I live in the state of Colorado, which is in the western part of the United States. We are in deep drought here, and it has been hot. There are several, very serious wildfires burning to the south and west of where I live, and I am in the smoke plume. The light outside is… strange. The Rocky Mountains, just west of where I live, can no longer be seen. The strangest effect is the moon.
That crazy red cast of the moon is caused by smoke. Last week was the Strawberry Moon, but here in the area where I live, it was the Blood Red Moon.
Every day another air quality alert is issued: Unhealthy for Sensitives Groups. I’ve been staying indoors with the cats and my air purifier, happily crafting for days. This is what I’ve gotten done over the last week.
I’ve been assembling an art quilt this week that required fusing precut pieces of fabric together to make motifs that are later assembled onto a background to make the larger quilt block.
Can you see the individual elements on the finished block? The stuff in the middle is laundry that will be hung on wash line hung between trees that will appear in the future as more of the blocks get done. Do you see the tuxedo cat with the laundry? Obviously, this cat is the one hanging the laundry out, and there will be clothes pins involved eventually. Tuxedo cats are such great help, right? Of course, Hannah was right there the whole time I was working on the quilt block, helping tremendously.
Hannah: The Mother of Cats is so lucky to have me helping her!! More tuna, please…
In addition to the quilting, I also made a lot of progress on my Cloudbreak sweater. I have finished the first sleeve and I plan to cast on the second one as soon as this post goes up. No sleeve island here!!
I spent some time with my rigid heddle loom on a new scarf that I am really liking. The yarn is mostly grey with a little strip of color in it. Look at how fun it is as a woven cloth!!
It has been a pretty productive week! I’m concentrating on the knitting this week so I can get that sweater done as I’ve signed up for a knit-along at a local yarn shop in town and I feel I should reduce the number of works in progress before I cast on that big shawl. Maybe there will be some sewing…
I have been going out onto the catio with the cats in the evenings because you can only expect cats to stay indoors for just so long when there are BIRDS and SQUIRRELS and BUNNIES out there. This week, just for fun, I added a string of fairy lights to the cat netting that makes the walls of the catio. Look at how fun these are!!! We usually sit out there every evening until the kitty lights come on; that’s how we saw the blood moon.
What else happened this week? The baby eagles that I watch left the nest last week (one FELL OUT and accidentally fledged, and the other flew off the next day), spent a couple of days learning how to fly well as their parents fed them, and returned to the nest to hang out together late last week. Yay Sandy and Luna! They are hanging out together now, flying around in the vicinity of the nest while the parents continue to deliver food, mostly FISH!! These eaglets love their fish! Eventually they will learn to catch their own and become independent, but for now I’m still following them in their adventures.
Speaking of adventures, Mateo got his tummy shaved this week, his sides trimmed down, and has been combed every single day no matter what he says. Now every trace of the winter coat is gone, and he is sporting a sleek summer coat. Gosh, look at that white patch on his chest. As it turns out the CoalBear is actually a little MoonBear.
Why does Mateo look a little sad? I had just finished shaving his tummy when I took the picture. Poor guy. Here’s a picture of him in his winter coat so you can see how much fur has come off
He’s a whole new cat, right?!! In the winter I tend to forget that he is actually black under all of that floof!
It is a sad time here, don’t get me wrong. The lawns are all dead (drought) and the county just sent me information on how to prepare for an emergency evacuation in case of wildfire. Fireworks were banned this year. I am keeping the car full of gas. Resources from cities are being send to battle wildfires. I sew for some of the emergency response agencies in my region, and this week I plan to sew a pile of fabric tote bags to go to an agency that will stuff them full of essentials to deliver to people displaced by the fires. Keep us in your thoughts.
It is the time of the Blood Moon.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
So many delightful projects in progress! But I must admit falling in love immediately with the kitty lights! I’ve seen the tiny twinkle lights, but never the kitties.
Thought about you, and worried, when I saw all those 4th of July fires in Aurora. We were also on Stage 2 restrictions here in Thornton, but neighborhood fireworks were worse than ever. No fires, fortunately, other than my intense desire to go out and personally pummel the many scofflaws.
Fabric tote bags are wonderful. They last forever, used over and over.
I found those lights on Amazon, and the best part is… they are solar powered! They were pretty cheap, too. Now that I have them zip tied to the net of the catio I don’t have to do anything. They just light up every evening as the dusk fades into darkness. So. Much. Fun.
I didn’t have that many fireworks over by me, but there were some sky rockets of course. I am soooo irritated by these people. In the past it has been horrible, but it was much tamer this year. I did hear sirens while it was going on.
