A loss like no other.......

Bailey

1/27/07 - 4/12/19

Inglenook Day 6

 I'm halfway done spinning......

 ....here's what day 6 looks like spun

Yesterday Bailey was getting tired of me taking pictures of fiber and the wheel and not him, he was happy finally getting all the attention. He's got a new Buster in his mouth.....a stuffed golden retriever that's almost as big as he is.......old Buster is in the mortuary. Bailey doesn't kill his babies but does constantly have them in his mouth so a favorite such as Buster eventually is pretty thread bare.

Pottery storage

At our last house we had an alcove with built in shelving for pottery storage - since moving pottery has been sitting in boxes where I needed a piece of furniture for it. Finally we found one and I love it. I love the color, I love the wire instead of glass in the doors and I love that I can now use my pottery again. Everything fit except for a few pieces and they're ones I never use anyhow that should really find new homes. I'm so excited that we now have our soup and stew bowls unpacked and a couple of my favorite mugs. And in the stacks of wall art propped up against the walls was this framed fruit label - it was as if we bought them to go together, the teapots too. It's the only piece up on the walls so far in this house and we've been here for 4 months.........I think I'm going to have to step it up and start hanging some art.

Bailey insisted I take his photo too - boy, look how white that face has gotten!

Leather journals.......

In spite of being out of the studio too many days this week I did make some time for journal making. 

Here I'm auditioning a button - the final step in the making of a journal

Here they are - sorry no pictures of the insides with the lovely/creative end papers. I've got watercolor paper cut to make 6 more, then I've got leather cut for 12 more but I made a math error when ordering paper and don't have enough so more is on the way from Dick Blick. Many of these will end up for sale in my etsy shop in the not too distant future.

"Who you looking at?"  Bailey's bed behind me when I sit at the computer - he can sleep like he was doing here, before I rudely woke him up, or he can lay his head on the window sill and watch the forest critters.

It's been one of those weeks........

It's been one of those weeks...........and Bailey and Buster are seconding that, they're wondering why Mom is using a flash and waking them up from their nap.

On-going blood pressure saga - came down right away, now regulating meds so I can actually accomplish something is on the agenda, switched meds already, very low dose, BP too low, cut that dose in half today, will hopefully stabilize.........today I'm a bit better.  Interesting thing is that my BP was just fine before I walked in the eye surgery center door. Have so much to do - can let much of it fall to the wayside, other things really need to be worked on even if in slow motion. Today a very low energy job of working on updating my  handout for an upcoming surface design program........at least I accomplished something unlike the past week. Who knows when the cataract surgery will be rescheduled........

4th on the coast

Ultimate laziness or just plain worn out - we didn't feel like walking down the hill to watch the fireworks at the water's edge. When the first boom happened I went out in the front yard to see if we could see the fireworks over the trees - well, yes, we could, perfect view from the sidewalk in the front yard. There is a power line in the pix but I never noticed it while watching them. Bailey even got to go out and watch - he thought it was grand, his tail wagged the entire time. My little camera did ok, wasn't expecting much.

A huge, I mean huge, barge is coming into the harbor to dredge to keep it open for fishing and pleasure craft going in and out to the ocean. It's sitting right where the Coquille River meets the Pacific Ocean.

Here is it as it's making a turn at the inlet. I wish I had gotten a picture of one of the fishing boats that passed by it to show just how immense this barge is.

Bailey's ready to play fetch the stick on the beach......well, almost ready.......

Get that stick Bailey

Run Bailey Run

 

Pushing Bailey to his limit - he doesn't like the water touching his belly - what a water dog he is. Come to think of it, our last golden didn't want to get above her knees wet - I thought golden's were water dogs......

Success - and he's not letting go of it

 

Oh, life is good

Now back into the heat - 100+ in the valley

 

 

A Yummy to Share

A yummy gift idea to share, I'd share them with you all if you were here but since you're not we'll eat them all ourselves. These homemade gourmet marshmallows arrived in the mail yesterday from Sandra & Monte in Montana (aunt & uncle). A friend of theirs up north on the Oregon coast makes them. Oh My Goodness is the name of the company and one bite of these had me saying "oh my goodness". There were 4 boxes in different flavors; chai tea, valrhona chocolate, bubble gum and vanilla bean plus there was a baggie of peppermint swirl in the box (not pictured). I ate one of the chai tea before taking this picture......then quickly popped the other one in my mouth......yummy. So, if you're looking for a nice little gift check out the website and place an order, better order for yourself too while you're at it......you won't regret it. On the schedule for tonight, hot cocoa with a vanilla bean marshmallow on top. Oh, and Sandra & Monte own a graphic design company called Saga Designs and did the packaging design for these.

Bailey wanted his picture taken too but wouldn't stand still - this was the best one out of five tries.

All in a day's work.....well, maybe that's play....

I warped up the inkle loom yesterday......

Here's the first couple inches.....

