY MOM AND ME

My tummy is so full!

With love from:
Doris and Eloise

IT'S TIME . . . . .

TO START HOOKING CLASSES

It seems to me that I have spent

a good portion of the summer getting ready

to teach this fall.

The hooking and wool room has been

re-organized and cleaned.  I have been going

thru many reference books looking

for interesting things to share with my

students.

I found this poem that I want to

share with you.

DAD'S OLD BREECHES

When dad has worn his trousers out

They pass to brother John.

Then mother trims them round about

and William put them on.

When William's legs to long have grown

The trouser's fail to hide 'em'

So Walter claims them for his own,

and stows himself inside 'em.

Next Sam's fat legs they close invest,

And they won't stretch tighter.

They're turned and shortened, washed and pressed,

And fixed on me . . .  the writer.

Ma works them into rugs and caps,

When I have burst the stitches.

At doomsday we shall see (perhaps).

The last of Dad's old breeches.

Anon.

Hope all of you are ready for the fall season with it's glorious colors and delightful weather.

Keep those hooks moving!

Doris

IT'S OVER

SUMMER

Where did it go?

I think it sped by when I wasn't looking

There are some wonderful and some not so wonderful 

things about living in Maryland.

The wonderful thing is what happens here

in the summer time.

 Vine ripe tomatoes.  Sweet as sugar.

Then there are the ones we pick before they are

ripe.  Those tasty green tomatoes.

Breaded and fried in bacon grease.

some smoother them in cream gravy,

not me!  Just bring on the tomatoes.

The next to arrive on the scene is our

juicy white and yellow corn.

No sugar added to these ears - they are

already sweet as sugar and

deep enough to really sink your teeth in.

 Then around Memorial Day the piece that 

no one can resist!  Those beautiful blue crabs come

onto the scene.

What great treasures the Chesapeake Bay

offers to us!!

What does one do on a rainy Sunday

in the summer?  They go to Gilligan's

on Pope Creek in Southern Maryland, of course.

 It was raining cats and dogs several Sunday's

ago when our whole family went for a crab

feast.

 This has become the family's choice

of a place to celebrate any occasion that summer

brings to us.

We were celebrating granddaughter Vicki's

and husband Curtis' anniversary.

 Here are some things you should know about Gilligan's.

It is approximately a 2 hour drive around the Washington Beltway and down Route 5 into Southern Maryland.

In addition to crabs, they have the best spiced shrimp that

I have ever eaten.

The drive is very scenic and it is an

"all you can eat" menu.

These handsome crabs came home with me.

My hands are still sore from picking them.

However it sure was worth it.  I made 14 Crab cakes

and have them stashed in the freezer.

Ah, Blue crab in the winter.

The say children do not come with an

instruction manual.  However, it is my belief

that every child born in Maryland  comes with

instructions on how to pick crabs and a

road map to Gilligans.

Hope every one has had as great a summer as I have had.

I'm sure Eloise will be reporting on her summer

as soon as the computer is free.

Quote of the day:

Beautiful young people are an accident of nature, Beautiful old people are a work of art.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Until next time, take care.

Doris

IT'S A BEAUTY!

Night Blooming Cereus

Several years ago, my friend Pat W., gifted

me with a Night Blooming Cereus Plant.  She

assured me that it would be

BEAUTIFUL - REALLY??

The first year. after starting a new plant,

it does'nt bloom.  Many plants are this way,

so I did not expect it to bloom.

Knowing nothing about this plant, I did

not know what to look for the second year.

Therefore, I missed the
whole show."  I have had the plant down in the

family room near the sliding doors so that it

could get light without direct sun.  When I finally

went into the family room the dead flowers

were on the floor beside the plant.  It

had had two blooms.

 This is one of the ugliest plants I have ever seen.

It is a distant cousin of cactus.

It needs very little water and care during

the winter months but needs a bit

more to drink during the summer months.

 This is how the bud looks when it is

about a week into its growth.  It starts out as a tiny

"pine cone" shape on the edge of the leaf.

The leaves are quite large and rubbery.

 I consider myself lucky for this year there

were 4 blooms.  As you can see these two

are starting to open.  The process of opening began

about 9pm and the last one didn't open until

about 11:30pm.

