Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday, such a simple, beautiful concept.

This campaign was started in 2012 and frankly, amidst all the hype about spending money and shopping this one stands out for it's sheer audacity to be about generosity, kindness and sharing.
Heaven knows there is some real need this holiday season. Our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are still without power and reliable clean drinking water. There is need far and wide. You can look in your community or you can go global. Humane societies, conservation movements, homeless kids, women's shelters, famines, suppression and sadly another genocide happening in Myanmar. The point is, it is easy to give a little or a lot this Tuesday to any cause you feel near and dear and all of them worthy. It'll make you feel good!


*****Dog Bone Recall Alert! You can read about it HERE. ********

Smooches between pooches.

Forget About Frost on the Pumpkin

We've got a new one..... Snow on the Gnome!



That was last Friday morning in the wee feeding hours. We got a good 5 inches. Low rider Mandy was not a very happy camper but I have practiced my dog out the door shoving techniques for years with Pogo (and he growls), so she was a piece of snausage to slide out in her little coat. It did sound rather pitiful for a bit though and then she was off playing and sniffing with her BFF's. Just wait until the big snows come....

Friday was also the start of the annual Clayfolk show.



This show is just awesome with potters from everywhere Oregon, mostly southern but some from Eugene and parts out that way. This year was particularly good with some unusual pieces and surprisingly affordable. There is such talent in this area and not just in this medium! I spent too much but found items I loved, each and every one of them.



 I often keep my purchases to wall items since they are less likely to get broken.

Julia Janeaway

This is the assortment this year. The Insectology piece was a one of and could possibly be my all time favorite Clayfolk find.

Bigify to see the googlie eyes

It is by Carole Paquin from Central Point.

The two table top items are a small dogwood bowl to add to my little collection of dogwood items from Faith Rahill Pottery.



Her stuff is so unique and so beautifully glazed.

Speaking of glazes, the green on this beehive water/beverage cooler is so rich in depth and feel.



You can't resist touching it and it works perfectly of course.

Jack, photo bombing, of course!

 I'm thinking Arnold Palmer's for summer! It was the last thing to settle into my overloaded basket and was created by Don Clarke. This was also a  girls night out and after we all paid up for our goodies it was out to dinner at a newish place in Talent called the Pump House. They served up one of the best Philly Cheese steak sandwiches I've had in a long time.

I haven't sewn a flipping thing. I've been cutting out new patterns and planning what I want to do next, what fabrics to use etc.



I did get a band started on the Cendrel for the eyeglass leash but still haven't investigated findings for it. This weekend will be time enough.

Gene and I are taking my Mom out for turkey dinner today and over the weekend I'll roast a bird and throw a couple of casseroles full of stuffing together. We'll have the leftovers we actually eat with none of the fuss of a big multi dish meal. Works for me! I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving
full of blessings and joy. We could all use a yummy meal and some kindness.

And that brings me to the song of the day, one that is close to my heart with sweet memories of home in Massachusetts. A James Taylor classic. Enjoy

Parting shot: Stranger Things.

In Which She Realizes the Holidays are Looming

Holidays are sneaky. Seems like it was Labor Day like 2 weeks ago and I had all the time in the world to get things done.  Father Time is messing with me again. I must have two days work of hemming to do on gifts and a few things still on Fiona the Wolf Pup.



 Time to engage rear into gear and since there is nothing in process in the sewing salon, I can thread up the machine for the various hemming jobs.

There were a couple of fun things that went from cloth to clothing. I am in love with the Style Arc Patricia Rose dress/tunic pattern. Many of the patterns are one size, so you need to carefully look over their sizing chart. I hit it correctly for once! I lengthened the bodice an inch for the blue tunic



 but cut that to a half inch with the green number.





It preserves the proportion better and once the bunnies are strapped into their hutch it is perfect.

I flirted with the looms, started threading on the Mac



and wound on the bumblebee warp and made a start on it.



