IT'S A GOOD THING THIS POST IS NOT A BILL

 Yes, it's a good thing this post is not a bill because it's long overdue.  I would have the collecting agency after me. lol... Sorry, this post is a little long and boring.

I never seem to find time or energy or the desire to post, lately. I've kept myself very busy this Fall.

Since my husband can no longer do the bookwork for his corporate company, I've had to step up to the plate with the help of our accountant. I'm all caught up with the first three quarters of 2023 and I'm learning every time we meet. I work at it at home and I take my work to his office and he checks my work when I have two months done. Of course, I learn from my mistakes and he's a patient teacher.

I haven't hooked much this Fall but I plan to remedy this as soon as I can.  I miss several rug hooking meetings because of catering to two funerals and attending another one in two weeks. Three were friends and the 4th was an acquaintance, but I could not attend his funeral.

On sunny days for four days, I hauled and corded wood from the farm in our carport, using my SUV. I put a big piece of plastic in the trunk and away I went in between the rain. My son came to help me when he realized what I was doing and then my husband did the rest while I was baking for a  church fundraiser.

  Last week I baked for three days for our Church Bazaar fundraiser and even made two batches of Strawberry, Rhubarb, Pineapple jam. I also sold some Magic Bags and more than three cases of pickles and was so tired but I landed a cushy job taking care of the money box for our lunch canteen. In all, we made $2500.50 in 4 hours of sales. Working the Bazaar was a lot of fun. I saw so many people I had not seen in a while.

I  also managed to finely mow my lawn. The grass was so long and it was slow going with my mulcher mower.

 I cleaned most of my weedy flowerbeds and now I only need to clean my 4 small raised veggie beds. It might not get done until spring as we are expecting some snow tomorrow. I couldn't bear to have to clean this up in the spring as I would never get caught up with cleaning and weeding.

I got so caught up with work that I even forgot about my husband's foot care appointment on the 16th and even forgot about our Heritage Rug Hooking Guild yearly auction meeting which I was looking forward to attending.

I was even forgetting about our regular Evening Matters rug meeting. At the last minute, I remembered and grabbed my frame and my rug hooking bag and went, even though I just wanted to stay home and rest. 

When I arrived the girls were all working on their wool feather trees as Beth was giving a workshop on making a feather tree. I had not signed up for it but somehow she thought that I did and had a kit all ready for me. I didn't have wool to work with so I started to work on the girl's tree next to me as she was showing me how to wrap the wool around the stems. 

One of the girls gave me a bunch of ready-cut wool from her pile and it just happened that the girl I was helping had donated all that wool. These ladies are all so generous. Then I started to work on my own tree. I'll show you a picture when I get it finished.

The two hours went so incredibly fast and I really enjoyed the evening. We all enjoyed the workshop. I foolishly thought that I would have time to work on it some more at home, but it didn't happen. Now,  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  These last two weeks have been crazy busy. 

Today I arrived at the Nissan car dealer to have my snow tires put on and to have the oil changed after waiting since the first week of October only to be told that they didn't have my name on the list of appointments.  I assured them that I had an appointment and that I even asked the girl what day was November 21st,  and she said Tuesday. They were very busy and he agreed to have my tire put on since they were on rims if I was willing to wait. My appointment was for 3:30 pm and I got home about 5:15pm. They are announcing snow for Wednesday.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American blogger friends.

I appreciate your comments. Stay safe and warm.

Hugs,

Julia

NYC EUCHARISTIC PROCESSION

While the whole world is going bonkers, and yes, even my own country, Canada, this is amazing and I had to share this with you.  What a contrast to all the violent demonstrations we have seen daily. 

We definitely need to love more instead of hate, I find this incredibly refreshing to see 4,000 people processing in the streets of New York City with Jesus, spreading the good news of Jesus's love.   

Hugs, 

Julia

HERITAGE RUG HOOKING GUILD HOSTS HOOK-IN IN CELEBRATION OF 40th ANNIVERSARY

If you want to have a day of laughter and fun,  just go to a hook-in. It was a blast, just like the last two I attended.  Each one has its own specialness about it.  I have more photos but these will suffice for today. I just wanted to show you a bit of the organization that goes to put on a hook-in. Of course, there is a lot of preplanning that goes on,  I thought that I better get my act together and post about our last hook-in. 

 Kimm already posted some photos on her blog and won the race, lol... I charged my phone and uploaded some photos.

So sorry, I didn't have time to crop the photos. For some reason, my first photo didn't upload onto my computer. It was the same one that Kimm showed on her blog. The two ladies at the registration table, one with a red hat.

 

Our theme color was red and the host members were asked to wear red if possible.

A big cake to celebrate 40 years of Heritage Rug Hooking Guild.  I'm a newbie as I just joined the guild last year but I already fit in nicely and feel welcomed.

