Tilt-a-whirl

Log Trucks Are Running Again

You know what I noticed so very much, the days after 9/11, when the planes were grounded? I noticed the LACK of planes in the air. I missed the business of it all, when a rainy day was approaching and the flight pattern changed over the house. It was noisy but it was predictable and busy. I missed, most of all, the funny little plane that flew over my home every evening, coming and going from the Concord airport at night, lights flashing about going to a particular Toyota dealership. I could lie in bed at night, hear him coming on a Summer evening and then read those familiar ad words. When that little plane started to do his runs out to the ballparks once again, I knew that life would somehow get back to normal. Normal...

We have been through a lot, as you well know and now that the bee-line of trucks coming up the driveway has come to an end, it is quiet around here. I do miss all of those trades people that we got to know on a first name basis. It is kind of unusual to be able to witness the whole process of a build, right outside of your winter windows and we got to know these wonderful people quite well. The thing going on at that time was that the business owners like the plumber and the electrician were beginning to have to strap on the old tool belt again, simply because they had to let so many people go, with this slump in the building trades business. I really began to worry when I heard these stories, knowing that we had gotten them through the winter and with a little more work, this framer or that electrician would pay the bills. I set to work envisioning more work for these wonderful people and it came. The work is now further "up the hill" in Tahoe and the carpenters are smiling again.

I mention the log trucks because while they annoyed the heck out of me last summer, I began to notice the quiet when they stopped driving Newtown Road. You see, in the winter this road ( a little further past our house) becomes notoriously slippery in the icy times and there is just no way that a log truck would chance it. Just about the time that the final sub-contractor said adios, I heard the red one and then the blue one and then and then and then. The mill in Camino is running again and there is still work for the loggers and the truckers and the mill workers. There is need for lumber again. The log trucks are like the planes...it will get better for my friends with pickup trucks, the friends who built this place.

 

I have begun planting a garden here, outside of the office window and I was rewarded on the second morning when a funny hummingbird landed on some deep red dahlias, wings out with his face buried in the flowers. I have never seen such a thing before.

Speaking of things that I have never seen before...the moth population up here in this clearing in the forest is spectacular. We have had visits from a couple of Biggies and these are the best shots that I could get of this one. I just say WOW and thank you for the visit.

I had to blow on him to get him to open his wings and so this shot is not as clear as the first. I simply wanted to show you his colors.

Speaking of color...I have been putting it on one of the new yarns and finally got a handful of them photographed for a group photo. This is my new worsted weight merino that is going to go by the name Queenstown, in honor of Shrek the Merino. It is incredibly yummy and now that I am finally getting a handle on the orders (thanks to my new space!) I can play with this yarn.

For those of you lucky enough to be heading to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, give my buddies, Sheila & MIchael Ernst a hug for me. They will be in the Tee Shirt building with their magnificent glass needles, crochet hooks and buttons. Oh yes, orifice hooks and Don't Drop Spindles, as well. That's all of the news fit to print.

There is a lot of handspun yarn over there in the house and so it will get photographed tomorrow when Rod is off to his friend's train layout for the day. I expect a beautiful day.

Grateful

When I think of all of the changes that have come to pass these past 15 months, beginning with the death of Rod's mother, going through the drama trauma of Prophane Industries, the escape from the Bay Area before the total slowdown of the real estate market, the illness of my mother that finally found her living in a nursing facility and finally to our daughter's liberation, I can do nothing but be grateful for the lessons and healing that have gotten me to this day.

Today was my first full day of work in my real, honest-to-goodness workshop/studio. Tomorrow, the person from the phone company will come to pull the line over to the new building and my office can go from here in my bedroom to over there in the space I have always dreamed of. The middle of the space, where all of the shelves of dyed and undyed yarns and fibers are is still fluid but the heart of the studio, where I have all that I need, is just as I imagined it. I no longer have to trudge out to a garage so cold that my shoulders tense up...if I need it, there is heat. I won't have to knock off at 3 pm in the summer because, if I need it, there is AC. For this, I am grateful and happy. I learned that I CAN create beauty in the most funky spaces but let me tell you, I am GRATEFUL that I no longer have to trudge out to the camp stove in the rain and snow. It feels like graduating to Indoor Plumbing to have my stove next to my sink next to my washer. I may just swoon.

