Sherri Woodard Coffey

Today I have been laid flat by a cough and maybe a cold… or maybe I’m just really tired from getting practically no sleep for the last two weeks.  Whatever the reason, today was a “water haul” as we say here in Texas to describe a non-productive day.  My accomplishments were three: a trip to the Container Store, changing the sheets, and starting the dishwasher.  Tomorrow I plan to begin the day weaving, then move on to other more mundane things.  The focus issue is still with me, perhaps related to all the emotional turmoil of the last month, but that has to change also.  I wish I had some interesting pictures to post, but, well, there’s nothing interesting at all right now….or maybe there is something interesting.  I received the Kindle for Christmas.  As a lover of all things tech and books, I have really debated whether this would be a worthwhile investment. So, off and on for the last couple of days, I have played around with this device to see what it can do.  One thing I do know, it’s way too easy to get books fast and spend lots of money.  You can get samples of books to see if it’s something you want to read, and, since we’re planning a trip to Belize, I wondered about getting a travel book on the Kindle.  It would be lighter and the search makes it easy to find a particular section or site.  I got a sample of a travel book, but decided to check it out at Borders when we went for coffee.  There’s just something about holding a real book… but the Kindle version would be so much easier to pack.  I also tried the local newspaper, but rejected it after realizing that many of the columns I enjoy are missing in the Kindle version, as are the Letters to the Editor and the Obituaries.  It sounded like a good deal—no more early, cold mornings going out to get the paper!  So the verdict is still out on whether I’m going to warm up to this Kindle.

White Christmas in Texas?  Yep, it happened.  After our stockings and presents here, we drove to my mother’s for the big family celebration.  The 25-mile drive presented us with the vision of many cars along side the highway.  Most had been draped with the ubiquitous yellow police tape, I think to indicate that a particular car had already been investigated.  It was a very careful drive, as it was hard to discern frozen areas very far in advance.

Christmas and all other family gatherings are quite noisy in my family.  There’s usually about 25 of us in attendance.  Beck and Zane see all these relatives once a year, and every year I am amazed at how well they do.  This year they were happily entertained by playing chess with the various cousins.  Chess clubs in schools are wonderful!

After returning home, we had an early supper, packed up, and set the alarm for 3:45 AM in order to get everyone off for the 6:27 flight.  As much as I disliked the inconvenient time of their departure, turns out that it was probably for the best.  They had a connecting flight in Chicago, where I understand there were problems because of weather.  Luckily, they boarded the plane and only took off about an hour late.  It is very quiet in my house now.  No more little voices calling, “Grandma…”  No more play talk as the little boys reenact Star Wars adventures and make up new ones.  No more noisy dice as we play Yahtzee.  No more arguing about who goes first when beginning to play Blokus. 

The boys love to sleep in the big chair in the living room, all wrapped up in their blankets or sleeping bags.  They read quietly under the reading lamp and then turn out the light with not a peep out of them until I fix them hot chocolate the next morning. 

So, we took down the tree tonight and plan to have a “normal” day tomorrow.  Except, of course, for the mountain of laundry that must be done.  Normal for me means that I will weave a bit, do laundry in between breaks, and get a little vacuuming done.  I also like to sit down and plan my week on Sunday evening. Another picture of the snowman must be taken in order to document the sad demise of the snowman. This is all part of a “scientific” experiment that I promised to do for Beck.

I did find a surprise this afternoon.  Beck left me a sticky-note message in my office.  Very nicely expressed and much appreciated. 

We still have snow on the ground here, and it’s not looking like it will be warming up any time soon.  Wood to bring in, weaving to be done…

Yesterday I got photos from the zoo ready and took them to be printed, a real decision process for me because I would have liked the boys to pick out their own.  After several tries at paper cutting for the right size, I finally got everything ready for the boys to paste in their pics today.  They’re really cute, and I hope their parents will be pleased…how could they not with such wonderful pictures!  I’m still in love with the looks on their faces with the birds.  Below are the photo albums in all their glory.  Bit of a zoo theme, except for the picture on the front, which is of them in front of the Christmas tree after they’d gaudied—er, hmm—decorated it.

It is such fun to have them here.  We’re making cookies this afternoon.  Tomorrow it will be cinnamon rolls for Santa Claus, even though they keep telling me there is no Santa.  I choose to disagree.

Not a lot of weaving being done around here, just creating memories.  Even though yesterday was the first day of winter, it was a beautiful day here in Texas, so we took the boys to the zoo.  Here they are riding the train and observing something amazing, I’m sure. Below, you can  see the joy on their faces as birds sit on their seed sticks in a special area just for delighting kids.  It was wonderful to see their faces!

At the same time I was enjoying the boys’ excitement, I was also looking at design possibilities.  Painted on the wall was this design:

  And, of course, there are the possibilities of animal designs—great for the graphics of weft-faced ikat.

