The loom is a real oldie. The partial history is from probably circa 1930-40. It came from one of the Ford mansions downstate, traveled a bit, and has not been used since it exited the mansion....I am still trying to research it on the net. So far all I have come up with is that Henry Ford was particularly interested in a jacquard loom. It was the loom that is in the Greenfield Village exhibit.
My loom is a Bexell, with 4 harnesses, looks very old, and after being rubbed down with Danish oil, still looks old and unloved for decades.
While I have been waiting to pick up this oldie but goodie (last Sept 2011) I have researched, joined a website for weavers, and read other weavers blogs. I have taken one weaving class in which I made a 12 x 12 sampler and am waiting to take the 5 day class on a larger loom. Taking the class, and ordering 3 books are the only things done. Just yesterday I heard that my missing harnesses are still in Okemos Mi. Another setback! The harnesses will be brought up to the island the end of April.
Maybe I should use the time to go to Pennsylvania to see my darling daughter and those two little rascal boys of hers.
link to picture https://picasaweb.google.com/102694399038478129678/BexellLoom?authkey=Gv1sRgCL_qleLD_JHS9AE
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Monday, August 22, 2011
HOW EMBARRASSING
Did you see the date of the last post. Good Lord in heaven. It's too embarrassing.
What cha been doin?
We worked on our camp at Bass Lake this spring. Al did the work inside and out and I worked inside, the lunch committee of one was me. Living back at Bass Lake is hard living. No elec. no water, or indoor plumbing makes for hard living. Not to mention our little Ozzy, the blind doggie. Ozzy loves his house and not much else. The car, cabin strange smells back at camp in the yard, etc all stress him out very badly. The little love pupster breaks my heart when he cries. We have to take turns sitting with him to calm him down. But at Al's age he needs a rest a couple times a day.
Phoebe on the other hand loves the car rides, the walk into camp which takes us about 12 minutes, but is much easier than riding over that terrible two track.
I stayed out to camp by myself for 13 days, Al came out twice for dinner and once to spend the night. He had too much work to be back there every day. Oh well, someone had to enjoy camp, might as well be me.
I saw two bunnies this year. They just munched away on the grass around the cabin and were not particularly afraid of me or Phoebe. They must sense that Phoebe is 11 years old. To my wonderful surprise while reading in the gazebo one evening Phoebe was very curious sniffing the air then went to the other side of me and kept sniffing the air. When I turned around there was one gorgeous Bobcat! My first one to see, ever! The three other "Bobcats" that I saw were actually Canadian Links, grey, black and white fur. This smaller cat was brown and black. It looked at me for a second, then turned and showed me their short black bob tail. I was so excited.
Every day was wonderful. I read, sewed on my Reverse Quilting pillow, wrote letter for Snail mail to the kids and grand sons, ate, went to bed early and got up early to watch the sunrise every morning.
Later in the month of June, my computer gave up the ghost, called the Geek and he told me to keep the blamed thing shut down till he could come over and fix everything. Since Al's computer needs some serious work along with mine the $$$$ were going to be high. I told him to give me a couple weeks to collect pennies, look through purses, coat pockets, and old books that have dollar bills for bookmarks.
Then he got sick, his boys got sick, they are in Canada with mommy, long short of it, I was without a computer for 10 weeks. Life happens, and to be quite honest, did not miss this thing as much as I feared.
But was I shocked when he told me about the number of viruses on this dumb thing. I see a Mac in my future.
Well it;s almost 5 in the a.m. so I guess I better go make Al's lunch for work today.
Oh yes, the worst of this virus business? I lost over a 1,000 pictures on my Picasa program. And I see that so many of the pictures are missing of the previous posts. Including the dead coyote post.
If thats my only problem, then no complaints. Later..............
What cha been doin?
We worked on our camp at Bass Lake this spring. Al did the work inside and out and I worked inside, the lunch committee of one was me. Living back at Bass Lake is hard living. No elec. no water, or indoor plumbing makes for hard living. Not to mention our little Ozzy, the blind doggie. Ozzy loves his house and not much else. The car, cabin strange smells back at camp in the yard, etc all stress him out very badly. The little love pupster breaks my heart when he cries. We have to take turns sitting with him to calm him down. But at Al's age he needs a rest a couple times a day.
Phoebe on the other hand loves the car rides, the walk into camp which takes us about 12 minutes, but is much easier than riding over that terrible two track.
I stayed out to camp by myself for 13 days, Al came out twice for dinner and once to spend the night. He had too much work to be back there every day. Oh well, someone had to enjoy camp, might as well be me.
I saw two bunnies this year. They just munched away on the grass around the cabin and were not particularly afraid of me or Phoebe. They must sense that Phoebe is 11 years old. To my wonderful surprise while reading in the gazebo one evening Phoebe was very curious sniffing the air then went to the other side of me and kept sniffing the air. When I turned around there was one gorgeous Bobcat! My first one to see, ever! The three other "Bobcats" that I saw were actually Canadian Links, grey, black and white fur. This smaller cat was brown and black. It looked at me for a second, then turned and showed me their short black bob tail. I was so excited.
Every day was wonderful. I read, sewed on my Reverse Quilting pillow, wrote letter for Snail mail to the kids and grand sons, ate, went to bed early and got up early to watch the sunrise every morning.
Later in the month of June, my computer gave up the ghost, called the Geek and he told me to keep the blamed thing shut down till he could come over and fix everything. Since Al's computer needs some serious work along with mine the $$$$ were going to be high. I told him to give me a couple weeks to collect pennies, look through purses, coat pockets, and old books that have dollar bills for bookmarks.
Then he got sick, his boys got sick, they are in Canada with mommy, long short of it, I was without a computer for 10 weeks. Life happens, and to be quite honest, did not miss this thing as much as I feared.
But was I shocked when he told me about the number of viruses on this dumb thing. I see a Mac in my future.
Well it;s almost 5 in the a.m. so I guess I better go make Al's lunch for work today.
Oh yes, the worst of this virus business? I lost over a 1,000 pictures on my Picasa program. And I see that so many of the pictures are missing of the previous posts. Including the dead coyote post.
If thats my only problem, then no complaints. Later..............
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Sun Starlings and Woodpeckers and....Pottery
The sun has been out for several days now. It's wonderful to see and enjoy from the confines of my home. The wind has been blowing for it seems two weeks now, it wakes me frequently at night.
This morning as I stood by the kitchen sink eating a late breakfast I watched 1 to 6 Starlings coming and going, eating whatever bugs (?) on the bare ground spots in front of each garage door. Most people hate Starlings, Crows and Blackbirds, not me.
I enjoy the very activity of Starlings, they march, head down looking intently for food while doing this little Charlie Chaplin march. It's funny to watch. I have 3 crows that come and go in the back yard. One crow is there right now in the afternoon sun. It's pecking away at the little bits of suet that the Woodpeckers drop while they feast.
Crows are wily birds, careful, observant, used to being shot by some person. Well maybe not here, but in the cities where people hate crows. Next month the crows will flock in my yard and side yard where the beech nuts survived the winter and the deer. They wait to sprout, but mostly snatched up, gobbled up by hungry birds and animals.
I have numerous kinds of Woodpeckers in the yard now. Some this is their first winter, like the very pretty Red-bellied Woodpecker. The rest of them are around all the time. Pileated, Downy, Hairy, oh yes the beautiful Red-headed who I have seen only once at the bird feeder. He is so gorgeous!
Pottery.... now that is a very long story, explanation, excuse, procrastination, and great source of aggravation, frustration, guilt.....but my heart still is in the mud.
I put another 20 pounds of red clay in water last night and have not checked it yet. It had some white mold on it and smelled mildewey. It won't hurt the clay though from what I have learned about clay.
Regrets, Mary Mother of God, I have a lifetime of them. Let's see? There is no use of going down the mile long 60 year long list, I have one good reason, the best one in a lifetime for trying to do pottery. Well two reasons,
it will make me happy
Me being happy will make my daughter smile and probably shed a little tear.
