Topsy turvy

 It seems I am grounded for awhile. I was weaving this afternoon, with my treadle foot stripped to my sock. After some time I decided that foot was wet. Actually, the sock was sodden. I looked for the source of the water for a bit. Where had I stepped in it? It was dry around the refrigerator and the kitchen sink. Same in the bathroom.

A mystery. I changed my sock(s) and took my length of fabric to the laundry room. Back in the living room, I realized the carpet might be wet. It felt wet to my hand, and did not pass the tissue test, which came back wet.

The ensuing hours have been a whirlwind. Maintenance came, removed the front of my HVAC unit and saw it was about one third iced up. The thermostat was turned off, two big men moved my loom and several other things on wet carpet. Up came the extractor, which sucks up water. Then the industrial fan, which exceeds OSHA noise limits, in my opinion. Kitty retreated to the back of my bedroom until I came back from dinner and unplugged the damn thing.

The HVAC unit is disassembled. Two windows are wide. Temps are forecast to be very low fifties tonight. Maintenance tells me they will have it all back together by tomorrow afternoon. I barely believe that. For now the giant fan is off. My ears are still reeling. I'll turn it back on in the morning. Kitty may have a nervous breakdown.

Back to the surprise birthday party! Rose was completely surprised. Completely. One hundred people did not spill one bean. She was not dismayed. The affair was organized by two people she would have suspected, a daughter and son-in-law.

But also in attendance were a son from California, two great grandchildren who also live there, and the grandmother of the grands. It was a very nice party.

So, wish me luck returning quickly to a normal life. For now, it's a very hot shower and winter jammies.

I haven't gone over the edge yet

A silly little meme has popped up several times recently. It's profound, actually, and needs shared: If the earth were flat, a cat would push everything over the edge.

Kitty does not work from that direction. In fact, since that great television disaster the first month she lived here, she's made no effort to jump up on anything.

She tried to jump onto the chest that holds the TV, but sunk her toenails into the mat under the TV and dragged everything several feet to the floor. No cat was injured, and the TV likewise survived. 

Now Kitty is content with standing on her two back legs and surveying any flat surface she can see. If something is enticing, she claims it. Chap stick and pens are most fascinating, and I am currently reduced to pencils. I guard my chap stick closely.

The warp I wound on end of May or the beginning of June is gone. I only put on fifty turns because I did not know how the current towel would be received. But all the towels left on the shelf were hemmed and put there tonight. so I should weave more towels next time.

Jan is coming to monitor the spools on Saturday, and then I'll be tying on the current warp of probably a hundred turns. That should turn into maybe fifty towels and perhaps I can get a little ahead. The rosepath towel is very nice, and there are other small weaves that will be good for towels, too. I think next I'll try a birds eye weave.

You would think in a building of a hundred residents it would be hard to keep a secret. I'm privy to one that has been kept. Tomorrow is Rose's ninety sixth birthday. Rose is adamant there will be no singing or fuss. In fact, she instructed the dining room director the staff is not to sing and there will be no cake.

Rose's daughters have outwitted her. Every Friday most of the residents gather in the Bistro for live entertainment and "Happy Hour", in the hour before dinner. Unknown to Rose, her daughters, and probably sons and daughters-in-law, will appear and lead the party.

Rose is one of my dinner partners, and it's clear no one has tumbled, and Rose is pleased as punch tomorrow will pass without a fuss. At supper tonight, she didn't even mention that tomorrow is her birthday. 

More news

First and foremost, a happy holiday to all. I hope everyone could celebrate with friends or family, or both; and there was plenty from the grill to eat, with baked beans and coleslaw and watermelon.

It is raining here, which is good for the flowers in the atrium, though there may be a damper on fireworks tonight. Just a tiny corner of the atrium:

Speaking of outdoors, an amazing amount of work went on this past week. Plenty of landscaping has improved the view from my window immeasurably. 

Temperatures last week approached or exceeded one hundred degrees. The landscaping crew consisted of Amish men and women, who planted hundreds of specimens. 

I cannot find any use for the concrete in the middle of the yard. The patios do not connect to it. The only access is from the back, utility entrance. But, the interiors are coming along. There are blinds in the lower windows and the stickers are gone from the doors and windows.

