The adventures of Gilly the rescue horse and his side kick and partner in crime, Pokey the donkey.

~~~


Being with a horse is a journey that never ends. What they have to teach us is amazing; but we must quiet our mind to hear them. ~ jca

*****


Sunday, February 28, 2010

Grits

We had these yummy things for breakfast this morning! Cheesy fried grits! Really good! We had bacon and eggs too but the grits were my favorite. Good thing to eat on a cold morning.
Here is the recipe:
4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup grits
Slowly stir grits into boiling water; reduce heat to medium-low, cover. Cook 12-14 minutes or until thickened stirring occasionally.
Add:
4 oz. cubed Velveeta cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
dash of garlic power
dash paprika
Stir until cheese is melted, remove from heat put into greased loaf pan. Cool about 20 minutes then turn out onto plate. Let cool to room temperature, put in container and refrigerate.
When ready to eat slice and fry in skillet on medium heat.

I cook this slow so it will brown nicely like pictured. We use olive oil to fry it in; after all olive oil is good for you, right?
Don't put in the refrigerator until it's cool or it will turn watery!

It's almost here! The drawing is tomorrow!!!! I am excited to see who the Golden Pony will go to live with!

Jane

Saturday, February 27, 2010

More snow....

Gilly has an icy earring this morning and Pokey had icicles hanging off his side, both are wet because they stand out in the snow, rain or anything else. Guess they are happy with that.

Gilly's mane had ice in it too, he was unconcerned and was busy eating his oats while I snapped pictures. Between yesterday and this morning we got about 7 more inches of snow. It has started melting the other day then more came along. It is now starting to melt somewhat also. Snow keeps sliding off the roof and hitting the concrete patio with a splot sound.

The boys waiting for their breakfast as I walked to the barn.

Gilly was on the lookout for me when I started down toward the barn. Pokey is in there somewhere. (click on pictures to make them larger)

As I walked around the granary Gonzo was standing there watching me. Petey and Lucy were else where running in the snow.

It's a good thing that I leave a shovel outside the barn door, for the last 3 days I have had to shovel snow to get the door open.

View of the hillside and the hay field. Can't really see where anything is with all the snow.

Our road, the township guys haven't been down this way in awhile; good thing we have 4-wheel drive vehicles!

My car covered with snow, I wasn't planning on going anywhere today anyway. We are working on the house today, downstairs bathroom. Seems like it's never going to be finished, hoping for this summer, slow work!

Don't forget to sign up for the "hooked rug giveaway", click here, to be given away on March 1st! Have your name to me by 10:00 a.m. EST on Monday. I will post shortly there after. Good luck to everyone!!!

Jane

Friday, February 26, 2010

Who has Termites aka Chewing Horses?

Here are the two vandals aka Pokey and Gilly! (see them trying to hide behind their destruction?)
Pokey started it because Gilly didn't chew before Pokey-Termite came along now they both chew everything they can lay their teeth too. (click to make bigger) you can see the end of the trellis, I haven't even looked at the other side. Gilly chews on the big stuff and Pokey will stick his nose through the lattice and chew it!
Someone told me that they need minerals? Well I feed them Omega Horse Shine that has flax and a lot of vitamins and minerals in it and have since before Pokey even showed up here and he is eating it too. They can't be bored, they have 5 acres of pasture, trees, hills and valleys to play in and are only in the barn when they are eating....btw Pokey is chewing the beams in the barn too!
Close up of the vandalism on post (big spot is dirt on window OMG a dirty window!)
Soooo my question to you is.....do your horses chew on things and what do you do about it? Is it something else they are lacking in their diets or are they turning into wood gnawing termits?????

Don't forget to sign up for the "hooked rug giveaway", click here, to be given away on March 1st!

Jane and the Vandals

Thursday, February 25, 2010

All Right Already, Lisa!!!

Lisa at Laughing Orca Ranch is getting tired of waiting until March 1st for the giveaway and wanted to see another post! LOL OK, guess what is in my hand in the picture? Gilly's tooth, ugh! I do have to say they aren't very pretty!!!

