February - A short month and a short entry.

 The weather continues to be ridiculously dry.  A much anticipated snow storm passed to our South, robbing us of any snow.  The next week promised another snow storm, which passed to our South. Again, we stayed dry. The next storm was less promising, but still heading our way, but passed to our North. The last storm promised a track that would gift us with snow, ice, or rain, we had none of it.  Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, eh?

We did however get cold with that storm. Previously we had spent February in the mild 40s and 50s, and even a couple 60s during the day, and below freezing at night.  But the last storm brought arctic air with it and we spent a week of not even making it to the freezing mark during the day, all the while, the winds HOWLED. The windchills were brutal, sometimes down to -20F.

But the pendulum has swung the other way, and we're back in the 60s and low 70s for the end of February and beginning of March.

As always nice weather means working outside.  This month's project - a HOOP HOUSE for things earlier and later in the growing season.  It will also allow me to put plants too tall for the Greenhouse into the ground and get growing before the soil in the full garden is ready.

As always, after the first swing of the hammer, I wonder what on earth possessed me to start another project. But once it's started, it has to be finished.  I ripped out the lower production end of the garden, taking out cattle panels and pulling up the irrigation lines and putting them aside.  The T-posts that went 2 feet into the ground, which was still quite cold, were another challenge. I found a T-post lever at the tractor store, which helped greatly with that end of the project.

I plotted out the location of the main supports and got to work pounding in new T-posts.  The plan was to use electrical conduit arches with painted PVC post slides and angles. The problems were many and frequent and frustrating, requiring trips into town for replacements.  My PVC didn't fit over all my T-posts, which caused me to replace some.  I got a batch of a poorly molded PVC reducers, some were from one box, they were fine;the ones from another case, were not. The PVC glue and primer I had on hand was not working between the 45' PVC and the electrical conduit (PVC), but it should have, so a new set was purchased. Conduit that had failed at the fittings and needed new ones, had to be outright replaced. 

 I finally got all the arched made and up.  Now for the connecting pole that runs down the ridge to keep the spacing between all the ribs.  I followed the directions and pre-drilled the holes for the bolt that would connect the ridge pole to to the arch.  Arch one went fine. Arch two, in the middle of drilling, SNAP. right in two.  Arch three, SNAP. Arch four, SNAP.  That was NOT supposed to happen.

Annoyed beyond belief, I ripped all the arches off the posts and tossed them over the garden wall.  Obviously I was going to have to manage a complete redesign, which of course, would require yet ANOTHER trip to the hardware store. Which, if you haven't been recently, is a voyage to Sticker Shock Land.

Luckily the next few days were cold enough to be forced to stay inside and come up with a new plan and a shopping list. I came across a plan using cattle panels and various frame setups. The whole thing was kind of a build to suit, wing-it as you go, situation.  It's been an adventure that's for sure.  Sixteen foot cattle panels are an adventure to haul and even more to carry and install alone.  Trips to Habitat are always hit or miss.  Lumber quality at the moment is HORRIBLE. Material shortages mean getting creative as you're standing in the isles at Home Depot, a now defunct hoop house plan on a napkin, fluttering to the floor.

I still have some work to complete this week before the weather swings the other way.  I should be able to mange at least painting the lumber before the rain/snow/cold arrives.  The plastic requires a windless day to put up, and I'm not sure when that's going to happen.

So there's the outdoor project.

For the cold, chilly, frigid days I turned to the looms, and briefly the sewing machine.

A quick, necessary project was to complete some new, re-usable shopping bags from old T-shirts.  These are a crazy quick project.  The shirts are heavier quality shirts, in children's large, and adult small and medium, that I picked up at the local charity shop for a dime each.  I washed and sanitized them, as well as sun drying, and now I have two dozen new beefy bags.

Fergus and I managed 14 rugs before the warp run came to an end.  Those were all measured and labeled, rolled and tied, and displayed in a wicker market basket.  Four have already sold at a local B&B/Antique Store.

Fergus is now loaded with a blue and white striped warp, which when woven with white or cream rag, will give the illusion of a striped ticking type of rug.

I then turned my attention to the long ignored Nessie, my four harness Tweed and Tartan loom.  Her warp was measured and cut in 2020 right before attention was turned to emergency sewing.  Her warp was finally wrapped in Spring of 2021, when I got busy with just about everything else. Now that she was in her new home, the very fact that the light was amazing, and it was in the heart of the house, I was ready to jump at the chance and finally finishing her thread-up.

She is now fully loaded, and I am almost done with the DunRovin Station Tartan, which will be turned into a dress sash for me, and then the sample for the Scotland Registry.  I have 6 more tartans lined up behind this one already.

So here's to the short month, as we look forward to March-more weaving, and the opening of the Seeding Shed.