~ hooking for sanity ~

 

 Hello there ~

my helpers are here in the office with me this morning:
Ladybug & Grizzly.

 {look at lady's tongue lol}
Lady will be heading back home soon to see her mom {Hannah}
and brother, Willie ~
who again, is holding his own like the tiny trooper he has always been!

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
the pull of the wool has been hitting me hard lately~
I guess the 'ber' months have always been good hooking months for me,
so since it's September......

I started this santa rug a few years ago...
and really do need to finish it now.
{ya think?}
problem is, I can't find the rest of the black background wool that I was using.
oh well., I'll use another....

this one is being worked on sporadically between other projects,

but I can see the finish line since outlining all of my motifs ~
not long before I'll be binding it...

I decided to create a hooking spot in the studio, that will be semi-permanent.
{it will 'disappear' during events & classes}
but I am thoroughly enjoying keeping the wool dust out of my old farmhouse!

those tied bundle that you see on my worktable are from
Diane at Wool-n-Wares on Ebay...
I carry them here in the shop and let me tell you they are PERFECT for anyone wanting to begin a stash or add to your stash-building repertoire
here is her shop link:
https://www.ebay.com/str/woolnwares

~my happy place ~

I wanted to thank all of you for your last comments on my previous post
regarding care-giving, & elder-care and nursing homes.
It's sad to know how many are effected, but knowing we're not alone helps.
 

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Hello September ~

 

Hello Friends & Folk ~

...and happy September to us all....

August has been a tough month for us and our family...

Beginning with the oppressive heat, drought and then too much rain & humidity,
our gardens were stunted, then decimated  by wildlife looking for food.
So we threw in the gardening towel, so-to-speak, and let Mother Nature do her thing...

AND SHE DID.
our shop garden, herb garden & vegetable garden are all a tangled mess of morning glory vine,
{beautiful in every color imaginable} and 'weeds' that we have never even seen or heard of before like 'spanish needle' {which of course my herb-crazy hubby now makes teas from}
...So Be It. we are embracing the wild-look!!!
{until some of it dies back and then we will weed, careful to collect seeds long the way.

On another note,
many of you who follow me on social media read previously of a trip to CT last week...
It never happened, we never went. We postponed the trip.
Hannah's dog Willie {see previous posting} became severely ill
and we could not leave him and head to CT
until we knew exactly what was going on with him, and how to help him...
Many emergency vet visits later, Willie was diagnosed with not having ANY platelets in his blood...
we seriously almost lost him ~ but thanks to good caring doctors and lots of love,
Willie is bouncing back again...{he is our little miracle dog!}

and, right before we were ready to leave for CT, on the 23rd of August {we were to leave on the 25th}
My sister in CT called to say that our mom {who is the main reason for going up to CT}
had a very bad fall from her wheelchair and broke her nose and leg!
We are not happy AT ALL with the fact that she was unsupervised and this has happened...

---> you can bet your buttons we are talking with our Ombudsman,
legal council and Masonicare of Wallingford, to get to the bottom of this
{which NEVER should have happened.}
Our Senior Health Care facilities are lacking in EVERY WAY nowadays, and people who are not in the position of having a family member in senior-care, just don't realize the heartache,
sorrow and downright horrors of these places.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Ok, onward...
my basket below, is filled with Tulsi {holy basil} and boy does it smell heavenly!
tulsi is a well-known herb used for anxiety and stress...
{helps wound healing, aids in digestion, may help with eye problems....}
I have recently weaned off of Zoloft, after being on it for over 20 years due to anxiety & stress issues
and am SO thankful I did!
🌿 Tulsi has been a godsend to me, in both tincture and tea forms. 🌿

I will hang this tulsi to dry, and some will be made into tinctures for our apothecary.
{many thanks to a dear friend for the knowledge of and sharing of tulsi!}

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
I'm working on finished goods for our upcoming Halloween Open House, and thought I would make a few little doll-quilts {in my wonkiest-style 'cuz I'm not a quilter LOL}
I did come up with this small heart though, and thought it was quite cute...

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
I also played with some spun-cotton, and made a harvest of 'poison' pumpkins...
they turned out ok, but I have miles & miles to go...

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
I found this pic on my phone of two small hooked wool pincushions that I made a few years back...
I used mainly leftover scrap wool worms from other projects ~

I love them and think I'll make more for the open house too.

So there you have it...my news from Wobegone {Notforgotten} Farm

❤ ❤ ❤

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ this, that & the other ~

 

 Good Morning Friends & Folk!
...and a very happy Monday to us all ~

lot's of little things going on here at the farm,
I'm working on finished goods for our
Halloween Open House & Stitch In 

here in the shop/studio on Saturday October 5th...
{pre-registered stitch in is full, but Shop will be open for your retail therapy}

In-between that, we are babysitting our grand-dogs
while Hannah has some work related trips to make...

 here is tiny old-man Willie Nelson {Italian Greyhound}
...remember me telling you earlier this year about Willie's spinal injury/surgery and

how he was literally paralyzed and couldn't hardly lift his head?

well you just can't keep a good dog down ~ he is walking and getting around
so well!!! we believe that it is a miracle he is up and ambulatory on his own.
{of course with us, but especially his mama Hannah providing as much love, prayers,

comfort and therapy as we could} seems as though his risky surgery was a success!

 

this of course, is Grizzly...
Griz now lives with us, as having three dogs 

{and especially since Willie's special needs}
became too much for Hannah
and we happily offered to keep him for her....

