Thursday, February 08, 2007

WHAT DID I DO LAST THURDAY - THAT FOGGY, FOGGY DAY!


Well, first of all, I pondered amidst the dismal gloom.

After a while I took to my knees, - gazing into the innards of Honey, the loom, and searching for inspiration.

I was not exactly enthusiastic about Husband's idea of tipping Honey up, thus bringing into easy access her nether parts under the treadles, but I had to find some way of reaching the cords which needed to be attached with more precise measurements than had been achieved so far.

It finally occured to me that if I were to lift one treadle at a time with a looped linen cord attached to the beam I could maybe even sit on the little three legged stool I keep beside the loom for such extingencies and reach under the treadles with a minimum of effort. (FOCL) I don't acknowledge "a minimum of effort" any more, - just doesn't exist in my life these days.

When I was at the library today I watched a young woman with a beautiful free and bouncing walk, - full of the joy of living, - and I sighed and thought, "I used to walk like that, and revel in it".

Be that as it may, look at the picture below and imagine the depths to which I had to sink these stiff, sore knees! The pinnacle of effort in situations like this is in resuming your former upright position. Yikes! That surely deserves some kind of golden compensation.


And so it happened! The operation went off smoothly while Husband was out for coffee, and by the time he came home I was ready to take a deep breath and remove the locking rod from the jacks. Nothing moved! The shafts, the lamms and the treadles all stayed in balance.

I said a quick and fervent thank you, took another deep breath and pressed down the first treadle. The resulting shed was a joy to behold- firm and clean and at least 5 inches high. Wowy!!! I have to say that as I progressed down the line of treadles closer to the pivot point the beauty of the sheds diminished somewhat, but it was still a weavable situation and I started off with glee.

Two days later I am feeling that lovely euphoria that comes with achieving a certain degree of success, and I have decided that perhaps I am still up to Honey's demanding ways, and won't need to replace her with the four harness LeClerc just yet. Another victory along life's aging way, - another dilemna vanquished!!!

Life is good, - spring is coming!

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