We Get Company & Auugie Gets Teeth Pulled

Today was a very full day for us. Bob and I got up early and took Auggie over to the local veterinarian to get his teeth cleaned. Little did we know that he would need NINE teeth pulled as well. Poor guy. He has been pretty groggy from the dental surgery all evening.

Pretty much all of his upper teeth are gone except for his canines. It looks like he's going to have to be on a soft food diet.

K.C. the cat had a great day, however! Our manager, Joe, brought over some catnip toys for him and K.C. had a blast playing with them and batting them all over the coach. Sorry to say, our kitty did not miss Auggie at all! While they tolerate each other and even lie side by side at times, their relationship is not yet a close one. Perhaps given enough time...

Bob and I met some wonderful people in Bradenton, FL this past fall, and today we were excited to see them again. Mike and Retha, on their way to Tucson, have stopped to stay in our campground for a couple of nights, along with their twelve dogs that travel with them. Yes, I said twelve dogs! Mike and Retha used to breed and show Japanese Chins, a breed that is related to Pekingese dogs, and when they went on the road the dogs naturally came along. These little dogs are seasoned travelers, and several of them are senior citizens. It takes a lot of organization to care for twelve dogs and fortunately these folks are very organized! They tell us that rarely does anyone in a campground even realize that they have more than four. To an outsider, Japanese Chins all look the same, and since Mike and Retha walk four at a time (and the dogs are so quiet) people assume there are only four being walked over and over.

As I was straightening up today I came across this card that my Dad gave to me when I graduated from college in 1997. Dad had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's by that time but was still able to write (and to write well!) This card means so much to me and every time I come across it it's like getting a hug from him. Dad passed away twelve years ago and I miss him terribly.

I think about what Bob and I had to do to become full-time RVers, and his words are as fresh as if he wrote them yesterday.  I'll keep tucking this card in a different place each time I come across it, so I can continue to find it when I least expect it.

El Camino Real Museum

On Sunday Bob and I visited the El Camino Real Museum, about a half hour north of the town of Truth or Consequences, NM. The weather was warm but very windy, and we were feeling the cabin fever from being inside so much.

 The entrance to the museum was very dramatic, surrounded by desert landscapes.

Inside and downstairs was the entrance to the movie theater, where we viewed a brief film about El Camino Real de Terra Adentro, meaning "the royal road to the interior lands." Twenty two years before the Mayflower landed, this road was created by the Spanish Conquistadors to connect the city of Vera Cruz in Mexico to Santa Fe, NM.

Inside the museum is a courtyard in Spanish and Mexican style. 

 Beautiful art and sculptures are featured.

A typical mercado, or marketplace 

Clothing such as that which would have been worn four hundred years ago. 

Bob in front of vintage postcard posters. 

A two wheeled cart, of the type used by travelers along the historic road.

El Camino Real traversed scenes such as this.

We brought a box lunch and ate it while surrounded by beautiful desert vistas.  

After we returned home I spent the rest of the weekend sewing slippers for two more of our grandchildren. Jillian and Alex will receive these. 

Tape Loom Progress and More Slippers

I had a fun time today sewing slippers for two of my granddaughters, Quinn and Eve. They both love dogs so I chose two different doggy prints from my fabric stash. These took me a total of about four hours, to make two pairs. I'm getting faster! I did experience my first snap mistake, putting two snaps on the wrong side, but it was easily fixed by using cuticle scissors to cut the snap away, then re-applying new ones facing the right direction. And I finally have a use for those cuticle scissors!

Bob was busy today, too, and spent some time working on my tape loom. I think it's looking so good, and I am having a blast designing my very own loom. I decided that the uprights that hold the warp beam needed to be higher so that the top of the beam would be about the same height as the holes in the heddle. The box has been screwed together and Bob got a plug maker so he can eventually hide the screws. This will make the loom look like a vintage one. 

I believe that the next step will be to rough fit the cloth beam and the cogs. And I have asked for a handle on the back beam. This is such fun! By the way, if you are on Ravelry you can see more details of the progress of the loom on my project page. 

We are enjoying it he weather this weekend here in New Mexico, with temperatures in the low 70s. Next week it will turn cold again for a few days so we appreciate what we have now. The weekends have been very pleasant--we've been lucky.

Slippers

Today I tried out a slipper pattern that I purchased from Etsy from BeautifulPieShop. This pattern has its own Facebook group for lots of inspiration, and I liked the face that I could make any size from newborn to adult sizes (there's even a doll slipper pattern, too!) I plan to make slippers for all the grandchildren. But before I use my handwoven fabric in a slipper I want to know I like the pattern. And that it fits me.

So, ta-da!

.

