Other Than Weaving & Okra

Today, I would like to speak to other facets of my life besides the well-worn paths I've been treading lately.  Here, you see Abbie--not my former, gone-back-to-Iowa assistant, Abby-- deeply into granola making.  Abbie is working on the farm on a mission, to learn how to start a resort focused on teaching how to cook and live for and with dietary restrictions.  She cannot have gluten, so that is her primary focus, but not exclusively.  She's from the Denver area and will be with us for two years.  She'll be working with me every so often, for four hours at a time.

  On my blog, I wrote about the Maryville Farmers' Market fundraising dinner, and Jeff Ross, the president of the MFM sent me a lovely photo today of the dessert, all plated up and waiting to be served:

Beautiful, no?  I hope the guests liked it!  And you've seen my new assistant pictured with our final jar of... that stuff we pickled, but here is Melanie finally learning to make something else, blackberry jam.

She learned how to build better abs through blackberry seed removal, and then how to make the resulting pulp into jam.  She did very well, making 207 12 ounce jars her first day.  Way to go, Melanie!
  And I spent the entire day today brainstorming the new cookbook with my fellow artisans, chefs, some book writers, the editor and the proprietor of the farm.  It's very, very exciting, and it was a lot of fun.  More news as it becomes available on that.

Stay tuned!

The Last Weekend of the Summer

It's a beautiful morning to have my coffee on the porch....in fact, it's a little cool!  But, the sun is glorious, and the birds are singing.  Fall officially starts on Thursday, but you already could feel it in the air.  The days are HOT, and then the temps fall as soon as the sun goes down.  The leaves on the dogwood trees are already starting to turn red.  Saturday morning news has all the local football game scores (my old high school is having a winning season....Yeah!)

Since I didn't get a lot of yard work done during the summer, I'm trying to make up for it with the cooler mornings.  Wednesday was an Ember Day, so we spent the morning cutting out saplings that have decided to grow in all the flower beds.  The squirrels planted lots of walnuts for me, and the redbuds are coming up everywhere.  I also have a bumper crop of maples and tulip poplars.  The old redbud by the driveway has seen its last days....the tree service is coming in two weeks to take it down (along with cutting limbs of trees that have grown over the house.)  This picture isn't too clear, but I had a big limb break off.  It didn't fall all the way....it got caught by another limb and they are both suspended above the pavilion.  This tree will also get a trim!

I have neglected this loom all summer....but I have started threading again when I can catch a few minutes here and there.  My fellow weavers have guilted me into getting this loom up and weaving.  Heaven only knows I have enough rags to weave placemats and table runners!!! 

But.....I won't be weaving today!

Today we will celebrate the last weekend of the summer and this glorious day with family, food and fellowship.  The pool will soon be closed, so we are having a pool, pizza and "Beat the 'gators" get-together.  I've made up pizza dough, and we'll all make our own pizza with our favorite toppings, and swim in the warm sunshine, and cheer for the Orange & White.  Tonight we will light the firepit (heaven only knows I have lots of sticks!) and enjoy the warmth from the bonfire.  The best part is getting to spend time with family.........


Go Vols!
LouAnn

In a Fog!

DH and I returned on Monday from our trip, and I am still in a fog!  Jet lag is really real!  I have decided to make no big decisions until my mind has caught up with my body!

So I am plodding along doing normal things, today I managed to run the vacuum cleaner both in the living areas of the house as well as up in the studio.  I managed to do a couple loads of laundry, and get the dishes done.  Again nothing that would require me to make any big decisions.   LOL!

Here are the socks I finished on or trip.  I actually finished them on the beach trip, as we were heading out of town.
With some fun detail on the toes.

Here is the shawl that is ready for the edging to be put on, but again  that will have to wait til I am all in one piece.

And here finally, I have the first sampling of the overshot throw I am working on.  After I did this first part I notices some threading errors and some sleying errors as well.  So I took the time to take this all out and fix it all. ( I am so glad I found audio books!)

Here we are after the corrections have been made and I have gone thru 2 pattern repeats.  I have noticed a couple of treadling errors in the tabby, and I wonder if I should go back and redo them or just go on with it, and this one will be mine.  I can tell that I will quickly develope a rythym with this design, and I can't wait to get back to it tomorrow.

It is good to be back,

Until next week, Happy Weaving, Tina

Logged 6.5 miles, (walking)

Ready - Set

What a day. Washed one dog. Mowed the lawn. Got the warp on the loom. Then the electricity blinked 3 times. The computers went down. The router completely lost all it information. DH was not very happy. Just got it to working.

Here is what I am working on. I have decided that I don't like this loom. I will be selling it. It is a Harrisville 24/25 inch. I really, really don't like it.

Snatching Time!

Last week I mentioned that our DD had hurt her knee. The MRI shows that the right ACL is torn, her MCL and LCL are very stretched but they're hoping that the miniscus is ok but won't know til they get in there to look. The injury is worse than the one she'd had on her left knee. We're trying to figure out how this is possible. She danced for 13 years. Could that had weakened her ACLs? We'll probably never know and really, we just want her healed. Surgery scheduled for next week.

