Well, I made it through another year. I think I’ll bake myself a cake today! Pineapple upside down is my favorite. My late girlfriend used to make a really yummy Chocolate Cherry cake for me but I never got the recipe from her. Too bad. Ah well… today is a lovely rainy day, just misting at the moment but we needed this rain. We need the predicted snow also but not in my yard in April. Up There it’s still needed, and that’s fine. But meantume, I’m enjoying the cool and damp.
Anybody else have a holiday birthday? DH has Earth Day, girlfriend’s is on halloween. A niece in law was born on Xmas eve. Two other people in this little mountain community share my day.
How will I celebate? After 85 of them, it’s really just being happy to be here and be reasonably healthy. I can still move, still think, usually remember! Doing fairly well, I think. Hope you all are, too.
I thought it was. I mean we didn’t have much of a winter but it felt like spring and Nature seemed to be agreeing, but now the Weather Wizards are predicting snow. Yes, we need it, but Up There, please! I’m passed wanting it down here now. Already have garden seedlings growing, just give us regular rain showers this spring, Mother Nature, please. It’s a bit chilly in here today. Shall I make a fire and chance it getting too warm or just put on a heavier sweater and wait until evening? What worrying problems I have to deal with these days! Maybe I should just bake something, that would solve the problem, too.
Ah well, I think I’ll just ignore the whole thing and go oil a few looms. I’m sure he haas the shop nice and warm. We sent a weaver a special order last week. She wante a Bobinga fine sett loom. I couldn’t remember what that wood looked like. It turned out to be very beautiful. He said he only had a little bit left so we asked about whether it was still availaable when were were at Beavertooth Hardwoods in Medford. Yes, they did have some…$30 a board foot! Yikes! The wood for her order we probably bought 10 years ago. Can’t remember what we paid for it, but I can gaurentee it was way less than that. She got a deal on her lovely loom and no one else will be getting one as we decided not to restock it. No one seems to be buying special woods these days except for Tennessee Red Cedar, always favorite, one of my favorites.
I’ve ben weavung 12″ squares using soome of Rosy’s hand spun. I think it was the last she spun and dyed. She started a scarf with it but told me she didn’t like it and would find smething else to make with it. She didn’t have time to do that so I thought I would do it for her. It’ll be a baby blanket, I think. I’ve been using differnt lace patterns. They’re pretty and more interesting to weave than just plain weave.
So, did you march with the No Kings? I’m not a marcher but I agree we don’t want a king, or a dictator. Or a president who can’t seem to keep his promises. Can’t afford to fill my gas tank and when I did get to the grocery store… Wow! Even chicken, the cheap meat has gone up! How is that making things more afordable? Meanwhile, he can make a gold plated ball room where as I’m lucky to afford a tin foil lined cooky sheet! Bah. And he wants the Nobel Peace Prize while attacking other countires and starting wars all over! Bah. I’ll be 85 on Wednesday. Seen too many wars already. Can we survive another one? Can we stay safe over here while he starts wars over there? One day we won’t be so lucky. Bah.
But in case we do get another Spring I have seedlings waiting for the weather to warm up a bit. And my peas are sticking their little green noses above ground!
Starting tomorrow, we will be out of business for probably a week while I get a new computer. The web site will still be up but I won’t be able to process any orders until the Geek Squad gets all my ‘stuff’ transferred to the new computer.
Meantime, I hope you will all have a Lovely Valentines Day!
Thought I’d try to add a few more ideas here. This is an easy one. One Weaver weaves SweetHearts and carries them in her purse to hand out to people who look like they need a little cheering and to children having a public breakdown. She says it get smiles from both the child and the mother! A little ‘I care about you’ to a stranger, a fellow human in need! Can’t beat that for a meaningful valentine! In these times it can be especially important to both the giver and the receiver.
We are weaving a rosebud. We all know that a red rose means I love you! It can go on your card or you can find other uses for it. Here is one with a couple added leaves using the 4″ Multi triangle. You could use a green heart as leaves as well!
A few ways to make your card. Use lace glued to the card stock or scan a picture of it and apple to your card! Then start adding details. It’s fun!
