Busy week

 The blue warp is half woven. I like to keep after a set of bobbins until finished, but this week is busy, and interesting. First, lunch with Beth and Ruth yesterday. I certainly cannot say I'm the best mother she ever had, but Ruth definitely is the best mother-in-law. How I love her. 

Ruth is shorter than I, if that's possible, and does not like tall tables. Nevertheless, she made it up, and Beth appeared and we all had a nice lunch. Then the charge slip Ruth was filling in fluttered to the ground, and under my seat, apparently. I could not see it. Beth had left. 

"Give me your cane" came from across the table, and I did.

The errant slip was secured, until she asked a passing busser to retrieve it. What do we call buss boys these days?

As long as I'm in a tattling mood, Beth, my oldest, commenced going grey in her teens. She dyed the offending strands commencing in high school, and we seldom saw her beautiful real hair, except when she was pregnant. Then, of course, all my old friends and I had to run our fingers through it, and beg her to keep it. 

Must have been as awful as having one's pregnant belly caressed. The little watermelon eating granddaughter is sixteen this year. And in all that time, we've never again seen the wonderful hair.

The last time I saw Ruth, I realized she has used the "lock-down" to stop staying blond and reveal pure silver hair. Through and through. Beautiful. When I had lunch with Beth a month ago, I wondered if she were back to silver hair, too. She said NO.

I wonder if I'll ever know where the silver is.

There was a mystery I've solved on my own. It's about falling back an hour, in this new house. The old house was a big open square with windows in every room. I could turn out lights behind myself and get to my room without stumbling when it was already dark at five.

But here in my cozy little place, I have a hall of pitch black, between the kitchen and my bedroom. It has no outlets for a night light. What to do, what to do? I'm a slow thinker. It came to me, battery powered, motion sensor. 

Then I wasted an hour looking for a really cool one. And I found them aplenty. Shaped like animals. Projecting every color in the universe. But all of them were not motion sensor. So I settled for a little ten dollar unit, with four double A's included. Just a couple more nights of trailing my hand down the washer and the dryer, and telling the cat he'd better not be underfoot.

What's going on...

 It's the next to last day of lovely weather. I've just made it back to my desk, after a morning at the loom and peanut butter and crackers for lunch. The cat, left in the living room for his afternoon snooze, always hears the click of the latches and is on the windowsill before the window rises.

Tomorrow he has his buzz haircut for fall, his magnificent tail excluded.

I've changed the header, too. Somewhat more derelict than the last as more and more fall moves in. But still no snow, not that it has not come down.

My morning was fine, when I got to the loom, and I put in my hour, before my back quit. Another hour this afternoon and another day done. I am pleased with this blue.

I was weaving and considering supper. I have a cabbage, and cabbage and noodles sprung at once to mind. Then I thought of roasting the beast, and Mr. Google assured me it's easily done. Then I thought of all the vegetables I have on hand to roast, and realized it's not near enough. So after I post this, off to buy half a dozen more.

Tomorrow I'm going to lunch with Beth and Ruth. It may be the last day of beautiful outdoor dining. Our Covid numbers are rising, and after tomorrow, temperature numbers falling. Clean hands and masks and clean hands. I wish I knew a jingle to sing with it.

It all straightens out

 I went out first thing this morning for blood work, got home before noon, and checked results again, before lunch. Still counting. That is so impressive. What a massive turnout. We should be proud that so many voters are registered and voted. And since there is no winner yet to be declared, I ate lunch and went to tying on more ends.

I kept at it yesterday until six bouts were tied, leaving only five to tie today. I started at one, and was done at three. Why all the moaning?  I need to find a slightly taller chair, to keep from leaning on my bad shoulder. But, I haven't, and to tie five bouts was a Herculean task for me.

Look at that wonderful tangle back there. Not to worry, it all straightens out.

 

It's not magic, unfortunately. I go to the front, wrap six bouts around one hand and five around the other, and with the brake off, pull hard. Damn hard. Every knot must come through a heddle and then through the reed. I tied it to the apron, and left it to rest overnight. A lovely new warp, ready to weave.

