Chenille Cones Arrived!
“When you live your life with an appreciation of coinci-dences and their meanings, you connect with the underlying field of infinite possibilities.” – William James
Wow! What a couple of weeks I have had with all manner of things in life and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon!
First my chenille yarn cones arrived! There is even more than pictured here. Very exciting for me. I’ve left them here all week, just to enjoy looking at them. Tomorrow I have another weaving class with Robin Lynde, Meridian Jacobs on warping. 
Warping is the process of designing and measuring out your yarn for a project. It’s done on a “warping board” with pegs that are on the circumference of the frame. Each peg wrap on one side of the board to another measures one yard. You have to make “crosses” that help you to get it on to the loom for threading and keeping it all organized so you don’t have a mess! It seems simple, but every time I get ready to do it, I find myself lacking confidence and understanding of the nuances of the process. So Robin, knowing this is probably the biggest reason folks don’t get on their looms enough, offers a class where we warp three small projects and take them home to get them on our looms. I have two projects picked out and a third one I need to decide on before tomorrow morning!
I had unexpected guests here this week. Montana’s sorority sister’s brother who lives in Germany, was in the states with his Italian flatmate, who was interviewing for positions at Universities. I received a phone call from Montana and was put on the phone with Scott’s mother and confirmed that I was indeed in the area they would be traveling and be happy to offer my home for them to bed down while they were here. They called from the Bay Area and I directed them to return the rental car, catch the Amtrack to Sac and I would pick them up and they could use my car to travel to UC Davis for interviews. As the trip developed, I took them to The Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg, CA that is a fascinating little place near here that houses seven wineries. I had met one of the vintners (Todd Taylor) on my sailing trip and had become a wine club member. I contacted them to see about us coming for a wine tasting, since there wasn’t enough time to go to Napa. I didn’t realize until after I asked that they were only open on the weekends for tasting. They opened their winery just for us, had a private tasting (didn’t charge!) and we got the most amazing private tour of the entire facility! We saw the fermentation tanks where the grapes start the process, barrels being cleaned out, and one winery was bottling and we enjoyed seeing this process. All while sipping on Todd’s fabulous wines. He is expecting 70 Tons of grapes to arrive in September and I invited myself to not only come and watch but volunteered for the job of tossing the grapevines into the separator. Todd had learned on our sailing trip that I “picked” as a teenager when I was in HS. I lied about my age at 15 to get on the tomato harvesters and then lied at 16 that I was 18 to get the night shift to make $1 more an hour. You had to fight the mosquitos at night but it was much cooler! So, while it wasn’t grapes, and I’m 40 years out from any talent I may have had for harvesting, I insisted I’m qualified! haha Anyway, what a great afternoon. Then off to Old Towne Sacramento for a quick dinner on the River. The “boys” bought me two bottles of Todd’s wine and dinner for my efforts.
The following day we went to the Apple Store to get Scott’s Apple looked at and explore the possible work arounds for him to type in Arabic on his Mac. No… it is not available in Microsoft Office for Mac! Microsoft held back some of the language packages in Word. Isn’t that nice? Then we decided they needed some real R&R so Scott could work on his thesis and Pigi (PG) could experience some more of California. I was willing to take them to the mountains for a cool swimming hole experience, but something closer was what they preferred. Discovery Park in Sacramento is a small beach in a state park where the American River meets the Sacramento River. We took Todd’s wine, some fruit, cheese and crackers, blankets, towels, books and just chilled. It was terrific. Pigi commented to Scott after being in the River, “They EVEN GROW GOLD in California!”
In the slideshow you will see two boats that cracked me up! One is a honest to god “ice cream boat!” It plays the same music as the trucks in the neighborhood and the little kids would run down the bank into the water and wave him over and buy ice cream! Then the other smaller boat was “River Dogs”. He sells dog food for your pet while you are on the river. What a crack up!
Dropped them off at Sac Airport at 5 am Saturday morning for their next leg to Texas. I enjoyed meeting them very much. Pigi cooked me a fabulous dinner while they were here, pasta and broccoli that I wished I’d paid attention to the creation of – it was so yummy! But I was resting on the couch!
