tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31151985951582276342024-03-13T05:13:34.224-07:00News From The SwampAnnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.comBlogger286125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-36005460739618217612018-02-03T16:06:00.000-08:002018-02-03T16:06:06.465-08:00The Endless Placemats (and a Couple of Pineapples)Sigh l really like the idea of weaving. I like the feeling of history, of mystery, of magic. Watching fabric form beneath your hands. I was meant to weave. Looms find me almost as often as cats do. I have bought *one* loom--actually there were two table looms at an auction for $7. Bob found four table looms that were being thrown away as a school got away from such hands-on activities (I re-homed five out of those six looms). Bob pulled a large tapestry loom from a dumpster, and intercepted a large floor loom on its way to surplus. I won a small inkle loom as a door prize. A friend of my mother gave me a small floor loom. Obviously, it is my destiny to weave.<br />
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I just don't actually do it.<br />
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When one thinks of weaving, one thinks of the actual process of making cloth. It's rhythmic and mesmerizing. One hand tosses the shuttle and then reaches up for the beater, pulling it forward just as the other hand catches the shuttle and lifts it out of the way. The feet are in the ballet, changing the threads just before the beater slides into place.<br />
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But saying that's all there is to weaving is like saying all there is to cooking a fine dinner is arranging the food on the plates and lighting the candles. There are a few preliminaries. The warp is a bunch of separate threads all cut to a specific length (usually at least a couple of hundred of them) They have to be tied to a back roller and rolled on, in order, under even tension. Then one by one you thread them through a heddle (which determines the pattern) and the reed (which holds them at the proper distance apart) and then tie to the front roller--again, all under equal tension. *Then* you start weaving.<br />
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So I came up with the brilliant plan of putting on enough warp to weave about eight placemats (because all the threading and stuff takes just as long for eight as it does for four so why not?) That way, whenever I got the urge, I could go do the toss the shuttle thing.<br />
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That was, I think last March. They're not done yet. They were one of my New Year's resolutions--didn't quite get done in January. It takes about 20 minutes do to the weaving for each placemat. What gives?<br />
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A few years ago I had lunch at the home of a weaving friend (who actually weaves) and there were some almost-lovely placemats on the table that she had gotten as part of a weaving exchange. Almost lovely, because at each end of them was a lumpy turned-under and sewn almost straight hem. I didn't like the look of that.<br />
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There's a way around that. Instead of folding under the end a couple of times and sewing it down, you can do a thing called "hemstitching" where you take four warp threads and do a little embroidery stitch around them, and continue on down the width of the weaving. It looks nice. What I hadn't thought all the way through was that I have some 360 warp ends on these, so that means 90 little groups at each end, or 180 little groups per placemat. I'm not fast at this. It takes me 20-30 minutes for each end.<br />
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So the rhythm of weaving is toss the shuttle for about 5 minutes to get a placemat started, then do hemstitching for 20 minutes. Do the mesmerizing, meditative dance of weaving for 15 minutes--and it's time to hemstitch the other end. Hence--placemats that have been on the loom for 10 months.<br />
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Pineapples have nothing to do with this. But Bob wanted his pineapple in the blog, and why not? He does successfully grow a few pineapples each year, but they're usually about 5 inches tall and a couple of bites each. This year he grew two large (and very sweet) ones. In less time than it's taken me to weave a half-dozen placemats.<br />
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And back to the reading list:<br />
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The Universal Traveler. This is a sort of self-help, creative problem-solving book that showed up during the book purge. I think it may have been a required book for a creativity class I had to take when I was getting my degree. I enjoyed the class, but not this book--it's just a little too cheerful, as in "Unhappy in your job?? Try to hang out with the positive people at work, and think of ways to make your job seem like a vacation!" Yeah, right. It's leaving the house.<br />
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Madam Bovary. Also showed up in the book purge. A classic that I had never read. *Very* Romantic era (came out in the 1850's) <em>sturm und drang</em> descent into dissolution and degradation. I'm keeping this one.<br />
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Monsterology. A friend gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble for my birthday so I added this to my collection. It's part of a series of children's books that I love. Sepia toned pages, hand drawings, font that looks like handwriting--if someone recalls seeing a letter, there's an envelope with the letter in it, small artifacts. I find these charming.<br />
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The Story of Colour; an Exploration. Despite the many hundreds of physical books in the house, I downloaded this one on a whim (the positive side of e-books is that you don't have to make shelf space for them. It's a study of the meanings of color in different cultures, and how a culture can actually change your perceptions of color. It's a subject of interest to me. Unfortunately, while this has some interesting information (I didn't know that there wasn't a word for the color orange in English until the 1500's when orange trees were introduced) it reads like a collection of high school essays.<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-75770391770277420422018-01-14T15:08:00.000-08:002018-01-15T17:22:42.671-08:00All. The. Books.I have finished going through all of the books (well, all of the books in the guest room . . .) We have three laundry baskets full that will go to Friends of the Library. Does this mean that now I'll move out a bookshelf and move in my lady's desk and make the Gryffindor reading room?<br />
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Heck, no. The remaining books have stretched and fluffed and those sitting sideways on top of other books are now actually on the shelf in a proper upright position and the end result is about 2 1/2 empty shelves. Which Bob is eyeing with lust in his heart--his room is a bit overflowing (which is a major understatement). Yeah--go ahead. I'll come up with a Plan B for Gryffindor.<br />
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So has that been a waste of several days of going through a few hundred books? No, actually. I *like* books, and specifically, I like *my* books. I was thinking that if I went to someone's house and saw these books on a shelf, that I would like to get to know this person. And it's nice to have them dusted and tidy and a few have been selected for reading in the near future. The hard part was giving up some of the ones that I actually like. For example--since I was a kid, I've been a fan of Sherlock Holmes. But how many "complete collections" do I really need? (answer--two. One with the original illustrations and an annotated version. I like annotations when I'm feeling intellectual but find them distracting if I just want to enjoy the story). How many copies of Beowulf do I need? (answer--four. One of my original textbook with linquistic and literary criticism, my Seamus Heany one because it was translated by a poet and kept the feel of the original, one from 1939 that was a give from a former boss and has some interesting art deco illustrations and one that's a graphic novel, aka comic book)<br />
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And you do find gems. One is a collection of letters from famous women. The book was published in 1929 (have I mentioned that I like *old* books?). What gave me pause was the introduction, decrying the dying art of letter-writing:<br />
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"The typewriter has done away with the pen; a machine age, which was to have provided leisure, demands more hours in service to it than did the time of hand crafts and long working days. The motion picture, the radio, the motor car, the washing machine are jealous masters. "<br />
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What would the author think of the millions of people now enslaved to their cell phones?<br />
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Bob's lighting a fire--I think I'll go read a book.Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-82932288380150010562018-01-08T15:25:00.000-08:002018-01-08T15:25:18.404-08:00Winter! And Many BooksLast year I bemoaned the fact that we never had winter. No moaning this year! OK--it's not winter by Northern standards, but for Florida it's been pretty darned cold. I even saw this:<br />
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Wild ice! Something rarely seen here. In Florida we have domesticated ice--it comes in regular cubes or half moons, from indoor freezers. Not this free-form style, outside.</div>
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It almost feels like we've been on a vacation. Saying things like "It's a good time of year to go out in the kayaks, but it's too cold right now." Wearing sweatshirts and hats and jackets. Things are familiar, but strange.</div>
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So that does mean spending time indoors (usually summer is our indoor time). I've started on my first resolution--The Gryiffindor Reading Room. I want to get that lady's writing table out of Chez Wicca. Then I can move the small floor loom that's in the living room out there and actually use it. I can't where it is--I've tried once, and the cats chewed up my weaving. I've thought about re-homing it, but it's smaller than my big one and doesn't put as much stress on the weaving threads so it would be good for using my handspun. Of course, then we'll have to build a cat tree to replace it because it's popular as a cat hangout now. That's another project.</div>
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So the table will (hopefully) be moved to the guest room. That's a bit of a challenge--right now, it holds a bed, a office armoire, my big floor loom, a table for the squirrel cage, and six bookshelves. The only way to fit it in is to lose one of the bookshelves, which means (gasp!) rehoming some books.</div>
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There's two of them. So that's what I've started on today--going through book by book and seeing what I can let go. It's hard. Some I'm just sentimental about--where I got them, what I was doing in that stage of my life. Most are stuff I'm interested in, even if I haven't read them for years. Some are like finding old friends--"hey, dude, I didn't know you were here. How's it going?" But there are some that have just wandered in over the years, and maybe they can wander back out again.<br />
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I've managed to clear off two shelves' worth--but that may be temporary. Before they go to the Friends of the Library, I have to let Bob look them over and I bet a bunch of them are going to go right back on the shelf--he's sentimental too.<br />
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Even if I don't get to move out a bookshelf, at least they'll be dusted and a bit more organized. That's something, isn't it?<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-12318336402911274422017-12-31T20:16:00.001-08:002018-01-06T07:44:53.524-08:00And the New Year is Almost Upon UsIn less than a couple of hours it will be 2018. It's rather arbitrary, actually. It's just a day, like any other day, but we declare it to be a beginning of sorts.<br />
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I'm OK with that. I like the idea of setting aside days and declaring them to be special. Like Thanksgiving. I have a British friend who thinks it's silly to have a big turkey dinner on a Thursday afternoon. But I like the idea of taking time to think about things to be thankful for--like having a family to spend Thanksgiving with (or conversely, being able to have it alone in the peace and quiet of your own home). To raise a glass and say "I'm thankful."<br />
