Got it goin' on.

Big rug done.   In the box, ready to be shipped.
Whew.
Thank you, dear Alice, for sewing it together for me.
While I watched.

My knee....the titanium one,  just won't do that on the floor trick for 2 hours, and that is what it took to put the panels together.
I am so lucky to have such a good friend, who still has good knees!!!

I love the rug. It measures almost 8' wide, and a little over 13' long.

I did a lot of different chores today, one of them was cleaning the porch up.  I love my porch as much now as I did when it was built last year.

The bad news is that Bubbalee has been absent.
I saw her yesterday running across the road, with Bunnynose right behind her, and a scruffy gold cat right behind him.  Apparently she has had a hormonal rush, and is looking for love, again.
Dear Lord.
A NEW trap is hopefully in the making, and we haven't given up yet.  We are still trying to catch her.

Miss Puss does not understand that kind of behavior.

Lots of stuff going on in the studio.
There is a never ending list of things that need attention.    I am the listmaker.  You know the type, right?
My theory is that if I have a list, and I plug away at it, I will succeed.
Or something.
Not to mention that I have L plugging away at the list, as well.


The NEW Solmate sock rugs in specific colorways are in the works.
Here is the blue/purple/lavendar/black combo.

What do you think??
Is it a keeper??

So now I am 'orderless', not a bad way to be.
It means that when I get some of the drudge work done, I can play at things I want to weave.
So however long it lasts, is a good thing.

But first, there are jeans and socks to be cut and sewn, kits to be made, yard work,  studio cleaning, and shelves to be stocked.  Never ending.

Another blast of color.

I was at the studio today (surprise) and someone called to order some rug kits.  She said, "Oh, my, you're there on a holiday.  I was just going to leave a message."
Then someone else called with an order.
So in addition to making unexpected sales, which by the way are the very best kind, I got a lot of work done.
I finished the "BIG" rug, the three panels  just have to be seamed together, and then the rug will be on its way to Lake Michigan.

Then  L and I did some serious barn cleaning, in preparation for getting pellets delivered.
It is hard to think and plan for WINTER, but it is a necessary evil.  And it is one that I will feel better about when the pellets are safely tucked away.
We moved the "cutting station" outside.  My show canopy, which is out of commission since I hate doing shows, is right outside the barn, and that is where the jeans, and the socks, will be cut for the summer, and probably the fall.

I am pacing myself.   Accepting the responsibilities that I have, allowing myself the time and the energy that I need for them.  It is all about my perspective.  My state of mind.  My attitude.
Gratitude is the attitude.  Today, and every day.
I am working on this.  Not a finished product, but a work in progress.

I made some sun tea today.  I love this container.  Made the tea in it, put it in the fridge, and poured the tea right out of it.  I go to the dollar store, and buy all kinds of flavored teas to make iced tea with.  My inspiration is seeing a 6 pack of unsweetened ice tea in the grocery store for $6.89.
Really????????   Really????
Are ya' serious?

My new favorite tea is Coconut Mango.  To die for.  But not from the  dollar store, unfortunately.

It would still be cheaper than $6.89 to make a pitcher of iced coconut mango tea!!

I am coming up with a NEW kit.  Compliments of my mentor, Chris, over at Homestead Weaving
She has been bugging me for some time to do this.  I resisted, but now I see she had a good point.
I MADE the rug, and I LOVE IT.
What do you think???

I am working on the details of the kit as we speak.  But for those of you who do NOT have a loom, this is a great way to weave your own rug.  I just love the wild colors.  But you knew that.
I want to make a BIG one now.
Can't you just see it???
I just know I will never have enough time to weave all the things I want to weave.
But hey, it's such wicked fun trying.

Into the wild.

Yesterday was a kids' day.  I took the day off from the studio, and took the three youngest of my grandkids to the Adirondack Animal Land.

Of all the animals they had there, these are my favorites.  They are so beautiful.

Don't they look like they have little hearts on their butts???

The cortisone shot has helped, at least so far.  I would not normally have been able to do all the walking I did yesterday.
I am hoping that the improvement continues.
I want to do a lot more walking, every day.

