A Start at the New Year

Vacations are all fine and well but I have to admit that I start getting twitchy if I spend too much time not really doing anything. So today I dragged out my boxes of old sheets and started designing new rugs for the new year. For rag rugs I put on warps that will make 7 rugs at a time so I have to find a bunch of sheets that will coordinate with whatever colors I make that warp. So I pile lots of them up on the bed (I developed the habit of using my bed as a workspace in college in a very small room and still do it) and start selecting similar color combinations. The first warp will be stripes of green and dark blue and that leaves a lot of leeway. The above pile is one combination that I think will work well with those colors. I wound that warp today and tomorrow will start on another one of aquas, bright green, lavender and pink. It is exciting to get back to serious work at the loom.

While I was playing with piles of fabric in the bedroom I was running back and forth to the kitchen where my batch of Delia's Dark Chunky Marmalade was simmering on the back of the stove. It came out lovely, dark, rich, tasty. And it set up perfectly.

Such a nice day. Meanwhile it was pouring outside. In spite of which I donned my Wellies and went for a walk. The ditches along the road are full and flowing (the closest thing to a stream we get on this island) and the fields are full of puddles.