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And in the dark days of December it's a good time to think about the time that's been, and the time that will be. Taking time to think about what you've done and what you might do. Arbitrary or artificial, it's still a time to think about your priorities and make resolutions (which rarely get followed but you still feel noble about making them).<br />
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So I'm taking a bit of time at the tail-end of the year to review and plan. That's the nice thing about the blog--I can look back.<br />
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Last January I was wondering while I still bothered to blog, and decided that this year would be project-oriented--and to try to keep track of my reading. Looking back, I seem to have done pretty well with that.<br />
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And we're starting to pay attention to the house. We got it painted this year, and a lot of junk hauled off from in front of the barn and a car port put in instead, and cleaned up the bird pen. I made a display of my handspindles instead of just having them lying around and we made a new art gallery wall. I ditched and old junky cabinet in the Wicca House and built a great workbench.<br />
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Of course, I had to maintain my addiction to spinning and knitting--one big shawl, 2 smaller shawlettes, 3 cowls, 2 pairs of socks, a scarf, and a pair of slippers (not handspun). The weaving--not so much. The set of placemats that I put on the loom in March are still unwoven.</div>
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Did some odd things--pushing into skills I really don't have but what the heck. My Viking loom from Njal's saga. A dive helmet from floor mats. My pig skull mask from Worbla. Amazing what you can do if you just dive in.</div>
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And there's always the garden, and my various fosters (this year--4 squirrels, 13 possums, and 3 foxes)<br />
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And yes, I read--by my notes, 22 books. Also 12 National Geographic magazines, 12 Smithsonians, 4 Spin-off magazines and 4 Ply magazines and who knows how many articles on the internet.<br />
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So what's to come in 2018? I do have a few goals. I want to rehab the den--it's where we spend most of our indoor time and it's pretty shabby. Things like--when we got the big-screen TV we just stuck it in where the old smaller TV had been which meant that it was in front of our CD's and DVD's but we'd rearrange that some day--I think it's been 4-5 years now. The old pressboard entertainment center is getting sort of sad. So it will get a makeover (Sorry, Bob. He's happy the way it is).<br />
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I want to get rid of some stuff -- clutter -- to make room for other stuff. I want to set up a display area in Chez Wicca for stuff I've made. I've had a dream for a few years of setting up a Gryffindor Reading Room--years ago I got some decadent red-and-gold brocade curtains at a yard sale, and I have a 1920's lady's writing desk that's in Chez Wicca because I don't have room for it in the house. I'd love to set up a tiny curtained alcove--that means getting rid of some books (gasp!) and a bookshelf. We'll see.<br />
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In general, I want to de-clutter. We've done really well with that this past year but there's much more to go. One does tend to collect detritus throughout one's life.<br />
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I've really been toying with the idea of a project book. Some people keep meticulous notes when they make something. Me--I just make stuff and hope I remember what I did (I usually don't). What I really want to do is make it like a story book--with drawings and sketches and odd things tucked into envelopes. But I saw to myself--I'm lousy at drawing and sketching. On the other hand--I also don't know how to sculpt or work with foam but I seem to do OK there. We'll see.<br />
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And now there's 45 minutes left in the year. And I have to get up early and go to the museum--new year or not, the critters still want to get fed.<br />
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Happy 2018!<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-1098443072262683722017-12-30T19:28:00.000-08:002017-12-31T19:10:13.341-08:00Winding down the YearOnly a couple of days left in 2017.<br />
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Christmas came, of course, as it always does. I'm not really big into the whole Christmas thing (we don't decorate because it would mostly entail picking up after the cats) and I tend to try to hide from all the commercialism. On the other hand, neither am I a Scrooge. I like to blast Christmas music and take myself to the kitchen to make fruitcake and rum balls and other goodies of the season. Make up goodie bags (with near-lethal eggnog) for my friends at work. Make meat pies to have with sherry while watching The Hogfather.<br />
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Buckle down and get some Christmas gifts made. I did pretty well this year (meaning I wasn't up late on Christmas eve trying to finish anything.<br />
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This was for Amanda. <br />
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I had treated myself to a gorgeous yak/silk fiber blend in purples and bronze greens and used a bit of it to make a cowl (in the previous blog post). I spun up the rest to a laceweight and produced this. Yep--I'm pleased. Pity we don't have feel-a-vision--it's sooooo soft and draping (and weighs only 3 ounces).<br />
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Being as I actually got this done well ahead of time, I also made a scarf/shawlette for Della (Bob's sister). A few years ago I went to a fiber festival and bought some alpaca/silk in a red-to-bronze colorway, and spun it just for the pleasure of it. So I dug that out, and as there was only 2 ounces I filled in with some fine black merino/silk yarn that I happened to have around.<br />
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I'm also super pleased with this--I call it "Dragon Wing"<br />
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On a lighter note--the family seems to have become involved with the Vikings so I decided to make Don (Della's husband) the head Viking of the clan. Like Michael's dive helmet, this is made from floor mats and craft foam.<br />
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And I must say that Don wears it well.<br />
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(and yes--I'm very aware that the authentic Viking helmets didn't have horns. But it didn't look like a Viking helmet without them. It's a fantasy, right??)<br />
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Finally, for a friend who sews, and is a Dr. Who fan, a TARDIS.<br />
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Perhaps foam work and knitting is more my forte than wood working. It actually looks a bit better than this--the glue was not cooperating in drying, and we were actually late to the party because I was getting it done and just took a quick picture. It's honestly not lopsided. But the fun comes when you take off the top:<br />
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A sewing kit!<br />
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And she had made a gift for me--and I have to say that I think it turned out better than my Tardis.<br />
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He's the most wonderful and appealing doll and is called The Seeker. I spend the rest of the party carrying him around.<br />
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Christmas itself was spent with the family--what with the kids (hah! The "kids" have a 14-year-old son but they're always the kids to me) mostly living overseas it's the first time that they and Della and Don and Bob and I have gotten together for Christmas in 10 years. It was fun, if a little low-key. The "kids" had gotten Zeke (the four-year-old) a major huge swing set/fort/climbing wall for Christmas, and to give credit to Santa Zeke had been sent to Grandma's (aka Della) for the weekend while everyone else got the thing built. So by Christmas day they were all just a bit zonked and ready for a nap.<br />
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And so winds down the year. Unlike last year (see the post last spring on "Winter is (not) Coming) we've actually had some cold weather here. Time to settle down with some hot chocolate, a good book, and a cat (or two, or three).<br />
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Reading: The Intentional Spinner--even though I've been spinning for 30-something years it's always good to learn something new<br />
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A Curse as Dark as Gold--story of two orphaned girls trying to keep the wool mill going (which employs most of the town) after their father's death. There is mystery and magic involved--it's a sort of retelling of "Rumplestiltskin". What I love is that the author really did her research--all the textile terminology and descriptions of the equipment and the techniques is spot-on. It's a pet peeve of mine when you're getting involved in a story and then the writer gets something totally wrong and just sort of snaps you out of it.<br />
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<br />Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-75451535897347105282017-12-19T20:32:00.000-08:002017-12-19T20:32:09.387-08:00Pens, Peppers, and Other Odd StuffA friend gently hinted that maybe I should write another blog post. Normally the problem when one sits down to write is "what do I have to write about?" That's not my problem. I've been doing so much stuff that it's hard to organize it enough to write about. Maybe my theme for 2017 should be "The ADD Year."<br />
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Maybe I'll just bullet point it. Since the last post (which was what? 3-4 weeks ago?)<br />
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* Cleaned up the bird pen. This is the pen and coop we have for peacocks that for some reason or another can't be free range. The last occupants sadly left this world this past year, and the foster opossums that were using it have gone to the wild. But we have a peacock, Babs (really dumb name--he was the last one I ever hatched and didn't plan on keeping and got tagged because he was the baby), that was hatched with deformed legs. Babs is 12 now, and hurt himself landing too hard a couple of months ago (peacocks fly up to roost at night--he's been sleeping on the chimney for a few years because he can't perch). He's been recovering on the back porch but he'll need to go to the pen. I decided that it was too dark and gloomy, so I powerwashed it and used leftover house paint to spruce it up and Bob put up some new fencing and stained it barn red. It looks better--but it also now matches the red carport (with the beige car) and our beige house with the red chimney and it's all getting very matchy-matchy.<br />
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At first I thought I would use a paint sprayer to save time but alas--sprayer did not cooperate and whatever time I saved was spent unclogging it. For some reason Bob found my painting attire very amusing. I dislike getting paint spray in my hair or eyes and I don't like breathing it so I was properly protected.<br />
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My realization was that when you take away my hair, I look just like my brother!</div>
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Anyway--no before pictures of the pen because it looked like a gloomy gray prison, but it's better now.</div>
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[Hate to admit to the silver lining, but now that Babs isn't perching on the chimney, and we've have some lovely cold weather, we can actually have a fire in the fireplace]</div>
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* Garden. The greens are growing like crazy, but a cold snap knocked out the pepper plants so we had to do a final harvest.</div>
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So all of those had to be cut, cleaned, roasted, and frozen--ready to pop into soups and stews.<br />
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* We went to a ComicCon! Not one of the big ones, but a local one. Confused them by asking if they had a senior citizen discount. This sort of thing is just fun--sort of an out-of-season Halloween. Lots of costumes. Some discussion groups (although I was getting distracted by looking out a window and seeing a trebuchet throwing basketballs. Sword fighting out front. <br />
