Catching Up.

From studio

Remember this? I promised you the recipe, so here it is. Thanks to my youngest daughter.

Asian Pasta Salad

1 lb. spaghetti, cooked and drained

1 cup edamame cooked and cooled

1 cup red cabbage shredded

1 red pepper diced

5-7 scallions sliced (white and light green parts)

½ cup raw peanuts

¾ cup matchstick carrots

2T ginger grated

2T garlic grated

½ cup Vermont’s Maple Grove Sesame Ginger dressing (may need more)

Dash red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Toss ingredients. Chill.

I am trying to do some catch up. I don't always remember to answer questions or follow up, and for that I apologize.
Someone asked about loopers. Yes, I do have them. I have sold some, it helps defray the cost of them and their shipping, but right now, I am holding off a bit.
The Hip to Be Square Looper Loom is almost ready, honest. And I don't know how many loopers I may need in the coming year. It all depends on how successful I am in marketing them.
So check with me later.
For those of you who have weaving questions, email me anytime at ragrugs@crazyasaloom.com
I will be glad to help.
And re: questions about the "little loom".
I am waiting still on the hooks. I am having the long metal hook made, should have that in a week or so. The crochet hooks to finish the edges are on order, and they should be here within a couple of weeks. I have a list of all of you that want one, and I will be contacting you as soon as they are ready. I promise.
I am amazed at how hard this has actually been, getting all the pieces parts of this project together. And I somehow think that it will 'evolve' as I go along.
And maybe it should.
I wanted to tell you about a story that I read. It was actually on TV a while back, and for some reason I have been thinking about it lately.
It is about a young man, Aron Ralston who was hiking alone, fell into a crevice, and an 800 lb rock fell on his forearm. After 6 days, he cut his own arm off, to save his life. If you google him, you can read the whole story, and see pictures of the canyon where it happened.
He hiked alone that day. He didn't tell anyone where he was going. Noone was expecting him back any time soon.
But what really struck me, was his courage.
And what he said really resonated with me.
He said, "I took responsibility for all of my decisions, which helped me take on the responsibility of getting myself out."
I don't blame you for being confused.
Asian salad to this.
I know I am all over the place.
Sometimes, it just is what it is.

Lights, camera, action.

Sometimes little girls can be difficult.
Just because I thought that having them stand in front of my sunflowers would make a fantastic photo, doesn't mean that they agreed.

From Untitled Album

Sometimes, you are just better off to take the easy shot.

From Untitled Album

My granddaughters stayed overnight, and they popped out of bed at 7am.
So, Mimi just kept to her schedule.
NAP TIME!

From Untitled Album

There's a little girl in that pile of blankets, with a stuffed whale.
And two cats in attendance.
What's up with that?
This one said that she didn't NEED a nap, that was 5 minutes ago.

From Untitled Album

That bear is Raoul.
I am afraid I was forced to tell a small tale.
She wanted something to take to bed with her. I offered her the bunny, but she said she wanted something that her mother had when she was little.
So I picked up the bear, and said, 'oh, like this little guy'.
I told her that not only did Mommy have this bear when she was little, but she named him Raoul, and she bit the end of his toe off.
Her eyes got big, she clutched Raoul, and went straight to sleep.
Aren't I awful? I had to call my daughter and tell her, so she wouldn't give me up.
And the poor little bunny found a new home over the bed.

From Untitled Album

Now I have a complaint.
Seems women have it all.
Well, almost.
We can't have these, now can we?

From Untitled Album

Twinkletoes, by Sketchers. The little gems on the toes light up when you walk.

I would buy a pair right now, if I could.

And these.
Hello Kitty underwear.

From Untitled Album

Heart be still.

So women of the world......tell me. Why can't we have them.
Cool sneakers that light up, and Hello Kitty underwear.
I asked my granddaughters.
"Why do you have all the fun?"
Ava said.
"Because we are the kids."
Phooey.
It is quiet at my house, the kids have gone home. Eddie is on the sofa next to me, once more my only baby.

And the rain came.....

Finally, my branding iron is here.

From Untitled Album

But there is definitely a knack to it. Noone should get near me when I am armed with this.
Except I got it upside down a few times.

From Untitled Album

On the way to the studio yesterday, I happened to see this guy standing out in the field. It is not unusual to hear coy dogs in the distance at night. But it is very unusual to see them in the day time, especially like this.

From Untitled Album

I only got the one shot, then he was gone.
He reminds me of someone........ok, ok, I won't go there.

Yesterday we went to Boston. Because of the nature of the trip, I would like to tell you about it as briefly as possible.
So..........
Long drive, rain, check in hotel, rain, train, rain. Great food at Mexican restaurant in wet clothes. Rain, plastic ponchos, standing at Fenway drinking hot tea (coffee for DH)watching the RAIN out on the field, standing, waiting, CROWDS of people. Rain, crowds, game cancelled. Mad dash for train, standing room only, back to hotel. Exhaustion. Sleep. Breakfast. Rain. Long drive home.
Crap.
Today on the way home we picked up two little ones. Granddaughters #1 and #2.
They get quite comfortable at the studio.

