Sandy and Caroline are together again. It’s not very often that I see my wife hit it off so quickly with another woman. When she does, I can be certain that the person is as authentic as it gets. You might have guessed that Caroline is not into pretense and hiding behind fashion or makeup; she wants real experiences, and the same goes for the people she associates with.

While not ‘art’ yet, Caroline is on her way to understanding the craft. As they focus on that weaving stuff, I’m heading out to explore other things.

Janie’s husband, Don, who’s very active with local environmental issues, told me about the Sipe White Mountain Wildlife Area nearby. I’m out here checking the place out.

I’m not in a hurry as I have the afternoon to wander, so I’ll just check out things like this fly.

There’s an orange and black bug on one of those flowers; I think it’s a boxelder, but I’m no entomologist; I just play one on TV.

Who doesn’t love hummingbirds? I tried getting a good photo of them in flight, but with the contrast and my distance, they turned out horribly, so I present you two hummingbirds just chilling out.

And like that, I’m back at the alpaca farm.

But before I got back to my wife, I stopped to visit a nearby couple I was told about who was living off-grid in a yurt. They are from New Mexico and, after showing me their outdoor kitchen invited me into the yurt so I could check it out. If only we could live in a yurt down in Phoenix…

Yep, they are still at it, studying, doing, listening, watching, weaving.

I’m waiting for him to sneeze or spit on me while all I want is a little snuggle of his furry face. I played it safe and kept my distance, but someday, I’ll know the softness and that beautiful face.

First day of the workshop, after staying the night here at Waugh Mountain Alpaca Farm.

Quite a bit of kit here that comes along with the price of the workshop, though Caroline almost wasn’t able to participate on relatively short notice. These looms are custom-made by Janie’s husband using copper pipes (Janie was the host of the natural dying workshop a couple of weeks ago). After leaving Blue, Janie notified us that enough parts were still on hand that one of these custom tapestry looms could still be made, so she was in.

While I already know the reality, it doesn’t mean I can’t wish that someday I’ll meet an alpaca that runs up and wants to snuggle as badly as I do

This is the example loom that Janie already started to give the attendees an idea of how things look and inspire them that this is exactly what they’ll be doing.

Maybe this is a standard operating procedure, but having this running sample of the different weaving techniques is genius to me.

Who knew that there were so many techniques for weaving fabric?

Placing her first thread ever on a tapestry loom, and my wife is already an expert. That’s a half-twit eccentric wife weft with a doublecross wiggly knot. I’m impressed.

This is my favorite part of every workshop, lunch. The story from this point on deviates as Caroline and company continue on with the technical details in learning the fine art of tapestry weaving while I took a road trip north.

I’m up in Sanders, Arizona, at the R.B. Burnham & Company Trading Post.

My two-hour drive was to check out the churro wool offerings that might be used in future Navajo rug weavings. I also bought some weaving forks and a hip spindle to surprise Caroline. As for what she actually accomplished at the workshop today, I have no idea, and she didn’t take photos, so this is the end of this post.

[Sad to say, I think that loom sits in the closet as it was when we left the workshop, so technically, we could post another photo… Caroline]

Our host, Caroline’s instructor, Jane Hoffman, has cultivated this wonderful garden where she’s able to harvest more than a few of the plants she uses not only in a classroom setting but for the yarn that finds its way into her tapestry weavings. Today, I’m asking myself why I didn’t photograph any examples of those works.

A palette of color to which our desert eyes are unaccustomed.

Participants are leaving with a wide selection of yarns they’ve dyed, and while not a fiber artist myself, I can appreciate how interesting the process is.

Fruits for a loom or maybe the needles.

Checking out of our deluxe travel trailer.

Our momentary home away from home.

Back on the road, we have a few miles of dirt before once again hitting the asphalt. Every summer day should include this view and temperature, which is just perfect.

No…do we really have to leave all this and go back to Phoenix? We can’t return soon enough.