rest and relief

Thanks for all your kind congratulations regarding the cover for Knit Green! It seems weirdly appropriate to mention here that the basket featured on the cover of the book is knit out of my grandmother's old duvet (comforter) cover...see more information about my grandmother, below.. When I ripped it up to create the "yarn"-- (instructions for that to follow in the book, I promise!)--I saw her neat mending stitches in more than one place. It was soft with age and wear. A great sheet to recycle into something new...and still a really comforting, Laura Ashley like print with blue flowers. Very sweet. This basket is currently in my guest room, holding (you guessed it) wool roving for my great wheel.

Yesterday I sent off the proofs for this book to the editor, and I'm very relieved. I'm also relieved to say that this horse is feeling better and his human, my friend, the man in the red suspenders, is on the mend. My friend will apparently be leaving the hospital soon, now that he's had surgery (on his brain!) and is heading to rehabilitation. They think he will recover just fine. Whew.

I'm also relieved because both my baby nephew and my grandmother are home (in Virginia) from stays in the hospital. Healing is Good news. I've been pretty worried over here.

In other sources of relief, it looks like the purchase of our new Winnipeg house is going forward. We've learned in the last week that:
1) International money transfers can be wired, but they don't happen instantly. They happen in 2-3 days. (but no one warned us of that)
2) During that time, it looks like you have completely lost your savings, as the money doesn't appear in the old bank anymore, and isn't in the new one yet either.
3) It all turned out ok. We were on tenterhooks.

I can't speak for anyone else, but this amount of relief makes me feel plain old tired. Sally the dog also apparently feels this way. (note photo.) However, I'm off tomorrow to North Carolina, and I'm really looking forward to it!

In the meanwhile, I'm spending some time today packing. Each day, I try to pack at least a box or two. This "getting ahead" is enormously useful at the end, right before a move, when packing is an all day and night affair. Today, I started my box packing in style. I packed all the paperwork from writing Fiber Gathering, and I padded the box with washed fleece. Wool padding. I'm moving in spinner style. Totally cool spinster here, don'tcha think!? (snort!)