The summer had flown by. I dunno how these things happen. Maybe we can blame Einstine. Seems he was always fooling with time and space. I never seem to have enough of either of those. But I think we are ready for winter, in any case. No more traveling except maybe a couple shopping trips. That’s good.
Looks like our semi planned trip next spring is off. Won’t be going to Great Basin or on to Yellowstone. That park is going to have to wait for a little later in the year from the looks of things. Oh well…
But I have been getting a few things done like trying to organize (if I can use the term loosly) my yarn and project stash. He has promised to redo Le Shed so I can actually find things out there. That will be great! I can barely get into it at this time and I don’t have to fear falling out of bed as there is almost no place to fall too, there is so much Stuff stacked in there. It’s pathetic, actually. Now I think of it, the whole house is like that. Can hardly eat dinner as the dining table is stacked full, can’t find anything in the fridge tho I am sure there’s hardly any food in there! I did get in the bathroom yesterday and clear off the counter top. Filled the trash can with expired and dried up stuff. Guess that’s what I ought to be doing other places now instead of typing and griping here, huh?!
Well, the outside world is lovely, anyway. Maybe I can be a bit more cheerful once I get the house in a more friendly condition. Frankly io am delighted that I don’t have to plan for an early spring trip or classes. I already feel more relaxed! I think I’ll go clean somthing!
Thank you for putting up with my grumpy post, I’ll do better next time, promise!
Okay, I didn’t even get this one posted but am in a better mood today so will just leave that but add some more cheerful stuff. Like this afghan. I thought I could put it out on the deck to dry for blocking. We swept off the oak leaves that were piling up but it’s still very wet and tho the sun is shining it isn’t getting in past our trees to dry the deck. So I gave up and layed it out on the LR floor. Himself has a nice fire going so it ought not take long to dry.
I seem to have a differnt blog editor than I usually use so not sure what this is going to look like! lol I am hunting for technical help and will hire someone if I can find someone I can work with. That’s the tricky part, being the old ( ) that I am!
But reading that first part again, I have made some progress at Organizing (if I may use that word freely) my house. The kitchen got a little work over. This end of the little room was piled high, every time I needed something it would start an avalance so I gritted teeth and tackled it. He helped me move the microwave and built the little spice shelf. A lot of stuff got taken out to the washroom/pantry and I can actually find what I need! I hope to be able to keep it up. Today I tackle the fridge. The turkey has to come out of the freezer and into the fridge to start thawing for next week.
You might think this still looks clutered but it is lovely! My kitchen is tiny. On the left is my stove and there is 18″ of counter after that then the proch door. On the right next to the dishwasher is the sink, 12″ of counter, and the fridge. There’s a couple cupboards on the sink side and a window above the stove. That’s my kitchen. But I get breakfast & dinner made daily and all the canning done in the summer so you can say it’s big enough. Okay, I need to be working on the fridge instead of talking to you.. Remember, that’s need, not want! I hope you are having a sunny and cheerful day!
We had a couple trips in the spring, to Great Basin Fiber Arts Festival in Utah and to Washington for Fiber Fusion and then we had the summer off. Well, kinda. There’s the garden! Don’t want to be without my fresh, pesticide free veggies, which means canning in the hottest part of the year. But it’s worth it when I see my pantry stocked so prettily!
Made cucumber relish yesterday. For today I’ll put some of our huge crop of green & yellow beans in the dehydrator, already canned plenty of those, and make a Buckle. I found a recipe for that old fashioned dessert. I have peaches for it unless he brings me more black berries. I have a stock of blackberry jam, of course, and had to tell him stop! lol But only temporarily until I got caught up with what he has already brought. I have them for lunch with toast or in my breakfast cereal.
Too many beans and cukes, they out produced all the rest! I am pleased with my onions this year. I’m sure Rosy is proud of me. I always got my onions from her as I never had any luck with them. But now I have to do it on my own so tried extra hard. They aren’t going to win prizes at the fair but they are the best I’ve grown so far! There are red ones in the bottom. We’ve used quite a few already
And I actually grew some okra this year. I thought that this big it would be tough, but it was not!
