Two weekends

The previous weekend was the Northern Lights Handspinner's Guild annual retreat. It's always held over MLK Day weekend, and a couple of years ago we went to staying Friday to Monday instead of Friday to Sunday. It was an enjoyable get-together. I spun up the silk roving that I bought at the 2011 Shepherd's Harvest and had been saving for something special. It was variegated (rooster colorway), and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out -- multicolored and sock weight. One of the people at the retreat had a cowl knitting pattern that she'd created, and I think I'll use that for the silk. We also had a couple of classes -- one on tapestry weaving and one on ways to spin rainbow roving. I learned quite a bit at both, even though I'd attended Virginia Parent's class on spinning rainbow roving at Federation the year before.

The venue wasn't as nice as where we'd gone the past few years, but that one isn't available anymore. The room where we got together was small and L-shaped, and the place had a thick layer of ice between the places we needed to walk (and drive). Up and down icy hills was no fun.

On the way home, I had a bit of excitement. First the car started getting louder and I thought the muffler needed looking at. Then the car dropped down and made a much louder noise, and I realized it was a blown tire. As I pulled over to the side of the road, I saw the rubber part of the tire rolling down the decline to the right of the shoulder. It had completely separated from the rim. (I meant to go down and collect it, but I never did.) I called AAA, and waited. A tow truck drove up soon after, but it turned out to be from the Highway Patrol, and she just wanted to make sure I was okay and that things were in hand. Even with a priority on my call (because I was sitting out in the -7 F cold), it took just about an hour for the AAA truck to show up. When it did, he changed the tire to my donut spare quite rapidly, and I was back on the road, driving slowly and carefully. I couldn't get a new tire that day, because it was still MLK Day.

The next day, I went out to the car to drive to the tire place. Unfortunately, the donut spare was flat. I called AAA again, and since this time I was in my warm house, no one came for a couple of hours. By the time the guy came, it was getting close to the time the tire place would be closing. And to put the cap on it, he'd shown up ready to change the tire, instead of with air to inflate the existing tire. I was able to get a ride to my Tuesday trivia game, and the tire replacement went on hold until Wednesday -- when all worked as it ought.

Last weekend was mostly a quiet, stay-at-home weekend, and I worked on my copyediting for Transformative Works and Cultures. On Sunday, 1crowdedhour and I went to the Museum of Russian Art. I had a Groupon for admission for two that was expiring in a week or so, and I wanted to use it before that. 1crowdedhour had been there before, but I hadn't. We had a brief snag when it turned out the museum opened at 1 pm on Sunday, not the 12 noon we'd thought (and arrived at). We went to Turtle Bread for tea and snacks, and whiled the hour away pleasantly, while the freezing rain turned to snow.

The museum is small, with three main rooms of exhibits, one on each floor. I believe the collection rotates a fair amount. The ground floor was a special exhibit of cast (rather than painted) icons, and the top floor was a special exhibit of works having to do with spirituality of various sorts. The main floor was items from their collection. I was rather surprised that it was mostly post-Revolution, but 1crowdedhour pointed out a back room that I'd missed. That had a few of the "greatest hits," including some older works. I enjoyed the visit, but I'd prefer not to pay the full $9 admission charge. If I wanted to go there often, a membership would probably be the way to go.

And then I returned to my copyediting. Still not done, but I've made a significant dent.