(((((((Energy)))))))

I find it amazing that when things are happening around here that create dynamic energy it flows through the house and through me! The past couple of days the roofers have arrived at 7:00 AM. There are sounds of generators, nail guns, gigantic boom trucks and then soft footsteps on my roof. For roofers these guys are amazingly quiet! It took the dogs a couple of hours to realize someone was on the roof tearing it apart. The only time they bark is when they see the guys in the yard walking around the house. Go figure. I guess a robber could enter through the roof and they wouldn't notice until he got inside.

All this excitement of shingles and nails flying and young whipper snappers up on the roof has got the energy flowing here inside my studio. I have been dyeing wool like a mad woman! Spot dyeing, point dyeing, marbleizing, experimenting. There's wool dyeing in my oven, on the stove top and drying in the dryer! It is exhausting! When all is quiet at the days end I stand in my studio and look at all the amazing colors. I have been sleeping like a baby at night. A satisfied mad woman or should I say artist who has found her soul fulfilled for the time being in creativity inspired through dynamic energy!

Where Have All The Larges Gone?

This afternoon I drove down to our little main street. You may remember a couple of posts back I told you I had won a door prize from a new shop that opened called Lillian's. I popped in there this afternoon hoping to find something cute to buy and pick up my door prize. I thought it would be nice for a change to buy something fashionable to update my wardrobe. I am not a slave to fashion. Yet don't get me wrong, I am totally in LOVE with fashion! I adore looking at and wishing I could squeeze my fat waistline and sagging boobs into every last cute and fun style I see on the racks!

Like this hot little number! I adored it. Really not my color though. Then I tried on a cute little (little is the key word here) top with ribbons sewn all over the front in long and flowing tails. Cute, cute, cute. Then, realizing the medium wasn't going to quite do it I looked for the large size. Yep, you guessed right, the large was already gone! If you live in a small town you probably know this drill. The shops usually carry two smalls , two mediums, and ONE large in each style. I'm sure that ONE large flew out the door the second the store opened! So I went home with my door prize, vowing to come back next time she opens and camp on her doorstep so I can have a chance at one of those larges. Oh yes, I could lose some weight and that might get me into a medium again. La de da da...... which will it be ladies? I wonder if I'd get arrested for sleeping in my car in front of her store? Well, like I said. I'm really not a slave to fashion.

That's Jenique the darling shop owner in the above photos.....
(Oh, I almost forgot to tell you what I won. It was one of those cute key holders that clip over the side of your purse to hold your keys from slipping down into the bottom)  Always wanted one of those so that worked out great!

I'm hard at work dyeing more wool and the deck is coming along too. Monday the roofers are coming to start on our new roof! My Mom is doing great and got the Dr.'s okay to start going back to Cardio. Rehab. again. So I'll be back to the regular grind!  April has just started but why do I have the feeling that it's going to be gone in a flash!! Hope you are enjoying your Spring days!!

Dizzy For Chartreuse!

There's no mistake that Spring has officially arrived here in northern Wisconsin. The ice "went out" as they say here on the lakes a few days ago. We've had sun shine filled days but the air is still cold......which is why I think my sinuses have been really acting up. So much so that a little lightness and dizzyness in my head caused me to miss a step going down into our breezeway last week. To make a long story short I had a close encounter with the floor. Fortunately nothing broke ( including my bones). I was hoping it would help to knock my sinuses for a loop but they persist even after using the Nettie Pot and some medication. So yesterday I decided to get out the dye pots and fill the house with some nice steamy vinegar and wool.

The tulips I bought for Easter are getting near their end. They were just beautiful for the two weeks they sat on the dining room table. Their chartreuse leaves and yellow-orange blossoms were my inspiration for the wool I dyed yesterday. Using the casserole method I dyed one batch using chartreuse alone for a good dose of it! Then using the same water I dyed another pan using Cushing's Wood Rose and another cupful of Chartruese on top of that. I put the vinegar right in with the dye and got this beautiful mottling which I was after.

I am getting more adventurous in my wool dyeing after seeing all the wool dyeing on everyone's blogs! Using found wools from garments and yardage found at thrift stores I feel like I can afford to experiment without destroying a good piece of wool off the bolt that cost's a small fortune.


