NOW ON THE LEFT COAST

Cannot imagine making this trip by covered wagon with more adverse circumstances than we endured.  We've been on the road for a week with today, January 5th, being the 8th day of travel.  After a good night's sleep we leave Tempe, Arizona at 9:20 a.m.  Not such an early start because I made a grocery run before departing so we can eat lunch on the road.

OH!  The Holiday Inn we stayed in Tempe, we slept in the only room they had available.  Which happened to be the suite Bob Hope stayed in November 1978 ~ that according to the brass plaque on the door outside.

The giant cactus looks majestic and thriving in the dry, sandy soil of the Arizona desert.  Even tho we have encountered troubles during our trip can honestly say I'm still glad we drove instead of flying.  And what a great experience for our son.

Arrived in southern California 1 p.m. mountain time, 3 p.m. eastern, but our new life's time is 12 noon Pacific time.  Rain greeted us at the California border as did a different land appearance.  The desert and cactus stopped once we crossed the Colorado River.  We are, however, still surrounded by mountains as we continue our journey to our new home in northern California.

A couple misnomers I've encountered during this trip: 

1) I've often used the phrase "...for all the cows in Texas".  Well I only saw 3 cows from the highway in Texas but saw hundreds just as we entered into New Mexico.

2) "It never rains in Southern, California (the song)".  It was pouring as we entered California and the river was rushing through its concrete runoff.  Remember the old show CHiPs (California Highway Police)?  Here's a picture of the real deal riding in the rain.

Near Thousand Palms, CA we stopped for gas and Greg picked a few oranges off an abundant orange trees nearby.  They sure were finger licking good and freshly picked fruit.

We hit just over 3,000 miles on our journey at 4:50 p.m. in the heart of Los Angeles (City of Angels).  Seems everyone and their brother has left work and travelling home.  We are too but San Ramon is still some 397 miles away and traffic jams all over the freeway.  Finally at 5:05 we got to 5 North to head toward northern California when we heard a news bulletin reporting route 5 to Bakersfield was closed due to a snow storm.  The higher elevated areas are getting snow while it is rain here.  Seems the entire trip has been a test of our perseverance and sanity.

Since route 5 to Bakersfield was closed we spent the night just outside Magic Mountain.  Gary and I ordered prime rib which was tough as leather so neither of us ate it all, thankfully the salad was delicious.  So Misty had a prime rib meal too and Pyewacket had her standard fare.

Still on our way to our new home.  Stay tuned.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com  

OOPS, IT'S POST DAY

The day fast forwarded and just now realized it's time for me to do a blog post.  The easiest thing for me to do right now is a 'rug show' and I'm still looking for the new shiny penny, lol.  In other words, my next new project to put on my frame .

A grid geometric with dimensions of 31.5 x 52.  That grid is easy to and the design is in public domain so you can draw whatever size you desire.

Here is another hooked variance of the same shape.  Isn't it interesting to see how color and hooking style changes the look?

Here is the grid for those interested.

A cat and squirrel dated 1899 and located in the Hagley museum (22.5 x 45.5).  Can't tell exactly what is attached to the ends but guess it was someone's version of tassels back then.

Here is a vivid colorful floral circa 1900 measuring 20 x 38.5.  Or at least that is what the auction house said.  Hey, I didn't see it in person or touch it but it does seem a little far fetched for me to think those colors would be so strong now or even available back in the day.

Deer and flowers said to be hooked late 19th to early 20th century.   I'd be tempted if I hadn't already hooked several deer.  Now horses are another thing, lol.

Something different I found is this jacquard coverlet from 19th century.  Would make a nice rug.

Rug inspirations are everywhere, even this stitched potholder of which I have no date.

Sold 4 of the 5 patterns listed on FB Buy and Sell today so it was a good day sitting in the chair in front of the PC and reduced my pattern stash.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

WHAT'S IN A NAME? (Updated)

You've seen this rug worked in stages and is now finally bound and finished except for the label.  The label will be forthcoming when I've 6 labels to print out.  Now for the title of my post ~ What's in a Name?

I always name my rugs even if they are antique adaptations.  If by chance the auction house provides information which makes a great name I'll use that.  Or in the case of Magdalena Briner Eby rugs I'll use those names previously given since they are iconic.

This one, however, had me in a quandary.  Frankly when I first saw this antique rug thought it was ugly because of the background.  The background seemed cluttered, junky and never had any intention to hook it.  Until I did, lol.  

