Ordinary Time

First, before I get into the content the title suggests, I feel I need to address something. I know life is challenging right now. There is very little good news out there, tempers are hair trigger, and people are afraid. Well, many of us are feeling fearful. I know one way many people are coping is to become an ostrich. If you don't listen to or read any news, it's harder to be upset by it. I get it; I am certainly limiting my exposure to news and social media. But ignoring a problem because it makes you upset or uncomfortable doesn't make it go away. In fact, the problem will grow bigger the more people who do so. (And this is true for anything in life, not just the political situation.) But if you are able to completely screen out any upsetting news, then I'm afraid I have to tell you that your privilege is showing. It means you haven't had to have conversations with your children about which states they need to avoid or check with them that they are carrying pro...

I need to do some crowd sourcing because I think I need to realign my expectations. Here's my story. Last year J. needed some new work shoes, so took advantage of a sale at a not-high-end department store. They were not real leather, but they looked decent and the price was within our budget. Well, the soles on one of those pairs of shoes have cracked making them not so great especially in wet weather. When we lived in Evanston, I would just run our shoes up to the shoe repair guy and for a nominal fee, he would fix soles, heels, and whatever else needed fixing. So we decided to try a shoe repair place out here to see if we could extend the life of a pair of shoes whose uppers were still in good shape even if they weren't real leather. That particular errand was on today's list, so after some really horrible Maps instructions I eventually found the place. When I asked about having them resolved, I was informed I probably didn't want to do that. I did actually want to ha...

The conversation at the end of dinner tonight focused on what would be on a T-shirt if we decorated them with each person's pet phrase. There was a split decision on mine. One possibility was, "It's not a four-way stop!" Due to my repeated shoutings at cars who do not understand merging into a roundabout.  The second possibility was, "Live person!" Which is what I've taken to saying repeatedly to the bots that answer business numbers. If that is all you ever say to every (often irrelevant) question it asks, it eventually gives up and actually transfers you to a live person. This might have been fresh in their minds today because I had to call both the large medical group in our area as well as PayPal. It's not my favorite activity to begin with, and the only reason I am actually calling is that my question is fairly complex. No, the bot cannot help me, so there is no point in wasting time while it figures that out. There was some discussion about my ...

I had a group of fourteen students and their parents out to the farm today, and one of the activities was learning to spin with a suspended spindle. Y. doesn't have classes on Monday so was home and that was a good thing. Between the two of us, within an hour, we had everyone starting to spin. I absolutely could not have managed without her.  I haven't worked with a group that large in a long time. For years I directed a children's choir that had dozens of students, so I have the skills. It turns out that this is one of those riding a bicycle things, the skills are always there even if they aren't being used. But my goodness, the skills might be there, but the endurance is not. I definitely needed to make a cup of tea and put my feet up for a while. At least I recovered enough to weave another guest towel. The total so far is that I've done six of the overall pattern towels, then after changing the tie-up I'm working on the Christmas trees. I've completed on...

I've mentioned before that I feel I am in an in-between time right now with children having switched to learning via dual enrollment and my role becoming rather miniscule. Earlier this week as I was working in my studio, I looked around me at the hundreds of books that we used for homeschooling and stored in my studio and realized that I could close that aspect of my life. While the memories are all very good memories, the sheer weight of it all was becoming a bit much. I didn't want to be surrounded by it all all the time anymore. Plus, I could use the space.  On Friday I began the process of moving books off of shelves, made a huge mess in the middle of my studio, became overwhelmed, and left it. At that moment I didn't really know if I could physically or emotionally tackle such a daunting task. J. offered to help and we came up with a game plan which involved tackling every bookcase on the second floor, both in the studio and out. By the end of the day, we had sorted an...

Spending time with horses. Eating homemade bagels for breakfast. (Made by Y.) Dyeing some wool for a group that's coming on Monday to learn about sheep and horses.  Getting to visit with my friend and nextdoor neighbor while standing in her hay field.  (The hay field is on the other side of my pasture fence and it was during the day, not at sunset.) Enjoying some homemade English muffins. (Made by G.) Washing part of the Romney fleece that I brought home from the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival.  And setting another part of it to soak.  Not pictured, cleaning up the kitchen, doing a couple of loads of laundry, and the long phone conversation with DSCC (IL Division of Specialized Care for Children) trying to get various bills sorted out and pre-approval for some services.  And now I'm going to read my incredibly light and fluffy book and go to bed. Another day of living in an area being taken over by fascist troops successfully navigated.