Not weaving today

I've been reluctant to mix news of new towels into my real blog, and not to worry. On the whole, I will not. But I've fielded so many questions. Plus the frequent question, "Where is France?"

Francis is in HoChiMin City. I had an update from his distressed mother on Christmas day, and from FaceBook today. Sinking to FB distressed me! He dealt with his increasing mal de mer by hiring a car on Christmas day, to make up the seventy five miles he was short on his ride, to date. 

Subsequently, he "upgraded" to a motor bike, and appropriate gear. Knowing France deals in much the same way as our Uncle Bill, I imagine that will be an interesting story. And, OMG, I just made the genetic connection. France's name is William Francis. I think his blog is by Wm. Francis. Enough of that.

After today, if there are new towels on offer, it will be announced at the end of the blog. So, there is my future spoiler alert. That shelf has intimidated some would be towel owners. So much thread! Will she live long enough to weave a color I like? Or daughters? Or husbands?

These two charts are all the colors available to me at the moment. I will post them on a new tab page, along with another project I have in mind. Let me know what you think.  

If the stock number is underlined, I have it. If you want it, I'll order it. Any thread I have to order will be ordered when I need to order more warp.

I've been asked if I have scrap and what do I do with it? Yes, I have scrap. Until now, I've stacked it up. Now I will sell it, on the new tab. At the moment, I have two selections:

Look at the new tab, Good Ideas, when it goes up.  And speaking of good ideas, I began weaving again, eight years ago, to make clothing for sale in my little space at a gallery in town, River Light.
That venture ended when we sold the old house and consequently my studio space.

I've been asked if I have any yardage for sale. Yes, I do. It will find its way onto Good Ideas, too, before long.

It rained all day today. Cold hard drops, with a metallic sound against plastic bins. The high temperature was sixty, and the same is forecast for Monday. It was pleasant to look out on at lunch time, but not after that.

I did not leave the house today. I wandered from one end to the other, organizing thoughts and "stuff" for the blog, packing and invoicing towels. Tomorrow I will go to the post office.

Spoiler alert: Lime green towels are on the shelf.

Books I can't keep open

Books now are simply words to me. Some engross me, some not so much. All books I read straight through, at least twice. Or listen to, at least twice. Right now, I have in mind books physically in my hand.

I don't mind buying books. They are reasonably priced anymore, paper and hardback, and I can give them away to anyone who picks one up from my kitchen table and looks interested. Or, I donate them to the library. The real library; the little travelling library is having trouble getting off the ground.

And finally, considering the amount of time it takes me to absorb a book, and the short time it lingers before it is gone like a Monarch, like a sunset, like a birdsong, I tend to limit my printed books to books gleaned from The New York Times and such like sources. 

I let my fingers wander through the CleveNet library audio collection; I make the wildest selections. But the books I pay for, inexpensive as they are, are decently curated.  And occasionally, shabbily manufactured.

Reading time is mealtime. I have other things to do the rest of the time I'm awake. I can spend an hour over a meal and a book. Especially a book that lies open, with minimal book weights or page holders. I'm OK with the salt and pepper shaker holding pages down, but not my entire hand. I have food to eat, for crying out loud.

I've just finished two excellent books constructed so badly I can barely describe how sadly that impacted my opinion. One I read my obligatory twice, the other I should, but can't, just now. Both are stained with melted butter and jam, wiped away as best I could.

The Odd Woman and the City, by Vivian Gornick, probably should not have appealed to me, but did. The miles she walked, often enough with a friend, the observations she fitted into place, reminded me of the miles I drove from show to show, sometimes with Ann, and the opinions we worked through, worked out, in the front seat. 

But the paperback book is so badly made, it is a black mark on the author, as well as the bookmaker. It's like selling a poorly constructed garment, which I could not knowingly do once, let alone over and over.

The other book, Negroland; A Memoir, by Margo Jefferson, is a hardback, so difficult to use my hands ached. I read it once only, and that is a shame. I think it is an important piece of history. It was of a childhood similar to mine, by a different race. I only began to understand the whole of the author's point toward the end, and realized its importance as I let the book close and knew I would not be reading it again soon

I wonder what is the relationship of a printed book to its author.

And PS: I have given over the problem of Malware and the Trojan Horse it thinks is in one of the blogs I follow to my computer guru.

Bits of news

Towels:  Blue Cobalt towels are done and listed on the Towels for Sale page. The name is so interesting. Is this cobalt to the blue, or blue to the cobalt? Ah, those Frenchies. Have to love them.

The next set of towels will be lime. Can't go too wrong with that.

