December, It Just FLEW By.

 

Most of the reason it sped by so quickly was due to the great loom project.  Fergus was all consuming for 10 days. It was wonderful.  Now Fergus is safely in the house and set up, and working.  Being on the main floor affords me the same opportunity as my studio desk in the kitchen.  I can work for a bit and then continue on with chores or cooking.  It's easy to just work for a few minutes as the mood strikes.

Fergus is well on his way, and has rag rug #4 on it now.  I should have that done by tomorrow.  I've been managing a rug a day just by doing several rows every so often throughout the day.  I have a great deal of scraps saved up and ready to be stripped as needed.

I love the process and the result.  One of my main goals for January is to finish the custom sewing double dummy and to get the next Tartan threaded up on the downstairs Loom, Nessie. That is a HUGE project. I dread it, but to start weaving, it must be done. 

December 15th rolled in with temperatures in the mid 70s, which is unheard of for here.  The air felt odd all day, it was still and a little humid.  The storms began to develop to our west and then picked up speed, barreling across the state like a freight train.  Tropical storm and hurricane force winds chewed up everything in front of it and torrential rains raced horizontally along the hills, and tornadoes formed unpredictably along the leading edge of the storm. As I sat on the front porch working and passing information to surrounding broadcasting agencies, the unmistakable roar came from the next valley. As the winds picked up, the roar wasn't muffed by the approaching rain on the tin rooves nor the wind twisting the giant tree limbs. In fact, it grew louder.  There was a flash across the valley and the power was gone, the air was green, and still the sound of a jet engine grew closer. I sent one more report and went inside and told Doc, that I didn't know where the tornado was, I couldn't see it, but it was out there and it was close.  I returned to my observation post but could see nothing.  The air pressure dropped to 29.03, before the station shut down. The beast was out there, but invisible.  The whole thing was over in 15 minutes.  The line passed, the sun was golden, and the air behind the storm was fresh and clear. We were still here, the only damage was a missing vent panel on the greenhouse. (I forgot to close the lower vents during storm prep.) (The tornado was headed our way, but lifted just 5 miles south of the house.  For a storm that was moving at us at 80 mph, that's a big deal- 4 minutes is all that stood between us and that twister.)

For us, the power was out.  Long before the storm had hit, I had filled the extra water buckets for both animals and people. I used the clear glass jugs and a candle to blow the light from one candle into a full lantern in the kitchen, and with the help of food put up in the pantry, managed a full Thai dinner from scratch for supper.  A reward for an insane evening.

After that, we still had wild swings of cool and warm days. It was warm enough to bring the ladybugs back out and warm and breezy enough to still hang laundry on the line.  Odd for sure, but no one was complaining. Although we all know Mr. Freeze Meister's shoe will drop on us eventually.

The warm weather even distracted us from the fact that the holidays were sneaking up on us. But we found enough spirit to make and eat a Yule Log and get the tree up, albeit, two days before Christmas. The ornaments never did make it out of storage, and the whole tree was put away by Christmas afternoon. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was New Year Day, and Winter arrived.

From DunRovinStation Ranch to you and yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.