BRRRRR

I reside right in the center of the area where we have a 'polar vortex' happening.

It's been cold and snowy, but buckle up, it's gonna get worse.

Sundogs this morning while I was checking the horses and giving them water.  It was about -15 I think at this point.  Didn't get stuck today driving in, but I did have to back out and hit the snowy area again to get through.

Because of the weather I've not been getting to spend alot of time at the loom.  Each time I'm there I do just a little bit.  Today I wove the header while I let the truck run to warm up, so next time maybe I can actually start weaving?!?  Full width on my loom here we come!

Yesterday my brother and I brought a day old calf up to the garage to warm him up a bit.  His ears were cold and he was a bit shivery.  One ear seems a little frostbit, but he warmed up quickly and was able to really dry out - he was still a little damp from being inside his mama :)   I shared my polar fleece hood with him when we brought him in.

While he was warming up I quick made a rough hood for him to take back to the barn.  We weren't sure his mama would leave the blue one of mine on, and I wasn't sure I wanted to give it up permanently.  It's still on him today!  It holds his ears next to his neck and helps keep them warmer.  It's not a perfect product, it spins so sometimes he is a little bit blind, but he finds his mama no problem.  I straightened it out this afternoon while we were doing what we could for the night.

Here's me warming up in the truck while I waited for my brother who was on the loader.  I'm in charge of opening and holding gates as well as checking waterers and hauling buckets of grain.

At this point it was only about -22.   Ugh :)

Pray for the animals that all survive tonite while it's -30 or more plus chill.  

Why do we live here?


All for now,
JULIE

Not much to say today

 Twenty eight rugs from the prior warp...

Next warp.  Full width and the first time I've attempted it....

All for now,

JULIE

More finishes

 Wool like orange and black plaid yardage created these wonderful zig zags.

 70's era bedspreads - Tried a different stripe pattern.  Kinda like it!

Surgical scrub pants come in some bright colors!  Framed in black make them really pop.

Slogging through winter

Winter can be a struggle for me.  That seasonal depression thing.  Also, the older I get, the physical demands of dealing with snow and cold and ice are harder - and more irritating.

The weather has settled finally a little bit and I've made it to the loom more, as well as a visit to friends in my old home town.  That helped the attitude a little :)

I've been weaving colors on my basic dark and light striped warp.

Just a sample!

I'm about halfway done with this warp, so I'm thinking on the next.

An order for rug warp is on the way, and as soon as that arrives I believe I will jump in and work on a full width warp for a customer.  Believe it or not, I have never done that yet!  I'm not sure how many revolutions I will go with yet.  Not sure I want that many high price rugs in my inventory.

I'm also contemplating after that warp to reduce the width of my standard rugs to 12 sections, or 24/25 inches.   I think I will try it.  Less warp, less weft, and a bit less $ per rug.  It will be an experiment. I do have a few that width from a single warp back a couple years and also a few 18 inch wide rugs from the same sort of project.

I've been getting requests for mug rugs.  I probably should try some, but they sure seem piddly!

All for now,
JULIE

Stymied

I keep getting stymied by the weather.

Snow, wind, cold, etc is keeping me either A.  too busy helping keep cows and calves alive and snow shoveled. and B. not being able to even get to the loom because of snow.

This was yesterday .... Overnight the wind picked up and blew again.  Once again I can't get there without some major snow moving.  My brother has been moving snow since the 27th...

Each time I get up there, I try to spend a little time at the loom if the wind isn't actively blowing me in.

Purple corduroy mix is what went first on the this warp.

Then the reds corduroy mix.  There is alot of orange and other colors in here, too.  I wove one, and then it was a couple days before I got back and did a second one like this.

The snow... the snow... the snow....

A couple deer took shelter under the pines right behind the house.  They left soon after we started moving about in the house.

And this is what I finished up with yesterday while I was there.  I had to bust thru some pretty big scary drifts, but the wind was calm and I felt safe enough there for the moment.  These was twill pant material in black, tan, oranges and greens.  Not my usual mix of colors, but I think it works!

