Meanderings of a Mermaid

 Recently a drive in the country brought us to this little art installation. Yes, a creative fellow lives nearby and placed this near the road for one and all to see.  All of the crosses and tombstones have feelings, emotions, bad things that he wanted to lay to rest. If you zoom in you can see some of the things he has left behind. If I was to inscribe a cross in this way, what would I put on it? What would you carve in stone? I've developed some Impatience at times, recently. That should be got rid of.

 These three lovely skeins are the result of my practising the long draw in spinning. It is a technique for creating woolen yarn; the soft, lofty,warm, springy type of yarn. First I needed to prepare the fibers and blend them. I started with a white mystery wool, green dyed mohair and ivory tussah silk. I am enamoured with this yarn.  I will be getting a large floor loom in the near future and it was time to re-organize the rock house a little. I wish I could stretch this rock house. For now I had to settle with reorganizing furniture in three rooms. In the guest bedroom, otherwise known as the Painted Floor Studio, I removed one dresser and schlepped the spinning hutch over to a different corner. I think you can make out three wheels jockeying for supremacy and you see a drum carder awaiting my hand.  Here is the Painted Floor Studio again, looking into the vast northern reaches. Two wheels visible, the drum carder and oh! a recently acquired Wooden Spinner (a sk...

Recently the talk of the Fiber Prep group on Ravelry is about "blending boards". It's like a drum carder, but without the drum. A flat surface covered in carding cloth. During the same week this was impressing many on Ravelry, hubby and I were in a thrift store where he spotted this! Naturally it had to come with me. (This model is not the same as what the current buzz is about.) So it is a heavy wooden box construction, with a separate handle that also has carding cloth on it. The manufacturer is Louet, a good name in spinning circles. A little vacuuming to clean out the remains from the previous owner and I was ready to roll. Here is the end on view, so you can see how the two sets of tines are proximal to one another. The batts in the back ground came off of an Ashford drum carder. And here is a view of the pegs on the handle which help to guide you in a straight path and you sweep away from yourself. In this image you can just see two wool locks ...

A little privacy please! This new "wall" began as a request for a little privacy on the back porch. Mornings in the pjs spent sitting out there, coffee in hand, watching the sunrise...ah..... My Dearest accommodated me and built this fabulous wall. A lick of paint was added to match that on the rest of the house (the few parts that aren't rock) and a thrift store painting, and look what a nice Mermaid's Grotto. Something needed to be done to try to block out some of the 14 overhead wires that could be seen while in the grotto. And thus a new mermaid came to live with us. I drew the image on some thick plywood, and My Dearest very aptly jigsawed it out. Isn't she lovely? Right now she is painted black to match along with window and door trim. She seems right at home over the seaside painting. Other crafty things happening, and there are lots of them.... Four yarns are coming together to make a sofa throw. Both the centre panel (background) and the border are d...

 Announcing the creation of a new fibre crafts guild in the Hill Country. The Mason Knitting and Spinning Guild. Okay, so that's a boring name....I am sure the new members will be able to come up with a jazzy title.  As with most guild groups the focus will be on education and also comaraderie. Probably we will focus primarily on knitting and spinning, but as demand changes, we will adapt. Teachers can be found amongst us all.  The group will start up on Nov 29 at the Seniors' Center in Mason Texas. All are welcome. For more info leave a comment here.

 Here are a couple of images taken this summer at camp. Above is a wild orchid called a Lady's Slipper. She is rare indeed. I called this photo Fog Island, although this small island really doesn't have a name. I took this snap while on a morning walk with my dogs. Unfortunately I had trouble with both digital cameras in the past seven months. My main camera died all of a sudden in the last days I was here in Texas. So off it went for repairs. I will be getting it back this week. At camp I used an older camera for awhile. Then it too died (not entirely though; works plugged in to electricity, so I left it at the recycle centre for someone else to enjoy, who has electricity). So I will have some images coming, pictures of our time at camp. And some new things to look forward to. Promise.

So sad to think about it but soon it is time to head to Home North. The house is displaying stacks of things that we'll be transporting north. The guest bedroom is one such mess. I'm not happy about a messy house, but with my protracted "two week shut down schedule" this is bound to happen. On the bright side, the wildflowers are stupendous this year. Wouldn't you agree?                                                               Hopefully I have made up for showing you the mess by offering up these flowers. Glorious, isn't it?