I have to be honest, while for some things I like the built in raddle on the Louet looms, but mostly I still use my old loop raddle to wind on. It is smooth and allows for a little play with delicate  or grabby yarns like the unmercerized 8/2 cotton can be. Along with the warping valet and some weights on the warp bundles, I made fast work of the 8 yards Sunday morning.

Monday was beautification day, so I picked up my Mom and we went off to the hairdressers. Melinda hit me with another Mermaid Blue streak. Here it is, first thing in the morning.



 Those twizzlers of white and grey hair are making quite the halo!

Way back in September I ordered a Jonathan Seidel tape loom, the new Scandinavian style.





 It's a beauty and we are just getting to know each other. I was able to repurpose this bench to accommodate the loom



 since I sold the Baby Wolf. It can go back to being an adjustable bench easily and the loom can rest on a table too.

The Cedric floor inkle is soon to receive a new warp too.



 I'm going to weave myself a some "leashes" to hold my specs around my neck. The beaded ones break all too easily.

I'm offering up a Joni Mitchell song, appropriate given that this present gawd awful administration is going to open up the arctic to drilling, allowing elephant trophies into the country (thus effectively making the ivory trade stronger), and and finally, allowing the killing of bears & wolf pups while they hibernate or den in Alaska. Really? Mercy, Mercy Me.

Parting shots: Don't touch that!

Elections Matter

Some more than others.

This is quickie post so you can all see the wonderful diverse faces of the winners in yesterdays elections around the country.

I have great hopes for 2018. We can make a difference, one by one. Oh yes we can!

The Same but Different!

I have a lot of ideas that I keep on Pinterest. They provide endless inspiration for when I get bogged down. A little detail here, a design idea I can incorporate, an awesome weaving draft. Really that's what Pinterest is about, a place to park ideas. This one has been niggling me for quite a while now. I relented on the last cutting jag, grabbed some screaming orange Japanese linen and went to town. How perfect that the selvage edges where nicely decorated in a deep royal blue. I made use of them through the whole garment and saved some time on hemming I might add. I used my frankenpattern of a Scout Tee and an Indigo Junction tunic and came up with this. It looked like a hot mess for quite a while and flipping through those layers was a bugger,



 but I couldn't be more pleased with the end result.





It's everything I love in a piece of clothing. Nice fabric, great color and interesting but not too overwrought design and I think, flattering.



 I felt pretty good stepping out Saturday night with Gene to take my Mom out for dinner.

Also out of the sewing salon was a fun Sewing Workshop Liberty Shirt. I make one of these at least once a year.



 It's a nice pattern and is a lot of fun to make. Usually I hit the linen shelf for this but I wanted something more colorful and playful.



 This lightweight cotton canvas in a print named "Juicy" was just the ticket. Just because we are coming into winter, doesn't mean drab colors!

The bumblebee warp is wound and waiting to be beamed on the Ziva David loom. I'm just starting to thread the hemp/linen bath towel warp on the Macomber and scanning drafts for the Louet Spring.



We spent last Thursday and Friday buttoning down the hatches for our first snow. The goats got bedding in their little hutch in the run in shed, the heater for the water tank got hooked up and dropped in, wood has been split and stacked in the shed, shovels found and placed in appropriate places etc. Let the winter begin! For the wildlife it is hard times, but I am happy to report we've had some interesting pre-dawn sightings. Not one, not two, but three grey foxes spied together which confirms my suspicion that they are siblings hanging together this first winter. Momma raccoon brought back all 3 of her brood to pirate one of my feeders. All adult size now, fat, furry and healthy looking. I'm betting they will den together this first winter.  Lastly, I saw an owl flying out of my barn Saturday morning. Likely a Barred Owl, or a Western Screech Owl. It was silent, large and ghostly as it sailed forth from inside my barn and out of my light beam in a blink of an eye. Any day you see an owl is a good day!

This posts song is a farewell to an all too short fall. Enjoy! Holidays are just around the corner....

Parting shot: The two bricks, red and gold!