Whirlwind Week of Weavers!!!

First a quick shout out to my darling daughter, Heather.  27 years ago today, she came into the world, our youngest child.  She is now a Mommy herself, and she knows what if feels like to love a child too.  We are so proud of you Heather, and may you never lose your sense of humor---- as much as you deny it, you are soooo much like your mother! 

Now back to fiber things... the subject of my blog.  

Oh my goodness a whole week has just FLOWN BY!   My darling friends Linda from Tennessee and Rosie from Missouri hit the road last week and worked their way north to my house.  

We got a desperate phone call from them when they were 90 miles away in Oshkosh with a vehicle breakdown---  ABS brakes went out and they only had the hard-to-press-feet-to-the-floor pedal!   The mechanic there was not able to work on them for a few days, so Steve (our HERO!) said he would drive it himself the rest of the way home.  We hopped in our Tracker and buzzed down to Oshkosh while they languished in the luxury of free WiFi at the McDonalds. LOL     

Got in our hugs and greetings ...  and then while Steve drove Rosie's minivan, we gals all piled in the Tracker to gab gab gab our way back to Oconto.  What fun!  We started talking on Wednesday night and didn't stop talking till the following Wednesday morning, a week later as they departed!   ----- and I am NOT exaggerating!

(left to right: Linda, Rosie and Karen) 

The purpose of their visit was to start dismantling my loom room in preparation for moving.  They had already helped me decide with photos via emails about who was taking what weaving stuff back to who's studio.   They are both weavers.  The only item they BOTH wanted was a cute old barrel, that was really lined inside with a thermal layer and plastic, so it was really a cooler!   Here they are still figuring out WHO was gonna get that barrel.

Even now as I write this, I am not sure which one got it, but all I know is that it was loaded in the van.  Perhaps they are gonna toss a coin when they part ways in Illinois and head East and West to their own respective studios?  

One of the items being dismantled to haul away was a rug loom... so here I am weaving off the last rug before we tear it apart.  Between the tears falling and the sobs shaking my shoulders I was singing a song to the tune of "It's the Last Song I'll Ever Write For You"   by Edward Bear

It's the last rug..... I'll ever weave on you

It's the last time that I will put the shuttle in your shed

It's the lasssst tiiimee I'll ever weave this loom ....  

The rug coming off this loom for the last time is an order for a fellow RVer, so it will have a special place.

Please keep in mind, I am not stopping my weaving.  I am taking along my table loom inside of the motorhome where it has a perfect place to ride along.  And in the basement compartment is a rug loom that can be assembled in about 20 minutes.  I can set it up under the awning or take it into a rec hall at an rv park with permission and give demos too.  Or set up when staying at friends houses or family visits easily in a garage or storage shed.  Never fear, I will always be a weaver!

We did some fun things while the gals were here.  At one point we NEEDED ice cream, and the gas station about 5 miles up the road has hand dipped Cedar Creek ice cream waffle cones.   Throughout the gas station are the traditional Wisconsin tourist items----  including bags of cheese curds, sausage, carved log yard decorations, and yes, even CheezeHeads!

We spent days sorting and packing and organizing... the gals were SO helpful to me, and we got a lot accomplished and figured out.  They staged the items in order of preference and necessity in rows in the garage.  Then as Rosie would load, they could cull or add as space allowed.

As the loom room cleared out, Rosie had more room around her air mattress, surrounded by yarns and baskets of fibers.  Ducky the collie loved sneaking down to bunk out with her every chance she got.  Linda was using the guest room with an air purifier as she has trouble with allergies and dog fur.

At night, I had to block off the stairs down to the loom room with a baby gate to keep our dogs up on the main floor... they moaned and groaned and wanted to go back down and sleep with their new friends!

Rosie does get quite a bit of winter snow over in Missouri, but our dear Linda from Tennessee was hoping to see some REAL WISCONSIN WINTER!!!  Most years in March, we Wisconsinites are sitting under a foot or more of snow, and having temps in the 20-30 range.  If you have been watching the national weather, you will know we are having unseasonably WARM temps in the 70's and 80's!   The only snow we could find was this crusty old dirt ridden snowbank for Linda.   She sure is happy we found at least ONE bit of snow for her.

