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August on Prince Edward Island – the view from here at Pastimes PEI….

7 Aug

July and August bring out the best of PEI. The weather usually cooperates with all the events that take place outside but when it doesn’t, there is always a kitchen to sit in or a hall that is hosting a ceilidh, just a kitchen party with a few extras. Today Jack and I are home alone. I put out my new sign “OPEN” because Jack thinks it’s nice but not nice enough to pose with. He thinks it looks better from a distance. I’ll show it to you.. and Jack looking at it from a distance… we sit on the doorstep to contemplate life in general. And look at the gardens around us that include alot of Barry’s machinery, like the old plow down at he gate. Brenda Watts of Cattails and Brenda Watts Woodworking http://www.brendawattswoodwork.com/ made my ‘open’ sign to replace the tacky one we had. She does lovely woodworking and has a lot of really cool painted vintage-inspired signs to go with her acorns, cutting boards, rolling pins and and all manner of natural wooden products that she turns out in her shop.
Down here we have lots of birds to keep an eye on. Weare hoping formore ducklings before too long as only one baby survived this spring of the two that hatched alive.

Our Arts and Heritage sign finally has some lilies around it. Most of them are from http://www.redlanegardens.com/ just a few miles from here.

here’s Jack looking over his kingdom this morning.

And the window box that is finally getting some PEI sunshine.

These roosters are brothers that hatched last summer. Lets just say that they rool the roost even tho Jack thinks he does. have a great day, everyone.

Pastimes PEI rughooking wools -greens – Jack’s Picks

12 Jul



Jack’s Picks – greens



what would lupins be without green behind them?

It would be safe to say that today Jack and I could have picked any color of the rainbow in the wools in the shop today but we chose greens. that’s because Heather has just finished a pretty little sampler that could hang on the wall or be the front of a cushion. So it’s greens for today. Greens set the mood of your hooking… bright for a springy feeling or more to the orangy side for the fall. I’ve set out some to show you with the hooked piece in the background. It contains lots and lots of greens so don’t be afraid to dig out your scrap bag to invent your own kind of landscape…..or leaves or whatever needs to be green….As for the lupins I found down the road, what would blues and purples be with a gorgeous green background? Pretty dull. Colors need each other….. You’ll find lots of wools in our shop today as I have been filling up the ‘hit and miss’ baskets and all the other baskets of small treasures for rug hookers. We have restocked – I mean, Heather has hand drawn lots of our most popular summer patterns. We have photo cards of our hooked work here too. Cheers, Shirlee and Jack

Pastimes PEI Crow Pattern Beautifully Hooked

10 Jul
Easy to see creative genus…here.. Laverne
Laverne’s on the left has been embellished beautifully…

Many times we see delightful versions of our patterns as hookers use their own creative minds to make over a simple pattern of ours into a piece their own. It’s easy to do with a hooking project because there is no right or wrong way to hook a project. Today was delight for me to see how she had done. Laverne’s version of our crow had a spider trapsing down her web in the moonlight. She recreated her own version as you can see with beautiful blues of all shades for whimsical bird. That’s what makes rug hooking such a fun way to express yourself. A hook, some rags, frame and backing is all it takes. No need to buy expensive equipment until you find it’s for you. We have created many simple patterns – in fact, that’s all we do create, so that everyone can hook successfully with a little patience and a whole lot of pleasure.

Today our rag bins are overflowing as I ‘made’ packages of bits and pieces that you can purchase for a ‘song’. Nothing goes to waste here. Lots of patterns, dyed wool, wool yarns from PEI and New Brunswick, too.