So we got her a fancy wheelchair and are discovering the joys of handicap life. She uses crutches at home but her left knee is not healed enough from the surgery in May to be just using crutches. Each step now hurts on each knee. Yesterday after physical therapy she was able to put some weight on that leg for the first time since last Monday. 

Our time is spent going to doctors, physical therapy and then college. She is so not happy that I have to take her to college. The minute she can drive again, I will glady relinquish that job!! Her classes are spread out in such a way that sometimes I can come home inbetween but other times not. Tuesdays will be difficult because she only has one class in the morning. Yesterday I was able to drive up to Norris for about an hour and a half before heading back. It takes 45 minutes to drive from Maryville College, up through Knoxville, and to the center where our Tuesday Weavers weave. It was wonderful to be able to get there even if it was just for awhile.

Weaving time at home is of necessary time snatched between the things I have to do. The warp I'd wound on before she fell is now threaded and almost half woven. It goes from black at the sides to light grey in the middle with a funky knitting yarn accent the center few inches. You can see if by its bumps every inch or so. There's a jacket, two tops and two vests on this warp. It's not as long as I normally do them because I have plans to weave a few more warps yet. My next show is in October.

The college campus is supposed to be handicap accessible. Three of her classes were on the second floor of a building without elevators. They moved them. They've been very helpful with all of this but the whole campus is on a hill so getting around isn't easy. Sidewalks are slanted to let the water drain when it rains. Not easy for a wheelchair to ride on. Ramps into buildings were designed by someone who didn't have a clue. Even their big Clayton Center for the Arts which is only a few months old is not handicap friendly. Boy, we've had our eyes opened by all of this!! Thankfully, she's only in the chair for a few months. I have friends who are pretty much wheelchair bound. They've given me some helpful hints, like where to get the best gloves to wear while wheeling yourself around.
You just never know what's going to happen next. We'd thought we were done with crutches. Now we're also dealing with a wheelchair. You've got to kind of roll with the flow and snatch moments here and there to weave. Adapting my schedule is the least I can do to help my daughter. She's the one with the tough road to hoe!!!
Carol

Another Terriffic Tuesday!

Here's to you, Ms. Maggie!!!

Yes, we took time to tip our drinks to you...Queen of the Okra Pod....baker of wonderful sweets!!!  Your loom  awaits you!

 Business as usual at the Center today. 

The "Bonnies" were hard at work on the back row with their looms.  If you look closely, you'll see Ann (left) and Allan (center) also working on their looms.  When you work on the barn looms, you get dwarfed by their size in the pictures!  Those old looms are such a treasure!

Carl and Carol were catching up today.   Carol gave us a progress report on her daughter's knee, which I'm sure she'll blog about tomorrow. 

Pat is back from Colorado, but spent the morning in a meeting upstairs.

Marta is still on safari.

Tina is back from Spain, and looking over the JagerSpun samples with Lanny.  (Just gotta love that!)

  Sharen is getting her placemats ready to go upstairs.

Karen is working on her warp on the table loom.  They really come in handy when you're learning to weave.

I got the warp tied up on my loom, and started weaving the scarf in a lace pattern.  I ended up using some zip ties on the chains on the treadles, but the weaving is going so smoothly!  Yeah!!!  This scarf is natural on natural; but I think the next one will have a color weft.  We'll see how that goes!

Ila is doing the lace placemats, and I got a chance to talk to her about the blocks in her pattern.  There's so much you can do with lace!

Have a great week of weaving!
LouAnn

A Little Warped

  Well, not really warped yet, more like just wound, but I have made progress on the double weave warp.  I will work on it today after I finish cleaning the house.  There are enough fur balls running around the floor today to knit or weave a new pet.  Not that I need one, but...
  Yesterday, Mom and I went to the Tennessee Valley Fair, and I would have been happy to post photos of  what we saw, but I couldn't figure out how to use my new phone's camera, until we were out of things to see, and out of energy to go see them again.  Then, we went to Chandlers' for some amazing fried chicken, fried okra, fried chicken livers, mashed potatoes and greens.  If you've never made it to Chandlers', please go soon!  It is definitely NOT health food, but I don't eat there every day, either.  I think Soul food is called that simply because it's good for your soul.  Here's their website:  http://www.chandlersstore.com/page/page/5751245.htm 
  The other thing I've done this weekend is work on a purse, made from old jeans and batik fabric.

Not quite done, since I can't figure out how to attach the straps where I want them yet, but it's a good size--can't fit TOO much junk in it!-- and I think it's cute.
  I'll miss Tuesday Weavers again tomorrow because of my crazy work schedule, but I do need to let you know that we have a little over 500 jars left to go of the dreaded pickled okra.  I believe it is entirely possible that we will be done Wednesday.  Actually, we'll be done Tuesday, but we need to make some for our store to sell and the chefs to use during the year.
 Have a good week, full of projects started, worked on and finished!  At noon Tuesday, raise your soda cans my way, and I'll toast you right back!
XOXO,  Maggie