From Untitled Album

And after awhile, attitudes and tired little girls slept it off.

From Untitled Album

For some reason, when Mimi says nap time, they listen.

From Untitled Album

They started in the same room, but had to retire to separate ones after a bit.

From Untitled Album

They slept for almost 2 hours.
Ahh.
I actually had to wake them up.

From Untitled Album

And now, I am tired.
They are finally winding down, again.
I am not feeling very warm and fuzzy about Boston tonight.
But I am feeling warm and fuzzy about these two. I imagine that I always will.

From Untitled Album

A different world.

No, I am not a country music girl. At least not most of the time.
But for some reason, I got it in my head that I wanted to go hear Bucky Covington when he came to the Glens Falls Civic Center.
It isn't that he is such a great singer, or even great looking.
But I like his story.
A lot.
North Carolina boy, a twin no less, working in a body shop, decides to try out for American Idol.
Very obviously a country singer, he faces tough criticism. He dances around the stage, obviously out of his element, and finishes 8th.
But he is out there touring, singing, making a living, probably having a lot more fun than he was painting cars.
Isn't that the American dream?
So I talked my husband into taking me.

From Untitled Album

He is very skinny, and he likes to flip his hair around. He was much better than he was on his Idol days, and very comfortable with the audience. And he was very entertaining.

From Untitled Album

Who wouldn't like Bucky Covington?
That's my question.
With a name like that.
Just rolls right off your lips.
Bucky Covington.
Ha!
And then they had someone named Jack Ingram, who was good enough, but bored me to tears.
Then Jo Dee Messina, who has an incredible voice.

From Untitled Album

A very talented lady.
Except that her bass was so loud, you could feel it right behind your sternum.
Ouch.
I must be getting old.
Although I did want to dance in the aisle, but my husband said no.
Naysayer.

From Untitled Album

Then the headliner, John Michael Montgomery.

From Untitled Album

I didn't think I knew who he was, until he started singing.
"I Swear" and "I could love you like that"........

From Untitled Album

I guess 15 years ago, he was at his peak. But he was still pretty good. Just older, and a little more haggard. :)
And that is my country music foray for this decade, and maybe the next.

Yesterday found me and my mother in the car on the way to my daughter's.
My mother said she had been awake late the night before, reliving some of her life.
I wasn't sure what that was about at first.
Seems she was remembering my father, and when they first met.
In England.
She was in the ATS, or the women's English army.
My father was very dashing. Almost handsome.
She said, "I trusted him."
And, "We were so much in love".
After they had known each other for 7 months, she asked her mother to sign the papers saying she could marry this American sailor, her mother said, "I'm signing this with my tears."
I asked her, "Did you realize that you had to leave your home and go to the United States. Did you think that through?"
She said, "No., I didn't realize until I was in my 40's, then I knew how much I had hurt my mother."
Fast forward 7 years later. My mother was now a naturalized citizen, with a hard working husband, and a five year old..........me.
It was 1952.
She and my grandmother were saving, to get my grandmother here, for a visit.
But then my mother started waking up with a worried feeling, and she began crying a lot. My father asked her why, she said, "I want my mother."
He assured her that she would see her mother, in 1954, as planned. But it wasn't enough.
My mother got sicker, and cried more often.
She wrote her mother, and said, buy a ticket here, and then when you get here, by the time you are ready to go back, I will have saved enough for your return ticket.
My grandmother went to London to get her ticket, and her passport. A poor woman, who had worked in the fields picking vegetables her whole life, she had never been to London. The parishioners of the Salvation Army called ahead, and an Army member in London met her, and took her everywhere she needed to go.
She got the passport, but they would not sell her a one way ticket to the United States.
When my mother heard, she was distraught.
That same day, my father called her from work. My father who hated loans. Didn't do them.
Until now.
"I borrowed the money. We'll buy the round trip ticket."

Three months later, my father drove to NYC alone, to pick my grandmother up.
She stayed with us for 7 months. She called me "ducky". That's all I remember about her.
A few months after she got back, she was diagnosed with leukemia, and she died early in 1954.

My mother started crying when she got to this place in her story.
"It was a miracle," she said.
"A miracle. If she had not come when she did, I would never have seen her again."

We are never ready to lose our mothers. Are we?

From Untitled Album

Sunday 160

From Untitled Album

Some people love the spotlight. But not me.
I love sweet quiet. Watching rain from my porch.
Comfortable in my own skin. All those other years almost forgotten.

I went over to Monkey Man's Blog
and read his Sunday 160......a post to be written every Sunday, 160 characters, including spaces.
Just so you know my motivation.
And it wasn't as easy as I thought.

No rubber gloves.

Ah, a lovely shade of turquoise. They have been reclining in the dye bath for awhile, I hesitate to say how long.
And today, I decided to fetch them out.