But back to trips! Heading to Washington again end of September! I have the kits ready for the Spokane classes. If you are in that area, check out https://spokanefleeceandfiberfestival.com/. It’s a new Festival but Katrina is working hard to make it a good show. I have two classes but there are other good teachers having classes there too, not to mention a flock of vendors with fiber goodies you’ll want to check out!
Well, it’s clouding up which makes it a nice cool day. Which after the heat of last week is rather enjoyable! But I have to spend some time in the shop, too. Weavers are waiting for their looms!
Hope you are seeing signs of fall at your place! No red leaves yet but the asters are blooming!
It will be nice. I realize that I am an old person these days but I seem to have been chilly all the last month, no matter what the thermometer says. So I am thinking I probably won’t have too much trouble with summer heat. That would be a tiny bonus for being 0ld! But my yard says it’s spring no matter what the temperature!
Meantime, we are getting ready to leave for Washington in a week. It’s Fiber Fusion NW Up in Monroe. That will be a nice trip, it’s a lovely part of the USA, which has a lot of lovely parts! We’ll be weaving on Peg Looms with weavers there. The next event on our calendar is Black Sheep Gathering in Albany, OR. Then we have a bit of time, which I will likely spend with the garden and my canner! We finish off the traveling year with Lambtown in Dixon, CA and OFFF back in Albany again.
Just one of those stray thoughts that pop into my head as I am weaving. Just read that Buster Posy, our beloved Giants Catcher of yore, is now part owner of the Giants Team and at least partly in charge of running it. It just seemed to me that if that works for Buster and the Giants, then Harry Potter ought to be one of the professors at Hogwarts, maybe even Head Master!
Another stray thought (It’s how my brain works these days! It’s full of strays!) I was looking at all the really neat bags I have that came with products or as gifts. I have used a lot of them for project bags but, lets face it, there’s a limit! And I have way more bags than I’ll ever have uses for. I’ve tried giving them way but it seems other people also have too many. Which got me to thinking about the stuff we order. Yeah it’s kinda fun to get a package with your order wrapped up in a pretty bag or some really nice wrapping of some kind, maybe the kind you feel compelled to keep, but what do do with that?! So I try not to add to that clutter here at Hazel Rose Looms. (And this morning I see that Gabi is offering a free bag! lol) We use a lot of used boxes and I don’t “gift wrap” your order. If I think your special wood stands a chance of being damaged in transit I’ll wrap it some tissue. If you mentions it’s for a gift I will sometimes fancy it up a bit, Depends on what I have at hand mostly. All our packing material is recycled. People in this community know I ship and they bring me their bubble wrap and air bags. It saves us a lot of money that we don’t have to add to the price of the looms and people are happy not to have to toss those things into the land fill. I hope you find a place to donate them once you get them. Shops that sell glass art might take them, at least our local one does. Check around.
I had a group young teens come into the booth recently and they were taken with the toddler Ragtag top I had displayed and wished there was a pattern for bigger people. Yesterday I got out some sock yarn and the 4×6″ multi and wove a couple test pieces. I think it will work. I made an estimate chart, it’ll take quite a lot of pieces so may be a test of young patience and determination!
And deciding on a size for a teen is pretty much impossible. What size is an adult woman?! Yeah, all of them. Well, the estimate I laid out gives me a 30″ chest. It’s been a long time since I had a teen girl to make things for and I no longer remember what size she was. But a weaver can work with it to come up with the size they need. The test right now is: Will I get it made?
And I found this this morning! Three pretty peonies and one degerative and dying one. Spring is so pretty! And there’s apples on my Hyde King! It’s had a hard life but has made a nice come back after the alder fell on it. That’s exciting!
It must really be spring this time! Look at all the sunshine and blue sky! It hit 79 today! The cottonwoods are leafing out. So is my weeping willow. The oaks are always conservative and wait, just in case. Phooey on them! It’s spring!
We planted the tomatoes out this morning and planted peas and beets, too. Onions and Kale next as soon as he gets the bed ready.
Yes, I know it’s early yet. We will have covers for the toms at night, just in case. But it’s nice to sit on the garden bench and feel too hot!
The other thing is packing for the Great Basin Fiber Festival in Farmington, Utah. I think we leave on the 20th.
Okay… Hope you’re having some spring at your house! (or fall if you’re in the other half of the world!)
Hazel Rose 