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Crazy as a Loom

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Stay with me.

I was blessed this week, with visits from two of my three daughters.

On Monday I took my first daughter shopping for her birthday, then to lunch.

Then on Tuesday, my third daughter came to visit with the munchkins.

I have been advised that she does not need any more toys, so I buy her craft things, to do when she comes.
So it doesn't take her long to drag out her "craft box", and get busy.


This was right after she went out to "pick up a chicken", which is also one of her fave things to do at Mimi's house.


She had my phone for  a few minutes.......I have 20 shots like this one.  Naya was a very patient subject.



Someone was very happy to get to the play table.


When they left at the end of the day, we took separate cars and met at the Gap outlet.

The girl needed some new dresses.

They sent me this photo when they got home.......she's wearing  one of her new dresses, and he is mopping the floor.
Vacuuming, mopping.
What can't that boy do.




Karen of This old house sent me this picture the other day.  I had to google "jackfruit".
I am enthralled.
I definitely have to try this, and several other recipes on Pinterest for jackfruit.


Another handy little idea.....Egglettes.

You can buy them at Target, Walmart, Amazon.
They are a way to boil eggs without having to peel them.
If you have your own chickens, you know how hard sometimes it is to peel fresh eggs.




I have to give a plug to one of my favorite kitchen items.......the Whirley Pop.

It's a fast, easy, healthy way to have hot popcorn in about 3 minutes flat.

Without the MICROWAVE.   ugh.



I've been dyeing the many natural skeins I have hanging around the studio.

Cotton, tencel, bamboo...... stocking my shelves.
Over the summer, I will try to have stuff dyed for the winter.
I can dye when it's cold, but it's not as easy.  The inside porch where I do my dyeing is not heated.




Sorry if this is a mish mash of stuff,  but this is my crazy life.

I'm busy.

Lois and I have this warping thing down to a science.   We put this 30 yards on, then we went to my neighbor's house.....she's  a friend, that I taught to weave.  We put a warp on her rug loom, too.



Sometimes, when I don't know what I want for dinner.......(DH is cooking MEAT)

I do a little creative cooking.

This is mushrooms, spinach, red onions, red cabbage, sun dried tomatoes.   I also added Cannellini beans.


With a very little bit of pasta, and a splash of parmesan, it was delish.




This is what Lois is up to, when she's not helping me warp.


I have to vent a bit here.   Today I ran into an old friend.   Well, we are not friends any longer.  But we used to be.
I thought we were the best of friends.  For 15 years.

Then last August, I apparently said something that annoyed her, and suddenly our friendship was over.
So today, on my way to get my lab drawn, I ran into her, coming out of the doctor's office.

We were both surprised............she quickly said, "Hi, how are you?" as she flew by and ran to her car.

I said, "fine, how are you?"  but I wasn't fine at all.

So all day, I've felt like this tree root.  Yes.  A tree root.  Bound up with rocks so tightly, probably why the wind blew it over.  It couldn't breathe.


So I'm venting.
I wanted to text/message/email her all day, I wanted to very badly.  I wanted to say, "Really??  Friends for all those years, and that's the best you could do?"

I practiced incredible restraint, and did not.

And all day, I asked myself, why was I so hurt????

Did I have expectations???   I don't think so.   I have not expected to hear from her, since we last spoke 7 moths ago.

But for my life, I cannot wrap my brain around how someone can be so close to you for all that time, share so much of life, and then just nothing. Done.
I guess it wouldn't have felt so bad today, if she'd actually stopped, looked me in the eye, and said, "How are you?"
But she acted like I was someone she didn't really know at all.
I guess that was the hurtful part.

I think that the real rub comes from thinking you know someone, thinking that you can trust them with your thoughts, and your feelings, and then finding out that maybe you were wrong.
Dead wrong.


Well, thanks for listening.
Sometimes, it just helps to say what's stuck in your head.

And then it's time to move on.

Reminding myself of that old maxim from the Big Book.

Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.








Tuesday, March 27, 2018

A little of this. Some of that.


I wonder if I will ever stop missing him.

It still feels pretty raw.



This little girl does her best to ease that loss.
She is the sweetest, funniest, little dog.



On a mission to eat better.

And while this is not local asparagus, I know it's coming.