The fabric bags are requested because they stuff them full of underwear, socks, hygiene products, and other things that displaced people are kind of desperate for, but the bag keeps things together and kind of discreet. Then they are useful later on and can handle trips through the washing machine with no problems. I have lots of fabric from my sister’s stash, so this is a great way to put it to use. I found one that she had sewn in the stash, and I’m using it as my pattern as it is pretty simple and straightforward to make using her method.
I am so very pleased with the progress on the sweater. It is going to fit perfect, and will be done just in time for the triple digit temperatures next week…
You are in my thoughst, Marilyn. The wildfires throughout the west are brutal. Here in California we are holding our breath. We usually see the worst of the fires in early autumn, but it seems all bets are off with climate change. I’m glad you can spend a bit of time on your catio with your felines.
I’m impressed with your quilt block. There is so much detail. I’m glad you have plenty of crafts to keep you busy and out of the smoky skies. Our poor planet.
Fire season seems to be all year round now, doesn’t it. I’ve been so concerned because of the drought. Colorado is a headwater state, which means all of the water that falls in our state flows to other areas in the nation. The battles over control of our reservoirs are already starting to warm up, and then if water is needed for firefighting it gets even worse. Climate change is really obvious in our state, and I am just astonished that people continue to deny it is happening.
The quillt is quite an undertaking. There are embellishments to come once all of the pieces are in place as I will need to attach beads and other things to the finished quilt. This is a wall hanging!
Knitting a “Cloudbreak” sweater has become the new rain dance in Colorado? If so, may your mountains be veiled in rain mist soon and the rivers running full once more.
Your beautiful quilt is coming along nicely.
As for pet insurance, I discovered that it’s now become a perk for life members at UNC-Chapel Hill, although I no longer have a pet. Maybe your California uni offers the same sort of benefit.
I hadn’t thought of Cloudbreak that way. Yes. It should get busy and live up to its name! I’m going to take it out and start knitting as soon as I finish on the computer this morning. The weather report has had rain showers in the afternoons for half of the week, and now that has disappeared. Still, I hope.
I will check out my alumni benefits!
Hope the fires stay away from your home. We have only had 3 warm summer days here (23C) and have had non stop rain for days so grass is just turning into puddles of mud. If only things would even out a little…we send you some rain you send us some sunshine. I don’t cope in the heat but mid-60s F would do me if it wasn’t so wet.
The worst of the fires are 2 hours south of me, but the smoke really travels. That fire surged overnight and I woke to hear of more evacuations. My heart goes out to all of those people.
Puddles! I would love to see a puddle or two. Hopefully the monsoon will arrive while there is still a few blades of grass alive…
I hope your weather cools and rain comes. The first thing I did when I came to the quilt section was to look for the individual items. I look forward to the rest being incorporated. You are looking good and relaxed in that photograph
Ha! The forecast is for triple digit heat by the weekend. I hear the grass crying…
Hope you stay safe and don’t have to evacuate. What a beautiful sweater. Great color. Those cat lights are so fun. Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cat with so much winter hair.
No fires near me so far… it is the smoke that is a problem. Having said that, hundreds of homes have been lost and my heart goes out to those impacted by the fires.
Mateo has so much fur I have wondered if he is a Norwegian Forest Cat. I’ve done a bunch of searches on the differences between Maine coon and the Forest cats, and I’m still not sure what I’m dealing with. He doesn’t have that undercoat across his shoulders, and his face is shaped like a Maine coon cat, so I’m inclined to think he is some type of mixture along those lines.
I hope you stay safe and cooler and wetter weather comes your way to stop the fires! Matteo looks very sleek and much cooler with his new haircut 🙂 Your quilt and new sweater are just gorgeous!
Thanks! I love the color of the sweater, and the quilt is just fun to work on. So far all of the rain has missed me, but there has been storms a couple of days this week and I can continue to hope. 🙂
I hope you and the kitties stay safe during all this mess! It sounds like you’re prepared at least. And the quilt is the perfect project to stay inside with! It’s looking great.
I love the weaving project, too! I’m going to have to make something on the loom with that kind of yarn too, because it looks so fabulous. I’ve knit with yarn that is mostly one color with pops of a second before, but I never thought to weave with it.
I was in a yarn store that sold rigid heddle looms and they had a scarf that was woven from hand painted sock yarn: it looked great!! It made me totally rethink my loom and the yarn stash. Now I’m experimenting with different types of yarn in simple plain weave, and it is really fun!
Very nice! I need to get in more plain weave practice, so I like having ways to make plain weave more interesting.