Here's all 140 inches.....ready to put the second warp on.....sorry, can't tell what this project is until after Christmas....yes, that's a long time.....actually it will be here before we know it.....

Some of my hand-dyed superwash merino I've been spinning a bit here and there, finally plied the first spindle's worth.....

Hydrangea in the yard - I don't know much about them but I think the acidity of the soil has to do with the color but here are several colors on one plant.....

I love these colors......

Life is good......

Spent the weekend on the coast and didn't pick up the knitting needles or drop spindle once. I painted a couple pieces of furniture...many more to be painted in the next few months. We walked on the beach and relaxed. Didn't even start my book, just read a couple of magazines. Had a great dinner at The Gallery at The Lodge at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. Impeccable service, yummy food.

I did pick up two more inexpensive otter prints for the otter wall. I already have others by the same two artists. When I have time to get to Michaels (in the next few weeks) I'll drop these off for framing using one of their 50%+ coupons.

Bailey has something new to add to his scrapbook - he made The World newspaper over on the coast. That's him 4th column from the left on the top, I tried to put a pink arrow pointing to him. Unfortunately he didn't win the contest, we really thought he should have, he was the cutest. I think a cat person was judging since 2 of the top 3 were cats. Not that there's anything wrong with cat people (we are dog people) we are not cat people because we're both allergic, if we weren't we would have a cat in addition to a dog. The one cat did have a great caption - "He's a male siamese, he likes nothing, nothing at all" - and he did look pretty grumpy in his picture.

Not sure how much will happen here fiber wise this week - many things on the to-do list....first off is to get the weaving guild newsletter started, finished and out of here - it's my last one - whoo hoo!

Thank you Auntie Pat!

"I love my mom's birthday this year, Auntie Pat gifted me with a new sheepie to celebrate! My other sheepie, my favorite baby, totally fell apart last month and has been sitting in the hospital, the doctors have been saying sheepie might be beyond help though. Thank you Auntie Pat for a new sheepie!"

One tired pup........

Bailey has been one tired pup today, three days on the coast with lots of new smells to deal with can tire one out.....not to mention never getting his regular naps. That's Ducky resting with him, fiber friend Mary gave that to him well over a year ago, amazing that Ducky is still living.......guess Bailey is an Oregon Ducks fan being the Oregon native he is.

On the fiber front - I got nothing done today, feeling kind of punk, actually feeling kind of overwhelmed because I have so much to do, so I do nothing. Well, didn't actually do nothing all day, errands, grocery shopping (argh) and then re-strung a shell necklace and beaded bracelet for my friend Yvonne's daughter.

While on the coast I took advantage of a sale at The Wool Company in Bandon, OR and bought some yarn for a few projects. I need to expand my knitting horizons. Am thinking tonight of knitting a swatch to check my gauge so I can start a vest. Of course, this vest is no on the long 'to-do' list of things that are overwhelming me....guess it's a good way of avoiding those things.....

Long dye day.........

Lots of dyeing happened here today - 15 pounds of merino/tussah silk, some special ordered, other just for sale. Left rack- Purple Haze, a dye day surprise and Boom's Pink named after my good friend Cathy, aka Boom, who loves pink. Center rack is all dye day surprises, I felt like playing. Right rack is lots of Bering Sea (very popular, sells out each time it's dyed no matter what the fiber) and a dye day surprise with a story.

It was a very strange dye day. It started when I pulled on a pair of surgical gloves only to rip them because I forgot to take my rings off - since my fingers were swollen it was a real feat to the rings off. I needed to mix up more yellow dye, as I mixed it I was thinking it looked a little dark but did that stop me from pouring it in the 1 1/2 gallon container with around a quart of yellow in it.....nooo......I had mixed up golden ochre which I then added to the stock yellow which ruined it which is why that golden dye day surprise is on the drying rack. Then I forgot to put the lid back on the black 1 1/2 gallon of black dye and shook it up - black dye splatters all over me! A glove got a little hole in it, one finger looks gangrene. I forgot to stand back when opening the steamer which gave my face a shot of steam......hmm, wonder if it looks any better.........sure hope tomorrow and Thursdays dyeing is uneventful...........

This is what the Bering Sea looks like right after applying dyes, before wrapping and going in the steamer.

And this is what Bailey thought of the dye day around half-way through the day. He  napped under the japanese maple using blue vinca for a bed and the hostas as a cover for his head.

Summer color.......and Bailey

It's been a good day.......

Today was a good day in spite of it feeling like winter once again - morning walk with Bailey found torrential rains and hail, snow dusting the hills just above us. After my shoulders recovered from morning yoga practice, phew instructors are working us harder lately, I put minestrone in the crockpot, got laundry started (never ending, isn't it?) and finally got to putting a painted warp on the loom.

