grrr....

can't find my camera....

It's here somewhere, and I'm sure it's in plain view.

I just can't find it. 

Angry!!!!

Summer Football

I was not looking forward to a football game in the icky sticky summer heat.

Football is for cold, rainy/snowy fall days when you can wrap yourself up in a couple of layers and snuggle down to watch the boys steam on the field.

But last night, we were blessed with a beautiful night.  Clouds threatened pregame, but all they did was take the heat out of the day.   There was a light breeze to keep the skeeters away, and the sun came out to put a nice light on the field.

 Here's my boy running across the field during the introductions.  Not a great pic, but I had to include it because of the panorama of the landscape.  This is for you Sharon!  The picture by my house that you thought was so flat?  THIS is flat! That's why I think I live in hills that you see as flat, lol!

My boy is #70.   Looks pretty solid, doesn't he?  He gets those genes from me... The height is a throw back from another generation, cause I'm barely 5'3"!   He's 6 ft on a good day and right now pushing the scales somewhere in the 235 - 245 range.  It's alot of muscle, too.

This game is the SD Allstar Game that is sponsored by the coaches association and the Shriners.  The graduated senior players are all invited from across the state and school classes.  He played with kids he was across the ball from in high school and interestingly, he actually was across the line of scrimmage from his soon to be college room mate all night :)  They got to know each other pushing and shoving!

OK, I'm going to reveal my lack of knowledge here.  I don't know what position he plays and what it's called.  I do know that he was directly to the left of the center.  Guard???  Anybody know?  He played all but about 3 plays in the 3rd quarter whenever his team was in possession.  Pleased me how much he got to play.  He also met ALOT of future college teammates this last week.  His college recruited heavily in state this year.

He had fun.  He got a little bunged up - a shiner and swollen bridge of the nose.  Someone asked him it was broke and he emphatically said no.  He broke his nose last winter in basketball, so he said this isn't even close to that.  Just bruised.  He had a bit of a headache today from the pounding to his melon, but he's still looking forward to college ball.

From now on, if I want to go to one of his games, I'll be driving a minimum of 3 hours.  One way.

Chicken with it's head cut off

OK!  I haven't forgotten about ya'll!  Been crazy busy runnin' around like a chicken with it's.... you know the saying!

Remember the young man that broke his arm the night before he was coming to learn to weave?

Well, he decided to give it a try - and he had a great time!  The cast didn't even slow him down much.  Silly me - took my  camera and then forgot to get a picture of him doing it.  Sigh...

I had a brain fart and realized he probably would have a hard time tying all the knots in the fringe, so I had him weave headers big enough to do hemmed ends.   His rug turned out way nice for a first rug!  Can't wait to see how it does at the fair.

Tonite I get to go to a football game.  It's a weird time of year for football weatherwise.  Way to hot and humid!  He is playing for the state All Star game for the north team.  I haven't talked to him this week, so I'm wondering how sore and wore out he is. 

Must make this quick.  This working sure does put a crimp in my style.

Ay yi yi!!!!

This afternoon, as I was piddling around in my crap, I mean craft room, I thought I heard something....

And then my dog started going nuts!

Holy moses!  Some guy came in my house, unannounced. 

Just walked on in.

Didn't know him from Adam.

He seemed to think he knew me.

He was QUITE inebriated...

Managed to get him to come outside, where he engaged me in a conversation in view of the neighbors driving by - thank goodness.  At least there were witnesses....

Eventually we got it figured out that he thought he was at MY NEIGHBORS HOUSE!

Apparently he is a new neighbor from over by the golfcourse.

Finally he left- he was quite friendly - I don't think he had any idea how creeped out I was!

I called the neighbor to see if he had shown up there, and give him the heads up that the drunk might be on his way there.  Got the info that that is his constant state.

I do believe I'm going to be locking my doors from now on...

Colored denim

Many times when people give me their old jeans,
they ask if I want the colored ones....

Heck, Ya!

These rugs are green, brown, tan and white denim jeans. 
All the strips are put into a big box and mixed.
Then I just randomly grab and sew.
I do try to keep an eye on the ratio, to make sure I spread the colors out over the whole batch. 

Works MOST of the time :^) 

I like getting colored denim. 

It shakes things up a bit!

Mens pants.

Who'da thunk that some old mens dress pants could look so cool?

These rugs got a hemmed edge.  I don't do this enough.  I don't know why, it's not hard.

And it seems like they sell right away when I have them in stock.