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*I had a birthday. My Medicare Birthday!! How the hell did that happen? My present from Bob? Well, some women get jewelry and swoon "He went to Jared's." My swoon was more like "He went to Harbor Freight!"<br />
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* We took a welding class. We got a little wire welder last year but haven't practiced it much. Pretty much at the last minute before we left I said "what the heck--put it in the car. Maybe they'll have time to look at it and make sure it's working properly". Well, when the class was supposed to start the instructor couldn't get their welder to work (of course, it had worked the day before when he tested it). About the time we could see the "what the heck am I gonna do now?" look of beginning panic on his face we put on our hero capes and saved the day. By the way--the machine works fine. I'm just a lousy welder.<br />
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* Stuff I'll talk about next time. Meaning I've been busy making Christmas presents and obviously won't post pictures yet.<br />
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* And the misc. stuff. Christmas cooking (eggnog and fruitcake both get better with alcohol and age). Marmalade (I was given a couple of bags of citrus, more than we could readily eat). Spinning and knitting, of course.<br />
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OK--I'm cheating. The large fall-colored shawl got finished in October--I just didn't get around to taking a picture.<br />
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So, yeah. A bit busy. Keeps me happy. (Oh--and still at the museum two days a week)<br />
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And looking over the last couple of posts, I realize I've been remiss in keeping up with my reading. Catching up:<br />
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Streetcat Named Bob--read this just before my trip to Boston because Mike and Margo were going to show me the movie of it. Very sweet story of a guy hitting rock bottom--wanting to get free of drugs and out of his rather awful life. He got adopted by a cat who saved him.<br />
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The Martian--Wheeee! I thought the movie was great but it's nothing compared to the book. Neil Degrasse Tyson used the term "science porn" and that's pretty accurate. And the author (Andy Weir) is obviously a McGyver fan.<br />
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Dracula--because I read it every October<br />
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Hogfather--because I read it every December<br />
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A Christmas Carol--ditto<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-26139840318917335992017-11-26T18:51:00.001-08:002017-11-26T18:51:39.828-08:00And the Howl HappenedAbout a month ago. In all the previous years I haven't written much about the Howl because I've either been crazy busy getting ready for it, crazy busy doing it, crazy busy cleaning up after it, and then too damned tired to even think about it.<br />
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That's not what happened this year. After the Howl being a major part of our lives for the last 15 years or so, this year we backed off. Mutually the Sick Puppies (Jeff, Rob, Bob and myself) decided that we were officially burned out. Time to let someone else take over. <br />
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We still gave suggestions. Jeff did a lot of consulting, and finally couldn't stand it and built one scene. Bob and I helped a bit at the last with some decorating, and I got people into costumes. For the Howl itself, we opted to work the line, keeping the customers entertained while they waited. That's actually really fun--I get more scares on the line than I ever have on the Trail itself. That--and get our pictures taken a few dozen times. I did get a costume made to go with the Swamp Beast mask. (not obvious from the pictures, but I did made hooves (which meant wearing high heels, something I'm not used to) and the legs were padded to give that animal "backward knee" look. I was pleased to no end when I heard someone comment "how can they stand with their knees locked backward like that??"<br />
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Bob reprised his Spider Lamprey persona:</div>
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And yes, that will freak the hell out of people when it comes at them in the dark (I'm very pleased with that mask)</div>
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It felt good not to be exhausted, but a little strange and sad. We used to start coming up with ideas around - - - May. Start building in June. Lots of enthusiasm. But over the last several years we just sort of ran out of ideas. And energy. And there is that desire to do "even better" every year, with the constraint that we had to build from scratch (and then immediately tear it all down). It's just time to make room for something else in our lives (although Halloween will always be my precious and my biggest holiday. I just love the idea that people give into whimsy for one month of the year).</div>
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Oh--remember the Toucan mask? Laura made a costume to go with it. Maybe one year *I'll* go cute instead of creepy---yeah, no.</div>
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-29109404923681833942017-11-04T16:08:00.000-07:002017-11-04T16:08:09.563-07:00Up, Up, and AwayCan't believe I've been home from my trip for three weeks and haven't written about it yet. That's what I get for living my life instead of writing about it.<br />
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Anyway--quick New England visit. Quick, because I believe in the dictum that "fish and guests grow stale in three days." For many years Mike would come visit us in October--to be here for Dad's birthday and so that we could work him to death at the Howl. But Dad stopped having birthdays, and this year we really cut back on the Howl (more on that in the next post, whenever that happens) so I opted to go up there instead. <br />
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I remember when flying was glamorous. No more. There seems to be a polite protocol in planes where you ignore the fact that you're pushed up against some stranger for a few hours (wearing earbuds helps you sense of personal space). And the Atlanta airport reminds me of a kicked-over ant nest--thousands of people rushing around clutching their carry-ons like so many eggs.<br />
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The problem with Boston is that there is *so* much to do--one must narrow it down to time and stamina available. Day 1 we went to the DeCordova sculpture museum to wander the outdoor sculpture garden (there is an indoor museum as well but they changed their hours the day before we went and were therefore closed). There is much lovely stuff, and strange stuff, and stuff that makes you go "huh"?<br />
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These are several truly huge piles of newspapers that were put out there about 4-5 years ago, and the art is seeing them slowly become part of the landscape.<br />
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Wednesday was the big day. We got up way too freakin' early (like 4:30) because I thought it would be really amazing to go see the fall colors from a hot air balloon (I'd never been in one). But the balloon was scheduled to take off at dawn and the place was about an hour away. I did have some doubts when the alarm went off . . .<br />
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But it was worth it. The morning was chilly but not really cold, and it was clear, and the weather cooperated (one of the passengers had scheduled the trip 5 times before the weather was right)<br />
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You start inflating the balloon with a big fan. </div>
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Then you turn on the heat. After a few minutes, you notice the ground slowly dropping as you gently lift.</div>
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It's quite the view. And very peaceful just drifting along. We mostly went at treetop height (Mike grabbed some leaves for a souvenir). High would have been fun--we went up briefly but the wind was too strong and the trip would have been over far sooner. Then came time to find a place to land--this can't be planned in advance because you never know where the wind will take you. New Hampshire is 85% wooded areas--and most of the rest is roads and highways (and it's frowned upon to land on one of those). So mostly you look for a house with a big yard. Our pilot Tony said that occasionally someone tells them to get the hell off their property, but mostly people find it exciting. Tony does keep up a long tradition. When the Montgolfier brothers first created hot air balloons in the 1700's, they would terrify farmers who had never seen anything in the air before (except for birds). They would be grabbing for their pitchforks, which could be rather hard on a balloon. So the brother took to carrying bottles of champagne with them to appease the natives. After we got the balloon down and deflated, Tony presented the yard owners with a bottle of champagne and a voucher for a flight.</div>
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And he had some more champagne and brunch for us after the flight.</div>
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We got home in time to have lunch with Margo, go shopping at the farmer's market for salmon for dinner, and visited the library where they volunteer. I got to try out a virtual reality machine--which is fun and strange. Margo has a rather long video of me mostly just wandering around waving my arms--but I was in a cartoon kitchen making sandwiches and frying eggs.</div>
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Thursday we were either going to go to Salem (which I expected would be pretty tarted up for Halloween) or to the aquarium in Boston. But when I got up I realized that I had traveled Monday, been in the car Tuesday and Wednesday, and would be heading back to the airport and home on Friday. And Mike had been driving all those days. So I proposed a stay-at-home day. It was a pretty and cool day, so we took a long walk around Dedham (their town)--lovely place with old architecture. I watched Mike put some gold leaf on a project (it took three days of work to get the piece ready for the leaf) and showed him how to paint eyes on the back of glass discs. I got to see the wild turkeys that like to saunter around in their yard.</div>
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It's odd to look out at this and know that we're 12 miles away from Boston Commons.<br />
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The three of us played a truly epic game of Scrabble. Margo's son Rich had given them a supersized Scrabble board--bigger, with quadruple point letters and words possible, and more letters. The downside is that it take much longer to play a game. At the end of 2.5 hours of playing we were close to a three-way tie--there was a six point spread between the highest and lowest scores (and I'll hang my head and admit it--I was at the bottom)</div>
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Friday saw me safely home and back with cats that love me (their Moonlight didn't show quite so much antipathy this time, partly because I carried a can of cat treats around with me, but I think she was happy to see me go)<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-48219884867615801682017-10-08T18:55:00.001-07:002017-10-08T18:55:13.408-07:00A Tale of Two MasksWell, it's Halloween season, and that gives me the urge to make masks. I know that masks are uncomfortable and hot and limit your vision, but that doesn't stop me from really liking them--both to make and to wear. Somehow you feel protected when you're in a mask; no one can see the real you.<br />
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I wanted something skull-like, something beastly looking. Problem is--skulls are very complicated--you can't just make a pattern and have it look like anything. You really have to sculpt them. And I can't sculpt.<br />
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But the nice thing about working alone in my cottage is that no one sees what I'm doing--so if I really mess up it doesn't matter. So I got out a pig skull for reference (doesn't everyone keep a collection of skulls on hand) and stuck a wig head on a flowerpot for a base. I had a roll of aluminum foil and some hot glue and glued loose balls of foil together and started pushing them around. And lo and behold--I eventually had something that looked vaguely like a pig skull. (RATS! The picture is on my phone in the other room--and I can't go get it because Dingo the flying squirrel is happily snuggled up under my shirt--so picture a wad of aluminum foil that sort of looks like a pig skull)<br />