 My daughter made a fantastic lunch......so so good.
DH says I'm going to turn into a salad.

I hope it's this one.


My rack of woven clothing is getting pretty full.

My rack holds close to 40 items, and I want it to be full for summer shows.





Someone finally convinced Daddy to let her get her ears pierced.

She was a trooper.



The towel stash is up to about 170...........almost where I want to be.




I've been cracking the whip ........and Lois has been working hard.


Here are two of her creations.   Love them both.


You don't believe that about the whip, right???  
As if.


Naya and I have been trying to get some walking in, away from traffic.

Country roads work best.


After breakfast, and a quick run outside, Naya loves her morning nap while I drink some coffee.
Morning sun is the best.



Coming up, my favorite golden delicious warp.



My happy place.........




Sometimes I need a little plain weave....nothing fancy, nothing too complicated.




Sunday, March 18, 2018

Mostly weaving.

To those of you who sent me a SASE for seeds, I apologize.....I have to send them in a small manila envelope, with bubble wrap.

So says the retired postal worker, ( ahem )
otherwise, they will get mashed in the machines.

Who knew?
As soon as I get some bubble wrap, they'll be on their way to you.




Good morning, Kingsbury.

I like getting up early.  Good thing, cause my eyes pop open at 6am, whether I like it or not.


I am totally enjoying the freedom to weave whatever I want, without custom orders.


This is cotton and hand dyed tencel......6 yards of it.



When that navy warp was done,  I broke into my stash and put on another towel warp.  I love weaving towels, because I play with drafts and colors as I go.  Every towel is an opportunity to change it up.
And of course, I do.




This one does look like "flying geese" to me.



Last night, after DH went to bed, and I was unimpressed by TV, I decided to do a little "night weaving".

My loom dog was happy that she had a comfy bed nearby.



I have a goal in my head, # of towels, # of clothing items, # of scarves, etc to make it through the summer shows we have scheduled.

We're well on our way to it.



On another blog, someone questioned why we blog.  One commenter said that he didn't understand why anyone would want to read what someone has been up to all day.

Well, for me, when I read some of my fave blogs, it's like a mini visit with someone that I have connected to via blogland.   I get to see where they live, how they live, what matters to them.
I have met so many amazing people because of my blog.


When I hit my head and endured endless headaches and three surgeries, my blog followers were all here cheering me on, letting me vent, sharing my fears and my pain.  It helped.
My blog was the place I could write,  it was where I could put it all into words, and then let it go.

Many, many times, you commented, and said exactly what I needed to hear.


Thank you all, for being here.

Comfort comes in all kinds of packages.





Friday, March 9, 2018

Spring.





Remember these??  From last year??

I had an amazing plot of zinnias, in every color.


I dried them upstairs on screens, then I spent hours and hours separating the seeds.   I now have several jars of them waiting, just waiting for spring.






Thursday, March 8, 2018

Yep.




Do you need some help with your vacuuming????




Or maybe  you just need a ballerina in a paper dress????
To cheer you up???



My son in law's sister is the talent behind the dress.  She never fails to amaze me with her artistry.



Yes, we have snow in the northeast.
Lots of it.



And of course it's beautiful.  But it does get old.

I have tried to quiet my bitching   complaining, and I practiced gratitude for having lights, heat, and all the comforts of electricity.





The girls don't like it either.



The one good thing about this kind of weather......we are getting all kinds of weaving done.




Naya is always trying to get under the loom, but the box that has the e-lift pedal on it, is always in her way.
The other day I moved it, so I could get close enough to thread.

She took the opportunity to get where she has always wanted to be.



And when I started to weave again, she still got as close as she could get.


My little loom dog.


 
Mostly this is soup weather, but some days, we have to pump up the salad.



Just finished two new möbius shawls.

This one is navy ring spun cotton warp, and 100% rose weft.






This next one is me being a little silly.....I just couldn't resist the ribbon.



Silk, soybean, and rayon novelty.


This is the clothes rack at CAAL.......so far 30 items........I want 50.

We'd better get weaving, eh???


Spring, spring, where are you????

Not here, says the northeast.

In fact, it's still snowing.


Welcome to my world.

Because every thread counts

Because every thread counts