Here it is. By the way, it is not an easy task to take a photo of a slipper with your foot in it! It took me much of the day to sew these, in part because I was sewing a rather cantankerous leather-like fabric, I but I know the next one will go quickly. People claim they can knock these slippers out in 45 minutes. But do NOT expect that the first time. I had to rip out a couple of seams in there and re-sew at one point, but I persevered. I like the snaps, too, and there was a bit of a learning curve to use the KamSnap setter, but it was not hard. You may notice the cuff is a bit crooked, but that's because my ankles are, shall we say, sturdy? No worries though, at least they do the job! I may alter the cuff pattern to make them to fit my unique shape.

Bob has been working on my loom. I designed some ratchets that I like better than the original plans and Bob cut them out.

He then glued up some cherry for the beams and did a rough assembly of the warp beam, enough so decisions could be made as to placement of the beam uprights. The plans we have are not really detailed so a lot of details are left up to the woodworker.

Rock Hunting in Hatch, NM

Our friends Joan and John offered to take Bob and me out into the desert to look for minerals, something we had never done before.  We met up in Hatch, NM at Sparkys, home of the World Famous Green Chili Burger.

 And what a cool place this was! Sparkys has a collection of kitschy items that hang on the wall and are tucked into corners. We were greeted by this seal named Harbie, a former gas station mascot.

 We also saw Colonal Sanders and Ronald McDonald out front. Over our table was a huge moose head.

After we finished admiring the decor we had a great lunch. We ordered the World Famous Green Chili Hamburgers and I tried the pineapple coleslaw and a lemonade. Yum! I can see why they are World Famous! We will come here again.

Then it was on to the rock hunt. We rode with Joan and John to the entrance of BLM land a little over a mile away. BLM is short for Bureau of Land Management, federally owned land that is open to the public and is often leased to cattle owners for grazing. We drove about 6 miles in, along a dirt road that was in pretty good shape. When we reached a spot where the road had been washed out, we parked and started hunting. It was a pretty area with mountains in the distance, and with temperatures in the 60s we soon shed our jackets. It was a perfect rock hunting day.

Joan gave us a quick lesson in some of the various minerals found in the area, including jasper, black onyx, Quartz, and Druzy, which is a rock that has little sparkly bits that look like sugar embedded in it. I just picked up rocks that looked pretty or interesting.

This one was too big to bring home but shows jasper, a smooth rock that breaks into sharp shards. We had a really nice time meandering in the desert. It was so quiet and peaceful and saw not another soul out there. After a while it was time to return to our car and we made plans to meet up with Joan and John again in February.

I now have a big bag full of rocks and a lot of great memories of our day with our friends. Life is good!

Bob's Tape Loom Project

For years I have looked at antique box looms, aka tape looms, and have wanted one. So my wonderful husband said he would build me one as soon as we were in a campground that had a workshop. Well, that time has come. Bob ordered some cherry lumber, I decided on a design, and he is building it. So far he has done the basic cutting out of the box base and the heddle.

It's not glued up or finished yet but you can see the size and shape of the loom. Next will be building the warp beam and cloth beam, with handcrafted ratchets and pawls. We are using plans that we found on the Internet as a springboard for the design for this loom, with some changes. When the loom is all finished I will go over those changes, but the basic plans are here.

Today we were not scheduled to work so while Bob was up at the shop working on my loom I was weaving. I am using Cascade 220 for warp and weft on my 20" Ashford Knitters Loom, and weaving cloth to be felted for my slipper project.

As you can see, there are some asymmetrical stripes on one side of the warp for added interest. And also because I knew I would not have quite enough of the dark blue warp yarn to go all the way across! If I don't like that after it is felted I can always use it for the soles. I'm still not sure what pattern I will use, though. There are some free ones online or I may just buy a pattern.

My NuWave Induction Cooker

I don't go for a lot of gadgets but I recently purchased one that has greatly improved my ability to cook in a small space. It's the NuWave Induction Cooktop. Before I bought it I had to convince Bob that adding something to the kitchen would save space; sounds counterintuitive, doesn't it? Typically when preparing a meal I will only use one burner--Bob grills some meat and I prepare either a salad or a vegetable. Sometimes brown rice or a potato. But I have to open up my range lid and uncover three gas burners just to use one. This takes up a large amount of my prep space.

No more! My new induction burner gives me precise temperatures and takes up little space on the counter. It workers with my Presto stainless steel pressure cooker and my cast iron pans, as well as my La Cruset pot. I just love it.

In fact, I am giving away my rice cooker because it is so easy to make brown rice in the pressure cooker, using this cooktop.  I can use it to slow-cook and make yogurt with it. Plus, in confined spaces it is much safer than using an open flame. I don't have to run the overhead fan when cooking, either, like I do when cooking with the propane cooktop. It wipes clean easily, too. This gadget is a winner in an RV!

I have warped up my 20" wide Ashford Knitters Loom to weave fabric to be felted, for slippers. I plan on working on this project tomorrow. Pictures to follow!