Aha/

We took a mini trip to the ocean.   I was dying to see what Naya thought of it.   Roy hated to get his feet wet, so the beach did not impress him.   And he hated the extended leash, and wouldn't leave my side anyway.
Naya on the other hand, loves getting her feet wet, and loves running to and fro out in front of me.   I am careful about where I use this leash, but for the beach, it's wonderful.

This was her first time running since her heartworm treatment, and she was a happy girl.

No, this was not on my diet, but hey, I figured I deserved it.

Back at the studio, the rains came.......but ask me if I cared.

Perfect days to weave.

Lois finished the mixed white warp on the Schacht.     It was one of my brain storms.   We had a huge basket of collected bobbins with all different shades and textures of white thread.  So we put a warp on and she wove 9 yards of goodness.

Then I cut it up, made two möbius shawls, and one ruana.

I really love these one of a kind things.







So far, my clothes line is very diverse.....lots of different colors and textures, and I hope enough to appeal to lots of customers this summer.

We are going to be busy doing shows, and in between, we plan on taking a lot of time off.












When the sun came back out, I had a visitor.

I had never seen an indigo bunting at my feeder before.....but apparently this one likes it.

But now, wouldn't you know, a black bear was seen in the woods across the road, so the feeder should probably come down.

To pump up my weight loss, which is presently at 17 lbs, I have been doing a lot more walking.   Getting my knee to like it is somewhat of a challenge, but I am determined.
I have a lot more energy just losing that much weight.   I am very pleased with it, although when I think of how I gained that extra 30 lbs, I am a little disturbed that I didn't notice sooner.

I used to eat like this.......  but no, this was DH's dinner out.

And this was mine.....the broiled haddock with the extra vegetable.

I keep reminding myself how I got here......

I stumbled on this old photo, taken at Stonehenge 25 years ago.   How young I was, although I probably didn't think so at the time.

Walking around Moreau Lake the other day, with my good friend, we talked a lot about how we got to where we are, how we evolve along the way.

There was a time, when I woudn't have posted pictures of myself.  Too vain, too worried about what someone might think.   Too fat, too old, something.   You know the deal.

But somehow, I have finally gotten beyond that.  This is me.   I have certainly been a lot younger.  I have been a lot thinner.  I have been a lot more attractive in my day.  Certainly more stylish.

But here I am, 71.  wow.  How did that happen??

Then a voice in my head pipes up.   "Aren't you so lucky that it did?"

Yeah.   I am so fortunate to just be here.

Here I am with my friend Alice.  When did I get so white???   Funny, it's just in the front.......and even funnier, I don't mind at all.

And here I am, not as thin as I am working to be, but thinner than I was 4 months ago, and feeling better, and still on my feet, and still happy to be here, most of the time.


And it's all OK. 

It really is like shedding other poundage, other weight that you carry around, to give up even thinking about what rejection you might face, if you expose yourself.

It is kind of ironic, that I have no trouble revealing my thoughts, my feelings, my life, on a very public forum like this one.   Yet to think of doing a physical reveal is quite another thing.   Not so long ago, I would have been so reluctant to do so.

And now..........well, that's the good news.   There is an incredible freedom about getting older.  And we don't know it, until we get here.

What matters.

I finally decided that trying to rinse my 14 yard dyed warp in the studio was going to be a huge mess......so out to the lawn we went.

I unrolled it, and put each of the 18 bouts in its own mesh laundry bag.

This made it much simpler to rinse each one, without getting tangled up in another.

Then I squeezed each one out, and hung it to dry.

 And here it is..........I am still debating what color weft will work best.


I am grateful to Melissa over at Tangible Daydreams.  She gave me the confidence to even try this.

Before I got this dyed warp on the loom, I was weaving up some napkins.

I did some white ones, which sold immediately.

Then I wove some in lots of different patterns.

Lois finished this shawl, in bamboo and tencel.  It feels amazing.

I love my weaving studio.  I love what I do.
I really love my home....this old house.
I know that this is where I am supposed to be.


But more than anything tangible in my life, I love being Mimi.

Nothing matters this much.

A little blip

We never know how life is going to pan out, or what each new day will bring.

Maybe that's a good thing.

This past week was interesting, to say the least.

Bubbalee, my outside somewhat wild stray cat for the last 9 years, has been limping all winter.   I finally decided to take her to the vet.

So last Thursday morning, Lois and I proceeded to get her in the crate.

You know how this turned out, right???

Despite thinking we had it all figured out, she bit into the back of my hand.  I swear I heard bones crunch.

Cancelled the vet appt, Bubbalee ran off, I ran in the house, blood dripping, and washed and scrubbed my hand thinking I might pass out, it was so painful.

Lois poured peroxide over it, and the rest of the day I just hoped it would be ok.

It wasn't.

Best advice:   cat bite= immediate trip to Urgent care or the ER, for an antibiotic.


By evening, my hand had blown up, and I could not even touch it.   So at 8pm, I WAS at Urgent Care.

Apparently, cats have a nasty germ in their mouths, called "pasteurella".

Cat bites to the hand can cause serious infections, Mayo study finds. Cats' sharp teeth make relatively deep puncture wounds that are prone to infection. ... And of the patients who were hospitalized, two-thirds ended up needing surgery to flush out the bacteria and remove infected tissue.

The whole back of my hand was swollen, red, and very, very painful.   I couldn't open the pill container, it was that bad.

The prognosis was that if the oral antibiotic did not work, and if in 24-48 hours there was no improvement, I would have to go to the ER for IV antibiotics.

Terrific.  Right?   I couldn't weave, couldn't really use my hand at all.

But Saturday morning, I woke up, afraid to look........but when I finally did, it was better.   Much, much better.   Relief flooded over me.   I didn't think I was going to be that lucky.

Gratitude is a wonderful thing.


So the porch has been a lifesaver for Naya, who can't be off the leash.   She loves the fresh air, listening to the birds, and generally watching over the yard.  When she can stay awake that is.

It's a great place to read or do the crossword, I have found.

 
I never get too far away from her.

Yesterday my hand was much improved, so I decided to dye a 14 yard warp I had wound and ready.

Here it is all wound up, I just have to figure out how to get it unwound without having dye dripping all over.

Should be interesting.

And I'll leave you with my fave summer salad.  Puerto Rican bean salad with avocado and tomato.  This is going to get made a lot here this summer.

I try not to talk much about politics on my blog........I just get upset, and it doesn't get me anywhere.   
Let's just say this:

Better days are coming.
:)