 

Mini-Me is finished. She is over there, across the driveway, standing as a testament to what my mother taught me...if you work hard enough and have enough faith in yourself, you will be safe. I thank mom for allowing this to happen and I am proud of myself for accepting it, finally at this point in my life. Cinderella doesn't live here anymore. She got brave and NO to fear and YES to possibilities.

This home was built with my mother in mind but very soon into the process, I realized that she would never live there. We went through the design phase with Leslie, who guided us through all of the ideas for a home that would be suitable for someone with declining strength. The day that we worked through how to change things in the house to oblige mom's sudden change in wanting the 7 foot Baldwin in the small house was the day that we finally realized she was Not Well. That design change made for a lovely open space but also changed this to a one bedroom home.

Now, this will be our guest house and will allow us to have a wonderful area for Rod to finally have his train layout (in that room that is no longer a bedroom) and the rest of the living room will be perfect for fiber gatherings and as a showroom for the Majacraft wheels that I am going to be having here.

My point, with all of this is that we have been blessed with this opportunity to help our family in one form or another and now we will have a place for our friends to come to visit and relax.

This is the official announcement that the studio is open for visitors and while it is a work in progress at this very moment, the people with tool belts are pretty much done around here and so...give us a call and come on up. This area is so great for day trippers who love a little gold country history and great boutique wineries. Now you have someplace to come visit on your drive up to Tahoe, the BEAUTIFUL WAY.

I thank the Angels and Guides, Mom and Grandpa Lenny, Mary and Grandpa Brownie. Schnickle has a wonderful place to play and has had the time of his life, waking up to the vision of backhoes and all manner of trucks outside of his bedroom window. It has been quite magical and now...get to work.

Someone recently remarked that it was a wonder that I was able to handle what has gone on in my personal life for what is now a complete 12 month time frame and I answered that all I knew was, when the Powers That Be finally let go of the back of my shirt, I will be propelled forward like whodathunk. The Guest House/studio had her final inspection today and rumor has it that there will be no more tool belts as of Wednesday.

What happens when the gale force winds, the ones that have forced me to walk at an angle, stop blowing all of a sudden? I fall down. You know what happens when I fall down on a day like today? I look around to see what is wee and blooming and interesting enough to distract me with my camera, instead of pushing back to go create something. I have decided to see what surprises Mother Nature has for me, here in my new environment.

This morning, when our foreman looked around me and said, "OH! I guess that someone has a green thumb", I thought about my beloved gardens back in Lafayette and told him that I spent 25 years turning THAT clay into a garden and I guessed that I could do it here. I just have to be realistic and had to see things through the winter, since gardening up here is like being on another planet. I welcome this beautiful thing to my garden, even if she lives in a pot, so that I can have her alive next year. She is calling me to my dyes and yes, there will be such a Columbine...how could there not?

Last, but not least, I got a frying pan message upside my weary head this morning..."no matter how pretty the Plumdinger colorway is, Lisa, I am sick of looking at your TOE. Where are the NEW COLORS"???

Thank you, my toes is doing better, albeit still a bit colorful and YES, I can show you a couple of new colors, both of which are on Superwash Merino top, which takes color in a BAM sort of way.

Evah-glade and Graphite.

Which came first?

Isn't it PRETTY??? I banged it yesterday when I was padding around getting out to start the coffee at dark o' clock, running into some dog toy or another. It is amazingly LESS black today but I thought that it was pretty hilarious that I got in the mood to listen to a bunch of people who had asked me to offer PLUMDINGER in fiber and yarn. I could NOT resist taking a picture of the BFL and the TOE, asking the question; which came first?




