It's Hard to Say "See Ya Later"!

We have been spending four days and three nights by my good friend Rosie's house in Bethel, Mo.   We have been weaving buddies for a long time, and try to get together as often as we can.  It's too few and far in between gatherings!  

Steve was looking for some projects, so in between meals (and ice cream) we managed to find a few tasks around Rosie's to keep him busy.

He worked on moving around some van seats from her barn into the older van she is getting rid of, and put her newer van seats into the barn.  She often takes her llamas in the mini-van for vet visits and demo outings, and lays down an oriental rug in the back of her van ... minus the seats.  The llamas walk right in and get on their knees to lay down in the back!   They are very good riders....    She also is known to throw in a big bag of llama feed in town, get to her house, slide it out onto a kid's plastic sled and haul it to her barn!  What a gal!   I won't mention age, but she has earned her grey hairs.   LOL

Steve also worked on a few ideas for revamping her barn doors, and helped build a shelf for over her stove.  He also assembled her new drill press, worked on her commercial sewing machine, adjusted her cabinet door... besides waiting patiently while we gabbed gabbed gabbed and gabbed some more!

Of course, she talked us into going back up to Heartland on Tuesday noon for lunch with her bunch!  She has a creative batch of good neighbors and friends who all try to meet on Wednesdays for lunch there.  But because we were going to leave on Wednesday morning, she managed to get them to ALL change their plans and come on Tuesday, just for US!

left to right- Sue, Rosie, Me, John, Steve, skip to front- Joanie, Joe, Mike and another Joe

we were missing Lisa who is in St. Louis

It was good to see all these wonderful people, a tight knit group who all watch out for one another, care for each other's pets when folks are gone, and generally rely on each other to help out... we are so glad that Rosie is part of such a great group of folks!

Speaking of her neighbors, here is the yard we were parked in to stay for three nights... thanks again so much Joe and Sue!

If you have any desire to support 

American Made Products 

from artists with their own studio and creative 

art work of their pottery pieces, please visit:

SJ Pottery LLC
Susan Skinner * Joseph Jostes
Traditionally inspired Redware, Mocha and Salt Glazed Stoneware

http://www.sjpottery.com/

317 N Main Street
Bethel, Missouri  63434
660-284-6549
sjpots@marktwain.net
on Facebook: SJ Pottery LLC

The items they create are just amazing.... 

and it's so hard to choose what you want to bring home! 

Here is Sue working custom designs on some of the clay "green ware" 

and Joe throwing a pot on the wheel

 Rows and rows of glazed pots ready for the kilns.... 

More "green ware" ready for then next firing in the kilns

 Some more of the finished items in other colors and designs... 

ready to be packed up and shipped out all over the world! 

(Rosie helps with the packing, so if you buy something, she may well have had her hands on it)

As our time drew to a close, Rosie and I were trying to get in as much gabbing as we could... she also had an extra sewing machine that she was not using, and managed to convince me to take it home!  It will be great for more detailed stitching on my quilting endeavors.   Rosie is also an accomplished painter, and insisted we take this lovely framed landscape oil painting to hang in our new home!  WOW!

Last spring, Rosie also had taken one of my large Union rug looms off my hands when we were preparing to sell the house.  She insisted it come back with us again, now that we have a house.  Oh boy... so that is loaded up into the Tracker and she tossed in one of my dye pots too.  She is trying to retrofit my weaving studio back to the way it was, I think!

For our "Last Supper" I hauled out my pressure cooker, tossed in some tenderloin (thanks to Paula!)  and some onions, garlic, taters, carrots, peas and a few envelopes of gravy mix, a good dollop of Andria's Steak sauce and set it to cooking... yummm it smelled so good on a cold wintery windy day!
 

Rosie whipped up a batch of crescent rolls, and took them over in a homemade bread cloth in a basket.  Inside the basket she had a clay disc from the potttery that Sue and Joe make to keep rolls warm!   And she gave us THAT too!

 (of course, we followed up the meal with more ice cream.....)

Toddled off to beddy-bye with full bellies and hoped to get an early morning start! 

