It's Been A While

I am no longer a regular writer on this blog.  It doesn't really interest me as it once did. 

Yes, I am a hermit, a curmudgeon, and I like living in a peaceful routine of my own choosing.

Sometimes I am pulled away by others.  Sometimes I am pulled away by things I read or see or hear. 

For the most part Noodles and I are peacefully co-existing in our lives together.  (He is in my lap now as I type).

I have a friend that is a little off center.  She has had a very traumatized life and she does not deal with it well.  She and I met some friends yesterday, and today she has built a part of the conversation into a conspiracy to prevent her from learning something or getting something - or something.  She called this a.m. to discuss her feelings.  It took quite some time for me to understand what she was talking about.  I clarified what I heard in the conversation. 

It also made me realize that my life is simple, peaceful, and not quite so dramatic. For that I am most grateful.

I am presently knitting Persian Dreams.  It is a series of hexagons that are knit in color work.  Each is different.  Each is designed to represent Persian tiles.  My hex's don't look like tiles.  They are just pretty.  I have completed six, and #7 is on the needles.

I have also started a jacket made with handspun.  I like it.  It is squishy and soft and rather pretty.  I am not sure it would make anyone else happy, but it is making me happy making it.

I am also knitting a ripple blanket using six colors.  I also like it.  I don't know who sill get it when it is done.  Of course, I spent a long time the other night un-knitting (tinking) six rows to find a mistake.  I never found the mistake, but my numbers were right.  So I started knitting again.  It is coming out correct this time.  I have made up the part that I tinked.

I have also discovered some pretty purple-ly merino that I had in the drawer.  After I divided it out, I have spun and plied one skein.  It is time to get to the next bit so I can finish out the roving.  I love the colors in this one.

I have listed to several books on tape while I have knit, spun, and rested my eyes with a warm compress.  I am into some of the J.A. Jance books I haven't read.  I also have a new Hamish McBeth mystery audiobook on Hold at the library.  When I checked tonight I am next on the list.  It has been two months since I placed it on hold.  I continue to read my Kindle at night before bed.

I have been preparing for winter, and today was "drying apples" day.  I like to snack on the dried apples, but they are also good in oatmeal.  I have made apple butter.  Applesausce is next.  I think I still have one container in the freezer that needs to be eaten soon.

I have been cleaning gutters, trimming trees away from the house, and trying to get things done that have to get done before cold.  I did get the furnace checked and ready.  I still have to put the stuff in the gas tanks of the mowers that keeps them from separating and the water freezing.  Whatever that is called.  There are some plants I need to transplant.  Nothing urgent now.  Just a few chores.

I guess I can say that my life is moving slowly and steadily.  Nothing earth shaking going on.  I still don't know exactly what the phone call was about this a.m.  I just listened and didn't try to stir the pot too much. 

I found a light blue cashmere scarf at a thrift store, and I am studying it.  I think I need to dye it somehow.  Don't know yet.

My neighbor has started some of us making quilts for the new children's hospital scheduled to open next year.  I pulled out my "cat prints" and I have tons.  I think I can make at least one, maybe two.  I am going to make courthouse steps quilt as you go.  It is easy once the pieces are cut and prepped. 

So sorry I haven't care enough to write.  Really there is nothing exciting going on.  Just routine chores and knitting and spinning, and sewing going on.  I will say it is time to prepare for winter, although it is 80 degrees outside tomorrow.  It won't last.

Happy Full Moon.  Enjoy the moonlight and thank Grandmother Moon for blessing us tonight.

A Whole Lot Nothing Going On!

I guess we sailed through May.  Perhaps literally.  I think that was the wettest May in a long, long time.  Luckily I live on a dried up hillside of carst limestone.  It all percolates down and filters into the aquifer.

Then June arrived, still coolish and wet.  The second week of June, summer arrived with heat advisories and the meteorologists talking about dew points and humidity.  Thank the man who invented air conditioning. 

Of course, there is absolutely NOTHING on t.v., so a lot of time is spent reading and listening to audiobooks.  Netflix is not all that interesting either.  I love to spin while listening to an audiobook.  I find that I continue the practice while I am knitting in the evenings.

My health is finally almost back to normal.  I am getting more yard work accomplished, and the yard is fairly trimmed.  I know it isn't to my neighbor's standards, but I am pleased at the work I have accomplished this season.  The sad thing is the push mower I use for trim work is deceased.  It didn't survive hitting the crosstie.  I did buy a new battery for the weedeater, and it is working like a charm.

I am noticing that I don't seem to have a lot of honeybees.  Most bumblebees.  Hmmm. I also don't have a lot of hummigbirds.  The downy woodpeckers drink more syrup than anyone.

The feral cat that was eating me out of house and home found the cat door last winter.  I started locking the outside door on the porch to keep him from coming in the house, eating, and spraying.  Of course, now that summer is here, Noodles wants to go out and be in the cool hunting time of the night.  He yowls and protests and tries so hard to get me to let him OUT!  Even though he is almost sixteen years old, he is an active hunter.  He also still fights and he and Mr. Stinky got into a fight the other day.  I try to explain to him that if he gets an infection from the nasty cat, he could get very sick.  He just yowls.

I have slowed my knitting on the Fisherman Kep.  I am knitting a pair of socks for someone and I want to get those done.  I don't know why I have such a hard time with the second sock.  It isn't Second Sock Syndrome.  It is more like, "This is boring, I just want to get this done, why isn't it going faster, oops, that doesn't look right, " and then I slow down.

That leads me to all these internal dialogs one has with oneself.  I find that I talk a lot to myself, I comment to myself all the time, and I find that I have to be really careful when I am in the grocery store.  Sometimes I suddenly realize I am singing out loud to the music overhead and discussing my grocery list with myself.  I only realize it when someone is staring at me.  Oh, well.

I haven't been dyeing.  I want to set up an indigo dyepot, but my get up and go hasn't gotten up yet.
I talked to CP from my LYS about sprinkle or speckle dyeing.  Maybe I should do some for her.  I think I will call her next week.  Maybe that will get me going.

I have been doing a bit more sketching.  I am following a class online, and that is fun.  I also have been doing a bit more weaving. 

Although it seems I have a lot of things going on, I don't seem to be getting anything done.  I think it is part of the summer time heat doldrums.  I don't know that I need an excuse, tho'.

My friend CJE has made a most beautiful jacket from her handwoven fabric.  It is a challenge piece from an exchange within the guild.  I think she did a really great job.  I am rather envious that she can see the project completed and done.  She can use it when she goes to Sante Fe.

My friend Beth Brown-Reinsel is teaching at the Taos Wool Festival this year.  So we have plans of meeting up and visiting for a coupla days.  I am really looking forward to that.  It will be a fun trip.

So I guess that sorta catches me up.  I feel like a slug because I am not getting a lot done.  I am happy to be able to still manage my yard work.  That is satisfying.  I will finish the second sock this week.  I will start decreasing on my Kep.  So I do have goals that are manageable. 

Stay cool.  Stay happy.  Stay healthy.

Flooring, Cleaning, and First Weavings

My neighbors have generously offered their old flooring when they replace with new flooring.  It is laminate, yes, but they have cared for it and it is still in great shape.  It is a floating floor, which is nice.  I know 15 years ago I would have installed it myself.  I will now explain why I am going to hire an installer.

Last evening I went over to their house, retrieved the measurements of their rooms - yes rooms- and I roughly estimated my rooms.  I think I have enough for all three bedrooms, my studio room, and both bathrooms.  Yes-all that!

I stood in my studio space and just sighed.  It is so crowded and junked up.  I have been procrastinating organizing and doing a good cleaning.  Hmmmph!  Now I will do for a reason.  I think I am going to do some purging of fleeces and some of the wool I keep ignoring.  It is time.  I am going to pack all the books so they will be easily handled.  The shelving can be taken apart.  Sigh!

So I started today on my bedroom.  There are only three pieces of furniture and a stool.  I put all the books that were under the nightstand in a box.  I finally got the chest of drawers unearthed.  I moved it into the sewing room. 

I washed my sample piece of overshot I had on the nightstand.  I don't remember a story to go with it.  I held onto it because it is pretty.  Just a sample.

Sample

The one piece of weaving I do remember a story is the Navaho woven piece.  It is a "first weaving"  I was at a labor day event.  While wandering around the vendors I saw a Navaho lady with her rugs.  She seemed out of place with all the kitch stuff surrounding her booth.  I started talking to her.  I kept looking at a weaving.  "Oh, you don't want that.  It's a first weaving."   I told her that was why I wanted it.  The beating is uneven, the edges aren't straight, and the pattern is basically a simple geometric. 



It is very, very stiff.  It is standing up all by itself for the picture.

I am having a terrible time with Blogger today.  Oh, well, I just wanted to share these two simple weavings-one is mine, one is a "first weaving" of an unknown weaver.

I did get three skeins of yarn dyed.  It was a mess for two days.  I like the cheery Pantone color of the year.  I would not have known that, but fortunately there are people on Facebook who follow those things. 





I also wanted to share a picture of the roadrunner on the roof, but I am having a terrible time posting pictures today.  I was in the back yard, heard him call, looked around, and there he was.  He was cuckooing for love.  He and I had a great conversation until he finally left.  I am sure he went over to the neighbors and visited them.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I Have Almost Recuperated

This past week I have had to ride a roller coaster of emotions and deep down feelings about blood family, obligation to said family, and solutions to these rambling regurgitations of memories.

For the most part I have settled my Life to have my chosen family and my chosen circle of friends. I do talk to the older brother periodically.  It is to assuage his feelings that he is the elder in the family and he should know what is going on.  He knows me, but he doesn't know who I really am or what I really do.

So I found out that my younger brother has not been "doing well" through a Facebook message from his wife.  Essentially this has been going on for a while, but he was getting worse.  So she took him to the ER and they admitted him to the hospital.  He had a stroke.  At the discharge I found out this is his second stroke.  The undiagnosed stroke evidently occurred 4 or 5 years ago when I questioned K. She said that was when he changed.

I will not go into the details of everything.  It is too boring to talk about how to educate the spouse about the changes that occur with strokes.  Luckily he did not have hemiplegia.  I did assess his basic ADL's and he was able to dress, shower, brush his teeth, and shave with an electric razor.  He tied his shoelaces.  His greatest loss is cognitive.  He has a flat expression on his face.  I am not sure about his ability to read and comprehend.  This brother was the brainiac in the family.  He was reading Edgar Rice Burroughs at age 6. 

So I visited with my former SIL AT one night.  She is in a great depression since her husband's death last Fall.  The next night I stayed with R and H and their two dogs.  That was joyful and made me very happy to see their Life.

I essentially was comatose on Friday.  I almost fell asleep in the lounge chair around three o'clock.  I couldn't think.  I just managed to be awake, eat, and then back to sleep.  I tried to follow my normal routine. 

Yesterday was a joyful day of seeing some friends from the weaving guild celebrate their first book signing.  They researched coverlets, blankets and quilts in the archives of the Shiloh Museum in Springdale.  They published a book through the museum.  It took three years for the book to be birthed- that's including their time in research.

My friend CJE came over early, we ate lunch, and then we went to the museum to watch the opening.  It was a fun day.  I finally feel like I am back on schedule.

Noodles is happy to have his slave back to follow his feeding schedule.  And to have someone open and close doors-even though he has the cat door.  And to have someone to warm up his feet when he has been outside and he is cold.

The birds are ecstatic to have their feeders filled.  I noticed that the cardinals are eating suet along with the woodpeckers.  I guess egg laying is happening.

The weather has turned again to cold.  It was strange to be in Little Rock in 87 degrees in March.  Everything was in bloom, including the azaleas.  I noticed as I drove down I-49 it was gray and wintry looking.  There were pockets of white from the early bloomers.  By the time I got to Ozark on I-40 things were greener.  By the time I got to Clarksville it was green everywhere.  It was such a difference than up here in the mountains. 

My redbuds in the front are in full bloom.  The ones in back are partially open.  There was a Facebook memory posted today from 3 years ago.  My redbuds were just showing pink and were still in tight bud.  So we are early this year.

I am spinning the prettiest blue targhee yarn.  It is a mixture of pale to dark blues and some golden yellow mixed in.  It is making me happy to watch the colors develop.

My knitting is flagging.  I am on the second sock for K.  I just got the yarn I ordered for my friend O's socks.  I think I am going to start knitting squares for a blanket.  I don't want another sweater right now.  I don't need another hat.  I don't need another scarf.  I am not motivated to do a lot.

I am binding the quilted table mat for H and R.  I thought I would finish it while I was in Little Rock.  I didn't.  They are remodeling their kitchen.  So this will be a little something for them.

I am getting interested in dyeing soon.  As the warm weather approaches, my interest rises.  I saw some pretty indigo dyed pieces on Facebook, and that gets me excited.  It is almost time to dye. Come on warm weather.

So today I get back to walking.  I have missed walking every day.  I just couldn't do it the last two days.  Today I feel as if I am almost recuperated from my discombobulating week.  Surely my days will return to the same boring routine that I have established as my normal life.

February Has Two Birthdays in My Family!

Before I rush off to discuss my family, I just want to give a shout out to a movie on Netflix- Evening.  I had never heard of it, but since it has so many notable names (Vanessa Redgrave and Meryl Streep) I had to watch it.  OMG!  This was the best movie.  I think I could watch it again if I had to.  Why has no one mentioned this movie?

I am really excited about something I purchased last week.  India Flint has spent the summer in Australia thinking of ways to reach people that want to know more about her work.  She knows that folks just can't afford to jet around to places where she teaches.  Most of her workshops in the US and Canada are sold out in hours.  There is only so much one can absorb with books.  Yes, dyeing is practice and practice and practice.  So first off- she set up a private group on Facebook and newest info is posted there.  It is a fast way to get information disseminated.  Then she has created a new card game for dyers.  It is four sets of ten cards.  Three sets will have words or instructions printed on them.  The fourth is for notes or whatever we want to put on them.  When she received them from her printer, she then dyed on a whole lot of them.  That is cool too.  She said the person could use them like a tarot reading-pull one card from each pile.  Then figure out how to use that info.  Or one could just pull one card and do that activity.  The fun will begin soon.  She is preparing them for mailing out on February 29.  She is wrapping the sets in a piece of cloth that she will have dyed.  They are placed in a cardboard box for shipping.  She wanted to do a small wooden box, but the postal service told her she would have to go through a lot of customs crap declaring what is in the box, etc.  She also added an option of a dyed silk scarf for an additional fee.  I chose not to get that.

I think I mentioned that I am trying to walk every day.  My friend CJE gave me a FitBit primarily to monitor my heart rate.  I find that it does not record every step I am taking on the treadmill.  I tried to discuss this with the company without any success.  Nonetheless, it has been entertaining to view my sleep habits and the steps I take.  I am trying unsuccessfully to pay attention to the weight part.  With my history of anorexia, I am really not supposed to even use a scale.  Since I have been dealing with this for over 45 years, I think I can handle weighing once a week.  The weight is not as important to me as the Lean vs Fat part.  I really need to lose some fat.  Don't we all?

I did a strange thing this week.  I decided to go to Devil's Den State Park.  I walked a trail that  I always walk- and that I haven't had any difficulty with- because it is a loop trail.  It is only 1.5 miles. Perfect for a day that was in the 50's.  I really didn't think anything about the fact that it is a mountainous terrain-lots of up and down and roots and rocks and there were downed trees to climb over.  I got about halfway when my gas ran out.  It was a lot of sputtering and then boom! no more gas.  I leaned up against a tree thinking about my options.  Essentially it was a lot of pep talking to myself.  "you got yourself in this, now get yourself out"  "I got down here and I have to get up there" and looking up the bluff line.    As I was climbing up the rock steps to the top of the bluff, I would say "one step at a time"  "one step at a time"  rest, rest, rest  "one step at a time".

Once I was back at the car and leaning on the head rest, I had to plan how quickly I could find something to eat.  I was thinking I needed fuel.  I stopped at McDonald's and got an egg mcmuffin.  They are 300 calories with some protein in it.

After I am home for perhaps 30 minutes, I think that my blood pressure must be sky rocketing.  My ears are ringing.  No-my blood pressure was actually Hypotensive.   So this was perhaps one hour after my episode.  I wonder what my blood pressure had been when I was leaning on the tree wondering how I was going to get back to the car? 

The other thing is my FitBit gave me a badge because I had climbed 25 flights of stairs. 

Well, my body is beginning to fall apart.  I just have a hard time changing with this. 

Now to family matters.  My brother's birthday is next week.  My little grand-nephew's birthday is in 18 days.  Hmmm.

I had a dream about my brother's dog.  We had a great conversation about her sailboat with two sails and how much fun she has sailing.  So I started painting a picture of this for my brother.  I spent the best part of two days working and I hated it.  It was AWFUL!  So this morning I put aside the stupid board I was painting on.  I pulled out a sheet of my watercolor paper.  I did a fast sketch and I loved it.  It was whimsical and obviously just a sketch.  Not a painting-just a quick sketch.  I also wrote a short story of our conversation about sailing.  So those are now packaged with a note explaining it. On the outside of the note I wrote From Sukie and Judy.

.I like it.  It is silly and funny all at the same time.

MH will be getting a hat from me.  He is at the age that he will probably pull it off.  I just thought he needed a new hat when they go to Colorado.  I have to find him a new book too.  That's what Aunties provide.  Knitwear and books.  Ha!

I am still spinning the mystery brown stuff.  I am still knitting my girlfriend's socks.  I haven't touched that last sleeve on my sweater that is taking too long. 

I also have not woven.  I made a promise to weave every day.  Hasn't happened.  I had another one of my memory jumps this week.  I remember when I was wanting to weave Josef Albers color studies to demonstrate how color works differently with fiber vs. painting.  That was nixed by my art advisor.  I don't know if that shipped has sailed.  I don't know if it is something that still needs to be done.  I just don't know.  Too much happened this week after that epiphany.  I will have to think on it.

I watched a wonderful video with Susun Weed about Artemis Vulgaris-Croneswort.  Most folk call it Mugwort.  Susun's plants told her it does not like to be called Mugwort.  It makes one think of drinking from a mug.  I think I will have to go to YouTube and watch more of her videos.  She is a wonderful storyteller.  She also said that was how people knew where the herbalist lived.  There would be Croneswort growing right by the door.  When folk moved to the city, they would hang the dried plant by the door or paint a picture of it on their door.  I have it growing by my back step.  I have had these plants for at least 20+ years.

Herbs are such wonderful plants.  They have been around for a lot longer than pharmaceuticals have.  It's too bad that alternative medicine is not given more credit. 

Well, I have chattered a long, long time today.  Enjoy the sunshine.  It is a beautiful weekend.

A Random Day-A Random Friday!

Isn't Life the strangest thing?  I can wake up groggily determined that this is going to be the most productive day of my Life.  Then somewhere when the fog clears and I look at the clock and it is 11:00 AM.  Where did the morning go?  I should have a lot of things to account for the time, but there isn't anything to mark the time.

I do start every morning with feeding Noodles and the birds.  He will never ever give me slack about that.  He will yowl loudly if I don't get a move on.  The birds are not so insistent this week. On cold, yucky days they are clamoring over each other to get to the feeders.

We have had the most delightful week of nice weather.  I know it seems that during the winter I complain a lot about the cold, the yuck, the wind, whatever is happening.  This week I wish to declare that it has been a delightful week.  Especially since it is January and it is so nice.  There is wind, yes, but there is sunshine!

I am slowly gaining ground on the second sock for my friend.  I did not touch it once yesterday.  It is a slow down kind of week.  Just sit in the sunshine and warm up the bones kind of week.

It is a week like this that there is hope for Spring.  Of course, I am realistic that winter will return next week.  I have had a glimpse of Spring and I will cling to that.

I always, always have such high hopes for yard work about this time of year.  There is so much to do and so much work, but I am eager to begin.  I won't uncover the hollyhocks yet, nor will I cut all the little weeds.  I wonder why I have so much hemlock in the yard?  I don't think I have ever lived anywhere that there is so much.  The bachelor buttons are popping up in the yard already.  Green onions are sending out shoots. My garlic has tall shoots too.  A friend said he saw Spring Beauties.  It is way, way, way too early for those.

I have started spinning some wool that is a mystery wool.  It was supposed to be Polworth, but it isn't.  It is a short fiber, very soft, and a wonderful chocolate brown natural color. It will be pretty, no matter what it is. 

I have been watching PBS videos while I spin.  It is amazing what one can find on their web page.  I can't get PBS on my t.v. for some reason.  So I enjoy some of the current shows a few days later than they air.  But I love the archived videos just as much. 

My sweater that is taking too long is lingering again.  I really should just get that sleeve finished.  Sigh!  See-nothing done today!

I will have to run a couple of errands, so I will try to sit down this afternoon and get that second sock cuff finished.  That is my goal today.

I have to find a way to reconcile my time on Facebook.  It is a black hole that can suck away a day.

My friend CJE is friending me now on Blogger.  Thanks for your support.

India Flint is creating a wonderful kit in lieu of a workshop.  I ordered one.  She is mailing it out on the 29th of Feb to everyone that orders.  A great thing for a Leap Year gift.  I have been itching to dye something.  This will be a jump start-maybe.

Well, have a great weekend.  Get out in the sunshine and enjoy it while it happens.  Screw "should" and "would".  I am going to enjoy the day of warmth and sunshine first.  Then I will knit or spin.

Is It Fall Yet?

I have been mosey-ing along through summer.  It got really hot for a while.  Our normal heat plus humidity.  It is the kind of weather that makes one sit in air conditioning and try not to think about our ancestors sweltering in layers of clothes and unable to breathe properly.

Then in August we had a cool snap.  Normally in August it is HOT and 100% humidity.  I was able to turn off the a/c for a while.  The nights actually got down into the 50's on some nights.  This is unheard of where we live.  No one, and I mean no one, has ever imagined an August like the one we have had the last two weeks. 

Today the heat is back on; the a/c is turned on. 

I have had a lot of stuff happen at one time.  Since I retired, I don't do catastrophe well.  I get a bit melodramatic-the woe is me routine.  No one cared.  It's nice to have friends that just shrug and move on. 

My riding lawn mower died right at the end of a row I was mowing.  I made myself finish the mowing with the push mower.  That nearly killed me.  I find that my heart rate fluctuates wildly when I am hot, tired, exasperated, and mad.  Sears will send someone out to take care of your mower for a very hefty sum.  It also takes about two weeks or so to get in queue. 

Then I stepped out on the deck in back and thought that something wasn't right.  I went under a little ways and could see the support board was katty-wancuss.  I don't know how to spell that.  Phonetics are good for some things; others not so good.  When I returned on top, it was with a LOT of dismay that I saw that the deck was actually pulling away from the wall of the house. 

Then when I really looked, I saw the reason it was pulling away from the house.  The boards it was attached to were rotted and ant filled.  I don't mean a few little ants.  I mean ant filled.  I called my handyman service, and they sent someone out within a few days to inspect and give me an estimate. I also called the termite inspector to come out and inspect for termites.

So after a long drawn out ordeal, two men jacked up the deck, replaced the support wall, reattached the deck properly, replaced some siding , and left me with a secure and badly scarred up deck.  This Fall I have to seal it for winter time. 

The mower gets fixed in another week or so.  So I had to hire someone to mow and trim.

Money is precious to me.  I hate to splurge on things like house repairs.  Sigh!  More drama.

My SIL lost her husband a week ago.  It was very sudden and unexpected.  I have called her a few times to check up on her.  I guess I will have to visit in Fall.

I have finished the pretty green yarn that I was spinning.  It was dyed with tansy.  I am now knitting my indigo yarn.  It actually started as an experiment with prickly pear and that went wrong immediately.  So I rinsed that off and tucked it in the indigo bucket.  It will be pretty when finished. On the electric spinner I am still spinning the green dyed with redbud leaves.

I finally got the yoke increased on the raglan sweater and the sleeves taken off to waste yarn.  It is just a basic sweater and nothing fancy.  I am knitting a pair of socks that have been promised to my niece.  I am using the Monkey pattern for those.  The stranded work got put on time out for a while. I have cast on 450 stitches to make a linen stitch scarf. 

I have a pretty tapestry going on the loom.  I feel overwhelmed at times, so I have dragged my feet on that.  I dreamed one night that I was told to "Follow the line."  I had an art instructor that used to tell us that all the time.  If we sat too long staring he would nudge us with "Just follow the line". 

So nothing else too new.  My niece and her man have finally set a date for the wedding.  I look forward to going to Florida in April.  I will be really sick to death of winter by then.

Keeping busy, but nothing earth shaking to report.  I had the goats out to clear some of the brush on the west side.  I hear geese overhead periodically, although it is far too early for that.  The robins have moved back to bulk up for their journey to wherever they go.  The hummingbirds are feeding well.  A noisy wren is setting up camp in the back.

The chives and the mint are all that are blooming.  Usual end of summer routine.

Sorry to not write more often.  Just nothing happening around here.  Next time.

Well-It Is July Again!

This has been a most peculiar summer.  After our most peculiar Spring, here comes peculiar summer.  We have had a LOT of rain, thunder boomers, floods, and HIGH grass.  Everything is LUSH and GREEN.  Normally by this time things are beginning to get browner and drier.  Mowing slows down.  It is unbearably HOT and HUMID.  So along comes the rain this year and cooler temps.  But now-July has returned.  HOT and HUMID has returned.  AC is turned on.  Fans are circulating the air. 

I have gone completely off my rocker this time.  I found a wonderful Leclerc Tissart Tapestry Loom on the internet.  These looms are no longer being made.  I emailed the lady and asked if it was still available, etc.  She replied it was and that there was one other person interested.  I told her to invoice me through PayPal and that I would drive up to Kansas City and pick it up.  I never heard another word from her.  I tried three times-no response.  So I decided it was the universe telling me I didn't really need this new complication in my life. 

I continued to look at tapestries on Pinterest; I lurked around looking at tapestry weaver's blogs; I read about techniques.  It has been MANY years since I have done anything like this.  I became a little bit obsessive, but realistic that my skills are really rusty. 

Suddenly another Tissart loom was offered through one of my groups on Facebook.  I emailed the guy, and we discussed a price and I said I would come on Wednesday to pick it up.  Tuesday my friend CJE and I drove through a horrible flood and thunderstorm to get out of Arkansas.  We drove to Lawrence and spent some time at the Yarn Barn in Lawrence KS.  We spent the night and the next morning we toodled over to the yarn shop in Holton, KS to pick up the new loom. 

CJE drove over on Thursday to help me put it together.  It took a little bit of puzzle making, but it actually went together pretty easily.  I have rubbed it down with Howards Wax and Oil and cleaned it  up.  I have tied up the treadles.  Now I am waiting for the warp thread to arrive.  I am playing with ideas for a design.  I put it in my spinning room because that room has a higher ceiling than any other room.  It is pretty large.

I am plying my redbud leaf colored yarn on the treadle wheel.  I am spinning the tansy leaf colored yarn on the electric spinner.  Lovely greens.  So pretty.  Green is all around us right now. 

Noodles has really slowed down lately.  He is showing his age.  He is inside more than normal enjoying less humidity in the house.  He is really hanging onto me more since he is the only fur person now.

Last night a raccoon decided to investigate the recycle box.  I finally opened the door and told it to go away.  It just looked at me, blinked and waddled a little bit away.  I finally had to step out on the deck and shoo it away.  I am sure it came back to finish its forage plan.

The goats were to arrive this week, but the rain last week has delayed things.  I cannot believe how thick my honeysuckle jungle has gotten with all the rain.  I hope these goats can give me some relief from the thickness and the encroachment on the yard.

I got my yard mowed, but it looks like a hay field.  It is pretty sad looking this year.  The grass is very thick and it holds water a long time after a rain.  I had frogs running like crazy when I was mowing next to the fence on the east side.  It was very swampy there.

I am still knitting on my handspun shawl.  I love the colors in this piece.  I am also knitting on the Sanquhar scarf sampler.  I decided to knit a hexagon last night and see if I like the pattern.  I don't want to start a new project, but I was bored.  I also have some new sock yarns that are gorgeous.  I haven't been knitting so many socks as before, but these yarns are great colors.

My dyeing has slowed to nothing.  I haven't been feeding the indigo pot.  I have been busy making quick trips to Kansas and doing crazy things.

Yesterday was RC's birthday.  He is 42 years old this year.  It is so hard for me to imagine that.

I guess that is all for this little start of July.  Hot has returned.  Things are starting to dry up.  AC on. Staying in except early morning and late,late evening.  Reading, knitting, spinning to fill up time.

Blogger Is Maybe Working

I have been using Blogger for a long time now.  Sometimes it gets a glitch from somewhere.  Hopefully today it will go through. 

I have been busy this week dyeing with my indigo pot.  The dress is an old one of mine that I normally just wear around the house.  It has been overdyed twice before.  The dye before this one was orange, and it shows through the indigo.  I have mended the holes and it is ready for around the house wear again.

The two cloths were single dipped.  I wanted some more moons, and some of them are perfect.  Some are a little blurry.  When I ironed the dried finished pieces, it appears that some of the blue skies are snowy and there are clouds around the moons.  So there is hope for this piece.  The other was accordion folded and then folded like a flag.  It came out an odd pattern.  I could redo another pattern or leave it to fussy cut from.  I don't know yet.

I

 

I don't know why the cursor keeps going to the middle.  I am having some struggles with this post.

 

It has turned seasonably hot and muggy.  We had a drizzle the other morning, but it lasted less than an hour and made it more humid.  I am watering my new flower bed.  I don't know how established the plants are.  They seem happy and are blooming.  The new milkweed lost three of its branches.  Hopefully I won't lose all of them.  The one from last year that I transplanted is doing okay.  No sign of butterfly eggs.  The bumblebees are happy anyway.  Not too many honey bees.  Sigh!

 

I did find a box turtle by the step the other night.  Hopefully the concrete blocks will act as a deterrent.  It can munch all it wants to on other things.

 

The roadrunner is mostly at my neighbor's house now.  It strangely goes from door to door and pecks at the doors and low windows.  It has visited me  a few times and sits on the rail of the screened porch. It looks me in the eyes when I talk to it.  Some scrawny looking hummingbirds are feeding at the feeder. My friend has a Carolina wren nest in her asparagus fern basket.  She moved it away from cat availability. 

 

The Mugwort is blooming nicely.  The bachelor buttons didn't do as well this year as years past.  I ended up with patches in the yard that I mow around.  Only one hollyhock rose to glory.  I found new sprouts when I was weedeating.  Maybe next year we will have a great show.  The Echinacea is blooming.  The Brown-eyed Susan's are blooming.  The Black-eyed Susan's are big and lush, but no blooms yet.  So the garden is slowly doing it's thing.   I am waiting for the Tansy to bloom so I can use the flowers for a dye.  I like the color that the leaves produced.  I am spinning that right now on the electric spinner.

 

I am trying ever so hard to walk every day.  It means I have to get up early and go somewhere.  Today it wasn't going to happen.  Instead I am going to a sale at the Junk Ranch.  It is a two-day sale outside a rural town near here.  Vendors bring vintage and repurposed and refurbished stuff.  And some things are still junk, but one never knows if it is just the junk one needs.  I am looking for storage ideas, but either wall mounted or small, small, small. 

 

Yesterday the plumber came to check out the leak in the back shower.  He said it was the drain; he crawled under the house (ick!); confirmed it was the drain; gave me an estimate; went off to buy a new drain; came back an hour later; fixed it in about an hour with his helper (his son); and now supposedly I do not have a leak.  I have a fan blowing on the floor hopefully to dry that out.  I don't want to replace the board unless I really, really have to.  I was concerned about the mold, and a friend said to bleach it.  So I have sprayed a lot of bleach on the board.  I think after it dries more I will really scrub the corners and edge with a brush and bleach.  When it is all dry I can decide what to do. If I don't replace it, I will have to seal it with that white stuff.  I can't remember the name.  I used it on the sub floor before the installation of my bamboo floors in living room and hallway. 

 

I finished the sock carry-along project, so now I only have the scarf.  I tried taking it to knit night last week, but I had to rip out one row when I got home.  So yesterday I wound off the two balls of turquoise/multi color handspun and started a shawl.  It is a very simple 8 row pattern, and I almost have it memorized.  It is a pattern that I used for a shawl for a fiber show. 

 

The shawl sold in the last hour of the show, and I did discount it because the woman really, really wanted it.  She had on a green shirt with her jeans, and the green matched the shawl.  She tried it on and pranced around.  Everyone told her it looked like her.  So the sucker that I am, I would rather have someone really happy with my knitwear than be rich and have someone give it to Goodwill after one wearing.  I have an idea that this new one is going to be a Christmas gift. 

 

I am spinning on the treadle wheel and the electric spinner.  I mentioned that the tansy green is on the electric spinner and I am still spinning some purple on the treadle wheel.  I was looking for some white fleece to dye with the tansy.  I happily re-found a pound of the purple that I had stuck away for later.  Hopefully I will have enough for a sweater when all done.  I don't know yet what my annual winter sweater will be.  I am leaning towards one of Anne Hanson's patterns.  It will depend on the yardage.

 

I made the muslin for the new top I want to make.  I have hips and now I have to accommodate for those hips.  Sigh!  This sagging business is ruining my memory of my figure.  I have a new scale that tells me the BMI and the percentage of body fat.  Not a comforting thing to find out.  I know that I am 67 years old, but inside me still hides that athlete I once was.  Oh, well, I will keep on walking.

 

So off to shower and clean myself from top to bottom.  I have to get ready to go sweat and look for junk at the big sale.  It is kinda exciting.  A treasure hunt.  Happy Friday everyone!



Well-It Is Soon To Be Another Birthday!

Isn't it funny?  Years ago I would celebrate my birthday month.  Now it is just another day.  I have gotten cards in the mail from friends.  And my friend CJE gave me a FitBit to track my Heart Rate.  She is concerned with my health issues.  So now I can track my activity level from slug to pushing it.  I monitored my sleep last night.  As I already know that I never sleep well or completely through a night, the graph showed I was up or roused 28 times last night.  I am not sure I need to know this.

I tried taking Patty on a walk today, but she balked all along the route.  She did not want the harness on.  When I first got her, I only put the harness on to indicate we were going for a walk.  She did not want that thing on, but I prevailed and snugged it up.  We would be walking along quite well, and suddenly she would stop.  She wouldn't budge.  Finally what I had to do was click and snap the lead a couple flicks, and say "Let's go."  And she would for a while.  She kept looking around like she was trying to figure out where we were.  I was too busy trying to dodge the goose and duck poop.

CJE came over yesterday and gave me the new toy.  She also made me a pattern for a simple tank top that she created.  I am thinking I could sew a few summer tops out of some cute fabric and have some nice tops.  Unfortunately we are in a cool snap.  Right now I have on a sweatshirt and socks.  I cannot remember when was the last time I was still wearing cool weather clothes in late May.

I went to the doctor this a.m. and now I am stable and seem to be accepting the meds without complications.  I don't have to go back for three months, unless, of course, I have some weird symptoms.  What a relief.

I did come straight home and got the riding mower out to mow the majority of the yard.  It was wet down close to the ground, so the mower wasn't happy.  I haven't done any weedeating or trip mowing with the push mower.  It started to rain and I was glad to not do anything for a while.

I am going to get some minor chores done for house maintenance next week.  Unfortunately I did find my floor is soft in the back bathroom.  Sigh!  I did not want to do any major repairs this year.  I told the company I need an estimate, so I can plan when to have the work done.

Noodles caught a mid-size rabbit the other evening.  It seems I have a large population of rabbits this year.  They are always in the yard, and I have walked right past them without them running off.  I only hope that he doesn't get some disease from eating them.  He did get something when we lived out near Devil's Den.  A tick fever the vet said probably came from rabbits.  It is better than Bobcat Fever.  That kills domestic cats within 24 hours.

My flowers are starting to grow well in the little bed I made out back.  Noodles keeps the catnip trimmed, so it is really getting thick.  Hopefully he will allow it to flower.  The butterflies and bees really like catnip flowers.  The coreopsis is blooming.  The milkweed flowers are reddish, but they haven't opened fully.

I have been spinning the purple yarn, but now I am wanting to spin up the green that I just dyed.  With the electric spinner I am spinning some white merino.  I am thinking that I might just dye the skein when I finish that.  I got a coupon from Paradise Fibers for my birthday, so I think I will order some more white fiber.  I haven't set up an indigo pot, but surely it will be getting warm soon.

So Jeopardy is coming on.  Time to try to outwit the smart folks there.  Sometimes I yell at them, and it frustrating why they can't get it.  The pleasures of living alone. Ha!

Have a safe holiday weekend.  Surely we will soon have sunshine and warmth.  

It's Still Raining!

 Today I picked a few stems and leaves from my tansy out back.  It has flourished this year due to the excessive rain we have had.  It hasn't begun to set flowers, so this is perfect timing.

I am really, really pleased with the pretty soft green I got.  I used copper sulfate as my mordant.  The wool is Polworth.  There is 8 oz drying and waiting to become yarn.

Yes, it appears that we are in for a very wet May.  This is extremely unusual, since May is the first month to get hot.  Not the oppressive heat of June and July and August, but a blessing from the cold.  Now we have had some cooler mornings and a lot of wet.

Patty has been sick twice this week.  We got very little sleep two nights in a row.  I finally tried a low-dose aspirin, and she slept.  Who knows?  It's a shame dogs can't give us a hint.

I am desperately trying to keep up with the mowing.  It is difficult.  If the ground and grass is too wet, it can clog up the mower. 

My bachelor buttons did not do so well this year.  They are scraggly and not really blossoming into a beautiful carpet of flowers.  This may be my last year to promote them.  My hollyhocks did not return as well, either.  There is only one plant where there were three last year.  I don't know why it is so hard for me to grow them.

My weigeilias did exceptionally well.  They were covered in flowers all over.  The two are thick bushes grown together now.  I trimmed the pink azalea this morning, getting it ready for next year's blooms.

My friend CJE is finally getting her new doors and she now has new flooring in her bathroom and in the kitchen.  The pictures look good.

My friend BBR is not coming in November.  It is too expensive for her to come from Vermont.  We exchanged emails this morning, catching up on news.

I don't have a lot going on.  Just wanted to post the pictures of my afternoon's work.

Christmas Day 2014

Yes, it is another Christmas.  Strangely I haven't been singing as many songs as I like to sing during the season.  This is the first year I haven't worn my Christmas pin.  And I didn't put up the Christmas tree this year.  Although all this sounds sad, I am not sad.  I just feel right. 

I went to CJE and AE's house yesterday to help clean out his mom's closet.  It was an archaeological dig and then some.  It is apparently going to take a few days of pulling things out, rather than a one day event.  CJE and I did not want to traumatize him and it was beginning to be apparent that he was saddened to see us take both cars loaded to Care and Share to drop off sacks of stuff.

I did bring home a sack of woolen clothing that could be made into fabric for rug hooking.  I left it out on the screened porch last night to freeze any critters.  I will sort it out there, wash them, and cut them into useable parts.

I just read an interesting idea for dyeing fabric that I want to try out.  It looked like fun and something to experiment with.

I began giving Patty a medicine "treat" that has chondroitin in it.  She just thinks it is a treat, and gobbles it down.  I am hoping this will help her hips and back knee joints.  She is having some difficulty with jumping.  She is more "spacey" lately and it is obvious she is thinking through the process of whatever task she is supposed to be doing.  The OT in me watches her and tries to think of creative ways to keep her independent.

I just heard honking and looked up.  Evidently my neighbor across the road has relatives coming.  Three cars pulled in behind each other and through her gate. 

I have been knitting on my sweater and have one more inch before the ribbing.  I have slogged through all the miles of stockinette, and relief is in sight.  I started knitting a feather/fan scarf with some of handspun yarn.  The colorway is so gorgeous.  It reminds me a forest floor with shadows, moss, and tiny flowers.  I will post a pic next time.

Today is a beautiful sunny day.  This has been the cloudiest and gloomiest weather month.  We have had drizzle, freezing rain, drizzle, and more drizzle.  Clouds every day.  I think I will wash something and hang on the line.  It was cold last night, but pleasant today.

I had Santa Claus when I got home last night.  Someone (I don't know who) sent me a new camera.  It isn't an expensive one, but nice.  It has more megapixels than the one I had.  I also got my package from Ryan and Holly.  She always finds the best little gifts.  I would rather get a sack of small gifts than one big one.  I donated money to a charity for them, and I sent them a few items in the mail.  I know that it is cheating to do that, but I like to think that they appreciate the idea of the donation.

I guess I jinxed the sky.  Clouds just covered up the sun.  Sigh!

I haven't been very faithful to this blog.  I think I need to reassess what I want to do about that.  I either have to close it or write more often.  I guess now that my book is published, I could write more here.  I just don't seem to "get around to it".

I also need to consider what to do with all the "stuff" I have lying around.  I need to finish some projects that have lingered too long in the unfinished line.

Instead of thinking about any of this, I think I will go and watch the birds.  I think this is a sit and stare out the window kind of day. 

More pictures next time.  Have a Merry Christmas!

Is It Really Mid-July?

This is BFL that is so lovely it hurts.  I bought the roving from the same dealer and the name is the same-Oatmeal.  It may be difficult to see, but the bottom one is browner than the top batch.  Sigh! I had intended that this be a bottom half of a yoke sweater if it doesn't sell at the show in October.  Now-I don't know.  Maybe something else entirely.

Today is another weird weather day.  We had the low 50's when I woke up and I had to put on a sweatshirt and a light pair of knit pants.  IN MID-JULY!  With this polar plunge front from the north, the humidity is nil-thank goodness.  I have to go out and stand in the sun to warm up my fingers.  Crazy-Crazy-Crazy!

A new kitty has adopted us.  He began hanging with us in the winter and I did not encourage him.  He and Noodles got into horrendous fights.  Since Noodles is an old grumpy cat, he lost most of the battles. 

Well, tomorrow the new kitty has an appointment at the Spay/Neuter Clinic.  I am so thrilled for this service.  They are neutering him and giving him a rabies shot for $35. 

He has become tame enough to love on when he sets the terms.  He still jumps and runs if I do any weird arm motion or clomp too loudly around.  Today he actually played with some toilet paper rolls.

I had thought in my head that Noodles would be the last kitty I would have.  He is fourteen and could live a while longer.  I am not getting any younger either.  And here is the new one coming into our lives.  Noodles hates him, of course.  He is not adjusting well.

I finished the sleeve of the sweater and I have done two rows on the second sleeve.  I cast on a quick mosaic stitch cap that is fast and easy.  I am thinking I need to think about the show in October, but I am not really motivated.

The book got off to a good start.  I have signings set up and I am thinking of ordering more books.  I just don't know.  Unfortunately my momentum has slowed down and I am not pushing myself to sell what I have.  I just don't have the get up and go.

We have had a lot of rain and it has become hard to mow around the rainy days.  I am slowly mowing down the seeds for the bachelor buttons and the fleabane.  It has been a hard job.  I found some sweet annie sprouted that I didn't realize I had until I had mowed a coupla times.  So now I have a patch of tallish grass to allow that to continue growing. 

The tansy is blooming and I could get a nice dyebath out of that.  I just am not motivated to push myself anymore.  Oh, well.

Not a lot to tell.  I am so amazed at our weird weather that it consumes me.  I have noticed signs of late summer- wooly worms, orb spiders, walking sticks.  The finches are devouring the sunflowers that are seeding.  The bees are pollinating the sunflowers that are blooming.  I have marigolds, black-eyed susans, calendula, verbena, and other flowers blooming.  Oh-the catnip is in full bloom and the bees are in heaven!  They love catnip.  So a typical wild flower place.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend.  Enjoy the coolish weather while we have it.  It will be July again soon.

What To Do On A Hot July 1

 

My friends CJE and AE are taking care of both of their moms in their home.  One is 92 and the other is almost 90.  They are not well, but with the care given them they could last a while longer.  Because my friend CJE is a weaver, spinner, dyer, knitter, and a writer, she had to give up some of her own personal space to house her mom.  It has been a long two or so years of grumbling and passive behavior.  So my friend took her own money and bought a portable building and yesterday it was delivered.  JE and I showed up to support our fiber sister and to watch the events. 
Needless to say it was hot outside all afternoon.  I was pooped by the time I got home and Patty went to bed.
 We are gathering on Saturday to move things in.  It will be a great space for her to play and be creative.  She will have her looms out and ready to weave.  Her spinning wheel can go from house to studio and back.  So can her knitting.  Now the containers of fiber can find a home, the books can find a home, and it will be really nice to put things in their places.
Just as Virginia Woolf said, a woman really needs her own room.  Congrats to CJE! It is wonderful to have you back in the mood to weave and play and spin and knit and write whenever you walk into the door.

I Made a Committment

Yesterday I got the invoice for the first 100 books.  Whew!  I am financially in shock right now.  I quickly figured out how many books I need to sell to make the money back.  It is a step through the rabbit hole and I don't know where the crazy queen or the mad hatter or any of them are hiding.

I am presently signed up to do a book signing in four different venues.  It is a teeny-weeny baby step into the unknown.  Hold good thoughts for me world.

I finished the blue skein.  Really, really pretty.  I think I did a good job with the color and the spinning.

My yard is lush and green and wild and out of control.  I know I say this every year, but there is no reigning it in.  I did manage to get the riding mower out today in between rain showers.  We have had the pre-summer stuff of one cloud goes overhead and rains.  After it passes on to the west, the sun comes out.  Hard to get excited about mid-July when the drought hits, but right now it is all green, lush, and wild.

Patty is somehow getting into ticks all the time.  Even with the poison stuff on her, I have to check her over constantly.  Luckily I have figured out that when she starts scratching, I look closely.  I find an average of two or three a day.  Noodles has been indoors more as he ages and the other cat is hanging around.  I have found some on him, but only when he is out foraging.

I just can't get too excited about knitting right now.  I pick it up and knit a few rows, but it is not interesting to me.  I got some new fabric to make a quilt top.  I think what I am planning is taking the striped quilt top that is not appealing to me and make it the backing for the new quilt top.  That way it is reversible.  It's a thought anyway.

So CJE reports she is finally getting well.  She is still taking the super-duper decongestant and the antibiotic.  So I guess she is feeling better.  I think she is still sleeping a lot, but her body is finally healing.

I had a good birthday.  R texted me and we had a nice text-conversation back and forth.  Isn't that funny?  My niece S sent me a picture of flowers on Facebook.  And Google wished me happy birthday.  I guess welcome to modern times, huh?

Not a lot to report.  Just wanted to mention the book.  I am so excited to finally be finished with one part and now the next journey begins.  This is the part I don't really care for-the meet and greet and marketing stuff.  I realize I have to do some of it, but I am not going to kill myself to get it done. I want to have fun with it.

Time to take Patty out and go to bed and read. 

Almost June

I have been a horrible blogger this month.  A whole lot of nothing going on.
-Yard work takes precedence over everything else.  It takes a big chunk of time to mow, trim, and weed eat.
-CJE and I went to Hollister, MO for an OWL (Ozarks Writers League) meeting.  We stayed in an old hotel that has been restored to nice accommodations.  The noise level from the bar and the people in the hallway made me feel as if I was in some dormitory somewhere.  CJE was deadly sick the whole weekend with sinus infection.  Not a lot of fun.  She slept the whole trip.
-CJE and I went to Eureka Springs after OWL meeting, stayed at the Writer's Colony Saturday night, and then attended Books in Bloom on Sunday.  Again, CJE sick, sluggish, and not feeling right. AE called me to talk to her, and we headed home after that.
-Moving slowly, but steadily, along on the sleeve of colorwork sweater.  After ripping out the four inches, I think this time it will stay in.  Looks good to me now. Interesting part- decreases every four rows. Repetitive pattern not so interesting to create, but looks pretty.
-Had a spurt of interest in spinning some yarn, and could not face white.  So dyed it pretty blue color.
The yarn will match my bachelor buttons outside.
-My yard is again covered in bachelor buttons and weeds mixed in those.  I am amazed at my neighbor's abhorrence of the untidiness of everything.  I like it, and I don't care that they don't.  She is afraid of snakes.
-Noodles has decided now to systematically kill off every chipmunk that might be around.  I wish he would kill other rodents, but he has his own menu.
-Patty was boarded while CJE and I were on our weekend trip.  She came home with some weird habits from the other dogs.  Noodles had to slap her down twice until she remembered she was out of control.  Things back to normal now.
-The dreadful privet bushes out front are blooming.  It is a very sickening sweet smell that I am highly allergic to.  Since I keep windows and doors open and sit on the screened porch, there is no avoiding the smell or pollen.  UGHHH!
-I started a barn-raising square.  I had so much trouble with the cast-on and double points.  Gave my one square to CP at LYS, and told her my problem.  I showed her the granny square afghan I am crocheting with the yarn I bought.  JF came in, laughed at me, and said she always teaches people to use the magic loop method.  That was a DUH! moment.  I never thought of that.  She said everyone on Ravelry that had problems used double-points. DUH!
-I had my birthday this weekend.  Weirdest thing-Google had birthday cupcakes, etc. When I pressed the Google logo to see who had a birthday the same day as me, it popped up "Happy Birthday, Juliann".  Now it is strange to know I have a relationship with my computer.  I also got a birthday email greeting from Toyota.  Too strange, huh?

So see not a lot going on.  Just mundane things that occur around here.  Not a lot going on.  I am moving towards sewing, but haven't gotten there.  Goal for the summer is finish the two quilts I started last year.  I want to do some small sewing projects too.  Just moving towards hottest part of summer when I am not as interested in knitting. 

So soon we move into June.  I really like June.  It is a transition month with the Solstice in the middle.  I enjoy the screened porch in the first part of the day, and seek coolness for the hot part of the day.  So come on June-I'm ready for ya.

Almost Spring!

This year the weather has been so unpredictable.  With the never-ending winter, any sunshine is welcome.  April is traditionally the month of severe storms, and lots of rain.  We have had some storminess, but a good amount of rain.  Last year we had snow for the first time ever in May. 

So I have company coming over the weekend.  My cousin is making his annual visit and we always go to Grove, OK to visit his family property that he and his sister own.  Once we roll into town, I stop at the big convenient store by the WalMart and get a drink and to go to the bathroom. 

Then we head to the cemetery to visit his family there.  I love to drive around cemeteries.  I know it is a Southern 'thing', but I love to read headstones.  I found one some years ago in the Grove cemetery that I loved.  The woman has not died yet, but her stone is a double one with her husbands.  His side has his pertinent information, but the most interesting thing is the carving of wood tools.  Her side has a shuttle.  I think this is a grand way to be remembered.  A woodworker and a weaver-side-by-side through eternity.

I am stuck on the fancy sweater.  It has a complex way to add on the sleeves, and I am not sure I understand it.  I asked my friend CJE to read it, and I think we both concluded the same solution.  I am just not sure it is the right solution. 

I have finished one of the red socks that a friend wants me to make.  I also started a scarf with some handspun yarn that I am doing in a chevron pattern.  It isn't fancy.  I wanted to do a cable pattern, but had some difficulty following the chart.  I started over with a lacy pattern, but I kept losing stitches.  After these two failures, I cast on the garter stitch chevron pattern in my head.  It isn't fancy, but it is textural.

I walked into my sewing room this morning, and it felt sad.  I have ignored my sewing for way too long.  I have to finish the two quilts I have started.  I don't think I have procrastinated so long before on these projects.  I usually like to sew in the summer and it will be here sooner than I think.

I have also been dyeing two summer dresses with the Steep and Store method of India Flint.  I took one out of the jar last weekend and it looks good.  I have to make some darts and modifications to the top.  I am sorta in the mood to embellish it some with some embroidery.  The other one is still steeping.  It is always a surprise when one dyes this way. 

Two years ago I tried compost dyeing.  I left compost, fabric, iron bits, and leaves in my iron pot on the deck.  I did not remove anything until the winter was over.  I like some of the fabric a lot.  I am having fun with all this stuff anyway.  It is a more ecological way to dye, but it takes a lot longer to do than the traditional heat and serve method.

My girlfriend CF says her first sentinel hummingbird has arrived.  Whew!  My other birds will not like it if I take down any of their feeders.  I remember last year I waited until a week after she saw her scout, and that water I put up soured.  I think it is more like two weeks after her report that I start getting the early arrivals here. 

The rebuds are blooming finally.  The forsythia is on the last few days of its bloom.  Leaves are sprouting all over that.  The weigeilia is leafing out.  The red buckeyes have huge leaves and flowers are coming on.  The hollyhocks are about a foot high.  They need to be sprayed soon.  The daffodils are done.  I always leave the green shoots for a long time to give the bulbs time to feed.  The bachelor buttons are popping up all over the yard. So all signs of early Spring.

I am hopefully on the final editing of my book.  I am so sick of these stories.  I have learned that I have to read everything very, very, very carefully.  The editor misses some things.  I will be happy to be done and on to printing.

So I am feeling guilty.  I need to clean the house a little bit today.  I will start by washing dishes and sweeping the floor.  That helps. 

Have a good week.  Don't put sweaters away yet. 

Come On Spring!

This is the hardest part of the Spring awakening.  It is only March, and it is almost April.  Some daffodils are blooming.  So-why is it still so blasted cold?  Then I try to remember that the blasted cold of April is not the blasted cold of February.  My mind is not so plastic any more.  I want sunshine, flowers, and warmth.  Sigh!

I have finally returned to the Starry Sky sweater from Medieval-Inspired Knits.  I cut the armhole steeks and now will graft the shoulders.  Then arms added.  I am so slow knitting this.  I am trying to not beat myself over the head for being so slow.  It is a very complicated pattern, and I am so OCD about making sure I do everything correctly. 

When my friend passed away, I had so much on my plate to clean out his house, put things in storage, sort maps that were in a file cabinet and now are in sacks, and just dealing with legal matters.  Now that my part is complete (except sorting maps), I can return to my normal knitting routine.

I am knitting on a pair of socks for a customer, but otherwise, no knitting in this house.  I found a new website called Creative Bug.  There are a lot of classes that I want to take there.  The prices are more reasonable than Craftsy.  So yesterday I sat down with Brandon Mobley and learned how to do his magic-ball trick.  My selection of yarns wasn't as exciting as his.  Duh!  I do like the idea he conveyed.  Not difficult to do, just a little tedious.  It is a way to control the colorways that one can't control with Noro or Freia yarns.

I have not been a very spinnery mood lately.  I finally decided to take a skein of my yarn that was not attracting anyone's attention.  I am replying it, and I am thinking of dyeing it another color.  I am famous for overdyeing something.   I have always told folks, "If you don't like the color, dye it another color." 

This is a horrible snapshot of the pastel cardinal I have been watching for a coupla months.  This is the first time she has been so close.  I know the screening distorts it, but I wanted to prove she is still around.  Where the brown should be, it is a pale beige color.  Her red parts are salmon pink.  I call her Blondie.  I notice that she is still not accepted by the others.I guess that catches us up.  Our Mirkwood group had its Meat Fest on Saturday.  Of course, it had to rain, but Parker and others still started a bonfire for all the kids.

Have a good week.  Do the Happy Spring Dance and maybe it will get warm sooner.

A Rough Week!

This is the highlight of the week.  I read about a technique of putting some roving wetted with vinegar and water into a large resealable plastic bag.  Then you apply the dye randomly to various parts of the roving, squeezing the dye into the roving to saturate the thickness, and when completed seal the bag tightly.  Plop this into a pan of water that is no hotter than 180 degrees.

I wasn't happy with one color, so I mixed a little bit of another color into the cup.  That gave me the green turquoise color.  The yellow wasn't very strong, so I added some orange, and I got a lovely golden yellow.  The red is actually a soft adobe red and not as pink as it shows here. 

I am over the moon happy with the results.  I only did a 4oz sample to try it out.  I did not want to ruin any of my good BFL if it didn't work right.  I think this is a keeper technique for small batches of color.  It would not work so easily for a large batch of dyeing.

The rest of the week has been sitting and thinking and sitting and thinking.  I am finally grieving for the loss of my friend.  It has been really rough with crying and snorting and blowing my nose.  On top of that I got a bill for my bone scan.  It seems Medicare denied payment, and I will not drag all the nonsense of the conversation out. 

And other financial things came up this week.  I had to decide to prioritize what I could deal with emotionally, and the financial things came out last.  So I will deal with them later.

I have hardly knit a stitch.  I did get the baby quilt to a point of sewing on binding.  I am happy with that.  My niece showed pics today of her baby shower, and I did not see a single handmade thing there.  Sigh!

I am on the last ball of yarn for her baby blanket I am knitting.  I like it.  It looks like water to me.  Or at least it has the visual texture that reminds me of water.  Whichever it is. 

The birds are eating me out of house and home.  They are regular piggies these days.  It is going to get cold and yucky this week with snow, sleet, ice, freezing rain, or something.  So they are dealing with the weather by just eating.  I bought a new suet feeder and that is the hit of the week. Even the cardinals are eating suet.  I have never seen cardinals eat suet. 

Noodles has been limping along on his gimpy leg for a coupla days.  I guess he has arthritis where the bone was broken.  He isn't hunting as much, but I do see him outside staring into the grass on the hillside.  He is ready if anything moves.

I guess that's it.  Nothing earth shaking going on.  Just dealing with this weird extreme weather is tiring.  I just refuse to whine any more about it.

Such Strange Weather!

I will not whine, for today is a lovely, sunny day.  I have been working on yard work.  From this time forward, each pretty day is spent on clean-up yard work.  It is my habit and my work that keeps me sane.

Two days ago it was 5 degrees and the wind chill was unknown-cold anyway.  The wind was from the north.  I even put blankets over the door to the screen porch and the back door.  I had a draft snake against the front door.  The insulated shades were down on the north windows.

Yesterday the sun returned with some scattered clouds.  It was still below freezing with a wind. 

So today and tomorrow will be yard work days.  It is still windy, and we are still in a fire alert ban.  Not for the lack of moisture, but the wind will carry a fire a long ways.

The dog and cat have been enjoying the outdoors with me.  Patty gets bored watching me and wanders around looking for cat s..t.  I don't know why she is so intent on finding that stuff.  It is so gross to see leaves and grass hanging from her mouth.  I always know where she has been.

I am currently hacking away the honeysuckle on the west side and trying to save some of the trees it covers.  I will leave enough for birds and critters to nest, but it is encroaching the yard.  The trees in their desperation are bending and sending out weak limbs for any sunlight that can be found.  So whack away and trim the tiny trees and the weak limbs.  It all works out in the end.  By the heat of summer I am lost to the weeds and the honeysuckle and I can barely get the grass mowed.

The birds are eating tons of sunflower seeds.  I cannot believe that I fill three feeders twice daily now.  I even throw some out for the ground feeders and put a little bit in a pan on the floor of the porch.  I am concerned about one female cardinal that I think has a disease around her eyes.  A friend told me that there is something that does that and that she has seen that on one of her finches. 

I did get a lot of knitting done on the medieval sweater during the coldest day.  Last night I cast on and began the second sleeve on the red sweater.  I went through a period of several days that nothing I was knitting interested me, and I just did not knit. 

I am plying the second skein of blue yarn, and I am anxious to get it done.  I dyed some BFL roving yesterday with a new technique I wanted to try.  I only dyed 4 ozs, and I like it.  I think it is going to spin really nicely.  I want to spin that up next just to see what it will look like. 

Well, I want to eat a bite of lunch and then back outside to whack some more honeysuckle.