Moving on.

This is the view I see while drinking my morning cuppa tea.  I always start my day the same way.......after the dogs have been out, they snuggle with me on the couch, while I do the NY Times crossword.

I know I have been AWOL for a while.  I apologize. 

 It seems that I have been busier than I expected.

The Hudson Mohawk Weavers guild show took place on Black Friday weekend, and I was very pleasantly surprised at how much product I sold.

Then I came home, and decided to have a half price sale........and that too was wildly successful.

A couple of friends were concerned that I was getting rid of too much stuff........but honestly it felt good.....freeing in fact.   It was time for some hand woven items to move on out , to make room for new things, and to inspire me to get creative and change things up.

I'm totally loving that.  I am feeling unencumbered by the need to produce, and that allows me to be spontaneous with what I dream up.

The other event in my life, that kept me pretty occupied, was a yarn venture.

A weaving friend of mine, who lives in Maine, was liquidating her yarn business, and she made me an offer that I couldn't refuse.   

I pondered it for several days, and in the end, I just couldn't find enough reasons NOT to do it.

So I called my daughter, and frequent partner in these kind of off the wall trips, and we met my friend in NH one Saturday afternoon.

Here we are, after picking up the yarn, transferring a loom, and generally heading home.  We were starved, and found this great Mexican restaurant, where they make the guacamole right at the table.

And the beer was yummy.  We figured we deserved it.

Just to give you an idea what 500 lbs of cones of weaving thread looks like............

There's more, but you get the idea...........

My goal is to sell a lot of this yarn,  make enough to keep a lot of it, with the end result that I don't actually pay for any of it.

If that makes sense.  

So I decided to wind warps, and sell hand dyed warps to other weavers.

This was my inspiration picture.

Probably the last time I will be dyeing on the inside porch, it is much too cold.

I think I nailed it, don't you??????

I love to dye, and I figure that this will be a great winter project.  

This is my first winter here without DH.  I don't have to tell you how incredibly different it is.

Keeping focused really helps.  

This is my new weaving corner.  The AVL used to be here, with all its electronics, and wires and cables.

This Louet, that I call Big Lou, is just what I need right now.  It's simple, but a joy to weave on, 

I just put 18 yards of hand dyed mulberry silk on it.

I think this will occupy me for a good while.

Only another weaver can appreciate the feeling,  when you get up in the morning, and you can't wait to get to the loom, to get weaving on whatever your project is.

That's how this makes me feel.

A lot of people have asked me "how are you doing?"   The implication is that the holiday season is going to level me, and that being alone is the worst possible scenario.

Those suggestions have prompted me to do a lot of thinking on it.

The upshot is simply this:    yes, I have lost my husband.   It's been a tough, tough year.

But I am pretty much a positive person.  If you follow my blog, you know that I have weathered some difficult times.  I'm still here.  I still love to weave.  I am happy in my little corner of the world, with my dogs and my looms.   I have a beautiful extended family.  I have AMAZING friends.  I am still on my feet, and I still get excited about life.

In the words of Thoreau,

"If one advances confidently in the directions of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

That's where I am, here today, with a success unexpected.   I may grieve, but I will be ok.

I get up every day, watch the sun rise, and do what's right in front of me, and with the simplest of chores and routines, and projects,  I live my life.  And I'm grateful for it, every day.

And with that I wish all my blogger friends a wonderful Christmas, full of love.

Later.