Winter of our Discontent

 

my father, a reminder of when moving snow was done in machines with open cabs and not much in the way of heaters

We have been having a run of 'true' winter weather.  It is currently -21 C and the heat pump needs the assistance of the natural gas backup.  So far it is working well and we haven't needed the electric space heaters.

I have been enjoying the fact that I have minimum physical maintenance appointments and I've  managed to group two of them the same week which has been giving me the week in between with no need to leave the house.  I have been enjoying that.

But I'm still trying to find pain medication that works for the nerve pain and doesn't cause muscle/joint pain.  The massage therapist mentioned that the pain in the base of my thumb is particularly a problem and to do nothing that aggravates it.  So I've been cutting back on my handwork.

Last night I put the spinning away.  The pinch/release of spinning really aggravates my thumb, and he warned me that if the tendon 'blows' it will takes months to recover.  Something I do NOT want to have happen.

I've been waiting for the pharmacist to call me back with some 'new' alternatives to try, but I've heard nothing and I'm running out of pills.  So I need to phone and order another batch of pills - or find out how she's doing on the search for the 'magic' pills.

My goal is to keep weaving for so long as I can.  If nothing else, samples for articles.  But it would be nice if I could weave other things, too.  Yesterday I cut off the first 6 towels and today I will tie on and continue weaving the current warp.  I'm quite enjoying doing these towels, and I think they will make great towels.

Yesterday, I listed a recent run of table runners  to my ko-fi shop - with fingers firmly crossed that the borders won't slam shut.  

In the meantime, I am enjoying the blue skies (not so much the cold temps) but right now it is actually 'normal' so I'm not complaining too much.  I've been making it to the loom twice a day except for the two days every two weeks I have appointments.  And I'm mulling over the results of the first experimental warp, thinking how to approach the second warp for the article.  I have a few more days so I can keep mulling for a while, but I'm going to have to make up my mind soon.  

It's been very interesting to see what happens from thread to cloth.  Hopefully I can make some kind of sense of it.