Dave is doing a great job on the deck so far too. This afternoon his buddy Dann is coming over to help with the railings. They were careful to make the steps nice and wide and not too steep. Hmmm....you know both of our mother's are getting up in years.....and as of late the lady in this household has had a little trouble staying on her feet. So guys, better make the railings nice and sturdy too. I can't wait to hang my newest pieces of hand dyed wool out to dry.

Menagerie

This post will be a menagerie. Mainly because I can't seem to get my brain back in order after this past week of happenings. Mom had her cataract surgery and is doing fine. It was a rather difficult surgery to remove a really thick cataract resulting from the staph infection that infected her eye as well as damaged her heart valve. We have been waiting for months for this surgery. A lot rides on whether she can ever see out of that eye again. When the bandage came off the next day in the Dr's. office I thought the worst had happened. She wasn't seeing the biggest letter up on the wall. Then after a few minutes she could see the big letter E on a card held about four feet in front of her. Okay Mom! That is a good sign! We have another appointment this week to see if things have progressed. It's been a long haul since last May when she got sick. I have learned a great deal about myself. I've learned patience the hard way. I'm afraid that I'm still on that page in the lesson book of life!







Back to the home front. We have a new project going here this Spring. Our front deck entrance was in bad need of replacement. Dave has started to attack it and by next post I hope to show you some progress. We are fixing up this old ranch style house a little each year and on a very limited budget.
Oh I almost forgot to tell you about the photo of the rug at the beginning of the post. The rug is an antique rug I bought from my friend Sue. I've had it a number of years intending to repair it. It is going to be a big job because the edges are really falling apart. It was hooked on burlap and has an extra piece of burlap sewn on the back for protection. It's a pretty rug with vibrant colors. I think maybe it was hooked sometime in the 1930's or 40's. Not sure when I can embark on the job of repairing it. Maybe not in this lifetime due to the menagerie I've got going presently!

Have You Hugged Your Friends Today?

Friends. I am blessed with many. Today my thoughts are weighing heavily and thankfully towards one of my best friends, Sue. This morning I got a call from her and in her 'just like any other day voice' we chatted about what we've been up to lately. She asked about my Mom as she always does. I ran on about this past week's Dr's appointments with my Mom and life's trivial comings and goings. She talked about all the calves being born out there on the farm. Thirty-nine I think she said had already been born with about six more due in the next couple of days. They raise beef cattle. And no, they didn't tap the maple sugar trees this year like they usually do. Then in her soft and overly calm farm wife voice she said......"well, I got hurt last week."



Eric and Sue with Grandkids Ella and Sean


I felt my heart skip a beat. "What?" I replied. "How?" "Are you okay?"
Turns out my dear friend was cornered in a pen in the barn with a 1300 pound heifer who had a new born calf. The cow went after her, knocking her into a corner and proceeded to mall her repeatedly in the head and chest area. Sue screamed for her life and tried to get away. The cow hesitated for just a moment and Sue was able to get away and out of the pen. Eric, Sue's husband was in a nearby shop building and heard the outdoor cattle making a ruckus. He thought he better go out to see what was going on. As he came out the shop door Sue was stumbling out of the barn. (This is perhaps enough detail as you can probably imagine what someone who was just mangled by a 1300 lb animal probably looked like.
Then our conversation resumed to "Oh yes, I did spend the next night in the hospital. Pretty badly beaten, shaken,bruised, .... nothing that a few shots of morphine and a few stitches couldn't fix."
Lot's of tests and Xrays showed there was nothing broken. Physically broken.
When you've farmed all your life I guess you take these things in stride. There isn't much choice. You know you have to go back to the barn, back out to the field. The mother cows with their new babies will be waiting for you. You're probably scared out of your mind knowing what these animals can do out of instinct in the flash of a second. It gets buried, I'm sure, in the recesses of ones mind because you know the livelihood of all in your care depend on you going back out and doing your chores. Perhaps now though, not so much like any other day. The sweet smell of Spring on the farm is maybe a little sweeter. The beautiful bond between new born calf and mother is appreciated a little stronger. The miracles of life and death that are witnessed each day on a farm are given a little deeper thought.
After I hung up the phone I raced to tell Dave what had happened to Sue. The look on his face was one I've seen only a few other times when we've had calls announcing sickness or tragedy in our family. The look quickly faded as I assured him she was going to be alright. We "dodged another bullet". We didn't lose a dear friend. How close we came is only a thought to be filed quickly away and replaced by thoughts of good times we will be sharing together this Spring. Good times so precious and sweet with the sweetest and dearest of friends.