1. 

 Here are the  two beauties on the

upper level of the plant.

 The aroma filled the whole house!

Just lovely.

 Just look at this beauty!  These blooms are

very large and heavy.

 This is the beginning of the end!  By

about 9am they were gone.  So much beauty

in such a short time.

These are the blooms on the lower tier.

I have to say that I was so thrilled that this plant

bloomed because I thought it would not and

had really neglected it.  It sure was worth

waiting for.  I have taken some cuttings and some

leaves and will try to root them.

A TRUE THING OF BEAUTY IN THIS

NOT SO BEAUTIFUL WORLD.

In the meantime I have been in the dye pots.

They are like the Siren's call of old, to the sailors. 

I cannot stay away from them.

My friend Traci and I are working together

to "redo" my hooking and wool room.

Until today I did not know how much wool I

had - we carried in the storage containers

from the garage - geesh!!!

A bonanza of goodies.

Quote of the day:

I could not at any age be content to take my place in a corner by the fireside and simply look on.

Eleanor Roosevelt.

I could not just look on either.

Until next time keep a smile and hook on!

Doris and Eloise

OFF THE HOOK

Yes. these pieces are "off the hook."

Hooking is finished, they are bound

and labeled.

This first rug was hooked by

Lorie S.  Lorie is very proud of her

rug, as she should be.

Prior to hooking this rug her hooking

experience had just involved two small pieces.

This piece was designed by

Becky Mummert.

Becky also does beautiful Redware Pottery.

 This picture shows the beautiful background.

 Lorie used 5 or 6 different shades

of blue and green in her background.

 Since this piece was done with a number 6

cut we thought it best to make the

face as simple as possible.

It turned out to be very effective.

A job well done by a 

learning hooker. 

 This is a small piece done by Margie.

Margie is new to hooking - this is her first

piece.  She bought this in kit form

and started it with very little instruction.

I am very proud of the job she did on

this piece.  The backing in the kit

was a material I had never seen before and

hope to never see again!

It was so tightly woven that you could not see any holes - 

it was a "guess and begolly" as where the

hook should be places.  To complicate

matters the wool was cut with a #6  blade.

All in all, a job well cone.

UPDATE

 Progress continues on my project.  This

pattern is Blue Basket, designed by

Edyth O'Neil.

The colors seem washed out in

these pictures and I don't know why.

This is the left hand side of the rug.

I am just starting to introduce a

variety of dull reds in the flowers,

coupled with some brown/golds.

Well folks, that's it for this update,

Next blog I will tell you about the "Dyeing Bug"

that has bitten me!

Quote of the day -

the only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Doris and Eloise

NOSTALGIA TIME

Yes, its that time of life when you

begin to look back at all of the happy moments 

and some of the not so happy times.

I have long wanted to do a "wall of pictures"

and finally I took the time to

look thru boxes of old pictures.

I decided that I would like to tell the story

of my family.  I was able to find pictures

of my Grandpa and Grandma on

my mother's side as well as so many other

nostalgic pictures that my cup

runneth over!

With the help of Grandson Richard

the wall has been started.  We are using the

walls on the stairway to the

family room.  I wanted the pictures to

be spread randomly as well as

being in all sorts of frames.  I really

like the effect.

This is where started and this wall

is almost full.  Just room for a few more

small things. 

 A slightly different view of the wall.

Center picture on the bottom row

is my birth certificate.

 This is the other side of staircase that

we have just begun to work on.

I have ten more pictures framed and

ready to put on the wall.

 This is my husband, Bob Aymar, at the

age of 19.  This is my favorite picture

of him.

 This is my Dad at age 19.  He had many brothers and

and sisters and always wore "hand-me-downs.  Here

he is modeling his first new suit of clother ever!

 This is my brother Bobby, in his Army

uniform in WW11/  There are patches in

the frame but I am not sure of their

significance.  This photo came to me in a box

of his personal items after his death in

2005.

 This is my beautiful mother.  She was a

very special lady, therefore, a very special hand

embroidered frame.

My three lovely grandchildren.  All are now

in their 40's - WOW, where does the time

go?

 My brother in France, November 1945.

  One of the prettiest babies I have ever seen.

