Ups and Downs

What a week, a week of ups and downs. The loss of a friend and a renewed friendship. An unexpected brief visit by Son 2 and family and an equally unexpected cancellation of a long weekend with Son 1 to celebrate his birthday.

The day my friend in Tennessee passed, Son 2 called and said he and his family would be in late the next evening to prep and then leave in their RV that lives here between trips. They arrived in pouring rain in two cars, he and his eldest son first to get the generator going while I dragged garden hoses from the back of the house and connected to the one at the yard hydrant to fill the water tank. They spent the night in the RV after loading it up, visited the next morning and left for a family vacation.

A couple weeks ago, a received a message and called a friend of 4 decades. When we both had young children and lived in Virginia Beach we were fast friends. Her husband’s job took them away from the area, then returned them to the area and we picked up where we left off. Then they moved again for his job and then back again only to be moved yet again. During that station, they were planning to return back to Florida where they were both from and we kept in touch with cards and letters mostly. I did take our children down one summer for a week, then when they were planning their move back to Florida, she went to see how their house construction was going and invited me down to spend a few days with her, just the two women. Our daughter was living less than an hour away from her and they both met me at the airport, spent a couple days with both of them at her little house where she was staying and then just the two of us. That was about 20 years ago. The message was to call if I could and we talked on the phone. She was driving north to a family event (her husband needed to fly later) and she wanted to meet up with me. I finally convinced her to stay here overnight and we had a delightful visit, again catching up and picking up where we left off. She arrived just a few hours after Son 2 and family left.

This whole week has been a steady rainstorm, about 3-4 inches of rain has fallen this week. When we could catch a break in the rain we would dash out for a quick walk.

Son 1 was due in last night to spend the celebratory weekend, but he found out yesterday morning that he may have been exposed to Covid and did not want to potentially contaminate a train car or his Dad and me, so he had to cancel and reschedule in about a month. This was disappointing to all of us. He was looking forward to coming, I was looking forward to pampering him with no chores and lots of good food.

All of the ups and downs caused the days of the week to blend together and I lost track. We were out taking a walk yesterday when I got a text asking if our spinning trio was getting together, I had totally forgotten it was Thursday.

Box turtle from yesterday’s walk

A text exchange between our trio ended with me being dropped off at my bee mentor’s house to spin for a couple hours, the third member deciding to skip. It was just what was needed to boost my spirits.

This morning, the sun is shining, at least for a little while. This hen has been sitting on this empty nest for nearly a month hoping to have babies. An impossibility as there is no rooster here and I don’t leave eggs under her, but she is persistent and very evil about being removed from the nest.

Brooding takes 21-22 days, so I had hoped she would get over it early in the week, but nope. She still sits, puffed up, growling, and pecking at me if I try to move her.

There are 5 baby Wrens feathering out on the front porch. They will fledge in another week or so.

The Bumblebees and our honey bees love the blooming Comfrey plants.

Early in the week, we replaced the back porch umbrella finally after two years without. I love sitting out there with my morning breakfast, but only when there is an umbrella. It hasn’t gotten much use this week because of the rain, but it only took one day to realize that the small round table back there wasn’t large enough for it, so I moved it to the front porch for the succulent pots and the square table that is only 11″ larger to the back for enjoying the back deck.

When the storms stop, it will be a nice place to have breakfast or dinner to enjoy the view and nice days.

It has been quite a week. Now we are alone again in our house, hoping Son 1 doesn’t get ill and being a bit irritated for him that his co worker was not responsible about letting people know and staying masked or staying home with her sick family member. Hopefully the co worker doesn’t get ill either.

Sunday Olio

Olio: a miscellaneous collection

I haven’t done an Olio in quite a while. They are easier to do when more activity occurs outdoors, and this definitely hasn’t been a week for that. With snow twice, temperatures rarely getting above freezing and even dropping to 8 f night before last. With hubby gone for several days, I have literally stayed in and kept the homefires burning. The wood stove is in the finished basement and though it makes that area too warm, the warm air drifts up the stairs and warms the upper reaches of the house above. The winter setting for the thermostats is 68 during the daytime hours and with the stove going, it will show main floor temperatures of 72 or 73.

Today is warm, going up into the upper 40’s and it is raining, all day long according to the forecast.

The remants of snow will disappear today, but it is going to get cold again tonight and stay cold but sunny for several days. It is winter.

I did make it to the Farmer’s Market yesterday, and the donation center. Though there were some icy spots on the mountain road, the highways were clear and dry and the new car handled it nicely.

With hubby gone for those days, lots of soup was made and consumed in single serving batches. There was a half loaf of sour dough bread from a Farmer’s Market vendor that was enjoyed with the soups. My cooking will return to the fare favored by hubby now that he is home.

My time was spent spinning on my spindles some and working on using up the bits of yarn left over from making the blanket last year. Those bits are becoming bulky hats, the first one sent home with Son 1 after Christmas. The second finished last night.

They are a great way to use up the small yardage as 4 strands are held together and when one runs out, another is added in, making a marled look. The pattern calls for the purl or “wrong” side out. The first one looked better on “right” or knit side, this one is kind of interesting on the purl side.

My time was also spent with cleaning, organizing, and destashing unused items. A box of random clothing, bags, and household goods was taken to donation. and a major overhaul of my craft area that still needs more work. I think shelves that have bags of fiber will be cleared and the fiber stored in a sealed plastic bin and yarn in another so only tools and books are on the folding and fixed shelves. I am putting myself on a “low fiber” diet, no more fluff in until what I have is used up. A lot of the natural colors are being spun a bit at a time to make a second, probably small blanket. The remaining square that was too small for last year’s blanket will be the center of a log cabin style blanket.

The rest of my spinning time is starting on the 4 ounces of gorgeous Marion Berry colored BFL wool that hubby gave me for Christmas. It is a gradient dyed pair of batts and I plan to spin them in the gradient to make myself a large scarf.

After being housebound for days, I’m looking forward to sunshine tomorrow even if I have to bundle up and get outside for a good, not icy walk.

Another Sunday on the farm

This week’s 24 seconds from the front door is gray, gloomy, bare trees. The weather prognosticators are warning of snow flurries and wind tonight and tomorrow morning. I guess it is that time of year. I’ll lay the two fires in case we lose power.

It has been a fairly productive week getting ready for the Heritage Craft Barn Bazaar on December 4th and finishing this month’s official square for the Breed Blanket Project. A cowl was knit, soaps and salves finished, photographed and put on the website, a square of Jamtland wool from Sweden was combed, spun, and knit into a beautiful, soft, dark chocolate colored square. More of that fiber is being combed for another square and while I am prepping it, I am spinning Zwartbles, a Norwegian wool that is also dark chocolate to become a single square.

A very Christmasy skein of wool was plied yesterday and wound off this morning. It is BFL, an extremely soft wool, spun to fingering weight and about 267 yards of yarn.

With the onset of “winter” here this weekend, I will lay low, spin, try to finish a knitted gift, cook a nice hot meal for dinner and perhaps sit by a fire with a cup of tea.