I’ve been off the radar for a few weeks–sorry about that. I began a studio refit I thought would take a couple of days. As usual, I seriously underestimated both the amount of work, and my endurance. It took three weeks–but I LOVE it! I now have that ‘clean, well-lighted place’ Hemingway said we all need to ward off the existential blues (or just a cool studio with plenty of space, storage, and lighting–mostly storage!). I find myself just wandering into the room at different times of day–no real purpose, just checking that it’s still there the way I left it, since, part two of the story, I can’t actually sew right now. What had happened was…
Rather than admit to the failings of encroaching age, I’m going to blame it all on the sheep. It went something like this: Capn’ Jack Sparrow, my pale fawn alpaca, was off his feed. When he began to look a little unsteady, I called in the vet. As I had suspected, so did the vet–early stages of a meningeal worm infection. These parasites cause damage to the nervous system and can be deadly, however, it looked as though we had caught it in time (we had–he’s ok). I began the series of injections that would halt the worm’s progress. As a precaution, all of the other animals were treated with a preventative. Except Norman.
Looks like such a sweetie, doesn’t he? He loves his animal crackers–people? Not so much. It took two weeks to nice him to the point where I could try for a grab. As soon as I had hold of that horn, I found myself attached to a sixty pound jumping bean. I ended up in the dirt, mostly on my back, but still hanging on. In the end he got his shot, and I got to walk with a cane for 4 days. Walking is, I am happy to report, a thing I can again do unassisted. Sitting isn’t too bad, but getting up is still a bit of a challenge. Reaching out over a mat to cut strips of cloth? Nope. Maybe next week?
Meanwhile–more spinning! Current project? This gorgeous Merino/silk blend from Mountain View Farm.
