Tired

Got a bit further, but am too tired to do any more today.

Andrew had his Eagle Scout project today. He chose to replace 3 fishing benches and level the land at a county conservation area. This is what it looked like before. At least the old benches were already removed.

Had to square up the area and lay down some webbing. Dig post holes for the benches. Install the benches. Get LOTS of wheelbarrows full of gravel/dirt to fill in the webbing.

This is the new bench in area #1.

 Area #2.

And area #3. There wasn't enough gravel to fill it in, so Andrew will have to go back when they deliver more to that area.

I got a photo of my crew (plus one extra). We did have more help during the day, but for some reason, they were in a hurry to get home! Maybe there were as tired as we were.

I'm off to get dinner. Subway leftovers from lunch. I think that will be lunch for tomorrow, too!

~*~ Laura ~*~

Dye set

I'm so excited! I found this dye set on Etsy and had to have it. I think this is enough to get me started. I got a dye book with recipes with Cushings and Pro Chem dyes, a spoon, and a bunch of Pro Chem dyes. Yes, it's used, but it will allow me to get a feel of dying without spending a fortune. Now to decide on what to dye. I still need some extra greens for the trees.  I also need some background wool for the snowman face rug I started and didn't finish. Now to get out my wool stash and see what I can create!

Progress

Progress.

Even more progress! Guess I've spent quite a few hours watching the Olympics and hooking this week. The background is really coming along nicely.  The rug is getting heavier, bulkier as I'm turning it on my frame.

This weekend is Andrew's Eagle Scout project. He's restoring a fishing area at a local conservation district. Replacing 3 fishing benches. He got the lumber today. At least the weather is suppose to be nice on Saturday  - only 78 degrees. I get the job of providing lunch to the volunteers. I'm thinking sub sandwiches, chips, drinks, etc. Now to see if any places give discounts for Eagle projects.

School starts for me in only 2 more weeks. While I like the structure of having to be somewhere, I'm not quite ready to go back. I've been job hunting for full time employment this summer, but no offers (yet). I've read the average time of job hunting is 9 months, so I'll just keep searching.   :)

~*~ Laura ~*~

Break Time

 I've outlined the trees, so that I can work more on the background. I'm not sure I like a few of the wool colors in the center of the trees, but that can easily be changed. I just wanted to get the shape of the trees.

I've spent a lot of time cleaning out this week. I've managed to clean out my youngest's room. Not an easy job! He even helped by sorting his junk drawers. I tackled the closet with all the clothes. I then started on my closet. I now have 10 garbage bags ready for donation pick up tomorrow.

After all that fun (NOT), I decided we needed a break. So, we drove to Kenosh, WI for a few hours of exploring.

 Our first stop was the Jelly Belly factory. We went on a tour, which stops in the store. All the flavors you can imagine - yum!

 We went to the Dinosaur Discovery Museum. It's a small one room museum, but it has lots of dinos in it.

 We went to another couple small museums, and walked along the lakefront of Lake Michigan.

It's nothing like the big museums of Chicago, but since the museums were free, it was worth a day to explore.

~*~ Laura ~*~

Summer

 I've been trying to work a bit on my rug each evening. The edges are now outlined and I"m slowly outlining each object. I do want to outline the trees before I start the background by them. That way the trees will have the exact shape, and (hopefully) no need to reverse  hook.  Now that summer school is done, I'll have a few more hours to play around.

 Today is rained! My youngest was so excited that he and his friends did a dance outside. We've had a some rain in the past week, so shady parts of the lawn are green. Now yellow. Not tan. Not brown. But green. The sunny parts are still brown. Even my hostas are dried up. My annuals haven't liked the hot, hot weather. I've given up trying to keep some of them alive. But, a few have survived to brighten up the yard.

 I've been job hunting for the past couple months. It's a tough market out there. It takes a lot of time to search on line, and then fill out online applications. Gotta love the ones that have lengthy questionnaires attached to them. After spending a hour filling out just one application and questionnaire, it's quick to reject you. I'm hoping the right job is out there - one that is close to home, high pay, and something that I enjoy. Maybe I should just play the Lotto instead??  :)

~*~ Laura ~*~

Rug Progress

Now that the yellow areas are completed,  I've started working on the background.  I'm using about 5 different textures, and really like the look of it. I was getting a nice variation of black, greys, brown, and a hint of green. But, I thought it needed a kick of something else. So, I took a blue that I had and tried a few pieces of it. it goes better than I expected! I really like the look of it being old and primitive, with lots of color variation. I'm hoping I have enough of the dark wools to complete the entire background.

It's just been WAY too hot to work on the rug the past couple weeks. A week ago, we had temperatures that exceeded over 100 - yuck. My hubby and youngest boy were at scout camp that entire week ~ outdoors in the heat. I'm surprised they came home in good moods after having no air conditioning for the week.  Now if we can get some rain, as my lawn looks like a hay field.

I did start another project of adding some trim to the door leading to the garage. It's a flat, metal door. Kinda boring if you ask me. I had some leftover trim (I bought the wrong stuff when trying to repair the deck when the squirrels chewed through the screens.) that was just waiting for me to use it. I adhered the trim to the door with some Liquid Nails.  I tried to miter the corners, but didn't do a great job. A little bit of caulk in between the gaps fixed that easily.  I now have a door that has a paneled look. Now to paint the door, plus the rest of the foyer. I can't  decide on colors. Decisions, decisions....

* Perfect *

 Yesterday I  went in search of a yellow wool for my snowman rug. The yellows I had at home were just a bit too dark, too gold. I saw a piece of wool I really liked, but it was bundled in a kit. There was a similar wool, but not as yellow. I thought it would do, but after getting it home, I decided I didn't like it enough for the sections I needed to hook. So... I took a chance and put the new, mottled wool into the dye pot with just a hint of yellow dye. My sample strip came out better than I expected. So, I put another section of wool into the pot, and it came out  *perfect*! I lovely shade of yellow, with hints of tan. (so much prettier in person). You can see the before piece, and the after piece that has been  cut into worms.

 I hooked all the sections that needed yellow last evening. I love how the yellow makes the blue jacket pop.

Next up is the background and the trees!

~*~ Laura ~*~