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Then I started cutting up pieces of worbla (that plastic-sawdust stuff that I like to work with) and sticking them on. Lo and behold--I ended up with a pretty darned good-looking skull.<br />
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The teeth and tusks are also worbla, but made with flour rather than sawdust. <br />
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I really liked it at this stage--but to be a mask it needed a bit more ooph. I added some horns.<br />
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Which amuse me because they're made of small plastic drinking cups glued together. Then I painted some highlights and shadows and a bit of blood and glued the whole thing to a ball cap so I could wear it and added some shaggy stuff to hide myself.<br />
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All in all, I'm pretty darned happy. Now I need to make a costume to go with it.<br />
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And then for something completely different, I made something light and funny. A friend wants to be a toucan for Halloween, so I came up with a toucan mask--a yellow ball cap, some craft foam, and a bit of black felt.<br />
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My learning challenge on this one was to paint it with an airbrush--something I need to practice but it's fun. And my friend really liked it (so did everyone else when I took it in to work--there was mirth and merriment all around.</div>
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Meanwhile, back on the farm (or at least the front of the barn) the carport is in!. After all our prep--having the junk stored there hauled off, having a tree cut down (and cutting, splitting, and stacking it), hauling sand to level it and compacting with The Beast--the actual installation took about an hour. I've never seen four people work so fast without getting in each other's way. Ta Dah!</div>
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And now my bags are packed and I'm ready to go--heading up to Boston for a few days to visit Mike and Margo.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-3069604820326193232017-09-28T19:29:00.001-07:002017-09-28T19:29:58.750-07:00The Possum FandangoHad a bit of excitement last night. We went out to put up the chickens and feed the foxes (the ones I released a couple of months ago--they still show up for dinner). Suddenly we heard a loud noise--almost like a weed whacker. But who weed whacks in the dark--and this was pretty close. In a couple of seconds my brain clicked on and recognized that sound: rattlesnake.<br />
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Unlike some people, I don't hate snakes. But rattlers are dangerous--and he was too close to the house, the cats, the chicken yard, and us. He was far enough away (maybe 15 feet) not to be immediately dangerous, so I scooped up Apache cat to keep him from investigating, took him inside, grabbed the gun with the snake shot in it--and Bob did the deed. <br />
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We just left him there, figuring that some nighttime critter would find a good meal. But I was curious as to what might do that, so I set up our game camera. The body got sniffed at by a couple of raccoons and foxes, but the possum was quite interested--and quite cautious. He would sneak up, give a quick bite, and run off. Finally he must have decided that it was dead and possible worth eating. But he apparently wanted to make really really certain that it was deceased:<br />
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I think it's the stomping up and down on the body that fascinates me. So sorry, snake--you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or, as far as that possum is concerned, the right place at the right time. To some, a dangerous animal. To others, an all-you-can-eat buffet.Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-36382432179784783022017-09-13T19:56:00.001-07:002017-09-13T19:56:34.425-07:00Anti ClimaticalWell, Irma has come and gone. That ass-kicking? For us, more like a friendly pat on the rump. It's almost embarrassing.The storm started to break up just before it hit us, the big rain bands shifted to the east, and although some of Tallahassee got hit pretty strongly (there are trees down, and about half the town lost power, and for some it's still out three days later) it just sort of parted and went around us. Just as it was getting light, the power went out and the wind started picking up, and we were bracing ourselves and thinking "here it comes" and then the wind would die down again.<br />
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And that was about it. It was grey and wintry looking (and feeling--the high was 63!) and a bit windy. Mostly we sat on the front porch and read. Even the power outage was courteous--went out when it got light, and came back on just as the sun was going down.<br />
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So after 5 days of fear and trepidation and prepping, and one day of bracing ourselves because it was going to hit any minute, it was simply over. We had to spend a day putting away tarps and emptying all the jerry cans of water and we're back to normal.<br />
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Almost--a consensus among our friends is that a lot of us are feeling tired and headachy and sort of crashing but I think that's because we're coming off that 5-day adrenaline jag. And there's a level of survivor's guilt. People are dead. People are homeless. People are trying to get back to see whether or not they're homeless. Massive areas were flooded. And here--we were . . . . inconvenienced.<br />
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But trust me--we're grateful.Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-41644401294276447582017-09-13T19:46:00.001-07:002017-09-13T19:46:59.676-07:00Surrealistic WeatherThe weather for the past three days has been glorious. Clear, bright, DRY, almost cool (OK, in the 80's, but after months of high 90's that seem cool enough). It's like fall just decided to drop in for an unexpected visit--and it's a visitor that we want to stay. If I lived under a rock, far from TV and the internet and didn't venture off my own piece of property I would be reveling in it. Alas, no.<br />
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In the next 48 hours the weather is going to kick our ass. We don't know how hard. It might just be a bit of a buttock-bruising. Or it might be enough to knock out our teeth. Hurricane Irma, the Mother of All Storms, is heading our way. Maybe<br />
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We've had to go into town, but we've done it carefully. 6.3 million people evacuating in a state causes major traffic jams (yesterday I-10 was logjammed from I-75 to Pensacola--think of a 300 (think of it slowly--THREE HUNDRED) mile stretch of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Fortunately for us, in these day of using GPS instead of a paper map not too many people realize that there are alternate routes, one of them being Hwy-20, which is the only road that goes to our house. It's busier than usual, but not too bad.<br />
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We drive to the grocery store. On the way we notice that most of the gas stations are out of gas. The open ones have long lines. It's hard to find a parking spot--and when you do get in, you see bare empty stripped shelves. We did most of our prepping a week and more ago, so we just needed a few non-emergency things. This confused the woman at the register, who looked at our purchases and commented "you're just doing some ordinary shopping??"<br />
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It's hard not to flip on the TV or check on the computer because we really want to know what's happening, or, more importantly, is going to happen. And no one knows--but all the stations are trying for ratings so they just keep flogging the guesswork. Will it hit our area? Well, *something* will, because this storm is bigger than the entire state of Florida. We might just get a strong "wind event." Or a tropical storm. Or a Cat 1 hurricane. Or Cat 2. Maybe Cat 3. Not much rain. Or 1-5 inches of rain. Or 5-10 inches of rain. All of the prediction maps joined together for a wide potential swatch known officially as the Cone of Uncertainty. Less, officially, the Cone of Doom, or, more graphically, the Cone of the Pinched Sphincter.<br />
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We should be fine. Or we might not have a house in 48 hours. We might lose power and water for a few hours, or a few days, or a few weeks.<br />
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We've done what we can. Lots of water stored (it's recommended that you have 1 gallon per person per day--but that doesn't allow for the fact that it takes 4 gallons to flush a toilet. Lacking an outhouse, I like to have flushing water available). Non perishable food that doesn't have to be cooked. Propane stove in case we want a cup of tea. We've done all the laundry. Have the emergency battery radio. Batteries in the flashlights. Chocolate chip cookies on hand.<br />
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So that's it for now. Lovely cool weather, some nice breezes, all is well. The forecast for Tuesday should also be clear and lovely. Sunday and Monday--maybe not so much. We'll see.<br />
<br />Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-64653364249910224972017-09-08T19:35:00.000-07:002017-09-08T19:35:14.295-07:00The ADD Continues--Marbles, a Helmet, and a WorkbenchWhen not stacking wood and spinning and knitting, I've been hanging out in my cottage (aka The Wicca House, sometimes The Studio [if I'm feeling pretentious], sometimes the Workshop). I love kinetic sculptures--those structures where marbles (or, in bigger ones, billiard balls) go running around. Once, on a Boston visit, I almost missed my flight because I was so fascinated watching the large one in the lobby.<br />
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So I got some copper wire and made a small one. There will be a bigger on in the future, something less basic. This was my learning one. The main thing I learned was that the copper wire I got was way to heavy to bend easily (but it was the most accessible). I also needed a lot of practice soldering. But I had a lot of fun figuring out the slopes and the banking and I like the final product.<br />
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Then I made a dive helmet, because who doesn't need one? Actually, this is for my brother who has some idea about making a Captain Nemo outfit and wants to put in some smoke effects. (the big question is how long will it take me to find a box big enough and actually go to the post office with this?)</div>
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I'm ridiculously pleased with this, because you have to actually pick it up and look at it to figure out that it's made from . . . . floor mats. Those rubber mats you put on the floors to ease fatigue. It did take awhile--I had a pattern, but there were 30-some pieces to cut out and glue together. The paint job alone took several hours. </div>
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I'd work for awhile, then take a breather and clean up Chez Wicca for a bit. So not only did I end up with a helmet, but all the drawers and shelves got tidied up. At least in the front room. And the sewing room got done not too long ago. This leaves the back room (where I do wet stuff like dyeing and felting and papermaking) which had gotten out of hand. I decided that I needed a new workbench.</div>
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Here's the before picture--the work area was an old kitchen cabinet that came with the cottage (and we've been here 27 years), and I also had an old butcher's rack for supplies. The butcher's rack was OK, but too big for the area, so to come in the back door you had to sort of sidle sideways.</div>
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So all of that stuff had to come off--and it couldn't go in the front room because I needed my space in there to build the new workbench so the poor sewing room got the brunt of it. (note: I thought about *buying* a workbench, but they seem to come in two sizes--48" x 24" or 72" x 30"--what I needed was 60" x 24" and that was not to be found. Besides, buying something isn't as satisfying as building it). (and not saying that the old cabinet was in bad shape, but it sort of fell apart when we dumped it outside, and then dissolved to a pile of sodden sawdust in the rain) I found a good set of plans and rewrote them for the size I needed. Bob took me to go buy lumber and I was off. And immediately hit a bump in the road.</div>
