Woolthing

… Or the loft.

This week has been very hot so we’ve had the doors wide open and fans going to make it bearable.    Well last night we were sitting around simmering when a small dark shape flitted past us a couple of times and we heard an unusual sound.  We thought something had come in and gone out again.  Then we looked up to the cathedral ceiling in our space and low and behold there was a small, very silent shape circling.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen we had a bat in our apartment.

Now, I’m not one to freak out very easily, but this kind of freaked me out.  Yes, I pulled my feet up and covered my head for an instant, until common sense kicked in.

We have seen bats flitting around outside and I think it’s kind of cool.  But I didn’t want one to fly into our place.  My concern was what we would do if it couldn’t get out and it did circle for a while.  Then I thought about the nature of a bat.  We turned off the lights.  Turned off the fan and moved it away from the door and silently watched and waited.  The bat circled several times getting a little bit lower every time and then it flew out the door and did not return.  Makes sense, of course, since they do live in small tight places.  I would hope they could get out of a big cave like our apartment.  Now a bird would never have figured it out.

It makes me think of all the things that we are afraid of.  Snakes, spiders, bats … all from the stories and fairy tales of our childhood.  Those cautionary tales kept us safe in a way but they also made us fear things, perfectly innocent things, because they’re not pretty.  We put our guard down when something is pretty or cute but I suspect more people are injured from dog bites than snake bites.   Far too often we judge by appearance alone.  But I still don’t want a bat staying with me.

What’s not to love about a farmer’s market.

Lovely people, good food, no beautiful food.

These Ranier Cherries were so sweet, yum.  There were babies and elderly folk,  a  violin player and dogs.  It’s a very small market near my home but it’s within walking distance and it has everything I need.

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My trip to Ontario to be with my Mom on her 80th birthday was great.  The plane ride was uneventful, which is just what you want.  The plane was only partially full both ways so there was an empty seat beside me and that was great.  I usually end up with some large man sitting beside me.  When a man sits beside a woman he almost always takes the arm rest leaving her to primly fold her hands in her lap.  What is that about?

My Mom had four of her sisters, a brother and a brother in law visiting from the Netherlands as well as my sister and her husband.  It was a crowded, happy, noisy houseful.  I got a lot of Dutch and I think I need to go to Holland for a few months and get fluent with it.  My sister and I heard and spoke Dutch until we went to school.  We don’t speak it anymore but we understand it a bit and my aunts and uncles have a hard time speaking English but they understand it a bit.  So they would often talk to us in Dutch and then we’d answer in English and they’d answer back in Dutch.  Sometimes it all broke down but I was understanding a lot better after just a few days.

Her birthday weather was great, a bit cloudy which kept it from getting too hot.

All too soon it was over and I was back home.

I’ll miss her flowers.

We had a thunderstorm one night and it was great.  We rarely get them here in Vancouver and I miss them.

My Mom and Dad have bird feeders all over the place and I’ll miss watching them.

They’ve got some nice birds.  I’ll miss watching the little brown wren feeding her babies.

I had to be very patient to get those photos.

I’ll miss all the good fresh food and most of all I’ll miss my family.  I didn’t get much knitting or spinning done but that’s just fine.

What I won’t miss is the mosquitoes but don’t worry they left me some reminders.  It’ll probably be a week before the bites are gone.

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Yesterday I showed you my rustic skeiner.  It’s a useful tool but doesn’t give me any pleasure while using it.

Today I’ll show you a couple of tools that I have that are both useful and beautiful.  They appeal to my eyes and my hands.  The first is a shuttle that I got from Bluster Bay Woodworks.  It is made from curly walnut and it is so smooth and lovely it is a pleasure to use.  Look at the grain on that.

The next tool that I love to use is a Bosworth spindle, also known as Bossies.  This one is one of my favourites.  It has a  Spalted Bubinga whorl and a Bloodwood shaft.  Again, it is beautiful to look at and to touch.  And look at that grain.  I will always recognize this spindle as mine as there isn’t another like it.

Yes,  I love wood as well as fibre.

Another thing I like is pottery.  I’ve always been drawn to it but never had a chance to do it.  I now know that I can be happy just focusing on yarn, fibre and fabric but I also appreciate beautiful pottery.  My sister is a potter and this is something she let me have.  I have subverted it’s original use but I’m sure she’d be okay with that.

Here’s something that I’d love to get.  Someone else owns this one but I think FredParkerPottery makes some of the nicest knitting bowls going.  Someone else has this beauty but someday I will find one like it and it will be mine.  I am stalking his etsy store.

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