I have had this tooth for quite sometime, I think Gilly was a three year old when I got this little jewel. We had been down at the neighbors in her field, Gilly had been playing with Lacy and was walking away from me. I started kind of shaking his head and working his jaws in a funny way when I saw something fall out of his mouth. I hurried to where I saw it fall and I found this baby molar!

I wasn't lucky enough to find any of his front flat teeth and this one is the only one I have found but I kept it for sentimental reasons. It has bits of hay or grain, maybe both in the crevices, looks rotten to me. Anyone else have any horse molars? Oh, I guess they are called caps.

Don't forget to sign up for the "hooked rug giveaway", click here, to be given away on March 1st!
I guess I'd better keep posting so Lisa won't get bored!! :-) LOL
If you haven't been to Lisa's blog you should check it out.....fabulous, wonderful pictures, great stories. Right now she is trying out a beautiful paint mare named, Sugar. I am hoping that she works out for Lisa, she needs a horse in her life again!!!


~*~Jane and Gilly~*~

Monday, February 15, 2010

200th Post Give Away!!!

Well, I'm not really sure it's my 200th post because the counter on my posts says this is 197 but when I posted the Valentine one it said 200??? Doesn't matter, close enough and I am GIVING AWAY this Golden Pony hooked rug!!!
Are you EXCITED!!!!! GOOD!!!
This little rug measures 9x10 inches and it would sell for $115.00. I wanted to do something really special for this give away so I did a horse rug. I also have my new web site up and running, there are still some tweaks to be done on it. Updates seem to take a long to to change, this is aggravating!
Here is the link to my web site Liberty Homestead Rugs, go have a look.
The rug backing is a hairy linen, that is what the white hair looking stuff is sticking up through the wool. I have snipped a lot of it off but it keeps popping through. This is not the usual backing I use, my normal linen is not hairy but instead looks like burlap.

This is a close up of the Gold Pony's head, click on any of these pictures to enlarge to see the details. By doing this you can also see the different textures of wool that was used to hook this rug.
I used many different colors of browns, brown/blacks and a bluish black/brown. Pony is several different colors of gold and for the most part the gold is a mottled giving it a rich antique color.

This is a close up of the flower in the upper corner of the rug. Since this flower has some fine details I cut the 1/4" strips into with scissors. Love doing that because the strips are then a bit uneven which gives it a more antique look.

Now to the details of how you can win this rug.

1.) you have to leave a post here on my blog
2.) you have to tell me why you would like to win this rug; this doesn't have anything to do with winning, but I would just like to hear what you have to say

I will put all names into a hat and draw out the winners name, two weeks from today on March 1. That will give everyone plenty of time to get your name in the drawing!

I'm excited and can't wait to see who will win this little Golden Pony!!!! Good Luck!


Sunday, February 14, 2010

Tag You're It!!


Lisa tagged me from over at Laughing Orca Ranch so here goes. (may as well, going to be snowed in again, maybe! Another winter storm is coming and by Tuesday another 6 to 8 inches of snow....oh, joy...NOT!)

So, OK then, here are the rules:

Answer the following questions with single word answers then pass this along to 5 other bloggers.

Make sure to link back to the person who tagged you (Lisa), and be sure you let those you tagged know about it.

Your Cell Phone? Tracfone
Your Hair? ponytail
Your Mother? Gone
Your Father? Gone
Your Favorite Food? strawberries
Your Dream Last Night? riding
Your Favorite Drink? Pepsi
Your Dream/Goal? Trailriding
What Room Are You In? computer-room
Your Hobby? riding
Your Fear? Falling
Where Do You See Yourself In Six Years? farm
Where Were You Last Night? Home
Something That You Aren't? thin!