Therefore, my first thought was to name it "Junk Yard Dog".  Any of you the age to remember Jim Croce?  He had some wonderful songs and one was named "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" who was meaner than a Junk Yard Dog.  So the idea of naming it "Junk Yard Dog" was born, because the background was junky on the antique.

BUT, my dog adaptation doesn't look mean at all.  Matter of fact comparing the two my poor pup's background looks pale in comparison.  So I'm searching for a name.  Two of my amiga's have suggested names in the past but am opening up the idea again.  

    Have been brainstorming with a compadre and came up with a few           ideas for a name in addition to those listed above:

    Leroy Brown  ~  Leroy   ~  Leroy's Dog   ~  Jim Croce   ~  Jim's Dog  ~        Croce's Dog   ~     

NOTE:  If it wasn't bad enough with the NO-REPLY Blogger issue, it seems even those whose emails would previously show up in my personal email, they no longer do.  So unless I have your email in my 'contacts' list I'm unable to communicate with you.

And when you make a comment even tho there is a 'reply' section you wouldn't see my reply unless you visit the comment section again.  Seems BLOGGER has gone BONKERS.  Oh, and let us not forget they removed the option for people to subscribe to our blogs.  Okay, am off my soap box now.

Got an idea for my doggie rug?

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

STILL IN TEXAS

It is 8:20 a.m. and still in Texas as I'm writing in the journal.  We had to double back to put a fresh tire on the Scout.  So far we have driven 114 miles since that 1:30 a.m. attempt to find a tire which was unsuccessful  So we had to sleep stay in the van along a desolate stretch of highway until morning.  

We finally reached El Paso at 10:20 a.m.  Texas has many moods, she is a vast state so it makes sense.  The soil has changed again.  Sand and stone have replaced the top soil and clay which was characteristic many miles and 3 days ago.  The scene below looks like it could be used for an old western movie sans the railroad crossing signs.

The landscape of America is beautifully different with flat land, hilly and mountainous regions.  Mountains in some areas were smooth like the photo above then others changed to a jagged mountainous region like below.

Thank GOD we reached New Mexico.  Have no plans to ever venture into Texas again ever.

We stopped in Las Cruces, New Mexico and bought 4 new tires for the Scout so we won't have a reoccurrence of last night's episode.  Gary made it known that these 4 new tires cost more than those advertised in Longview, TX he wanted to buy.  Big oops.

I drove for almost 2 hours through part of the desert.  The weather out west was quite different from the east coast ~ it gets very hot during the day, very cold at night and no humidity.

Entered Arizona at 3:34 p.m. with mileage reading 58,343.

Arriving in Tucson, AZ at 6 p.m. and 420 miles driven we are reluctant to drive any longer and take undue chances again so we're looking for a motel.  Driving along I 10 at 7:15 p.m. in search of a place to sleep, an 18 wheeler passed us and wanted to know if we 'had our ears on".  He said he'd seen our Scout parked along the roadside this morning in Texas and wanted to know if we got everything under control.  Turns out he was one of the 3 guys who pulled us into the Holiday Inn parking lot way back in Longview, TX ~ that was 1,300 miles ago.  Small world after all I guess 😏. 

Found a motel in Tempe, Arizona and oh boy did it feel good to take a shower and wash my hair.  I did brush my teeth at one of the gas stations when we purchased our tires.  Now looking forward to sleep zzzzzzzzzz.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

COMING UP

Only 3 1/2 weeks until Cape May rug camp.  Since it seems to take me longer to do things these days should soon do some dying.  I've got to over dye some wool as I'll need some dirty muddy wool for my class project.  And even if not selected during color planning with Lucille I'll use it at some point at home.  Today would be a great day to pull out those dye pots since there a delightful chill in the house but must do outside work first before the heat and humidity returns.

This is what Bird on Tree Stump looks like now and think it will be finished by camp time to put in the show.  Previously told you I've already drawn out my camp project but don't have anything prepared to put on the frame once this one is done.  Gotta work on that too.  I've seen a couple that seem likely projects but haven't decided or enlarged a design yet.

Wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the space below the tree stump where the initials MB appear in the antique below.  I'd thought about having just background.  Now I'm considering putting my initials there instead mostly to make the transition from dark wool to the lighter side ~ ya know I do love a blotchy background.

Comparing my endeavor to the original antique now wish I had hooked the scrolls in #9 instead of #8.5 to get fatter scrolls.  Could have made 3 rows of wool strips instead of 2 I used most of the time, but hey, it's only a rug, it's an adaptation, and no one will ever notice unless the original is beside it.

Enjoy this crisp, dry weather while we have it as the heat and humidity isn't far behind.  

