Rainy

I left the Yeti in the driveway and drove my prius today for the first time in weeks. Of course, the price we're paying for having the snow melting came in the form of Emergency Broadcast Network interruptions on the radio every few hours warning of record floods. Our house is situated well for that sort of thing, though I do admit I went out this afternoon and pickaxed a ditch to divert some of the worst runoff to the side of the house. I can only watch the little river trickle under the front porch for so long before becoming really nervous about leaks and such.

To celebrate driving I took Charlie to work and ran some errands that had been piling up, like buying chicken food. I also stopped by my favorite toy store to do some Important Craft Research. My Wednesday crafting partner Rachel received a lovely wooden potholder loom for Christmas. Trouble is, the instructions are in German and the design is a little different from any loom I have seen before. I figured that the best way to try to figure it out was to get into the mind of the potholder-directions-writer. To see firsthand what the traditional loom mechanics were and try to apply them to a two-sided peg setup.

research begins

It became clear that I needed to make potholders. Really. So I bought myself a little loom and listened to the rain come down and made two cotton and one wool potholder. The setup worked as well as I remember it from childhood. It's a little fussy, especially when you get near the end because the loops want to pop off but the finished product hides a lot of amateur error. And it's hard to go wrong with whatever colors you use. I love that the place that makes the kit is a factory that makes big hardcore serious looms for the most part. I imagine it is run by people that love weaving so much that they want everyone to do it.

three successful specimens
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And in other informative news, behold our method of solving the tomato paste problem. It seems like whenever we are cooking something that calls for it, both of us are convinced we have some and don't buy more at the store. Then it is discovered halfway through food prep that there is in fact no tomato paste in the house at all. Whomever goes to the store buys many cans which lull us into a false sense of security over subsequent weeks, and the cycle begins anew. Not anymore!

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Eggs laid in the coop Tuesday: 5
Eggs laid this year: 23