Muffins? cornmeal
Wish List Item? barn-new
Where Did You Grow Up? Ohio
Last Thing You Did? baking
What Are You Wearing? sweats
Your TV? on
Your Pets? Many
Friends? Few
Your Life? Simple
Your Mood? happy
Missing Someone? Sure
Vehicle? Subaru/Outback
Something You Aren't Wearing? slippers
Your Favorite Store? Tack
Your Favorite Color? olive/green
When Was The Last Time You Laughed? Morning
Last Time You Cried? Weeks
Your Best Friend? Mike
One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? barn
Facebook? Yes
Twitter? Yes
Favorite Place To Eat? EmpireBuffet

And I choose:

Kacy

Jennifer

Sarah

Tracey

Oz Girl

Hope you all have fun with this!!!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Grey Horse rug finished

Here is the grey horse rug finished! Yay! I got it steamed and pressed last night; today got the binding on as I sit and watched "National Velvet" with Elizabeth Taylor!! What a great old movie, then I started watching "International Velvet" but didn't get all the way through it, tomorrow.

Someone asked me if this rug was for sale, yes it is. The rug measures 17x17 inches and is $350.00. Yes these rugs are pricey and I thought that I would post on here just what goes into making a rug like this. I send this along with a purchased rug.

Creating a Folk Art Hooked Rug

When my grandmother made rugs she tore old clothes into strips then used scissors to cut them into smaller pieces to be hooked into a burlap foundation such as feed sacks. She then drew a design of a house, beloved pet or something that was of importance to her, on the foundation. These rugs were to be used on the floor and not considered works of art. Today, the rugs that have survived are considered works of primitive art and are much loved and sought after by people like myself who are continuing the tradition of rug hooking.

My rugs are inspirations come from many places, things from my past, things I see everyday, family stories and of course the beautiful old time worn rugs of the past. The idea is sketched on paper and worked until it is just right. The pattern is then traced over with a black felt tipped pen; next nylon netting is used to cover the design and then traced with the black pen again. The netting now has the permanent pattern and will be laid over the backing; linen. The pattern is again traced through the netting onto the backing.

Before hooking the rug, the wool must be prepared for hooking. The wool is washed in a warm water in the washing machine; then dried in the dryer, then stored until time to dye it. The wool is wet before dying with a small solution of liquid soap to help it take up the dye. After soaking for several hours or over night the wool is ready to be dyed. The powdered dye, one color or several, is mixed together in a cup of boiling water, stirred until the crystals are dissolved. This is then added to a pot of very hot water and must be mixed well. To get the mottled primitive look, the wool is wrung out slightly and added, crumpled and scrunched to the dye pot;about one yard of wool. After “cooking” the wool for 30 minutes, 1/3 cup of vinegar is added to set the color. Wool is cooked another 30 minutes until all the dye is absorbed. The pot is then cooled; wool is taken out and rinsed well. The wool is put back into the washer and rinsed and spun out then back into the dryer. When it comes out this time it is the beautiful old antique/muted looking wool ready to be used in a hooked rug.

Wool is now selected from all the colors to be hooked into the desired pattern. After the selection is made the wool is torn into 4” wide strips to be run through the wool stripper. This machine cuts two strips of ¼” wide pieces. Although sometimes I prefer to tear the wool into ½” strips then cut (with scissors) into ¼” strips; this gives the rug a more antique look because the strips are a little more uneven.

The backing is stretched over a hooking frame and the process of hooking begins. Loops are pulled up through the backing from underneath with a wood handled hook. I use a #3 steel crocket hook set in a wood turned handle. The loops are pulled up through every second or third hole until the design is full. The loops are about ¼” or higher; all cut ends are pulled up to the front of the rug where they are snipped off even with the pulled loops. There are no loose ends of wool on the back of the rug. It takes many long hours to hook a rug depending on the design. The more detailed the design the longer the hooking time.
When finished hooking the rug is now ready for steaming; a cotton cloth is dampened with water then laid over the rug. Using a steam iron on wool setting steam rug all over, rewetting cloth as needed. Rug is steamed on front and back, then blocked and set to dry overnight. After drying overnight the excess backing is trimmed off the press under; then stitched down. Cotton rug binding is stitched close to the wool loops, the corners mitered and the inner edge of the binding is stitched down. The rug is then signed, dated and numbered.