(I guess the snow angels she was dreaming of making are out of the question?)

Down the road a bit from our house is a tall pine tree where a pair of eagles nest every year.  The female is now setting on the nest and the male is bringing in food on a regular basis to his bride.  We see him scanning the area from wayyy up high as he cruises along over the fields and up the river.  Sometimes we see a flash of wings and water as he grabs a steelhead salmon that are spawning in the river right now.  Off he goes to feed the mommy-to-be waiting in the nest.  One year the local University came to film these eagles in their nest.  They set up cameras and cords and cables (and left a mess!)  so they are not welcome back anymore on the neighbor's farm.  Now the eagles can come back and nest in peace. 

One day during their visit, we took a little break and buzzed up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, to the town of Menominee, to get some pastys (pronounced pah-steez) 

History of the Pasty

When one thinks of gifts from other cultures that carry with them great historical significance, one usually doesn't think of food.  In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan there is a food delicacy that has gone ethnic to multi-ethnic and finally to regional.  To many people in the Upper Peninsula, the pasty is much more than food, it is an identifying cultural mark that gives them their own identity.  While it is a source of great pride to this region, the pasty itself, especially its ancient history is shrouded in mystery.

        The easiest way to describe a pasty, is a pot pie without the pot.  Nobody knows for sure where and when the pasty originated.  It's thought to have been invented when the preparation of food became an art rather than roasting a hunk of meat on a stick.  The pasty came to the Upper Peninsula through Cornwall England.  When tin mining started going bad in England during the 1800's the Cornish miners immigrated to America hoping to earn there fortunes in newly developing mines. 

http://www.hu.mtu.edu/vup/pasty/history.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty 

We also managed to rediscover The Elegant Ewe fiber store... it moved down the street from it's previous location, to this huge lovely historic home, set on the shores of Lake Michigan and the waters of Green Bay.  We browsed and fondled and oogled and ahhed over the delightful treasures within.  But remember, I am DOWNSIZING so I kept my wallet in my purse!  Rosie was tempted to succumb to her lust, and came out with a bag full. 

LOL LOL LOL   Here is a link to their shop:   http://www.theelegantewe.com/

In between all of our running around and packing and sorting, Steveio was diagnosing and repairing Rosie's brakes. We brought it to a place to diagnose on a computer, and then Steve brought it over to our favorite repair guy too.  The guys found a good "fix-it" work around because it was just a bad wire to the boost pump, and not the master cylinder and ABS pump components to replace after all.  Honestly, they used WIRE TIES AND DUCT TAPE!!!    He was able to get it operational to get them back home, and then she already has a newer van lined up for purchase.  Then this one's job is done. 

He was also kept busy (and away from us gabbing ladies) by mounting our Tracker tow bar, cleaning the garage, and getting things ready for a showing of our home to prospective buyers!   Yes, we had a showing on Sunday!  While Rosie and Linda were busy packing up the van, we brought some prospective buyers through the home, along the river, around the yard and through the garage.  Will hope to hear from them soon before the house is scheduled to go on the market the beginning of April, as they wanted *first dibs* to get in and look! 

Rosie and Linda started organizing and loading.  They wanted to keep all of the nice heavy Rubbermaid totes I was getting rid of, but unloaded the contents into soft squishable trash bags, and then stacked the totes into tight columns.  The bags got squished in to corners and narrow spaces. What a great idea! Rosie is my HERO when it comes to packing and organizing!   They even worked well into the night, packing and arranging, while Steveio held a shop light to see what they were doing.  

 I made a list on a clipboard of every single thing they loaded... 

but Rosie said I could not publish it!  LOL 

Yes, all of my well-loved treasures were loaded up and tucked in here and there...  destined to adorn a new studio and be loved some more!   But it is still an emotional thing, ya know what I mean?  I also think part of the sadness is knowing that Rosie and Linda will be leaving in the morning and that makes it even more depressing.

