Four girls on a trip

As I promised, I am learning to take time off.
Really.
So today, my oldest daughter, my mother, and my grandaughter Ava, and I set off for Middlebury, Vt.
As long as I can remember, Middlebury was a favorite day trip from Ticonderoga, where I grew up, and from Putnam, where I lived for many years.
So we decided to take the ferry. I love the ferry. I couldn't count the times I have been on it. And every time I ride it, I remember the time that my father and I came home from an auction on a Saturday night. We got to the ferry on the Vermont side, just as it was docking for the last time, on the New York side. It was almost dark, but not quite. My father got out, and hollered across the lake. Then he started honking the horn. I was quite mortified. He insisted that he was not driving all the way around the lake. He honked. I slunk down into the seat of the truck. After what seemed like forever, we heard the motor start up, and the lights came on. And my father said, "See? I told you they wouldn't leave us here."

But today, they left us here........as we pulled up, they were just this far out. We watched in disbelief......
But yup, they were leaving us. For real.
So we decided to get out and walk around. Ava was all for that.
Do you remember when you could wear a little dress like that and look that good????
Or can you still???

My mother, in the pink shirt, does not know these people. Never met them.
But that does not stop her. Any time that I leave her for more than a minute, I can be sure that she will strike up a conversation with whoever is closest to her.
Lake Champlain is on the east side of Ticonderoga, and Lake George is on the west side, they meet in the middle with the LaChute river.
After a while, there were alot of cars lined up behind us, waiting for the ferry.


And finally, they came back across. Lucky for us the lake is not very wide here.
The lake was calm today, making for a nice ride.
On the other side, the Carillon was getting ready to take people on a tour of the lake.

Have you ever seen anthing like these????

On the way to Middlebury, which is 18 miles from the ferry, we saw these at Middlebury College. Aren't they wild???? I have no idea what they are, but I like them anyway.
I love riding back roads. Always have. Probably a throw back to all the back roads I traveled with my father, when I was a kid.
Today, it was a multi generational trip.....from 4 to 84.
My daughter's purse was sitting between the seats, and tipped over into the back seat, upside down on the floor.
She said, "That's OK, my whole car is my purse."
I said, "I like that idea."
She replied, "You LIVE that idea."
Now what the hey is that supposed to mean?????
KIDS.

More tomorrow........it was a fun day, but a long one.
But isn't Vermont beautiful.

Good choices.

I am not a very patient gardener......I like planting potted perennials that I can count on, and I have always hated waiting for seeds. I never trust that they will appear; except for a few .....and nasturtiums are one of the chosen ones. They always spring up from the dirt with abandon, and they thrive with no attention whatever.
Here is another great choice I made not long ago. My mother and I, being English, are dedicated tea drinkers. We make it in a pot, and there are rules to be followed. The water has to come to a full rolling boil......and you always pour the water 'boiling' onto the tea in the pot. You never turn the water off, and let it sit for even 2 seconds. Because it was difficult to hear the tea kettle whistling from our living room, and also from my mother's living room in the back of the house, the kettle was always in danger of going dry over the gas flame. And with my mother's hearing being not good at all, I was also worried about her forgetting the kettle on the stove entirely. So I bought this....it is called a "Capresso", and we have come to love it. The base is plugged in, so the kettle lifts right off it. It boils water in about 3 minutes, or less, and you can SEE it boil. And the best part is, it shuts itself off. If you forget it, you just turn it back on, and it will boil again in 30 seconds. Love it, love it, love it. My mother was a little skeptical at first, but she is definitely sold now.

As I mentioned earlier, Tammy starts her new job tomorrow. She has mixed feelings about it, and so do I.
She and her boyfriend have also been on the hunt for a new apartment, so they can take Jinx the kitten home with them. They looked at one yesterday that sounded promising, but her response when I asked her about it was "gross". So I guess not.
She jokingly said that I should let them live at the studio. The upstairs would be plenty big enough, and they could use the kitchen downstairs. We talked about it a bit, and I realized that she was serious. So I said I would think about it.
And I did.
First there is the money...........which if I gave it to DH for safe keeping would amount to a nice little nest egg of savings that wouldn't hurt a bit.
Next, Tammy is a clean freak, so the house would be spotless, with no effort on my part.
Then, her boyfriend would do all the yard work........ALL THE YARD WORK!!!!OMG.
Also, there would be someone there, the house wouldn't be sitting there vacant when I am not there.
It all sounds good, right???
So I tried to imagine it.......their furniture upstairs in the bedrooms. I wouldn't be able to do weaving weekends. I wouldn't be able to stay over with the grandkids. And while they both will be at work Monday through Friday during the day, the weekends, and holidays would be a problem. I would feel like I was intruding, in my own space.
They would have their friends there, and somehow it would change everything.
So after much thought, and talking it over with my husband, who listened to both sides of it, I decided that there really isn't enough money, or reasons, to give up my serenity.
Choices.
Creating my life as I go.


So Tammy said that maybe I could build a garage with an apartment over it, and they would live there.....
Yes, she does think that I am independently wealthy.
She emailed this floor plan to me........and I have to admit, I LIKE it.
Here is the apartment above the garage......nice, isn't it?????

