Unfortunately, with the flood, came a flooded workshop.  Miss Maggie has so many orders to do and this was just bad timing.  She tried moving things up and out of the way of the water, but it was clear that she could not run power equipment while standing in an inch of water.  So we moved the essential equipment into the house.  We have a room that we call our loom room, or the studio and the decision was made to clear it out and set up shop. 

There was some stuff in there, mainly two big floor looms, a pair of spinning wheels and a sewing machine in a big cabinet.  We got to moving that stuff out and then shoved everything left into one of the little alcoves of the room.  Jess gave the rug a good vacuum before we rolled it up and stashed it away.

We knew this was not a forever thing, but that it might be a week or so.  We moved the big looms into the dining room and the spinning wheels went into the two offices, one in each.  The sewing machine ended up in the living room.  It was all a little snug but we managed.  Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.  

The forbidden alcove of weaving!  Actually, by tucking everything in there and sealing it up with a piece of painter’s plastic, it all stayed nice and tidy.  The saws and sanders make a lot of dust, and fiber crafts love to suck up a lot of dust, so it just seemed like a good idea to make a little air lock and barrier.  It worked great!  

Yes, the dining room was a little stuffed…  but we really don’t use it as a dining room, not really.  The kitties didn’t mind, they were busy sitting on some of my weaving because it was suddenly a lot closer to the propane heater!  

The little loom was parked in the hallway for a bit…

One nice thing from this all is that I got a good chance to go through some boxes and baskets to really sort through some of my studio stuff!  I’ve been trying hard to reduce my personal clutter down and this was a great excuse.  I managed to get rid of several large garbage bags and a few boxes of just trash mostly and I took two full boxes to the free store in town!  That felt great!  

And best of all, I managed to get nearly a whole pick up truck bed load of basket weaving supplies into two big but compact boxes!  I am not sure if I wrote about that yet, but I will…  I scored this huge collection of lovely basket weaving materials, kits and books from an estate sale for a whopping $50.  Easily hundreds and hundreds of dollars of materials.  It took me a whole long evening, but I managed to sort it all down and make it nice and tidy.  I also got it in groups and took out some of the odds and ends that were old and brittle.  It was wonderful to see just what supplies that I do have and buddy, I have a lot.  I’ve started to learn how to basket weave and really enjoy it.  It is, after all, weaving!  

Maggie didn’t bring every single tool and machine over, of course, but she brought all the big guns.  It took the girls a couple hours to make the move, so it was not too bad.  By late evening, they were in there working away.  It’s loud, no doubt.  And yes, it’s a lot nicer having all that out in the old garage workshop.  But the show must go on and orders need to be finished and shipped.  We are not sure how long it will be before all the water goes down.  It’s cold and still raining.  And still flooding…

It took almost a week for the water to really receed enough that it was safe to go back.  Maggie was sure ready!   She loves being out in her shop, her little gal cave.  And the quiet was nice in the big house after everything went back out!!!