The kids loves animals, and they love walking through the woods.

The camels loved the Safari Ride.   You could tell that this was part of their daily entertainment.  Whoever rode in the back of the wagon got slobbered on.

Sometimes those slushies are hard to suck through a straw.

But if you stick with it........

Everyone enjoyed  the park.

By 10pm last night, I was down for the count. The week has been jammed pack and stressful.
I am looking for some slowing down.

Walk with me.

The days are longer when you don't sleep.  That is not usually an affliction of mine.
I wondered if it was the shot of cortisone, or the wild storm, or both.
I woke up at 3am, and at 6am decided to have some cereal and give up the quest.
So it has been a long, long day.

The kittens have been to the vet, two boys and two girls, they have been wormed, they are flea and ear mite FREE.  They all weigh between 1.3 lbs, and 1.9 lbs, which the vet said is perfect for 6 weeks.  She said that they were amazingly healthy for being born and living under a shed.
Bubbalee was a good momma, and she ate well all winter long.
They were delivered to Tammy, who has homes for two, and is working to find homes for the other two.  She is such a 'cat whisperer', that they will be just about cuddly in no time.

Today my mother went over to the studio with me, and spent the day.  It is good for her to get out of the house.
We did a little garden tour.  She was quite the gardener in her day.
She turned a bare half acre lot into an English garden.

I think that giving up her garden is what made her really angry about getting old.
The rest of it didn't much bother her.

She knew all the proper  names of all the plants and trees in her yard.

I bought this snowball bush a couple of years ago, because I always loved the one she had in her yard.  I was very happy to see how well it was doing.

I know this may sound crazy, and I may be risking my reputation as a business woman, but I don't want to make as much money this year at the studio, as I did last year.
I want to garden more, and spend more time with my family.   I don't want to be flying from one order to the next with such speed that I don't enjoy the actual weaving.
Less is more.  Sometimes that is so true.

What makes you happy?
It made me smile to see the high bush cranberries flourishing.   They too, were in my mother's garden.
The pretty flowers around the outside are sterile....they only serve to attract pollinating insects to the buds in the center, the smaller ones, that are fertile.  That is just so amazing.

Something is shifting in me of late.  I can't put my finger on it.
My perspective has changed.  A new feeling is creeping over me.
I want to pare down, simplify, live with less.  I want to get it right, this "what's important" thing.
It may be all the tragedy and death and despair that affects so many.
But suddenly, the bird that sings outside my window at 5:00 a.m. sings sweeter.
The crunch of that green salad is incredible.
The little arms that hug me around my waist are more precious than gold.

Yes, there is a mysterious wind blowing about.
Not a tornado, not a spring storm.
The breeze that blows in the window, and makes you gasp with delight.
Ah.

So, what makes you happy?

I'll bet it isn't money, or cars, or clothes, or possessions of any kind.

Oh, they're nice to have.  Sure.
But the lump in your throat, the tear in your eye,  the glow in your heart kind of happy???
Nah.

That's not what does it for you, is it?

Success. I hope.

Another long day.

I finally gave up the struggle to deal with my foot pain.  After exercises, orthotics, shoe changes, I went today and got a cortisone injection in my heel.
I would say that it was horrible pain, but in comparison to the 7 months of varying degrees of heel pain I have had, not so much.
Right now, it just aches a bit where the needle did its duty, but walking does not make me want to cry.
I will wake up tomorrow morning hoping for the BEST results to continue.
If I still have pain in three weeks, I will be back at the foot doctor's office for Round 2 of do something anything make this pain go away.

While I was traipsing across the country side searching for relief, L took the squirrel trap across the road, and by the time I got back, kitten number FOUR was in residence.
They are so freaking cute.
They hiss, and act all furious when you pick them up, and within a couple of minutes, they are cuddled up on your chest.

The gray one is saying, "Maybe if I close my eyes, you will go away."

They are 6 weeks, and 4 days old.  To be exact.

Tomorrow they are going to the vet's at 5pm, to get wormed, and checked for fleas.  They can't be treated for fleas unless they each weigh 2 lbs.