Members were asked to donate items to fill baskets to raise money to defray the expenses of having a hook-in. Tickets were drawn in one-hour intervals. On the first draw, I was off three numbers, and on the second draw, I was off two numbers. 

Winners were allowed to choose the basket they wanted. Kimm won, one of the baskets that our group Evening Matter donated and she unselfishly donated it back, so that someone else had a chance at winning. Each basket had a nice bottle of wine and so many hooker-friendly items. 

Tables were set up to display items donated for a silent auction. A sheet of paper was provided to put your bids.

I took the photos at the very beginning so the sheets were not filled yet.

As you can see at the back, there was a  blue t-shirt that said, "I don't need therapy, I only need to hook rugs."I also saw a white one hanging in the window which I missed. 

Shades of grey wool

This divided basket was a hot item and went at a very high price.  There were already many bids on it when I took the picture.

Wool and wine seem to go together well.

My hat went for $30. I was given this hat last year by a friend as it was too small for her but never wore it.  After one year in the closet,  I decided it was time to donate it. It made someone very happy.

Lots of wool

Beautiful green wool. I was tempted but I dye all my own wool so I just passed. 

Again, a lot of wool and a nice big piece of natural white wool.

There were a lot of patterns going for auction also. Some were started but for some reason,

were not used. A few had been just started and abandoned.

 A generous donation of a Hit & Miss geometric rug was donated by the Plaster Rock Legacy Loopers group to sell tickets to help defray the cost of holding  NB Mat Registries.  The draw is on September 12, 2023. The NBMR thanks them for their support. 

No one went away hungry. Lots and lots of sweets to your heart's content.

Another table filled with sweets. The tables were replenished throughout the day and at the end of the hook-in, there were still a lot of sweets left-over that members could take home for an offering. 

My Madonna of the Street was displayed along with a bunch of older rugs I've hooked in the past. I'll add more photos later on if I can find the time. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking my neglected blog and leaving comments. They fill me with joy.

Enjoy the warmer weather

Hugs, 

Julia

A CONTINUATION OF MY LAST POST AT THE CARNEGIE RUG HOOK-IN.

 

This is a rug that was unveiled by two of the organizer.  Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of this combination rug. It was created by two groups with different ideas but it came together smoothly.  A lot of research went into the planning of these rugs. The rug on the left side was to represent all the old traditions of rug hooking,  which they called mats, that are registered in the Mat Registry of New Brunswick, and the one on the right was designed by another group to represent the modern tradition of hooking mats.  Unfortunately, I didn't write anything down, and will gladly correct the errors as they are pointed to me. 

The rug on the left was designed by Allen Tibbets who I met at the St Andrews Rug Hoo-in last fall. A very talented artist. 

The partial butterfly was to represent the new rug hooking traditions.  These pieces were encased in a frame and will be covered by a piece of plexiglass and will tour New Brunswick. The museum curator was working on a plan to have it on exhibit at a later date.  A lot of planning and cooperation went into every phase of this project and I was glad to have had the privilege to have been present at the unveiling. 

This is fully accredited Pearl McGowan's teacher, Doris Norman.  She was explaining the process of getting this project from the planning stage to completion and the name of those involved. I didn't write any information down. 

And these were the people who planned and oversaw the project to its completion. 

These were the rug hookers who also worked on hooking the rugs for this ambitious project.  It was difficult to get a good picture as everyone was trying to take pictures.

It always feels good to be the lucky winner of a large basket of hooking goodies. By the looks of it, she bought lots of tickets. She seemed to be very happy.  Sorry, I didn't get her name.

Another lucky winner of another large basket of goodies.  There was also a third winner but when I  snap a picture someone blocked my view and the photo was messed up. 

I would have loved to take photos of the many rugs that were being worked on but it was just too crowded to be able to do that.  

                                               *********************************

Yesterday, despite the flooded roads which took me through a long detour of bumper-to-bumper cars through the back streets,  I made it a few minutes after 8:30  am. on the North side of the city.  I volunteered with the Heritage Rug Hooking Guild in Fredericton to sew identification tags on the back of rugs that were being registered with the New Brunswick Mat Registry. There were 41 mats registered.  It was my first time participating in the Registry.  I enjoyed the process and Doris Norman was in charge of organizing this to commemorate the Heritage Rug Hooking Guild's 40th Anniversary. 

 The mats were brought in by the owner and registered. There was a group of volunteers assigned to different stations and long tables placed around the room to work from.  Everyone had a specific job to do. 

The first table at the door had two workers, to help register the mats.  Identification tags were prepared for the sewers.  

There were 4 sewers at our table. Once we had the tag sewn on, we checked the appropriate box that said the label was sewn on and the mat was returned to the runner volunteers. They then brought the mat to another station like the examiner station. The examiners were qualified teachers and they had two new examiners in training.   They examined every detail of the mat and it was all written on the attached sheet.  They clicked the box that said that the rug had been examined. The mat was brought to the runner who would bring it to the next station.

