I’m usually the first one out of bed in the morning. But Jon isn’t far behind. Often when I’m mucking out the barn I hear him leave the house and he joins me in the barnyard. This morning was like an early spring day, they sun warm as the air.
Our neighbors wood stove softened the horizon with smoke coming from the chimney. Jon was there to capture the effect it had on the landscape.
You can see the pictures that Jon took while I took this picture of him here.
Winter grazing isn’t as tasty as spring and summer grazing. Fanny comes to check out what Lulu is eating and isn’t impressed.
I finished sewing my Snowflake Potholders. These are all sold and my Winter Night Potholders, which I still have to finish sewing are all sold too.
If I had more fabric I’d make more, but I’ve run out. Thanks to everyone who bought them and wanted to buy them.
They do feel special to me and after a couple of months of not making potholders, they were a meaningful way to begin the winter.
We sat at the dining room table, the chess game between us. But instead of the black and white board in front of me, I kept seeing those square, sturdy cement tables in city parks. The checkered board etched and dyed in the concrete.
Jon and I just started playing chess again. We’d played a few years ago, but then got out of the habit and the board and pieces have been tucked in the back of the living room closet.
It was our trip to Vermont, just after Christmas, that got us playing again. We got to the Inn before our room was ready so we sat in front of the fire in the main sitting room and played a game of chess.
I learned to play when I was a kid, but only played as an adult with Jon. He knows more about the game, but I’m learning. And we’re both having a lot of fun playing.
When I suggested we paint a chess board on the dining room table Jon thought it a great idea. It somehow seemed the most natural thing to do.
When I thought of painting the chess board on the table two things came to me from my childhood which may explain why it seemed so natural.
One was the Potsy (aka hopscotch) board that we had in our backyard growing up. It was made with triangles etched into the cement and colored red. My Grandfather and father made it when they built the house.
The other was that my maternal grandparents’s dining room table was a billiards table with a piece of Plywood on top of it. There was always a table cloth on the table unless the plywood was off and someone was shooting pool.
I painted the board last weekend but Jon and I haven’t christened it yet. Somehow we just haven’t found the time to play.
But we’re supposed to get some more snow this weekend so it may be just right for a few games.
Yesterday I spoke to people from two fiber mills. David at the Green Mountain Spinnery, in Putney Vermont and Lewis who owns Nobletown Fiber Works in Hillsdale NY.
I had no idea until talking to them that there were different kinds of wool processing. It’s possible that the mill in Putney wouldn’t even be able to process the wool from my Romneys. I’d have to bring them a sample to be sure. They also process roving in a way that I don’t believe I could use to make dryer balls.
I’m still a bit vague on the details, but right now I’m planning on using Nobletown Fiber Works because they would be able to create the same type of wool and roving I’ve been getting from the Vermont Fiber Mill.
The only thing they don’t do is dye wool.
But I’ve been talking to a friend who also has sheep and we’ve been planning on experimenting with dying our own wool. So that may be an option.
Nobletown Fiber Works has only been in business for a couple of years. I still have to check on their pricing and I want to visit the mill too. It will be a fun day trip for Jon and me. I may visit the mill in Putney too, just to see what they do.
With the loss of The Vermont Fiber Mill there will be some changes to my wool. But I want to be as consistent as possible. But I’m also not opposed to some change, it can be exciting and be the beginning of something new.
Jon and I are going to Albany for an eye appointment with his Retina Specialist. Sometimes these appointments can take many hours other times they go quickly.
I hope to get to Bellydancing class tonight, but that depends on when we get home. I don’t expect I’ll have time in-between to get back to my blog.
Thank you for everyone who is asking about my Winter Night Potholders. I have to sort through which are sold and will get back to you about them tomorrow.
See you tomorrow if not sooner.
Yesterday it was all snow and ice. So cold it changed the sound of things. The frozen manure rolling on the hard packed earth in the pole barn was pigeons cooing. And the sound of Zinnia crunching on the same was the hoof beats of Amish horses pulling a buggy on the road.
I texted Margaret late the night before… Sledding tomorrow? We both knew there was a good chance the snow wouldn’t last long. There was a only narrow window where we could get together, but we made it happen.
We’ve been doing this for about three years now. It was Margaret’s idea. I hadn’t been sledding in years, but she has grandchildren and when they visit in the winter it’s one of the things they do together.
Margaret is 20 years older than me. And not only do I enjoy her friendship, but I learn from her too.
I went down first on the orange plastic sled to pack the snow down. I easily made a path, slick with soft snow on either side. It’s not a long hill, so climbing back up isn’t daunting, but it’s steep enough to lose control when it’s icy.
Yesterday it was just right.
Margaret has what she calls a “Happy Gene”. Which means she will be happy whenever she has the opportunity, even in the middle of the darkest times she looks for something to laugh about. Mostly when we get together we walk and talk. And we do a lot of laughing.
I’ve decided that I have a “Happy Gene” too. The difference is I’m just learning to cultivate it. I realize I prefer to be happy, to let the muscles around my mouth relax up at the corners instead of down.
I’ve made the decision to grab happiness whenever I have the chance.
Yesterday’s winter blew away with last nights wind and rain. It turned the snow to mud and twisted and tossed my fabric hanging on the clothesline. One old apron got caught on the branches of the maple. I’ll have to use a ladder to get it down.
Now the sheep are in the back pasture and the hens have come out of the roost for the first time in two days. Zip is back to hunting in the marsh and I saw the first Flicker at the bird feeder.
I think I like taking pictures of my snails as much as I like watching them.
I’ve had boxes of fabric piled up in our laundry room for over a month. I’d go through it when I was looking for something particular and wash them before using them.
But now that we’re using the woodstoves everyday, I needed to move the boxes so I could get into the woodshed. That’s what got me begin washing the fabric. I still have one box to go, but these days our clothesline is hung with fabric not our clothes.
I love the way a full clothesline looks. And each time I walk from the house to my studio or back, I picture a quilt.
A clothesline quilt.
Fabric with a lace edge of snow.
I ran out of snowflakes, but still had plenty of bears, wolves and birch trees. So I went looking for just the right fabric to use in place of the snowflakes.
I knew that when I found it, there would be no doubt in my mind that it was just right. And that is what happened. I had just a few small scraps of the night sky fabric that someone gave me when I was still in my Studio Barn in Old Bedlam Farm.
I used the fabric more than once, now I know what I was saving those last little scraps for.
There are moons and stars in these potholders as there are on those clear winter nights.
Buy these! YOU CAN PURCHASE MY WORK IN MY ETSY SHOP >
