One of those days.

Nothing awful.

Nothing tragic.

Nothing.

Feeling kinda blah.

Guess that's what prompted the baking of these...

 It's been awhile since I baked.

Don't need the calories, but needed the comfort food fix, I guess.

I'm glad I signed up for the weaving weekend - at least the middle day, that is -  I need a day...

Can't wait.

photo evidence

I've mention here in passing the wet conditions around here abouts...

A facebook friend posted photos today he took while up on a plane ride.  Thought I'd share.

Here's just one...

That's the town I live by - that cluster up in the top right corner?

And, no, we don't live by lakes.  These are fields, roads, and homes that are covered in water. 

And there's no place for it to go except up thru evaporation.  We're kinda flat around here.

This is a common occurance... My cousin posted this picture.  I think this was the 3rd incident with different equipment and in different places that day.

Here's a picture of a county highway.  Believe it or not, this was paved.  So wet that there is no base anymore.

These are not isolated areas.

It's everywhere.  Town southwest of here about 20 miles has no roads that are safe to get to it.  You can get there on ONE road- driving thru water...

We need it to stop raining and snowing.

A productive day,

with very little effort!  :)

Slept in this morning, Yay!

Delivered paper/cardboard to the recycling truck.

Started calling around looking for some hay to buy for my "hay burners".

Wasn't having much luck and was getting kind of worried ~ but then, I got a "sure I've got some and can I deliver it this afternoon? "  Horses are happy again....

Sold a car!  My son posted the old school car on craigslist this morning and it's already gone!  Woohoo!

And my new glasses came in the mail today!  No more seeing around a big old scratch~ lol!

Tonite I hope to warp my structo loom with a scarf project for next weekend, and I'm in the middle of making potato salad for a casual Easter dinner that is here tomorrow.

The house could use a quick sweep and hide, and that's about it for today.

Oh, and I even took a nap.

All for now~ JULIE 

Gorilla hands

The day turned into a pleasant springtime, sunny, fluffy clouds kind of day.  Surprising since it started out with heavy snow coming down almost horizontally this morning on my way to work...  Like my private lake?  :)


Surprise, surprise - the horses have stayed in the fence the last two days.  I'm guessing it's that I moved the fence so the hay is inside with them.  Unfortunately the hay is almost gone.  Hope the grass comes quickly! 

Trying to decide what yarn to use on my next scarf.  Need to get that warped up for next weekends Weaving Weekend.  I'm leaning toward the purpley stuff.

So, back to the title of this blog post. 

I was all set to show you the state of my hands.  They are a bit worse for wear - Tiling and Grouting are tough on the hands, and working in what is basically a machine shop helping build fan clutches gets a little dirty,  too.

So I took a picture - and then when the photos came up full screen size first thing I thought was.  "holy cow" my hands look like gorilla hands.  Not black, mind you, but all wrinkly and weird looking, you know?

I think I'll spare you the image!  :)

I've been moisterizing, moisterizing, moisterizing.   Not working.  I've got cracks, and scrapes, and wrinkles.  No black fingernails yet, but it's gonna happen working with heavy metal parts. 

Good think I'm not  a hand model!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow afternoon.  It will be the start of 3 days off.  Can't remember the last time I had that!  I plan on sleeping.  A bunch.

And I might weave a little, too :)

All for now~  JULIE 

Ugghh.

It appears winter has returned to our part of the country.  Friday it snowed heavily enough they called school early.  It was terribly windy and icy, so good reason to send kids home. 

And it's snowing again, tonight.

Well, good news tho, I'm done with the ceramic tile project at my friends'.  Good thing - I'm a tired girl :)

I spent a quiet day today.  My boy was home for the weekend so we went out to lunch/dinner - whatever all of you call it - and ate buffet.  Didn't have to cook that way.

Wove one denim rug.  My arms and hands hurt!  Too much heavy lifting at work and tiling/grouting at night, I guess.

A couple of the horses went for a morning jaunt this morning.  I got a phone call about 9 am that they were visiting again.  Went and got them, and then beefed up the electric fence. 

Can't wait for permanent fence.  I've put it off because I have an auto waterer I want to install- Don't want to build a fence to take it down again.  Can't do that till it dries up some.  Won't do that until it stops the dang snowing! 

From the newspaper, I know it's the 3rd snowiest winter we've had since records were kept.  Over 80 inches this year.  We have major road and flooding problems in the area  - but so far I'm ok except for general mud.  Could be worse I guess.

Yet still tonite I must fold my laundry and pack a lunch for tomorrow.  Hoping for an early bedtime - I could probably go now and fall asleep :)

Can't believe it's almost summer time for college kids.  My son will be home for the summer in two weeks.... I'm thinking it's gonna be nice to have someone in the house - except he's going to be working the opposite shift that I am - but maybe that's a good thing :)

All for now - JULIE

Weaving stars tonite

Tonite I found myself weaving some stars.