Gerbera Daisy: The last time the Gerbera appeared here, there were four blossoms and possibly a dozen full leaves left. This morning:

What next? I guess the corner of a dark closet, until spring. I'm rather short on dark corner closets. How about a paper bag?

David M. Gascoigne, I presume? I do enjoy your blog and your birds. Alas, my firewall no longer likes you. I am no expert on things internetty; can you help me with this message from Malware:

This site can’t provide a secure connection

travelswithbirds.blogspot.com sent an invalid response.

• Try running Windows Network Diagnostics.

ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR

Instead of pictures, I simply have that ugly "M" bouncing around. And, Windows Network Diagnostics says the same, not a secure connection. Anything I can do?

A lovely day today! I went outside with muffin tins to lend to my neighbor, and for the first time saw this knotty little cartoon face in my deck floor:

And finally, Toby seems to be feeling better. Alternatively, he's hallucinating:

His fish had quite a workout this morning. No, it's not real.

A cluster you know what sort of day

I got out of bed this morning with a list of seven must-dos. The first did not involve cleaning up a trail of cat barf, but I did. In the mantra from the childhood of my offspring, "if you find it, you clean it up." If Toby is no better in the morning, I'll call the vet.

Here he is, staring at his food, though he ate nothing all day. Did a good job on his water bowl, however.

The second did not involve snow moval, but that happened, too, with the broom, followed by salt. Yesterday's downfall of several inches set me back the usual fifteen plus a bunch of ones, there was so much, and I had places to go. Nowhere to go today, and only a couple more inches, so I saved some money and did it myself. Car still undone. Spread some salt, too.

I wanted to weave before I expended good energy on dumping my credit card company. I had an idea I wanted to try out to extend my weaving hours and days.

Fourteen or fifteen years ago, I broke L1. Like every bone I ever broke (and there have been a few), I heard it and I felt it. I don't know why I feel the need to keep mentioning that. "They" issued me a corset, and what a lovely job it did, except for fastening it up with fourteen hooks and eyes. 

Doctors with no clue about standing in eye watering pain, attempting to fasten all those freaking little hooks. One day I looked at my sister and said we had zippers in the studio up to the job. If I pinned them, would she sew them? That big Consew scares the bejammers out of me. 

I almost can't believe I've kept it, except as a souvenir.  I've lost so much weight since that accident, I wondered if it would fit, even laced down as far as it goes. But now it's winter, and on top of all my winter clothes, it does fit, strapped all the way in. So I wove the usual two hours, and instead of quitting over back pain, I put on the corset, pulled it up and wove another hour, leaning on it. Tomorrow I may put it on first.

Then I spent the first half of the afternoon ditching the old credit card company. They still have not acknowledged even receipt of the signed email.

And, the ayes have it. I spent the second half signing up with PayPal. I have a couple more hoops to jump tomorrow, but then I should be living in a perfect world of credit cards!

While I was out yesterday (in the snow!), I got a picture of the matched pair from Trapp Family Farm.  Doc and Dan are enjoying the remains of the cover crop Mark planted in this field.

And no, my list is not cleared. But tomorrow, after I weave, will be much better, Toby notwithstanding. 

Some change must be made

My dear loom needed a drastic change today. I had to reverse the treadle tie up from jack loom to counterbalance. I inadvertently gave Beth the wrong tie up yesterday.

Jan came to help me, after cards today. Her caveat was she would not be the one on the floor. "Don't worry," she said. "I can get you up."

When we had the tie up changed, she pulled me up from my back to sitting position. Then I used a stool to get to my knees. Then I used a chair to stand. I think I will buy a gait belt, used to lift folks from their butt to their feet. Having one on hand will forestall ever changing the tie up again.

Another change must be made in my method of doing business. The credit card company I selected is not good for my purposes. In fact, I now wonder whose purpose they suit, as their computers will not talk to google or yahoo to send an invoice. 

I set aside time tonight to call their Sales Administration Department, and found the number was not set up to take phone calls, yet. Excuse me! I am or will be in touch with the couple of you this problem is putting off. Your orders are still packed, and I'll figure this out.

And one more bit of excitement! I received a very large shipment of weaving thread from the factory. I ordered one pound, or two tubes of each color, straight down the color chart, by name and number.

I received a packing list and two boxes of beautiful colors, not one of which I did not like. However, the tubes are not labelled. I must match them back to the color chart. I will be scrupulous about that now; I'm sure I'll live long enough to replicate some.

There's lots of good stuff left. The shelf of thread on tubes is stacked three deep.

And I wove a tiny bit of Blue Cobalt before I called it a day. That's its name in the catalog.