BIG BIG RUG

After many days of weaving the three sections on the 7 ft Toika, today we were ready to make them into ONE BIG RUG.

Here are the three pieces, just lying next to each other.  When we put them down on the floor, we kind of hold our breaths until we see if they are all the same length.  We measure carefully, but it is still iffy sometimes.

This is the parish house for the Kingsbury Baptist church just down the road from the studio.
It is our designated place to lay big rugs out like this.

We just load up the car with all our 'stuff', and get it done.  Today we took two fans.

Once the seams are together,then we have  to press them.........

And finally, it was done.
You could probably  hear our sign of relief  over at the General Store.

You ALL didn't show up, but we had company anyway.  O wanted to know where Sydney was.

I really love the way this rug turned out.
Do you like it?

Now on to the stair runner, and the kitchen runner that goes with it.

This baby is ready to roll its way right on out to Beverly Hills, California.

Baby boy Roy is lying under my arm, on his back.   He had his teeth cleaned today, and he had small growth removed from his foot.
As soon as he got home, he started trying to get hold of the stitch in his foot with his teeth.
So now he has a sock tied over his paw.
Amazingly, he isn't bothering it.

We are glad to have him home.........the vet said that it looked like he must have been caged at some point in his life, because he had chewed on something, probably metal, and chewed the enamel right off his teeth.

I hope he has forgotten all about those times, because the rest of his life is going to be like the last year........just nothin' but  sweet.  I promised him.

(this is from the other day, but this is how he looks today)

Weaving, really.

Busy day and a follow up.

I took yesterday off, to go gallivanting with two of my daughters, and their children.  Pictures to come when I have more time.
So this morning, I got myself over to the studio and got busy.

Here is the roll of three rugs, each 4' wide, and hopefully 14 ft long after take up.
I proceeded to pin each end, in preparation for a hem.

I love T pins, the best.

Then off to the sewing machine.  I zigzag each end, after folding it over twice.

An occasional straight pin finds its way into the mix.

Sewing the ends is tricky, since there is so much weight to deal with.   Here is the rest of one piece on the floor while I sew.
We are all set for Monday, when we will put it all together.
And yes, you can go to the Parish house with us.  But you have to play quiet.

And to follow up, I put my mother on the case of 'old pictures'.   I had to confirm to the world, what I already knew.
Here is my father.........a picture he sent to my mother, while she waited in England for the United States government to arrange her emigration.
PLEASE note the WHITE scarf..........tucked in around his neck, the same white scarf in the newsreel....with the black coat.

And here you can see the jaunty way he wore his hat, his black, black hair combed back.
Yup, that's my Dad.
I bet he's chewing gum, too.

In an instant.

The other night, I was amusing myself on the internet.  I decided to find the video of my mother arriving in this country.

I knew it was out there, because I've seen it before, and it occurred to me that I should find it, and try to procure it to keep.

My mother, for those of you who don't know, was a war bride.  She was on the first boat load of war brides to arrive in the USA from England, in February 1946.  

The video shows several of the young women waving to the camera, and smiling, as they boarded the ship on their way to their new lives.  My 21 year old mother is front and center.

452 brides, 30 of them pregnant, 173 children, and one war groom boarded the Argentina at Southampton on the afternoon of January 26, 1946.  They sailed at approximately 1630 hrs.  She arrived in New York on February 4, 1946.

They  were struck by a vicious storm on the Atlantic, and most of the passengers suffered from violent seasickness.

While I was searching for the video, I came across a newsreel, about the brides when they landed in New York.  So, interested, I watched it.

I found out later, talking to my mother, that the husbands were ordered NOT to meet the Argentina at the pier, but rather to go to the lobby of some hotel, where they would be reunited with their wives. 

As I watched the video, suddenly I was shocked to recognize my father walking towards the camera.

There was no doubt in my mind, that I was watching my 23 year old father, waiting to meet my mother.

I have seen many pictures of my father in that coat, and that hat, taken in the first few years of my parents' marriage.

I showed the film to my mother.......and she knew immediately, that it was him.
As short as the film was, I could see that he was chewing gum.
And knowing my father, I know that it was Juicy Fruit.  No doubt in my mind.

My father has been gone for 7 years now.  Somehow, I just got him back, for an instant.

It is amazing how much love, and longing, you can feel in an instant.

Ahhhh.

Finishing the big rug we have been working on, felt good.  I needed that.
We have been slugging away at it, as part of a big order.  There are three sections on the loom, which you will see us taking off.  They are each 4 ft wide.....plus a little, and they are each 14 ft long, plus 20% for take up.
Over the weekend, I will pin and hem the ends of each of the three pieces, and then Monday, we will take it to the Parish House, where there is room to lay it all out, and we will seam the three pieces together by hand.
So take a look.  What do you think?

After a couple of tough, tough days, I got nothing.
But my lovely namesake, and treasured friend, HILARY of Ontario, has written a post that brought a tear to my eye.
Oh, ok, a couple of tears.  I am crying easily these days.

So, go check it out.  She is too generous.  But I accept, gratefully.  More than you know.

WHITMAN

Kids, monkeys, and business.

 Do you know you have a monkey on your head?  
Just sayin.

There was 'no rest for the wicked', as my father would always say.
Though this chair looked inviting.

I had two of my 'grands' overnight, but since we are on a deadline with a HUGE order at the studio, I had to work for a few hours in the morning.