I finished weaving the light blue rosepath towels and have them on the web page. Bobbins are wound for the next set of towels. They will be lavender. 

I'm still here

The red rosepath towels are done and mostly hemmed. I put eight towels on the web page today. The loom is tied up and I think I'll weave the light blue next.

I believe I like the roses with no path best. Here is a one over one comparison:

Or perhaps deeper rows of roses before the path. We'll see.

In other news, we had an astounding presentation last weekend. A group named Matsiko performed. It is a troop of orphaned children, mostly from Liberia, singing songs in their language. The songs were accompanied by energetic dancing and footwork.

The first two photos need to be animated to convey the volume and dancing. Here is a video from earlier this year. The singers circulated in the audience during their opening number, shaking all the hands they could reach.

After the performance the children ate supper with us. There were three at out table. but the girl at the end of the table was off for more ice cream, dessert. All three ate plenty of supper, and plenty of ice cream.

The girl across from me was eighteen, the girl next to me sixteen and the one off for more ice cream was the group's youngest at fifteen. This last also had a sister in the group, as did Elizabeth, across the table. 

Among our three we had a future doctor, geologist and undecided. That and a bit about their life on the road was all we could elicit. They simply did not stop talking and had been primed with endless questions to keep us talking.

How old are you?

How many children do you have? What do they do?

Where have you lived?

What did you do?

And on and on and on. Irrepressible. And maybe high on ice cream.

Where have you been?

It's Sunday morning. I'm doing laundry. There are two machines in our laundry room, and generally I am using one and Sandy the other. But this morning EMS took Sandy to the clinic. I teased Maddie, the other machine is free this morning. Old folks humor.

I did eat breakfast with Maddie in the atrium, after she watered the plants. This is the other atrium, the one I pass every morning, going to breakfast. The Japanese dogwood is in full bloom. The other atrium is surrounded with plants that Maddie and our activities director, Joan, take care of. 

That atrium is like working in my old gardens, except I can't, anymore. I did decide this morning I can carry the watering can on my walker tray and take care of the plants in pots, so I'll do that. I asked Laura to bring me a shovel full of pinks from the old garden.

In other family news, my oldest daughter is in Ireland, on a hiking trip around the Dingle peninsula. I'm sort of jealous, but not so much. I can't do that kind of walking any more.

The first is the Dingle Bay. The second an historical library somewhere in southern Ireland, or a train ride away from their base lodging. Perhaps another time she'll head for Omagh or Armagh, where our Presbyterian ancestors originated.

And my other daughter bought a house. Not the first but hopefully the last. This house is half a mile from her sister. Isn't it amazing, how siblings can fight like cats the first twenty years and be friends ever after.

I'm weaving red rosepath. I'm weaving the paths as well as the roses. I like the look of it and can't wait to get it fulled. That will be next week, earliest.

It's been some time since an update on our two year old construction project. It has devolved into mud. In addition, I wonder how attractive apartments renting for thousands per month will be with a view either into someone's window or the street with traffic; cars, trucks, ambulances! Anyway, here are some views:

The top picture is right out my window, across the trash strewn parking area. These apartments are several feet below grade, as you can see. There is no water retention area; they are the retention area. Aurora seems to have no master water plan in effect.

The second picture is the concrete poured between these apartments and my building. Excuse me, but wtf? Just one more nail in the flood plane problem. What about those second floor balconies! They could at least have installed beige railings!

Moving along, the third picture is the sidewalk to nowhere and a view across the parking area, stacked with excess siding, so the dump trucks bringing in dirt from who knows where have an awful time getting it dumped. The sidewalk to nowhere ends just under Kitty's window. I need to get down there and figure it out.

And finally, see that chunk of red in the last picture? That's just another piece of trash they didn't bother to pick up; all that concrete is poured over any piece of siding, pipe, drink bottle or 2x4 in the way. 

Every one I explained these problems to just rolled eyes way back and said "Not in charge!" Well, my second floor apartment won't flood, come the big storm. 

I'll take pictures when the landscaping is done. Probably next summer.