Welcome Home Blue

The long wait is over.  On Tuesday, Carl and I drove to Seneca, Nebraska to the home of Jean Miller to pick up our new puppy.  This is him pictured at age 7 weeks.  He was just a few days older when he left for home with us.  We were thrilled to visit Jean and her husband Mike at Solo Standards.  We enjoyed the 6 hour drive and saw some landscapes that were gorgeous, even in the middle of winter.  We met the entire litter and the mom and dad and Jean's other beautiful dogs.

I will admit that the first introduction did not go so well.  While his litter mates raced to greet us, Blue took one look at me and turned his face away, like "maybe if I look this way, she won't see me'.  He had been to the vet for shots the day before and had a bath and a clip that very morning.  I think he sensed that more escapades were in his future.  I think Jean felt bad that Blue, VERY OBVIOUSLY dissed me, but I assured her that I am an acquired taste and I was sure he would come around.  Well, the 6 hour ride home was all that it took.  He now thinks I am the bomb!  The vending machine of life and source of all his outings and fun.  The two old girls Torrey and Biscuit worried me at first, they very obviously did not want another fur ball around, but Mr. Charisma is wheedling his way into their space too.  I won't say he has won them over completely, but he is not very afraid of them for sure.  Biscuit growled a warning to him this morning NOT to come onto her bed, so instead he jumped right on top of HER.  She constantly looks at me like "Is he staying???", but I would guess she is starting to be as amused by his antics as we are.

All the books say you should give the pup a few days to settle in, but we had lots to do…..so Blue settled in by greeting the customers in the store for 3 days, sleeping in on a workshop we had here on Saturday and today he went for his first voice lesson.  He slept thru that and didn't mind the piano at all.
Such a good guy he is!!!  Very laid back until about 8pm, when he turns in to a complete raging monkey tearing around the kitchen, rearranging the dog beds and hassling the old ladies.  Then, he collapses and is ready for bed.  All right, I am going to admit it, right up front.  I let him sleep with us from the first night.  He wakes me up when he wants to go outside and everyone is sleeping soundly.  I suppose I failed the Cesar Milan school of dog training for that, but one of the authors of a poodle book I read said "If you are not going to let your poodle sleep with you……why bother owning one?"  I may question this decision when he is a 90lb dog like his gorgeous dad Reuben,  but for now,we all fit fine.
I will have more pictures of Blue and the ladies at the FACE class taught by Pat Shafer on Saturday, tomorrow.

It was a wonderful class.  Pat is a terrific teacher and we all learned lots about the techniques to hook faces, which are always a challenge.  We have another class on January 25, if any of you would like to join us!  It was well worth the $75 class fee.  Thanks Pat!

Next is a picture of the rug I am working on for daughter Leah.  This, of course, is Mij the Wonder Dog, captured in wool.  Leah picked out the colors for the flowers.  We added a squirrel, cause Mij loves a squirrel.  I will show more pictures in the week to come.

I better run for now.  We had auditions for Fiddler last Sunday night.  We have a great cast, including 2 of our favorite rug hookers, Pat Shafer and Colleen Cochrane.  Pat's husband Steve is our sound man…..couldn't do without him.  We have practice tonight and I have to make a run to PetSmart for 'you know who'.

Talk soon,
Janice

Happy New Year

 I waited til after midnight to post this, so it would be officially 2014. Happy New Year to you all.  Here is hoping you all have a healthy and prosperous new year.

I thought I would start the new year out with some pictures of a great rug done by Larry Walton.  Larry is the dad of Cammie Bruce.  Cammie taught him well, he is a very fine rug hooker.

This is a rug Larry started in an heirloom rug class I taught last fall.  I was telling the class about some of the antique rugs we saw at Sauder Village last August.  I remarked how some of the reds and blues were amazingly vivid on 100-150 year old rugs.

Larry decided he would like to use those kinds of blues for the background of his rug.  We decided on very neutral colors for the animals, all creams, tans and browns.  Then the background became the fun!  We selected 5 or so different blues and Larry hooked them in this 'banded sky' technique.
That is one of the 15 different techniques the class learns to make a rug look like an antique or vintage style rug.

As you can see in the bottom photo, the blues are clear and bright and interesting, but still have the look of an old rug.  Larry did a great job on this one.  I can't think of a better way to start out the new year than to show his wonderful project!

Happy New Year to All,

Janice

KLIMT DONE!!!

