Hello March

Today is the last day of February, and I am not sad to see it go.  It's not just that I am  officially a year older, but it seems like I have had too many doctor appointments this month, and no end in sight.

Is this the deal???   Every year older, something else falls apart???   Oh, the horrors.

My knee still hurts a lot, it actually doesn't feel much better than it did right after I tore my meniscus.   The ortho I've been seeing says I should get on his "list" for a total knee.  I don't know why I am feeling so uneasy about it.  I've had arthritis in both knees for so long.  But this feels different, and I am just not comfortable with what I am being told.  So in late April, I have an appointment with another ortho, one who has stellar recommendations.  If he says I need a total knee, I will accept that.

In the studio, I had an issue with the AVL, when a cable just snapped while I was weaving.

I managed to find one at the local hardware store, with the ferrules I needed to close the ends, and the store even lent me the tool to squeeze the ferrules together.  They didn't have them to sell, but they were very nice about letting me take theirs home.

So with Lois' help, the cable got replaced, with a lot of cursing on my part.

But then, the e-lift didn't work, because when the cable snapped,  the harnesses crashed down, and both cables came unwound.  I tried to put them back on, but really didn't know what I was doing, even after reading the manual...........again.  I swear I've read the whole thing through about 15 times.

Anyway, I was finally able to SKYPE with Bob from AVL in CA.  It took two separate sessions, but the e-lift is now working.

And I am yet more educated about this loom.  Amazing.

Lois and I put a 20 yard warp on it, and I'm weaving again.

 

 More circles.   I still love them.

Since before Christmas, I have been a little obsessed about the basement in this old house.  It was still cluttered with debris and old lumber and minutia that has been there for years.  In addition, the sill was not sealed against the outside, it was cold, and easy access to critters.

So last week, Northeast Spray Foam was here for two days, and they completely sealed the walls down there.  It's amazing.

Then today, I hired a young guy to clean it out.   Everything went, the only thing down there now is the furnace, the fuel tank, and the water heater.

It's a good feeling, the cellar is sealed, it's bare, clean (as clean as it can be with a dirt floor)

and EMPTY.   I feel like I've accomplished this amazing feat!   Maybe that's what getting old is all about.  Getting excited about pretty mundane things.

On another front, I had a new floor put down in the 1/2 bath/walk in closet downstairs.

All the floors in the house are wood, but it was too hard to get a sander in that small room, so we had just painted the floor, and it was crummy.

This is much nicer.

While I was waiting for the AVL to be back on line, I decided to make a blanket out of some of my hand woven scraps.  It turned out to be 60" x 70", and it's pretty heavy.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I am kind of inspired to try more patchwork type throws, all with bits of hand woven fabric.

I'm scheduled for my first vaccine tomorrow just 3 miles from my house.  I suppose it's a necessary evil.

In spite of everything on my mind, I still find myself exploring gratitude.  Mornings when it's still dark, the fire is on, Syd and Naya and Willie are asleep nearby, sitting here with my cuppa coffee and just my own thoughts, I look at the clock, and wish it to slow down.  I want to keep this peaceful, quiet, few moments of serenity for as long as I can.  I want to think about my plans for the day, I want to do the NY Times crossword on my laptop, I want to close my eyes and just be here.

 

Soon enough I will be putting my boots on, trudging out to the chicken coop in my bathrobe, feeding chickens, hearing about their night.  I will be starting my day.

Sometimes, I just want to be like Syd.

Patience

For a long time, I've been wanting to play with this technique of laying threads in the shed, to make a tapestry type of design in the weave.   I put a linen warp on, but for some reason, the linen kept stretching and giving me fits, and my patience was sorely tried.

So much so, that I cut it off, before I got very far.

I plan on doing more of it, on a cotton warp.

I woke up this morning thinking that "this too shall pass", and my next thought was, "when?"

It's definitely exhausting, this world of ours.  I see it in the faces of family and friends, I hear it in their voices.  We do what we can, and what we are supposed to do, and we wonder if we will see out way clear of it.  I try to imagine a world where we don't wear masks, and it's not easy.

I find myself being more and more a hermit.  I put off going to the store, I find every excuse not to go.

When I finally am almost forced out the door, I combine errands, so I don't have to go again for a while.  It's beginning to worry me. :)

I miss those day trips, rides through the country, eating lunch out,  good conversation.   They seem so long ago.

I find myself thinking and dreaming of people long gone,  people I have loved who are no longer in my life.   I guess as you get older you have to get used to that, at least that's what my mother told me.  But somehow I guess I never believed it.

I thought my parents would always be here.  I thought my friends would always be at the other end of the phone.  I find myself being very pensive about it all, and sad.   

I don't have to like it, and sometimes I just find myself being really angry about it.

Believe it or not, I am still finding things to get rid of.  I evicted nearly 20 items yesterday, and they 

were well received by someone who needed them, wanted them, when I didn't.

My last flock of chickens are laying up a storm.......I gather a dozen, or more, eggs every day.  I have so many eggs, that some days I have no idea what I am going to do with them all.

I suppose I could get rid of some of the hens, but I really love them all, and I am pretty sure that this will be the last time I raise chicks.........  I've raised them twice now, and it's very time consuming, and I was worried about them for the first 12 weeks of their lives.

I just ordered some "scary tape" recommended to me by a fellow chicken lover.......to scare off the hawks, I hope it works.  I really don't want to chase another one out of the run with a stick.

Today it snowed almost all day, but late afternoon, it finally cleared, and the sun shone.

It does make one hopeful.

February doldrums

I know, I've been a lax blogger of late.   I'm trying not to go down the rabbit hole here.

Weaving at a snail's pace.  Not too inspired, I have to admit.

I can't take credit for these gorgeous pinwheel towels.  Other than wind the warp, these are totally Lois' work.

I need to have a vision of something I really want to weave, and then I need to get busy doing it.

But not today.

The steroid injection lasted full tilt about a week, and then began to disappear rapidly.  Now it just hurts, so I guess I'm on to the Viscous gel injection next.

I'm resigned.

As I promised, I dumped my web site.  I got sick of being annoyed, spending money, and always feeling like I wasn't doing enough.   These are selling on my FB page, and it doesn't make me anxious.

My 30 (actually 31) day challenge is done.....I got rid of over 500 items out of this house.   Then I put it all on FB Marketplace for FREE.......and two very nice ladies came and fetched it right off my back porch.  Guess they are planning on a spring garage sale, either that or they just needed something to do.

One of them said, "we'll have fun going through it"......so maybe that's pandemic entertainment these days.

Anyway, it's gone, and it felt SO GOOD.

Even though I finished, today I got rid of more.  I gave a long LL Bean coat to a treasured friend, and I know she will rock it.

Then another good friend came and picked up these canning jars, to make candles in.

I even pulled this old gumball machine out of the cupboard, and I'll be giving it to my grandson, who thinks he needs it.

I dug out these two books, because I need to keep sorting and deep cleaning out.  I will read them and pass them on to another friend, who is currently in sunny Fla.

Keeping it real here, I ended up in the ER the other night, with atrial fibrillation...which lasted about an hour and a half.   I think....for what it's worth......that it's thyroid related, but I had to see a cardiologist, and now I have to have an echocardiogram.  And the doctor told me I need to lose this extra 20 lbs I'm carrying around.   So, yup, back to WW.  I did it before, and it looks like I will be doing it again.   You think I would get it.

My son in law is always calling Miss Dale, mini Mimi.

She doesn't like to wear clothes, she has  the same haircut, and the look on the face, well, maybe Daddy is right.

Snow storm tomorrow...........I need to get motivated to do something productive.