~ after all, he IS another of Pepper's grown 'puppies'
so now he is with his back where he was born,
and with his 'real' mama, brother and sister
LOL

and this is Lady ~
a rescue beagle found roaming the streets of Richmond,
~ that Hannah took in and saved her little life.
this one is a goof-ball...she is sweet and kooky,
and we do love her little face and freckles!

if you've visited our IG or FB pages lately,
you would have seen the video-tour of our shop/studio,
and how hard Peter has been working to make things more organized and helpful to me...

He is in the process of building me a brand new {another} cutting counter in the studio...
this one will be full of beautiful Lanacot wools that I personally

can't wait to get my hands on!
the two wooden posts leaned against the cabinet base are actually from an old
spool-rope bed...we've had them forEVER
and had no clue what to do with them
{but now we do and we can't wait to show you!}

this is a hooked mat in-progress...
pumpkins and crows, of course.
I work on my rug hooking in the studio in the afternoons/evenings.
~ doing that in the studio rather than in this old farmhouse helps keep the dust down a bit in the house {right...she says to herself convincingly!}
sure, I'll go with that!
no, really it's just that my sewing room is SO FULL of other things to do at the moment
and I love the light in the studio, so.....

the next two photos below are of a band of Goldfinch or 'distelfink'
{if you're familiar with PA German}
if you're unfamiliar,
Distelfink: 
their name comes from the Pennsylvania German word for "goldfinch," dischdelfink.
That word has two components:
dischdel, meaning "thistle," and fink, meaning "finch."
{now you know}

...they gather in our backyard every morning...

we think they like the salt that comes from our water-softener tank
{don't worry, we checked with our vet to see if this was safe
because the rabbits, squirrels and deer do this here too}
it's all good.

can you spot them all? the males are the bright yellow chaps wearing their best summer colors,
while the females are more of a lime-green and harder to see....

I love to hear their conversations amongst themselves, like small chittering
and whistling children!

and these two:

Hannah & Marcus...
my two favorite people
❤
taken last week at a wedding in MD ~

 so there you have it, 

a narrated photo drop of-sorts...

~  just a glimpse of our happy life in general!

wishing you a beautiful Monday, surrounded by everything you love,

and those who love you most...

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Playing Hooky in the Rain ~

 

Good Morning Friends & Folk ~

and a happy, albeit SATURATED Friday to us all...

 

I'm hoping those that have been in the brunt of the hurricane
can find some comfort and that it has passed you unscathed!

We have had mostly torrential rain and heavy winds.
our power flickered a few times and our landline phone was affected,

but we are no worse for the wear.

On dark, dreary days such as these,my mind loves to roam into the annals of my rug hooking past.

something about the shadowed effect this old farmhouse has on me,
~ just makes me want to pull a few loops.

So i did.

I finished the first pumpkin mat, then decided to hook a mini-chairpad...
{or maybe a candle mat?}

since I had my autumnal hues wools all out in front of me and my hook was warmed up lol.

 

do I stitch in this chair?

absolutely not...
just love my two old blue chairs and they compliment my wool colors beautifully.

I love to hand-cut my wool strips with scissors.
they're not straight, totally uneven and I hook very primitive-ly
so that is why you see my Loop Lifter that Peter made for me.
{he also made my favorite steel shank hook to match}

there's the finished mat.
it has been 'loop-lifted' to the best of my abilities,
then stained, steamed pressed and edges turned back and stitched down.

skinny loops, fat loops, high & low loops...
*perfect*

all of the hand dyed wools shown are from Wool'n Gardener on Etsy.
all of my as-is wools are from The Wool Studio.

here's my backside.
{pardon moi}
nothing fancy for me, no edging, no binding ~

but I will be attaching a handwritten cotton label for posterity.

I love baskets too.
this one is perfect for holding small pieces of rolled wool to cut,

and stitcps that I'm working with.

the dark patina of the rattan is perfect for me.
{also a really good bowl for balls of yarn when I crochet}

do you cut your wool with scissors?

do you use a cutter?
how do you store your wools as you work?

are you a primitive hooker?
do you prefer old-looking, muted wool colors?
 are you a fancy-finisher?

or a plain and simple like me?

I'll be in the studio today ~
I have plans to draw up a few more small mats/chairpads that I'll share once they're finished.

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ In the NEWS ~

 

 

 Hello Friends & Folk!

...and a very happy Sunday to us all...

In the News:

I'm happy to announce a new class coming to the Studio in September ~

• • • Oak Leaves & Acorns Punch Needle Class • • •

 Saturday September 14th, 2024  ~  10-4:00

I'll be teaching you how I punch using all 6 strands of floss
{in this project we will be using DMC} and we will not be filling in any background...I'll also share with you how I stain my finished work for an old & primitive look...

 

 

The CLASS/Kit cost is $30.00 per student and will include:
paper template of project, color photos, weavers cloth,
painted wood frame, DMC cotton floss & 6 hrs. of my instruction.

Please note----> the class/kit cost does NOT include punch needle or hoop/frame.

BUT, you may bring your own punch needle & hoop/frame to work on
OR you may try out those we stock, which are available for purchase.

Sign up for class by EMAIL ONLY at 

Notforgottenfarmwitch@gmail.com

 

 

 ~ AND ~

join us in December for our annual
~ ~ ~ Christmas Open House & Stitch In ~ ~ ~

on Saturday, December 7th, 2024  10-4:00

once again we will gather together for the holiday and share our friendships and good cheer...

sign up for our Christmas Open House & Stitch In
by EMAIL ONLY at
Notforgottenfarmwitch@gmail.com

 

...see you again soon!

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori