Stories and Memories

I really believe in stories.  Everything we do every day is a story just waiting to be told.  Maybe you are like me and not really sociable. So write down the story.

Memories are there all the time.  This time of year is always filled for memories.  Memories of friends and family and past Christmases.  And wondering about what someone you know is doing this year.  Memories.

It's funny.  I think this leads to the same discussion I have had about dreams.  People tell me all the time they don't dream.  Everyone dreams.  Our pitiful human brains that we think are so marvelous have to have "down time".  Unfortunately neurologists have found that our brains don't really "rest".  It just processes everything that has gone on during the awake time since the last sleep time. 

Some of us do have fabulous dreams.  I remember dreams and I write them down.  I participated in a "dream study" 40+ years ago when I worked in an emergency room.  The researchers were studying people who work in stressful emergency situations-ER personnel, ambulance drivers, policemen, firemen, etc.   Everyone volunteered me. 

I remember that they only wanted to know the emotion of a dream, not the actual content of the dream.  It lasted six months.  I kept my faithful diary, and I think I was the most active participant.  One of the researchers would meet with us monthly, collect the diaries, and give us new diaries.  After three months it became clear that mine was different from the others. 

I met with the doctors that were conducting the research.  They would ask me specific questions about my diaries.  I think they were amazed that I could actually remember details the dreams.  Finally one of them said my dreams were cyclical.  It was a female researcher who said she thought my dreams were in sync with the moon cycles.  They followed up with that and it was. 

See-another memory.  I know it has nothing to do with the season, but a memory that came out into a story.

I listen to audio books while I spin and knit.  I don't like a complicated story that I have to pay that much attention to.  So a story is spun into the yarn or knitted into the fabric.  Not just my story of it's life history, but from words being read to it. 

Speaking of knitting, my handspun project is on the verge of being frogged.  I ran out of blue handspun.  I ordered some yarn that I was hoping would be close.  It isn't.  It leaves a definite stripe that would be fine if I had enough of the original blue to finish out the second front piece.  I don't.  Ugh.  I guess I will try to make a pillow out of the back.  Or frog the whole damn thing.  I don't know yet.

I have finished 12 hexagons of Persian Dreams.  I am now going to start putting some together.  I want to see how it looks.  I need a little break and that would be a nice thing to do. 

I am spinning yak/silk and it is wonderful.  I am thinking happy thoughts about this bit of nice yarn.  I don't know what it will be, but it feels nice.

The afghan is growing, but I only work on it occasionally.  Maybe I just need to focus on it for a while and get it done.  Maybe.

We have had a nice two weeks of a warm up in the weather.  There has been a bit of rain, and lots of grayish clouds.  Out of the two weeks maybe two or three full days of sun.  It is just so nice to not have cold, freezing rain, or snow.  I think they predict another one of those artic fronts to head south by the middle of next week.  Sigh!  The cold is so miserable.

Well, I guess the year is at an end.  We are heading to a new year by next Sunday.  I know my year is different than the calendar year, but it is still a contemplative time.  One must focus some on plans for the next year.  I have some serious thinking to do in 2017.  It will be my 69th year in this lifetime. I must think of how I want to spend my next decade. 

Helen Mirren said that 2016 has been a pretty shitty year all around.  We lost a lot of our artists and we elected a new president.  Things will only be interesting from this time forward with him.  We have lost a few of our scientists, too, and their loss will be felt. 

Happy New Year-and on to 2017.

Christmas Week!

Isn't it amazing how some people actually count down from June to Christmas?  I really don't do that any more.  It used to be such an ordeal to think of presents and wrapping and decorating and cooking. Now it is just another day. 

I really like to celebrate Solstice instead.  I love the idea of this day being the turning point for the return of light to our lives.  I intellectually know that every day there is a teeny bit more light added to each day until June 21.  Unfortunately my primitive brain takes over in late February and March.  I am screaming for more light, more warmth, and Spring to hurry up and come.

I love that thousands and thousands of years ago, my ancestors were sitting around fires and telling stories, and probably drinking a lot to get through the dark nights.  There is nothing romantic about it. They are dirty and smelly and die young.  They just know that on that day it is a day to celebrate the return of the light.

I do bake cookies for the mailman.  I put them in the mailbox with a note of thanks.  I try to do a few other gratitude things.  Otherwise, this is just another week. 

We finally have a winter day today.  It was 4 degrees at 7 am.  It snowed last night.  It is only a covering, but it is pretty.  It is the kind of snow that sparkles in the sun.  Oh-yeah!  We have sunshine today.  I am beyond ecstatic. Yesterday I did go around and replace light bulbs. It helps some.

I am now on my 12th hexagon.  They are fun to knit, but I do give myself a break in between them.  I somehow thought 3 days a good time for a break. 

I had to put my handspun project on hold.  I realize I am not going to have enough of the blue yarn.  I am spinning some more yarn that I hope can be blended in.  It is merino and the yarn I have been using is targhee.  The targhee takes the dye differently.  We will see.  If it doesn't look right to me, I will have to take everything out and reblock it for another project.  Oh, well. 

I am still knitting on the afghan in stripes.  It is probably 1/3 the way done.  I will see how far the yarn goes and stop.

Otherwise, I decided to spin up the yak/silk blend I have been hoarding for a while.  It is really luscious.  It spins so easily.  It is a brown mix.  I would recommend this for anyone.

I also have been weaving a bit on my ribbon tapestry.  Not going very fast, but getting it going is important.

I have two receiving blankets cut out for my neighbor's project for ACH.  Just need to sew, wash, and press.

So not a lot going on, but I am making steady progress on projects.

Most of my day has been making sure the bird feeders are filled and there is water for them to drink.

Hopefully your Christmas week will not be so hectic that you can't enjoy the season.  Enjoy the sun and light when we get it.  After Wednesday it will be a little lighter each day! 

Grammar is so funny!

On a local NPR program, there is often a woman who reports on grammar.  She is called the Radical Grammarian.  Today was a discussion on the word healthy and healthful.  We often say I eat a healthy diet.  How can a diet be healthy?  Healthy implies that it is alive.  It is supposed to be  I eat a healthful diet.  I hate that we are all so lazy that we talk in poor grammar.

Which goes to say, I am not interested in being correct.  I know in my writing that I should care.  It isn't all about commas anymore.  Unfortunately I write just like I talk.  And obviously I am not being correct.

It does goes all over me when I hear a young anchor on t.v. say something that is totally so WRONG.  Yesterday I was standing at a window when I heard something so wrong.  I turned around and yelled at the t.v.," no, no, no.  That is an adverb, not an adjective." 

So I guess I do care a little bit about something so obvious.  I haven't got the energy to determine if I need a clarifier or whatever.  I talk lazily, and my fault that I don't care.  See, I used the adverb, not the adjective.

I am almost done with #10 hexagon.  My right hand has been aching this week with the weather all over the place.  Also my right knee has been talking to me today.  It is dark and gloomy out.  Thankfully it is not bitter, bitter cold.

I am also halfway through the first side piece for the jacket.  It is going fairly quickly.

I have great ambitions to do more, but I can't seem to make myself get going.  My neighbor has organized a charity to make quilts for the new Children's Hospital that is to open next year.  She gave me some flannel that was donated to her.  I think there is ample in the piece to make two receiving blankets.

My friend CF is being dragged into the 20th Century.  No, not the 21st yet.  Her daughter has mounted a large HD flat screen t.v. on her wall.  She is getting her mother hooked up to internet so she can access Netflix.  She has her on a list to receive DVDs.  It is too funny.  CF has adamantly refused to have anything to do with computers or computerized anything.  She still uses a landline.  She gets too confused with cell phones.  Thank goodness BL is going to spend the Thanksgiving visit to teach her how to access her account, add to her list, etc.  I love her password.  It is typical of BL to come up with that.  My friend told me in case she loses the paper that she wrote it on. 

We are having unusually warm weather.  We had two little freezes with the day temps in the 50's and 60's.  It is extremely weird.  I have been holding my breath waiting for the winter to settle in.  I am grateful that I have had time to do my outdoor chores.  I finally closed up all the vents under the house.  The hoses were disconnected a long time ago.  I am waiting one last time to empty the back gutters under the box elder tree.

Well, I have to go fill the bird feeders again.  Keep moving.  That's the only advice this week.

Do You Take Breaks!

I belong to some groups on Facebook that are about knitting, spinning, weaving, and dyeing.  One of the questions that came up yesterday evening was "Do you take breaks with your knitting?"  This particular group is about knitting Persian Dreams.  It is a difficult thing to knit, but everyone is addicted to his own little hexagon world. 

The woman who posted the question has gone five days without knitting anything.  She says she isn't sad or upset, but she really is enjoying "not knitting".  She, of course, has young children that are in sports and other activities.  She also mentioned she has been bingeing on Candy Crush.

A while back I found myself obsessed with these hexagons.  As soon as one is washed and blocking I was onwards to another.  My hands got tired of managing the colorwork.  I am also knitting other projects, so I was trying to fit them into the schedule.

I suddenly pulled back. I give myself a three day break in between the hexagons.  I pick up the blanket or the sweater if I have to knit.  Yesterday I did not knit all day.

Today I laid out my eight that are completed and studied the colors.  I know what color I have to go to next.  I haven't gotten number 9 pattern out yet.  I just wanted to think about colors.

I am listening and watching a Rebecca Mezoff weaving class.  And I am finished with the purple roving I found that I had stashed away.  I am listening to Armand Gamache mysteries on audiobooks from the library.  I have listened to two of those this week.  I have read four books this week. 

Of course, all of this keeps me from turning on the t.v. and hearing the crap that is being hashed out there on the news.  I have limited my time on Facebook.  I do enjoy certain computer games, but that's when I take a break.  I haven't been watching as much Netflix as I normally do. 

So do we listen to ourselves and take breaks when our hands or our eyes or our backs or our families tell us it is time to do so?  I hope most people do.  I remember the "old days" prior to shows that I would make myself sick working crazy hours to finish the last pieces, label them, price them, etc.  No more of that.  I am not on a time schedule any more. 

I will say that I do set a goal to completely finish one hexagon in a week.  According to many of the others, that is slow knitting.  I just don't like to sit and knit all day long. 

If the weather keeps up, I may be mowing the yard one more time.  It has been coolish in the mornings and late evenings, but it is warm in the day time.  Little or no rain lately.  I have been watching for the first frost, but none so far.  Weird!

I guess I just wanted to expound on the question of the day.  Do You Take Breaks!

Almost All Chores Completed

I am strong enough this year to do my Fall chores.  Thank God(dess) that the doctor took me off the statins.  I have only one or two things to do yet, but it isn't as if they are pressing.  Today I got the fuel stabilizer in the riding mower and she is draped with her cover and ready for a winter's nap.

I am on my 7th hexagon now, and it is interesting to see how these colors play out.  Here are the first six.  That last one-lime and turquoise and purple- started with some handspun for the white part.  I had just a little teeny ball and wanted to experiment.  Close up it is obviously not the smooth worsted spun mill yarn.

 

 

 

I can't seem to get Blogger to work right.  For some reason it started out in the center of the line.

 

This morning I heard a white-throated sparrow.  This is always an indicator of changing seasons.  I just kept on filling up feeders and water stations.  For some reason the birds like the dog watering bowl on the deck instead of the official bird bath.  I also put a shallow dish my friend CF made a long, long, long time ago out front.  I see birds bathing in that a lot, and sometimes I see squirrels and chipmunks drinking. 

 

See how it is doing this crazy thing.

 

We have had 80's for a number of days.  It was fine the day that it was gusting 40 mph winds.  But yesterday and today it is HOT and HUMID!  I hate being all hot and sticky in mid-October.  I know that I absolutely hate cold that lasts and lasts.  But I don't want to be hot and sticky in October. 

 

I have been revisiting some books that I am not sure if I have read on the library audiobook selections. If it turns out I have read them a while back, I will still listen.  If for some reason I remember how the mystery turns out, I return it.  It is amazing to me how listening to a book makes it a different book than one that I have actually read.  I guess our imaginations really do fill in gaps as we read.  I like that part of reading.  I just find it entertaining to listen when I work.

 

Supposedly a front is coming in with cooler temps and rain.  We have occasional clouds moving overhead.  A frog was singing for rain earlier. 

 

I have pulled out all my cat fabrics and I am amazed at the amount that I have.  I didn't even count the smaller pieces from my cat quilt.  I think it is time to make a child's quilt for my neighbor's charity.

 

Noodles has been really busy killing rodents.  His teeth are so bad that he can't quite eat them like he used to.  But he can still KILL the darn things.  It is gross, but it is nature.

 

I am knitting a jacket finally.  I am using my blue handspun that is larger than my normal handspun.  It is soft and squishy and I am really liking it.  It is simply large mitered squares.  The first row is a triangle, a square, and a half-square.  The second row is three squares.  I am on the middle row.  Then the third row is a square, a half-square, and a triangle.  It is fascinating to see how it coming out.

 

I am also still knitting on the stripe-y blanket.  I love the colors in this one.  Not sure who it will go to.  I am sure I will find a deserving home somewhere.  I always find a good home.

 

So I am now making myself a toasted cheese sandwich.  I am a tad bit hungry.  Have a good rest of the week and a good weekend.  Just not 80 degrees, please.

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.

Labor Day-2016

I guess I have been waiting for summer to get here all summer.  Our usual weather of 100+ degrees for days and days and days with 100% humidity never appeared.  We certainly had our awful high temps that made the "feels like" temp 100.  Then we would go through a spell of rain and cooler temps.  I guess 80 degrees doesn't feel like cooler to some folks.  Usually by July the drought comes, the grass slows down, the flowers are over, the trees look parched and a lot of leaves dry up.  Not this year.  It has rained more than normal.  The trees are green and lush and I have been mowing weekly.

Now we have had cooler weather for a while.  In August!  It is always one of the hottest months.  We actually got down in the low 50's at night!  Of course, the daytime would heat up to high 80's.

This week we are supposed to have normal temps in the high 80's and low 90's.  I had to turn the overhead fan back on in the bedroom last night.  It is just too strange and too weird.

I have finished two hexagons in the Persian Dreams blanket.  I am on number three.  So far the colors on this one is my favorite.  I am also still working on the Stripey Blanket.  It is worsted weight yarn and is knitting much faster. 

I am plying the second skein of the roving I bought in Kelleyville at the fiber show.  I love the odd lime green that is shot throughout.  I think it is cheerful.  The fiber blends are easy to spin.  It is merino, Polworth and silk.  I now have a nice collection of blue yarns. 

I am think that perhaps I can use all these blue handspun yarns in a knitted jacket.  I am looking at Melody Johnson's Mitered Diamond Jacket.  I think it would be a way to blend some of the blues I have spun.  I don't have enough of one color, but I think the many skeins could combine easily.  Still thinking on this.

I have decided to cancel my trip to Taos.  I know I can drive that far without a problem-except for the tired factor.  I don't think it would be enjoyable if I have to really push myself to drive, drive, drive. It comes down to "at what price" are you willing to push yourself.  It has been a very difficult decision to make.  It also means a reality check is in place.  "No, you are no longer 40 years old."  Ugh!  That one is hard. 

Noodles is another consideration.  I know I can find someone to house/cat sit.  It would be difficult for him, but he can adjust.  I am noticing changes in him lately that indicate his age.  Two old folks living in one house.  UGH! 

I also remember that once I started seeing changes in Patty, I started being more vigilant about her care.  He is the same now.  I know it is silly to some that "he is only a cat".  I am his caregiver.  I took on the responsibility to see that he is cared for.  It is my responsibility to make sure he is safe and loved and has the quality of life he deserves.  It doesn't mean I have to do crazy things; it means I just have to be aware.

I am noticing that I spend more time trying to figure out where he is during the day.  I don't intrude on his space.  This morning I saw the wild cat sitting by the burn barrel across the yard.  Noodles was unaware that Mr. Stinky was watching him and me.  I looked out the window several times just watching.

I have been reading more-again- and I have been listening to audible books while I knit or spin.  I really like that my library has the "cloud" system and I can just download it to the computer.  I can listen on my IPad while knitting or my computer while spinning.

I noticed that my eating is beginning to change with the cooler weather.  Yesterday I heated up some leftover rice and put some milk, sugar, and cinnamon on it.  Voila!  Rice cereal.  Soon it will be time for oatmeal.  I guess I eat way too much toast with peanut butter, but that is my go-to breakfast.  Cheese is my go-to snack.  Soon-hot cereals.  I made a meatloaf last night.  That's cooler weather food.  Aren't human beings the strangest creatures?

I went back to weaving on the ribbon weaving.  I think I have un-woven more on this loom than any loom I have ever had.  It is a strange feeling to not quite get what I want.  I guess I am so used to overshot and harness-weaving that is so structured.  It is varied by colors and textures.  I am usually ahead of the game with that. 

I know I am getting more rigid about some things.  I follow the patterns pretty closely.  I vary a few things.  I am unsure if it is rigidity or fear of change or fear of spontaneity or laziness or what it is.
It's okay in my world, but I don't want it spilling over to other people's worlds. 

September is the change month.  We have Fall arriving the 22nd.  Officially anyway.  Then soon October.  I saw on Facebook- "This is the beginning of the Ber months."  What a pun!

I guess I have procrastinated enough.  Time to get spinning.  I am almost through with this plying.

Happy Labor Day!  I am still going to wear white if I want to.

The Light Is Changing

It is the second week of August.  I noticed that there has been a shift in the light and that there is a change in the yard.  Sometimes I can complain continuously of the rainy-ness that makes lawn  mowing a necessity.  I know that we are blessed to have rain.  I know intellectually that rain is a blessing.  It isn't a blessing to wait until 7pm or 7:30 pm to mow because of the heat.  Taking a shower can't take the stickiness away. Rain also equates higher humidity.

Yet, the light has shifted.  The cicadas and crickets are noisy.  The web worms are making bigger and bigger messes.  Leaves are beginning to break away and fly around through the air.  The robins have migrated back.  I have seen large groups of blackbirds migrating through.

All these minute changes that one takes for granted.  It really sneaks up on us.  We are so used to summer and we isolate ourselves in our air-conditioned spaces.  Yet-when one sits quietly on a porch or outside, the changes are all around us. 

I don't want to be one of those people who suddenly realize it is time to get the woolens out.  I want to notice all the changes that move us towards the woolens. We only have about six weeks until Autumnal Equinox.  I want to feel and hear and smell and see the changes.

So, I finally finished the second pair of Roxanne's socks.  I told her I am taking a break from sock knitting.  She has a fantasy going that I am going to be her personal sock knitter.  I am going to figure out a way to get out of this gracefully.

I started knitting Persian Tiles, but I am not doing much knitting.  I also picked up the Striped Blanket again.  It is going fast.  It is worsted weight yarn on bigger needles.  I find that larger needles make my hands tired.  So really not a lot of knitting.

I went to Fiber Christmas in July, and I was really good.  I did buy two braids of roving of different colorways.  I am combining them into a really pretty yarn.  I finished my book on tape, and so I stopped yesterday at the end of that.  It is satisfying to me to listen as I spin.  I love my library loaning system over the internet.

I have also been watching some of the Olympics.  I finally realized what it is about the televised mess that was off-putting the last Olympics.  The commentators pick and choose what they show to their audience and they tell all these stories. I love when they build up all this crap about the athlete and then interview them after an event.  The poor athlete is trying to catch a breath and normalize his body systems.  The silly cow sticks a microphone into the athlete's face and asked a stupid question. Last night she asked Michael Phelps about pre-race jitters with his opponent doing something stupid right in front of him.  Michael Phelps looked perplexed and looked at the monitor. "Oh, I wasn't even noticing that.  I was just watching the race before mine on the monitor."  He smiles and walks off.  No drama there.

I finally had enough and turned on Netflix.

Noodles is beginning to show signs of change.  I am trying a state of denial and making up excuses for his silly behavior.  I am also beginning to get glimpses of truth edging in.  He is much more needy than he has ever been.  He is still killing, just not eating as much of the wild.  I guess it is inevitable that his age is beginning to show.

I am going to stop now.  I need to shower and get ready for an appointment in town today.  I decided to combine several errands that can be done in that part of town.  Ugh!  I hate traffic in Fayetteville.  It is just going to get worse as the college students trickle back for Fall semester.  Another sign of age creeping in on me, I guess.

No new news on the brother front.  B is still traveling with his job.  He also spends a lot of free time on his boat with his dog.  K hasn't  shared anything more about L.  She is so extremely secretive.

CJE and AE are going to Sante Fe for a week.  Time for AE's birthday trip to the Opera.

CF is thrilled that I ordered her a new practice book on her flute.

And my LYS should be back from holiday. 

Nothing else new on the home front.

It is time also for the Tontitown Grape Festival.  Will have to stay away from that part of town.

Stay cool and get out to notice changes around you.

Independence Day Eve!

Some days messages arrive in the strangest ways.  I watched an amazing movie last night, August, Osage County.  It makes my dysfunctional family seem like nothing.  Of course, my dysfunctional problem was holding it all inside so we were not confrontational.  That's why I created anorexia as my control.  I don't like to think about it too much. 

Then a sweet young woman that is someone I have watched grow up and develop her own anorexia problem sent me a link on Facebook.  It was about questions to ask yourself when you grow up with a non-loving mother.

I won't go into my deepest thoughts.  The message is there; I will explore it today in private.

I did discuss some with one friend who said, "Both of our mothers are dead.  Shouldn't all that stuff just go away, too?"  Hmmmm.

So we had the most wonderful rain this morning.  Lots and lots of water and cool air.  It was so nice to stand at the back door and just smell the cleanness of the air.  That's an awkward sentence.  Should it be cleanliness?  I don't know.

I finished the first pair of socks for RB in California.  I am waiting for her to get them, try them on, and then she will decide to reorder another pair.  Of course, I have already cast on a pair and I am almost finished with the cuff of the first one.  I love the colorway in the yarn.  I am tempted to keep them, but I already have so many pairs.  It could be a hoarding problem.

Noodles did the funniest thing last night.  I leave the back door open until I go to bed.  He has a thing about going out on the deck in the dark.  It is "his deck".  I am watching the movie, knitting on the sock, and he steps around the corner and stares at me.  "What?"   He only said one "Meower!" and turned around and left.  I kept knitting, and he returned, stared and another yelp.  Only one sound.  In my imagination I was hearing, "Mooooom!" the way teenagers say can stretch it out into three or four syllables.  "Let me get to the end of the row."  I kept knitting.  He returned once more and was much more insistent with this yelp. "MOOOOOM!"  So I threw down the knitting, and rushed into the kitchen. 

All I could see was that Mr. Stinky, the wild kitty, had come in the back door and emptied his food bowl.  I assured him that I would refill his bowl and that it wasn't a tragedy.  He glanced out the door.  That's when I noticed Mr. Stinky was on the deck.  He slithered over the edge to escape.  I stood at the doorway telling him to just leave Noodles' food alone.  He needed to go away now.  Then I assured Noodles that Mr. Stinky was gone and he was okay to go out to his deck.

Animals are so funny.  I guess since I have lived with mine for almost 16 years that I know his communications and he knows mine. 

I also finished my hat. 

It is a traditional Fair Isle Fisherman's Kep.  I am waiting until it dries before I put the tassel on. It is a project to support the museum in Shetland.  I bought the basic pattern from them, and you are free to put whatever patterns you want on it.  I used some of my handspun and some leftovers from my Spindrift stash.  Bits and Bobs.

So right now I am only working on the blanket and this new pair of socks.  It seems odd to not have a major project going on. 

I finished my Targhee roving.  I used two different colorways, and for some reason there is more brown in one skein.  I am pleased with the results.  I made it a bit thicker than I normally do.  I only got 588 yards out of it all.  Enough to do a small project.  I have been thinking I want to make Harmonia's Rings.  I bought the pattern about 8 years ago.  Maybe.  I'm thinking.

I just like the blues in this batch.  The color is correct in the photo.  A bit of dark, a bit of medium, and an almost turquoise light.  Then the golden brown mixed in.  If one searches enough there is a slight bit of green where the yellow and blue touch.  I like it.

I guess I should get on with my day.  I have been totally lazy with the rain and coolness coming in the windows.  It is time to move and get going.  YAWN! 

Have a good 4th of July!  Happy Independence Day!

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.

Every Day Is Earth Day!

 My new pedestal sink in the hall bathroom.  Perfect size!

 The new flooring in the hall bathroom!  Perfect!

The bedroom flooring.  Perfect!

And now there is a match of the flooring in the bedroom and bathroom.  No more carpet and linoleum!  That was pretty gross!  Now it is perfect!

My neighbors wanted to get new flooring.  She had already replaced one room-the family room-and she wanted all of it to match!  Of course, I don't understand the matching stuff, but I was the recipient of their old flooring.  What a wonderful gift and a wonderful way to recycle the old. 

We had some major hiccoughs along the way with the contractor company.  What was going to be a two day job at their house and a two day job at my house turned into three weeks.  I will not go into that ordeal.  It will ruin the good feelings I have for my clean new flooring.  I am so happy to have that nasty carpeting up. 

So recycled flooring is in.  I have a bit of work to complete everything.  I need to caulk the baseboards and paint them.  Eventually.  Today I am tired and I am just going to look at the pretty new floor.

I am on the toe of the first sock for my friend OSM.  Her house burned and I can't go to California to help.  I can knit socks.  So I am making the prettiest purple socks that can be found anywhere.  The color is gradated subtle-y from deep purple to a dark burgundy purple to purple to lilac to pinky purple.  Really nice dye job.  The colors are in short stripes that make dashes around the foot instead of stripes.  I love it.

I also started knitting a blanket in a striped chevron pattern.  I like it too. 

So maybe my knitting blahs are abating.  I did get the pattern booklet from Shetland for The Fair Isle Fisherman's Kep Pattern.  I am kinda getting excited to start that.  I want to finish the socks first.  Of course, I am thinking of colors and imagining the colors I want to use.  When I get to actual color choosing, it will all be different anyway.  I am thinking I want it made with handspun.  I don't know, tho', I have a whole lot of Shetland Spindrift.  Hmm.....  See how this works.  A lot of thinking and thinking to do. 

I mowed the yard last evening.  This is the period I call creative mowing.  This year I have left patches of bachelor buttons, but they are few and far between.  I don't know why that is.  Some of them have spindly stalks and look sad.  So I guess attrition has reached that population.  The hollyhocks are not doing so well, either.  I don't know why.  The Solomon's seal is doing great!  The irises haven't bloomed yet.  The comfrey is doing exceptionally well where I moved it last year.  It is quite happy.  I noticed the catnip has a bunch of little black bugs on it, and it is also covered with lady bugs.  I can't spray it with the lady bugs there and Noodles eats the leaves regularly.  The tansy is now officially gone feral.  The mugwort is not as thick as it has been in the past.  The lamb's ears I got last year are exceptionally happy.  The Echinacea and the coreopsis are slowly growing along.  I haven't seen my milkweed this year. I don't seem to do well with that.  I had an exceptionally pretty display from all the violets this year.  I know that a list of all the plants would bore anyone to death. 

It is such an odd Spring this year.  I don't know yet how that has affected the plant population. I have something new in the weed world this year growing in the back yard.  It grows thickly and quickly.  When I mowed it last evening, my eyes burned and tears streamed down my face.  My mucus membranes were telling me pepper plants of some kind.  You know that feeling you get when you are processing hot peppers and want to get the seeds out?  That's how my eyes were feeling.

I have gotten about two-thirds done on the second bobbin on the spinning wheel.  I am spinning some pretty blue targhee.  I will probably have enough to do something with when I complete it all.  I think there is close to eleven or twelve ounces of wool to begin with.  I divided it into 6 balls to make three skeins all total.  I'll see how it turns out.  While I was sitting patiently (not) during the flooring ordeal I was able to spin and listen to an audiobook. 

I have a new phone.  So great!  Another computer to deal with.  It is amazing what one can do with a phone!  Mine is just an entry level phone, but it is more than I can deal with most of the time.  I haven't figured out how to access voicemail.  That's the only glitch-so far.

Well-off to knit a toe.  I am taking it somewhat easy today.  I had a restless night, and I awoke tired.  Noodles is so insistent that I feed him and open the damn door-right now!  It is almost time to think about some lunch.  I am eating a lot lately.

Oh-I had the echocardiogram this past week.  I will have to wait until I go to cardiologist to find out the results.  Since he took me off statins, I have been feeling really energetic and almost normal.  Yay!

I am still walking on the treadmill daily-except on the days I do a LOT of yardwork. 

So lunchtime.  Yum!  A piece of chicken is waiting on me.

Happy Boxing Day!

My company for Christmas decided to not drive up here.  It was a pleasant, quiet day spinning.  I listened to an audiobook from the library.  A roast was in the crock pot.  Then a very pleasant surprise.

The Post Office delivered the yarn that I purchased from Weaving Southwest.  So if one believes in Santa Claus, it happens.  Isn't that a marvelous surprise?

So I smelled it, I fondled it, and now I am seriously considering what to make with it.  Some reason is driving me to look at a very old book on Bargello patterns.  I like that idea for now.  I have to do some sketches.

The weather man has been promising all week that the weekend is going to be flooding rains.  It was supposed to begin late this morning.  Well, it was raining when I got up this morning.  It has been thunder booming a lot for over an hour.  We have had gushing rain and more thunder.  It is here.

So maybe I will just stay right here and spin some more yarn.

I have been doing boring stockinette stitch with my knitting.  I am making a Sockhead Hat.  Very easy, very tedious-ly boring, but it will certainly be cute. I am also knitting the first sleeve on the sweater.  So I have been looking at interesting color stranded projects.  I don't want a long, long project.  I found a pair of fingerless mitts that looks like a fun project.  I did copy that pattern.  I don't need another hat, but I sure have seen some cute ones.  Hmmm?

So I have a wild kitty that has been coming in the cat door to eat all of Noodles dry food.  I try to remember every night to lock the door, and I put out food for him.  I think it is a "him" since he stinks up the place.  I haven't seen any sign of his spraying, but he has a certain odor that lingers behind him.  He has been sneaky enough to come in while I am listening to the t.v.  Noodles spent a lot of time last night gazing out various windows and going out on the screened porch.  So he is around somewhere.

I am glad the Christmas insanity is over.  Some stores already have Valentine's Day decorations.  Isn't that the most insane thing?  I am tired of all the ads and the pleas from charities.  I understand people are sappy at this time of year, but please leave me alone.

So, onward through the winter time.  So far this December our weather has been very strange and unusual.  I think that is true most everywhere.  I am still looking at the next three months.  I am not going to complain that we have had warmish weather with sunshine.  I like that so much more than ice and snow.  I guess I am getting to be a grumpy old woman.

One more week until 2016 rolls into town.  Luckily for us the days are minutely longer each day since Solstice. 

Happy New Year ahead of time. 

Spring Storm in the Fall

I just returned from the grocery store and one errand.  I normally don't get out of the house until after 10 am, so I am confused with the time on the clock.  Today we are expecting a storm to blow through quickly between 10 am and noon.  This is one of those Spring storms that energize me.  The wind has been blowing from the south for a few days.  Because of that we have a chance of severe storms when the front blows through from the north.  Yes, the clash of the north and south goes on today.  There are always a chance of tornado and high winds. 

I have always been energized by thunder storms.  I love to stand outside with the wind blowing my hair every which-a-way.  I have been sitting on the bench by the backdoor watching the leaves twirling from the trees and going everywhere the wind blows them. Winter is the time I can access how well the trees are holding up on the property east of my property.  I can see broken limbs now as the leaves twirl around.

Because of the warmish weather, I did get some gardening done yesterday.  I planted a few things and moved things a bit.  My yard has certainly gotten away from me. Sigh!

I also have a thing for kingfishers.  Except in the city living, I have always lived near water that houses one or more kingfishers.  I have always loved them.  This morning as I took the back road into town, I saw my little guy sitting on the wire looking over his domain.  It makes me happy to see a thriving bird population nearby.

My birds are eating from three feeders now.  Of course, I am having the usual difficulty with squirrels.  The red bellied woodpecker "talked" to me the other day, and I saw the suet was low.  Usually I only have the downy woodpeckers this time of year.  The bigger ones usually wait until real wintry weather to check out the suet and sunflowers.

I finished my pillow.  It fits the comfy chair perfectly.  I should have made the pillow inside a bit longer, but it still works.

 

 I am still knitting on the linen stitch scarf.  I am tired of it.  As usual when this happens I put things aside for a while.  Otherwise it may be a skinny width scarf.

I am moving along slowly on my sweater.  I did try it on and I am about four inches to the finish of the body.  I am pretty sure I am going to have ample blue yarn.  It was a total crap shoot whether I would.  I know that the math is supposed to work, but I never rely on math anymore.  I think it is going to be a rugged everyday sweater that will service me well.

I am also knitting baby hats for a friend's unhatched grandbaby.  Her daughter is coming the second week of December for a visit.  Some of her friends are having a baby shower for her during that time.  I can't stand it when there aren't any homemade baby things, so she will get two baby hats from me.

I am going to go sit outside some more.  Uh-oh.  The sun is shining a bit and there are black clouds on the horizons.  Not a good sign.  I did see rays of sun peeking through the clouds driving home. That's when I noticed the low clouds swirling around. 

My grandmother once told me I was born in a thunderstorm.  That is probably why I get so energized and excited when I feel the energy of the storm brewing.  Even Noodles was acting squirrely. 

Keep your eyes on the skies.  Keep your eyes on the weather.  Keep safe.

It's Getting Darker

Time is rolling along steadily every day.  The darkness is closer each day.  I don't care for the time change thing, but I know that when I wake up, I look out the window by the bed.  If it is dark, I can't get motivated to move very fast.  Sometimes I go to the bathroom and go back to bed. 

There are all kinds of things to read about following your own rhythms.  I know that I do follow mine.  Some days I can't get up early, some I can.  Most nights I can't get to sleep very easily.  I read a lot at night.  I don't have a clock or a sign or anything that says, "Hurry up!  Get UP!"  The only thing that notes the time is Noodles.  He likes his morning snack by 8 am.

Today was Recycling Day, so I made a brave move.  I put a stack of old knitting magazines in the bin.  I know I could re-home them somehow.  I am not going to worry about it.  They went into the bin.  With Ravelry so accessible now, I don't have to hoard all those old magazines.  I did save the Archaeology magazine that has the article about the unwrapping of an incan mummy.  They show all the spindles, weaving things, seeds, dye material, etc. that was wrapped in various layers.  I'm keeping that.  Don't ask why. 

We are now in our rainy Fall period.  We badly needed the rain, but why does it come when it is getting darker?  Now it is really, really dark, gloomy, and wet.  We have not had our first frost yet.  I haven't put the stuff in the mowers that keeps them okay through the winter.  Got that on the list.

I finished the Sanquhar Sampler as much as I am going to finish. it.  Plan B works for me.  I knit an edge on one side, added buttonholes, and now it is going to be a pillow.  I think it came out pretty nice. 

I am also now taking a little rest from the scarf and the sweater to knit some baby hats.  A good friend told me her 42-year-old daughter is expecting her first child in April.  So I am making them a bit large just in case she needs to save the hats for the Fall next year.  There is nothing cuter and faster than making baby hats.

I found some old wool dyed a LONG time ago.  So I am spinning that up.  The wool is coarser than I am used to.  So it may be designated for weaving yarn.  I like my knitting yarns to be soft and cuddly. This is not-it is coarse.

I am writing again.  I am also dreaming stories again.  I am happy to be doing that.  I think I am ready to tackle putting together another book of stories.  The first one was really my initiation, and it was as unpleasant as initiations are.  I will have to find a better publisher/editor.  There were so many mistakes in the printing.  It is something to think about this winter.

I am ready to make some quilted placemats for Christmas.  I think I found the perfect fabric the other day in the thrift store.  I found a HUGE shirt with a small eyelet pattern that was the best Christmas red color.  I immediately thought it would make the perfect backing for placemats.  I have some cotton batting, so all I have to do is get some Christmas material for the top.  Put that one on my list this week.

I guess I am almost ready for hibernation.  I need to get more canned food for the pantry.  I have made some applesauce for the freezer.  I dehydrated the last of the apples last week.  That is stored in the freezer.  I know there are still apples in the grocery store.  I may get some more to put up.  I love dehydrated apples on my oatmeal.  I need to check out the cranberries too.  I like to keep at least one bag in the freezer.  They are great for breads.  It is the weather to start baking bread again.  I have to check my supplies and make sure I have everything I need.  I know I have some yeast in the freezer, but perhaps I need more.  I'll have to check.

I don't know why I am so hungry for bread pudding.  I do have some cubed bread in the freezer, but I think it is stale by now. 

While I am out tomorrow I will have to get another sack of sunflower seeds for the birds.  They are now moving into feeding mode.  All the flowers are gone; the seeds are pretty much gone; the bugs are moving under the leaves now.  We still have ticks out.  Ugh!  I will have to make some suet for the woodpeckers now.  The season is changing.

This weekend is the Hunt and Roll at Mirkwood.  I am not going.  I really don't like to camp out when it is rainy and cold.  I remember weekends waking up and snow being on the tents and the moisture inside is frozen.  I remember sleeping with my water bottle to keep it from freezing.  I guess I am really getting old.  It does not sound appealing anymore.  I like the food, the company, the fun-I don't like the weather any more.

Well-just muttering along.  It is late now.  Time to go to bed and read a bit.  Happy middle of the week. 

My Nose Is Clogged Up

I am highly allergic to mold.  It always comes this time of year.  First thing to do when Autumn arrives is get more antihistamines. Ragweed finally gets everything out of its system, and then along comes leaf mold.  Yay!  My favorite.  When I was little my mother always, always got either sinus infections or bronchitis in the Spring and in the Fall.  For many years the doctors could never figure it out.  Finally as medicine expanded it was discovered she was allergic to the chemical that makes leaves grow out and leaves to die.  Whatever that chemical is that tells trees to get ready-change is coming!

She was also very allergic to formaldehyde.  Guess what was a component of new dress materials in the 1950's and 1960's.  It was in the dyes. 

Anyway I am now taking my antihistamines daily.  This will last through October.  It's okay.  It isn't permanently debilitating.

I finally have reached the end of the Sanquhar scarf.  I am so over knitting this thing.  I still am not half-way, but I tried it on the other day to just see how long it has become.  I then realized that no one in his right mind would ever wear a 22 inch wide scarf that is doubled because it is knitted in the round.  We do not live in northern Europe, Siberia or Antarctica.  It has now become a long pillow form.  I am presently knitting a band on one end.  Somewhere along the way I will knit buttonholes on one side.  I am going to seam up the other end.  I will make a pillow form for the innards.  And I will not do anything like this again.

I am 1 1/2 inches along the linen stitch scarf.  I love the colors.  It is going to be really, really nice.

I put the sweater down to finish up the one project.  No news on that.  Just stockinette stitching.

For the first time in forever I am not spinning anything.

I have finished my practice piece on the tapestry loom.  I am now taking an online course by Rebecca Mezoff on Color Gradation.  I have been watching videos and reading the PDF's.  Now I need to practice some of her techniques before I go on.  I am really learning a lot.  I am also in the process of finding weaving yarns.  I no longer have a weaving stash.  I think I am going to thin out the knitting stash.  I probably have more yarn than I can knit in this lifetime.  It would be good to get rid of some of it.

The weather is typical for our Fall.  It is coolish in the evenings.  We have a few nights of 40's.  The days have been pleasant in the 70's.  Suddenly we are having a heat wave and in the 80's.  The ceiling fans are going again.  Windows open at night.  No wonder people get sick.

Noodles loves the cooler weather.  He is catching wood rats right now.  He doesn't have good teeth, so he can't eat the whole thing like he used to.  He did a good job on the little vole the other night.

I have three bird feeders and the suet feeder going again.  Sigh!  They are so spoiled.  Of course, the squirrels are ecstatic about it all.  The stupid rats chewed on the wood on the newly painted porch railing. 

So nothing new and exciting.  I also got a Craftsy class on Quilting as You Piece.  I like that concept.  I might get something done.  I have really not been faithful to my sewing.  I did repair a torn pair of work pants the other. 

