Progress Update on Denim Rug Project

I did not blog last week.  Usually that means I am out on the road somewhere, but that was not the case this time.  I was dealing with a very large Microsoft update.  It was giving me a lot of grief.  I am sure that part of the problem is that we do not have high speed internet, but the other part of the problem is definitely an internet provider problem.  I tried to get the update on Friday.  The download quit after 1%.  The same thing happened the next night.  On Sunday I finally was able to get the whole update, but it took just short of twenty-four hours to download it.  I never had a chance to get onto the blog that day at all.

Anyway, I only have a brief update on the denim rug project.  I am still slogging along on making the strips needed to weave the rug.  The good news is that I am now about two thirds of the way finished with the strips.  They take a fair amount of time to make a strip.  I will usually work for an hour, taking a short break after thirty minutes just to move around a bit.  It seems like I have just started when the timer goes off telling me my crafting time is up and I need to get on with the day.  I wish I could say that I craft every day, but that is no longer the case.  I am so busy now that I am lucky to get in an hour or two a week.

I am fortunate that I have a dedicated craft room and I can leave things just as they were when I hit the stop point.  If I had put away the sewing machine and materials every time I would have even less time to work on the project.  I hope (fingers crossed) that in the next couple of weeks I will complete making the strips.  Maybe that is wishful thinking, but it should be soon.  I think that once I get to the point of actually weaving the strips the project will quickly come to completion.

I want to have all of the strips completed before I get to far into the weaving because I don't want too much of any color ending up in one spot.  I am trying to keep to alternating dark, medium and light colors of denim.  Many of the denims may just be only a slightly different tone from each other.  It has been a challenge to keep the pattern going.

More Trip Photos

This last trip to the cabin we did very little work.   Much of our time was spent sitting on the screened-in porch enjoying some well-deserved time off.  We have been so busy lately that it seems like we never even have a chance to sit down.  It was nice to have some time off to just sit and relax without have to get up and start working the moment the sun comes up.

The stream is flowing slower at this time of year.  The snow melt is over and the heavier rains of springtime have slowed down somewhat.  It has still been a fairly wet year, so the stream still has a nice rushing sound.  It's continuous sound is a wonderful white noise that never stops.  When I read while sitting on the porch I have to get up frequently to keep from becoming drowsy. 

While we were out driving, we came across a bob cat crossing the road the gravel road that was near a stream.  It is unusual to see one at all.  It was not the time of day that they usually hunt, so I think that it might have gone down to the stream to drink.  It was a good sized cat.  I think it was almost fully grown.  When I was reading about them they said they can grow to about forty inches long.  I don't think that the bob cat was quite that big, so probably it was an older juvenile.

The bob cat did not seem to be afraid of us.  The cat had some attitude.  Clearly it heard our truck coming on the road from some distance away.  It stood there in the middle of the road until the truck came into sight.  Once we were in view, it looked at us then turned and walked up the ridge into cover.    It did not run, or show fear, it merely moved out of the way.  I think the cat was trying to show that it considered this his (or her) territory.  The message was clear that it considered itself more than a match for us. 

Our friends were in residence at one of the other cabins.  We spent an enjoyable day at a cook out over there.  The weather was just about as perfect a temperature as you can have for a cook out.  For most of the day it was partly sunny.  We did have a couple of showers that came through.  Fortunately there were some pop up tents.  Everyone ran under them and crowded together until the rain passed.  The shower only lasted a few minutes.  A good day was had by all.  

At this time of the year the hay is being harvested.  Some fields have been cut.  Others are still awaiting the machine to come and cut the field.  Once the hay has been cut down, it stays laying in the field until it dries.  Once dry, another machine comes by and rolls it into huge cylindrical bales.  A photo shows some hay that has recently been rolled into cylinders.

I love Spring because everything is so beautifully green.  Even structures that are rusted or faded look beautiful then.  It is a treat to just go riding around the countryside and see what there is to see.

Next week I will be blogging about my latest projects again.  Check back next Sunday.

Photos from the Road May-June 2019

Regular readers may have guessed that my recent absence is because I have been on the road again.  I really enjoy traveling this time of year.  Everything is green and growing.  Even if I am going over the same roads again and again, things appear different each time.

I also enjoy seeing what else is on the road.  Sometimes I see classic cars.  Other times it might be a humorous sign.  There is always something new to catch my attention.  This time, I saw a monster truck being pulled on a trailer.  I don't know if this is a mudder type vehicle or whether it was going to a competition somewhere.  It is not something I normally see on the road. 

This truck was rather humorous because it was so heavy that it seemed to be lifting the front of the trailer and the back end of the truck towing it up rather high.

When we are at the cabin and head for the dump at the end of our stay, we always go past this metal sign of a horse and rider.  It is so well done that many people look at the picture and think that I have a photo capturing a horse and rider in sillhouette.  There is a business not far from this area that makes the metal signs.  I expect that it came from there. 

I don't have much time right now, but I will post more pictures to the blog on Sunday.  Check back then.