[Bracket closeup. Isn't it beautiful?]



[What they do: strengthen the sides and let me hang clothes at the faire]

TJ is chugging along on the trailer modifications. Yesterday he showed me the brackets that he made to hold the clothing racks. They're awesome! They are sturdy enough to stabilize the sides of the trailer while I'm driving and easy to remove while loading and unloading. During the show, they will hold the clothing still on the hangers.

Today he's working on a removable but water sealed roof that's sturdy enough to hold cargo if I need to use it that way.



[Wispr keeps a watchful eye on the selvedge as he weaves]

Wispr is doing well with the weaving. As expected, his bobbins are lumpy, skinny, and slow in winding. But, they are wound well enough to produce perfect selvedges. Not bad for his first time! He'll certainly be good enough to weave while I'm gone. It's really exciting!



[Harlan and the elderberries]

Harlan stopped by the other day with a bucket of elderberries still on the stem. It was nice to step away from my own work for a while and help get them ready to freeze.

As for my work, it's a little overwhelming right now. Along with packing up to do the show, I'm getting the house ready for others to use in my absence. I've also begun work on the contracts that will help guide us over the next few years as I take over various aspects of the California shows.

And, in between it all I'm weaving to earn money for travel expenses. In my spare time, I'm working for the church and meeting with others to develop the manifesto for a new monastery.

[New Pants. Thanks, Wispr!]

Things are lining up for my trip. TJ is back with the MR2 so that Wonder and Vibrant can get away from the faire site on their days off.

Actually, that's a nice way to look at it. The reality is that they aren't allowed to stay on site during the week. I was granted special permission because I'm managing Annie's booth, but the show managers don't want a party atmosphere so groups of people aren't allowed to stay. It's just four weeks, and those guys really want to visit friends in the Bay Area and spend some time at the ocean. I think they'll have a blast and those four weeks will be gone in a flash. While they're off carousing in the two-seater, I'll be enjoying my days at the sewing table, making bags to sell this holiday season.

Anyhow, TJ is back home and working on the trailer. It should be all fixed up in a couple of days.

Wispr made me a new pair of pants while I got the loom ready for him to start weaving. They are beautiful! They're made from a durable piece of light canvas we found on the land, with a top strip of super comfortable brown denim. The bottom features a wide cuff that gathers the legs just above my boots so that I don't need to stuff cloth into them.

Wispr started weaving on the production loom yesterday and did a great job. It was fun to see someone else learning how to work the flyshuttle mechanism. He started out slow and clunky, with lots of underthrowing but rapidly got the hang of it. He wove three yards on his first day! (This is way better than I did when I was learning.) Today he'll learn the critical skill of winding bobbins and then it's just a matter of practice, practice, practice. He's got five days of practice before I leave for California. By then, I'm sure he'll be ready to weave on his own until I get back.

So there you have it! Four of us will be earning an income from my weaving project during the months of September and October, in preparation for Winter. This is the cottage industry that the organization has always talked about, supporting those of us who want to keep living on the land performing the important work of the organization. And we're doing it despite the obstacles being thrown in our way by people who have never had the experience of living here. I hope that, in the end, actions speak louder than words when we are all being held accountable for ourselves.

[All done!]

Setup went super fast despite the blazing heat. (or maybe because of it) We got down there Wednesday night and got the poles laid out for the tent. We didn't put it up, though, because the idea was to have me make the decisions so I could really learn how it's done. The next time I put it up, I won't have Annie there to correct me.

When I packed for this trip we had had a cold snap here in Oregon. Knowing I was going to sleep outside, I packed wool socks, an alpaca sweater, a wool scarf, silk thermals, and my 20 degree sleeping bag. Did I bring shorts? A tank top? No.

Thursday morning arrived and I realized my mistake. To keep working in the heat I cut off my jeans and took the sleeves off my t-shirt. Then I had to stop every hour or so and soak myself down in order to keep going. It felt like I was on the verge of heat stroke all day. I spent every possible minute working in the shade and probably drank 2 gallons of water.

At about 4:00 it started to cool down to a reasonable temperature for working and we had a realization: if we kept going and got up at the first light we could beat the heat and go home a day early. And so we did. That second night made me glad for my warm clothes. It was damp and very cold. The next day might not have gotten very hot, but we don't know because we were done with work and driving away before 10:00 AM.

[Amazing Southeast Asian Food]

The night before last we were more blessed than usual with a delicious dinner mostly from the garden. (and that's saying something!) Harlan spent the day creating a Southeast Asian feast. The flavors were fresh and amazing, and the visual presentation with nasturtium flowers and pickled carrots made it pop on the plate. Thanks, Harlan!



[Rada Dada visual display]

One of the visitors right now is an artist who travels around the country creating Dada inspired visual displays for museums and performing arts centers. He gave us a little taste of his show after tea yesterday morning. I think the slogan on the back of his van sums it up pretty well: "unexceptional tricks". That's Dada!



[The storm looked fiercer than it was]

Yesterday afternoon I ran around making sure everything was safely stored for rain. The temperature has dropped significantly in the last few days and some scary roiling clouds filled the sky. It turned out to be all bark and no bite. Those terrifying clouds dropped about five minutes of sprinkles and then graced us with a dinnertime rainbow.

In between all of this, I'm sitting on a milking stool inside my loom carefully tying hundreds of knots. They should be done today with samples woven tomorrow. On Wednesday we leave for Renaissance Faire setup.