I let Rowdy lay on the Pendleton wool rug I am mailing to son Sam/Zac/Satchmo in California. I thought he might like to know a bit of Rowdy is there. Rowdy was a puppy the summer between Zac's high school graduation and college, so he and Zac have a special relationship. Rowdy will be 13 on the 30th of this month. Last fall I wasn't sure he would be here for that birthday. But he continues on, for which I am glad.
Both rugs are finished. Zac's is packaged for mailing tomorrow and Ian's will accompany me when I fly to Oregon in just a few days. Baby has not put in his appearance yet, but it should happen any day now! The package with the baby wrap and the 12m size sweater was received and the parents to be seemed very happy with both. I understand wrapping has been practiced.
Since my last post, the weather has been mostly quite cold still. We did have 3 days that were nice last week, even into the 80's one day, but then right back into the freezer we went.
In fact it was warm enough that the bees were out flying everywhere. I have been feeding them sugar water, a quart every other day or so, but I will stop that as soon as the weather stays a little warmer and more things start to bloom. I want honey made with nectar, not sugar water.
Flowers have bloomed, but in general I think everything is behind. Monday, it snowed. Today it is near 50. It was 26 degrees when I awoke this morning and we had a heavy frost.
So I have been spending a lot of time indoors. Last week I tore down my big loom, which had been at our office since I bought it 6 or 7 years ago, and moved it home and put it in my studio. I also brought almost everything else from the loom room at our office home and there is still some organizing that needs to be done. There is a large storage cabinet that needs to be moved from the office, and all its contents are in boxes waiting for it to be moved in.
On Sunday I gave the big loom, Mira (the model of the loom), a good cleaning and conditioning and reassembled it. Sam was able to make some improvements to the brake system on Mira, which I had contemplated replacing while I had the loom apart. Now I think I may not need to do that. Once I get a warp on Mira I will be able to tell. This loom was built in the 1940's and I would like to keep it as original as I can.
The reason for clearing out my loom room at the office is that after 20 years, we have decided to close our Real Estate business and retire. It seems like such a huge step, but then again, it just seems like yet another change. Life has been a series of changes for Sam and myself. We have not been afraid to take on new things, and it has worked out well for us. We feel very fortunate that the choices we have made and the chances we have taken have led us to this place in our life together. We have been greatly blessed in so many ways. At then end of this month, our business will officially be closed. My studio was built last year with that in mind since there was no place in our house that would house Mira, my rug loom. So it appears that I will now have a lot of time for weaving, gardening, doing dog agility and hiking in the woods and maybe some horseback riding....
And speaking of dog agility, Grover and I attended 1 day of a trial last Friday and earned our QQ18! This weekend, we will spend 3 days bar hopping in Zanesville. And then on Tuesday I will be off to Oregon for 6 days.
The lightweight cardigan is still on my knitting needles, though I have given it a break while I work on a kind of secret project. Something totally new for me. Details to be revealed at a later date.
I also plied 2 bobbins of hand dyed, handspun alpaca/silk yarn. I LOVE how this came out. I have 600 yards in this one skein, that is about 4 1/2 ounces. And I still have 2 bobbins to ply. I am not sure what this will become, but it may need to be a big lace shawl. Whatever it becomes, it needs to be something spectacular!
By the next time I post, I should be a grandmother! I should say I will be a "Nana" as that is what I will be called, following in the footsteps of some great women I have had the pleasure to know (and be related to!).
Sadly I have no cute dog or pony photos this week. First, I have been away from home a lot due to some family issues, and second, the weather has not been at all conducive to carrying a camera around outside. We have had rain and snow and more rain and the temperatures have been everywhere from the mid 20's to the mid 50's over the last couple of weeks. And there has been wind. So really somewhat typical March weather. Why is it I always think March means springtime? But it really is April....
I took several photos Tuesday morning as we were once again being inundated with heavy rain. This rain was falling on ground that was already saturated from previous days of rain. In the photo above, the big bridge, which has suffered serious damage this winter, can still be seen but is almost under water. A few minutes later, it is entirely submerged.
There are cascades of water running down the hill behind the house (and across the road and...). The water was up into the chicken yard. The small structure with the green roof on the left is the chicken coop.
By late Tuesday afternoon, the rain had stopped and the sun was even peeking out from time to time. On Tuesday evenings I drive about 45 miles each way to Parkersburg WV for agility class with Grover. It usually takes me just under an hour over township, county and state roads. I travel through 4 counties and 2 states. I knew there was likely to be high water and maybe some road wash outs when I left a little early for class. I also had some errands I wanted to run before class in Marietta. I took a detour to avoid the township roads I thought might be in bad shape, only to find a "Road Closed" sign when I got to the state highway. So I backtracked to a county road and took it several miles to another state highway which took me back to the one with the closed sign, but several miles further to the south, knowing I would avoid one specific spot prone to flooding. Once back on track, I drove through one short stretch of water over the road, maybe 20' wide, a few miles on. After another couple of miles, I came around a bend and saw nothing but water for probably 300 yards. I was driving a big 4 X 4 pick up truck, but that was it. I figured if the road was flooded here, it would be even worse farther ahead. I backed up until I could turn my truck around and Grover and I headed for home. I was gone for over an hour and covered more than 50 miles and ended up where I started. I found out after the fact that the state highway I was on was closed for its entire distance in Noble county, which is probably 15 miles of my usual route.
Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that the beavers down the road on the national forest land are no longer in residence. About a month ago, the rain washed out part of their dam, draining the pond. In the past, they have been quick to repair these breaches and this time I have seen no such work being done. I don't know if they moved somewhere else or if something happened to them. It makes me very sad. I know I only actually saw the beavers 3 or 4 times over the last 3 years, but watching what they did was fascinating. They had turned what was a neglected, overgrown hayfield into a wetland environment complete with new types of wildlife. I will continue to watch for their return.
Grover and I have an agility seminar coming up this Saturday, near Columbus, after which we will go to spend a few days with my mom. Then next Friday we will return to the same venue for just one day of an agility trial. We will also attend our club's 3 day agility trial in Zanesville the weekend of April 20, 21, and 22. And on the 24th of April, I fly back out to Oregon, hoping to meet my new grandson, who is due right around that time. This month is going to be very busy! It is such an exciting time for my family.
I finished weaving the Pendleton selvedge rugs I was planning when I posted last. They went very quickly with those selvedges and were really fun to weave. I love how they came out . Aren't the colors wonderful? These are Grand Canyon and Crate Lake national park blanket colors. Both my sons and my daughter-in-law spent one entire winter on the south rim of the Grand Canyon working in the lodges there a few years ago. Ian and his wife have also been to Crater Lake, so there is some significance besides the colors being fabulous. . Both rugs are 28" wide and one is 48" long and the other 42". I need to sew the hems on the ends and they will be ready to use. I will be taking one with me to Oregon in a couple weeks for son Ian and the other will be sent to California to son Sam/Zac/Satchmo.
