Taking a breath.

In the studio, I have two chairs, across from each other, and when friends come, it is 

often where we sit with a cuppa tea for a visit.

Willie has never gotten up in this chair.....ever, until just a few days ago, when suddenly

he decided that it looked like a good place for a nap.

Since that day, he has been in it almost every day.

Sometimes I wish I knew what went on in his head, although I guess it isn't 

that hard to figure out.

It's his house, and everyone else sits in that chair, so...............

To answer a question about the Megado, a loom that I sold a few months ago, here's the story.

When my husband died three years ago, I sold my AVL.  They say you shouldn't make any big decsions for a year after a life changing event like losing your spouse, but I made it anyway.

It seemed like the right thing to do, and then once it was gone, I missed it.

So the following year, I ordered the Louet Megado.  At first I had the mechanical dobby with it, but found that I wasn't fond of the need to change the pick with one leg while treadling with the other, so I saved some money and when I could I ordered the electronic dobby for it.

I loved it.  Loved having 16 harnesses, loved what I could do with it.  But as the months went on, I found that every time I wove on it, my right shoulder was on fire the next day.

I realized that I was slightly raising my shoulders to throw the shuttle.   So I tried changing the height of my stool, I tried a bunch of other things.  The bottom line was that my body was just not made for that loom.  When I raised the height of my stool, it solved the shoulder issue, but it brought my legs up so high, I couldn't treadle.

I think it just has something to do with not just my height, but the length of my legs, and the length of my torso.  So I tried not weaving on it for days, then weeks, then weaving on it again.....and sure enough, it was the culprit.

So I decided to put it up for sale, send it out on the world wide web so to speak, and let the universe decide.

And it did.  A retired vet from PA came with her husband, and took it home.

So now I have the 8 harness David, and soon I will have an 8 harness Baby Wolf, and then I have my three looms that I use for weaving workshops.

The big news is that in addition to being a Louet dealer, now I am a Schacht dealer, too.

Which is why I am getting a new Baby Wolf.  It will be the designated towel loom, and it will leave the Louet David available for yardage.

Louet news:   next year Louet is coming out with a 12 harness David!!!!   It also might have the availability of an electronic dobby for the David 8 and the David 12.  

Since I try to limit my time weaving, to keep my shoulder from firing up again, I sometimes 

wind warps on my warping mill.   I find I can do it without it causing a problem. 

That being said, I don't weave a whole warp in one day.  I spread it out over 2 or 3 days.  I get a lot more done that way, without more pain.

A good friend and fellow weaver, who started out as my student many years ago, has a bit of a crush on Willie.

He is ok with that.

I try to eat a pretty clean diet, and most of the time I do well.  This is tofu, bok choy, and rice, 

with a lot of garlic.

I love dishes that I make up as I go.

But I confess, I love carbs.   Bread, naan, bagels.....toast!!!  of any kind.

That is my weakness.  Going to at least TRY to be a little better.

You notice that I did not say I was going to give them up.

I'm far more realistic than that.

Quiet post Christmas day here.  Very, very cold morning.  Dogs don't stay out for more than

a couple of minutes.  That's telling.

Did some weaving, made some soup, taking a break with the crossword,

Loving the post holiday lull.  

It's welcome.

Hope yours was a good one.

Checking in.

Hard to know where to start, when I haven't written a post since September.  Wow, I am 

pretty pathetic at this, clearly.

I've been experiencing more intense headaches, the worst in August and September and October, a bit better since then, but still a little nastier than I would like.

As I have often said in the past, I would commit to a #3 on a scale of 1-10, for the rest of my life, gladly.  But I don't have that choice, and sometimes, my headache just takes over.

Period.

I do the best I can.

Just a few photos of what I've been up to.

I used this round stone from an antique grinder, to make my "bird charcuterie board".

Can I just tell you, I load it up with black oil sunflower seed every day, and it is CLEAN by mid afternoon.

Sometimes I look out there and there are a happy group of mourning doves, enjoying

their new dining digs.

I put the rod in the seed cone on top, to keep it in place, but the rod fell right through it onto

the ground, so I fudged up the pots underneath it, to keep the rod where it belongs.

One day I had a huge raven taking over the menu, but he hasn't been back

after that one day.

Since the Megado is gone, I have done some rearranging.  I don't know if it's Feng Shui or not, but I know when it feels good to me.

And this feels good.

I made more room here too, just by moving my ironing board to the inside porch, 

just beyond a door, but not here, where it had become just a "surface" to collect whatever I decided to throw on it.

My next project is giving this triangle loom a go.  I've never used one, and I've 

always kind of wanted to, so when I got a real deal on this one, I grabbed it.

If I don't like it I will pass it on.

This antique quilt, which by the way is in pristine condition, was an 

early gift from my oldest daughter.

We happened apon it one day when we went to a local book/antique shop, and 

I fell in love with it.

Hand quilted, it was someone's treasure, and now it's mne.

The guild show was in November, and I did very well.  No complaints.  I took 114 towels, and came home with only 5.

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and now here it is almost Christmas.

Here's a photo of me, my oldest daughter, and my son in law hamming it up

for a photo.

I am always relieved when Christmas is over, it always seems so stressful working up to it.

But watching the kids with their gifts is usually worth it.

I recently went back through my blog looking for something in particular that one of my daughters asked me about.  While I was doing it, I was reminded of how great a collection of memories my blog is, and I experienced such a wave of gratitude that I started it, and kept up with it for  so long.

It is a treasure of photos and rememberances, of all the things that I love, and mostly, all the people that I have loved.

I came across posts about trekking across the country with my husband to fetch a loom, 

and Lois and I and her sister unloading a tractor trailer of sock waste in my driveway.

Some of it made me laugh, some brought tears, but it's all there.

My daughter asked me, " will your blog always be there?"   

I told her that unless Blogger goes away, I think it will be.

That makes me very happy.