Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Frozen pipe.....

It certainly is chilly out this morning, chilly enough that when Sam was in the shower he ran out of water - yikes, pipe frozen somewhere. Found it down at the pump house. We still haven't figured out when they built this house why they put in a submerisble pump but have pipe coming above ground for a few inches. In our last house (which we built) everything was totally underground below the freeze line - didn't even have a pump house, only evidence of where the well was located was the pump liner and cap sitting at ground level. So, Sam ran down the hill with a flashlight and my heat gun to thaw the pipe out, luckily it wasn't split, a clamp on light is now down there for heat, heat tape to come later today. What a rude way to start the morning.

So, on the fiber front - no pictures to share at the moment. I'm working on Christmas gifts which can't be shown on the blog right now. Switched from the loom to the sewing machine and was having great fun yesterday stitching away. Three years ago I bought a Bernina to replace my old faithful Sears model that I had since 1973. It's the most incredible machine, I would highly recommend Bernina to anyone looking for a new machine. As for my old Sears machine, which was the top of the line when I got it, it's in the storage room, I can't bear to get rid of it, it's still a great machine needing service only once in 36 years.

I spent Saturday at the arts fair, bad economy evident........not anywhere near the numbers of folks milling through as usual, and not as much spending. I didn't sell as many handwoven scarves but sold numerous hand-dyed silk scarves which are 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of handwoven. I sold many other items in the moderate price range, sure glad I have varied prices in the booth or I may not have sold anything. So, taking into account my hours spent at the fair it was still worthwhile.

2 comments:

  1. Oh, frozen pipes! That was the scene for us last Dec. It resulted in no water for 4 days and a $2000 new pump for the well house. Merry Christmas to us! The water situation also coincided with us being snowbound for 10 days, so I melted snow on the wood stove downstairs in my studio to be able to wash my hair. I started those 4 days *needing* a shower so I was a driven woman!
    My husband tried to lighten things up by saying this is like camping....and all he got from me was looks like daggers!

    We're better prepared this year!

    Congrats on your sales. People are being cautious up her as well, but they are spending...

    Susan

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  2. It's all of a sudden chilly here too! That would be a bummer to deal with pipes like that. It doesn't really make sense to me...my house is more like what you described for your first house, without a separate pump house.

    Good to hear a Bernina recommendation. I have a middle or even bottom of the line old sewing machine that I use. The few times I've had the chance to sew on a Bernina I've loved it. Not enough to buy one - at least not yet.

    Glad you sold things at the craft fair, even if you sold dyed things more than woven things. Hopefully by next year the economy will really have turned around!

    Sue

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