Gary Telephonicus and weeding

In case you were worried that I might miss Gary, be assured. He called early this morning about some urgent information he'd lost. Also about something he'd done for me, which in fact I'd taken care of after it stopped functioning, no problem.

So I tracked down the info and got back to him to his great relief. And he plans a run over to next door to check into things..

Meanwhile, this morning while the front yard was in shade, I cleared the daylily foliage, and a lot of dayflower spent foliage. This revealed the remains of the flowering Russian sage the landscapers had hacked down which is evidently trying for a comeback.  The area looks much better, less end-of-summer now.

After the exertion, filling two bags with debris, I was too tired to tote them out back to dispose of. 

When I retrieve my energy, I'll do that. They'll dry a bit and get lighter too in the meantime.

Meanwhile I'm very happy with the new knotting,  mainly because I can do it without stressing out my hands. 

The summer of bandweaving and related projects has been a success. I now have skills I didn't have before and projects I didn't have before, and friends now own items they like. It's all good.

Happy day everyone! 

We can breathe now, and weed too

This morning the massive rainstorms seem to have cleared the air 

My eyes have stopped burning, and I got some energy.

The heat then the rains caused a lot of weeds in the front, where the ground cover was eradicated by the wall renovation last summer. Until it gets going again, the weeds are taking over.

So this morning, while the front was in shade, the air cleaner and the temperature warm not sizzling, I did a bit of gardening.

We had inches of rain, now drained off and leaving the ground just right to fork over and pull weeds by the roots.

Here's two large bags of weeds

And the space they used to occupy 

This feels much better, and maybe that splitleaf can summer out there. 

I later disposed of the debris back among the trees, never sprayed so okay to toss there. There was a crowd of bee-like maybe moths buzzing among the vegetation. Fat brown bodies, small wings, quiet though and moving too fast to focus on.  

I don't think they were striped, and there was a crowd, so if anyone has any thoughts please say. They were too similar to the background to get pictures, also too fast moving.

Back at home resting a bit, smug having got the weeding done, I continued my Tunisian crochet sock. I've learned to do double rib in Tunisian, for the top of the sock and we'll see if I can manage. 

After the rib, there's quite a long section of knit stitch which in Tunisian is very undemanding compared to the moves of knitting.

Our humorless site manager now has a new bee, speaking of bees, in his managerial bonnet. He sent out an email requiring all ornaments, whirligigs, miniature gnomes, edging, to be removed in the interest of keeping a neat neighborhood. 

What a killjoy. He sent pictures of the places in question, some of the most charming, whimsical little areas.  Including a couple I've shared with you because they're just so silly and appealing and fun. 

I think I'll pull his leg a bit over this. He can't stand realizing a bit late that I'm laughing at him. I think he could have complained about my patch of weeds, much less attractive than a tiny miniature habitat.

Happy day everyone, find someone to tease who has it coming. 

Sez the Dutchess of Floof 

Weaving frenzy with gardening and a dino

The bandweaving continues with a leap ahead in skill. See current output plus WIP on the loom.

Left the first try where I found I needed to rethink yarn choices. The white thread is braided and doesn't pack down well. Middle the second brave attempt, where I was defeated here and there by difficult to read variegated yarn. Both these ended up looking like even weave, not the goal. Warp faced is the goal, where the vertical threads are visible, the weft, horizontal threads hidden. But I hadn't figured out how to get there.

The work on the loom is where I finally realized that there was a starting move I hadn't grasped,  which drew in the threads to get the desired warp faced weaving. Clever me. Finally.

The interesting thing is that this happened when I was setting up for a different weft design, which I love, clasped weft.  I found it is impossible with this corrected weave because it needs to be a weft faced weave.

It cracked me up to realize that trying another weave for a nice change from struggling,  accidentally solved the problem of the previous two. Chance favors the prepared mind! Also no matter what serious endeavors I undertake, comedy breaks through.

Anyway after this exciting session I thought I could do a bit of gardening, weather warm enough, cloudy. The henbit has died back enough that the bees have moved on, so I pulled it out, not too hard, and I just got done when I was surprised by rain.

Bag of debris ready to go out under the trees.

That amount of work is about my limit today. Good thing I have a small area.

I'm reading, as always, currently a reread of Cluny Brown, comfort reading while I stress about paperwork.

And in the intervals of trying to upload vital documents, when my phone decides to drop the Wi-Fi signal, I've been known to play Dino.

It fits the need for speed, usually I'm done in a couple of seconds when he lands on a cactus.

Happy day everyone, don't land on a cactus. On the other hand it might take your mind off your troubles, sez Ted and Big Ursy and Pony and Ursula 

Weight training, bringing in the potato harvest, quiche and glorious dyes

Today started with a weight training and balance video,  which I really like, because balance is better than falling. Usual teachers, April and Aiko

Then there was a walk, cheery greetings from neighbors. My Chinese neighbors always wave even when they're two feet away on the sidewalk, I love it.

Then home to find Gary lugging stuff about. I think gardening should be renamed carrying, but anyway. I was observing that I had one potato total from two containers. Then he remembered he had two containers, so we tipped them out to see.

This is our total harvest, presented to me, and steamed with carrots. He declined any. Just likes growing them, not eating them.

And I made mint sauce, fresh picked peppermint minced, pinch of sugar, malt vinegar, the way my auntie Annie taught me as a kid. Just making it reminded me of her.

Then lunch with a spicy sausage fritter, butter melting over the potatoes. More for tomorrow, too.

I'm reading The Ellerie County Funeral Ladies, very warm friendly reading, located in rural Wisconsin. I like reading about it more than living there.

Later I made a leek and spinach quiche 

Crustfree, using just the green part of the leeks. I've got other plans for the white sections.

Then this afternoon was a presentation on natural dyeing of Anatolia, where the slides are self explanatory, so I'll just show you. It's a feast! For people who know a bit about natural dyeing, no news here, but it was still great to let it flow.

Here's the magic moment when the greenish yarn emerges from the indigo dye bath and the oxygen turns it blue

Arsenic makes a lovely green, but it's hazardous for the dyer and maybe wearer too.

This was a great lecture. The host commented that they've had so many questions over the years about the technicalities of antique textiles when collectors present, that they thought they'd get a great technician in dyeing history and processes, to talk. Behind him is a kilim, rug, the yarn for which he dyed. 

Isn't it great just to wander about these colors and mixes and history. 

Happy day, everyone, they can't take this away from us.