So tomorrow I will have to make a concerted effort to get thru the snow to the barn to check the horses, and hopefully I will get to weave the next two rugs that I have ready to go on the shuttles.

All for now,
JULIE

We got our storm

The storm that was predicted for day after Christmas, the day all my kids would be traveling to us, came like predicted.

Wednesday it started snowing. 

The kids all made it Wednesday evening - winter weather driving made the drives unpleasant but doable.  I'm really glad the kids from the SE part of the state decided to come Wednesday night instead of Thursday morning, as they wouldn't have made it then.

Thursday morning Leah's husband helped my brother do chores and then we went to the horses to water and check them.  They were offered water, but they didn't leave the shelter to come to the water - it was blowing and cold!

I haven't been to see them since....

By Friday morning we had 12.5 inches of snow that was blown about by high gusty winds.

Photo from the warmth of the house...

My brother started pushing snow and by about 1 PM the driveway was cleared out so my kids to continue on to their father's for that Christmas get together.  I and the son in law helped my brother do chores that we could do - hauling feed buckets to the pens we could and checking to make sure waterers were open and unfrozen.  All but two we could get to without crawling through deep drifts, those two pens we could see the cows had plenty of hay, so they would be ok.

I helped feed again Friday evening and we brought 3 cows down to the barn that need to calve yet.  It got cold overnight, - 20 or so.  Ugh!  Brother was out all day moving snow so we could get closer to the other pens and to the hay.

This morning I went out right away, fed all bucket chores while more snow was being moved so we could get hay to the pens.  I filled and carried 16 - 5 gallon buckets of corn ration to 5 different pens - through snow and drifts :)   I'm tired...

We finally got all the cows with fresh hay and everyone grained - we decided to leave the 3 cows in overnight again, so they got watered and fed some hay, too.

After lunch, I went to the neighbors and fed their lone horse, while my brother started on the drive up to the barn and my horses.  If all goes as planned, I should get to them this afternoon.

All for now,

JULIE

PS.  I wish I lived in a barn that was all stocked and prepared for weather such as this - that I wouldn't need to leave until it's warm again :)

Merry Christmas

It's been a quiet day today. 

The family get together is Thursday - my kids are coming if the weather doesn't alter the plan.

My parents and I drove to my childhood church about an hour away - met my sister there and attended their childrens program and candlelight service.

After, we went to my aunt and uncles - dad's brother - and had a light supper.  There were 22 people there from church or family -  Just an intimate get together!

It was an enjoyable evening, I got to see the house I grew up in, and some cousins I don't see often.

Of course we were the last to leave, that is a family trait and normal for my parents.  :)

The other day I beamed on my next warp -

I wanted neutral so that I can use the varied wefts I have prepared.

But I just can't seem to use just black and white.

So...  The 'white' sections have natural, gray, heather and tan.

The 'black' sections have charcoal, black, maroon and purple.

We will see how well these play with the weft strips coming down the pipe.

Today I finished threading the loom.

So now I'm ready to start weaving again.

The next few days will be grocery shopping and some food prep prior to the kids coming Wednesday evening. 

That is if the weather doesn't keep them away.  There is noise that we can expect up to 20 inches of snow.  Lord, I hope that isn't what happens!

I have to get to the barn where my loom is each day to take care of the my horses.  The plan had been to move them to the main place, but so far we haven't found an empty lot for them there.  It's been good for them to be there tho, as I am able to step inside with Queenie when it's time change bandages on her injury.  The other location we would have to walk some ways to get to that darker barn that is not as wind/weather tight.

I took the ponies a little treat of homegrown apples.  They got a fresh bale of hay 2 days ago and have a shed to get into if they choose when and if the snow starts.  Daily I get to draw water for them - if there is snow they would survive if they had to, but it's not ideal so I will get there if at all possible. 


Someday I want to have a stable that is just for them.  It may be an impossible dream, but I still have it :)

All for now,
JULIE