Habit, I guess!

Here's another mens pants rug.  These strips were what was left in the box after I had randomly sewn strips together for awhile.  I thought I'd been doing pretty well distributing the greens, but I realized I really didn't have any green left for the last 1/3 of my strips.

So I made sure I separated these from the first two rugs and have a little different look for this rug.  Here I did that dang fringe again!

Had a little excitement at the ranchero tonite.... One of my horses fell into a hole in my backyard.  It was a waterline hole that still needs some work in it, so it hadn't been filled in.  My sweet Buzz fell in and couldn't get out!  Thank goodness I was here to help her.  She couldn't have been in there 5 minutes before I noticed her.  Took some mighty pulls on the halter while she struggled to climb the sides, but we managed to get out.  She was so happy I helped her... she was a nickering to me while she was breathing hard from the effort.  I was a little worried about her for a couple of hours.  She wasn't eating and she was standing off away from the other girls.  Finally she is grazing and moving around again.  I think she'll be fine, maybe a little stiff and sore tomorrow.  It could have been so much worse. 

I hadn't realized how soft the bottom of that hole was. She was in to her flanks in goo.   I am going to get that job moved to the top of the list now!

Somewhere....

over the rainbow!

It's a little bit stormy tonite.

  Squalls going thru, dripping a little, rumbling a little, blowing a little.  

These are the kinds of storms that are fun to watch!

Cause there's a rainbow or two hiding in between...

Finally some more rugs!

A rug made from mens khaki pants.

This one is all tans, beiges, and light browns.

I've got 3 rugs like this.

Colored denims in greens, browns and tans.

And this pretty rug made from curtains.

I think this one is sold already.  Such nice colors!

Sorry for the fuzzy

This tall young lady is trying her hand at weaving a rag rug.  She's doing exceptionally well for a first rug!

Sorry for the out of focus... Gawd she makes me feel short.  But I digress.

Here's a shot of her rug that is in progress.  She has about 42 inches woven so far, and is going home to do some measuring in her horse trailer.  She is going to do some folding and sewing to create a storage item for her bridles to hang against/on.   It's a great idea. 

She said it looks alot different from how she had pictured it in her mind.  That happens to me all the time!

She likes it tho.  It kind of has a westerny flavor to it already... very appropriate!  Tomorrow she'll finish the weaving and I'll cut it off the loom for her.  Can't wait!

One of my girls was home this last weekend.

Harry was very attentive to her.  She was trying to read the local paper, but he wasn't going to let that happen easily.  He misses his girl...

Here's the roll of rugs that just came off the loom.  There are 3 rugs (I think, can't remember at this point) of rugs made from mens dress/khaki pants in greens, taupes, and tans; 3 rugs of colored denim, and a rug made  of curtains, plus 2 totes from that material.  I think I already have the curtain rug sold.  A customer was in the shop today and fell in love with it while it was still on the loom.

Tired enough tonite, that I don't think I'll dig in and start to tie.  It'll keep!

It looks like we may be getting wet again tonite, altho at the moment the sun is shining  right over the top of us.

I'm fighting the urge to put on my jammies and crawl in bed...

It's daylight, I have things to do, but I think I've run out of steam...

Need to veg... 

I feel so old!

I'm moving pretty slow this morning.

Last evening after work, I worked until dark on fencing.  The cows from across the road moved in next door.  The cute little calvies decided they like my side of the fence better than theirs.  I had to fix the bottom wire, and for good measure I added another.  We'll see if that helps. 

My shoulder is atalkin' to me today!  It talked to me in the night, too.  That's probably why I'm so tired.

I am missing my loom... I've been grabbing a moment here and there and weaving when I can.   Maybe tonite I'll get enough rug woven to take the roll off the beam.  There are some neat ones on there that I really want to see finished.  Gonna try real hard.  See if the shoulder will let me do that after work.

Man o man... if I feel like this now, what will it be like when I really am old?  :)

New weaver!

My friend Darda weaving on her Structo 600 loom.

She made two table runners for a friend of hers, out of that friends parents square dance outfits. 

Kinda as a memorial. They turned out very well.

I'm not going to do any weaving tonite.

My house looks like a tornado went thru it.  

I must do some housework maintenance...

I think I would rather take a nap if I can't weave  :)

Mixed

I'm back home from a "mixed" weekend.  

First day ~  hotter than H E double toothpicks.   Temps in the triple digits.  Mis -ra- bull...

And then mid afternoon, these suddenly showed up.

High winds and large hail coming this way!  Talk about 'grab and go'!   Tore down the display and canopy, threw it all in the truck and hightailed it to my parents where I parked in a garage.  Kinda shut the day down.

I didn't mind - I was about sick from the heat anyway.

This morning dawned cool and breezy.

The flags were at attention all day, as well as some of my rugs!

A corner of my booth.  Denim and blanket rugs. 

Today was much better than yesterday, weatherwise.  

It helps with sales, when people aren't miserable!

rise and shine!

Up and at 'em early this morning to get on the road to Horse and Buggy Days.  Two days in the park with my craft booth.  Gonna take along some extra stuff that has been languishing in the shop and see if I can sell that, too.  Things like quilted items, framed photos, and quilts/ blankets. 

All for now, hope everyone - inlcuding me!- has a great day...

2 steps forward, one step back...

So today I was going to help a young man experience weaving.  He was so excited,  right along with me! 

Got a call last night from his mom... poor boy broke his wrist last night!  So we are in a hold pattern right now for his rug :(

But on a brighter note...  This week I got my friend up and running on her structo 600 loom.  She was so intrigued by my Structo, that when one appeared locally for sale, she bought it.  Just don't tell her husband!  He thinks we bought it partnership or something.... shhhh!

She is itching to make mug rugs.  But first, we warped it up for a table runner width and she wove two rag table toppers from an old square dance dress and it's matching mens shirt.  This outfit was her friends parents' and they are tickled they could find something to do with these items instead of just leaving them hang in the closet.  We took a picture tonite, but it went home on her camera.  If you're reading this, Darda, SEND ME A COPY!

Up first thing in the morning to head off to Horse and Buggy Days.... I hear it's gonna be HOT!

Adjusting

I'm adjusting to the new schedule.  I started a new job on Monday.  It's been awhile since I've had a day in day out job.  I'm used to scheduling myself.... Guess that's gonna have to change!

This weekend is another craft fair that I'm attending.  It is the season for community happenings.  This weekend it is the Sisseton Horse and Buggy Days.  Craft booth for both Saturday and Sunday in the park.  Unfortunately, I have to tear down on Saturday evening and set back up in the morning.  Just the reality of the location and the events that are taking place at night. 

I've got rugs on the loom that will probably be cut off tomorrow after J (the young man that is trying his hand at a rug) is there.  Hopefully he can weave his rug in the afternoon and we can get it cut off for him to get busy with the tying of the fringe.  I'll have some rugs I can take with me to tie if there are downtimes.

One of my daughters will be home for the weekend and will spend a bit of time with me on Saturday, hopefully!

All for now, I"m making supper.  I'm also adjusting to not being able to visit the refrigerator at odd moments during the day.  That might actually be a good thing!

Pictures from the festival hopefully by Sunday evening.

Stress makes you stronger, right?

It was a long and stressful day.

Early start with a new job ~ that's always fun...

Then an hour weaving ~ to beat out some stress and rugs...


Then some playing in the dirt... Helped (just a little) my son with window wells, now I can feel like I can wash these windows.

When does my life become normal, again?

Sunset

A sunset picture to mark the "sunset" of my unemployment.


re'New... to begin again.

Weft strip prep

Focusing on weft preparation today.

This was a bed blanket (the color is really more like green sherbert)  I cut these blankets into one inch strips and don't bother sewing them together.  I can get two 36 - 40 inch rugs from one of these blankets.

And here is another bed blanket.  This one is woven cotton I think.  I got it at the Salvation Army planning on using it in a rug, but instead used it on my bed this past winter.  Then the stinker of a dog couldn't find his tennis ball under it and chewed a hole to get it...  So now it will get to be a rug, or two.  This was king sized and I'm sure I'll get at least 2 rugs, maybe 3 out of it.  This is a sage green.

And here are some JCPenney curtains that were at a rummage sale for a couple of bucks.  I cut them into 2 inch wide strips and sewed them together.  They are all ready to load onto shuttles and weave away.  Can't wait to see what this one turns out like!

And here's my naughty dog standing on my sofa table...  I had cleared the area for the carpenters to replace the front window.  Usually Cooper stands on the couch and checks his territory, but I guess he couldn't see from where I had pushed the couch. We had a little talk about his manners!

Bad dog - no buiscuit

I'ma gonna like this one!

Here's the newest warp I've got on the loom... Just started weaving this morning ~ two rugs down, and about 30 more to go!

