Rain, rain

Yes, it’s been raining for three days.  

I finished this wool warp, and the last cloak from it.

Then Lois and I put another warp on the AVL.

And other than a 3 mile walk yesterday between rain showers, I spent all day threading and sleying.

I don’t mind it, but it’s time consuming. Someone asked me how long to make a cloak......the answer is hours. If I get three cloaks off this warp, I have to add a third of the time it took to set up the loom to each one.

The only way to decrease that amount of time for each one is to put mega yards on the loom.

The downside of that is that you are stuck with the same color, and the same threading, unless you are crazy enough to rethread, which would defeat the purpose.

October has been disappointing. Wet.  Cold.  Rainy. It’s always been my favorite month, and while I usually love the rain....... not in my fave month please.

Today, raining again, I will be weaving.  If there’s a break, we will walk.

There was a short piece at the end of my last warp, so I made this,

Kind of tempted to keep it.

Had this recipe for awhile, finally got around to making it.

Carrot, quinoa bread.

Interesting, healthy, BORING.

Probably won’t make it again, although DH loves it, he can eat it all.

Two and a half weeks to the Hudson Mohawk Weavers Guild Show, L and I are working to finish a few more items.  Then there’s marking, tagging, inventory. 

By Thanksgiving, it will be history, and we can start over for next year’s shows.

I keep thinking we are getting too old for this, but then what else would we do?

October days

Sometimes I think I am a little too O. K. with my hermit like ways.

But a cuppa tea, Earl Grey this time, and my loom, make me happy.

Being happy is what it’s all about, right.?

One of my favorite drafts up on the screen.

Out in the coop, my 18 girls are working hard.

Well, most of them are.....there are 

A few who are probably out of the game, but they’ve earned retirement.

I got two oak tables from my cousin’s yard sale.  This one is a perfect fit for my warping mill, but needed to be higher for comfort.  A set of risers did the trick.

Downstairs, the other table became a new retail space.

And everyone that worried about me replacing my custom made dining room table, is breathing a sigh of relief.

So far, I have seven cloaks done, hoping to get three more finished before the

Hudson Mohawk Weavers’ Guild Show November 15-20th. It may or may not happen.

There are glitches.  Of course.

Pellet stove won’t light.  Technician coming in a couple of days.

New Octado loom is not working.  A new circuit board is on order, and coming from Holland......well, let’s just say I’m not holding my breath.

Headache has ramped up last few days...hoping it’s the abundant ragweed that has not yet seen a killing frost.

Dark clouds have a way of threatening.

But look closer......and see the rainbow between the barn and the house.

It’s there.

It’s the things we look forward to that keep us going.  Friends, family, the calling to do work that moves us.  Reasons to love life clouds and all.

Maybe it is a simple life I have, and maybe I am a bit of a hermit.  But every day is mine to make 

successful in my own eyes.

And that’s really what’s it about, isn’t it?

Some of my peeps..... happiness is.......

Angel

I can't let today go by without acknowledging that the world has lost a special person, no doubt there
is another angel in the heavens.

Vicky Westra.......fought her battle with breast cancer for 7 years.
She so wanted to stick around for her two sons.  She did her best.
Always.



I got to know her through our blogs, and then we talked back and forth.  So many times, when I started to feel sorry for myself and fought not to give in to the headaches,  I watched her clawing her way back to a normal life, enduring so much pain, and misery, just to stay with her family.

I told her she was my inspiration, and she clearly inspired so many.  She had a pure and loving spirit, a strength that was amazing to see.   I told her that I would see her someday, and I would be certainly be able to find her, because she would be surrounded by light, beautiful, shining light.

Fly high, sweet girl.   You've earned a rest from it all.

Dreams

I wish I could tell you about my new Louet loom, the Octado with electronic interface.  I wish I could show you wonderful things we've been weaving on it, but the truth is, it isn't working right.
It does, for a while, then it doesn't.  
I think it's the placement of the magnet, but I've readjusted it several times, with no permanent solution.
So I'm waiting for a phone call from Dave, from Louet.......on Monday.   I know he's a busy man, delivering and setting up looms all over, and doing a show this weekend, so I am trying to be patient.
I made a decision to not let this throw me into a tizzy.
I have other things to do.

The cloaks are coming off the AVL, and I'm perfecting the sewing of them.



This one is wool and bamboo.



Same warp, different weft, it always amazes me how that changes everything.




I had company on Columbus Day...and this girl always wants to make something.
So we made bread.
She would have been happy to have kneaded that bread all afternoon.



We had to have a little talk, after she blithely announced that she was making a "helluva" mess.
She's going to get me in trouble.

#1 daughter brought her puppy with her, Rosie.....a rescue from the SPCA.

She and Naya play constantly......and it is apparent that Naya has the patience of a saint.....because Rosie chews on her the whole time she is here.




When Naya tried to get in her "day bed" to take a break, Rosie just climbed in with her, and the shenanigans continued.

It was a wet day, and the two of them went out, came in, went out, came in......you get the idea.......dog tracks everywhere, but boy, did they have a blast.

So worth the mess.

I just put another warp on the AVL, and I think I may be sorry about this one.
It's a really lovely wool, but for some reason, I decided to put black stripes across it.


,


It does look nice, but here's the truth.......I am going to really, really get tired of looking at it long before the warp is done.



Lately I've been sleeping deeply, and dreaming a lot.
One dream got my attention, because I have had it before, or versions of it, my whole life.
I think it must mean something, but I can't really decide what.

In the dream, I'm in the woods, next to a small pool of water.   When I dive in, I swim down deep and into a tunnel of sorts, that is very tight, and dark.   I am very frightened of this, but when I emerge at the other end, and come up out of the water, I am in a totally different world......another place, not where I went into the water at all.  And wherever it is, I am enthralled with it, and happy to be there.
The other night, I dreamed it again, only this time, I was sitting by the pool, telling someone else how to navigate the tunnel.  I refused to go into the water, and wanted nothing whatever to do with that tunnel, or the feelings it evoked.
It was so real, that when I woke up, I wondered for a second, if that pool and that tunnel were real, or just something from a dream.

Why can't I just dream normal stuff????   Now there's a question.

OctaDO

So when Dave from Louet was here Saturday putting my loom together,

he referred to it as an OctaDO..........and not an OcTAdo, which is what I’ve been saying.

I figured since it was a MeGAdo, then it was an OcTAdo.....but I was wrong.

The Dutch make them, and they say MeGAdo........and OctaDO.

Lesson over.

I have never warped this way, but since I did not buy the sectional beam, and there IS a raddle on top of the loom, I figured I’d better try it.

I was interrupted this afternoon by our electrician, who came to rewire  our well pump.......and it turned into water spraying all over the basement, a useless search for an available plumber, and a save by my neighbor, thank God.  So we have water, nothing was rewired, and dirt was tracked through the house from the cellar.

And eventually, I did finish threading and slaying the OctaDO.

It’s ready, so first thing tomorrow I will be firing it up.

And yes, I got the electronic interface.

My decision was based on the number of repeats, a mechanical Dobby does have its limits.

I actually got quite a bit done this morning, before I went into the studio.

I used up some leftover broccoli, added some scallions, some feta cheese, sprayed each cup, and filled them.

Last night’s dinner, I cooked too much, as usual.

13 eggs later ........

Just beat them up, add them slowly to each cup.

Baked at 375 for 25 minutes.

,

After a busy day, which included a three mile walk between rain showers, we have crashed on the couch.

Life is good.