In the morning, at 7 a.m. it was cloudy and grey skies heavy with snowflakes... dang! We got the motorhome road-worthy, got it out of Sue and Joe's drive (thanks again you guys!)  and hooked up the Tracker.  Steve noticed some antifreeze leaking on the ground behind the motorhome!!!  OH OH ... that is NOT GOOD!   He is hoping it's just the overflow, because he did add some distilled water to the radiator back in the warmth of Del Rio, TX by the Mexican border.  Because it was 22 degrees this morning when we reluctantly started the engine, we hope it's just the overflow before the thermostat warmed up and opened.  We are carefully watching the gauges and computer readout on the Vmspc panel and stopping every so often to check for any more leaking. 

Snapped a few more shots in Rosie's yard as the sun was coming up in the east... such a peaceful tranquil little farm on the edge of a quaint little town.  Her llamas were enjoying the morning and we said our "see ya later"s to each one.  

See you soon, Rosie, and next time Linda will be along with us... 

so all THREE of us can eat ice cream! 

We are heading east and then north, with snowflakes swirling around us but nothing really sticking yet... hope to make it to the border of Wisconsin today--- stopping at weaving buddies Jim and Norma Burket of http://www.paandmasrugs.com and Juanita and Normie of http://www.vavningstudio.com

(more artists who make things in America) 

The snow has finally stopped as we are in central Illinois now while I type this.  

Almost to Bloomington, so will probably make the border to Wisconsin by 3 or 4p.m.

Gusting winds from the west are making it a "2 hands on the wheel" drive for Steve.....

You Scream - I Scream - We all Scream for Ice Cream

Yes... ice scream!   We are at Rosie's in Bethel, MO... and she MADE us eat ice cream for SUPPER!

Let's see...  

handmade caramel topping

triple chocolate ice cream

caramel filled chocolate cups

chocolate sauce

whipped cream

and colored sprinkles! 

MINE                                                     ROSIE'S 

STEVE'S (after he had it half eaten)                   WHAT A SUPPER! 

Now I will back it back up a bit.... On Sunday, we left Sam and Donna in Dardenne Prairie, MO about 10 a.m.  We fueled up at a local station with a good price of $3.75.9 per gallon for diesel, at 48 gallons... so we were set for fuel enough probably all the way to home now.



While we were driving, I got the very sad notice from a dear couple who are our friends from up in Michigan, that their son had his life taken away in an awful incident.  Their grown son, 32, was trying to break up domestic dispute between a man and woman, and he was stabbed with a knife in the process.  The man who did the stabbing took him to the hospital, but was sadly too late.  They could not save him. The man was taken into custody and now my dear friends have to pick up the pieces and try to make sense of the loss of their son.  What a shock!   Prayers are welcome for our dear friends, and Christopher, may you rest in peace.

When the funeral plans are firmed up, we hope to be back into Wisconsin and then drive up to Michigan in time, weather permitting.   As it is, we are only travelling 120 miles today and it's getting worse and worse and the weather is not looking promising.


We were headed up to Bethel, MO.  Bethel is an interesting little town----

Visit Historic Bethel German Colony, Bethel, Missouri -- just 45 miles west of Hannibal, Missouri.  Bethel was the most successful communal colony in the State of Missouri, founded by Dr. Wilhelm Keil in 1844.  Today, this tiny community of 117 residents strives to preserve its rich heritage.  The Colony offers the public an opportunity to step back into a time when colonists lived by the golden rule and shared their crops, clothing, crafts and even their earnings.

Here is a link for the blog post about the town that I made 2 years ago when we visited here: 

A Walk Around Bethel, MO a cute little historical colony

We tried pulling into Rosie's barnyard on a route that loops around behind her home...a German type house in the colony.  We worked out fine parking between her house and her barn last time, but that was in April.... This is still March.   The ground is definitely softer, as their snow just recently melted.

And ooops ... the muddy area of the road to enter her barnyard gate to the north was slllipppeerryyyy  and the dual wheels on one side started spinning. OH OH.... Steve backed out right away before we got stuck!  So instead we are parked next door at her friends, Sue and Joe, who have a pottery business.

http://www.sjpottery.com/

check their stuff out --- it's GREAT! 

