Ladies dancing

Forgot this picture. When we were in PA, we walked downtown to see the livestock auctions and then to the park to the Fiddler's Picnic, an annual event. I took this at the picnic. Something about these little ladies caught my eye. The picnic was very cool. A lot of follk music and very nice people, but strange too. I got a feeling of deep sadness and can't explain why.

What I did on my summer vacation

Well, let's see. First we bought a 1987 Travel Master (see previous post). I thought that this alone would provide enough comic material to last a few postings. Not so. Daisy performed very well accept for some leaking in the Smokies and another incident that I’ll get to. But first…

Here is Gerry at a rest stop in ... oh heck, I don't remember. One of the Carolina's. At rest stops, you either go to the car side of the building or the truck/RV side. We barely qualified for the truck/RV side as you can see. Daisy is little. And she also has a cataract on her left headlight.

First we went to the Smokies. We camped at Smokemont, or as I liked to call it Smoke-em-if-ya-got-em mont. Apparently, the N. Carolina side of the Smokies is like some kind of rain forest, which is how we discovered Daisy has a little leaking problem. Who knew? Well Bobby did. We met Bobby at Smokemont and we all sort of came together because he too owns a little Daisy. He gave us all sorts of advice on these little campers. He's a super nice guy. We exchanged emails.

Here's Gerry at our campsite.

It was beautiful, as it always is there. There was an abundance of funky fungus and I had to snap pics of all of them. Here's one example.

The leaves were just starting to turn.

While on vacation, I took along Dowde's book on freeform crochet and decided to teach myself...

Here's a pic of me at New Found Gap. Be kind. I haven't bathed in a few days. No water or electric in the Smokies.

Here's me standing in one of the freezing streams. The water was so cold, I literally had a pain shoot up my back when I stepped in it.

This is my Uncle Joe...he's a movin' kinda slow. Ok...not really. He was a park employee at the old mill. He's from Jersey. Somehow, the authenticity was missing there.

Here's an artsy fartsy shot at the mill...

Has Gerry got a short sale deal for you! After the Smokes, we went to the Biltmore. $55 to get in, but worth it. You spend the whole day there. It was awesome. Especially the winery ;)

This is a good one. I was trying to be artsy here. Had no idea I had the lion chomping someones head off! Didn't even notice it until I looked at the picture 2 or 3 times.

Gerry picking the statue's nose....sigh...I think it's a statue of Plato or "Play Dough" :)

Then on to Pennsylvania. I taught my mother-in-law how to weave on the potholder loom.

Here she is in the ducky hat she won at the Farmer's Market

We had a great time in PA. The weather was perfect. In the 50's at night and 70's during the day.

Farms, corn, ham, tatters.....uuuuuuummmmmm!

Then we started home. We got as far as Rocky Mount, NC and poor Daisy got a flat tire. Unfortunately, it's a bit more involved with duel axle. So we had to have road side assistance. There were complications and we wound up having to stay over night. But the mechanic was awesome! They went out of their way for us ... so if you ever break down around Rocky Mount, call Automotive Express!

Daisy's flat foot.

A somewhat distressed Ger...

All in all it was a great vacation. We both came back tired but relaxed too. We met a lot of really nice people along the way. Camping is just way fun. But I think Daisy should stick to Florida from now on....she is getting on in years.

To see all the pics, click here

This dog must come off the loom!

I think this thing has been on the loom for at least the last 50 years...and I'm 48. I have to finish it before I leave on Saturday! I don't know why this is taking me so long. It's a shawl and it will be about 72", I think. I can't remember anymore. It's been that long. But I will finish it. Of course if I wasn't here writing this, I could be working on the shawl. Duh.

Trying to get our shite together before this great adventure. We're going first to the Smokies, then PA to visit folks, then Woodstock to camp. All in a 1987 Toyota camper that we only just bought and have no idea if it will die somewhere in the boonies and we'll be made to squeal like pigs by some big bubbas somewhere between SC and upstate NY.

But I will bring my fiber fun along because I have an addictive personality and can't go very long without it. I figure I'll bring some cotton and angora to card and spin and some crochet and knitting. That'll keep me from jonesin'. Here is a pic of my big mamma cotton plant. She has been giving me cotton for over a year now. The other's all died off, but she's still crankin' out fluffies.

Here are some dahlias for the dye garden...

...they're just babies.

My corner

This is my little corner of the universe. The neat corner. I've got lots of other corners. My family would probably say "too many"... full of yarn, looms, spindles etc. I was sitting there this morning thinking how much I love my little corner. I think one of the best things about it is that some of my pictures are there. They sit on the shelves next to me and I put my morning coffee there and my warping hook there, while I weave in the mornings.

This is my favorite picture in the whole world. This was taken in the hospital when Che was born. Bridget is looking at her new sister. I look at this every morning and it really helps me get through my days and reminds me of how blessed I am.

Went to the beach yesterday. It was so incredibly hot! I practically ran to the water and got in right away before I combusted. Waves were small but I managed to do a little bodysurfing. It felt sort of like swimming in your own saliva, it was so hot. But it was better than nothing.

Later on got a call from my mom. My oldest brother in Texas had a heart attack. He is not doing too good. I feel awful about it. I will pray for him.

On the loom

Latest piece on the loom. The yarn on the shuttle is a cotton / silk blend. I love the colors. I was originally going to use it in a shawl, but it would have cost a fortune in materials. So a scarf. The warp is Lion Woolease in mushroom. For some reason the scarf reminds me of Toll House cookies. But what doesn't.

Going up to Fort Pierce inlet tomorrow. Went last Saturday and the waves were small but fun and glassy. Hope it's good tomorrow!

Cameras and frogs

Cameras and computers can be the biggest pain in the butt. I'm not a photographer. I know nothing about cameras. But I do know frogs and this one was a cutie. The first picture I took of him he was sitting in his little bird house, elbow propped on the sill, happy as a little frog can be. I ran for my camera. The first picture came out bad, because my camera always thinks it's in a dungeon, so the flash always goes off, no matter what. When I went back to take this picture, the poor little guy was cowering in his house, blind and confused. So I took advantage of his blurred state and got this picture. Ran in the house and went to upload the pictures and the cable was fried. So, ran to Target. I wasn't even sure what was wrong or what I needed. Luckily, the nice guy was there and he gave me this little thingy that looks like a jump drive that you can put your picture card into and upload without using the cable.

My new fun thing to play with is the potholder loom...yes, like the ones we all played with as kids with those loopy things. But I used yarn instead of the loopy things and they came out really cool. I didn't even realize it was like 12:30 in the morning; I was getting so into it. I learned about this from the Weavolution (http://www.weavolution.com/) group, the magic of potholder looms. Noreen Crone-Findlay's website tells you how to use these looms with yarn (http://www.blisstree.com/hankeringforyarn/how-to-weave-with-yarn-on-potholder-loom/)
I think I'll make a bunch of these little guys and turn them into a bath mat.

Memorial Day rain

Oh yeah....another rainy Memorial Day weekend. That's how you know it's summer in Florida. The monsoon begins exactly at May 20, plus or minus a day, and goes on for a week or two. Then come the mosquitoes. Have to work today which sucks. No three day weekend for me. But can't complain. I'm taking 4 days off at the end of the week.

Finished this piece this morning before work. I am so happy with the way the colors came out. This will be a bag by tomorrow night. Hopefully I'll be able to stop at JoAnn's on the way home for thread and a nice braid for the handle.

Got a very cool book from the library on freeform weaving. So I'm all set for rainy old Memorial Day. Of course sunny with perfect 3-4' glass would have been cool too....