Neutral magic

These are up for grabs here

If y'all like 'em, there will be more.

Who knew all you color freaks could get so excited by some b&w, like I can from time to time!

the special days roll

It's been a very long time since I've had two consecutive days off from the Whine Mine. I'm still not used to the luxury of it. Offset that with by Friday night I'm ready to tell someone exactly where they can shove their concerns. Enough of the day job, I still have 24 hours of freedom!










Saturday was Charlie day this week. Jake's birthday was 6/2 and if it wasn't for his brother, I would have forgotten!! We went on a pilgrimage to Bass Pro Shop to further outfit Jake's tackle box. The fish have finally found him and he's having a ball. Colin pitched in to help.

June 2, 1985. We couldn't wait to get the fresh one home.

the weekend

Two new rounds of Dirty Threads were hatched out despite the weather, but it's gonna be a while before I do this again. You can grab some up here:



Everything step took twice as long as usual. Tedium is not a good creative partner.  Come some real summer weather and I'll think about doing it all again. Maybe.











I had some sleepover company Sunday night! We watched junk TV, made art, ate junk food and generally got up to no good, but a good time was had by all.

monsoon spinning

It's been a hectic week. Cooking up thread, editing/writing and dealing with house crap. We finally passed inspection for the insurance (I think) and, in response to my money-saving efforts, the Universe said "Hah!" and my old Maytag finally up and died. Colin and I conjured up some fix-it magic a year ago, but this fail sounded ominous.

The machine was a gift from my folks when we first moved here. Twenty-four hard, abusive years. Mom & Dad, I sure got your money's worth out of this one!  Time to drag it and its mismatched partner, the Dryer from Hell, to the metal scrappers. Time to start a new tip jar.

There was some innovation too!

no nests

I left this hanging outside on the high deck. Since no bird elected to call it home, I've brought it back inside. Fill it with quarters and call it a vacation fund. Should buy me gas to get to Destin and back.

Magnolia Rains - updated

I did some very different things with this latest batch of threads.

I put took them out of the sauce in small groups, six or eight at a time, ensuring they were pretty wet when the dye struck.

 The salt/sugar mix was very humid - clumpy. I chose some pretty antagonistic colors, including things that I had been avoiding, like Avocado, hot pink and Hard Red.

The neighbors magnolia trees are blooming and it was threatening to rain. Atmosphere + chemistry.

At first, I was worried that I had knuckled them too much. (just what it sounds like) and then the skies opened up after they had only been batching a few hours. I left them in the rain all night long. The first rinses were very murky, then this happened.
it's a magical batch!


More hot, wet days ahead so I'm going to take another run at getting those golds, aubergines, and limes before this batch is available.

Dye fest!

 This years table-mopper (so far). It's a big piece of what I call "spanking" cotton. The kind that snaps when you shake it right. Sturdy, not vintage. I'm going to use it all season to see what it can become.

It's going to be hot and humid today and I'm all prepped for a new batch of Dirty Threads. They will probably get the last rinse in a thunderstorm.

What colors do you crave?
Comment and let me know.

breakfast in good company

Jake and Charlie stopped by to take me to breakfast. Do I look tired? For a string of dumb, self-inflicted reasons, (I was writing) I only got about three hours of sleep last night and I'm facing a regular working Saturday. I may sleep right through Sunday.

And don't ever make one cup of iced coffee with two spoonfuls of Cafe Bustelo unless you plan on running a marathon.

Rain and cloth

the annual miracle

We are late this year. I've tried getting in the water as early as May 15, but the fresh water was always much too cold, even for this Yankee seal.

As late as this is, we were still way ahead of the Annual Frog Fornication Fest. There were no tadpoles for me to round up and relocate this year. They've been noisy at night but slow to get busy. Maybe because the water level was too low?

Tomorrow, Colin will crawl under the deck and replace one of the large delivery hoses. The entire water-carrying infrastructure has been in place since 98. That's the original liner! The deck needs some work but there WILL be swimming this season. Splashing, paddling, drifting and dreaming. The bones of my next book will be born in these waters.


Jimmy was so smart to make this investment.