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The bench is built of lumber, 2x4x8. Ostensibly, this means that the wood is 2 inches by 4 inches by 8 feet long. Now, I know that the real measurement is not 2 x 4 inches but more like 1.5 by 3.5 inches. What I didn't realize was the in the lumber world, 8 feet means 82.5 inches instead of 86 inches. Hmmmm. I had written my new plans to be as economical as possible so I had to do a quick rewrite to re-figure out how to cut everything. After that it went quite well.</div>
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It's got a deep lower shelf and an upper shelf and it actually holds all the stuff I took out (which did get culled and sorted). I'm particularly pleased with these small wire baskets I put on the side which holds a lot of the bits and pieces with a physical "cost" to the room of only 5 inches.<br />
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And I'm *really* pleased that unlike some of my projects which sort of become Bob's projects, this was about 90% mine. Bob was gracious enough to help with cutting the shelves and installing the upper shelf, both of which would have been awkward for one person.<br />
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Then as soon as I got everything cleaned up from that a friend who saw my dive helmet wanted to come over and get help started some foam armor? Who am I to say no to a playdate?<br />
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Curious to see how this turns out.<br />
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Now--whatever shall I do next? (Other than prepare for that honkin' big Hurricane Irma that's breathing down our necks)<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-31924472704934116092017-09-08T18:56:00.000-07:002017-09-08T18:56:18.496-07:00Wood and Socks and Scarves, Oh MyFor some reason I've been terribly ADD lately, but at least in a productive way. The productive part is unusual for me, particularly in the summer, when all I want to do is sit inside in the AC and sip iced tea.<br />
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One project started with the car. When Dad quit driving, he gave us his Infiniti (pretty classy, huh?). Except that Infiniti's are designed for people who take care of their cars--like have garages for them. As the car is now about 16 years old, some of the gaskets are getting old and when it rains, the car leaks (and we don't keep a cover on it because we tried that--with our humidity, the car got moldy inside). As the Southern saying goes, Infiniti is right proud of their product--meaning that they charge and arm and a leg to do repair work. We figured that for the price of getting the gaskets replaced we could have a carport put in. So that's on order.<br />
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Step one--clear the area where it's going. The Sanford and Son area. Meaning for the last upteen years the area where we've dumped all scrap metal because "we'll take it to the scrap metal place and sell it." Well, we did that one time--a couple of hours of loading (and then unloading) earned us enough to buy lunch on the way home. So we haven't been motivated. Especially because we had a couple of junker riding lawnmowers that for some reason Bob's father thought we would want. We tried to figure out how we could get them into the truck. Then we thought "this is dumb--we'll hire someone to haul them off." We checked on Craigslist, and found this add "will haul off non-working riding lawnmowers for free." Hot diggity damn! Made the call, and the next day the guy came and not only got those but everything else--10 years worth of junk in about 2 hours. SCORE!<br />
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Then we stared at a tree for awhile. It stood between the barn and where the carport is going to go. We realized that if that tree ever had a problem it would be almost impossible to take it down. So, sorry, tree--called the tree guy and had it removed. Or at least, cut down. There's that part of me that will pay the experts to cut down a tree safely but rebels at paying another 500-600 dollars to haul away good oak. On the other hand, splitting that much wood is a daunting task (we did three trees last year and it took a couple of hard weeks). Heck with that--we rented a log splitter.<br />
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That is one seriously sexy piece of equipment. We had to be careful not to knock ourselves out--it was so fast that we were pulling a John Henry trying to keep up with it. However, even with taking three water breaks and a lunch break, it was still less than 5 hours to split enough wood to later stack into this.</div>
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Power tools--they're a beautiful thing.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QG9RVykBj5M/WbNHDSt1SiI/AAAAAAAADT8/bsgoRILhMSE-7G0CzzJhL6vDF2T5i5hyQCLcBGAs/s1600/socks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QG9RVykBj5M/WbNHDSt1SiI/AAAAAAAADT8/bsgoRILhMSE-7G0CzzJhL6vDF2T5i5hyQCLcBGAs/s320/socks.JPG" width="320" /></a>Meanwhile, when not splitting wood, I've been doing a lot of twitchy knitting. Twitchy, because I'm still stalled out on that beautiful big multicolored shawl. So instead I made a pair of socks. Yes--handspun with a dye experiment on the wool before spinning. Not sure I really like it--but they feel nice and I can always wear them with my ankle boots. Another pair is on the way with a better dye job.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hlInmO8m8wM/WbNHLWiJn7I/AAAAAAAADUI/ojaSNSnpQsU_09p4BM1hpZz3b3xD4mvOgCEwYBhgL/s1600/scarf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hlInmO8m8wM/WbNHLWiJn7I/AAAAAAAADUI/ojaSNSnpQsU_09p4BM1hpZz3b3xD4mvOgCEwYBhgL/s320/scarf.jpg" width="320" /></a>And this scarf. I had about an ounce of that beautiful yak/silk multicolored fiber I used for the cowl for Margo earlier this year. I spun that up and grabbed some fine black yarn to eke it out and got this. Unfortunately the battery on my camera died and the phone doesn't have a flash so the colors don't show well enough--they're luscious.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_ocQYFh7qGc/WbNHDWsKKJI/AAAAAAAADUI/wntViRaHUX4WOx2TU6h3L73jNKPa2ke2QCEwYBhgL/s1600/slippers%2Bbefore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_ocQYFh7qGc/WbNHDWsKKJI/AAAAAAAADUI/wntViRaHUX4WOx2TU6h3L73jNKPa2ke2QCEwYBhgL/s320/slippers%2Bbefore.jpg" width="320" /></a>And a new pair of slippers. I'm visiting Mike and Margo next month, and I've decided one of the reasons their cat Moonie didn't like me was because she doesn't like other cats and my slippers were probably at least 50% cat hair. So I made a new pair that will be kept away from the cats and not worn until I go there. Besides, this is the fun pattern I've written about before--you make them *way* too big, and then throw them in the washer until they shrink. (I didn't spin the yarn for these, but I did do the dyeing)<br />
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And in the words of game-show hosts "But wait--there's more." But this post is overlong so I think I'll do another one.</div>
Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-46132762952570468172017-08-21T20:00:00.001-07:002017-08-21T20:00:43.148-07:00Playing with the EclipseAs anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the last couple of months now, there was a solar eclipse today. Alas, we did not see a totality--I am not fond enough of traffic jams and huge crowds to have driven the 300 miles to see that (with no guarantee of decent weather and really no guarantee of a decent clean toilet)<br />
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We were facing this day with some trepidation--we are now in our standard weather pattern of clouding up and raining in the early afternoon--say, from about 2:00-3:00-which of course was the time scheduled for the eclipse. One o'clock came, along with the beginning of the afternoon clouds. The eclipse began, and we watched the solar fan dance as the sun slipped in and out, showing a tiny bite taken out of the edge. Then, <em>mirabile dictu , </em>the skies cleared. We watched (with proper protection, of course) as most of the sun slowly disappeared (we got about 86% of totality). But while the rest of the country was looking up, I was looking down. I find it fascinating that the tree leaves will act like hundreds of pinhole cameras, casting crescent shadows. I had my camera (did not take pictures of the eclipse itself because I don't have the proper filters) and a piece of poster board that I would drop below various trees and bushes and snap pictures.<br />
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Then, gradually, the sun returned--which we didn't watch because within 20 minutes of totality, the clouds rolled in and blotted out everything. I'm OK with that--I am just amazed and grateful that they cleared for that one precious hour.</div>
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Meanwhile, back at the farm (as the saying goes), a couple of weeks ago came that time that any rehabber/ wild critter foster parent achieve the goal that they dread: time to release. This is what it's all about--returning them to the wild. It's so hard after caring for them. So I fed the foxes one evening, and when I walked out, I left the cage door open behind me.</div>
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(not sure if that video will show--I tried to make it a smaller file but it's still having problems loading) If it doesn't load, use your imagination and visualize a fox leaving the cage.<br />
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Hard as it is to let them go, the cool thing is that they're still hanging around. I put out food for them, and set up the video camera, and all three of them are still looking pretty good. Eventually they'll wander off, but for now it's good to know that they'll come get some dinner while they're learning how to hunt for themselves. <br />
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Reading: Microshelters. Bob picked this up while we were at the Tractor Supply store. Basically it's riding on the tiny house movement, only these are *really* small, meant to be used as backyard retreats or lake cabins. While I personally could never live tiny (I need my stuff) I love the creativity that goes into these little builds.<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-61372728975965649702017-08-12T16:24:00.002-07:002017-08-12T16:24:34.930-07:00Hugging the FishiesBob has a thing about stingrays. Yea--that's different. But I've learned that if we ever go to a zoo or aquarium that has a stingray pool, I had better drag him around to see everything else first because he'll be hanging over the pool trying to pat the rays until the place closes (OK--I'll admit that they do feel rather nice, sort of soft and velvety and not like their sandpapered skinned shark cousins). And although he's normally a properly frugal sort of guy, he doesn't hesitate for a moment to drop $5 for an ounce of fish (or $10 or $15) to feed them (and, yeah, I'll admit that it's kinda fun to do that because they just sort of Hoover it out of your hand).<br />
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So when our friend Kim let us know last month that the Gulf World Marine Park at Panama City Beach (where we've fed the rays before) will now let you actually get in the pool with the rays, we of course had to set up a date right away. Bob wanted to wait in the line immediately when we got there--Kim and I pointed out that we already had the reservations and the swim is limited to six people so there wouldn't be a line, so we really didn't need to be waiting an hour early. The compromise is that we got to look around for about 45 minutes.<br />
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Of course, as a "zoological professional" I had to assure myself about the welfare of the fish. All was well--we had to shower beforehand, and the fish were not harassed. Quite the opposite--we all got to pose for a photoshoot where the rays on command would swim into our arms, give us a hug, and stick their heads out of the water for a kiss. Being as there was a fish reward involved, the rays were mobbing for a chance to pose. Afterwards we got to swim with them for about a half hour (armed with fish). The water was lovely and cool on a hot and sticky day and I'm not sure what Kim and I enjoyed more--playing with the rays ourselves, or watching Bob being so happily enthusiastic.<br />
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As I am also a properly frugal person (OK, people say I'm a cheapskate) I wasn't going to bother looking at the photo op pictures because they charge an arm and a leg for them. But Kim wanted to at least look at them. And when I saw this . . . well, I just reached for my credit card. Because how often do you get to see a 60-something dude looking like an 8-year-old?<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-15304468016615786512017-07-14T18:27:00.000-07:002017-07-14T18:27:21.770-07:00Halfway though JulyI AM OVER THIS FREAKIN' RAIN!!<br />
