Sad Summer

Here's one good thing about this otherwise Sad Summer - Nutty is finished.  This is a pattern by Cactus Needle.  If ya like it and wanna make it... look for it on Nola Heidbreder's site www.nolahooks.com.  (Pattern name is Nutty.)  I saw this rug in Nola's booth at the Lenexa Hook-in and loved it.  I pretty much plagiarized her color plan except my squirrels are gray, I used lime green and turquoise along the bottom and I embellished the squirrel tails with a bit with color. 

I don't always start a rug knowing where I will put it, especially smaller rugs.  I think it is fun to walk around the house trying the rug in different places.  I think Nutty will live right here on my library table.

 

Here's another shot that shows the whole table.  We looked for years for just the right table for the center of this room.  Mike came home one day and said he thought he had found one - and he had!!!

 

 Here are the two latest additions to my library.  Combustion Engineering and Engineering Metallurgy.  Pretty far from rug hooking you say???  They are textbooks my Dad used when he was a student at the University of Kansas after WWII.  He received a degree from KU in Mechanical Engineering.  We lost Dad on June 21st.  Sad Summer.

At his memorial service we had 8 large boards full of photos of Dad.  We are so lucky to have so many pictures - even from a long time ago!  Here he is around age 11 or 12.  Too bad there was no color photography to show his bright red hair sticking out under his cap.

 

Here he is in the Navy during WWII (I added his name to this...yes,  Kelly Green.)

A few years ago...  wearing his ever-present white baseball cap and his beloved KU Jayhawk.

In 2009, Dad, Mike and I took a trip to Cooperton, OK to see the farmstead of Dad's grandparents.  I have heard stories about this place my entire life, but we had no idea if anything would still be there.  I can not adequately describe the thrill of driving up the road and seeing the remains of the stone house off in the distance.  It was like part of my family history coming to life right before my eyes.  My great-grandfather built the house in the late 1800's.  There was no running water or electricity.  They raised seven kids here - one of whom was my grandfather.  

Dad and I standing on the back porch...

 

  Dad always took an interest in things I did - including crafty things.  Years ago, a quilt I made was going to be displayed in a quilt show at Crown Center in Kansas City.  I was getting ready to put my name on it and he asked me to be sure to include my maiden name (Green).  Of course I did, and I often put that "G" in my initials when I use initials.  Now I always will.

Sad Summer.  

Farmers desperately need rain (too late now to save many crops).  

100+ degrees every darn day - it's relentless.
Very bad year in the garden - half as many daylilies as usual. 

Missing my Dad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a happier note:  I'm off to Alaska in 9 days.  My first time there.

  I am looking forward to a

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." 

moment, and hope it will last for two weeks!

I'll take some pics to share with you when I get back.