The runner would bring the rug to the photographer who took pictures of the front and back of the mat and clicked the appropriate box. Then the owner had to be interviewed about the history of the mat etc. 

It looked complicated but it was a well-organized process and we were done a little ahead of schedule. 

When I returned home, the water had risen about 6 inches during the day but I managed to drive through safely.  A very satisfying day.  I did not take any photos. 

You can learn more about the  NEW BRUNSWICK MAT REGISTRY by googling it and visiting its different aspects of it.

Thanks for visiting and for leaving a comment. 

RUG HOOK-IN HOSTED BY THE CARNEGIE RUG HOOKING GROUP OF ROTHESAY N.B.

 On Saturday, I attended the rug hook-in,  hosted by the Carnegie Rug Hooking group of Rothsay New Brunswick. Kimm mentioned that there were 110 hookers in attendance. I can believe it because the place was packed.  Lots of coffee, tea, and sweets. We brought our own lunch and mug and I can assure you,  no one left hungry. It was warm and sunny and they couldn't have picked a better day.  It was a wonderful way to spend part of Saturday. 

I did manage to take some photos as soon as I found a place to park my stuff this time but there were so many people taking pictures of the rugs on display and we had to share the tight space. I tried to move along as fast as I could.

Irises, hooked by Carolyn Simpson, designed by Ohara Koson 

Heritage Hooking Guild and Evening Matters group.

South Beach,  hooked by Caroline Simpson, designed by Caroline Simpson of Heritage Hooking Guild  and Evening Matters

Portuguese Rooster, hooked  and designed by Janet Lowery of Loss Time Matters

Sunflowers for Ukraine, hooked by Owttrim Fraser and designed by Les Hookers du Bor De Lo.

Sorry, I couldn't make out the label so I can't give credit to the artist of this beautiful rug. If someone knows the information, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.

Sally's Flowers,  hooked by  Kathrina Ruthledge, ?  Carnegie Hooking Group. Not sure of the name's spelling as it was only partially visible.

Little Flower, hooked by Anne Leger, designed by Cindi Gay. Carnegie Hooking Group.

Fallen Angels, hooked  and designed by Alan Tibbetts, 

The Hatchet Girls,  hooked and designed by Paula Weiss from the Carnegie Group.

Snowshoe and mittens hooked and designed by Linda Stockford from Sussex

Covid Hair,  hooked and designed by Rebecca Peterson of the Carnegie Rug Hooking Group.

Three Landscapes,  above, designed and hooked by Judy Boudreau from the Carnegie Hooking Group.

My favorite rug , Horses, hooked by Bev Monaghan,  from a photo, Sussex .

Male Cardinal, hooked by Jerry Boudreau designed by Debbie--- Carnegie Rug Hooker group.

Chickadee on the Hand, designed and hooked by Judy Boudreau, Carnegie Rug Hooking Group

Shediac Island,  hooked by Marielle Poirier, Grade Digue.

Hooked by Judy Boudreau. I could not read the rest of the information on the label.

Windflower, hooked by Judy Boudreau and designed by Debbie Leonard, Carnegie Rug Hooking Group.

Celtic, hooked by Mary Mason and designed by David Robert of Fredericton.

Basket of Blueberries, hooked by Glenda Cameron of the Sussex TeaRoom Rug Hookers, designed by Judith Hotchkiss, Deer Island Maine.

Tulip flowers for Salley, Hooked by Jean McBride, Carnegie Rug Hooking Group.

Sky Class, hooked by Kathryn Rutherford, designed by Dwight  Gallagher, Carnegie Rug Hooking Group.

Grampa's Barn, designed and hooked by Jane Anderson of Carnegie Rug Hooking Group.

Robin in Spring, designed and hooked by Joan McBride, Carnegie Rug Hooking Group.

Poinsettia, hooked by Joan McBride from a free pattern in Rug Hooking Magazine.  Carnegie Rug Hooking Group.

Saints Rest Sandpipers, hooked by Louise Gould, inspired by a design on Wayfair. Carnegie Rug Hooking Group.

Bubble Buddies,  Linda Sto.  of Sussex ? Sorry, I couldn't read the cut off lable.

New Beginning, designed and hooked by Gwen Henry, CarnegieRug Hooking group.

hooked by Gwen Henry, Carnegie Rug Hooking Group.

A long runner with medallions, hooked by Jaquie Poirier.  late 1800 pattern unknown. Moncton.

Flowers, hooked by Anne Leger, a Diane Fitzpatrick design. Carnegie Rug Hooking Group. 

New Brunswick Flag, Hooked by Diana Reid, of the Sussex Tea Room group.

This large rug was a welcome piece as we entered to register.  There was no label on it.

I apologize if I've misspelled names.  Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment.

TO BE CONTINUED...