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There--had to get it out of the system. I really try not to complain, with parts of the country having serious wildfire and other parts having serious flooding (wish they could get together and cancel each other out) and we're just mushy. And I could even deal with the mushy if it weren't for the clouds and swarms of mosquitoes that make it impossible to be outside for more than a few minutes--and that require me to wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt even though the temps are in the 90's. <br />
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So--random and mostly inside stuff.<br />
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OK--this was outside--but on the beach with a good breeze blowing. We went to Mexico Beach for the 4th--Robert and Amanda are back from Italy (and trying to adjust). The young man getting a good view from Bob's shoulder's is our great-nephew Zeke.<br />
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From safely indoors looking out the kitchen window we spotted three deer--two were eating lichen from a stump, while the third was on the alert and obviously not happy about something.<br />
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But looking around we could see the predator she was eyeing. We've tried to explain to Wilhelm that a deer might be just a *little* too big for him, but he doesn't believe us.</div>
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My little foxes continue elusive. As soon as I go anywhere near their cage, they disappear. And that's good--I want them to be afraid of people. On the other hand, I do need to see them once in awhile to make sure that they're doing well. So we set our game camera up in their cage to see what they do at night.<br />
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They seem energetic enough.<br />
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From time to time I've posted about a shawl I've been knitting from yarn that's I've spun on my daily walk. At this point I'm about 6 1/2 panels into the 7 panel shawl--and I've stalled. See the opening comment about those blasted mosquitoes--<em>I haven't been able to spin for this for three weeks!! </em>I know I won't be able to wear this for another 5 or 6 months, but it's just so darned frustrating to stall this close to the finish. Grrrrrr.<br />
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Not that I don't have other stuff to do. A few posts back I talked about getting some fleece from a local shepherd. She doesn't spin (and I don't know if she knits) so she doesn't have anything from her own sheep. I decided to rectify that and made a small cowl to wear in the winter when she tends her animals. Of course, one of these days I should actually mail it to her (although, again, there are a few months until it is wearable. (Her sheep are multicolored white, black and gray, so I wanted to put in all three colors)<br />
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A few years ago I made what I called my Harpy Puppet.</div>
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I wore him for the Halloween Howl, and in the next couple of years he was just a static prop. But time, humidity, and cockroaches sort of did a number on his face, and last year at the Howl he fell off of where he was mounted and got stepped on. So, alas poor Harpy--into the trash he went. But I realized that I missed him. In between Howls he hung from the ceiling of my cottage. So when the Halloween Forum had it's annual "Prop under $20" challenge I made a new harpy (her name is Esmeralda). I still need to make a harness and put on the control sticks for her arms (couldn't fit all that into the $20 budget) but she's going up on the ceiling soon.</div>
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My favorite thing about her is her eyes. It's an interesting technique of painting nail polish on the back of a glass cabochon. The trick is to paint on a color, then scratch most of it off, and repeat about 5 times. I really love the effect.</div>
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All in all, enough to keep me busy until it's safe to go outside again. Alas, the poor garden is suffering between getting drowned and then stewed in the heat--but at least it doesn't need much tending!</div>
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Reading: Made it through the first Dragons of Pern book. Sorry, fans, but I'm skipping the next 22. Uneven writing, clichéd characters and talking dragons just doesn't do it for me.</div>
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Current read is really nerdy: Now I Sit Me Down--A history of Chairs. Yep. But think about it. Thrones. Executive chairs. Archie Bunker's chair. Didn't everyone growing up have a "Dad's Chair" (usually the recliner). There's a lot of status and social history of chairs. And he's a good writer.</div>
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-28135607660792409092017-07-05T19:39:00.000-07:002017-07-05T19:39:14.880-07:00June Cliff NotesWhen last I posted, we were preparing to go to Scott Con--the modeler's convention in Georgia.<br />
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It got off to an iffy start. It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive there. At about three hours and 20 minutes the transmission suddenly started racing and wouldn't shift. We pulled off into a parking lot and turned the car off and had quiet panic attacks. It's a Saturday--no one would be able to work on the car until Monday. We made emergency plans--we spotted an Enterprise rent-a-car--realized we'd have to rent two so I could go home and take care of the animals and Bob could stay in town and get the car fixed. Then we tried turning the car back on and it worked just fine. So then we have the decision--do we turn around and go home, or go ahead to the Con and hope we didn't have a breakdown late Saturday on the way home. We went to the Con. So, admittedly we were not in the best frame of mind when we walked in.<br />
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And it sort of went downhill from there. This Con takes place in an air museum in one of the hangars. We walked in, and then stopped to let our eyes adjust. And kept trying to adjust. None of the auxiliary lights were on. And then the sweat started beading up because the AC also was not working particularly well (or they couldn't afford to run it much). <br />
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The first thing you do when you walk into a Con is to eagerly look over at the vendor tables--and, compared to previous years, there wasn't much to look over. Vendor numbers were really down. The other thing you do is look at everyone else's models--and those numbers were way down too. In general, it was rather a disappointment. To top it off, I suggested we go to the museum's snack bar for lunch (and to hope they had AC) -- we went to the next building where the snack bar *used* to be . . . . There are no eateries close by, and we didn't want to risk breaking down and not being able to retrieve the models so we were stuck in the dark, sweating and hungry, waiting the four hours for the judging. Fortunately, I know that I am subject go getting "hangry" so I had a stash of almonds and craisins with me.<br />
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There were some plusses. Bob is very very good at his models. Combine that with a lower turnout and he placed 4 of his 5 models (my Valkyrie loom didn't place, but I didn't expect it to, so that was all right.)<br />
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The other plus was the raffles. He bought a string of 30 raffle tickets, and because there weren't a lot of people there, by the time we left he had picked up 14 prizes (the prizes were still being distributed but we wanted to go ahead and leave in case the car broke down so we gave the rest of our tickets away)</div>
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And the car worked fine on the drive home. Sadly--we probably won't be going back.</div>
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Otherwise--random June:</div>
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River has taken to guarding the letter tiles when we play Scrabble.</div>
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I think one of the chicken may have hurt herself laying an egg.<br />
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The garden is still going a bit crazy</div>
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We had a large softshell turtle lay eggs in our yard</div>
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And I'm fostering three young foxes</div>
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That's enough to have kept us busy.</div>
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Reading: Anne McCaffery, Dragon Rider. This series actually started in the late 60's, in the fantasy heyday of Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia. And I had never ready them. From time to time friends will mention them and be surprised that I hadn't. Now that I've started the first one, I'm thinking that maybe I've started them before and gone "meh" and put them down. I'll finish the first one and that will be enough. I know there they're popular (there are 20-something books in the series) but I find the characters and the plots to be both uneven and clichéd.</div>
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-24345289360891192552017-06-08T18:50:00.000-07:002017-06-08T18:50:26.164-07:00And Now It Be JuneBob ended May with a bang. Robert and Amanda (plus teenager, toddler, German Shepherd and cat) have returned to the State from Naples. In fact, Robert retired from the Navy, so the return got a little complicated (really? The military, complicated?) It seems that Robert had to return to Norfolk for outprocessing, while Amanda and the rest needed to go to Mexico Beach, where the crowd will be living with Bob's sister while they job- and house-hunt. So the issue became--how to get them down here? Problem is large dog crate--too big to go on small planes that fly into Tallahassee or Panama City. And Virginia to Florida is a heck of a long drive for Amanda to make on her own. So Uncle Bob went to the rescue and flew up to Virginia. Oddly enough, it made more sense to break the family up even more at that point. In order to fit everybody, they would have had to rent a minivan (which is about $100 more a day than an SUV) and because of the toddler they would have had to take two days to come back (so hotel and meals). It actually cost less to fly Amanda and Zeke home and have Bob get an SUV for the dog, cat, and Dane.<br />
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And there were minor complications. They were due to fly in on May 26, but the flight got changed to the 27th. Doesn't seem like much, but it meant that Amanda of course would miss her flight. And Bob had to stay an extra day--usually not a problem but because it was over the Memorial Day weekend his hotel didn't have a room for the next day--in fact, no motel anywhere near had a room for Saturday night, so he had to book at another hotel for the two nights and cancel at the first hotel. Made the call. The person at the hotel said that because Bob had booked through Delta, he had to cancel through Delta. Couldn't do that online. The nice people on the help line couldn't do it. Long story short--two computers going, two phones going, and two hours later I finally found a nice robot that could cancel the room.<br />
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Everything was easier after that. Dane was very impressed (and was emailing his friends on his phone) that his Uncle Bob found his way home using a MAP. A folding paper one. It reminded of us when Bob took him out in the truck when he was about seven years old, and he was fascinated that you could roll a window up and down with a crank.<br />
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Meanwhile the garden is flourishing. Look back on the entry for the end of March. Two things there--starting the garden, and collecting worm compost. Put the two together and you get this:<br />
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We're eating well. Bob makes an amazing ratatouille out of whatever vegetables need eating (with the judicious addition of bacon or chorizo). Yum.<br />
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The model conference is this weekend, and I actually finished the 'Loom of the Valkyries" model. I don't expect to win anything--compared with the skill and talent (and practice) that most modelers put into this hobby, my model is a little klutzy. But it has it's own bizarre charm.<br />
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I'm especially happy with this dragon head, which is about 1/2" across. And the little hands holding the staff</div>
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Notice the wee nasal helm as well as the sword in the mud.</div>
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Wonder if the judges will leave me any comments? </div>
