Wow! Dusty in here isn't it?

Oh boy - look at all the cobwebs! Excuse me while I do a little housekeeping. Gotta get all those dust bunnies in the corner, too. And the film on the windows - let some light in. It's such a sunny day, but it's kind of dim right now.

There, that oughta do it - LOOK! I can see out the windows now - and, there's a floor underneath all that dust.

Whew! Glad that's done.

It's been almost a year since I left the college, choosing retirement so I could live a life less 'stressful'. Many things have happened along the way - lots of bad, but lots of good to balance the scale. Life does go on, no matter what.

My grandson, Grady, is growing like the proverbial weed. He's a joy to his parents, but especially to me. Even of temperament, handsome and now with two teeth, has the most beautiful smile one could ever behold.

I've opened shop on Etsy (you can see my mini-Etsy off the bottom left). I had intended it for a showcase for my work, but so far haven't gotten much of the good stuff up. BUT, (you knew that was coming, didn't you?) it is serving a purpose, if for no other reason than to create a following and introduce me to the world of supporters of handmade.

Like any good craftsman or artist, I have stashes for many different media (you know - just in case...) but, I've run out of room! I did have some help, though, it's not all my fault! There was one big-time enabler that had a hand in all of this. I just love enablers, don't you? (BWEG) Maybe because it takes one to know one?

A long, long time ago (back in the dark ages) I did a lot of beadwork - and sewing - and lots of other things. I've knitted for years and love spinning my own yarn. I also dearly love working with clay and anything else that 'makes' something.

Some time ago, an insurance adjustor made me get rid of many of my supplies due to smoke damage after a house fire. (I really needed to redo the kitchen, but I don't recommend this method for redesigning/redecorating/rebuilding/reconstruction.) Among those supplies were several tins of buttons - her rational was that because many of them were plastic, the smoke would have penetrated and they would be unusable, thus rendering them 'not economically recoverable'.

Since I use vintage buttons as embellishment for my knitting needle jars and some of my felted work like hats, handbags and the like, I needed buttons - not any ordinary buttons, but vintage shoe buttons, sew-through mother of pearl buttons, colorful plastic buttons. The kind of buttons one can only find in those buttons boxes handed down from grandma to mom to daughter. I was at a loss - and, I did a lot of whining about it! One of my family decided to haunt the auctions and garage sales and thrift stores and anywhere there was a jar or box or tin or bag of buttons, picked them up and brought them home.

I was sorting buttons in my sleep! I didn't need ALL those buttons, so since Etsy also allows vintage items and especially supplies, I decided to list them there and give all the ones I don't need/can't use new homes.

I've also discovered that I can no longer work with wool - I've always had a mild allergy to it - I could spin it or knit it - I just couldn't wear it. However, it seems that the condition has become full-blown. What to do with all those lovely wool fibers and yarns that I had plans for? What else? Etsy!!

Next will come the beading supplies that I no longer need or want, and then the fabrics that will never see the light of day as a finished project, and then the technical magazines and books that need to go somewhere besides my bookcase(s).

I can't believe how well this is working - I won't bother with eBay - the fees are too high and I don't really want to do the auction thing. I'll still do some of my shopping on eBay, but for selling purposes, Etsy is where I'm going to stay. It's easy, affordable and I've met some wonderful people - not only as customers, but as sellers as well.

Well, there's my bit of self-promotion for today. I have to go - stuff to list since I have all the pictures ready to go. (The camera is another story for another day.)

Remember -

Life is a work of art,
Created by the one who lives it.

Here's a little something I found in the garden the other day - yes, he's real:


See you soon!

Grandma Lori

It's Official! (yes, I'm trying this again...)

Yesterday was the first day of the month - the first of many yet to come - I received my first real pension check yesterday. It must be real - I must really - after all these months - be retired. I had no idea how good retirement would feel.

So, today after finishing another batch of apple butter (made really, really slow so it's a deep, rich brown, thick and just a little tart) and a small batch of salsa with the last of all those tomatoes I put in this year, I checked my email one last time so I could get on with evening commitments and found my long-awaited invitation to 'Ravelry' - www.ravelry.com - it's a forum for knitting-crochet-fiber people that is by invitation only. I had submitted my interest back in July - last week I was still down about 8,000 and some on the waiting list. Of course, I just had to get right to business and get my 'account' set up.

OK, so I get to checking out the groups and forums and discussions and everything else offered and what do I find, but this wonderful blog - http://www.goodyarnkarma.blogspot.com/ - well, wouldn't you know - I found some yarn that I could maybe trade for some of this sock yarn that seems to have found it's way into my stash.

Did you ever notice how you find one site that really appeals to you, then you click on a link to another and find something else that really interests you, but you see another link to click on and by the time you've spent a couple of hours clicking on those links, you have no idea what you were looking at or for in the first place. I'm retraining myself to NOT click on those extra links. So far, I'm flunking. I'm headed back to Ravelry now so I can finish setting up my account, which I started to do about an hour ago and haven't finished yet, because I've been clicking on those damn links and gotten everywhere but where I need to go. (Wait!! Did I just see a white rabbit hop by?)

It's late again - more tomorrow - there's another huge pot of apples on the stove that needs attention. The last of the apple butter for this year - and, no more salsa or tomato sauce!!!!!

Happiness doesn't come from having things, it comes from having things you can find! :)

Well, this is embarrassing.....

