Tilt-a-whirl

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)