Ah, rug hooking…..yes, I remember that is what this blog is supposed to be about.  Not puppies, not horses, not theatre….RUG HOOKING!  And tonight, it is.  Here are some not very good photos of my latest project.  It is a KLIMT rug that I started in a Pris Buttler class at the Nebraska City RETREAT.  The photos are a little blurry, but they are the best I have for tonight's blogging.

The purpose of this hooking project was to get me out of my normal 'box'.  I love muted colors, grey tones and a primitive palette.  I also like working in black and white.  Pris suggested that I might be stuck in a rut!!!!!  She suggested I use some brighter colors in a project to test myself a little and this was the result.  Pris threw out a few pieces of wool, a couple of greens, the blue and purple, an orange and magenta and said "Deal with it!"  Well, to be honest, she suggested I pick an area and try putting some of the colors together to get the feel for the project.  She was kind, as always.  She was encouraging, she was, well, Pris.  I whined a little with every loop for the first couple of hours.  Then I hit my stride and feel like I have been dealing with bright colors all along.  I even drew in the horse on the lady's left side.  It was not in the original project.

This is what I learned from this project…..all from Pris' words of wisdom.  Your eye still needs a soft place to land, so the grayish color that looks like the marble horse and is in various places thru out the rug, serves that need.  The soft burgundy color to the left of the lady's hair is also a soft place to land, as is the pinky tan tone of her flesh that is also used thru out the rug.  The balancing act,
using these colors, as well as the black, in  a variety

of places, makes the wild color easier to accept, at
least to someone with my palette preferences.  At the end, I even added in some neon colors, there is a pink, green, and orange all high chroma colors, that I used in very small portions.  They worked….but just in very small amounts.

To the right of the lady is a plant with leaves, that I am very tickled with.  Since I finished this up at Christmas time, it gave me one of those secret pleasures to make the plant look like a string of Christmas lights.  We rug hookers have these moments, don't we.  Just a little somethin' something' that is our little private joke.  I put these little things in many of my rugs.  Ah, simple mind, simple pleasures.

That is all for now.  I am going to start a new project this week and I think it will have a nice big black horse in it.  I need to regain my rug hooking equilibrium.  But I must admit, I enjoyed this rug.  Thank you Pris for gently nudging me in this direction.  It was a good experience and I learned a lot from it.

It is almost time to wish you Happy New Year, dear blogger friends.  I think I will wait, I may have another blog up my sleeve before the New Year.

Don't forget, first Saturday hooking is this Saturday, the 4th.  We will also be hooking on Friday afternoon as always.  Join us, it will be a fun time.

Janice

Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas blog followers.  I am sorry that I have not been blogging in the last week or so, but you know how busy this time of year can get.

Leah's theatre group, Theatre Arts for Kids, in Lincoln, NE performed ANNIE last weekend.
You can see Mij pictured with 3 orphans in the top photo.  I am proud to say that Mij has really embraced the acting experience.  She used to be a little nervous about the lights and crowd.  This time, she sauntered out on stage, gave it a stretch like she had been taking a little nap, glanced at the audience, and sauntered off.
She was perfect and her human Nana could not have been more proud.

Speaking of proud, we had our youth choir 20 year Christmas concert reunion on Sunday night.  Former members of The Waterloo Youth Choir joined my current voice students, and invited summer theatre kids to perform this Christmas concert.  There were 5 rehearsal opportunities, but they were only required to make it to 2 rehearsals.

Sunday afternoon we all met for 2 hours before the concert.  It was the first time all the performers had been in the room at the same time.  This stellar group of 33 wonderful singers pulled it off without a hitch, including 2 chime choir pieces.  I directed with tears in my eyes for much of the concert, especially when they sang the song I wrote for them 20 years ago
"As Long As Children Sing".  I noticed there were some teary eyed singers as well.  We did this to honor the memory of my long time friend and choir assistant, Mary Jo Harlow.  Mary Jo passed away this summer.  This was the first time since it's beginning in 1992 that Mary Jo was not present for a concert.   Actually, I am fairly certain she made it for the show.

Finally, what would a blog be without a report on the Poodle puppster.  He is 5 and a 1/2 weeks old now and gets to come home with me in 2 short weeks.  I have toys and crates and blankets and collars and leashes and books galore, all preparing me for his arrival.  He is the guy on the left with the green collar.  His sister is on the right.  She is going to stay for potential breeding purposes.  The big news is, Jean Miller, owner of Solo Standards has assured me these little guys are not going to turn silver as previously expected.  She think Tundra (my little guy) will eventually turn blue, sort of a steely grey color.  That will be perfect, since I intended to name him 'Blue'.  If he stays black, I will have to have a back-up plan for his name.  I read online, that a blue poodle will have slight brown overcasting on his coat until he changes to blue.  You will also be able to tell on the face when you clip them at 8-10 weeks, if their clipped hair color is lighter than their body color.  If so……blue it is.
We will have to wait to see.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Everyone,
Janice

Mij is Stylin'

Our Christmas Open House was great fun.  We had a terrific turn out and a really enjoyable day.  Thanks to all who attended and to Carl who made us lunch.  Congratulations to Karen Flatley, the winner of the $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE.