I love the smell of cut lumber............I have loved it ever since I was a kid, which is pretty understandable, since my father was always building something.
But maybe this is a project for another year.......ya think?
Yeah, that is probably the right choice for now.

Solitude

This is the color of summer..........
I really have fun with this mosaic maker. And I am still loving my camera, a Nikon D40 that I bought this year. I would love a zoom lens, but it isn't in the budget right now.

Today was Tammy's last day at the studio. She has been my apprentice since last November. She has become quite a good rag rug weaver, and she has been an incredible help to me.
But she has a 'real' job, and she starts on Monday.
On one hand, I will really miss her.
On the other, I think I am ready to have the studio all to myself. It feels kind of selfish, but then again, I think this is a time in my life when I can, and should, be selfish on occasion.
I have never had any trouble spending time alone. I am quite happy to amuse myself sewing or weaving, or gardening, or just puttering around. I think that is a good quality to have, that ability to be comfortable in your own company. I think both of my parents were that way, and somehow they passed it on to me.

This was part of the work load this week........a Solmate sock runner, 10 and 1/2 ft long.
And a 4x6 rug in vibrant pinks and purples, with some other colors thrown in.

It was a pretty productive week. When the UPS man delivered 100 spools of warp to me today, he was greeted with 3 huge boxes as a swap. And I was smiling, because I didn't have to haul them out to my car and off to the UPS distribution center.
I love it when a plan comes together.
Tomorrow I am going to weave some small rugs in tans and browns, and I am going to breathe deeply, and enjoy the solitude.
As Thoreau said, "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. "

Day at the lake

My friend has gone home with her broken hip, but she is confined to a wheel chair, with occasional forays with the walker. Today was her birthday. So I took my mom, and my two granddaughters, and we took lunch with us. A few other friends met us there, and we had a little party for her.
This is the view from her front yard. If you have to sit and do nothing, I guess this is the perfect place for it.
Lake George is a beautiful lake, though it is not as clean as it was when I was a kid. Too many motor boats, and houses along the shoreline. I remember being in a boat out in the middle of the lake, and being able to see the bottom, it was that clear. Not so today.
Ava and Gabs had a great time. They love the lake. This is "cracker girl". She really loves to ham it up for the camera. You can always count on her.
The best part about swimming here, is that they can walk out a long way before they even get water up to their chest.
After a day at the lake, we ordered pizza.......and looked at the pictures that I took all day.
Here is Nanny, with two great granddaughters on her lap.
I think Aunt Momo has caught Ava in a ruse.
What, she says.......is that you in the picture eating a "Lunchable"???????
You told me you didn't like lunchables!!!!!!!!!
It was a good day, but I am tired, and I know the bed will feel extra special tonight.

Going back to my old home town always brings back memories....some good, some not so good. I am not sure I like the changes that I see as I drive through the town.
I am working on letting things go, and that includes letting go of times past.
Change is inevitable, so they say.
And suffering is optional.

Painting on canvas

(Please click on photos to make them larger)



Oh, hollyhocks. One of my all time favorites. I have planted them all over the place, hoping that they will go crazy.
I am standing under the arbor, looking out at the meadow bushwhacked and mowed. It seems like a blank canvas, just waiting for me to do something wonderful out there.
It has to be done on a budget, you know.......I can't go out and pay someone thousands to landscape it. I can keep it mowed down though, until I figure it out.
As I was coming up to the house, after mowing all morning, I noticed this "vine" growing out of the edge of the window. What's up with that???
I guess someone will have to get up there and pull it off. Some vines, like bittersweet, will tear the siding right off a house.
I tied fringe on another big rug this morning. It is 7x10, but it is in wool. The Solmate sock rugs are usually in cotton, but I had a few boxes of the wool socks that have since been discontinued, so I wove them into this rug.
The colors are a bit muted, compared to the original Solmate sock rug.
The cats think I should just leave it here in the living room.
C'mon, can't ya' just leave it..........
"I am telling ya', this is one comfy rug. Just you try to get me off this rug!"

Suiting my fancy

I have been lusting for an arbor for the "not so secret garden". I have been thinking about one for some time. I looked at new ones, I priced lumber to build one. But today, while I was on my way down Interstate 87 to deliver a kitten........yes, another one, to a coworker of my daughter's, I remembered this antique store, where I had seen some interesting things outside one evening. It was closed on that particular occasion, but today, I decided to stop on my way home, after said kitten was safely delivered to her new owner.
And this arbor was sittting right out front.
(click on pics to enlarge)

It came apart, in 3 pieces, so it fit in the back of my Santa Fe.
It is a light green, and has some areas of rust on it. I am torn about whether to leave it alone, or paint it. DH and I checked Lowe's tonight, and they have the most boring Rustoleum colors you could imagine.
I want verdigris, or something like it.
I think it fits perfectly, and I am very pleased with my find.
My husband and I put it together, and he is going to put some ground anchors on it, so it doesn't fall over in a storm.
That is a climbing rose next to it, so "get climbing", I say.
We took a metal detector over to the studio, but after awhile we decided that the entire property is covered in some kind of ore or something that sets it off. And the ground is not easy digging.
So we went and got ice cream instead.
This is one of my favorite times of day, I love early morning, but this time in the evening is wonderful, too. I love the long shadows, and the soft sunlight.
I am mowing tomorrow, and mulching, and weed whacking, and generally sweating......just not to the oldies.
Hopefully, I will get a lot done before it gets too hot. Have a great weekend, everyone.

