My empty nest seems to get emptier all the time.
The oldest used to text me every night
when she got home from her evening late shifts.
I wouldn't wake to the notification like I used to when the girls were 16,
but upon rising in the morning,
the phone was the first thing I looked at
and I smiled when I read that "home! love you, night!"
The youngest has almost never texted me with such silliness.
Last month, I stopped getting those texts.
At first I broke out in a sweat wondering how quickly I could get to Austin,
thinking the worst of course.
Then I tried to tell myself, that it is silly for her to text me every evening.
She is an adult after all.
The youngest has been to camp most of the summer,
has many friends, and bless her heart,
stays up into the wee hours of the night constantly.
She works and volunteers.
She rarely answers my texts,
never views funny videos of her dog that I send,
and hardly ever comments on my fb posts.
I was jealous of her old friends and her new friends alike.
(She used to watch her favorite tv shows with me....
why else would I now watch
True Blood, and Walking Dead and King of Thrones)
Now, she has other tv buddies.
Again, she is an adult, and has her own life.
I just miss my girls.
BUT...AND....
I have lovely friends. My schedule can be as full as I want it to be.
I am enjoying watching the grand dog.
This is his impression of a bear skin rug!
A friend of a friend was getting rid of her mother's unwanted ladies.
My friend thought of me.
Now, these wheels are in fantastic shape.
However, for the past seven years I have learned and have been spinning
on a double treadle (foot pads), and the two Ashfords are a single treadle.
I took them home to try them out.
If you know me, I am NOT one who likes any change at all.
Especially as I get older and set in my routines, ways, and muscle memory.
I dusted, polished with lemon oil, and greased all the moving parts.
Spinning was quite difficult.
I changed tension of the wheel and the brake, and try as I might,
just could not get the wheel to spin constantly in one direction.
I explained to the hubby that it is like trying to peddle a bicycle
with only one peddle.
The other foot just dangling there.
My thigh and calf muscles began to ache.
After carding and spinning some Romney, instead of using a prepared roving,
I began to get the hang of things.
I was peddling very quickly, but did have a rhythm going.
I looked down at one point and laughed and laughed!
I had once heard a story of an old spinner who was given an electric wheel to try.
She didn't like it much, but after a while, was spinning a lovely single.
The folks around her began to smile and giggle behind their hands.
She asked what was so funny.
They told her that even though it was an electric wheel,
and did not have treadles,
her feet were still peddling!
Yup, my left foot was peddling air, as my right foot was working the wheel!
I now have two full bobbins of woolen spun Romney on each Ashford.
The traditional and the traveler are my new favorite ladies.
I love my tried and true Kromski and will use her for my school work.
She also has a more advanced design and is able to produce difficult yarns.
The Ashfords are production wheels.
I should find names for these ladies.
Thinking Rosie for the Kromski,
as in Rosie the Riveter
Lizzy for the Traveler from Pride and Prejudice
and Jo from Little Women for the Traditional.
but something as familiar as a name seems...right.
I was also blessed tonight from an unexpected source.
A disappointment, expressed kindly, resulted in a gift.
It always pays to be nice.
SO with this rainy, feet aching evening,
I am sitting with the puppies, and knitting on some socks.
Life turns on a dime, so why was I moping around?
I am loved and blessed by so many.
Yes.....all three spinning wheels in one room....each to it's own chair. I move around the room!
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