I’m totally with him on the space thing. If the only space I had was in Enfield I might be nuts.
The Reason I Started to Weave
Most of my family on both my mother’s and father’s sides immigrated to the United States in the late 1800’s, the majority of them went to work in woolen mills in various parts of New England. This is fairly typical for immigrants of that era. Their skills were learned on the job and they worked their way into different jobs in a particular type of manufacturing.
My father’s father, Elmer, worked in woolen mills his entire life. I can’t say for sure what all of his jobs entailed but he is listed in the 1930 Census as a Loom Fixer. He was a brilliant man and could fix anything, including machining any parts that he needed.
He left behind a number of books where he kept track of all sorts of things including loom set ups. I had never woven a thing so when I looked at this particular book it didn’t make any sense other than to know that they were drafts and swatches of fabric that he had woven. That’s pretty cool in itself.
He had his own woolen mill in the late 50’s and early 60’s and I’m assuming these were some of the drafts for what he was weaving at the time.
Not ever having woven a thing I had no idea what he was talking about but felt like if I learned then I could be privy to his secret language, sort of get inside of his head.
A friend was moving last summer and posted on her Facebook page that she needed to get rid of her Harrisville loom and was anyone interested – I jumped on it. When I did I was thinking about this book and my family heritage with weaving. I googled weaving instructors for that particular loom and found Pam in Brimfield. I brought the book into class the second week to find out if I would be able to read it at some point. The mechanical looms are very different from the hand looms but what I’ve found is they are all the same really. She assured me that I would be able to read his drafts but would also be able to weave them
I look at this book in a totally different way now. I understand what he was saying and doing and it’s truly amazing. He would write the drafts, set up the looms and then attach a swatch of what he had created in his mind. Wow.
In the past year of weaving class I have learned the mechanics of dressing a loom and weaving structure (the basics). I have learned that my brain works in a way where I can see from a draft what a weaving structure will look like. I’ve learned that I inherited the ability to do this and understand it. Now I can spend some time actually weaving some of the drafts that my Pampi wrote. How cool it that?
An Opinion on Mental Health
I’m feeling more than a little guilty about not posting as consistently as usual and I’m afraid this will not be the kind of uplifting post that I normally try to achieve. We all have struggles in life and for that past 10 to 12 years we have struggled with my youngest daughter’s mental illness. At this point I can only refer to it as a mental illness because I’m not sure what exactly it is. She was diagnosed with Bipolar II a number of years ago and has been medicated ever since. Unfortunately, as I’ve seen with other people with mental illness, medication is fine for a while but brain chemistry changes and the drugs they are taking are no longer effective. For Cait, instead of really trying to figure out what the underlying problems were more drugs were added year after year to counter new symptoms. Then drugs were added to counteract the side effects of the drugs she’d been prescribed. A few weeks ago Cait hit a depression the depth of which I hadn’t seen before. A week ago she stopped taking her meds because she just didn’t see the point in any of it any more. On some level I can understand that. She’s tired, so tired of all of it and the thought that this is a lifetime disability just made her stop functioning. Her mental health team was horrified that she stopped taking her meds. Friday she went to the hospital, asked for a psych evaluation and she was put into full hospitalization. (This was after she spent 34 hours in the ER in a solitary room with a guard and a recliner). I’ve quoted what she said on FB before they took all electronics away from her.
You need to know that my Caitlyn is a brilliant woman with her masters in clinical mental health counseling. This is a two-edged sword in a lot of ways. She continually self diagnoses and now she’s in a situation where she’s observing and documenting everything that every mental health worker is saying and doing. I think her hope is that she will either get a different diagnosis or a new medication regimen that will help her cope with what’s happening in her brain. Cait is also a very strong, willful person and will make sure she understands what is happening while hospitalized and will not settle for some off the cuff diagnosis or medication changes. She is already questioning the drugs they are giving her. God help the people taking care of her, she will make each and every one of them question their diagnosis and probably their career choice as well.