And the bright colors…

I am hoping to get pictures printed today in order to make crafty accordion-folded picture albums for their parents—if I can figure out the directions. 

This is a video of a mobile of old unused cell phones playing a Christmas carol. Enjoy!

Experience Mobile Mobile from James Théophane Jnr on Vimeo.

My daughter and family are to fly in from North Carolina this evening.  Even though they live in Charlotte, they found a flight from Greensboro that would be cheaper.  The weather reports for that whole region of the country are not good—at least for humans driving cars and taking planes.  I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.  When they come, there is always so much to squeeze into a short time frame, and besides, I’m looking forward to seeing them.  So, the plan for today (if I can maintain some focus) is to weave for a short while, then do the regular weekly housework.  Got the guest room ready yesterday, so today it’s everything else today.  I am resisting—for now—the urge to sit down at my design table.  Things are running around in my head, but they probably need to settle into something coherent before bringing out the paper.  Maybe weaving will help with that…

In thinking about how often I have mentioned the weather lately, I have realized how much the weather affects my state of mind.  Yesterday we had a high of 44, but the sun was shining, so somehow it didn’t seem quite so bad.  Today it’s a tad warmer, but cloudy.  Prefer the sunshine.  I did get out the bird seed the other day on one of the warmer days, and it has been discovered.  I love sitting at my loom and catching glimpses of the various birds that come to the feeders.  Before this room became my studio, I had a sofa out there and spent several winters identifying birds and being surprised at some of the rare ones that would stop by for a little snack.

My wireless router went kaplooey, so off I went today to get a new one, along with groceries, gas, etc.  Something else that amazes me is how much I rely on this internet connection.  Can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not, but it just is.  We got our H1N1 shots yesterday (I know, the season for it is probably over), and I was thinking about how nice it would be to just email my doctor the update.  I wish she would email me information too, instead of mailing the results of blood tests and such.  Maybe I’ll ask about that next time I’m in.  It is good that prescriptions are coming printed out and/or sent directly to pharmacies.  No more worries about doctors’ handwriting with that method!

Enough rambling—now off to actually try and accomplish something.  Still have those design kits to sew up, a little housework, and hmmm….maybe some weaving?  Still working on focus, or lack thereof.

I hate to say it, but routine is nice.  Routine sounds so boring, but I have to admit I have been looking forward to a boring, routine day.  This day got off to a rough start because the morning newspaper wasn’t here to have along with my coffee.  But I did my weaving, then started in on the minimum of housework.  It was nice to be able to work in the kitchen without having to deal with a stopped up sink (plumber was out this week).  The laundry is washed, the floors are vacuumed, furniture is dusted, and the sun is shining!  All’s right with the world—at least for this day.  Now off to Borders to have coffee and read the local alternative weekly newspaper—our Sunday treat.  Tonight will be spent working on finishing the scans of old slides.  Amazing what you can find in old, forgotten pictures!  Hope to make a DVD of the slides, but have never done that before.  Another work in progress.

Of course, the sunshine came with really cold temperatures and wind, but all’s better with a spoonful of sunshine on top!  And there are so many folks in really cold, snowy conditions all over the country right now.  According to the news, many areas have cut back on snowplowing because of budget cuts.  Huge berms of snow in the streets…can’t even imagine.

It’s always interesting what shows underneath the warp when I take a picture of something on the loom.  As the picture is being snapped, I’m not even  conscious of what’s showing through the warp threads.  In this photo you can see a smidgen of orange and the blue/violet before that.  At any rate, this is what’s on the loom, and may still be what’s on the loom until after the holiday season.  If I can just focus, focus, focus ….

Yesterday there was a strange yellow object in the sky—at least briefly.  Wonderful to see the sun even if only for a few minutes.  I need that boost to my energy.

Work in progress—Wish there were some interesting pictures to post, but so far it’s pretty much only solid colors.  I did start the tapestry section yesterday, so perhaps tomorrow I can take a picture of the WIP.  The afternoon was spent making phone calls and doing errands.  Why do I postpone those phone calls?  I’m really just not a phone call kind of person.  Don’t even chat much on the phone.

Today will be a fun day.  Having a little luncheon with a small group of friends, and, boy, do I need it!  I offered to bring the wine, but since I don’t drink wine, it was thought that bringing bread would be better.  Now what goes with potato/leek soup? 

My plan had been taking some small little something for Christmas gifts, but real life interfered, so maybe a New Year’s gift?  Or a Just Because gift? 

I’m still going to make seed balls, even if it’s late in the season.  I read about urban seed ballers.  You casually throw out the seed balls of wildflowers onto vacant lots and watch for the wildflowers in the spring and summer.  Can’t you imagine the blooms amidst the piles of trash?  Love it!