From Untitled Album

Unfortunately, I could not find any rubber gloves. I tried to use a STICK, but that was pretty useless, and eventually (as I expected) I gave it up and just reached in and got it.

From Untitled Album

It did eventually come off with a whole lot of soap and a little bleach, although my nails are still a lovely shade of blue.
This is where Frank of "Everybody Loves Raymond" says: CRAP!

Anyway, no matter.

From Untitled Album

Yes, it is.
Everything is as it should be.

From Untitled Album

Sometimes it doesn't seem so. Sometimes it seems that life is so complicated, and so hard.

From Untitled Album

Sometimes it is hard to wait for what we want. It is hard to be patient.
We struggle with situations that don't move along the way we would like.

From Untitled Album

But if we let life unfold.

From Untitled Album

And if we have faith that it will happen precisely the way it is supposed to happen.

From Untitled Album

Often we find that it is more than we could have asked for.
Quite likely, we understand that there was a plan, all along.

From Untitled Album

Ah, yes. It truly is a wonderful life.

Have a great weekend, all of you.

Pardon me.

Today was so busy. I am still reeling.
I had a shipment of loopers coming, and the two teenagers I hired to help me with that, failed to show up.
Great.
But luckily I had an ace in the hole, which I played.
Unfortunately, the tractor trailer they sent could not get in my driveway.

From Untitled Album

So they had to be unloaded at the end of the driveway.
Forty six boxes, each about 80 lbs., for a total of 3900+ lbs.
Makes me tired just thinking about it.
There was a time when I would have considered helping with this. But I have smartened up in my old age. Besides, I am not that fond of going to the chiropractor.

From Untitled Album

At any rate, it is done. The boxes are in the barn, and I am glad it's over.


I have been taking my granddaughter to horse riding lessons. She is 6 years old, and she just loves it. Her face glows, she fairly quivers with pure delight.
And it has reminded me of my own horse days.
Yup. I was once as enamored as her.
At nine years old, my Dad bought me a horse. Her name was Nancy. She was short, kind of heavy, and she had the personality of a snake. She was always trying to do me bodily harm. I guess, in hind sight, that was a good thing. I learned a lot. I learned to be careful, cautious, I learned to take charge.
The other day, my oldest daughter and I were out and about. We pulled over to see these guys.

From Untitled Album

My two older daughters both rode as children. We had horses, they had their own.
Zhia. Christy. Banner.
Seeing these two brings it all back.

From Untitled Album

Sometimes I toy with the idea of a small barn, a couple of horses. Maybe some chickens. There is a part of me that loves that, longs for that.
But life intervenes. I am busy. There is so much to be done. As someone said....tis true....I have so many balls in the air.
So I put that idea aside.
I have a lot of my mind.
Someone I love very much is getting her ducks all in a row. It is hard work. It is humbling.
And while I can't say much, suffice it to say that I am 100 % on her side. I am there for her, no matter what. Some people may say that I'm overbearing.
Some people have no clue what it really means to love someone enough to sacrifice your own interests.
Some people are......well..........this sign I saw says it best.
I hope you are not offended.
The devil made me do it.
No, not really......it's me, totally me, I did it all on my own.

From Untitled Album

What a day.

Whew. The loom that was gifted to me is almost operational.
I say that because the bolts are not all tight, and there are a couple of things I haven't figured out yet.
But still, I am very pleased.
My friend, Alice, and I, worked on it all afternoon. And the upstairs where it is residing is HOT.
But even though we didn't have a clue, and there were no pictures, nothing to go by at all, we got it together.
See??

From Untitled Album

An 8 harness jack in maple, and so far, it all appears to be there.

From Untitled Album

I was also "on duty" in my Mimi role.

From Untitled Album

And while it is a lot of work, it is also a lot of fun. Don't tell anyone, but I love every minute of it.
Almost.
Someone likes the fiesta skirt that Mimi made her.

From Untitled Album

And they both like Mimi's new porch.
In fact, when I offered them the option of going to the pool to swim, they declined.
No, they said, we want to stay here.

From Untitled Album

They play very well together, and they go through a lot of paper.
Hmm, here's a note.

From Untitled Album

Oh, yeah!! I like this!!!!!
Would that qualify as child labor.

From Untitled Album

Then we had to go up in the loft of the barn. Here I am, again, like the paparazzi.

From Untitled Album

And I wish I could claim artistic ability for this next shot, but I can't. I have no idea how this happened, but it is cool. The girls loved it. The comment was, "Wow, we look like rock stars."

From Untitled Album

Busy, busy little girls. What are you after???

From Untitled Album

Ah, that!

From Untitled Album

Now I am sitting by the window, with a fan three feet from my head, because our air conditioner decided to take a little 'break', pun intended.
I am very, very tired. Hard work keeping up with a 5 and 6 year old.
But someday, I hope they will remember being kids at Mimi's crazy studio.
That can't be a bad memory to have.