Here is a news flash for you.  I just got word from Beeline that their cutter and blade prices are going up as of January 10th.  If you need a Beeline cutter or blades in different sizes, now is the time to buy.  I have a long arm cutter in stock at the old price and long arm blades of all sizes.  Contact me for availability if you have been considering the purchase of a cutter or blade (cartridge) before the price hike.

And AHHHHHH…….Mij is modeling her new outer wear.  Of course she is pretty in her pink princess sweater, a natural for a dog named Her Mijesty.  I think the striped hoodie is just right for a more casual look that will keep the chill away on those brisk winter walks.

Leah contends Mij likes her jackets and sweaters, but who is surprised, the little cow dog turned fashionista never fails to amaze.  You go girl, you are lookin' two snap.   (I fear that was a terribly out-dated attempt at 'cool' jargon)

I wish to apologize for fewer blogs of late.  My computer connection has been disturbed and it has not been reaching the house since we messed with the phone connection during the addition construction.  But….it is working tonight, so HOORAY!  I may be back to my regular blogging schedule.

Good night to all.

Janice

Addition Full for Open House

As you can see, my painting is done, the fire marshal has been here and the addition is FULL for the CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE tomorrow.  We will be hooking from 10-5 and are all welcome to join us.  Carl will make us lunch and a good time will be had by all.  Make a purchase tomorrow and put your name in the drawing for a $50 gift certificate!

There is so much new in the store it is hard to  describe it all.  There is a beautiful 8ft solid walnut harvest table, a 1860 museum quality mammy bench, complete with original black paint and gold stenciling.  There are wonderful store boxes with great labels for biscuits, spices etc.  There is an adorable possum belly kitchen cabinet and a doll size kitchen table and chest of drawers. All so cute!

Over 100 patterns have been marked down 20%, an unheard of event here at the store, but all part of our grand opening for the addition.  If you get to come visit the store, PLEASE admire my newly painted floor thru out the store.  It took me all week, moving a section of furniture, painting the floor, moving it back and on to another section. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. I don't intend to repaint it in my lifetime, so please enjoy and admire it NOW!

Oooooh, and my blog would not be complete without mention of the little poodle puppster that is now 3 weeks old.  I get to pick him up in just 4 more weeks and I can't wait.   The 5 pups in the litter have opened their eyes and are exploring their world.  They are all adorable, but I think mine might be just the most handsome and intelligent of them all.  I won't know his name for sure, until I see him.  But, because he is probably going to be a blue/black or silver Standard Poodle, I am thinking of Blue or Remington Blue.  If I name him Remington I could call him Remi.  Carl suggested Charlie, Donna Hrkman likes Smokey.  I am open to suggestions if any of you are inspired with a name for this little adorableness.

All for now,

Janice

Christmas Open House

Christmas OPEN HOUSE will be next Saturday, December 7 from 10-5.   We will have open hooking all day, Carl will make us all lunch!  Bring a treat to share if you wish.  The new addition is finished and will be loaded with antiques, wool and patterns for browsing. I selected over 100 patterns to put on a CHRISTMAS SPECIAL at 20% OFF.  Patterns from Sharon Smith, M. Shaw and many others are on this fun bargain rack.  Visit or call if you are looking for a special pattern.

Join our regular group for a great day of hooking.
We have plenty of room for all with the new addition.

 As you can see from the pictures, it is a good sized space.  I have begun moving the antiques into it, but have to leave outlets uncovered for the fire marshal to inspect on Thursday.  Then I will be able to fill it up and decorate it for Saturday!

As added incentive….on Saturday….make a purchase and be put in a drawing for a $50 Gift Certificate to the store.  Need not be present to win, just make any size purchase at some point of the day.  Your name will automatically go into the drawing.

If Sandy wins again, we will declare her the "Luckiest Woman Alive" or perhaps she has secret powers she is using.  Some form of hypnotic gaze.  Hmmmm….I will be keeping my eye on her this time.

Hope to see you all on Saturday, Dec. 7, 10-5.

Till then,

Janice