Farmers Market - Bursts of Color

The other day when I went to the grocery store most of the produce was $1.99/lb. YIKES!

This morning I got up and went to the Farmer's Market and got all of this for around $8 and it's all grown here locally.....fresh grapes, Chinese long beans, long eggplants, red pepper, crookneck squash which is a lovely orange color (not the regular yellow that I'm used to seeing, and some other squash that is a cross between a yellow squash and a zuchinni. If the grapes look a little pitiful in the bowl that's because I gave a big chunk of them to the girls in the drive-thru at the bank this morning.....they were excited.....always fun to share with people when they least expect it. Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Beauty in the Ozarks

It's a challenge for us to find new places to go and walk the dogs. You see, they're hounds, so a good part of the walk is all about the smelling and they get really excited whenever they get to go somewhere new.

It's raining today, but yesterday we got up semi-early and took them out to Springfield Lake. They have a new parks building, where you can go in and rent canoes by the hour.....I think that would be fun when it cools off a bit, but yesterday it ended up being like 94 or some other really hot number.

I could ramble on forever,

but instead I just have LOTS of pictures....it struck me as really beautiful yesterday.

Here is our arrival at our destination....we parked up on a hill and decided to walk DOWN to the lake so the dogs would have lots of stuff to sniff on their descent.

Here's the HONESTY picture....it's right by our power plant, but the water is really pristine in this section.

We have started our descent and are getting a wee bit closer.

Still getting closer....once you get past the trees it looks more like a marsh or something you would see in the Everglades....at least that's what it looks like in my mind....if you live in Florida you may totally disagree.

This is just a picture of some grasses blowing in the breeze.....I thought they were pretty with the sunlight on them.

This is a huff and puff walk for a dog (Cleopatra) with short little legs...no pictures of Lonnie...we were waay up ahead...when he sees wide open spaces he gets excited and likes to run....I had to stop him every once in a while to get pictures.....like this one. Now, if you grew up in the country here in Missouri these thistles were horrible. If they got in your yard they were hard to get rid of and as a little kid I can't tell you how many times I stepped on them barefoot and then would end up screaming from the pain.....yes, when they are young they are just a little thistle pod and it's easy to step on them when you are outside playing barefooted. However, once you've become "citified" you remember the bad parts less and can see them for their beauty.

Whew, we are finally at the lake....it's a good thing because the dogs are thirsty. Lonnie waded in all the way to his belly.....he seemed to enjoy it.

Now, on these next few pictures if you strain your eyes really hard you can see a white bird in the middle.....we saw it flying and then it landed....it looked to be a crane/heron or egret....it was really white, but I've never seen an egret here in good ole Springfield, MO.

Here's a cropped picture of the bird....otherwise, for you, it's probably like "Where's Waldo". Hmmm....telephoto close up lens for Christmas...that would be good!We walked on down a bit further and this is the lake from a different vantage point.
This is the new boathouse and marina building...pretty swank huh? You can sit out on the deck or inside....it has lots of tables and chairs....hmmmm....perhaps a good place to hook? It would certainly be inspiring! Here are some little yellow flowers at the edge of the lake....pretty! Yes, in case you are wondering....Kenny walked back UP to get the car and drove down to pick us up....the dogs were exhausted and slept the rest of the day.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Double whammy and bloggy love

This week in the mail I received a double whammy!

Celebrations AND the newest issue of Rug Hooking Magazine!

I've also received an award from Kim at Threadheads, Unite!

Thanks for the bloggy love Kim!

I'm sending this on to Em over at Blonde and Blithe....I get such a kick out of her!!!

She's blonde, curvy, creative and keeps it real!!!

Love ya Em!

Go forth and spread some love,

Tammy

Isn't Trey Terrific?

Look at those eyes! How did this sweet looking dog end up homeless?

He sounds like a great companion....

to read more about him click on his picture.

Good luck Trey...I hope you find a forever home.

~Tammy~

Halloween?

I honestly haven't even started thinking about Halloween yet, but obviously many of you out there have!!!

I got home from work yesterday and my husband, Kenny, had gotten out all of our Halloween critters for display.

We love this built in shelf of sorts in our front entry way....a fun way to display seasonal fun-ness!!

Here are a few close-ups of our newest additions this year.....yes....these two I believe are probably "made in China"....but still cute none-the-less.

We also have several hand-made Halloween dolls and cats....I always go for those big toothy grinning cats!!!

These pumpkins below were made by my friend/fellow hooker Judith Groff.

This plate I got at a craft show several years ago.

I've also got my eye on this cat from my friend/fellow rug hooker Sheri at Shabby Sheep. Click on his picture to go to her eBay auction. I just know he'll end up bringing big bucks...but I'm going to try my hardest!!! I just love his wild pants!! Please don't be afraid to bid against me....I love the excitement of an auction!!

