The End of a Month and Year

I was my own Santa and ordered this Logitech bluetooth keypad for my three-year-old iPad.  I've used one made by Zagg since I  bought this and would be lost without an external keyboard, however, that one was heavy and the iPad was only propped up in a channel which means it would fall over every so often as I typed.  This one is magnetic, half the weight of my Zagg, and the magnet keeps it steady as I type.  I gave my old one to Margi, my oldest stepdaughter so don't feel too bad about my extravagance.

I also ordered at 13" end-feed shuttle by Bluster Bay so  now I have two; the other is made by Schacht.  It seems that all Bluster Bay owners are crazy about their shuttles and while I love having an EFS, I don't have that same feeling for my Schacht.  And now I know why they rave, through I do love the tensioner on the Schacht.  Even though it's obnoxious to thread around the hooks, I quickly came to prefer the feel of my newest shuttle.

This is a picture of the two from the side and as you can see, the Bluster Bay is bigger which means it's also heavier.  I've had problems with that chisel nose on the Schacht, slidingunder or over warp threads.  I had two pirns filled with the weft I'm currently using and must have uneven tension on some of my warp threads as I had to unweave a couple of sections because of that problem.  I decided to give my new shuttle a try on that warp and have had no trouble at all.  I'm really pleased.  This has been such a busy month that I have hardly had time to weave at all, so I'm really looking forward to some weaving time in January.

I walked the dogs Tuesday morning.  It's been cold here and what little snow we've had is in the mountains.  The ski resorts have had to make snow and we're really worried that this winter will be another dry one.

The next morning we had this spectacular sunrise which quickly faded to yet another gray day.  It was Wednesday, Christmas Eve day, and by noon a fast-moving storm from Northern California pushed through here with heavy rains for about four hours.  As soon as the temps dropped, it turned to snow and the roads froze.  Most of the people who spend Christmas Eve with us didn't venture outside of their front doors.  My son Matt and his girlfriend Julia were driving down from Bend Oregon and I was a nervious wreck.  They were exchausted by the time they got here.  Seven of our neighbors came anyway so it was an intimate group this year.  We ended up in the living room, just chatting and laughing until about 11:00 which is waaaaaaay past my bedtime.

The anxiety wore me out through and I woke up the next morning about half dead.  We had planned to see a movie and then go out for Chinese food but it just didn't happen.  We exchanged our gifts and then settled into a quiet day.  I surprised Ian with a Kindle Paperwhite and I'm shocked that I was able to pull it off.  He's impossible to surprise.  He's made it a tradition to give me two books, a fiction and a nonfiction.  He spends quite a bit of time reading reviews and trying to figure out what I'd enjoy reading.

One day about a week ago I started reading one of the prepublication books that I got from Random House called The Book of Unknown Americans by Christina Henriquez.  I was utterly sucked in and couldn't put it down - not a good thing just days before Christmas.  It turns out that it was my fiction book.  Ian pulled his copy out of the closet and handed it to me when I was about halfway done.  He wanted me to have two books Christmas morning so quickly ordered the Anita Diamant as a replacement.

Margi, Ian's oldest daughter, got a promotional job opportunity and is in the process of moving to Susanville, a mere 40 minutes from us.  When she learned that we were going to be home, she drove down to spend the afternoon with us.  We ate leftover ham and sat around, laughing and talking for about four hours.  It's the quietest, most intimate Christmas I can remember and it was lovely.  We sent her home with my old Zaggfolio for her iPad, Ian's old Kindle and a copy of the Book of Unknown Americans - oh, and a bottle of desert wine someone had given us.

I woke up this morning and relaized that I really needed to take down the Christmas tree.  Our granddaughters will be here tomorrow to spend the night and then the four of us hit the road early MOnday morning for SoCal to celebrate New Years with family and friends down there.  I always hate to put the ornaments away for another year because they hold so many memories for us, but I know I am really going to hate it when we get home next week with suitcases full of dirty laundry.  Now that the tree is down, it's official.  I've closed the 2014 chapter and I'm very much looking forward to opening the 2015 one.  Happy New Year to everyone.