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

RUG SHOW

Have a few newly found rugs for sale some old, some not so old and one advertised as old but will let you be the judge of that.  You can find that one further down in this post.  But first, horses, hearts and stars said to be hooked late 19th to early 20th century measuring 24 x 39.5.

Rabbits and dog with no date or dimensions offered.  Kinda cute and wish there had been a better, cleaner photo.

Roosters rug with scrolls in corners and blocks background dated 19th century.  Dimensions are 31 x 46.

Another geometric of blocks hooked early 1900's (16 x 22).

I saved the rug photo below early March and since it wasn't a favorite didn't show it.  Am tired of looking at it so thought I show it to you then move it to the other folder.  Perhaps I'd like it better if it was just one basket of flowers because it looks more like a placemat or serving tray to me.  Guess the hooker wanted it to have the same view either way you walked into and out of the room or hall.  

Not a rug but would make a wonderful one; it's an 18th century embroidered wallet.

Oh I love this abstract geometric!  Dimensions are 39 x 44 and hooked late 19th century.  It's probably the dirty colors which attract me.

And now, this is the one I spoke of early in the post.  What first caught my attention was the listing which said it was a 1908 hooked rug.  Well that's right up my alley and got my eyes and ears perked up.  Then I saw the photo.

Upon looking at it more critically doubted it was from 1908 despite the seller stating it was and "08" hooked in the rug.  So I contacted the seller telling her I was a hooker and thought she may have assumed incorrectly and the date might actually indicate it was hooked 2008.  Then she returned a reply saying I was wrong.  So you be the judge as there are a lot of more experienced rug hookers who read my blog and perhaps you know better than me.  You can see the listing HERE.  Does that look like a rug hooked in 1908 with cotton seam binding and wool yarn whipped edge?  And do you know a hooker with the initials JC?

That's all I got for tonight.  Think temps are gonna cool down a little and the local weatherman said we just might have an early fall. 

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

FURTHER WEST

January 3rd we're finally on the road at 9:20 a.m. in Fort Worth, TX.  The last three days Gary has been driving under a lot of tension with road conditions due to icy roads.  There are so many overpasses and bridges that even if we get a good patch of road to speed up, we have to back it down for the bridges since they freeze faster.  And if driving the underpass the sun doesn't get there to melt the ice so it is a no win situation either way.

I spoke about it before but horrible visions of our furniture's welfare keeps entering our thoughts as we see accidents and then these 18-wheelers on their sides.  

Roads beyond Ft. Worth are also bad.  We are now at the 419 mile marker and someone on the CB said ice ends at the 400 mile marker so only 19 miles away.  Sure hope they are right.

Farmland in parts of the Texas landscape has the blackest soil I'd ever seen, perhaps because of the oil below.  Here are a couple scenes showing rigs reaching for that Texas liquid gold.

We stopped for gas at 3 p.m. and getting back onto I 20 the roads are wet and snowy.  Just had another incident where the van and Scout were at an angle or perhaps a road slide but the Scout behind us pushed the hell out of the van and Gary almost lost control.  Was eating lunch when that occurred and lost my appetite.

El Paso, TX is 324 miles away at 4 p.m. with temperature of 36* but when the sun goes down the wet roads will freeze.  We've only gone 261 miles since 9:20 a.m. and didn't even stop for lunch, just eating our packed food (fruit, sardines, crackers, cheese, pepperoni).

We stopped at a Great Western Motel for dinner at 6 p.m.  I had filet mignon and for cattle country these people are ignorant on how to cook good beef.  They must export all the good stuff.  We decided to travel after eating supper in an attempt to catch up for lost travel time.  Our destination is El Paso and we should get there approximately 12:30 a.m.

With less than 100 miles to go until El Paso at 10:30 p.m. our Scout had a blow-out on the right rear tire ~ out in the middle of BFE (foul translation).  We were unable to raise anyone on the CB, the van spare tire wouldn't fit the Scout as he thought when we left Maryland, and had no spare for the Scout.   The nearest truck stop was 22 miles behind us and 40 odd miles ahead was the nearest.  Gary didn't want to leave me alone along the highway with the Scout while he got the tire fixed so we got out the pillows, sleeping bags and attempted to get some sleep.

At 1:30 a.m. when Gary woke up I was sitting in the front passenger seat trying to rest in the freezing temperatures.  He suggested I turn the car on to warm the interior.  He got up, we discussed the problem and decided to unhook the Scout, leave her and drive to the truck stop 22 miles behind us.  Hoping the Scout and trailer hitch would still be there when we returned.  The 22 mile trip was unsuccessful and about 2 a.m. we settled in for what we hoped would be a short winter's nap.