This is one of the last two painted warps that's been sitting around waiting for me to weave. Just about time to start thinking about winding many new warps in different fibers to dye for future projects. My favorite fibers for painted warps are bamboo, tencel, rayon and silk. The fiber here is Bambu 7 (bamboo). The weave structure is basically a twill, a two tie unit based on a draft in the book '60 Scarves, 60 Years' published by the Baltimore Weaver's Guild recently. I took liberties with the draft - after putting it into my weaving computer program, WeaveIt Pro, I started manipulating it to make it my own. This is what I came up with. There's enough warp for 2 scarves, this first one I'm crossing with a bamboo weft in purple. At the beginning of the warp I also tried an inch using a silver grey bamboo - haven't decided yet if I'll use that for the second warp or not. Using a light color like that may wash out the scarf....will think on it.

So, when Bailey wasn't laying in the studio snoozing while I was weaving he was laying on 'his' bed in the guest room. He loves the big picture window where he can survey part of his property and keep watch on those turkeys, deer and the hated squirrels.

Trying something new..........

I'm trying a new technique for me - devore, actually woven devore. I need to give a presentation to my weaving guild on it in April so I thought it best to get going. Yesterday I wove a scarf and sample piece using 2/18 merino mixed with a multi-color rayon flake in the warp and weft. I was concerned about drape since the sett is supposed to be for the wool areas where the burnout will occur - this means there are more total ends per inch than I would usually do since there is also the rayon flake. So, instead of a 12-15epi for this it has a 24 epi. I washed the sample piece last night and it's very drapey, good choice of fibers to mix together. Today I'll use a stencil and apply Fiber Etch in the design area which will burn out the rayon leaving only the wool. Definitely a good idea to try this out on the sample piece before the scarf. I'll post a picture of it after finished and dry. After I tackle this first try at it I'll start on other projects mixing other fibers together, I have several cones of yarn waiting to be wound into warps using silks, bamboos, soysilk, tencel and wool. The Fiber Etch burns out cellulose fibers not affecting protein/animal fibers.

And here's Bailey - he was thinking hard down in the studio yesterday helping me pick out other fibers to try with the devore technique. He has his doubts about this process..........

Bailey and New Year's

Ok, so Bailey is just about as much of a New Year's party guy as we are -the look on his face at the thought of wearing the ridiculous tiara grandma brought over for him today says it all. And believe me it was tough getting this picture - he was ready to rip it to shreds. He was in a much better mood once he lost it and settled in to watch the Oregon Ducks play in the Rose Bowl.........they lost which was too bad but they were there so that was great.

On the fiber front - I really haven't been doing anything - I've been frittering and totally enjoying it (well other than lots of pesky bookkeeping I was behind on). I have done a bit of knitting and felting, but not much. And just today I broke out the wheel to spin more Ashland Bay roving samples. While spinning I'm dreaming of getting a Woolee Winder for one of my wheels. As soon as I'm positive it will be for the Majacraft Little Gem I'll get it ordered. May take a while to get it since Woolee Winder had a fire 3 days before Christmas but that's ok, I'm not in a rush. Am thinking about a sewing project, maybe hit the fabric store tomorrow for some cording.

Life is not my own.........

For some reason life is not my own these days, many other things outside of weaving keeping me busy. Another day of this and I'll be pretty grumpy - I need my fiber fix. So, this is why you see a picture of Bailey - nothing new fiber related to post........he thought it was time he show off anyhow. I took this picture on Monday as Bailey and I were planting the deck railing planters.

I gave my surface design presentation on Saturday to the Saturday Handweavers' Guild, well received, although I feel like it wasn't as good as it could have been. Following a lengthy business meeting I didn't have enough time to tell everything I wanted to or to demonstrate all of the techniques I wanted to - thank goodness my 19 page handout should fill in the blanks. I was in a panic talking as fast as I could and watching the clock thinking "oh my gosh - I have 5 more techniques to cover and time is running out". Could have run over if it weren't held in a library community meeting room with the library closing at 4:00.

On another note - yesterday at a meeting of the other guild I belong to, Rogue Valley Handweavers' Guild, the props were brought in to work on how our guild booth will go together for the ANWG Weaving Waves of Color Conference in Spokane at the end of the month. All weavings were in conference colors - primary & secondary colors in undulating weave structures. It's going to be an outstanding booth. I'll post pictures of it from the actual conference after it's over. My contribution to the display are two bamboo scarves - one reds in an undulating shadow weave (3/7/09 posting), the other in blues in a advancing point twill threading with a networked twill treadling (2/15/09 posting).

Are there any indestructible dog toys out there???

So are there any dog toys out there that last longer than 24 hours? I picked up this great big lamb at Petsmart on Saturday for Bailey's easter present......well, he came down to help me unload the car and saw it immediately so I had to give it to him before we even made it in the house. Within 30 minutes two of the legs were gone, yesterday the other two. The ears have bite holes in them, and I just stopped him from tearing off the face. But he's happy so I guess that's what counts...........

Bailey

Ok, so a friend up north requested updated pictures of Bailey on the blog - why does the happiest dog in the world always look so sad when I pull out the camera - he really is a smiley dog..........