Keeping busy.

Mondays can be grueling.....we sure had a busy one at the studio.

Packing, shipping, warping looms.  Weaving.


And construction.   Yes, the ceiling in the front bedroom is getting new sheetrock.  This means we are ever closer to moving the Toika upstairs.

By the end of the day, the sheetrock was up, one coat of spackle was on, and all the cats were freaked because they had been locked out of the upstairs all day.

And of course, we had visitors.
The cutest little visitor of all.

 Someone loves Sydney.

 Get in your box, Syd.


You gotta love a Red Sox fan with a pink hat and a face like that.

 I got your tail, Syd.

Awwwwww.

OK, enough fooling around.  Back to work everyone.

A little pat on the back.

Yesterday I treated myself to not only a day off, but to something I have wanted to do for quite a while.

I took a photography workshop, with Carl Heilman, a well known, and incredibly talented, photographer who lives in the area.

The course was given at the Adirondack Folk School,  in Lake Luzerne, N.Y.

It started at 12 noon, and went to 8pm.  It was about 3-4 hours of class room, and the rest outside with our cameras.  There were 10 of us.

I have had my Nikon D 40 for a few years, but I admit, I have not really known how to use it.  I mostly used Auto, without the flash, and took a ton of photos, and hoped for the best.

All the pictures you are about to see, are straight out of the camera, they have not been tweaked one tiny bit.  They were all taken on Aperture priority, which may not be too impressive to some, but since I have never taken one photo previously that didn't turn out totally BLACK, it is a big deal to me.

So without further ado, here they are, without any chatter.

(Lake Luzerne btw is a gorgeous, absolutely beautiful, little town, and I highly recommend it, and the school)

Tell me I did good.

I did, right??

Just wait.

A quiet house.  A cuppa tea.  Roy looking out the window.  Just the tapping of my fingers on the keys.
Sometimes I find myself longing for moments like this to just go on for a while longer.
Just to have  the opportunity to have a day uninterrupted.  No chatter.  No questions.  No direction in particular.
Nothing I have to do, and nowhere I have to be, and not one person wanting even one thing from me.
I could do anything I wanted to do, or nothing at all.
Take a nap.
Bake some muffins.  Weave a while.
Read.
Google a hundred things.
Scan through old Handwoven mags for inspiration.
Meditate.
Snuggle with my Roy boy on the couch.
Stay in my pajamas.

If you have a quiet house, then you don't miss it.  In fact, you probably don't even realize what joy you possess.  You have grown accustomed.  You take it for granted.

But if you don't have it, you miss it terribly.  When you get a snippet of solitude, you long for more.
You're painfully aware of what's lacking in your life.

As a kid, I was always comfortable with being alone.
Solitude never bothered me.  I was always capable, and happy, entertaining myself.
Still am.
Some people get nervous with that.  They are uncomfortable  around you, like maybe there is something inherently 'wrong' with you.
But I think that I figured something out when I was very young, that has stood me in good stead, so to speak, something that is often learned much later, down a rocky road.
I am grateful that solitude feels so good.

And as I get older, I find myself looking back longingly at the times I spent hiking in the woods.  I grew up doing it, in fact most days were spent climbing up and down the mountain behind my house.

The Adirondacks were  a source of incredible solitude, always a sweet feeling of home.
So while I can't buy my dream cabin on a pond in the wilderness, I can enjoy the forests and the ponds that belong to the great State of New York.

And who really owns anything anyway....in the end?

So solitude, listen up.   I'm coming to find you.
We're gonna have a great summer.

And the winner is:
I've been reading your blog for a while and now it's bookmarked so I don't miss an entry. One of these days I'll learn how to be a real entity in the bog world and not just anonymous . . . I'm not a weaver (alas), am a huge cat lover all my life. But as I read the comments here I thought, what makes your blog special is YOU--you being you, and your honesty. That spicy, determined, gifted, wise and seasoned woman who is you. So just keep sharing from your heart and soul. Can't get better than that. And of course we're all rooting for HH to leave for good. So very sorry for your suffering. Sending all good thoughts for healing and health your way, hoping acupuncture may be the solution.
Becky


YAY, Becky.......email me some info, so I can send your Anywhere Mat to you post haste.  And thank you for the lovely comments.   You are too sweet.

Ahhhhhh.

OK, maybe I'm jumping the gun, but I have to tell you all.....I have had acupuncture TWICE this week, and I have so far had the best week in quite a while.  I am having it again TOMORROW, and I can't wait.
Headache is a dull, doable, roar.  Hallelujah.
I feel 'almost' normal.   I am afraid to get my hopes up, but then, I am afraid not to.
Without hope, what are we???



I finished my second double binding rug.  And no, there was no plan.  Are you shocked???

