Ahhh, one of those days that reminds you that life is bittersweet. I headed out to the dye room early yesterday because I knew that it was going to be hot and the uninsulated Dye-raj is just evil when it gets over 100 out in the afternoon. I was preparing dye for a friend's Joseph's Coat merino fiber and the familar Dootoodoo musical tone assigned to my mom got me reaching for the phone. She sounded frantic. Are you sick? Did you fall? Do you need my help? No, no and yes. Let's just say that the situation warranted emergency action and showed me that the roll reversal is going to become complete very soon, which means that I have begun mourning my mother while she is still in her body. She thinks that it is going to be harder on me than it will be for her and I think that I agree. She is beginning the transformation toward the other side and I am going to be her gaurdian while allowing her to live in her home as long as possible. I don't know why I lost it as much as I did but perhaps it coming on the heels of my son and his bride moving far away...loss, period.
Oh hell, I am going to buck up...after all, I get to go to the zoo with my precious grandson for the first time, on Saturday. We are all going to love it, big time.
Yesterday afternoon was a funny one. Here I go blabbing my head off about the new yarns and here comes a phone call from Miss Alison..."ahem, you know that new baby alpaca/silk yarn you just got? Do you think that you could throw a skein of that into a pot for me right this minute? You can? I'll be right over". Yeah, Tink had just skeined off a bunch of them and I was able to get a couple dyed and dried by the time John The Blacksmith (her youngest) drove her over from the other side of the bay. Of course anyone that knows Alison will not be surprised that she fired up the knitting needles and got this one last project ready for her book. Needless to say, this stuff took the color in a gorgeous manner and I am more than pleased. Hey! for a mere $40 you too may be the proud owner of 750 yards of pure heaven...baby alpaca and silk. Mmmmmmmmmm. :o) Tinkerbelle has taken some samples home to get some gauge swatches done for this and the merino/angora (this will be $25 for 4 ounces/540 yards) and I expect to begin dyeing in earnest very soon. (I like these yarns so much that I have ordered MORE)
Well, there was not enough quiet time yesterday to allow me to work on my shawl so I fired up the Rose and threw 4 ounces of Bird of Paradise superwash merino at her. This is another center-pull ball ply and I am quite happy with how it turned out. I was rocking out with Tommy Lee and the boys, watching Rock Star...love that show. Bam...done.
It is a Spare the Air day here in the SF Bay Area and so I was lucky enough to get a shot of what summer means to me, here in my garden before it got too darned hot...Penstemon in the early morning. This stuff does nicely in the prairie garden at the Omaha Botanical Garden and it does nicely here in the Chaparral Garden in Lafayette...take the heat and drought or die, baby. That's ok, my neighbor likes to pretend that she is in England and the plants in my garden like the backwash of all of that watering...can you blame them?
I wonder if she would notice if I go run around in her sprinkers???
Waiting for the sun to go down so that I can go dye some more...
Some days Life really sucks, y'know? I'm glad you have your bright colors and soft fibers to keep you grounded - and the rest of us, too.
Posted by: Kerry | July 20, 2006 at 05:57 PM
Oh my, I hope your Mom is ok. Hang in there, woman. And what an event to look forward to on Saturday - Snickle's first trip to the zoo! Have fun!
Posted by: Jen | July 20, 2006 at 09:23 PM
I just wish I could make your mom all better. But meantime, John and I had a ball. Thank you! I could not BELIEVE that three and a half hours after I called you at noon, when we showed up that yarn was dyed and dry. Um, but, Spare the Air, drive less, right (oops.) All in such a very good cause... Lovely stuff, Lisa, just gorgeous. And thank you so much for letting me blow your plans out the window like that. A big shout-out to Tink for the help, too.
Then I spent today tagging all those projects, smiling, going, ooh, look at all these Lisa colors. As they used to say on that old Hawaii Five-O show when I was a kid, Book it, Dano!
FedEx tomorrow to Martingale. Now I just need a really big box. And fast.
Posted by: AlisonH | July 20, 2006 at 09:28 PM
I tried to comment once but didn't know what to say. Enjoy your mom while you have her. It sounds like she is at peace with her place in life. That is such a blessing. I knew my father didn't have long and we spent lots of time together and enjoyed every minute. I have no regrets.
Have fun with schnicklefritz!
Posted by: elizabeth | July 21, 2006 at 01:23 PM
Happy zoo day!
Posted by: AlisonH | July 22, 2006 at 03:41 PM
I'm sorry for the pain of transition and loss. Sending good thoughts your way.
Posted by: Monica | July 25, 2006 at 12:24 PM