Look, there is still room for Linda to ride in the passenger seat. We had seriously thought about strapping Linda to the roof rack for the trek homeward, because of the need for space inside for precious fibers and tools!  (just kidding, Linda) 

Wednesday morning was D-day... time to pull out.  They loaded up a few more things, including a llama... (stuffed one from Peru) and headed out.  The van was a bit squatty on the road, but Rosie has hauled live llamas, feed, hay and many other heavy items and knew it could handle it.

They made it safely down to Illinois last night and are splitting up the load and each heading to their respective homes this morning.  I cried as I watched them roll out of sight... and watched till the van was far around the bend before turning back to my nearly empty Loom Room.  Thank you gals for taking my things to love and cherish.

On a motorhome note, last night Steveio did an oil change on the big diesel engine (28 quarts of oil)  and we took it for a little cruise around the country to give it a little exercise.  Onwards to our new life! 

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Our busy weekend is over, whew!

We got a lot accomplished over the weekend.

First up on the order of jobs was to finish that lower level bathroom.  We had pulled up the old flooring, and got the new one laid out and trimmed to fit around the drain.  Once we were sure it was the right size and in the right position, we sealed it down with flooring adhesive and let it dry overnight. It sure came out nice, and we are pleased with the results.

Saturday morning dear daughter Erin came to pick me up.  Little Chelsea was thrilled to have Granmuddah ride in HER CAR to go to Green Bay.  She jibberjabbered all the way and we sure enjoyed the sunshine streaming in the windows.  It felt like SPRING!   We ran a few errands and managed a stop in the mall to do a little ride on the fun stuff for Chelsea while momma was in Office Max... heh heh

By noon, we headed over to the Baby Luncheon to welcome new Baby Pfundtner due soon to our daughterinlaw Heather and son Dan.  We had a nice time and showered the new mommy with some "Boy Things" as all their saved baby stuff from Allegra was "Girl Stuff"  So there was a lot of Oohhhs and Ahhhhhs over the adorable little things that Heather was showered with.  What fun!!!

Little Chelsea and Allegra hung out with cousin Lucas... who is ALSO expecting a new sibling in September!  Lucas belongs to Steve's niece, Jen and hubby Robert.   Just look at those curls!!!!

While all the ladies gabbed, Dan hid out in the family room to watch tv.  Hens cackling in the hen house for sure.   LOL   The girls were soooo busy practicing being Mommies.  They were giving Elmo rides back and forth in the little stroller, learning about how awful it is to dump your baby out on the road!  ACK!  

What a couple of cuties, huh?  

With all the boy cousins on the way, 

these two girls gotta stick together!

While I was at the Baby Luncheon, that Mr. Steveio Zoom Zoom Guy was at home putting all the bathroom fixtures back into place.  He got the toilet and sink reinstalled, and also hung the mirror and a new light fixture.  The trim threshold strip is the last thing to go on, as it was stained and is drying overnight. I think we are all done with any major home projects in preparation for selling!!!!!

Now the bathroom is all ready for our company coming this week... my friends Rosie and Linda will be here on Wednesday evening and staying for a week.  We are going to FIBERNATE!  And sort and pack up weaving supplies and yarns and fabric for trips back to Tennessee and Missouri.  "Stash Enhancement" for their studios!


On Sunday, we woke up to an amazingly warm day.  Wisconsin just isn't used to high 60 degree temps in March.  Almost all of the snow is gone and it was so warm that bugs were hatching and flying around!  Working in short sleeves and no jackets is just sooo foreign to us in March.  We had to wash the screens and put them up just to be able to open the doors and windows, letting in the fresh air.  Hopefully this is the last time we will ever have to wash and hang screens, right?


About 10 am on Sunday, Lisa and Troy came to pick up my biggest LeClerc Nilart loom.  It was sooooo sad to see it go, but I know it will be loved and cherished by Lisa in the years to come.   We went over the details and supplies, and some yarn and shuttles were purchased too.   The guys went to work on removing the patio doors so it could be taken out in one whole piece.  First we had to move the motorhome out of the parking spot in the driveway so there was room to get around the side of the garage with a vehicle.  That is the most the motorhome moved this month....  it is crying for more exercise!  Camping season is coming, never fear.

Steve hooked their trailer to the back of our little Tracker and backed down around the garage and to the lower level patio.  The guys loaded up the loom and carefully packed and tied and padded it for a safe journey south, about 60 miles.   The back beam folds up tight to cut the size of the footprint almost in half.  It fit in their trailer perfectly.

My goodness, look at all that space!!!   (and all the dust and lint that accumulates underneath a loom!) 

Luckily the ground is still pretty frozen, even if there isn't much snow left anywhere.  Like a little mountain goat, Steve drove the Tracker up and around the side of the garage, towing the little trailer and my loom away....

Goodbye Loom, have a good life.   

(sniff sniff) 

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and moooorrreee house stuff!

Oh my, I have spent the better part of a whole week being sick with a crud that just didn't go away!   It sure slowed down the  efforts on house prep for selling.  ARGGHHH   But I am finally on the mend and just about over it.  Only the nagging cough left behind.

We are experiencing some amazing weather here in Wisconsin. Sooooo strange for March.  We had over a foot of snow last week, and in one day it warmed up so much, wind blowing, and sunshine that it's almost all gone!   Just a crusty snowbank here or there, but that is about it.  We are due to hit high 60s and maybe even 70 next week!

On the home prep front, we have one last room to finish up, the downstairs bathroom.   We ripped out the the sink in prep to replace the vinyl flooring.  (after fifteen years of teenager use, the floor needs it)   Tore up the mop board trim and here Steve was unhooking the toilet.  THAT was a fiasco in itself, because he didn't drain it all out before removing it, so I had to help carry a sloshing wet toilet out of the room, around the corner, down the hall, through the guest bedroom and into the storage room... to let it finish draining over the floor drain.  ARGGHHH  

We had decided to replace the sink, but at the same time, the vanity wasn't much to speak about either.  So another shopping trip to Menards and we got a new sink and vanity, and new vinyl flooring.  Will take a pic when it's all done,  hopefully by  this weekend.

This upcoming weekend, we have some other events taking place.  Tomorrow (Saturday) will be a Baby Luncheon for our daughterinlaw Heather and son Dan.  The new little boy will be born soon, (April 6th is due date)  and we are all gathering for a fun day at their house.  All the grandtots will be there, so I am sure to get in some hugs and kisses and cuddles.   Erin and Mark are due April 12th with their son, so it's going to be a VERY BABY APRIL for us!

On Sunday, my lady is finally going to get here to load up the biggest loom.  We had to delay due to the storms and over a foot of snow here last weekend.  They are planning to haul the loom on an open trailer, so slush and snow are not good for that situation.  

Next week holds a huge event for me-----   my friends Rosie from Missouri and Linda from Tennessee are due here on Wednesday.  They are staying for a week and helping me sort and organize fabric, yarn, tools and looms.  Rosie is taking home my 4 harness Union Rug loom, and Linda is taking home the drum carder for processing fleece into spinnable roving.  And then we are stuffing every square inch of empty space with fabric and supplies for them to haul back to their studios!   tee heeeeee   We will get in a lot of laughter and gabbing and eating and probably not much sleeping.  It will be a like a week long sleepover pajama party!  Didn't you wish for things like that when you were a kid?   We will be three big kids, and ignore Steve and let him up to his own devices for his own entertainment. 

The hens will be cackling and the rooster can go hang out somewhere else.. tee heeeeee

Daughter Erin sent me a photo this morning that I just HAVE to share....  yes, little Chelsea chooses her own wardrobe.  She was helping to wash the baby bottles in preparation for her new baby brother to come. 

Dyeing, Twisting, and SNOW!

No no no!   I mean "dyeing" as in YARN, not "dying" as in Death, silly blog readers!    I was sorting out some of my yarns and had a bunch of plain average looking wools that needed a sprucing up of color before I sell the skeins.  This yarn is a bit too thick for my sockknitting machine, so I decided to put some nice fat skeins on Ebay with custom dyeing colors.

I have some dyepots that are specifically labelled "DYES ONLY" for using dangerous chemicals.  I don't like using the bad chemicals, so now I mostly I dye with food safe colors as in kool-aid, easter egg dye tablets or Jaquard brand dyes.  Then I don't have to worry about contamination or bad fumes in my lungs.  Rosie is taking my dye stuff home with her next month.  I can continue to dye if I want in food safe containers like my soup pot when we move into the motorhome.

I put the pre-wetted skeins of yarn into the pots, one at a time, 

and sprinkle the dye on top of each skein.

The water has some vinegar and salt added.

The dyes slowly sink down as the yarn is steamed (never boiled) 

About a half hour later, all of the dye is absorbed into the wool! 

The water runs off clear.  I rinse them a few times to get out the vinegar smell and 

I hang them outdoors to dry and freshen up. 

These are three huge commercial skeins of yarn that I dyed in tones of blue, 

and the others are coral/salmon color that I added browns to them. 

Next up were some average 4oz skeins of wool that were blah minty green or a strange blue. I lay them in turkey roasters with each skein on their sides, and make stripes with the dyes. When knit up in socks, a hat or a scarf, they make a nice repeating pattern.

WOWZER they sure came out purrrrrtttyyyyyyyy!!!!

I got that dyeing done on Monday.....

Then on Tuesday the wee little Chelsea girl woke up with a fever!   Her mommy dropped her off here before work as the daycare of course doesn't let sick ones in.  When she got here, she was full of silliness and great appetite and kept herself very very busy!  She was helping me twist more fringes on the edge of a rug.  And such concentration for a 2 year old is quite amazing.

It turns out her fever was from the long-awaited eye teeth to arrive, which they did sometime during the day.   She spent the whole morning being creative before konking out for a long nap.

She woke up to Miss Ellen and Miss Connie who came from Illinois to dismantle my favorite rug loom, a Newcomb Studio Loom.  Once that little stinker saw the wonderful array of sockets and wrenches and pliers in my tool box, she was busy busy busy!  Granfaddah would have been sooo proud to see her working!  

She wrenched and twisted and matched up sockets to the heads of the nuts and bolts on the loom.  Quite a busy girl for the hour or so it took to dismantle the loom.  Can you imagine doing that with a 2 year old underfoot?   I didn't take any pics, but I did do a screen capture from the video camera we had recording the whole process for Ellen.  That way Ellen can re-assemble the loom by watching the video tape in segments backwards.

Can you see Chelsea in the lower right corner???  Such a Loom Mechanic! 

Sadly, the loom was loaded up by Ellen and Connie into her van, destined to a new home with someone who will love it as much as I did.   Sigh.  

The big blanket loom will go on Sunday... and the other Union rug loom will go in mid-March.  Then I will be down to my last Union rug loom and Tools of the Trade table loom (those both go with me) 

Last night we were warned about an impending snow storm.  At first, the weathermen were not sure where it was going to hit.  We were right on the border edge of the storm between massive amounts of snow (2 inches falling each hour)  or freezing rain and sleet.  We got the snow.  We woke up to about 8-10 inches of heavy wet slushy snow.  Steve took one look out the window at 5 am and thought "heck with it".  He decided to call in to work. This is the second time in 14 and a half years that he has ever called in on a snowy day!   (he has to use up a day of vacation pay to make up for it)   

This is what we saw out the window as soon as it was light.... 

Yes, the plow went through, one swipe, but left a huge pile of thick chunks blocking the driveway.  When snow is this wet, it doesn't blow through the snowblower very well.  But if you don't get it shoveled out of the way quickly, the upcoming decrease in temps will freeze it thick and solid as a huge chunk of ice!    We enjoyed a cup of coffee and some sweetrolls before he trudged on out to take care of it.  The neighbors next door left for work before the plow went through, so both of their driveways were plugged up too.  My darling Steveio took care of both of them plus ours.  What a way to spend a "vacation day", huh?

Poor Duke is up to his belly in the snow.  

His little legs poke right down into the thick snow and he is wedged into place!  

He actually "peed" while laying down in the snow!  LOL 

 Duchess said "heck with it" and stayed up on the porch! 

I guess winter is finally here.  We lost some branches off our trees, and our cedars and arborvitaes out front are bent wayyy over.  There are power outages all around us, but we are still on.  We are due for high winds kicking up, and more snow tonight, falling temps and freezing.  Let's only hope it melts soon and spring will be here before we know it??????