Good news on Friday the 13th

On the 12th, I finally got the call to come back to work as the bean and summer squash season has begun in the Willamette Valley. So on Friday the 13th, I went a little early to work--which ended up being a good thing as the line to get a new punch-in card was quite long a half hour after I got there. I ended up being a tote builder, which is basically a person who folds up large boxes and puts them on pallets to be used to put product in them. Luckily enough, I got to work with my friend. Last year, we did the same thing for most of the season and smashed the old record of how many totes we built in an 8 hour shift. The previous record had been 350 boxes built by 3 people, but between me and my friend, we built 383 boxes. Several times last year and even the first day back this year, we had to go and help the tote builders on the other end of the cannery as other people don't work as fast as we do. So now when we get the call to come over, we say that they are calling in the cavalry.

Another good thing was that originally we would have gone home early, but since there was more summer squash coming in than anticipated, we got to work the whole shift. It sure feels good to be working again. Of course, I don't really view it as work. Instead, I view it as being paid to work out--especially since last year I lost 19 pounds in 19 weeks and built up who knows how much muscle. Over the last several weeks I was getting so anxious about going back to work, that I was fearing I wouldn't be able to work as good as the previous year, but that feeling is now gone.

In other news, the marionberries are now ripe. I will get a picture of them up later (they look like jumbo-sized blackberries). As the story goes, they were created right here in Marion County, Oregon.

Three potholders in three days

I have been trying to find which patterns work for potholders. The first pattern was one I made before, and is a simple weave design.

The next one, I made on the 4th. I wanted to use the same colors but a different pattern. After making it, I decided that I would abandon that pattern as it allowed some of the strings to be too loose.

The third pattern, I did yesterday. I wanted to see if I could thread a simple design into the potholder before finishing up the edge. In this case, the design was a cross. I also used a piece of thread along the edge for this one to give it a clean look.

The final pattern was one I did today. I chose the Oregon State University Colors and weaved a different design than I have before. I like this design, and will do others similar to it.

I will be giving the last two (along with several others) to my church's parking lot sale near the end of the month. The proceeds will go to benefit mission projects. It will also give me an idea of how much to sell them for.

Happy Fourth of July!

Last night, I picked black currents, blueberries, and raspberries to that I could have black current scones with fresh blueberries and raspberries this morning.

 
May all my readers have a good independence day.