This is Kristen, just a few days old.

I have tried to give you a sampling of

what I have on the walls and of what

I have been up to.  I do wish that all of

you could stop by and see the walls

for yourself.  They really tell the story

of four generations of my family, of

which I am very proud.

In addition I have been in the dye pots and will be

doing more as the weather cools.

I also am working on Edyth O'Neals

Blue Basket Pattern.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful summer.

Keeping cool is a feat in the

weather we have been having.

Eloise wants to remind everyone to drink lots of

water in this sticky weather.  She also

says hello to all.

Quote of the day -

The only reason people get lost in thought is because its unfamiliar territory.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Doris and Eloise

SCHOOL'S OUT

Indeed school is out in Washington County.

No more school busses to wait for,

no more teacher's dirty looks!

However not all school's are out. 

 I still have two more classes to

teach before our summer adjournment

Thought you might like to know what we 

are doing in our classes.

To begin with, when all of my

students came to me, with the exception of

one) they all were hooking in a primitive

fashion., i.e. using wide cut strips.

Several have changed their minds about using

such a large cut and are now using

#3 and #4 cut.  Will they stick with it?

I don';t know, but at least they have opened their

minds to different types of hooking

 This is Cathy hard at work on her pumpkin

rug.  This is a really cute design.

 This rug is also Cathy's.  Perfect design

for her new grandson's bedroom.

 Closeup of several of the panels.

This is Sunny (and she is "sunny" always smiling).

She is working on a very interest head of a

Tiger.  It is hard to tell just what is happening

in the piece from this picture, but take it

from me, her Tiger eyes are wonderful.

This is Elinor's hand working on a piece

that she started at the Biennial.  It is much further

along than this picture shows and

is a beauty.

 Here are Margie, Lorie and Elinor hard at 

work.

 This is the piece Lorie is working on.

It is a scene of a New England coast line.

This is her first pictorial and she is

doing a great job.  She has used a variety of

cuts in this piece.

 We occasionally have a combined class.

This is a closeup of Cathy's pumpkin rug.

Her black cat is a real cutie.

Just is just a smattering of the work that

has been accomplished this hooking year.

I am very proud of my students, they have accomplished

so much.  Sorry I couldn't show all of the pictures

that I wanted to, and that includes Margies first

piece.  A pair of sheep in the a meadow,

very nicely done for a first piece.

In the mean time, I needed a rest from 

so much fine hooking and I have finished

my Lion rug and started work on "The Blue Basket."

I have promised myself to get back to my

large pictorial when this rug is finished.

In the meantime, I am enjoying this wonderful

weather, warm days. cool nights.  The joy of living in Maryland

in the summer is eating Crabs and our wonderful

sweet corn.  I have indulging myself

in Crabs once a week.  Whoopee!!!!

Quote of the day:

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent,

Eleanor Roosevelt

Doris and Eloise 

THIS AND THAT - - - - -

On my last blog I promised to show more

pictures from the open house at Barb Carroll's.

When I sorted thru the pictures

thee were only this few that I thought you might like.

Sorry, I can't remember the name

of the young lady that was hooking this piece.

 This is a very large piece so it was

hung on the door to the classroom.

I wish this picture had been better - oh well,

it's what I have.

A closeup of her tail.  The scales were

perfectly hooked. 

 Wow!  What an upper body

 Catch that sexy face!

All in all, a great day at Barb Carroll's.

Hope you enjoyed the pics.

So many things have happened in the past few weeks

I could not figure out where to

start this blog - sooooooooooooooo

I decided to do the easy

thing and do a lot of catching up later.

 This lovely basket is hanging on my deck.

 A beautiful mixture of pink and purple

 Don't know the name of these

but the orange and purple are lovely together.

 My favorite flower along the fence

leading to Eloise's play yard.

T

The pretiest white Iris I have ever seen.

Not too shabby either!

The last few week have surely been busy.

It is so good to feel good again and be able to go

places.  More pictures and more things to

catch up next time.

Quote of the day:

The future belongs to those who believe in thier dreams

Eleanor Roosevelt

Let me remind you that tomorrow is the meeting

day of the Boonsboro ATHA Chapter.  Hope to see you there.

Doris