And while we're talking about auctions, Kenny just listed this really great Wallace Nutting picture on eBay....beautiful fall foliage. Wallace Nutting was like an early Martha Stewart in his time. Click on the picture to go to his auction. He likes to start his auctions at 99 cents, so you never know when you might get a real bargain....or end up in a bidding war :) For more Halloween fun-ness check out this free pattern that Betty put on her blog a while back. My friend Renee is hooking it up and she's made me a pattern as well to hook! Thanks Renee and Betty!!! I'd best get with it and finish my sheep rug, so I can hook that Halloween pumpkin and crow!!

Here is another pattern that I just love and is on my "someday I'm gonna hook this" list. It's from Black Sheep Wool Designs.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Trying something new!

I'm opening an eCRATER store! I've gotten fed up with eBay's higher fees that are coming down the pipes as well as they are now telling sellers that they can't accept checks or money orders from their customers.....what a load of Cr*p!!

So, while I'll still have the eBay store for a while, I'm trying to transition myself and my customers to eCRATER.

You can find me by going to http://www.ecrater.com/ and then typing Skip To My Ewe in their search engine. I've bought a few things from other sellers there and their check-out process is pretty user friendly....you don't have to register or anything like that.....SWEET!

So here are a few items that I've been able to load on today.


I hope to add more as the day progresses.

I've also been re-organizing and adding to the stash of wools at Simply Fibers.

Here are a few pictures from our hooking group that met on Wednesday night.

Joan has finished her "Pine Lodge Signs" ....all except the border....amazing....this is a huge rug!

Kelly was busy hooking a pumpkin into wool to make a pillow.....she got it finished while she was hooking with our group and I'm betting she has it completely sewn together and stuffed by now. Kelly is a super-fast hooker!

Want some of that super wonderful old looking orange she is using in the pumpkin? Click on the picture of it to see if there is any left in the eBay store. Marsha has finished hooking her pattern from one of the Needl'e Love books and is now working on attaching the binding....I just love the colors she used in this! Jill was busy hooking away on her "Santa and Friends" rug....she'll definitely have that done in time for the holidays! Debbie was finishing up her background on her "Peace and Plenty" rug from Spruce Ridge Studios. I love her background color...it's called Paper Bag and I have that color in my eCRATER store....click on the picture if you need some. I love the way it looks so OLD!Vicki is the newest member of our group and she was working on Renee's "Circle Purse"....fun colors on this one! Click on the picture to go to that pattern in our eBay store.

I've also been re-organizing my own stash of wool at home....it's been in such disarray, but I'm making a little headway. I got some new wire shelving to see how that works out.

And here are just a couple of random photos......

A beautiful monarch butterful on some joe pie weed at the xeriscape garden.Lonnie snuggled up on my lap during the Olympics last night....my entire right leg was totally asleep when I got up from there. On the ground are two of his favorite toys....a cabbage patch dolls that he completely undresses no matter how many time you put it's clothes back on and a little reindeer toy.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Color inspirations

I just received an e-mail from Anthropologie and saw this dress and thought, "wow, that would make a great color scheme for a rug". Or how about bright colors on a dark background like this:And here is one of my all-time favorite color schemes....red, brown and green

The good life

I've been on vacation this week and OMG it's been so totally wonderful!

Kenny has been off too so we've got to run around and just goof off this week. Monday we went down to Branson and had lunch (we had a great appetizer that was a shrimp-avacado cocktail with lime...you eat it with chips....despite the mongo martini glass it comes in)and did a little shopping. We ate lunch outside and got to sit by the fountains....what is it about the sound of water that is so relaxing? Every hour the fountains go off to music. Here's a little video clip that I took to share with you....no, we weren't close enough to get wet.

Here is a picture of the scenery on the way home. It's really pretty...all of the rolling hills. I guess since I've pretty much always lived around here I just take this for granted, but I know I really enjoy seeing pictures of other parts of the country where people live. So now you know what my "neck of the woods" looks like.

Oh yeah, lots of hooking going on while watching the Olympics. I've finished this....

It was supposed to be made for the Fiber Fair, but then I didn't get to go, so it got put on the back burner. Now that it's finished and I don't do stuff with "wool yarn", it is up at Simply Fibers....I'm hoping Carol will hang it by the "wool yarn". It was a fun pattern to hook and you can also get the same design that says "wool rugs" from Breezy Ridge Rugs.

I've also finished the Beehive Purse from Nola that I started back HERE.

Okay, I still have to put the magnetic snap closure in, but basically it's finished! YAY! Do you think the pink chenille balls are too much? (not you Patti...I know what you think! :) ) Hey, it's a girly purse!

I've also picked this project back up that I started back here.

Okay, I don't want it to have 1998 there and I'm going to be making this to sell on ebay, so any ideas? 2008, PEACE, LOVE, BLISS, SIMPLIFY...any ideas anyone?

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy