Not a food blog

But everybody eats right? And tonight I feel like I eat like a normal person. Behold...

Mac and Cheese. Corn elbow noodles and with GF bread mix instead of the flour.

the real proof this isn't a food blog.

Most of those show pictures of beautifully set tables and neat place settings,

but the truth of the matter is that I eat my mac and cheese in a plastic bowl sitting on the bed. and I eat pickles straight out of the jar.

You might ask what has been taking up so much time that the internet no longer gets regular updates on your boredom. Mainly it has been this project.

This is the first section of the woven project, where I used a woolen weft

Then I used worsted yarn leftover from the warp for the rest of the weft, and I much preferred the effect.

The final piece is about 3 yards long and is hemmed on all sides to keep it from unraveling and to hide my unsightly selvedges

I am still here

I haven't dissapeared or anything like that. I have merely been alternately lazy and busy. My neice turned two last week and the boy was available to come in for the party so I was happy about that. He avoided the camera but the birthday girl did not.

Strange Impulses

I am still doing very well on my diet, although I have been fantasizing about homemade mac and cheese. With bacon and real cheese in it. Happily we don't have the ingredients to make me fall down. 

Today I have spent the day finishing reading all of a webcomic I decided to read from the beginning, hanging out with a handsome, blonde blue eyed young man. Who had a wonderful time playing with legos and cars. (My nephew is visiting.)

While he played I cut warp for my capstone project. Like the couch? Futon with a pink sheet and a buffalo hide on it. 

The true impulse was when Mom and I stopped at a yard sale on the way to fetch the dear boy. We spotted this lovely rocking chair and managed to purchase it for $39 and assorted change. It weighs a ton and is solid oak. My grandchildren will be rocked in this chair (to the tones of bob dylan, johnny cash and classic rock and roll, just like me) The chair is massive and can only be gotten in the house via the front door, which we never use. 

For scale understand that those two tupperware boxes are next to the chair, 

not further behind it, and they are as tall as the bottom of my rump.

The diet is nearly two weeks old and I think I am feeling a difference. I've felt well, and I've not been nearly so tired and depressed. 

new things

I suppose food and yarn go together well. Its all in that creative domestic homeade sprit. 

A week ago I decided to experiment with a gluten free diet, pending some medical tests that can't be done for another few months. The first week has been interesting. The first couple day went great, I scrounged and was able to eat a good lunch and dinner. Day 2, I had a car wreck and I went to stay with the boyfriend's family for a bit. My car looks like this...

I was able to eat that night, thanks to thai food, but the thai place goofed and put spices on mine and I'm pretty sure it had some soy sauce (on the no-no list) too. Close enough for day 2 though. 

Day 3, a friend's birthday so I get to sit and watch the boy and his best friend eat pizza and drink guiness. Followed by more watching other people eat really tasty things and being stuck with scrounged food from the menu. Most of which was suspect. It was still a good day, I bought noro silk garden sock yarn and new sock needles.

From there on things have gotten a bit easier, I have found some basic foods I can eat and I'm planning on focusing on foods that are naturally gluten free. Today I tried out a GF bread mix (see results above) and it is currently cooling in the kitchen. I have a feeling it won't turn out as expected, but that would be due to user error more than anything else.

Camping in the rain, funner than singing

I spent a long weekend out at Point Pleasant reenacting the Battle of Fort Randolph.  Mom and I drove out Thursday evening, leaving Dad to work on Friday and follow us up. On Friday we presented to school children about history and crafts and that sort of thing. They loved it and I loved the looks on their faces as the entered the fort. Aside from the children about it was like stepping out of one age and into another.

The fort itself has had a rough year, the building which I am in front of in this picture was burned by arson in February and while it was nearly completed for the event the loss of many of the items inside was certainly felt. The fire brought blessings in the form of helping hands and new interest from all over the state of West Virgina.

While I was presenting I was also able to finish spinning the warp for my capstone project, which is a big milestone and to me means a whole new step in the process of creating this textile.

On Saturday the rain came, but we held the battle and the drills in spite of this. The guns still fired and the indians still lost. One of these years they will manage to take us out ;) My job in the battle is to load guns and the rain made that a bit tricky. My dad and Henry only got about 90 shots fired this year. That is me in the wet red skirt below, there was one other woman fighting on this side, but she is hidden in the men.
Here is dad in the smoke working to load up while still keeping the rain out of the barrel and lock.

today has been pretty productive. I did not wake up at the time I had planned, but considering how I felt yesterday that was okay. I spun most the day, working at a pretty good pace too. Then I cleaned and knit some and did a little drop spindling. I also made dinner and washed the dog today. 

This is what I'm working on with the drop spindle

things you do not want to find in your yarn

So I have been doing (and am still doing) a major clean in my room at home. Its so full of crap that I can’t move or do any of the things I want to do so I’m doing the old box and toss routine with a vengence. In doing so I found a bag tossed in a corner (far from other yarn) containing some very very tangled hemp thread from my weaving days. I pulled a handful out of the bag to access the tangles and immediately jumped when I saw this. 

Yes, a snake shed its skin in my bag of yarn. This may have been the single most horrifying moment of my life. I’m not normally squeamish but if I find the snake that goes with it I may not set foot in my room ever again. Snakes are fine, OUTSIDE!

Home again

I have moved from my life being ruled by and surrounded by this

to be surrounded by all of this

and this