A flannel bedsheet woven into a narrow rug warp.  I'm liking it :)

I took a day off from work-

I needed to go to the eye doctor.  

It had been 5 years. 

I used to go every year, or at minimum every 2 years. 

I needed a prescription to give to work to get safety glasses ordered.

I ordered everyday glasses and even allowed myself the luxury of new prescription sunglasses.  

You can't imagine the sense of relief I have that I can actually do this without having an anxiety attack over how I would pay for it.   

I've worked for a month and this is the first "extra" I've allowed myself. 

It is hard to let go when you've tight fisted it for so long!

I also did a few other random errands and even had lunch with my sister and a cousin from North Dakota who called unexpectedly while he was in town.  

Amazing how a day like today can wear a person out just like a full 10 hour shift at work.  

I didn't feel like washing dishes or cleaning house,

so I played among the stars, instead :)

Julie

In the scheme of things

My rugs and weaving aren't that important...

My worries aren't that worrisome....

My problems aren't that problematic...

My aches and pains are forgettable...



In the scheme of things,  I am the luckiest mother / parent in the world.


My neighbors across the road are living a parents nightmare - a 14 year old daughter suddenly gone.

A sudden illness seems to have caused an unknown diabetic condition to rear it's ugly head.

And now a sweet friendly neighbor girl who loved to come visit my horses is gone.



I can't imagine the pain...










.

Wonder where I've been?

Hidyho everyone! 

Trying to be upbeat here today.  It's raining.  And that's not a good thing in these parts... 

Gloomy, wet, raw and blustery out there-

But I got to see babies today! 

A local 4-H Club had a Baby Animal Day as a fundraiser today.  And it was just 3 houses down from me. 

So I had to go :)

They had baby ducks and chicks...

A baby calf (with a cast on his broken leg...)

Lambs of several different colors and ages.

Bunnies.

Kid goats - My Favorite!

There were also some adult geese and a pig there, too.

Fun for the 4-H kids and the town kids that don't get to see animals up close, much less babies!

Other than that, it's a 'get things done day'.  I'm doing laundry, washing dishes, paying bills (nope, still haven't gotten that done!) and other assorted stuff that doesn't get done during the week.  Also did some cooking and prep work for sack lunches for the week.  It's nearly impossible to get a lunch built at 4 am :) - so I need to have all the parts ready and packed the night before.

Yesterday I went to my Fibre Arts guild monthly meeting.  I don't knit or spin, so that is always interesting to watch and listen-  End of this month there will be a weaving weekend that I'm going to attend- well, at least the Saturday part... Can't wait!  I do need to get a scarf put on my structo so I can take that along to work on while there!

This past week flew by.  My evenings were taken up with meetings and helping a friend put in ceramic tile in their bathroom.  I'm hoping my evening this week I'll be able to stay home and do some of MY stuff!

All for now~  Julie

FlutterbyTotebag

This bag has been hanging around waiting on handles for more than a few months.  Waiting on me to find the right  handles...   Found 'em!  A repurposed belt with decorative punched holes and brass look spots.  Then I came across this flutterby (that's what my girls called butterflies when they were little) belt buckle.  It's the same color as the spots on the handles- that's why it 'fits' on this bag :)

I also did a little bit of work in my entryway.  I've been lagging on the finishing in there.  All that is left is the type of thing that is going to take some creativity and piddling to make it all work....  It's gotta get done!  I'm feeling the urge to start on my kitchen / dining area and I'm not letting myself start until my entry is finished ... I'm NOT!

Tired already tonite.  Silly me forgot to turn off my alarm clock last night when I went to bed.  The only morning I could sleep in and my alarm rings at 4 am...  Duh...  I did manage to go back to sleep after I moved to the couch and turned on the tv, but that is hard on my neck.  Better than nothing, tho~

My take up beam on my loom is slowly filling up, so it won't be long before I'll have some small rugs to show off.  Realized it's the first week of the month.  That is always busy with meetings- have 2 this week and I really should do my bills and paperwork and get that done.  Why is it so hard to just do it?  Once I get started it's fine, but the starting is the problem for me.

Work is going well, but I am not looking forward to 4 am again in the morning...

All for now~

Julie

What else????

As from my previous post,  you know I lost my Mr Pudgy. 

It was totally unexpected!  He hadn't been sick, or slowing down, or anything!  Hard to believe....


I came home from work and while I was on the phone I went into the living room and there he was lying on the blanket on the chair.   Sigh.  At least it was quick and he wasn't sick or feeble.  Good way to go I guess.


So tonite I came home, and right away, before I even got in the drive I knew something was wrong. 

No horses in sight. 

Really?

Found them down the road "talking" to the neighbors' stud. 

Fun.

Did I mention I have all mares?  This could be a long spring.

So after 10 long hours at work today - 50 hours this week, I was slogging around in the mud and snow fixing fence. 

And I work tomorrow, bright and early at 5 AM! 

Not sure I wanna come home tomorrow to see what there is to find....