I have one of their pots that is going to be my Urn when I pass away!

We are in their business drive that delivery trucks use, so we are in a good firm place.  Plus they let us plug in.... because the skies were very cloudy and our solar would not be working so well.  At least we can keep our batteries topped off. Our furnace runs on propane so we are fine.  But the bonus of having the plugin means we could at run our electric mattress pad overnight!

p.s. did I happen to mention it was ****S*N*O*W*I*N*G****????????

Yup, the temps dropped, the rain turned to big fluffy flakes and we were smack dab back in WINTER!  ARRRGGHGHHHHHHHH!   We had Rosie over to our motorhome for dinner, and I made up a chicken stirfry and rice.  We ate sensibly some sherbet (no fat) and blackberries.  Such a nice healthy meal, fried in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.   Sharp contrast to the decadent supper I started out this blog with, eh?

Monday morning was somewhat cloudy, and very cold... and blasting winds!   I am sure glad we weren't out on the road today in our motorhome.  The snow stopped but the winds were biting cold and gusting. It would not have been a good day to be driving a big huge box like our motorhome down the road.   Especially when the roads are flat like this:

Rosie was needing a bag of feed from town... for her two sweet fiber babies in the yard...  Moon and Jewel.  She just lost the third fuzzy member of her trio this week, Sasha, who had to go on to the Great Rainbow Bridge of Llamas.  

As I said, Rosie needed feed, and I needed to ship out a few boxes of merchandise I sold over the weekend at a post office, so we did a run to town.  After those chores were done, we picked up a few things at a little consignment shop... and then headed up to Heartland.  Rosie and her friends here in Bethel all go up there.

They patronize it’s restaurants, medical clinic, gas station and other services. There is even a huge dairy herd and an ultra modern milking parlor to tour. They have schools and a college, and provide housing in wonderful stylish brick homes and apartments.  It was started by one man, who built it all in his dream of making a place such as this to be filled with good honest hardworking people and giving those who made mistakes a new chance.  His name is Charlie Sharpe.  This paragraph is from their website and some links to learn more:

Heartland is an intentional community in Northeast Missouri designed to help hurting people get a fresh start in life. We believe Jesus is the answer to every issue we face – including addiction, anger, broken homes, and financial crises. Men, women, and children who commit themselves to the process of restoration find help at Heartland through the power of God and the encouragement of people who have walked a similar path.

http://www.heartland-ministries.org/

http://www.visit-heartland.com/

And here is the blog post about last time we were there, with a lot of cool old Ford car pictures! 

Going to Heartland

Rosie talked us into having lunch there at Heartland in the diner.  We ate from the buffet with a lot of wonderful choices. We also had ice cream.... with toppings!   See what she started?  

The rest of the day was taken up with catching up on all our weaving ideas, projects and new stuff we have been doing.  We had taken care of a few tasks like some computer work, and Rosie had a drill press she had bought that needed assembling. THAT was right up Steve's alley! 

Tomorrow he might look at her industrial sewing machine, 

and maybe help with a shelf she wants to make for her kitchen! 

Well, we ate so much at lunch in Heartland, that we were so full, none of us wanted supper.  So when ice cream was mentioned, Rosie thought that would make a marvelous supper!

And it was! 

We will see what tomorrow holds in the way of weather, it does not look too good in Wisconsin, with snowing, blowing, ice and sleet.  We might hole up down here in Missouri till Wednesday morning and try to head as far as Beloit, WI, visiting with more friends there.  We can park there overnight and have a safe spot to hang if the weather is bad.  Remember, RVers, there aren't any campgrounds open in Illinois or Wisconsin this time of year.  We need to travel from place to place, or hang out in a Wal-mart or just drive drive drive like we did when we came south one month ago.

Just checked our weather back home in Chilton. 

 It's snowing Today--- and Tomorrow--- and the day after!

Maybe Thursday will give us a chance to make the final jaunt to home?

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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