To clean your hooked rug; vacuum regularly if rug is on floor; DO NOT use a rotary carpet sweeper, this could pull out the loops! Use a small drapery head attachment to sweep rug gently. Rugs that are hung or displayed on a table need only light sweeping from time to time to remove dust. DO NOT expose rug to direct sunlight! This will cause the rug to fade! To store rug, roll loosely with the loops outside; never store in plastic, this will cause the rug to mold. If something is spilled on the rug, blot up immediately with a white cloth. To clean, mix 1 teaspoon of Woolite, 1 teaspoon white vinegar and 1 quart of warm water. Dampen a white cloth and blot stain, let dry. I’ve also heard that rubbing alcohol can be used to clean a pet stain by blotting on and letting dry. Always test on a small corner. I’ve never tried either of these methods of cleaning, this is just a suggestion. You could contact a dry cleaner that knows how to clean wool rugs.

I hope this will help you to understand how these rugs are made. There is a part of me in each rug I hook. This is my passion; designing and hooking 19th century style rugs. I hope you enjoy the rug you have purchased and it will bring you many years of pleasure. With good care, this rug can be passed down for generations to enjoy.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Power outage and snow

Woke up Saturday morning to a very dark house. The power was off!!! There was about 8 inches of heavy wet snow on the ground and power lines down, trees down, oh, what fun.
We have a big generator so we were OK and two space heaters in the house that run without electric. Mike just had to go to the building to power up the generator.

The first picture was taken yesterday afternoon, beautiful blue skies and some sunshine that the boys had to nap in the sun. Still cold out though but beautiful!
The one above was taken this afternoon when it started to snow again. When I snapped this one the snow looked like huge down feathers floating down out of the sky. Then it started raining! UGH! We are supposed to have freezing rain then more snow up to 8 more inches....enough already!

This was taken on Saturday, the trees were coated with ice and then snow. Click on the picture above to see the trees that are bent over and look like willow trees. I don't know how many tress came down.

The solar candles hanging on the hooks were blown sideways by the wind then froze that way. As the snow piled up. The wind was blowing from behind the house, which was strange; it usually comes down the creek.

As the day warmed up a bit the snow started sliding off the steel roof, hitting the second roof with a thud! (this was taken from our bedroom window.)

Above is my road cleaning crew of one. Mike and his tractor and blade; he hasn't been out on the tractor for awhile so he was having fun cleaning the driveway and the road in front of the house and buildings.
The power was off for 35 hours, I hope that this storm won't take down any power lines.
Oh, yes, the rug is finished but I have to steam it and bind it, then I will post the finished work.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Grey Horse in progress

Here is more of the rug finished. I have worked on it all day, off and on. Had to take time out to feed the boys, take the dogs out, eat....you know.... stuff!
I won't get to work on it as much tomorrow, will be out of the house in the afternoon but it's coming along pretty well and should be done before too much longer.

I've been busy "hooking"....

Where have I been lately? Hooking....(a rug!) Thought I meant something else didn't ya??? LOL
The one above is a rug I hooked for Lisa Dee of Vista Caballo ranch of her quarter horse Miss Hamoki Banks. At her web site you can see the picture of Miss Banks that I used; she is standing in a field of tall grass. This small rug is 9x13 inches hooked on linen backing.

This is the rug I am working on now. It's 17x17 inches, no ones horse in particular, just came out of my head. Not sure of the rest of the colors that will be in the rug, will post as I move along on it. Sometimes these rugs just pick their own colors and I just hook them.

A close up of the head, but click on the photos to see them larger. I try to hook the lines of wool in the direction of the hair, muscles and bone structure of the horse. I have done some horse portrait rugs for people and will have my web site up soon. Will post when it's up so you can go take a peek.

Back to hooking and watching old westerns, YAY, lots of horses to see there! How great is this, to get to work and watch movies too??? Wonderful!

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