Social Distancing in Arizona

It’s interesting how much our life has NOT changed since we’ve been self isolating. This is a typical day now:
Up between 6:00 and 7:00, a bit earlier than before for some reason (our minds won’t let us relax as much, I suspect.) We surf the Web, eat breakfast, and relax until 9:00 am. Then Auggie gets walked, showers are taken, we exercise and take a walk, and do little chores until mid day. A fair amount of my time goes into food preparation which is not much of a chore for me. After lunch Bob pulls out his workshop onto the driveway which is covered so he can work despite strong sun or rain. I’ve been sitting on the deck more now that the temperatures are so perfect and set up my loom or marudai to create something pretty. Neighbors walk by and chit chat, staying six feet away. There’s no pressure to finish a task quickly. Sometimes I read or connect with friends and family by phone.

In the evening we eat dinner, maybe watch a little TV (Bob enjoys war movies so he watches those in the bedroom) or I’ll read my book. We’re in bed by 10:00.

I find this to be a pretty productive time. Bob has made me some new tools to play with:

A simplified version of the Better Loom that I’m using for inkle weaving and may use in my weaving classes. I’m using one of my Handywoman Miniature Backstrap Heddles for making my sheds.

A special heddle frame that I’m using for Baltic weaving. I made string heddles for it that have a combination of regular string heddles and pattern slots that are 1 5/8” long. This allows me to easily add any number of border threads and pattern threads. Details are on my Ravelry project page. A real game changer! Now I just have to figure how to make them easily and inexpensively so that my weaving students can use them.

In the meantime, I really like the ribbon I’m weaving using 10/2 cotton and just 5 pattern threads.

I’ve been using my Schacht old style RH loom to make a fluffy blanket.

I braided a cord on my marudai, half is which was a round spiral braid and for the other half I switched patterns to make a square spiral braid. Just because I can! An interesting experiment.

Hoping you are all safe and healthy, dear reader.

A New World

Life has changed so much since I last posted only six days ago. All activities at our park have been cancelled and the pool is closed. Area restaurants, movie theaters, schools, museums, and libraries are closed. Grocery shelves are empty.

Bob and I are fine, though. I had stocked up on dried beans and grains and I’ve been sprouting seeds. The freezer is stocked with frozen veggies. I’m making soy milk and continue to make bread as needed. Bob is remodeling our utility closet, painting it and adding moveable shelves, and I’ve been weaving. I finished this bracelet the other day.

Now I’m working on weaving a baby blanket for a soon-to-be-born niece.

We are practicing social distancing and washing our hands all the time. The Canadians who winter here in the park have been recalled to Canada and there’s a mad scramble for many of them to return by March 22 when the borders will close. The recall will effect their health insurance so there is real incentive not to dawdle.

The news we hear is that the Coronavirus will most likely still be on the upswing for at least the next seven weeks, so we are assuming that we won’t be going anywhere for at least that long and most likely much longer. There aren’t a lot of people spending the summer here but we have friends who will be here for several months anyway so we won’t be alone. And I’m guessing that once everyone leaves we may be allowed to use the pool, but who knows? We will get through this.

Stay healthy, stay inside, and wash your hands often.

March in Mesa

It has been a crazy-busy time here in Arizona. I finished my rosemaling painting class, which was so much fun that I may take more classes next winter. Our final project was a decorative plate and I think mine came out quite well. I may still put a border on it.

Weaving has really taken off at this park and I have some real weavers coming along. Plus, seventeen people have signed up to take classes in the fall. Check out Holly’s pick-up band—she did such a nice job!

My loom design (that Bob built for me) came out very well and a couple of people are building their own loom using my plans. It’s a combination of my favorite features of several loom designs, and uses an 8” Ashford Sample-It Loom reed.

Speaking of weaving, I finally attempted weaving a backstrap, using a backstrap loom. I finished it today and I’m quite pleased with it.

But life has not been just about weaving; I attended the park’s annual quilt show and enjoyed seeing all the amazing quilts sewn by the people here.

There was even a table of gnomes!

On February 29 Bob and I took the light rail into Phoenix to the PHX Vegan Food Festival. It was a gorgeous day and we have fun checking out the vendors, listening to music, and sampling yummy foods. We had a great lunch, too.

We are just starting to see hoarding of staples such as toilet paper as people realize that the Coronavirus is really going to impact them in some way. The park next to ours has just today cancelled all gatherings and activities. Our singing group has been planning to put on a concert for a local assisted living facility today but right before we left we got word that all unnecessary visits were cancelled. At the moment our park’s activities continue but I expect that to end before too long. We are unaware of anyone in the park who is ill.

Bob and I are hoping that our trip across the US will not have to be cancelled or postponed but we’ll do what we have to to remain safe. I’ll keep you updated if things change.

Winter in Arizona

Winter season starts right after Christmas and is so busy in January and February that it’s hard to find time to sit and blog. I’ve been teaching weaving every week; after my first group of students finished their three initial projects they wanted to continue so it looks like weaving will be a weekly group. Everyone is having lots of fun. This woman just finished her first band.

Bob has been busy as well. He spent much of last month building a beautiful bedside dresser and we both love it. He’s so talented. This is his own original design.

Our 19th wedding anniversary was February 9 and we celebrated the week before by taking a Segway tour of Scottsdale, AZ. Neither of us had ever been on a Segway and it was so much fun. It’s a great way to see the area, too.

All February I’ve been taking classes to learn how to do rosemaling, a Norwegian style of painting. My plan is to paint a cradle loom with rosemaling which is the traditional decoration for this type of loom. Hopefully I’ll have something to show next time I blog but right now I’m focusing on the preparation work of painting the background, which is very time consuming.

While Bob was in a couple of school plays growing up, I never had the nerve to get up on stage. I must be going through a second childhood, though, because I had fun performing in the park’s annual variety show last week.  Bob did, too, which made it all the better! Bob and I were in the harmonica group and I was in the show chorus and women’s chorus as well. The theme was cowboys and we did two nights of shows to a packed house of almost 800 people.

This week we will be performing in the Mardi Gras parade with the harmonica group. It’s hard to believe that in six weeks we’ll be heading east again.

House Changes

We have been working so hard on our house since we arrived in October and are pretty much done for the season.

We ripped out the carpet in the Arizona room, had the floor leveled, discovered and fixed a leak around the back door, and installed hardwood flooring.

Before (as the room looked when we purchased it)

After

Bob and I spent most of our time painting the bedroom, which was a huge project for such a small room. I pained the walls and Bob painted the built in dresser units. He then installed new shelving and I painted a thrift shop headboard and hung new curtains. We love it!
Before

After

Bob also installed an apartment-sized dishwasher that fits perfectly in our kitchen and makes my life so much better.

In between projects we managed to find fun time for visiting with friends. It hasn’t been all work, to be sure!

Next year we’ll tackle the bathroom.

Crafting Catchup

December was a busy month for me, craftwise, and I wanted to share some of my finished projects.

It being Christmas time, I had to make a little gnome and a tiny Santa, about 3 1/2” tall. And a reindeer that ended up being used on a wreath.

I made a few mice, using Alan Dart’s marvelous patterns found here. First off was a little monk.

I decided I needed more mice, so Will Makepeace flew off my needles.

And a friend received this little guy from me as a thank you for all the help she has given me in the Fiber Arts group.

I just couldn’t stop! Next came a couple of Valentines Day mice, to decorate a shadow box I had Bob hang for me.

And I’ve just finished my version of Seamus O’Mouse, my little leprechaun.

I can’t promise there won’t be more, for each holiday we celebrate here in Mesa. I must keep my shadow box current, of course!

A couple of other projects included a baby Yoda...

...a tops turvy doll...

...and a cactus tea cosy.

Whew! That’s a lot of knitting and crocheting for one month!

2019 Reflections

It’s that time of year when we reflect back on a wonderful year of travel and fun! Last January through mid April we were in Mesa, AZ. Unfortunately we had to deal with Bob’s health scare which shook us both up, but resolved itself with time. He also had cataract surgery. During those months we did have some fun, however; I learned to play the harmonica and played in the Mardi Gras parade...

...we took a boat tour of nearby Saguaro Lake...

...and I performed in the park’s variety show.

We left Arizona in April and headed east for Tucson and were able to get to Palomas, Mexico for a little fun.

Unfortunately we suffered a series of motorhome breakdowns that had us limping (or being towed) from town to town while several repair facilities tried to fix our coolant system problems. We were towed to Fort Stockton, TX, then to Odessa where we spent a week.

We broke down again just outside of San Antonio, TX. But once Cummins tweaked something in San Antonio we were good to go. We enjoyed visiting with my sister, Gail, and saw the Witte Museum.

From there we were on to Livingston, TX, Monroe, LA, Tuscaloosa, AL, and then to Loudon, TN where we had our own concert inches from our motorhome.

We were on a series of one night hops on these trips, and while we enjoyed the scenery we were getting a little tired!

We spent the night in Salem, VA at Dixie Caverns, then pushed on to Centreville, VA before crossing the bridge from Delaware to New Jersey.

Being back in New Jersey is always fun, spending time with children and grandchildren as well as friends. Our summer was filled with activities!

South Jersey Spinners and Handweaver’s gathering

GrandCamp in Lancaster, PA

Visiting Philadelphia

We helped our daughter pack for Idaho and she and her family said goodbye to their NJ home.

After a fun filled summer Bob and I headed west again, stopping in Lancaster, PA for a little grownup tourism before continuing to to Pittsburgh.

We found the Warhol museum...

...and toured Kentuck Knob.

From there we stopped at a series of state fairgrounds. We ALMOST got stuck under a too-low bridge in Columbus, OH.

We traveled to Indianapolis, IL, then moved to E. Peoria, IL and then Dubuque, IA where we visited our niece and her wonderful family.

I checked a place off my bucket list when we got to Deborah, IA and the Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum.

Bob and I continued on across Iowa and Nebraska before turning south to Golden, CO. We used that campground as a base to visit the Schacht Spindle Company and Celestial Seasonings Tea.

We even were able to squeeze in a visit to a quilt museum and a tour of the Coors Beer Factory.

In Granby, CO we stayed at a ritzy campground and saw the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Then it was on to Pueblo, CO where we met up with friends Mike and Retha.

From Pueblo we travelled to Questa, NM, visiting the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument and  taking in the Taos Fiber Festival with my friend Marilou.

We spent a week in Santa Fe and were inspired by a giant loom in the folk art museum there.

After Santa Fe we stopped in Deming, NM for a trip into Mexico and to the dentist whom we see.

And in Tucson we saw our friends Chuck and Linda before moving on to Mesa for the winter. 

We’ve had a lovely fall and Christmas, and I will give more details next time on what’s been going on this past month.

Until then, Happy New Year!