I love you! Elizabeth, with all my heart and soul.
This morning as I stood by the kitchen sink eating a late breakfast I watched 1 to 6 Starlings coming and going, eating whatever bugs (?) on the bare ground spots in front of each garage door. Most people hate Starlings, Crows and Blackbirds, not me.
I enjoy the very activity of Starlings, they march, head down looking intently for food while doing this little Charlie Chaplin march. It's funny to watch. I have 3 crows that come and go in the back yard. One crow is there right now in the afternoon sun. It's pecking away at the little bits of suet that the Woodpeckers drop while they feast.
Crows are wily birds, careful, observant, used to being shot by some person. Well maybe not here, but in the cities where people hate crows. Next month the crows will flock in my yard and side yard where the beech nuts survived the winter and the deer. They wait to sprout, but mostly snatched up, gobbled up by hungry birds and animals.
I have numerous kinds of Woodpeckers in the yard now. Some this is their first winter, like the very pretty Red-bellied Woodpecker. The rest of them are around all the time. Pileated, Downy, Hairy, oh yes the beautiful Red-headed who I have seen only once at the bird feeder. He is so gorgeous!
Pottery.... now that is a very long story, explanation, excuse, procrastination, and great source of aggravation, frustration, guilt.....but my heart still is in the mud.
I put another 20 pounds of red clay in water last night and have not checked it yet. It had some white mold on it and smelled mildewey. It won't hurt the clay though from what I have learned about clay.
Regrets, Mary Mother of God, I have a lifetime of them. Let's see? There is no use of going down the mile long 60 year long list, I have one good reason, the best one in a lifetime for trying to do pottery. Well two reasons,
it will make me happy
Me being happy will make my daughter smile and probably shed a little tear.
I love you! Elizabeth, with all my heart and soul.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Pottery and Soup
I have been on the net, as usual, scouring site of potters. Getting back into pottery is slow. I have two buckets of reclaimed clay, one porcelain and the other red earthenware. It is well homogenized with the water and sitting to firm up getting ready for something handbuilt.
I found some very intering incised stamps to make myself to imprint tiles or any other item, and am excited about that project.
I also read tons of blogs that other potters have on the net. No lack of them! Thank goodness I don't want to sell my work, the world all over is saturated with etsy.com sites to sell potters work. No selling for me, just projects that I want for myself.
Some of the things that I want to make;
Wall sconces
cups, tiny tea cups
Stamps for my own work
tiles for my house
cannisters for the kitchen
Christmas ornaments
Dishes of sorts, serving bowls, cereal bowls
A big bean pot for baked beans
pie plates
etc. etc. etc.
But today it was cold outside and I had fresh broccoli. We like cream of broc soup, so I made a small recipe for 4 servings, with bacon.
Here is the recipe
3 C Broccoli, stems removed and chopped small
1/2 small onion chopped small
3/4 C Diced cooked Ham or 3 slices crisp fried bacon.
2 C Chicken stock or 2 C water and 3 Tablespoons chicken soup base mix
2 C Half & Half, or Milk for less fat.
Salt & Pepper to taste
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons bacon grease, left from bacon combine with 2 Tablespoons of butter.
OR
4 Tablespoons Butter
6-7 Tablespoons white flour.
You will need a saute pan and a soup pot for this recipe.
Cut stems from Broccoli, using only the most tender parts of stem, Chop onion and broccoli stems and saute in the Olive Oil, till barely tender, about 3-4 minutes. Use the soup pot to add Broccoli florets and water or chicken stock and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, till barely tender Saute Ham or crisp fry bacon, Add, meat to soup mixture.
.
Using reserved grease, OR use butter to make a roux with 6-7 tablespoons white flour. Add half and half or milk stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Add cooked broccoli with liquid into the roux gravy in small amounts to prevent lumping, stirring constantly keep adding the rest of cooked broc till all combined. With heat very low continue to cook, taste to season and continue to heat till done. about 5 minutes
Makes 4-5 servings.
Salty flavor in this recipe comes from the chicken soup base and bacon, add more to suit your taste.
