Flying Geese and Digging Skunks

So, it's been pretty busy here fiber wise. The first rug of the 11 yard warp is fully in progress and I'm using it to experiment a little with some very simple inlay. I'm calling the rug Flying Geese. The real geese are starting to fly overhead, in small groups. We see a fair amount of ducks too this time of year. The skies are noisy, with honking, quacking and the usual cawing of crows and ravens. Autumn is ramping up and readying for her annual and much anticipated, extravaganza.

The easy inlay has opened up a lot of possibilities to add some fun embellishment without a whole lot of rearranging of tie-ups and such. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to that and Barbara is not the loom to pick to go under and change tie-ups on easily.

A lot of inspiration for the strip inlay technique came from this book. I have 3 rug books now and this is my very favorite one. I don't think there's a rug I don't like in it and the ideas it's sparked have been many.

My Mother's scarf is still on the loom but there really isn't much left to weave, maybe 10-15 inches. She's pretty short and doesn't like terribly long scarves. It will get a simple twisted fringe, nothing too dramatic.

I have been able to spin almost a whole bobbin of the pink BFL roving and am loving the softness and subtle variation of the semi solid. I'll start spinning the mocha colored roving and then ply them together.

The Queens room received it's second coat of paint and sadly, it will need a third. It's not the paint so much as the dark uneven colors of the faux finish under it. Two would do, but 3 will look MUCH better. I won't use the low VOC paint for the final coat. There were some things I just didn't like about it. It's good paint, high quality and the coverage wasn't compromised at all between this and a like quality regular latex. It mostly had to do with the slipperiness of the paint. It's hard to explain. It rolled out well but there is a quality missing about the feel, it also dries too quickly for my taste. Back rolling to remove any roller marks was difficult. The spreadability over the second coat wasn't as smooth feeling as I like but in fairness these are small complaints. If I hadn't painted so darn much through the years I doubt all this would be noticeable. If you need or want low VOC paint, don't hesitate to use one, but get a good quality one, as you would with any paint. Nothing is worse that working with cheap paint and the difference between a low quality and high quality is maybe ten bucks per gallon. Most rooms barely need a gallon.

Bob the tractor is off the injured list. He gave us a scare with the fuel solenoid not working. A $300 part we found out. Gene took the old one out and found a bad wire. An easy cheap repair thank god. Bea's knee sucked up a fair amount of working capitol this month.

And speaking of Bea, the blond bombshell continues to do very well. She's using that leg now as a little paddle about every 10th step, sort of like one would use a foot to push along while riding a scooter. She's resting on it while standing and putting a little weight into it. The vet has released her for long walks for exercise. She is adept at 3 legged walking and doesn't have the issues a heavier, bigger dog would have. Exercise is keeping her from worrying at the incision too. She still gets the soft collar on at night though. Right now she's sleeping under my desk, on a leash. She does want to jump on the sofa, which is a no-no.

Skunk Bond has been foiled the last 3 nights from getting in the tack room. Oh yes, he digs in, but there is no way to dig up because of the plywood lining the floor. Score one for the dumb human...finally!