When I read the quote below I understood exactly what she was saying and was seeing the mental health system for what it is first hand. When the tragedy at Sandy Hook took place the first thing I said was the perpetrator and his mother had been seriously let down by the mental health system in the US. There is not enough funding, and it continues to be cut daily. Once an unstable individual reaches 18 a parents’ hands are tied. We are no longer privy to any information of any kind and cannot make life or death decisions that ultimately affect our children. They have to be coerced. Cait committed herself “voluntarily” only after realizing that she really had no choice and I was the one who had to drive her there and make her do it. Harsh. This is one of those moments when I truly wish things in my life were different.
“And now I know why we have people who end up being on the assailant end of mass shootings and bombings (not that I didn’t already know this and I am absolutely NOT excusing any of that behavior but…) …ya know, we wonder why all this stuff has continued to happen and has probably gotten much worse lately…honestly, take a look at the state of the worlds friggin mental health system!! ESPECIALLY the United States!! I mean, seriously?? Are you really stupid enough to believe that those things would have still happened if we actually VALUED and PAID ATTENTION to those that are in or need to be in the mental health system in this country?? Wake the fuck up! Stop CUTTING the mental health budget and dont bother putting all this time and effort into friggin gun control laws because honestly it’s almost to the point of no return on that front…why don’t we put our time and energy into fixing the true ROOT of the problem instead of just glossing over it and making he issue about weapons…if people want weapons, they will find them…or make them. It doesn’t matter whether there are laws about their possession and such! That’s not going to stop someone. Why don’t the people of this country open their friggin eyes and look at the REAL problem here?! Our mental health system SERIOUSLY blows!! But then again, I already know, people are stupid. Guess I forgot. Lol (rant over. Sorry everyone! Just seriously annoyed, as a mental health professional and someone that knows the value of mental health services…if you disagree, I’m not trying to start an argument so don’t try to start one with me. Thank you.)” Caitlyn Semanie
For the time being Cait has her journal and a pen that gets assigned to her with each shift. She is surrounded by insanity the likes of which she has never seen. When I visited her yesterday she said, “I think there will be a book coming out of this and I may have to become an activist for mental health care.” Watch out, when Cait says something like this she means it. And I can’t wait to read that book.
Ruby Rocket Continued
Today I made the rhubarb infused vodka that is the base of this drink. I cut up 8 stalks of rhubarb each about 2 feet long. I put it into a lidded glass container.
I then poured two 1.75 litres of vodka over the rhubarb.
This will sit in a darker, cooler room for about a week, then be strained and returned to bottles. Done. That’s it. The waiting is the hardest part.
Weaving Wednesday 9
My weaving instructor rethreaded the mistake in my warp over the weekend – have I mentioned just how awesome she is? I began to weave this throw in earnest last night. It’s a lot of fun. I love a complicated pattern and overshot really fills that bill. The draft is hanging from the castle of the loom at the top of the photo (well part of it is). I was able to get through 3 1/2 repeats and probably wove 15 inches or so.
I’m still a little bit in awe of the whole process. It amazes me that something that looks this incredibly complicated can be quite simple if you break it into small steps, sort of like life’s problems. Weaving could really be used as a metaphor for life with all of its steps in process, problems to be figured out, moving through it with some mundane work interspersed with possible broken threads or mistakes.
As you weave you become intimate with the pattern, you know every jog and curve. The draw down on the draft tells me exactly where I have left off in the treadling. It’s a good thing because I have to rewind the bobbin with the red yarn about a third of the way through each repeat. I’m always coming back to my bench and thinking, “Hmmmm, where was I?” I’m happy to report that it became much easier to figure out the third time through. I think the best part about this pattern is by the time I’m sick of weaving the repeats I’ll be done! Win, win.
When A Plan Comes Together
As most people know the holiday weekend began rainy and very cold for this time of the year. When the sun came over the horizon on Monday morning I immediately got up, had coffee, dressed and went out to the garden. I felt like I now had one day to do what I had planned on doing in three. I spent the first couple of hours spreading fertilizer and tilling. The photo above is what I looked at for quite a while. I have to say in spite of the noise it’s quite meditative, especially walking behind it in the soft, tilled earth (smells great too).
The next chore was planting my asparagus (finally). I was using bone meal and had to keep careful watch of the new bed – Chester thinks it smells heavenly and is sure if he digs something fantastic will come up.