And a light bulb went off.

Here it is.......a 7'x10' Solmate sock rug. It was an incredible amount of work, and I am beat. Tammy and I both grumble while we are doing it.........I love to weave, but this size rug, in this venue, is plain hard work.
But when it comes off the loom, and we lay it out on the floor, to measure it and inspect it, it is always impressive. It is such an explosion of color, and walking on it with bare feet is like getting a foot massage.
This rug is going to Hilton Head, SC. I have never been there. Tammy seemed to think that there was room in the box.............
All in all, I feel pretty satisfied when we finish something this big.
Now we are going to make more of the same. When I set out to make a custom rug, I always put more warp on than I need. It is just simply good business. If it takes me two days to put the warp on this loom, and I only make one rug, then I have to apply those two days of work to that rug, in a financial way. On the other hand, if I put 20 yards on, which I did, then I can get 4 more rugs that size out of it, so now I can divide those hours spent on warping the loom by five.
Makes sense to me anyway.
So we are going to work on four more, and put them on my web site. A couple of them are going to be wool, still colorful, still socks, just wool, while the rug we just made is primarily cotton.
I have been "off" knitting for several months now. Not sure why. I knit like a crazy woman all fall and winter, but sometime in the spring, I just put the knitting needles down, and didn't pick them up again.
But today, for some unknown reason, this box of yarn that I was getting ready to list on Ebay, spoke to me, so I didn't list it, I brought it home instead.
Yes, dear, I know that I am nuts.
Tammy was cleaning today, after we finished the rug. She said she couldn't stand the studio anymore, too much dust......so she swept and vacuumed to her heart's content. When she finished, she was sitting at the counter, taking a break, eating some yogurt.......
I think I asked her if she was on a diet, or something..............
Sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now, I am off to an Alanon meeting, which I have been a grateful member of for many years. I just started going again, after years of thinking that I was fine, and happy, and didn't need it. But then a family member ran into some difficulties, and needed my help, and suddenly I found myself doing the codependent dance all over again.
I got very out of control, in my head. I made myself sick with worry, and unhappy with my inability to control my reaction.
So I got myself together, and went to a meeting. The minute I walked through the door, I knew I was in the right place. I felt like I had come home.
So every Thursday night, I plan my evening around it. Because I found my way back to serenity there, and remembered why I went in the first place.
More later.

Back to work.

Well, that thing I said about not having an order........well, that is no longer true.
I am torn.......love to have the income, of course, have to pay the bills. But I was kind of enjoying the idea of having some time to myself.
It was a bit prophetic.....I started putting a multicolored warp on the big Toika, and the phone rang, and I suddenly had an order for a 7' x 10' Solmate Sock rug. Whew!
So yesterday I spent all day winding the warp on the sectional beam.
Today, I spent most of the day tying the new warp onto the old warp.
It really makes a lot more sense than it appears to.
It works well. Honest.
Of course, it helps to have an assistant.
Even if she is laying down on the job most of the time.
The loom is ready. Tomorrow, Tammy and I will start weaving BIG Solmate Sock rugs.
The 7'x10' for the order, and some 4'x6' rugs for the shop.
This is the strangest thing. It is just down the road from my house. This tree is DEAD. But apparently, a seed found its way into the rotting wood. And 30 feet in the air, this little sunflower is thriving.
Pretty unbelievable.

For dinner tonight, I felt creative, which is tough in my house.......neither my husband or my mother would touch this dish with a ten foot pole.
I started with some zucchini and yellow squash, with some chopped red onion, 3 cloves of garlic, and I sauteed them in some olive oil. Some salt, some pepper, some basil. After a few minutes, I added a can of Roma tomatoes, with the liquid. I had chopped the tomatoes in a plastic bowl first. I cooked this over quite high heat til most of the liquid was gone. Then I added a can of black beans (drained first).
It was not only colorful, it was delish! I made some yellow rice, and put this concoction over the rice. Sprinkled a little feta cheese on top.
Husband made a face.
Mother raised her eyebrows.
That's OK, more for me.

Kate, over at Chronicles of a Country Girl, has touched me with her heartfelt blog. She has inspired me to be honest and authentic in what I write. Like her, I am human. I have some great qualities, I have some not so great ones. My life is not perfect. I struggle sometimes. I believe I have a calling to live the life I am living. I enjoy telling you all about my experience in this world, I love sharing with you my passion for family, for weaving, for gardening, for life. I have "met" some special people out there in the blogosphere. Posting on my blog, reading other blogs, is like connecting with new and old friends.

Kate was lusting after a Solmate Sock rug, and her friend,George,approves.
Can you blame him?
I think he and the rug are both stunning.
But that's me.