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Reading W.H. Hudson, "Green Mansions." I really enjoyed his "Long Ago and Far Away." He has the love of descriptive writing of the turn of the (last) century without the ponderous verbiage of the Victorian writers. I have read it before--but it was in Reader's Digest's Condensed Books when I was in high school--so I don't remember all the details :-)<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-17002864153487998572017-05-22T12:47:00.002-07:002017-05-22T12:47:53.423-07:00An Unexpected DateBob and I tend to hang onto things. We've had out Honda for 17 years and it recently turned over 200,000 miles. Although it was running just fine, we took it in just to have an allover checkup and tuneup. It was a bit pricey--a lot of the seals were wearing out, the timing belt needed to be replace, odds and ends. But worth it, because it's a perfect car for us.<br />
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You know that old saying--if it ain't broke, don't fix it? A week later we're driving and smell that hot oil smell and it's smoking under the hood--and dripping oil underneath.<br />
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Nuisance and bother--have to take it to the shop again. We took the other car so we wouldn't have to wait at the Honda place, but it didn't seem worth the driving to go home and then turn around and come back in to pick the car up (it's a 30+ mile round trip).<br />
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It was still early and we hadn't had breakfast, so we went to the coffee shop at the grocery story--and that's where the date began. After the busyness of the last few weeks, we suddenly had enforced idleness. There was a Scrabble board there, and next thing we knew we had played for 3 hours! We did a bit of grocery shopping after that, and pizza for lunch at a new pizza place with wood-fired ovens (crispy crust).<br />
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We could have been angry, or frustrated, at their mistake in the first place (turns out that a gasket had gotten pinched when they installed the oil pan, hence the leak) but somehow we had been given the gift of a few hours just to enjoy each other's company.<br />
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We've been together for 45 years now--but it's still nice to have a date from time to time.<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-6752802741283635982017-05-11T20:41:00.001-07:002017-05-11T20:41:42.780-07:00And the Painting Goes On and OnThe professional painting went well. Then came our turn . . .<br />
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After the porch was painted and the new screening put in, we needed a new screen door. No problem, right? Go to the store, get a nice white vinyl screen door, and hang it. Except that the door opening was not standard size--we'd have to cut it wider, or build it in narrower, and make it a wee bit higher. Sigh. So we start taking the screen off the old door to repaint it--and discover wood rot. Yet again back to Home Depot (projects are described by how many trips to the hardware store it takes to do them) to buy a wooden door that we can cut down to size. Do that, paint it, hang it . . . maybe we should have cut it just a wee tad narrower . . . take it down, plane it down a bit, repaint, and hang. At least the front door was easier--and we even had a nice, low-humidity day to do it. Here's the before and after porch<br />
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And it feels more open now--the contractor said that the middle supports weren't really necessary so out they came. Now the porch isn't quite done--the old storage units aren't going back in and what we want is a bench or two with storage but haven't found them yet.</div>
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Meanwhile while all this was going on I taught two more workshops. First one was handspinning (again, no photos, but I carded up all that pretty dyed wool from the last post that we didn't use for felting and used that for the spinning). Then a workshop on making worbla--a mixture of thermoplastic and sawdust. It's much used by cosplayers, but I've never experimented with it because it's *way* expensive. Then I saw a video on how to make it. I figured that other makers would be interested. It's fun stuff to use--I've started on a bird mask.</div>
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Despite the fact that I have enough spinning fiber on hand to last most of the rest of my life, and that I had a few other things I should have been doing (like paint the back deck) I found out that a farmer in Quincy had babydoll sheep and fleece available. I've never worked with this breed before, and every now and then I get the urge to work with a raw fleece rather than wool that's been processed and ready to spin. And it was a lovely day for a drive, and the people were great, and the sheep adorable.</div>
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I came home with 12 pounds of fleece. Apache and Wilhelm helped me sort through the first batch.</div>
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The second batch will have to wait--we lost our excuse for not working on the back deck. We didn't have the painters do it because, well, honestly, we have a lot of stuff (I really want to say crap) back there, and chickens living there (special need chickens) and the living room is already full of the stuff from the front porch. And besides--we had a wren nest with babies out there. So obviously we couldn't paint until the babies left the nest.<br />
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But, alas--it happened. And we were lucky enough to see the fledging. This grand moment is exactly that--a moment. It takes only a few minutes for the parents to coax the young out and into the trees, so it's something we rarely get to witness.<br />
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With the excuse having flown the coop, I've spent the last three days sweeping down cobwebs and painting. It's been gratifying to see a transformation but not much fun--the temps are in the 90's and the biting flies are out (the mosquitoes I can ignore, but those damned flies . . .) I still need to do the trim and ceilings. I was going to start with that--and I did--but ran out of the first can of paint and when I went to open the next found that we had accidently bought interior rather than exterior paint. We went back today to exchange it and their power had been out--no computers means no sales transactions. Fortunately it came back on.<br />
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This will drag on a bit more--I'm working the next three days and getting a crown on Monday so not much painting will be done. And then, of course, all the crap has to be organized (trust me--much of it is going away)<br />
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But still reading. Finished American Gods--complex and convoluted and thought provoking. Then read one of Gaimen's "Dr. Who" children's stories, which was simple and straightforward and fluffy. The guy is amazing--he can write in all formats (including poetry and "graphic novels" which we used to call comic books)<br />
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Now I've started W.H. Hudson's "Far Away and Long Ago." This month's Smithsonian had an article on him and praised his beautiful and evocative writing. Ah--the joys of the e-book--I thought it would be interesting, pulled it up, downloaded it, and started reading. While it's not the same as holding a real book, I have to admit it's convenient and doesn't take up any shelf space.<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-82654169099223469082017-04-19T19:28:00.000-07:002017-04-19T19:28:50.301-07:00From Painting to Possums and Points In BetweenMy gracious, some weeks do get busy. We've been in negotiations with a contractor a couple of weeks to get the house painted, and got the call Tuesday afternoon that the painters would be coming out Friday to do the pressure washing and prep work. Which was great--except that we'd thought we'd get a wee bit more warning. There was a bit of work that we had to do before they could get started--like move our storage cabinets and furniture off the front porch, take down various lighting fixtures (and mask off the outlets), take down the hummingbird and squirrel feeders . . . <br />
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Which was fine, because we're retired and have nothing else to do, right?<br />
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Except . . . <br />
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Backtrack a couple of weeks. I had been experimenting with making worbla. Worbla is a sheet of material composed of sawdust and thermoplastic--you heat it up and shape it. Costumers use it a lot for things like masks and armor. Problem is--it's really expensive. But there's stuff called Friendly Plastic (meltable, moldable, reusable plastic) and sawdust is easy to get (flour can be substutited) and you mix the two and roll it out. So I've been making it, and playing with it, and it's really great stuff. Being me, I like to share, so I contacted the local Maker Space and asked if their members would like a demo. I get a message Tuesday afternoon (yes, the same afternoon that we find out about the painters) saying yes, of course. "Can you come see me at the open house tomorrow night? and can you bring something that you've made so we can get some pictures?"<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XWAhq_4HdSM/WPgVtOms7lI/AAAAAAAADOg/9s3BaTdDuyUE-7KIUOTIyD3WM83UErZCQCLcB/s1600/Vambrace.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XWAhq_4HdSM/WPgVtOms7lI/AAAAAAAADOg/9s3BaTdDuyUE-7KIUOTIyD3WM83UErZCQCLcB/s320/Vambrace.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Well . . . what I've made is the worbla itself, and some odds and ends just playing with it. I haven't actually made anything. So Wednesday (when I should have been helping Bob, and honestly I did, but just a little), I knocked together a vambrace. And guess what--for my first Thing, it's really not bad.<br />
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But that's OK, because I have Thursday to help with the prep work, right? Except . . . <br />
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I was teaching the "felt scarf" workshop on Saturday--and I didn't have enough dyed wool. I like to have a variety of colors for my students, so a chunk of Thursday was spent dyeing. Fortunately, there's a lot of down time when dyeing--the stuff has to soak, get steamed, sit and cool for awhile--so I was able to pitch in and get stuff moved (like the kitchen last summer--most of what came off the porch isn't coming back).<br />
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(The workshop went well, four people made scarves they were happy with, and I accidently hit video on my phone instead of camera so don't have final pictures).<br />
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So after getting everything ready, the workers show up Friday--the equipment breaks down, and they leave again, giving us a free day. Sigh. They did get the pressure washing done on Saturday. And we went to town to buy the paint, only to find that they didn't have the proper base to tint (the house is getting painted *beige*. What paint store doesn't have the base for beige??) so Bob had to go back Saturday (because I was teaching my class) to get it.<br />
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But Monday the great transformation began. Twenty years ago I would have been painting it myself--but it was sort of nice just to let someone else go up the ladders. It felt weird to be in the house while people were working on it, so I spent the next couple of days down in my cottage, working on my loom model and making a blanket <br />
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for my grand-nephew Zeke. A few posts ago I wrote about making a weighted blanket for my niece. I had a few pounds of the pellets left and the blankets are supposed to be good for toddler. Awhile back I had picked up the fabric--he plays soccer, so I got a soccer ball print. At the time I messed up--got enough for the front--but they do have two sides. So later I picked up a solid for the back. Thank goodness for mistakes! It didn't occur to me that trying to sew straight lines on a pattern with lots of circles would drive me crazy--so I worked from the back side. It went smoothly, except for the last row when I ran out of bobbin thread without noticing, so the pockets I thought I had sewn shut weren't, and little plastic beads went flying everywhere when I picked up the blanket. I'll be finding those for the next few years.<br />
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And the painters finished today! What a tremendous difference.<br />
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And to keep things interesting, I got a call from a co-worker that she had spotted a dead opossum on the road, but it looked like the tummy was moving. She checked--and there was a live baby in the pouch (I have awesome co-workers). Here is my first foster of 2017.<br />