Then they are going to Tammy's........remember Tammy???  My first apprentice that abandoned me for a full time job.  Go figure.
She had more fun at the studio.
Anyway, Tammy is taking the kittens, straight from the vet's, and she is going to socialize them, and find them homes.   Dear girl.
She already has homes for the two with white faces.

And I (L too, don't let her kid you) have breathed a huge sigh of relief.  No more worrying myself to sleep about the fate of these babes.

Now on to catching their mother, who has not been near us.  She is mad, for sure.

If anyone wonders why I don't give money anymore to the SPCA, it's because I got my own little SPCA action going on right in Kingsbury, NY.
Amen.

And if we can't catch Bubbalee in the VERY NEAR future, she is going to be taking Feralstat,  which I will feed her once a week, to prevent her from getting promiscuous again.

Sorry Bubbalee.

But you are just too beautiful.

NEWS FLASH/CAT FLASH

Finally, news on the Bubbalee front.

We knew that she had her kittens on April 9th, and we knew that she had them under the shed across the road.  The neighbors told us that she had two kittens, until just the other day, when they said, no, they had seen FOUR.  We knew that 6 weeks old was a prime age to take them away from their mother, and try to socialize them.  After 10 weeks, it gets really tough.
So we took a crate, and a Havahart, and canned cat food across the road, and enlisted the help of the family that owns the shed.
They were on the same page.  Get the kittens before they get killed in the road, too old to socialize, and old enough to have more babies.
Today.....YAY.  We caught THREE of them.

They are frightened, but easily picked up.  They hiss, and hide.  There is one light gray and white, one tiger and white, and one dark gray with  white feet.

If you look closely, you can see that one of them is sitting on top of the other one.

They are safe in the front bedroom upstairs at the studio.  They have a litter box, food, water, and a few places to sleep.  We are leaving them alone for the night, so they can calm down, and look around.  Tomorrow we will sit with them, hopefully get them comfortable around us, and ultimately find homes for them.
I am a dreamer, always.
Since it took the weight of all three of these to spring the trap, we are putting the smaller trap over there to try to catch the fourth, and last kitty.
Bubbalee will be mad.  She's next.   We have to catch her before she gets pregnant again.

On the rug front, we have ONE sample, in pinks and purples.

I asked Sydney if she wanted to do a book with me.

Sydney asks:  Does this rug bring out the green in my eyes??

Did you say a 'book'???

Whoosh.

Finally sitting down.  I feel like I have done the whirlwind tour today.  Two doctor appointments, pharmacy trips, grocery lists.
And some work at the studio, but nowhere near what I would have liked to get done.
Ah, well.
It is what it is.   I am embracing my limitations right now.  What else can I do?

While waiting for my mother in doctors' offices, and at physical therapy, I have been knitting.
This is a fun pattern for fingerless mitts.  I made two pairs, I'm on my third.

Great for texting, right?
That's scary, isn't it?

I have been wanting something to put my sewing machine on.......at home.  Sometimes in the evening, when DH is watching baseball, I sew.  And dragging it out to the kitchen table is painful.

I had been to one of the local used furniture stores a couple of times, and only saw one thing that might work.  It was a little wider than I wanted, and it was $150.
But today when I went there, they had two others to choose from.
I ended up buying this one, because it had drawers for all my sewing gear, and it was narrow enough to fit the space I had for it.
AND, it was $45.

It was a little more beat up than the other one most like it, but it is very solid, and heavy, and it's just about perfect, scratches and all.

I was sewing these together tonight, while I was waiting for Idol to come on.

I have to come up with names for all these different colored rugs.   This is the first batch of ONE COLOR rugs.  What shall I call them??

Shall I have a giveaway? Hmm.

Sydney, what do you think???

Sydney says:

I think it's time for my nap, that's what I THINK."

Idol is on, or Singing Survivor, as Kate over at Country Girl calls it.........I like that.

But tell me, when did American Idol go country???   Not that I have anything against country, but it is a little weird, isn't it??  

And The Voice is on later, if I can stay awake.

And there we have it .....another day flew right on by.

Hope it was a good one.