Ok, let's see...what's new? Well, the workshop is essentially done. I am waiting for the Jacquie-the-electrician to come to wire up the lights and fire up the plugs but then, of course, I will have to just salivate while the finishing touches are happening in the house, before we can really move in. The plumber was here today, getting the sink and stovetop hooked up and you can see that for ONCE in my life I will have climate control in my workspace. All of the contractors that have worked on it are telling me that this is ONE awesome workspace. I agree and it has only taken me about 25 years to get here! :o) We are on track for the Guest House/studio to be finished on the 18th of this month. You have seen it through all of the stages and the final stage will be when I can begin to invite folks up here for fiber, yarn and fresh air. Oh boyzee!

It is time for some loud SHOUT OUTS! Jane Hong, who lives in the SF Bay Area, has created a most beautiful stole from her hand spun yarn, using some of our Bluefaced Leicester in Petroglyph. What a magnificent stole it is, too. The pattern is Hazel Carter's Legends of the Shetland Sea. Beeeeeee-utiful! You can see it in all of its glory in the Spring '08 Spin-off. Congratulations, Jane.

Helen Mathey-Horn sent me a picture of her wonderful Mars Quake socks. I hope that they are as cozy as they look! Great job.

Now then, look what my lovely friend Kathleen Day made with the combination of Earth Birth and some black yarn. She calls them her Halloween socks! What fun!

I have a few more photos but have to compress them so that they are not such BIG files. (Hint, if they are 1 MG or larger, I have to futz.)

Now, let's see if I can get back to work without bonking any more toes. :o)

A Very Happy Easter

The photo that I took of Schnickle flinging open the door to head out to the "back yard" was like a blur of motion because he was like a racehorse out of the chute. He had a lovely visit with his paternal grandparents and then came back up the hill for his All About Me visit from the Easter Bunny who drives an ATV around here. (When his mama was a girl, the Easter Bunny that cruised around in Oakland was all about the VW Van.)

Scnickle must have not been hearing too well while exploring what was new at the Little House (yeah, I know...it is not so little) while he was away for his visit, because he did not hear the EB go by in his multicolored vee-hickle. This is the Rural Rabbit and so there are lots of lovely places to hide stuff when you have piles of cut trees and the like. He and his Mama were overwhelmed by the wonderful treats that that rabbit hauled up the hill and the biggest hit was the little guy called Roberto and his little loader...perfect for the sandpile.

Well, there WAS a LITTLE candy but this rural EB knew that Schnickle was a book and truck dude.

I was cracking up once Mama got the Roberto Working Man unwrapped because there was running between her and the sandpile as Shnickle took things one at a time from her lap to the workspace.

He eventually settled down to work with Grampy, who consistently set up sand castles for the little dude and his loader to squash. It was all about squeals of joy and a grandfather remembering how much fun it is to play in the dirt.

We all eventually gravitated down the hill to the creek and the little guy finally made it all of the way down there with Mama and Grampy, being able to stick his fingers in the cold cold water. I told him that we need to get the gold panning equipment so that he and his grandfather can look for college money. :o)

It was a sweet morning, this Easter day. Schnickle insisted on walking his mother up and down the road on the other side of our small creek and I captured this image of him telling her to be careful as they came back down the hill. They are quite the pair and I am adoring having them here.

Sthpring hath sthprung

I mean it! My eyes are kind of itchy and my fingers are itchy to get into that darned scratchy dirt. Ai-yi-yi, the first day of Spring and I am raring to go! I guess that I just need to catch everybody up on the goings on, since you are not all climbing into my brain to pick out what I have been doing. Eh?

Yes, Alison, I had Holly sneak a couple of new colors onto the site! I know, I know...here they are.
First is that wild and totally Not Me color that I called Evah-glade. It is shades of lime and forest and stuff like that. I do not know WHY I dyed this stuff but after I listened to the muse, I told her that I kind of liked it.

Next, I put together a colorway that just wanted to be called Siobhan, for some reason. Blue and Periwinkle with a blush of pink.

This last colorway blew out of Stitches so fast that my head spun. It is Bruise, shown in the last thing that I had of it, in Supersport.

Let's see...there are a couple of new things from those Angels with "The Bad Red Hair" (their words, not mine), The Queenie Sisters. I share them with the gals from Just Our Yarn and this time I got to have a version of Eve knitted with some of MY yarn...the ever delicious and super soft Baby Alpaca Lace I think that Eve is dreamy and so did everyone at Stitches cuz I ran out of the pattern! (more will be on the way)

The other fun pattern that they came up with is called The Buzz About Lace and it is a terrific tutorial for beginning lace knitters. You have different lace patterns and when you are done with your lessons, you have three pretty Bee themed scarves. Pretty darned cool.

Now, on to the life around here. Mom seems to be happy enough, ensconced in the Nursing Home where people are paid to take her guff. (she is probably nice to THEM.) Anyway, I visit her a lot less and she seems to like it that way because we are boring and have nothing to talk to her about anymore, since she will not be moving in to Mini-me. So be it and AMEN. Thanks to all of you that helped me through the cathartic time of my letting go of the idiotic idea that I was meant to care for her forever...no...we are paying for that now. I can sleep at night. Isn't that delightful?

Now the rooms are filled with some visitors for awhile and it is delightful to have our little Schnickle here on a day to day basis. He IS Two, after all but a delightful little boy who is lucky enough to have his own pile of sand, thanks to the Bobcat driver who moved it behind Rod's tool shed. What two year old wouldn't love THIS?

We are probably about a month from completion of Mini-me and I tell you that I am CHOMPING AT THE BIT to get into my space. Here is the exterior as of March 20. With Mom not moving in, I guess that we can just have an awesome guest house!

Here is my newly painted office. So excited about the light.

Next is the workshop! This shot shows the wall where the stove, sink and washer will be. Man, to be able to do it all in one spot is going to be so magical. I am now using a camp stove under one of my old show canopies, outside of the garage! I guess that if you get old enough, you finally get to have it a "little" easier. Gee, I guess that I am happy again...go figure.

What a year it has been...it kicked my butt and stood me back up and dusted me off again. I am SO looking forward to our first ACHOO Spring in Placerville. I just plain love it here.

Oh! One last thing...if you bought Brenda Patipa's Twist Again there is going to be an errata put up by this evening. Someone found some errors and Brenda has fixed the written pattern. (the chart is right on) You can also find the Fix on Ravelry, where Brenda put up her own version of the Errata. Thanks to Holly for getting this up before leaving on a vacation. Tanks, Pal.

The learning curve

Well, you know that I had to get a new computer during That Month That Was. Of course when I graduated to the newest operating system, the old shoe program that I could use blind-folded to edit photos had to go bye bye. Oh lord...I have to learn something NEW. I felt like a real dumbass for the first few passes because it wasn't Just One new program, it was learning a new way to capture my photos. Well, I think that I got it and have started to finally be able to take some new pictures of yarn and so I will start off with showing the latest handspun. It is yummy to the tummy.

First is the 50/50 superfine cashmere/superfine merino in Plumdinger. It is a mix of all things plum and deep dark purple...dyed in the wool and given a heck of a lot of twist.

Then we have another cashmerino yarn in a double dyed color called Lapis.

This next one is my new favorite because the dyeing was a spontaneous thing. I spun this beautiful superfine beige cashmere and just let it sit and think about who it wanted to be for awhile...piled up on my windowsill for the turkeys to look at. On dyeing day I took it into the garage and sat it on the counter, trying to decide what colorway would be worthy of this magnificent yarn. (gulp) I DO tend to stare out into space while thinking and for some reason, the painted surface between the windows came into focus. Hmmm, the walls in the garage are finished just like the walls in the house, with a color called Wise Owl, which to me looks kind of like cafe au lait. I had been getting a little wild earlier and this space had a fresh coat of wild sprinkles of color (blush). Oh...look at THAT! Beige wall with sprinkles...meet Jackson. Sometimes you just have to let go and be an artist, letting go of the intrinsic value of that canvas.

I spun these yarns during a very stressful time, when only the act of making my Rose whir would center me. There you have it. I have some spinning ahead of me because I invested in some of the finest merino in the world...you would think it was cashmere. I have a couple of people waiting for some of this.

Schnickle is here for awhile and so he and Grampy got to watch the backhoe guy work on the leach field and then he got to watch the craftmanship of the stucco men applying our final color coat to the "little" house. Oh yes and the Gobblers are displaying like crazy now and so breakfast was eaten with entertainment...a real floor show of feathers and wobbling wattles. Life is good.

Shaking it off

There is just something so life affirming about waking up on recovery day, everything in focus and nothing in pain. It just reminds me of the old doctor joke...Doc, it hurts when I do this...Well, quit doing that. Now we just have The Bark of the Sea Lion, which to me means things are wrapping up...for ME. Rod is still doing his battle in his own way...upright and head tucked into one of Tom Clark's Angora caps. Hey, that is probably as good for him as my way of being horizontal with one of  Sweet Melissa's wonderful blankets wrapped around my feet. It's all good, baby.

Yesterday I got to venture out into the dye room, knowing that it would not be detrimental and in fact, the fact that I could lift and unpack the remains of our Stitches West adventure meant that I was right to wait the extra day. I got through that and suddenly felt the old joy of why I do what I do. I need to be around COLOR and textures and having rested involuntarily for 6 days made me fall in love with my life's work, once again. Sheila  sez that next time I need a rest, I should knock off of the SICK part. I could not agree more.

So today I will begin the next phase in my life by visiting Mom, who hopefully has INTUITED that I was sick and doesn't think that I am avoiding her because of her Bad Sleep-over and subsequent re-insertion into Placerville Pines. Today I can visit, bark a couple of bass notes for her and let her know that we've got her back, although someone ELSE will be washing it. It will be liberating for me and hopefully ok for her.

The Guest House/Studio has had the sheet rock finished and the first coat of stucco applied to half of the exterior. I went into the workshop area yesterday and just felt like skipping around like a kid. Plenty of light and windows. Whoopee! I was so amazed to hear so many people at Stitches being anxious to drive up to see us and the yarn/fiber in its natural setting. I can't wait. We WILL have to have an appointment basis or prescribed open house days so that I do not box myself in being a shop-keep. You don't want Shop Keep Lisa, you want this one. :o)

Oh...did you hear it? I have been outed for being OLD. I take it as a compliment, really. Some sweet young thing must have been shocked when her mind picture of me went from a 30 something, right into the nightmare of someone her mom's age. Too funny! Maybe she met the Lisa that had to stick her mom back in the home...now THAT one is OLD. :o) Dang, I feel younger already...

Stitches West was a rousing success and a joyful time of being reunited with my Bay Area friends. People keep asking if I miss life in Lafayette and all that I can say is that I miss The People. I got a good long friend fix with both Brenda Patipa and Audrey Clark (you know...the Sweater Audrey) chatting people up in the booth for most of the weekend. I hope that you got to meet them both and I swear, I wish that I could transport them up here when the studio is ready. Brenda brought a super cute new shrug to the show and once I get the photos cropped and ready for the site, I'll link you to it.

We had a lovely time visiting with Alison Hyde and I hope that you all got your books signed. I have a few left and will bring them down to Santa Monica in August, for those of you who were frustrated when no one had a copy in the building. Our girl is a big hit and a serious trouper.

Rod was the official booth photographer and when he showed me something yesterday, it made me laugh, which also made me cough up a lung. I was too close to the subject all week to really SEE what others saw. I give you the Before and Aftermath of one half of the booth at Stitches West 2008.

Thank you all for a really fine time and for your commiseration, concern and friendships. It helps me to remember why I do what I do and live to tell about it. Rod barks his agreement. :o)

SICK

I figured that I could be upright long enough to tell those of you waiting for stuff or confirmations...I am down for the count with this crappy viral thing. I have not been sick for YEARS but since I got the flu shot to "protect Mom" I have been fighting three different bugs over the last couple of months. Maybe it is just coincidence but maybe not. YUCK. Thank you for your patience.

Let me tell you...