Already awake at 6:30 a.m. I'm writing and waiting for the gas stations to open to get the tire fixed.  Must admit I'm so happy to be alive and see day break.  I was afraid of being rammed in the tail by a sleepy 18 wheeler or being vandalized/terrorized during the night.  We didn't manage to make up for lost travel time after all.  As I think back there were ways the blow-out could have been avoided:  1) had a spare for the Scout, 2) had purchased those tires Gary wanted to buy when we first entered Texas but which I talked him out of.

Even if we had felt angry at the other it wasn't shown and since there is still about one-third of our trip to go tempers wouldn't have cured our problems.  One humorous event out of this situation was when son Greg and I were trying to get situated in the back of the van to go to sleep.  Gary said, "I guess you wouldn't want me to mention about the tires I wanted to buy earlier, huh?"

I said, "No, but what about those boots you wanted to buy instead?"  Then with a carefully calculated thought he replied, "Well if I had bought them you'd be wearing one up your ass by now."  I thought Greg would choke laughing, he laughed so hard that his throat gurgled.

To be continued  .....

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

MEMORY RUGS (Updated version)

Have you ever thought about designing and hooking a memory rug?  I've seen some lovely ones at rug camps, on Pinterest and even antique rugs which I believe were a type of memory rug for the maker at the time.  But that's all I've done ~ think about it.

I've considered hooking a memory rug but couldn't decide which memory of my decades of life I'd like to hook.  The thought of doing memories of my various trips (California, Iceland, Taiwan, Hong Kong) seemed too daunting.

The one idea which reoccurs are memories from my youth of the 1950's.  I had lots of 45 rpm records, remember those?  So could draw circles for the records... 

and a few music symbols.

I also collected horse statues even after getting my own horse.  On weekends or summer break a schoolmate and I would pack lunches and ride our horses through the country side near her farm.

After school we teens would ride in cars around the circle (now called a 'round about') then to The Jimbo.  Jimbo's was a small restaurant and local hangout for school kids.  For you young'uns that's  where servers would come to the car, take your order and return with trays which attached to the window of the car.  Anyone my age remember those? 

The above photo is one from the internet but you get the idea.  

When I turned 16 everyone else in town had a cool modern car and I had 1946 older model of a brand I don't remember.  So I decided to put big yellow polka dots all over it thinking that would make it 'cooler'.  They were big circles which was used at the E.I. duPont nylon plant where daddy worked to place on the floor for safe break areas.

Guess at one point I did a tad more than 'think about it' because I started with drawing my car but ended up flipping it over and drawing something else which I hooked.  However think I've lost any ambition to make my memory rug a reality.

That wasn't such a smart thing for me to do because everywhere I went everyone knew who it was driving thru which town. Below is a 1957 Chevy which was popular in my town then.

Since I was a cheerleader could add a pom pom or two on the pattern.  I'm too lazy to go search and copy an old photo of me in my cheerleading uniform but you know what a pom pom looks like.

Perhaps my need to find a next project has resurfaced the memory rug idea.  Guess this would fall under the category of 'still thinking about it'.

I was reminded about the Memory Rug that friend Julia did.  It is awesome and demonstrates just how much work and effort it takes to pull off such a wonderful heirloom for family.

Was a nice day with low humidity it was today. Made plans to work outside for a couple hours in the morning but forgot about my dental appointment.  However in the afternoon did manage to pull up some invasive periwinkle and ornamental grass.  Boy did I make some very bad gardening decisions early in my planting days.  Didn't think they'd ever grow and now they are growing faster than I can remove them.

Finally the guys are coming to wash my back deck and in two days after drying they will seal it.  Also having a new porch door installed which won't rot or swell when it rains.  While they're washing the deck I'll work more outside to take advantage of the lower humidity before it creeps up.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

COULDN'T MAKE UP MY MIND ...

...so I compromised by mixing the plaid and the solid strips together.  And am okay with that.  Here is the before, several days before ~

And this is how it looks now since the strips in the scrolls were merged.  Now I don't feel the scroll colors are too in your face as the left side in the photo above made me feel.  I'm happier with this now.

After the rain and wind I had lots of pine cones and limbs to pick up.  Today I cut grass and am hoping it can go another two weeks before it needs to be cut again.  

