This is a coffee pot post, when I write whatever comes to mind until my last cup of coffee is empty. I use these to document the everyday details of my life, my thoughts, my plans, my dreams. Sweep out the crumbs in my brain.
When Sandy drove me home from the airport, he had a suggestion for the house that I’d been thinking of for a long time, but I never mentioned it because I didn’t think he’d go for it at all. We have now moved my studio into the front room of the house, which is long and weird and didn’t work well as a living room, but works great as a studio space, other than inadequate lighting, which can be fixed.
So instead of dyeing bundles, I have worked on moving heavy furniture, looms, bookshelves, etc. for two weeks. Well, not quite that long, since I pulled a muscle in my back when we moved the really heavy stuff, so many hours have been spent resting with cold packs and heating pads. Now that I am beginning to heal, Sandy has moved anything on the heavy side, and I have moved stacks of books and supplies a little at a time. It is frustrating to have this wonderful space set up and not be able to weave or tote water around for dyepots. But we are almost there.
I love having the sofa and big comfy chair in the former dining area next to the kitchen. I’ve spent more time on this furniture in the last two weeks that I have in years.
Theo is funny this morning. I took them both to the vet yesterday and he got his semi-annual depo shot for his allergies. It has him all charged up and playing. Lucy didn’t have a very good visit, so it is good that I finally took her in. She has a bad ear infection and a tooth problem, so she is going back on Wednesday for dental cleaning and probably surgery. Theo is scheduled for dental cleaning in September. They had blood work too. My expensive kitties. Sigh. After my experiences with Squirt, Jazz, and Guido I’m taking their dental health much more seriously than I used to.
The Back Forty is a terrible mess. We have had one of the rainiest summers ever here in North Carolina, and it isn’t even due to hurricane activity. The critters took out my field pea and green bean plants early, but thank GOD they left my butterbeans alone, because I cooked a little pot of them yesterday, about two cups. One of my okra plants escaped the ravages, so I have a few okra pods. I got a few squash and zucchini but most of them were eaten when tiny, along with all blossoms, including my cantaloupes and even my black eyed susans and purple coneflowers. The rabbits pulled down the flower stalks and ate the flower heads. If I didn’t know better I’d think that a freakin’ deer is visiting my garden every night. What green tomatoes I had are completely gone. I got one Roma tomato this summer and that was IT. Now the tomato plants are dying, there is powdery mildew on the squash, and the mosquitoes are horrible. I am DONE until frost (except for my butterbeans and okra) when I’ll try to clean everything up and decide whether to keep trying. If I do, I’ll have to build some critterproof cages and I’m just not sure I want to do that. Who knows how I’ll feel during a nice warm spell this winter, though.
The rest of my energy has gone to planning my mother’s 90th birthday party with my sister. Mama has been extremely anxious over it and driving us both crazy worrying over it and nitpicking our decisions. We have everything settled now and so hopefully she will stop now that she can’t do anything about it. I have been calling her (and vice versa) nearly every day and that is unusual for us. It will probably be the pattern for the future, and that’s okay. Mama was the one who got tired of daily phone calls when I initiated that a year ago, but now she wants to be checked on more often. I hope that she will be able to stay independent, but I know that it isn’t realistic given her spinal problems. She comes from a family of tough women, many of whom lived on their own well into their nineties, and she has good friends and neighbors as a support system. Better off than I’ll probably be, as one of the youngest in the family and without children. But let’s not think about that. I’ll be in Ireland or Vermont anyway!
slowly she turned 