Here is a recent photo of Dave! We were trying to get something up to date for an online bio for a speaking engagement he would be doing on a panel discussion. He ended up not liking it and using his old picture. I think he is still struggling with his puffiness and receding hairline. I think he looks terrific, but I understand. Surely he doesn’t look like a guy who has cancer and on weekly infusions of Velcade! In fact my house guests both pulled me aside and quietly told me they would never know he had cancer! They thought he looked fabulously healthy. I love it when people do that. They truly have an exterior viewpoint. Sometimes we are just too close to it.
I completed a new weaving project, a scarf for my sister in a houndstooth pattern that I had been wanting to try. She’s a pinky girl like my daughter and so it was two shades of pink in a wool yarn. I think it turned out great and can’t wait to send it off to her this week.
And finally, Scott’s family sent me flowers for opening my house to their son and his friend. Totally unnecessary, but fabulous and wonderful. I really enjoyed the unexpected surprise at my door Friday morning.
PS The Kipmeister seems to be uncomfortable lately. Like me, he and I have had our checkups on the back burner dealing with Multiple Myeloma! I’ve gotten to the dentist at least, but I finally decided to get Kip a Vet appt for a check up. He seems to be struggling for air, or not eating as well. There is so much going on now that I just need him to get a check up and have a conversation before I consider taking him to the UC Davis Vet school for tests on his heart.
My Sweet Baby Sleeping
He was born with a hole in his heart and wasn’t supposed to live as long. Well he’s 12 now and has had a great life. I just need to know what to be concerned about, or not, and what to expect. I’m not enjoying this, but I would rather know than find myself in an avoidable emergency with little time to react. He seems fine for the most part, but you know, he’s not his usual perky self.
Oh Karen! This is terrific! Grieving needs to happen, in small, manageable chunks! The fact that he is grieving is fabulous! It means he is moving through it and it will only get better for him. I’m so impressed! The fatigue is profound! Our doc suggested Ginseng had some studies to support helping with fatigue, but Dave didn’t notice much difference. He likes drinking the Emergen-C packets and swears they give him energy boosts.
I’m proud of him too. It does take courage and determination. He’s lucky to have you in his corner to appreciate how hard it is.
yes, lori – i DO know, and that’s why i’m so impressed. he has his life back, working, travelling, golfing and enjoying so much. i am so thrilled to read every good thing that is happening for the two of you. such good stuff to give me a positive place of hope for hugh’s recovery. i must tell you he’s doing so much better emotionally. finally has been going through a long delayed grieving process that is painful, yet necessary to help him move on. and – all on his own he signed up for the ACOR list serve forum, AND went to his 1st myeloma support group, which was a very positive experience. he’s been able to tell his story himself, as well as give great support to others. he gets into a funk about how profound the fatigue is, but he’s having his testosterone level check, to see if it’s low, then will have some advice about how to build up muscle mass. even getting dressed in street clothes, say jeans, shirt, belt, jacket and shoes weighs him down and adds to the tiredness. i feel so bad for him, but i am so proud of his courage and determination.
Thanks Karen! I will surely let Dave know you too thinks he looks great! He really does to me too. Poor guy has been through a lot, as you well know.
wow, lori – this was a great mish-mash post. i can’t believe all the adventures you were able to pack into your young people’s visit!
what a generous hearted host you were, and i bet montana is thrilled and proud and grateful that her mom was so kind and so “carpe diem”. loved the part about the “ice cream boat”, and totally cracked up (and was impressed with) the “river dogs” dog food vendor boat – is this a great country, or what?! always amazed about how industrious and creative people find ways to make a living, doing their thing and satisfying a gap in services needed. the scarf you made for your sister is gorgeous – those pinks are soooo pretty together. tell dave that with these comments, i’ve saved the best for last. that man looks AMAZING! TAN, FIT, HEALTHY AND HANDSOME!!! aren’t you glad he’s yours?!