This is the second time I've written this post - it was originally titled -

"Officially Retired!"

I had it all written, comlete with a picture I wanted everyone to see - one of the reasons I enjoy rising early each morning. I had clicked on the picture to enlarge it and make sure it was the one I wanted to upload - I hadn't saved the draft, Blogger wasn't autosaving and when I hit the 'back' button to go back to my draft - yup, it was gone.....

So, now we're starting from scratch - I've got a pretty terrific memory, but some things just don't hang around in the brainbox - especially when you're writing from the heart.

I am now (as a friend once put it)

"Unemployed with dignity!"

I never realized just how hard it is to retire from a job one loves, how difficult it would be to leave behind those friends that you're so close to and have come to think of as family - how much I would look forward to getting up each morning and planning my day without having to actually plan it.....

I've not yet cleaned my studio, but I've at least gotten the top layer of dust off the furniture in the house. The kitchen hasn't been re-arranged yet, but the laundry is all done for the first time in ages instead of in bits and pieces, just getting by.

I really do need to find some kind of schedule I can live with from week to week - that studio needs to be put to rights first. The spinning and knitting and felting (oh, alright - FULLING) can be put aside for a while and the patterns I've been writing and working up are stored in a folder on the laptop for the time being.

So, here's one of the reasons I look forward to each morning - an example of what God's paintbrush can do:





It was wonderful, standng in the parking lot, pointing at the sky and just turning to catch the 'brushstrokes'.

You know, I've just deleted the last half of this post again - it was profound.....

So, since this message seems to be doomed, I'm outta here for now - more tomorrow.

Night all - be well!

Almost retired!

That's how I'm going to sign my emails at work until the end of this week - 3 days to go!!!!

If you're reading this Jenny, I'm almost ready to devote much of my time to what I enjoy the most - and what I think I do best - making!

I know it's been a good 2 months since I last posted - it's been a very busy, very traumatic time. Life takes it's toll - then it gives back. Sometimes in equal amounts, sometimes more, and rarely less than what it's taken.

In my few free moments I've tried to keep my hands busy. As you can see, I've had expert help from Clyde. He's a very tough critic.

I've come across some incredible fibers - I'm trading some of my llama/angora blend for a tiny bit of alpaca from a nurse friend. She's a very talented spinner and as you can see from the photo, I use spindles as well as the wheel found in my favorite fiber shop. Spindles do have their place, though, in my spinning repertoire - I can take them anywhere because they're quite portable. Right now, I'm concentrating on finding or building a slabroller for my clay work.

I seem to have a strange fascination for things that go round - a good friend and I were discussing that very briefly a couple of weeks ago - I'm not the only one with those tendencies. Fiber artists and potters seem to gravitate to pretty much the same things and interests, it seems.

Several potters on this huge discussion list I subscribe to are also avid knitters. Several of the spindlers on a couple of other lists are very involved in clay work.

I had a dream the other night that woke me with the best laugh I've had in ages - I was spinning yarn with my kickwheel. I can only imagine that it's a possibility - maybe I should try it - well, maybe not. It's an interesting concept, though, don't you think?

Here, let me show you a picture of what my kickwheel looks like -

Not the little electric wheel in the front, but one of those large, mega-weight fellas off the the right of it - that's what I have in my studio. I can't show you mine, because my studio needs a thorough cleaning - as does the wheel - and you wouldn't be able to see it for the clay caked all over it right now. Bad potter!!! Bad, bad potter!!!! Gotta get that studio cleaned!

Really, I don't normally keep my studio and work space in such a mess - time just hasn't been on my side much lately. But, SOON!!!!

For the record, the picture is of the pottery lab at the college - I can only dream of having that much space to work in.

Can you imagine spinning yarn on such a contraption? Can you understand just WHY I woke up laughing so hard? Yeah, I thought so.

Two of my friends asked me today what I was going to do this week-end since my hitch it up as of Friday - my reply was very simple. It's not the week-end that I'm going to start my so-called retirement - week-ends are week-ends! But, come Monday morning, the first thing I'm going to do is (drumroll, please) NOT go to work. THAT's what I'm going to do to start my 'retirement'.

I almost did that this week already. Monday morning, 7 a.m., sitting in the back yard with my coffee and enjoying the hummingbirds and chipmunks and the little shrew that competes with the chippies (and there's also a little bunny coming to visit now) - I suddenly realized that I still had to go to work. Bummer!

This is one of the little hummers that frequent the backyard (what a friend calls my 'sanctuary' - she's right).

I knew hummingbirds are territorial - very social, but very territorial. This little fella chases away the bees that hang around the feeder. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. There are at least 3 hummingbirds that visit each day - each has his (or her) own favorite feeder, and heaven help another that tries to invade that territory! They are, however, so social with people that I can stand within a couple feet of them while feeding (the birds, not me).

I didn't realize how late it's getting to be - I need to be in good shape for tomorrow. I'm not sure just what the boss has planned, but there's been something brewing all week. Lots of smiles and snickers, but no clues. A very large cake appeared last Friday - it was great sharing with my friends and what has become my extended family - in some cases, very close family. But, I'm not sure I'm prepared for what ever is going to occur tomorrow. I'll be surprised no matter what happens - and grateful that the people I've spent so much time with these past years have become the close friends that they are.

Oh, how about a look at the cake? A full sheet - isn't it great?



Time to go - I'll do better about posting - really!!

Later!!

Lori