I got my computer back. Yes, I got sick awhile back and then my computer got sick but as I have told some people, my computer ended up at the Mac Hospital. I have been limping along with my old laptop and doing email online, which is really daunting for someone used to having everything at her fingertips.  TOO MUCH. We kept expecting the Fricking Genius to call to say that they had replaced the naughty bits on my Mac but they kept having problems, all the while that we were away in Santa Clara for Stitches. When we got home late last night there was a message from Genius Joe, telling us that they were crying Uncle and would give me a brand spanking new computer to replace my old one that was on an extended warranty. WOO HOO! They were able to transfer all of the info from my old hard disk over to this hot new one and so I am ALMOST good to go. Now it seems that my nemesis, Hughesnet, is throttling us back in download and upload speed because we had the audacity to download about 200 emails that were left on the server...not a lot, my friend...not a lot. So now I will have to wait 24 hours for these clowns to take the governor off of our speed. For CRYING OUT LOUD!!! If it seems like a soap opera, it feels like one here. There are always silver linings to each of the stressful things that we have been through lately but this is still enough to make me ask Sheila about which planet is screwing with things.

Alright, we have some things to catch up on, don't we? Those of you that were kind enough to ask about the latest shenanigans when we saw you at Stitches can just ignore this stuff.

A week ago last Friday we had a visit from the physical therapist from the convalescent hospital...you know, I was not going to put mom through the ordeal, yatta yatta yatta. I should have. The guy tells us that she has met the criteria for being able to be released to her home...walking 125 feet with a walker and heaven knows what else. I believed him and prepared to have her home on Tuesday. We ran errands, getting things ready for her and then picked her up that afternoon. Hmmm, it took her 5 minutes to swing her legs around on the bed to begin to get out of bed. (should have been a red flag) We got her signed out and got her meds and were told Good Luck, you'll need it, by her nurse. (red flag number two.) It took FOREVER to get her out of bed and into the wheel chair and there were no staff members there to help us get her out of the building. Hmmm... Rod pulled the car around and it took forever to get her into the car. We made the ride home and up the driveway and she seemed happy to be sprung from the place. It took forever to get her out of the car and into her wheel chair to head into the house...look at your house mom...no response. We get her into the house and hear that shs just wants to go to bed and that is where we head. She still was not walking other than to transfer from one wheeled thing to another. (Uh oh) I got her into bed and had to help this weak as a kitten big woman turn around to get in and land in an odd position, which she refused to change. Ok...getting a little bit worried now.

I did battle all day with doctors and all sorts of people to get her oxygen and breathing machine delivered and by the time the evening came around and she ate two bites of dinner I was in full on panic. Thankfully, the friend who volunteered to stay with her while we were at Stitches said that she would come that evening to help with the breathing treatments that we were suddenly learning about as well as being thrown into caring for someone who is supposed to do blood sugar checks. I was overwhelmed and worried about leaving!

Wednesday morning came and we were ready to head out when I went in to say goodbye to mom...hmmm, the light is on and she is not in bed...a good sign...did she get herself into the bathroom? NO! She was on the floor wedged between the bed and the blanket chest and when I hollered "MOM"! she says...what? WHAT??? We tried to get her up but she kept hollering OW, which sent me reeling toward the phone and the 911 operator. It took 4 paramedics to get her onto the gurney and this was the final straw after trying to change her and help her...there was NO WAY that she could be home with a caregiver. Off she went to the hospital after I looked her into the face and told her that she was going to have to go back to the convalescent hospital because of her condition and size. She just did not do the work when she was in there and so she has just gone down hill from eating linebacker portions and lying in bed. Can you say, Horrified??? Yes.

She is back in there and we finally went to visit her today. She was telling me that she knows that she needs to get busy so that she can go home. Yeahright...go for it...make it happen. I just told her that it was all in her hands and that the only way that she could hope to come home would be if she could walk herself to the bathroom and keep herself clean because I was not falling for this again. I said it nicely but firmly but Cinderella has left the building. No more of this . She is safe and well cared for (as well as can be expected with someone with her attitude and situation) and she has enough money squirreled away to allow me to pay for this care, which is now private pay. So be it. It takes 3 skilled nurses to change her and I am not going to grapple with a very large dead weight. Two of us tried it the morning that she was taken and it was all that we could do to clean  her up. Done.

We had a lovely weekend at Stitches and I will write about it tomorrow. Here's hoping that these Hughesnet jerks let me upload this. One step at a time...