Appliance Failure

Where the bird clock finally landed. Weaving studio.

Over the holidays we had two major appliances fail. The first one was not so old, our small Magic Chef upright freezer. It died right before Christmas. I lost every single package of carefully procured in processed berries. I balled my eyes out. Each of them represented a spring and summer Thursday morning spent with my Dad at the Medford Growers Market. The frantic pre-holiday period had not found us scavenging the freezer under the basement stairs until it came time to make a cake for Christmas. I wanted berries for the middle and some on the top. We had no idea how long it had been out but everything was warm and wet. It has since been replaced with my parents freezer that was in their garage, but the berries will have to wait until spring and the memories will never melt.

The second appliance to fail was the dishwasher right after New Years. While it had a steel interior the stupid wheels on the top rack are plastic. Imagine my surprise when I opened the thing and hauled out the top rack and it all broke from the tracks and almost broke all the dishes in it and below it. Gene cobbled it together until the new (backordered Home Depot sale one), arrived. He installed it yesterday.



It's a 100 times quieter, more efficient and holds just about as much as the old one. And it was far cheaper and got better reviews too.

But all is not gloomy here with failing appliances, once in a while we get a great sunrise and the elusive pink snow.







The beauty of it all is a balm. We are lucky enough to live in a majestic and wild place and winter is my favorite time of year.

This year we have a hare that is making our barn home base many nights. He no doubt nibbles dropped hay and I have seen signs of a shallow nest. Turkeys are abundant and my little wild flock gets some seed thrown for it each day. The foxes are pairing up and the raccoons come every couple of weeks and raid the feeders or the bungied trash barrel. Clever little sots! I always delight in seeing little light tracks from a mouse scurrying across the snow back to its burrow. I've been known to spread a bit of grain from my pocket for it. Winter is hard and starvation is a slow and painful death.

A couple of tunics have flown out of the sewing space.



Two Esme's, one a repeat as I caught a pocket on something on the last one and ripped it badly.



And a lightweight coat. I loved the look of this fabric, but it is man made fiber, has a lot of stretch and was just something I didn't want next to the skin. It is proving to be a good match for a longer version of Indigo Junction's Urban Tunic.



 A nice alternative to wearing my cashmere coat since I often find it too hot for down in the valley. Still needs hemming and closures. Tomorrow maybe, today is my town day. Shopping with Mom and hauling a weeks worth of groceries up the mountain in my new chariot. WEEEE!

Did That Just Happen?
God, talk about whiplash. I'm overwhelmed, saddened and sometimes downright scared.

Putin is purging spies suspected of leaking to the US about the hacked election. I can only guess what happens to them in Russia and what information they might have leaked. Why aren't we being informed of the contents of those leaks? Russia is also pushing its way further into the Ukraine.

The Art of the Deal????! Really, threatening a military presence in Mexico, and then pissing off an ally that has fought through thick and thin with us going back to Vietnam. All over 1250 refugees that have been well vetted and were part a deal that needs to be honored.

And amid everything else there is this about campaign dollars and this about the selling of our public lands. 

Parting shot: A tisket, a tasket, little Hazel in the laundry basket.