When I finished the rug, I cleaned  my 'area', and moved some shelving into the corner, to put fabric on.
Every now and then, cleaning and organizing is required, otherwise, creativity is in jeopardy.

L and I moved some stuff.   We brought this dressing table downstairs and we're using it for a display.
With the Toika upstairs, there is no place for it.  But I think it will serve us well in the shop.

Tammy got the lawn mowed, and pulled up all the fake bamboo/knotweed.

C weed/brush/whacked the back meadow, so it can be mowed in future.

L kept weaving blue jean rugs on the warp that has no end, it seems.

And it rained, and rained, and rained.

And while my headache is still present, I can feel it moving.  Does that sound weird??
Instead of having a slammer all day, I have periods where I actually forget that I have a headache.
And believe me, that is incredible to me.

One of my commenters left me this link, and I urge you to click on it, and read it all......it is called
12 things you should be able to say about yourself.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
     http://www.marcandangel.com/2012/04/26/you-should-be-able-to-say-about-yourself/#more-436

Little of this

The towel pattern I referred to was in answer to a question posed in the comments.
I should have explained.
It is from Handwoven Magazine, Jan/Feb 2006.
It is a 4 shaft M's and O's pattern, but I left the middle out........that's how I roll sometimes.
I wound on another warp when this one was finished.......in different colors, and I am making more M's and O's.
I do that often.  I make something I like, and then I tie on another warp, so I can make use of all that threading I already did.


Here comes "Enough".   Even though he's been neutered, he still has the wanderlust, although he's around most every day, and he knows where the food is.
He is still thin though, unlike Next, who is fattening up quite nicely.

I feel like I am just 'hanging around' this week, can't seem to get settled on anything.
So instead, I do a little of this, and a little of that.
And we've had a lot of walk in traffic, and telephone calls.

Someone asked about self esteem.  That's a great subject.
I have certainly had my issues with self esteem over the years.  There have been plenty of times that I worried about my weight, my hair, my clothes, my physicality in general.  I do think that working as a nurse in a prison helped me, in a strange way, to get over some of it.  When you are confronted by 1600 adult male felons, who can harass and taunt you when you are walking past their cells, you begin to look inward.  You walk taller.   You move beyond "what they say".
Then as I have gotten older, I have a whole new attitude.   I dress up when the situation calls for it, but otherwise, you will find me in blue jeans.
 My fave shoes ever are Sanita closed back clogs.
I gave up daily makeup years ago, and it was an incredible relief.
I have tried to let my hair get a little longer, but honestly, it is crazy painful.   I would like it if it were LONG, and I like it SHORT, it's that in the middle stuff that drives me mad.
And truthfully, when I had it long, I ended up wearing it up.
So what was the point?
Earrings?  Hardly ever.
I buy most of my clothes at thrift shops, and when I do buy new, I buy online, from Land's End, or LL Bean, because believe it or not, I HATE shopping for clothes.
Give me a book store, or a garden center, or a salvage shop.
I have found that my self esteem soars when I am doing what I love, and when I accept how different and special we all are.
I look at photos of myself when I was young, and thin, and looked pretty good, at least by my standards.   And I realize that I've grown INSIDE so much in so many ways, I've outgrown that pretty young girl.
And that's ok.
Love who you are,  be your own very best friend, believe me, you're worth it.

A few things I love.

I didn't get much done today.  Seemed like I flitted from one thing to another.

I can't, for once, blame HH.  Nope.  Today was a good day.....the first in about 10 days.

Was it the acupuncture???  

Don't know, but whatever it is, I will take it.

More acupuncture tomorrow.   And I can't wait.

While I was trying to settle on something, L was weaving away on a pile of BIG blue jean rugs she has been weaving on for a week.   I LOVE blue jean rugs.

My patio set got delivered yesterday after I left.  L thought they were coming to TAKE STUFF AWAY.
Silly L.

 A patio set??????

What??????

Of course.......where else would we eat lunch in warm weather, without a PATIO SET????
DUH.

And a beautiful one at that.
I fell in love with it at first sight.

My towel pattern is from Handwoven Magazine, Jan/Feb 2006.   I adjusted it somewhat, and left out the middle part of it.  It is a 4 shaft M's and O's pattern.

I ordered some Arctic Kiwis, which is vine like.......so this is my new arbor, built by the crafty C.
Didn't she do an awesome job??
I love it......I can't wait to plant my kiwis.

Did I tell you my hair got cut shorter than short????
Oh, it is joy to be of the age where you really, finally, at last, cut your hair for yourself, and no one else.
Easy peasy, that's what I'm into.

Gone are the days of drama and tears.  No time for it.
Give me simple, uncomplicated, no nonsense.
Finally.   I love it.
Now I wonder why it took me so long.

Next knows the deal.  Here he is, waiting for someone to scratch his belly.

He is a sweet, sweet boy.

I love him, too.
Can you blame me??