Jackery Battery Help Requested

 Hello to All!  Today I am asking for help.  Some time ago Dear One bought a small Jackery battery for me to use with my sleep help at bedside.  I plug that helper into the Jackery and the Jackery into the wall so it is always energized.  We do have solar panels to plug into the Jackery in case the power goes out, which it has done a few times since we have been here...which is why he purchased the Jackery for me.  (I become very crabby when I don't sleep and I don't sleep without that sleep equipment...)

Now to the question:  This week, with nothing changing, at least I did not change anything, the power is not getting to my sleep aid;  Does anyone have any ideas what might be wrong and what I can do to fix it?  I can, and have, plugged the sleep plug into the wall but that defeats the purpose of the Jackery.  

Thanks so much for suggestions!

This is the Jackery.  When we first acquired it, I had the DC current selected and nothing worked.  When I realized that I had to select the AC it worked like a charm and has done from that time until three days ago.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Finished Warp, Ready for the Next Project

 Last week I decided I want to make a gift for the missionaries serving in our ward.  There are seven of them: five Sisters and two Elders.  (One of the Sisters has done some weaving in past...) I first thought of weaving them hand towels then thought those would take up too much room in their luggage so I changed to making coasters/mug rugs because I had just seen a pattern for felted mug rugs.  I decided to give them a try.

This was the first time I had done any weaving with wool.  Every other warp was cotton of one brand or another.  I have tried Peaches and Cream, Sugar and Cream, Knit Picks Cotton Something Or Other and Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton.  Oh, and Maurice Brassard 's 8/4 Cotton.  By far, and I mean at present there is no comparison:  I really do love to weave with I Love This Cotton.  It is easy to warp the loom.  The weaving itself is easy, and the results are soft.  So soft and absorbent.  I really like everything I have made with it.

So...on to the wool.  Not so fun to warp.  And the weaving!! Oh. My. Goodness!  It stretches so much. And it is hard to give a gentle enough beat to be even.  Still, I did finish the project.  I did weave the seven mug rugs then continued on weaving a long piece of fabric that I also felted and planned to cut apart for coasters for us or for someone else.  This last batch I did no hem stitch.  The seven coasters were hem stitched at the beginning and at the end to give them a nice finish. I also left about a one-inch fringe. (Surprise!  Wool to be felted in the washing machine does not make fringe!!  Big surprise to me.)

Eventually (after four hours at the loom without stopping), I decided that I would stop.  There was still a fair amount of warp left on the loom so instead of just cutting it off to be loom waste, I cut in front of the heddle (by the way this was  an Ashford 10" SampleIt Rigid Heddle Loom I was weaving on) then tied off the rest so we can continue weaving when our daughter is here.

You can see the warp ready to continue on sometime soon.  The colorful part is the actual weaving before unwinding it from the loom.

Here are the missionary mug rugs:

Yes, they are all different colors.  It is all Plymouth Yarn Company Galway yarn.  That yarn felts beautifully.  If you will look closely, you will see that wool fringe is NOT a thing! Sad.  Oh well. Live and learn.  Can't have felting AND fringe.  Now I know.

This is the extra fabric that was woven on that wool warp.  And, by the way, that is the bed I showed you a few days ago with the clean sheets waiting to be put on the bed.

It Is Christmas but Here is a Turkey!

 Last week I stopped by Piggly Wiggly to drop off some packages at the post office inside the store.  I usually park wherever I go in any Celestial Parking I can find, ie I drive through so I can drive straight out without worrying that I might run over someone or smash into a car behind me.  I found a Celestial parking spot right beside a tree that had a lot of brush around it.  There was some bird making sounds under the tree  but I was in a hurry so I did not stop to chat with said bird.

When I got back to the truck a few minutes later, this is what I saw:

It does not look like it here, really, but I believe it was a turkey.  That guy hung around chatting with me and circling the front of the truck back and forth, back and forth.  Eventually I felt the need to get home since I had been gone from home for ages so I got into the truck.  When I shut the door, the checkout helper from the store was right there beside me pointing to the bird and encouraging me not to run her down.  Well, I did not plan on doing that but was happy the young man was concerned about the turkey.  After a while, with the truck engine running, the bird went back into the brush and I could safely drive on out of the parking spot.