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Reading: Neil Gaimen, "American Gods." I saw that this is going to be a mini-series started at the end of this month so wanted to reread it. I'm curious to see the adaptation--it's a very convoluted and complicated book.<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-15402376962631964512017-04-03T14:43:00.002-07:002017-04-03T14:46:36.493-07:00I Have the Touch of DeathBob came in with something in a yogurt carton. "I just got a baby snake away from Wilhelm."<br />
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Ann: Damn. Poor little thing<br />
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Bob: I think he might be OK. There aren't any marks on him.<br />
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Ann (poking at limp and unresponsive snake): Looks pretty dead to me.<br />
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Bob: He was moving a few minutes ago.<br />
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Ann: . . . . . . . . <br />
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Bob: I think it's a hognose.<br />
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Ann: Oh--might be all right, then.<br />
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Bob was right on all counts. He was a hognose, and he was fine. The hognose snake is famous for "playing possum" when threatened.<br />
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We finally decided that we should quit poking at him, even though it was fun to watch his act (honestly, we were trying to check him out for any injuries). He quickly came back to life when we let him go.</div>
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-38844541476934987832017-03-31T06:25:00.000-07:002017-03-31T06:25:51.720-07:00More. Of. The. ProjectsOK--where was I? Projects. Some short term, some long. To continue<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tRSAJ35ZyvU/WN2GIStFU4I/AAAAAAAADMs/qOjLzneBYyI_KFQqYlBw2uM_1ghA4HctACLcB/s1600/beans.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tRSAJ35ZyvU/WN2GIStFU4I/AAAAAAAADMs/qOjLzneBYyI_KFQqYlBw2uM_1ghA4HctACLcB/s320/beans.JPG" width="320" /></a>Getting the garden in. Around here, the difference between "going to have a killing freeze tonight--too early to plant" and "it's getting too hot to plant" is about 72 hours. So we've got zucchini, green beans, peppers, eggplants, tomatoes and herbs in. And yes--that's weedcloth. Sigh. I would love to be old-school hippie and just use mulch and get out there and weed--but we admit defeat. Every year we vow to keep up with the weeds. "We'll get up early and go weed the garden in the cool of the morning" we say. We have finally faced reality and admitted that there is no such thing as "the cool of the morning" around here. In the summer, the temps are in the 80's by 7:00 a.m. (heck--the middle of the night lows are in the 80's) and the humidity will be somewhere between 95% and 100%. You can barely breath in the mornings.<br />
Hence--weedcloth.<br />
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So that was a busy few days digging up the garden beds, hauling in the compost, planting seeds, and putting in sets. Each plant gets it's benediction of a scoop of worm castings--which bring me to another ongoing project--my worms.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7rvPTdrO-3E/WN2EXjG3NdI/AAAAAAAADMk/HE9VExFNhSsfgZZVkUIB-cKBBoSCoaHGwCEw/s1600/worms.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7rvPTdrO-3E/WN2EXjG3NdI/AAAAAAAADMk/HE9VExFNhSsfgZZVkUIB-cKBBoSCoaHGwCEw/s320/worms.JPG" width="320" /></a>Last summer I was raising those adorable little armadillos, who loved earthworms, so I started a worm bin. After the little guys left, I still had some worms, and I got rather fascinated by how fast they could turn shredded newspapers and scrap food into compost. So now the bin o' worms is a permanent feature in the guest room (because--guess what? Red Wrigglers are sensitive to heat. They wouldn't survive outside) Every couple of months I can harvest the compost. Of course--I have to pick out the worms. There's a trick to it--they don't like the light, so you take the bin outside in the sun and scoop everything into a pile. Then, after they dig down, you scoop off the top until you hit worms--and then you let it sit again for awhile. Eventually, like a bunch of fish in the middle of a drying-up pond, you get down to mostly worms, which you thank, take inside, and fill the bin with fresh bedding.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U8TjxejjoK8/WN2JL3mglfI/AAAAAAAADM4/NpxSZBaRWSUgma-G1C1e2zEj6gKVIFy1gCLcB/s1600/Yarn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U8TjxejjoK8/WN2JL3mglfI/AAAAAAAADM4/NpxSZBaRWSUgma-G1C1e2zEj6gKVIFy1gCLcB/s320/Yarn.JPG" width="320" /></a>Random Spinning. Every 4 or 5 years I get a chance to go to a fiber festival, and pick up spinning fibers that I can't resist. Often I'll spin a sample, or a bit, and then it goes in the stack. In a rare case of "finish-it is" (that isn't supposed to have a space but autocorrect won't abide by that) I dragged some of them out and turned fiber into yarn. I have more--of course--but sometimes I think the fiber is prettier than the yarn and I just want to keep it that way. (Of course, now I have to decide what to make with this.)<br />
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Weaving: I own a loom (several, in fact). This does not make me a weaver, merely a women with looms. I like the idea of weaving more than the reality. Possibly because I'm not very good at it--because I don't practice. My last weaving was a set of dishtowels for a gift almost a year ago. But sometimes in the evening I don't feel like watching TV and it's a bit early to go to bed, so I thought I'd get a project on to have available to toss the shuttle a bit. Eventually these will be placemats.<br />
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The Really Heavy Blanket: Our niece Amanda asked me if I could make her a "weighted blanket." Well, I was flattered that she wanted me to make something for her. Weighted blankets are supposed to be good to reduce stress--the all over pressure is something like a hug, with some massage tossed in. The concept is not difficult--you sew two layers of fabric together, make some pockets, and fill them with weighted pellets (you have to have the pockets, otherwise you'll just end up with all the filling at one end). In <br />
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practice, it gets pretty tedious--you sew a line of channels, put about a shot glass of filling down each one, then sew across to secure it. Continue until you've weighted 150 (!) pockets. Meanwhile, the blanket is getting heavier and heavier (it topped out a 14 pounds). I admit to a feeling of trepidation when I started--I had ordered the pellets and the 20 pounds of them came in a medium-sized flat rate box, bulging at the seams. I could envision an explosion of pellets filling up my sewing room.<br />
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I did get it finished--and I even slept under it last night. I have to admit that I slept pretty well--but possibly not well enough to go through making another one for myself. <br />
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Knitting Swircles: Through an on-line knitting/fiber arts sort of facebook I came across some archeologists wanting people to do spinning/knitting samples. They are studying 16th century knitting, specifically (very specifically--archaeologists are like that) the lining of knitted hats. So they are asking volunteers to knit "swircles" (small round swatches) from various wools, and then trying different finishing techniques to see if they can stab a guess at how the linings were made. It seemed like fun, so I'm swircle knitting (finishing--meaning washing, shrinking, and trying to raise a nap--will come later).<br />
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And I believe that really is all of the projects--for now. There are more waiting in line . . .<br />
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Reading: I'm being followed by Vikings! On my own, I was reading about Norse textiles, and Njal's saga. Then Smithsonian magazine came out with an article on Vikings, as did National Geographic. Then, last night, Nova had a program on Viking swords. To cap it off, I found out that Neil Gaiman (one of my favorite authors) just published a new book--Norse Mythology. So of course I'm reading it.<br />
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Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3115198595158227634.post-759481885236093782017-03-27T05:54:00.000-07:002017-03-27T05:54:43.590-07:00Late SpringThe weird weather system that dumped feet of snow on people in the Northeast merely brought us some gorgeous (perhaps a bit chilly) weather. Which I found *really* frustrating, as I managed to catch a cold and breathing outside made my chest hurt. But I was given a reprieve--after a couple of hottish days it cooled off again. And we managed to take advantage.<br />
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Friday was work-related. Because normally we wouldn't drive 75 miles south and eventually down a dirt road to an obscure boat dock on the Fenholloway River (officially described as a "small, blackwater stream). But a bunch of students were having a field trip where they were learning how to take water quality samples, and Bob and I were to meet them at one point and talk about native animals.<br />
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After we got on that dirt road, it was beautiful, in that wild way that Bob called "quintessential North Florida." It's wetlands and marshes and palmettos and wildflowers and just plain mysterious. We got there early so had time to admire. In a month or two, when the weather will be in the 90's and the air alive with mosquitoes and biting flies, I might not find it so admirable--but Friday was perfect. Bob commented that it looked like it could be a computer screensaver. I thought--"needs an alligator." Then, right on cue, he appeared. Perfect.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild Dixie Irist</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look closely--he's that double-dot floating in the water</td></tr>
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The next day was a Archaeology Day at Wakulla Springs, when they open up the dig areas to the public and you can talk to the archeologists. While I'm fascinated by archeology, I could never, never work in that field. It's far to precise and fussy for me. At the Wakulla site, it consists of marking off precise squares, cutting them perfectly (I am amazed they can get straight walls in this sand, making it all level, then gently scraping off about 1/4 inch at a time to be sifted. Their current excitement is over a *lot* of tiny stone chips, meaning that they found a spot where someone, or several someones, had been making arrowheads and spear points. Even those chips carry information--if, for instance, they're from a rock that isn't found here, it can show that trading occurred. But I wouldn't be able to do it--I'd be wanting to grab a shovel and just start digging.<br />
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We did the riverboat tour afterwards--because I'd never go to the Springs without going out. It's been kept wild and untouched except for the boats, and the animals have gotten to the point that they ignore them. Like Friday, it was almost cool, and clear, and the colors of the sky and water and trees looked almost artificial, like Disney World at it's finest. I rested my head on my arms and watched it all slip past, and realized that I do love this primitive beauty where I've made my home.<br />
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And I need to remember these moments and store them for the months ahead when stepping outside into air that feels like hot moldy syrup and all the greens are the color of overboiled spinach.<br />
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Another sign of spring--for a few weeks we couldn't handle the hawk at the museum because even though she doesn't have a mate she still built a nest and laid eggs--and guarded them. Trust me--you don't go near a broody hawk if you don't want to get those 3-inch talons in you. On the other hand--it was pointed out that she looks like an angry muppet.<br />
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Reading:<br />
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Finished Woven into the Earth but am reading the companion book that gives details on the clothing construction. These were every day clothes, but the craftsmanship on them is exquisite.<br />
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"Sourcery" by Terry Pratchett. Anything by Pratchett is fun--he plays with words like a cat with a toy mouse.Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14061737747393017290noreply@blogger.com0