I then got out my fence posts and paced off my garden design. I put the teepee up in the center of the plot. Then I divided up either end of the garden into the spaces I was planning for crops I would be planting. I planted onions – red and yellow – on the north end along with the start of the tomatoes with the ones that Bill had bought from the flower gypsy. I raked the soil for the four corners in the center where the corn will go and realized that I had a lot more space for other plants so made the decision to plant hills of squash and long pie pumkins. So in essence it will be 3 sisters planting but in a more mannerly fashion.
I also planted the four pepper plants that Bill brought home next to the garage wall with the garlic. There was space and it’s a nice warm, sunny spot, I thought they’d be happy there.
Later, while mowing some of my sister’s field (her mower broke last week), I saw her out planting her seeds and I have to tell you that my head was screaming “Go back and plant those seeds!” It’s May 27th though and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve planted things too early pushed by warm weather and sunshine. The urge to plant something when it starts to warm up is powerful. I remembered how many times I’ve had to replant things (2 and 3 times) because I was impatient and planted too early. My seed will go in this coming weekend in what portends to be blistering heat and humidity but I’ll know the soil is warm enough.
With the lawn mowed and the garden structure there I took a couple of photos and thought about how nice it is when a plan comes together. This is going to be a great garden.
The Ruby Rocket
I was at The Blue Rock restaurant last night. I went on a mission really because even though it is one of my favorite restaurants I had heard a rumor that the Ruby Rocket cocktail was to die for. Strawberry Rhubarb pie filling in a glass. I’m in, all in.
This cocktail was soooooo good I had to know how to make it and our waiter was also the cocktail master. Best happy accident EVER! Although truth be told I would have hunted down the brains behind this cocktail before I left the restaurant (maybe because I’d had two who knows).
This cocktail is made with a rhubarb infused vodka, strawberry simple syrup and lime. Today I’m on a mission to make the infused vodka. When the strawberries are ready the simple syrup will be made and Fourth of July week will be nothing but these delightful martinis all around.
This is slow food at its best in my opinion. I will update as the process goes along.
Beginning in Earnest
Yesterday in the cold, rainy, windy weather I went through my seeds and actually drew up the garden plan. It had been in my head for a while just finally put pen to paper. Today I plant the crowns and bulbs, put up the bean teepee and get out the seed potatoes. Last night it was cold by any standard but the forecast for the rest of the week is warm and sunny. By the 31st I should be able to put my seeds in the ground if the forecast holds true. All of my seed comes from High Mowing Seeds in Vermont. They are organic, non-GMO and many are open pollinated. Honestly the best seed I have ever used.
I had taken all of my annuals in pots into the shed on Friday night, this morning I will go see how my lonely little eggplant fared. I will be mixing beans on the poles this year, I’ve planted just a green bean in the past couple of years but I really have missed the scarlet runners – and I’m assuming so have the birds. I will also plant sunflowers in the corners with the popcorn. I’m kind of taking for granted the popcorn will end up being fodder for raccoons but you never know. This variety is Tom Thumb and only grows to a maximum height of 3 feet, I’m more than a little excited about this experiment.
We have a guy in Enfield we refer to as the flower gypsy. He’s a wholesaler who has a van and goes from shop to shop selling cut flowers – this time of year annual pots and vegetables. He comes around every other week or so with what he figures will sell for the season. During the winter it’s always long stem roses from Ecuador. Easter it’s lilies, cut flowers for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the shop the other day to four pepper plants and four tomatoes. Bill always buys me flowers but apparently he’s been listening and bought food. Hehehe, excellent, my plan is working, one person at a time.
Survival
It’s cold, wet, did I mention cold? Right now it’s 41 degrees, it’s raining and the wind is blowing. I had grand plans for gardening this weekend and the only thing I’ve accomplished is going through my seeds and drawing out a garden plan. I had to take all my pots in last night because it was so cold.
Of course I haven’t mentioned all of the indoor projects I could be doing – but it’s Memorial Day weekend, I should be in the garden. I guess I will just keep the fire going until tomorrow morning and hope it dawns sunny, warm and dry.
For Your Kids
If you have small children this is perfect!
Mr. Zee’s Apple Factory – A children’s story about factory food
Yeah, yeah, I know I’m a pest but this is also entertaining.
Fort Pelham Farm 