So it seems I am preparing myself for the winter months.  I just can't get my mind in the right place.  The few overcast, gloomy days we have had send me spiraling down.  I do this every year.  Once I get to Winter Solstice I try to psyche myself by telling myself the days are getting longer every day.  By March I am screaming to get outside.  I need light.  It's a cycle a lot of people go through I know.

I am writing again.  I found a poem I wrote some time ago.  I found a short story that I thought I finished had not been finished.  So I am writing again.  It feels nice to sit down and live in someone else's brain for a while.

Craft fairs are happening this month.  Camping is happening this month.  Lots of activities to get involved in.  Have a safe transition into Full Fall as the cooler weather transitions.

And hope that we all make it out of Mercury in Retrograde soon. 

September-A Transition Month

Tomorrow is the first day of autumn-the Autumnal Equinox.  It is a time for transition.  I notice it is very subtle how it happens.  Suddenly we are having bits of cooler weather that move back to summer within days.  On the cooler days we have little humidity.  On the warmer days we have high humidity. The light is changing.  That I am not ready for-ever.  I like to have light to work by.  I find overcast, cloudy days or late mornings early nights light depressing.  I guess I am Persephone at heart.

I have been preparing for winter to come.  I am still working on the sweater and the Sanquahar scarf.  I finished a pair of socks for my niece, so I cast on a linen stitch scarf.  I am really not in a knitting mode, but I know what I have is fairly easy to do and mindless knitting.  I am not sure I will ever do a complicated all-over pattern in the wintertime again.  The light was dim and I had trouble reading the chart.  I had to sit by a window and I had to only work a few hours on it at a time.  How did women do it by candlelight or lantern light?

I have been cleaning outside preparing for the Fall weather.  I had my deck repaired-a big cost for me.  I painted the front rails on the porch, and I painted the new railing on the side porch and the replacement window sill.  I like it I don't have to mow as often.  The grass is changing.  I moved the garden bird feeder to a more open spot that I can still see out my windows.  I cleaned it out and it is waiting patiently for a fill up. 

I am still getting hummers, so the sugar water continues.  I heard geese in late August, and I am pretty sure they weren't our usual guests down on Barrington Road.  We do have a large group of geese that come in and stay there over the winter.  They rear young and then migrate again.  We had a large group of blackbirds that migrated through.  The robins have come and gone.  Birdsong is different now.  It isn't the usual mating songs that I hear in early summer and the melody is different now.

Noodles is still fighting fleas.  I am giving him Capstar every two weeks.  I have never had to do that.  Usually I can give him one and that is the end of it.  Of course, I use the topical flea and tick stuff once monthly.  That usually takes care of anything.  At the knitting circle everyone said they were having a terrible time.  One woman said her vet mentioned this was the worse flea season she had ever seen.

I am still working on Following the Lines on the tapestry loom.  I am close to finished.  I have dragged my heels finishing it.  I am planning to take a course with Rebecca Mezoff online and the sign up is October 5.  I want to just advance my warp and keep on weaving without cutting off this one.  I have the tension set and it is perfect and I don't want to mess with changing that.

A bit of a break while I talked to CJE.  The neighborhood crows are talking outside.  The bluejays have been fussing.  It is a lovely day-the eve of Fall.

Have a good week.  Enjoy the transition.  Prepare as you must.  The seasons will change regardless of preparation.

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.

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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!



Everthing is Green!

After our unusual winter, we are having an unusual Spring!  Why does that surprise me?  It shouldn't.

I am actually mowing the weeds.  There are spots of real grass, but the usual Spring weeds are flourishing.  We have been having our storms, our rain, our unusually warm April.  My redbuds are so beautiful right now.  It is so pleasing to see the gorgeous colors.  My daffodils bloomed quickly and were done.  The iris and other bulbs are well on their way to popping open.

Unfortunately I am not going to get such a great hollyhock year as last.  I love hollyhocks-their tall stalks blooming little bit by little bit with cups of flowers.

I am so excited that my roadrunner visited today.  Noodles alerted me of something outside.  I stood in the doorway of the screened porch.  After spotting me, the roadrunner raced up the steps of the porch, hopped up on the railing and stared at me.  I very softly said, "Hi.  I am happy you have come back."  It hopped down to steps, hopped up to rail, hopped down to steps, hopped up to rail, and stared me right in the eye.  After a coupla minutes, it flew up to rooftop and started cuckooing loudly.

I know all the bird people are going to pooh-pooh me.  Birds don't have the memories to do something like that.  I know the first hummingbird always hovers in front of one particular window, and last year an oriole hovered in front of the studio window.  I feel like they recognize me.  It makes me feel loved and appreciated.  I don't want to know that this is some random behavior. 

I am doing very little knitting right now.  I started the Sanquhar Cowl, and I love the sampler idea.  I don't get bored with an endless pattern and as soon as I get bored, I get another pattern to learn.  I am also knitting a pair of socks.  I don't need a pair of socks, but I needed something to haul around.

I love having the windows and door open to the fresh air.  I know the pollen is bad right now, but I am into the fresh air thing.  I assume we will still have some cooler weather before May, but I love the sunshine, the warmth, and all the green.

I am still having some difficulties with my blood pressure.  It is so worrisome.  I went back to doctor yesterday, and I was assigned a different doctor.  She seems to think it is okay to have fluctuating all over the place b.p.  So I guess right now I am not going to worry so much.

My cousin will be here next week.  At some time I do need to clean up my house.  UGH!

Going to a quilt show tomorrow morning.  I am really excited about it.  I need some kind of motivation to get back to sewing.  I did clean up the room and reorganized things so it doesn't look like a tornado hit in there.  I need to vacuum, but I always need to vacuum.

So-as usual-nothing new and exciting.  This is my busy season.  Getting beds prepared, planting things, mowing, trimming, and generally getting ready for summer.  By the time the heat is on I will be in the maintenance stage.  That isn't so hectic.

Have a good weekend.  Enjoy Spring!