I cannot believe it's Friday. So many days have passed since Tuesday, and no days at all. Ann called me Wednesday morning. She needed to talk, go through her day at a Wisconsin polling station. Listening to her was wonderful; such an experience, even for an experienced poll worker.

I need to call my friend Cathy, but not before the weekend. She's an overthinker, and right now no amount of thinking will change the votes on the uncounted ballots. I'll give the election another day to straighten out.

As for the bad attitude of the president, please. The world is watching.

I believe we did a magnificent job at voting. Now, we must roll up our sleeves, wash our hands and defeat Covid.

I stayed up too late last night

 I suppose many of us stayed up too late, and then got up too early this morning. Election day wore me out, and today kept on wearing. I'm simply bone weary today, from good hard work. 

The election must take care of itself now; we all have done our part. I see the shenanigans have commenced, and until I must rise up and find a part to play, it's time for an election to unfold gracefully, as it did four years ago.

I postponed my shopping until yesterday, to coincide with better weather. I thought I'd found someone willing to bring my groceries up the stairs, but that someone backed out the day before.

In the meantime, I worked nonstop at getting on the new warp, and my back was past tired. I considered giving it another day off, when Laura texted. She had Tuesday off, and could come help me with anything.

I was back from voting by ten, Laura came in a few minutes later, and we set out to go shopping. We shopped first for the cat, who doesn't have the option of going out for a meal or to toilet, when his supplies run low. He doesn't even know they run low. 

He did get a treat, on sale at the register for three dollars, not ten.

He's very happy with these silly corrugated cardboard toys, and will spend the next month shredding it. And Laura and I went shopping.

She even put them away, while I went looking for two Advil. Laura is still moving into a one room apartment in the next several days, and went home with a box of useful items.

And in a lovely twenty year old problem solving manner, she chided me for attempting to find help with shopping. She would always be available, she told me. While it's on offer, I'll certainly take her up.

So today I did look at the count from time to time, and spent an hour listening to Ann tell me about the biggest turn out she has ever seen working the polls. I went to the post office, and then I began tying on bouts. Oh, yes, I made a crostata. For lunch tomorrow.

A change of plans

 Before I went to bed last night, I reviewed my plan for the week. Monday I would shop, which involves a minimum of three stores. Tuesday I would vote, then finish winding the warp onto the loom. And the rest of the week I simply would attend to business.

My first peek from the window this morning changed that plan. Today's high is forecast to be 44, which is a decent amount of heat given sunshine and no snow. Tomorrow's forecast is for 53 and sunshine. Is that an omen, or what?

Tomorrow I will vote and shop. If there is energy left, I will commence tying on the ends I wound today, for I finished the last seven bouts. Two on Saturday, three on Sunday and the balance today.

The project that precipitated the tumble that hurt my back is also close to a wrap. I recorded the ISBN number and the first word of the title of each book I own. I am going to try reselling my books at sell back your book.com.

I again own far too many books. My best method of dispensing with them has gone the way of Covid. Our local library is barely open, and their best method of using donations to raise money is gone for now. Friends of the Library have not held a book sale once in 2020. Gone are the days I could empty a shopping bag of books on the library's counter.

Here's a good story from a recent book sale by Friends of the Library. They had a surplus. More books than they could deal with. So the first day of the sale would feature free books. They set up a twenty by twenty foot tent on the lawn, with aisles of tables and boxes of books. Probably a thousand square feet of free books, since there were three rows of boxes on each line of tables.

In the middle of the night the director of the library had a phone call from a Peninsula police officer. The officer was very sorry to wake the director, but...on patrol the officer saw many flashlights illuminating quite a few people inside the tent. On investigation, he found citizens going through boxes and accumulating armloads of books. Some people already left. What did the director advise?

And the director chuckled and said "Well, the books are free."

He did ask the officer to check the tent when he didn't see any more browsers, and be sure the tent was secure. Peninsula being Peninsula, the last one out did secure all the zips. Tidy as expected come morning. Empty boxes stacked under the tables and the remaining books redistributed to restock the display.