Kind of a novel experience.  I had never been that close to a wild turkey.  Makes me wonder if the turkey was well...

The Bed Is Made!

 We are so happy that our daughter and her family are coming for a visit soon.  My plan was to get the whole house organized and in immaculate condition.  Our daughter knows me and my proclivities but her husband and son do not. I was hoping to be able to give a good, but false, impression of our housekeeping skills.  Not going to happen.  

My sister came for a short Thanksgiving visit and I tore around getting the guest room useable before she arrived.  (Normally I use the bed for a staging area for all kinds of projects.)  When I learned she was coming I had a very short time to remove everything so she could walk in the door.  I did manage to get everything out and into my workroom but I did NOT get it organized. I thought I would get it done before Christmas.  Alas, not to be.  And now the visit is two days away and I would rather still have some life in me to enjoy their visit so I am doing the minimum that decency allows.

Here is the guest bed all duded up and with clean sheets and pillowcases;

They will be comfy and cozy there and have a nice window to look out on the live oak tree in our front yard.  

Every house in the development has to maintain a tree in the front yard.  The tree that was planted for us is the live oak.  It had grown tremendously in the six years we have been here.  Earlier this fall  good kind friends came and pruned the tree as we were unable to do it ourselves.  Last year we (and by We, I mean, Dear One!) hung a ton of red Christmas balls on the tree.  He even had me get more.  We now have an 18-gallon tub filled with red balls that we cannot hang on the tree as those branches are gone.  Having said that, I am positive the tree is much happier being able to breathe...!  AND our lawnmower man does not get smashed in the face by sharp branches.  Win-win!

Merry Christmas to all!

A Beautiful Sunset

 Well, it has been a while since I wrote a word.  I hope that has changed now.  Life.  You all know Life.  It has been so mixed here.  I am hoping it is on the mend permanently, but then, well, Life!

Here is a picture of a sunset from last week which really lifted my spirits.  I hope it lifts yours, too.

Best wishes as you make final preparations for Christmas.

The Skeleton Family Next Door

 Well, they don't live next door.  They live down the street.  That set-up is changed often.  Here they are today.  I do get such delight from them.

Laptop Disaster...

 Last week I took a container of a chocolate protein drink with me to the FamilySearch Center for my shift.  I put the drink in my purple small Yeti mug and drank it all during the morning.  When I left the FamilySearch Center I tossed the mug on top in my computer bag.  This was Thursday.

On Friday I got the computer out to upload my week's video to my YouTube channel (The Country Wife From Vermont, if you are interested).  I had had a glitch when recording so there was a longer video and a shorter video. I uploaded the shorter video first and just as I was finishing it there came some darkening of the monitor, first about a one-inch section then a two-inch section then larger.  At that point I noticed a little chocolate stain on the upper left of the computer.  Yikes!  Pretty soon the whole screen was black.

What to do, what to do?  I went to YouTube on my phone to see what to do if liquid spills on a MacBook.  I watched two videos and did the things these said.  Then I watched a much longer video by someone who said he had worked with MacBook computers for more than twenty years.  He had a list of ten things NOT to do and five things TO do.  I had done three of the DON'T do things so I stopped them immediately.

What I did do was unplug the computer and laid it bottom side up on a towel for 48 hours.  Well, for 24 hours then I checked.  No good. Then I checked it at 48 hours.  There was some screen visible but still a lot of black.  

Seventy-two hours after noticing the accident, this is what the picture is:

This is really not good news!  After the September Apple meeting Dear One had suggested that we might both get new laptops and telephones.  Now he is backing off and thinking maybe just getting me a MacBook.  It means a drive to Charleston...not our favorite thing AT ALL!!  We are both scaredy cats.  If we do this we will probably book a room there so we don't have to make the trip in one day.  We shall see.

This thing that is so irritating is that I drank all the beverage but there must have been a little scum around the edge of the mug which worked together when the mug was tipped on its side and even the closed top did not keep it in. R-r-r!

After this, I did find that on Friday I was able to upload the short video to my channel and on Saturday I used Dear One's laptop and uploaded the longer video.  His laptop is set up WAY differently from my laptop...but it was kind of him to let me use it.