Zooming in

I zoomed out as far as the camera would go to get this.

When I tried to get closer, he took to the sky,

circled around to taunt me,



and flew away.

Stripping

I recently acquired 10 yards of this beautiful fabric. My plan is to make placemats and a table runner for the church bazaar.



To weave with the fabric, I first need to cut it into 1 1/2 inch strips. Weaving catalogs have a black cast iron strip cutter that seems to be the tool of choice. My choice is to not spend the $180 if I can avoid it.



I ordered this little gizmo on line. It uses various arrangements of sharp blades to create different width strips.



You then pull the fabric through it to cut strips. In this case, I got what I paid for. It's supposed to clamp on your table, but in actuality, it hooks and the only table I have with enough lip to hook it on is the coffee table. It worked pretty well with strips one yard long, but the 10 yard strips take too much start and stop. I have to get on my knees and pull about five feet through and then regrip it and pull another length. It doesn't come out perfectly straight but probably good enough.



Here's a view of a placemat on the loom. The blue on the ends is a header that will be turned under and stitched down.

Friday My Town Shoot Out: Circles

Circles can hold things together.



Circles can light up your home.



Some circles are very old.



Circles can take you from one place to another.



Circles can make you dizzy.



Circles can give you comfort.



Circles can make you look famous.

Traveling Hammer

I've read some blogs that talk about digital logos. I've given some thought to the elements that I would include in mine, if I had one. My three year old grandson answered the question for me in a very frugal style. I have re-created it above for your viewing pleasure.

On that note, I'm wondering if I shouldn't change my blog name since I haven't helped with a build for a year.

To get motivated, I've been studying the Habitat for Humanity build listings for the spring, summer and fall. Read about the Care-A-Vanners here. Last year was the first that I haven't participated in one or two builds since I started volunteering. Right now, I'm considering Sheridan, WY; Winona, MN; Talequah, OK; or Woodland Park, CO.

Another consideration is that taking 2-3 weeks in the middle of the summer can ruin my yard for the year. It's hard to find someone to feed and play with the dog, mow the grass and water the trees on my little acreage. Expensive, too.

Maybe all this wondering and studying is an indication of cabin fever. The seed catalogs have arrived, surely spring will be here soon. Right?

Where have I been, you ask.

Such kind readers to miss me when I don't post. I think my most faithful reader is my mom, who by the way will be 85 years young this week.

After all my family left at Christmas, I got back to a little weaving. I made this scarf with some leftover yarn. I think it's pretty, but I don't like it. Does that makes any sense?

I took these pictures this last weeekend.

These little monkeys

were building a birdhouse.

They only had one pair of safety goggles, but they seemed to work it out.

These ladies weren't exactly interested in each other, but the one with hair was fascinated by the fluff on her cousin.

Then, there was new game called "rescue". Near as I can tell, it involved one boy laying in the toybox while the other played with the toys. Maybe details will evolve the next time they meet.

.....the sun going down on me.

Just for fun, a photo taken from Exit 79 on I-70 about sundown today. The picture reminds me of this lyric from the song, Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me.

News is slow.

Pictures from Big Ed's located in Bird City, Kansas, population 408. In addition to the classy decor, they have great cuts of meat, bare wood floors and original tin ceilings.






I don't actually admire the decor, but I thought it would be something to blog about. I still haven't figured out exactly what I would write about, but immediately after taking these pictures, I knocked my camera off the table and this image was stuck on it.



Lucky for me, my son was able to take it apart and repair it.

The End!