Spring Fling

  I guess I am very reflective, of late.



Maybe it's the continuing winter that drives me inward.


Life is change, that's a given.

People come and go, pets come and go.  2017 was proof of that.

We get older, our bodies change, in spite of us.  Our perspectives change.

Nothing is static.

I used to think about life as a destination, but now of course, I realize that it's the journey.

Sitting here drinking my coffee on a Sunday morning, watching yellow, fat birds land on the bush right outside my living room window.
I have not noticed them before, but now I have new windows all around, I do.

The old windows were just that:   OLD.   They were painted shut, they had full storms, and to wash them was an event.  So they stayed dirty a lot.  Which is probably why I never noticed those little birds.
I am still reviewing my decision to get new ones.

Like I've said,  I anguished on giving up the "wavy glass",  I know that this was a positive change.
Clean windows, the ability to open them, warmer in winter.  All good stuff.

To date, all the windows but one little stationary one over the cellar way, have been replaced.   In 13 years, I have done a lot of updating to this old house, while trying not to have it look like a "new" house.   Just a better one.

There was one window, in the kitchen, that had the name of the original owner of this house, back in 1790, etched into it.   "John Bellamy"
My carpenter took it home with him, wrapped in cardboard, and he is making a shadow box for me,  with it.

I am only the fourth owner of this old place.  The Bellamy family, the Canfields, the Wilsons, and me.  
In 228 years.

Sometimes, as my life gets nearer to the end game, I wonder what will become of it.   It's a house, a home, and to me and my family and friends, it's the "studio".  There has been a lot of life here over all those years.   I am unable to control the future of it.   But I pray that someone loves it like I do.  And takes care of it, and doesn't try to cover up its personality.

Change, ah, change.

I've been returning to my weaving roots this past week couple of weeks.   I cranked out three large rag rugs, then Lois and I put a 40 yard warp on, and I wove five 2' x 3' rugs this week.

I have a room full of fabric.....totes full of strips and pieces, huge rolls on the floor.  I have been sorting it, bagging up stuff that I don't like, or don't want to fool around sewing together.
The room desperately needing cleaning and organizing.
I still have about 820 lbs of fabric on big (30-40 lb) rolls.

Then I have multiple totes full........not just in the front bedroom which we call the "rug room", but in the loft over the studio as well.

I wanted to sell the big rolls, but it seems that even at a discount, there are not a lot of rag rug weavers out there who want to host that much fabric.

Perhaps I'm a holdover from another time, where rag rugs were plentiful and necessary.

Now there's Target, and Overstock.com.....oh, yes, and Walmart.

Ack, change.

Well, I still love painting with fabric.  I love best those rugs that are several colors and prints in a haphazard fashion.  Hit n Miss, they are called.  I still love weaving them.
I call them "container rugs".

So I do it.

And isn't that what the journey is about???  Doing what we do, one day at a time, every day, doing what we love, what speaks to us.   Doing what we need to do?

As I write this, the sleet is hitting the windows.  Yes, April in New York State.  There is still a fire in the pellet stove.   Cozy, yes.   Discouraging, a little.

I just downloaded an app to my phone.  It's called  "All Trails".   I hope this year to walk some of them with Naya, and I hope to drag Lois along, and maybe my friend Alice, when she gets back from Florida.

I used to hike the Adirondacks, but I must admit, my compromised neck makes me wary of doing anything that doesn't keep me upright.   There are so many walking trails within an hour's drive, that I think they may do the trick, and satisfy that need in me to keep moving.


After a blogging break...............

 I decided it really WAS  time to clean the rug room, which is actually the front bedroom in this old house.

Naya is ridiculous sometimes, in her need to be as close to me as she possibly can.

Under the loom, not bothered at all by the banging over her head.

I have been on a mission......trying to restock the rugs for shows.

But actually, I am loving it.

Every now and again, you see something advertised that just looks like it will make your life easier.

I am a huge salad fan.  I pretty much have one every day.

This is a salad maker, from ZOOTZ.

It took forever to get here, probably came from China.......but it got here, and today I tried it for the first time.

So you put your salad stuff in the bowl part.
There's a cuke and a tomato under that lettuce.

You place the bowl on the base, and flip it over.

Then with a big knife, you cut down through each slot.

When you're done, you carefully rotate it a half turn, and cut into each slot again.

And VOILA, you have a salad.

My daughter asked me:  yay? or nay?

Definitely a yay......salad in about 2 minutes.......oh yeah.

And now I leave you with this:  my  new, very organized, pantry, with rubber seals on all the jars.  They are Bormioli, from Italy.

I researched the best way to store food, and these came up first.

The second was Lock n Lock, plastic containers that also have a seal, and lock down on four sides.   I bought those for cereal, pasta, and crackers.

It must be almost spring, right???

Why else would I be cleaning. :)