Having a couple of hours early in the day to explore this isolated corner of Arizona before Caroline’s workshop gets underway has been great, and with the relatively cool weather, it’s all the better.
Out in the woods, we can linger under the kind of shade cactus fail to offer. Trees are welcoming of hugs, while cacti demand distance. Cactus takes root in the arid, hostile ground that snakes and lizards find attractive compared to trees that find symbiosis with grasses, small plants, bushes, flowers, and furry creatures. Caroline and I are comfortable transitioning between the biomes, but by spending much of our time in a desert, these forestlands become enchanting in ways that leave deep impressions.
And where meadows open up, and the uninterrupted sky reappears, we breathe in the fresh air and pinch ourselves that this is our good fortune.
Okay, that was enough nature, back to the trailer park.
This is our cozy bed with our familiar bedding, which includes pillowcases handmade by Mrs. Crafty Wise herself.
If there’s yarn around, there must be a cat somewhere. Well, there’s also a dog out here that comes to our front door in the morning and lounges around the workshop area on his back, inviting belly rubs. Yep, things are that chill out on the Blue.
Today, the yarn that was dyed yesterday is wound into a ball and then split into tiny sample skeins for all attendees.
Caroline is seen here operating a ball winder that pulls the yarn from the swift that holds a skein.
Taking samples of the yarns the students have created, they are creating documentation of the processes and attaching small pieces of yarn to the page for references as to how they achieved their results.
As this long weekend getaway and workshop is all about my wife, I’m honoring that by feeding her the kind of foods she enjoys, and that would be those of the vegetarian type. A big salad is one of Caroline’s favorites.
A mid-day rain is not a big surprise in August as it’s monsoon season here in Arizona. Good thing I didn’t plan on driving anywhere because one needs to cross a wash to get to the road.
This is like the mixed grill of dyed yarns in the form of a pot of color.
When Janie is not dyeing yarns with various plant materials, she’s using these in her primary work which is tapestry weaving. As a matter of fact, in less than two weeks after this retreat in the mountains, we’ll be heading back this way to Alpine, Arizona, for a workshop about tapestry weaving, and as luck would have it, Sandy is signed up for that, too.
Cooking up some red yarn…
…before turning the attention to the purple stuff.
Rinse, soak, and repeat using a cool, old, repurposed washing machine from a different age.
Iterations of a theme.
This attitude comes from the TOTAL LACK OF MEAT on this grill. Seriously, how am I supposed to survive on grilled beets, zucchini, and corn? No cracks about living off the meat belt around my mid-section, which I swear is not fat.