The 7' loom up in the front bedroom is PERFECT.  I am glad we moved it up there.....even though it was a bit of a challenge to get it operational again, after we messed with the tie ups en route.

We do have to reposition it when we are actually weaving, so the shuttle doesn't go flying through the window and break the glass.

Here is one piece of a big rug..........finished size will be 12'x14'.

The kids played around while we wove, with the promise of the pool after lunch.

I must apologize that my photos may not have been of the finest quality of late........it seems that I have fallen prey to the ease of taking them with my Iphone, and not lugging my huge Nikon around.

After some swimming, we decided to take a hike.
More of a walk in the woods.

It was a little buggy, but fun all the same.
At one point my grandson said: "Be careful Mimi, don't fall......my MOTHER isn't with us today," referring, of course, to my grand slam on a rock last summer that gave me a concussion.

We sweated through the woods for about an hour, communed with nature, if you will.

Then it was time for some blue moon ice cream.

Maybe it's me, but sometimes being a grandmother feels more like being an activities director at summer camp.
WTH?

The fam

The other day, my oldest grandson, apon learning that he was going to be subjected to all of his relatives on his mother's side on Sunday, after seeing them twice already this past week, said, in all seriousness, "Isn't that too much family time?"

Silly boy.
Family is more important than anything.  Fam is the bomb.

Summer: two little girls, a hammock, chocolate cupcakes.
It doesn't get any better.

After the strawberry pie hit my blog last week, I was forced to MAKE one.
What a simple recipe, and a lovely way to enjoy strawberries.  I cheated and used a store bought graham cracker crust.

At the request of #3 daughter, I made a peach blueberry cobbler (gluten free but no one knew)
It was SO good.
Recipe HERE.

 And the infamous chocolate cupcakes.........box variety............they are wolfed down regardless.

It was a beautiful summer's day......

Good food, family, the pool, some competitive Corn Hole on the lawn, and lots of laughing.

And a little girl that loves her uncle.

Just look at that face.  It was a photo opportunity that I couldn't resist.

 Yup, family is just about as good as life gets.   Not something you know, when you're fourteen.
But somewhere along the way, you get it.
And it's good.

Sunday reflections.

I've been thinking a lot lately about mortality, and just issues of getting older.  Can't avoid either, it seems.

My mother gives me pause, to think about the way we age, what we accept without question, and what we allow by our inattention.
God knows, I have been hard on my body.
When my children were little, their father and I cleared land, poured cement, built a house, had horses, hauled stone and hay and grain.......basically worked hard.   I had little, or maybe no, regard for the abuse my body took.  One time, I lifted a flat rock, so big, that it snapped one of my ribs.
Stupid, you say?
YOUNG, I say.  THICK HEADED.  OBLIVIOUS.
In later years, I had occasion (actually I had many) to go to the chiropractor.  He looked at my xrays, and said, "You haven't been very nice to your back, have you?"
Understatement.  He didn't really expect an answer, it wasn't really a question.
Then when I hit 40, I started running, and finished my poor knees off.  Though most people wouldn't listen, including my own daughters.  Running ruins knees.  Simple.  I wish now that I had power walked all those years.......I think it would have accomplished the same thing without the trauma.
But that's my opinion, which my aching knees can attest to.

This whole subject has been on my mind, watching my mother....
She had a coronary artery bypass at 68, 19 years ago.  She didn't exercise before that, other than gardening, and she hasn't exercised a day since.  We have tried to get her to walk around the block, or just up and down the street.  She isn't interested, never has been.
The problem with that, other than the fact that she is glued to, and mesmerized by, the incessant drone of daytime TV, is that now she can barely walk from the car to a restaurant, or a store.  Her legs are stiff, her muscles cramp up, and she threatens to fall down.  She is bent over like she has a dowager hump, but if you ask her to straighten herself up, she does.  It hurts, she says.  But she can.  She chooses not to.
Otherwise, she is in incredible shape, considering that she eats a minimum of ONE little tub of butter, and a grocery bag of  bacon, ham, sweets, ice cream and other junk, every week.
I wonder, if she had walked .......even for 15 minutes a day, how mobile would she be now?
It plagues me.
The bottom line is that my mother is depressed and has been for years.  She took an antidepressant for a short time, and the change was marvelous.  But she wouldn't continue, and no amount of discussion or persuasion would change her stance.
We don't like it.  But the truth is, you can only change yourself.

The upshot is this.
I hope to learn how to age from watching what my mother does, and wanting something different.

Here is my list:

1. If you find that the TV is on for more than an hour in the middle of the day, it is time to reevaluate.

2. Get up and walk out the door every single day.  Give your walk 10 minutes, and if you want to cut it short, that's ok.  Likely, you will find that after you have loosened your body up, you will want to walk more.
When I walk, it's a chance to soak up the quiet......I hear the birds, the jingle of Roy's collar, the sound of our feet on the path.  It's time to reflect, to process, to exhale.

3. Stay current, even if you don't agree with what is going on in the world.  Stay interested, inquisitive, keep reading, and listening, and questioning.  Go to the library, volunteer, work at something, no matter how small.  Google.
4. If your children, or your friends, tell you that you are depressed, talk to someone.  If talking to someone doesn't help you to 'snap out of it', take drugs.  Try a few to find the one that works best, but don't waste your life feeling bad.  You don't have to.  Being happy IS a choice.
5. Dessert is lovely.  Have some.  But try to feed your body what you know it deserves, at least most of the time.
6.  Try to enjoy the ride.  It doesn't last forever.