Tuesday, July 07, 2015

Catching Up

This will be a speed post today. Sorry, no photos because I don’t have time. We’re going to a wedding this morning! Our nephew is getting married to a lovely lady with the same name as my grandmother. I finally finished one of my new dresses to wear to the ceremony. Not the orange-red French house dress though – the black Mizono one! It was quicker to sew and more elegant. (Hah! As if I do elegant. Ever.) Anyway it turned out fabulous and I promise to model it and post more details soon.

Backing up a little, on Sunday I taught my Very Last Kumihimo Workshop. Definitely the last because I sold all my teaching marudais, except one. Yay! The students were from the Richmond Weavers & Spinners Guild and they were great. I previously only knew one of them, who begged and pleaded organised the workshop with me. It was a weird day though.

I got up early to an odd lemon-coloured light and the sunrise was deep orange. The sky was overcast and there was lots of little white specks all over our “classroom”, aka my back deck. If you aren’t aware, British Columbia is experiencing the hottest, driest weather in recorded history and there are many forest fires burning, some as close as only 60k away. The winds brought all the smoke and ash to our area but luckily held it aloft until my class was almost over. Then it changed direction and plunged us into the smoke for the rest of the afternoon and overnight. It was awful! Like sitting next to a campfire right in my own home! Even though it was hot and stuffy we had to close the bedroom window just to breathe while we tried to sleep. Blech. I was born here and never have experienced such bad air but one Australian in my class said that it was reminding her of the horrible bushfires. Can’t imagine how awful it must be to live closer to the fires or worse, to be on evacuation alert. My heart goes out to all those people from BC to Saskatchewan who are right in the thick of it. And also to those brave people fighting the fires, most started by lightning. And it’s only the first week of July!

At least yesterday and today had better air quality though you can still see the haze from the smoke. Ugh. What can you do? We are now on even tighter water restrictions. My garden is starting to show the strains even though we’re still allowed to water by hand. (So TEE-DEE-US!!) And the grass is brown because we aren’t wasting any water on it at all. It usually doesn’t go crispy until August! I know those who live in hotter and drier climates are chuckling at my discomfiture. But we are really not used to this. And I don’t really want to have to get used to it! I want some rain and my normal maritime climate back.

OK, got that whinge off my chest. Off to get ready for the wedding. More soon!

4 comments:

The socklady said...

So far have mostly dodged the smoke bullet, some hanging around the south end of the lake, 40 kms away. But by mid day wool room is to hot to do anything, so dug out my non working antique small tower fan, took it apart and found sticking brushes, freed them and bingo now have a one speed (high) non oscillating fan. Amazing what desperation will do.

Louisa said...

Glad you've managed to avoid the smoke! We're having a sniff of it today though not nearly as bad as Sunday/Monday. You're talented to fix your own fan! Don't know what I would do without my big one up in my studio/study. I probably would melt into a puddle of goo...

Anonymous said...

love the dress, as you say looks very versatile. Cute model and great new? haircut. Wind off the Strait today clearing the air but we still have a high haze.

Louisa said...

Thanks for the compliment, Jean! Not a new hairstyle but a fresh cut. I love my hairdresser!