Pictured is a rug made up of mens dress/khaki pants.  Lots of different colors here.  I went with the tans, browns and greens and left out the ones that were more blue toned.

In the next week, I will be hosting a couple of young people who are going to try out my loom.  They are prepping their rags and will weave a project for 4-H.  The young man wants a rug and his older sister has come up with an idea to make her rug into an accessory for her horse trailer.  Can't wait to work with these two!

Hope they have fun, and maybe it will encourage a couple more kids to try it for next year!  I'll make sure to post a picture or two, if it's ok with their mom :)

It's an improvement!

The last two days have been a whirlwind of activity around here! 

Here's a picture of where we stand now with the house...

No more tarpaper whippin' in the wind!  The new siding is on the front of the house.  Replacement window in the living room.  New patio door in place of a window in the dining area.  A window installed in the lower level (future) living/family room ~ Bonus!  Rummage sale find, only $25 dollars for a big vinyl window! My contractor was impressed :)

It would have been nice to replace the rest of the windows, but alas, the funds are just not there at the moment.  There is all new vertical siding all the way around the house, and the other three sides were filled in and sided with the pieces we scavenged from the front. 

Next up.  Paint and some dirt work....

Noisy day

My contractor finally got the crew to my place today.  They've installed a patio door, replaced a window and added a window.  Also have the new soffit all installed.  Now if the weather holds, they will be back tomorrow to get going on the actual siding. 

In between answering questions and doing a little bit of cleanup behind the guys, I sewed some on denim.  This time I'm doing greens, browns and tans.  Yes, in denim!  I think I'll get a couple of rugs out of this color scheme.

I don't dare leave these guys alone.  If I'm not here to answer questions and kind of keep an eye on them, I end up getting things put where I don't want them.   Barely caught the patio door from being put in the wrong space.  Contractor remembered it was to go as far left as possible in the hole from the window we took out.    Problem is, he was thinking left as he stood outside.  When we discussed it, we were inside!

Sometimes I wonder....

Maybe pics tomorrow, depending on how far they get!

Recycling squared...

What to do with a rag rug that is getting raggy?

I think the warp strings on this rug got caught on some nails that were exposed in the midst of this big old remodel I've got going on.

Actually, this rug is a redo a couple of times over!

First time ~ over a decade ago, I made strips and sent them away to be woven...  no loom of my own at that point ...   I kept two rugs for myself to use.  Unfortunately, these rugs weren't very tight and when they bit the dust, I didn't want to throw away all that work I did on the strips.

I figured, why not use them over again?  The rugs weren't very large, and I had a large area to cover, so I decided to make them into one rug.  I took them apart and wove them into new warp.  I loved it!

Happily used the rug until... a new puppy decided it was tasty and ate a hole out of the middle.

Back it went to the loom again!  That rug lasted a bit longer.  Until this last winter when it met it's fate.

Now it has been re'Newed again!

New life for an old rug.  Can't get any better than that!

Quiet day here for me at the homestead.  Staying in and puttering about finishing up some projects and trying to take it easy.  Of course there is the laundry I'm catching up on, but that's not too hard ~ at least until it's time to fold...

Caught up with tying fringe...

I'm set pretty good now with denim rugs, so now I get to play with some other colors again!

Here's the second "how blue am I?" rug.  This time I started light, went to dark, and back again to light.   Still only 5 pairs of jeans.   The last rug, I thought the light blue was a little too light.  This one, I think the dark is a little too dark...

And here is the little purse that I was having fun with but didn't get to the other night.  I think it turned out pretty cute!

Body of the bag is woven out of blanket fringe and the top edges are some upholstery material that I cut up and wove.   Handles are from an old purse, and I added some beads I had in my stash.  Another unique bag!

Hope everyone is having a good holiday today! 

Delayed on the road

Tonight I was planning on working on a fun purse I"m doing and put up a picture of the finished project.

Didn't happen...

Made what was supposed to be a flying trip to the nearest Menards  (60 miles one way) for soffit material so I had it on hand if my contractor ever shows up (somehow the wrong stuff got delivered).

Everything was going wonderfully until.... about halfway home in the midst of the big cell hole of no service,  I blew a front tire on my truck.

Today it was in the mid 90's and the wind has been blowing like 45 mph.  Still is.   I poop you not.

Got the tire changed.  Came home.  Did my janitor job.  Took a shower, and now, at 10:30 I am not sure I feel very creative.  :)

Vehicles hate me...