Over 2 decades ago when this house was built I couldn't wait to get my hands in the dirt to plant flowers.  In the back behind the shed I had a compost area  ~ fed it, turned it and used it in my gardens.  But as years have crept up on me gardening is no longer fun.  I do what must be done and let the rest go.  

Happy hooking or whatever makes you smile.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

WELCOME TO TEXAS?

Just a mile from the Texas border we can see what appears to be an accident in front of us. 

At a distance we weren't sure what the commotion was about.  But as soon as we skidded on the bridge realized it was ice.  That rain encountered for miles had frozen.  Thank God Gary had taken over driving so he took control well.

At 2:15 p.m. we stopped in Longview, TX.  And I mean literally stopped right on the interstate.  Due to the heavy load we were pulling and the road's solid ice we couldn't get enough traction or enough speed to make it up a hill and exit to a motel.  Thanks to some good ole Texas boys in a GMC truck they pulled our heavy load into the Holiday Inn parking lot.

How is it they could get us with 2 vehicles pulled up and off but we couldn't?  Don't have an answer for that.  We heard on the CB that the entire rest of the west was crippled due to the ice storm.  Hell, we should have been in Big "D" (Dallas, TX) by now but here we are at 3:15 shaking off the tension with an early cocktail and thinking about the settlement deadline on our new California home.

Our room is overlooking a one hole golf course, beautiful pool, palm trees and garden area.  But, it is freezing cold.  

                                                  

There were some folks at the Holiday Inn who were on their way to the Cotton Bowl but changed their minds and decided to drive back home.  If you read the newspaper article shown below, this was the worse ice storm in 30 years.  Am sure Texas doesn't have state highway snow/ice equipment and retardant like we have on the east coast.  The parking lot and roads are solid ice, SOLID ice.  I've never seen anything like this on the east coast in my life.     

At 9 a.m. we're sitting in the restaurant drinking coffee and waiting to be served our breakfast.  We were in the restaurant 45 minutes before we received our breakfast. While we were there a big older man came in for breakfast too.  He was seated next to us, one man brought his coffee cup, another poured his coffee, still another brought his silverware and linen  napkin (not paper line ours) and his breakfast was delivered to him in 9 minutes after he was seated.  Gary noticed the priority treatment he received so decided to keep track of time.  Everyone called him by name as tho he was very well-known and/or very wealthy.

Greg and I went to the vehicles and saw there were people still struggling to get out of the parking lot.  Everything in the van is frozen solid, the water in the cooler is a solid block of ice.  

At 12:30 p.m. we are finally on the road again.  The ice in the parking lot had started to melt a little, enough for us to get backed out using both the power of the Scout and the van to do it.

1:15 p.m. the roads are looking a tad better, Dallas is 110  miles away and we have a low cruising speed of 40 miles per hour.  Greg and I started keeping track of all the vehicles who skidded into the median or shoulders and those who skidded in front of us as we drove.  There have been so many accidents and near misses we decided to stop keeping records.

The trees are gleaming, encrusted in ice with 3 p.m. sunlight.  Any other time the sight would be beautiful.  But the roads are freezing again at 5:30 and we are on our way to Ft. Worth for a motel.

A motel can't come soon enough for us to get off the interstate safely.  Am sure Gary needs a break from the stressful driving.  To be continued ...

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

RUG EYE CANDY

Need some inspiration to get your rug hooking mojo back?  Hardly do I ever lose my hooking mojo but do get bored sometimes so that's when it is time to look for the 'plus one'.  Nothing rejuvenates me more than looking at rugs for inspiration.  No date or dimensions on this first rug.

The next picture isn't a hooked rug but surely would make a good naïve and primitive one.  It is artwork on a box.  Cool eh?

I sorta like the berry bush rug below but would probably get bored real quick and need the plus one before this was done.

A rug with tulips said to be hooked around 1930 and measures 15 x 23.

Another rug with tulips but in pastels.  No date provided but measures 12 x 28.  I like the red version above  best. 

A Victorian floral (36 x 72) dated 1850-1899.  Would look great if you wanted to try a real wide cut or hand torn.  I can see Jo or her cohorts hooking it.

Here's one which has been on my to do list and which might make the cut soon ~ that is unless I change my mind.  Fickle, ya know.  North East Auctions gave it a date of 1845.

GOD BLESS AMERICA has been on my list to hook forever.  And in this political climate it sure would be appropriate.  And lest I forget to say ... God Bless and protect President Trump.

Debby's rain hasn't started here YET but it is SO humid.  And just like that I hear raindrops ~ Debby's wrath may be on its way.

Happy hooking and happy hump day to you worker bees.  

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com