My Hummingbirds are Really Big

16 Jun
not you average hummer…

not your average baby…

Sweet Rocket in the back yard…

Our pets are not always like anyone else’s. The duck has two ducklings and one white chicken; the hummingbird feeder attracted some yellow birds this am. The dog is allowing mice in the porch but after they are in the trap dead, he goes after them. He’s supposed to be a terrier, a Jack Russell. I thought we would never see mice again but no, we still have to get out the old traps and do the job ourselves while Jack helps. He helps herd the ducks. In the wrong direction. He eats Gunter’s food from the cat dish even if I trick him and put his own food in there.

not your usual rooster, I guess…

I hooked this rooster in the winter and used a grey tweed wool yarn from MacAusland’s Woollen Mills on PEI for the background. The other wool is cut strips.

That Bald Eagle Gives Me the Jitters

9 Jun



have to keep myself alert for
sudden attacks from birds overhead….


Today is the day that this guys gets out of Jack’s hair and goes to the finishing stage….final touches, steaming, finishing edges, and pocket for rod to hang.

see you at the Hillsboroufg Eagle Festival on the weekend.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hillsborough-River-Eagle-Festival/126380804042251?sk=wall#!/topic.php?uid=126380804042251&topic=379

Have joined the Link up Party at Funky Junk..visit to see the wonderful creations or to show everyone your own project…click on the link below


Hand-hooked eagle to fly on the weekend on PEI..

7 Jun



boring….wool…



She should be flying over Mount Stewart by Friday for the weekend of the Hillsborough Eagle Festival. I’ve decided that I should tell you how things are going and what I’m actually doing to bore Jack so much. I have hand-dyed the blue sky…
I have cut the wool into strips with the strip cutter and keep the strips in order so that I can hook them consecutively…looks easy but it’s a little hard on the brain….every long strip in order, so that the mottled dye job will represent the colors in the blue sky.
keeping track is worth the trouble…you’ll see…
Then you can get the full effect in the sky; but you have to look closely at the real thing. For some unknown reason the lighter spots on the wool hooked in around the bird…if I tried to do it, it probably would not work like that. Looks like I planned it that way; did you know that rug-hooking is like everything else in life: sometimes you win and sometimes you lose but always plug away anyway. I won this round so far but…I will not show you the finished ground in the piece until tomorrow….or until it works as well as the sky did….



she’s flying over Mount Stewart PEI….



Now here is the latest version of her, flying happily over Mount Stewart – the river is in the shape of an S according to Rosemary Curley who sent me a Google map of the area…something mostly seen only by eagles  and other fliers.

Dogs and Eagles and Babies and Flowers

4 Jun

I never get anything done around here. Too many projects and not enough time for them all. so I do what I feel like doing and works for me. Housework is not on my radar, not even close so when you visit, you’ll notice but I have good intentions, just not great intentions to waste my time slaving over dust.




I don’t know why she plants more flowers…

 


I can hook but she won’t let me…





Dar..n baby; they think she’s cute and cuddly…

 


And Barry is no Better…old things…



And the birds are just plain weird around here…

These pics tell you why…. i never get anything done in the line of a day….

Forget Me Not………….

23 May
Jack Running through the Forget Me Nots

Yesterday Jack and I borrowed some of the neighbor’s rhubarb again and stole a few pictures of their hug patch of Forget-Me-Nots. Ours are not out yet and we tilled most of them rather than deal with the weeds in the front garden. Anyway, Jack made sure the house was safe and soundas they were away for the week.

On the rughooking side of things, I am creating an eagle for the Mt. Stewart Eagle Festival in June. love starting a new project….jack tho is not always happy as I get focused on something other than him.

This is spring on PEI

18 May

Jack was the look-out as I picked Wendell’s rhubarb yesterday……





While I took rhubarb..

 Poor doggie today…Jack can’t decide whether he’s going or coming ’cause I have the door open…..first spring he’s been here …..actually he’s going out one door and in another, most times with a stick or shell(from my seashore stash),,,checking to see me and off again…I feel the same way……

Proud Mommy Duck

17 May



you ‘re a nice mommy

 The chick has survived another Jack-attack and is soooo sweet. (I have survived a day with new Windows 7). While her own precious eggs  are yet to hatch, she has hatched out the little chick.

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