I found some very intering incised stamps to make myself to imprint tiles or any other item, and am excited about that project.
I also read tons of blogs that other potters have on the net. No lack of them! Thank goodness I don't want to sell my work, the world all over is saturated with etsy.com sites to sell potters work. No selling for me, just projects that I want for myself.
Some of the things that I want to make;
Wall sconces
cups, tiny tea cups
Stamps for my own work
tiles for my house
cannisters for the kitchen
Christmas ornaments
Dishes of sorts, serving bowls, cereal bowls
A big bean pot for baked beans
pie plates
etc. etc. etc.
But today it was cold outside and I had fresh broccoli. We like cream of broc soup, so I made a small recipe for 4 servings, with bacon.
Here is the recipe
3 C Broccoli, stems removed and chopped small
1/2 small onion chopped small
3/4 C Diced cooked Ham or 3 slices crisp fried bacon.
2 C Chicken stock or 2 C water and 3 Tablespoons chicken soup base mix
2 C Half & Half, or Milk for less fat.
Salt & Pepper to taste
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons bacon grease, left from bacon combine with 2 Tablespoons of butter.
OR
4 Tablespoons Butter
6-7 Tablespoons white flour.
You will need a saute pan and a soup pot for this recipe.
Cut stems from Broccoli, using only the most tender parts of stem, Chop onion and broccoli stems and saute in the Olive Oil, till barely tender, about 3-4 minutes. Use the soup pot to add Broccoli florets and water or chicken stock and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, till barely tender Saute Ham or crisp fry bacon, Add, meat to soup mixture.
.
Using reserved grease, OR use butter to make a roux with 6-7 tablespoons white flour. Add half and half or milk stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Add cooked broccoli with liquid into the roux gravy in small amounts to prevent lumping, stirring constantly keep adding the rest of cooked broc till all combined. With heat very low continue to cook, taste to season and continue to heat till done. about 5 minutes
Makes 4-5 servings.
Salty flavor in this recipe comes from the chicken soup base and bacon, add more to suit your taste.
One Less Coyote
Last Wednesday the coyote came back as my husband and I came home from the store. We were gone a total of about 15 minutes. In that time, I think the coyote slipped under the back porch. When we headed for the back door the coyote slipped out from the other end of the back porch. I reached for the loaded rifle behind the back door and gave it to Al. I crept to the front door to see if the coyote would again go down the driveway instead of the deep snow. This image kept replaying in my mind. I looked out the door and there hiding at the side of the porch, Coyote literally peeked around the lattice work to look for his enemy, Man! Al was still behind the house, but with a view of the driveway. Coyote crept down the front path to the driveway, stood looking at the back of the house, apparently not seeing Al. So Coyote started down the driveway, that was when he got the first cartridge of buckshot. His leg hurting he turned and looked at Al again in time for the second gunshot blast. He was dead almost instantly. Thank you Lord, for a clean kill and the poor sickly animal did not suffer any longer.
It was all very disturbing for me, having lived in hunting country for so many decades but never having seen any animal killed the scenario was imprinted in my brain. I thought of it for days and was tortured by the scene over and over again. Until Saturday morning, waking and immediately seeing the vision of that desperate animal peeking around the porch for an escape. ((((((shudder)))))) I had to talk to myself. Coyote was full of Mange parasites, had lost all the hair off it's tail and bald spots on his legs and rump it was suffering horribly and starving. Shunned from the pack it was on it's own. Well.....I hope he is in Coyote heaven and eating grass instead of bunnies.
It was all very disturbing for me, having lived in hunting country for so many decades but never having seen any animal killed the scenario was imprinted in my brain. I thought of it for days and was tortured by the scene over and over again. Until Saturday morning, waking and immediately seeing the vision of that desperate animal peeking around the porch for an escape. ((((((shudder)))))) I had to talk to myself. Coyote was full of Mange parasites, had lost all the hair off it's tail and bald spots on his legs and rump it was suffering horribly and starving. Shunned from the pack it was on it's own. Well.....I hope he is in Coyote heaven and eating grass instead of bunnies.
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