Random Bits and TOWELS!

 Sorry for the long delay in posting.  I think the combination of little sunlight, bad/frigid weather, Covid, and new health challenges have wreaked havoc on my creativity and desire to share.  I just feel very uninspired most of the time, so that leaves little room for blogging.

We had the blizzard last Saturday, and got around 15 inches, though it is awfully hard to accurately measure when you have drifts over 3 feet and also bare ground.  Eastern Massachusetts seemed to be the jackpot, but most along the northern east coast got plenty.  We only lost power a couple of times for minutes, but didn't even know it because our solar panels/backup battery did their job.  

As I write, it is 40 degrees F and raining, the first time the temps have been above freezing in a very long time.  Unfortunately, the huge storm that is causing all kinds of issues from the Mexican border to Maine will soon be changing to mostly sleet, for many hours here along the coast, and a bunch of snow inland.  I think we will end as snow, but because there will be ice and the snow will be heavy, the chances of power outages will be great.  Then the weekend will be frigid again, of course.  Warning: sharing some medical issues next.  Feel free to skip those if you prefer.

Yesterday, the one day that was around 40 degrees and NOT precipitating, was spent in my car and the endodentist's chair.  A few weeks ago, while flossing, one quarter of a molar broke off.  It had a rather large metal filling, as do most of my teeth because of late dental attention as a kid.  Luckily, there was no pain, so the dentist did the build-up for a crown and said I wouldn't need a root canal.  By the time I went back for the permanent crown, there was a lot of pain trying to get the temp one off, and I was having prolonged cold/heat sensitivity, so yep, root canal!!  I travelled to Brunswick, over an hour away, to have it done, and while they did a great job, it is a lo-o-ong process, so now my TMJ is quite sore.  At least I didn't have the sharp pain I had with my other root canal, so in the long haul, I'm good.

I'm also trying to learn about foods that cause symptoms with IBS, because that seems to be the next autoimmune disease I have acquired.  My celiac disease already changed my diet is innumerable ways, and luckily quite a few gluten free grains are helpful for IBS, but there are still an awful lot of food that may be causing or prolonging some of my colitis issues.  Of course, the worst ones to lose, in my opinion, are onions, garlic, and mushrooms, but there are so many more.  In the past week I have felt totally overwhelmed and defeated by the prospect of having to overhaul my diet yet again.  I'm supposed to just experiment with this, taking out a few foods to see if it makes any difference, but so far, even though I am trying, I seem to be unable to accomplish this.  I do have a few recipes to try, and I just made my salad dressing that uses agave, but with table sugar instead, but to be a gluten free vegetarian-almost-vegan, and to not be able to eat any beans except canned lentils and chickpeas, the aforementioned onions, garlic, mushrooms, and so many, many more, is just so disheartening.  

Craft-wise, my towels are done, and available in my Etsy shop.  There are 2 woven with black cotton/linen, one with black cotton, and 2 each woven with dark eggplant and navy blue.  The colors are nice and vibrant, and the towels are extra large, 27" X 19."

I'm also slowing spinning up some beautiful wool/silk for the next scarf warp.  The spinning is slow, both because of my thumb still getting used to its new position, and because the fiber is spinning up ridiculously fine.  Here is the fiber, and sorry about the sideways photo.

As you can see, there wasn't all that much good news to share.  Around here, Covid seems to be starting to retreat, so that will be good, but we still have many in the hospitals and the ICUs.  There are still the stubborn folk who won't get vaccinated, putting the rest of us at risk and increasing the odds of more variants coming along.  I don't get it, myself.  Add to that book burning, limits on teaching children history, and all of the other inexplicable things going on in this country, and you can see how disheartening life is at the moment.  BUT, the sun is on its slow march northward, soon bringing relief to the darkness of winter.  I guess we have to work with what we 've got.

Take care and stay safe out there.