Friday, December 10, 2021

Trying New Things

 The nice weather has finally taken flight and landed in Florida.  We are a cold 36 degrees this morning, bringing about a whole new set of worries.  Do I turn on the tank warmers in the fifth wheel?  I set the inside heater at 40 degrees like I used to do in the big rig.  Does that work to keep the pipes from freezing?  Does this RV direct heat underneath like the other one did?  HELP!!!!!!!

And it's going to get even colder over the next couple of nights.  Maybe I should just drain all the water completely until I'm ready to leave.  So many questions!!

Candy usually helps keep the brain quiet, at least for a time, so I hit up the butterfinger drawer.  I'm pretty sure I still have 25 left over from Halloween.  That should get me through Christmas.


In the meantime, this is the beginning of a new kind of project.  I've decided to take up basket weaving for when they take me to the Looney Bin.  Not just ANY basket weaving, but pine needle basketry.  I think some of that Indian hoodoo has seeped into my veins, having lived so close to Yosemite National Park for so long where this was an everyday time consumer for the Indians.

So I bought a book.  As it turns out, it's a little more involved that I thought.  First, you have to locate pine needles with some length to them.  Around here, they average about six inches long.  The longer the better.  I had planned on several trips to Yosemite to gather the required needles until I learned I would be arrested if I did so.  No kidding!!

The next alternative was to find them on-line ... and find them I did ..... in Florida!!  Who knew?  Not only that, but these needles are a whopping TWELVE inches long.  It's a long process to clean them of dirt and pitch, then dry them without mold appearing.  Mine came already cleaned.

Next up, I have to boil them again to soften the caps, or ends that hold the needles together, usually in sets of three.  Then you scrape off the caps, getting lots of gunk under your fingernails, which is very hard to remove.


VOILA!!  Here are the needles ready to start weaving.  


Because the start is always the hardest, you begin work when they are still wet and pliable.  Yeah, this doesn't look quite like the picture.  Turns out it's not nearly as easy to do as I thought or as they SAY it is.  


I decided quickly not to worry about the placement of each and every stitch, but just to get something done ... a test run so to speak.  At most every stitch you take with the waxed sinew thread, you grab one pine needle bundle of three and stick it in the gold keeper, moving the keeper along as you sew.  

It's actually quite therapeutic, although frustrating at times.  When and where you add that stitch that starts a new row is definitely important, but I didn't find that out until it was twice this size.


There are several different stitches I'll try as I go along.  As you can imagine, I'll be looking for pine needles on my next trip to the mountains.

The plan is to combine this with the gourds, making works of art.  Ha!!!  Yeah, that's not going to happen.  It will probably end up being something someone will have to throw away some day when they clean out my house.

In the meantime, I finished this quit top and packed it away with the other nine I have waiting for that new quilting machine.  My truck runneth over, as does the storage space under the bed in the trailer.  I'm quickly running out of room.


Now that I've finished the blog, I can resume my worry over freezing pipes.  The good news is the forecast for five days of rain next week.  Rain is good, snow is bad.  Pray for rain please!!


12 comments:

  1. We have a lot of experience with freezing pipes and found that ours did not freeze until we reached 19F or so. Leave your cabinet doors open and you should be fine.

    Love the pine needle project, cannot wait to see the finished product!

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    1. That's interesting about the cabinet doors. I can certainly do that! It doesn't get that cold here, thank goodness.

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  2. You are so creative! I don't know if I'd have the patience for that project but it will be wonderful. i can see you whipping them out left right and centre. One big enough for Cooper's toys? :)

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    1. I'm not so sure about whipping them out. Seems this one is taking some time! Hopefully I'll learn the "ropes" soon.

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  3. Unless you are going to have many hours of temperatures below freezing, your pipes will be fine. No need to turn on the tank heaters either. I don't recommend leaving your fresh water tank full of water when you are not using it for long periods of time, the water can go stagnate, fill it just before you are ready to travel.

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    1. Thank you Bill ... I have kept a little water in it for cleaning since it can get so dusty dirty here. I should probably go dump it out. It does not usually freeze here for long periods of time so I guess I'll be okay.

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  4. We have never had to worry about our inside pipes, but outside...in other words....grey tank pipes, that's another thing. Our Grey Tank is by the Passenger rear wheel, the Grey Tank empty handle is, of course, by the rear driver wheel. The pipe which leads from the grey tank (which has heater pad) runs to the back, across the back, and then up to the Grey Tank Handle. That portion of pipe has grey water in it if there is anything in the grey tank. Drive down the road in 33 degree weather and the grey water in that line will freeze. So we just don't get ourselves into that situations anymore.

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    1. That's interesting. It would not be my choice to drive in weather that cold, but sometimes you may not have the option. I doubt you can even completely drain the waste tanks.

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  5. I left my water tank half full as Bill says and I also turn off the pump and open all the faucets. Of course only need to do this when it gets into low 20s for extended time like when I was home in late December and got down in upper teens. Had no problem. Don't worry, be happy 🤪

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    1. Aha ... pump off and open faucets. I never thought of that one. Thanks Doug!

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  6. Oh, and I applaud you for attempting to weave a basket. But the Indians have lots for sale in Arizona if you want a short cut 😉

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    1. And those Indians are much better at it than me!!!! Although I don't think I've seen pine needle baskets down there before. I'll have to keep my eyes open!

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