Cold Friday

A chilly day in Western North Carolina and the furnace man is here. The furnace man has been here a lot lately and I think it might be time to declare the 40 some year old oil furnace dead. I am seriously considering going geo-thermal. I like the possibilities of using minimal fossil fuels to heat and cool my house. Once the furnace is declared null and void and the home warranty company believes me, I'll be on a new adventure.

In fiber world, dyeing continues unabated. Yesterday I dyed the aforementioned 'fire' followed by a blue/yellow/green colorway that is lighter than my usual heavy-handed depth of shade. Very pretty, just different. Today's plans include a purple/blue/pink colorway that I always like. as well as some cheeky tones for the 'skin colors pack.

Last evening I called at the Old Farmers Ball, the longstanding Asheville area contradance. It was open mike night for callers and musicians, so my job was to open the dance, schedule would-be callers and fill in any spots when they need me. Although these situations can be a bit tricky, and random newbies have been known to call 'this really cool complicated dance that I know you'll love' and have a major breakdown, things went well. Maybe the most exciting part of the evening was fiddler extrordinaire and general wildman, Cailen Campbell offered to call a dance for the very first time. I handed him Gene Hubert's Jubilation - easy to teach, fun to dance, very straightforward. He was great! Funny, mildly profane (Did I %$&* that up already?), energetic. He had a fine time and so did the dancers.

The band was excellent was well. Anchored by mother and daughter team Julia Weatherford and Pearl Mueller of Mock Turtle Soup, , we eventually had 7 fiddles, a couple of guitars, 2 flutes, a stand up bass and a saxophone. The sax added a nice touch. A fine time was had by all.