Windows on the World

So, finally after a weekend of hard work and very early starts the back porch can be officially considered a room. The floor painted up beautifully and even with one wall in house siding letting you know the roots of this space, I think it's a fine place.

There us still a little work to be done to the inside. Lighting needs to go in and a set of curtains for the one long sunny wall. I have the fabric and Gene is going to run heavy cable on turnbuckles from wall to wall so I can just pull the drape closed and open it back up with no center support in the way.

The Murphy loom has been officially installed. Gene put rubber bumpers on the floor in front of the back legs and it's just enough to keep him from creeping. Only two small screw holes each side should the loom migrate elsewhere. In fact, they are so small and easily filled I might just have him do this with the other looms.

A very dear friend created the lovely stained glass tree for me the first year I lived in Texas. I was so homesick and the coming of fall and the holidays with no color, no hope of snow, no family and certainly no relief from the heat in sight, put me in a funk I would just assume never repeat. This Sugar Maple in Fall has brought me countless hours of joy and fond memories of exploring parts of Texas with a good friend while picking the perfect glass. As it was said, I am just so about my fall colors. :-)

The prayer flag warp is off the loom and the last length I used to try weaving lavender.

I loved the scent the enveloped me, but I have to say, it was a slow process made more difficult by the fact I waited too long to use the cuttings in weaving.

They were very dry and I would have been better served to have used them in the latter part of the first week of cutting. I took the whole heap I had and deflowered the stems. I'll use the flowers in sachets for my wool/yarn closet. The little pouches and bobbins are what I use for floating selvages.

I have 3 bare looms now. I have wound 60 ends out of 180 for the 11 yard rug warp on the Barbara V loom, I think that linen and wool yarn I picked up in July will go on Hey Baby for a humane society scarf, and I will put my Mother's cashmere scarf on Murphy. The sectional rakes from Hey Baby have been removed and she's ready for me to outfit her with strings (Texsolv) and an apron rod.

None of this is going to happen today though, I got a date with Cooper. We've been talking about a ride up towards the lakes for a couple of mornings now and today's the day. The scenery is always nice and he hears the grass is pretty tasty up that way. I'll spend some time on him fluffing out his tail and taming his mane along with his regular pre-ride brushing. He loves to be fussed on that way and I swear, he knows when he looks all primped and prettified up.

A good grooming is much more than just cleaning the coat. It warms muscles and gets an animal ready for the ride. Good grooms knew this and it is an important part of the warm up, just as a soothing light brushing and some easy stretches should be part of a good cool down once the saddle is off. A groom use to be considered a very important position. They can make or break a working stable. Every part of the horse is gone over by hand. Any tenseness can be felt, any heat in the legs and hoof and any flinch needs to be investigated. The only way to do this is with touch and knowing the horse at hand. Your fingers pick up knowledge your eyes would never ever be able to tell you.