Almost...

[altivo]

...done with the last woven piece. I'm up past the sky and falling snow and into the clouds. About three inches more to weave, and I'll get that done early in the morning. Then I have to press and hem it, but it isn't to be handed in until after 2 pm, so no problem.

In between weaving I managed to go for groceries, make a bank deposit, and fill my gas tank. Price is down to $2.37 here now. A year ago it was just beginning the free fall from the $4.60 range that bottomed out in December at $1.41. Prices at the grocery are dropping too. I'm not sure whether that's an overall trend or they've just lost so much business to three new WalMart stores in the area that they're desperate. Certainly the store was not as busy as it used to be at 11 am on a Saturday. Pork is especially low. In fact, they had pork roasts for 89 cents a pound, and hams for 99 cents a pound. It's hard for me to believe that this is because people are afraid of catching swine flu by eating pork, but that's what the farm newspaper claims. In the afternoon I baked apple pie and fed the critters and put them to bed as Gary was out at a paid performance in Hampshire.

So, tomorrow I turn in the weaving. The spinning work was handed in two weeks ago and has already been judged. Rumor has it that I got six placements out of eight entries, which isn't bad at all. Weaving will not fare so well, I'm sure. The judges always seem to prefer high fashion, and my work is traditionally pragmatic. I actually expect my pieces to be used. (What a concept.)

Monday, the show gets hung up in the gallery. Weaving will be judged on Tuesday. Members only sneak preview is Wednesday morning, including votes for "members' choice" award. Thursday we open to the public, and I'm the gallery watcher for Thursday afternoon.

For anyone local to Northern Illinois who might be interested, the show details are as follows:

Woodstock Weavers Guild presents its 12th annual show, combined with the Hollow Tree Spinners, at the Old Courthouse Arts Center, 101 N. Johnson St. on the Square, Woodstock, Illinois. Gallery is open Thursday through Saturday 11 am to 5 pm, and Sunday 1 to 5 pm, from October 8 through November 1. Reception with refreshments and live music on Sunday, October 11, from 1 to 3 pm. Come and see. Every year it gets better.

Comments

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

"It's hard for me to believe that this is because people are afraid of catching swine flu by eating pork"


Really? It's very easy for me to believe the general populace is that stupid.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Based on daily observation, I'd have to agree with you. But rationally, I still can't believe it. ;p

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

As a fellow once said, Never underestimate the studpidity of people in large numbers :)

I don't know who said it though.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's pretty cheap pork indeed! Why can't there be more of a swine flu panic here so our pork prices will drop, too? ;) (Well, just kidding — mostly.)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you don't really want the panic. It hasn't entirely set in here, but it's true that a lot of people are acting utterly irrational about it.

[mondhasen.livejournal.com]

Egypt has begun a mass slaughter of thousands of pigs in an effort to prevent swine flu spreading. BBC News this past April. 300,000 pigs later...

I remember the Swine Flu in college. Never got the shot. Some of our pharmacy majors did, and harassed those of us in the frat who didn't. Then the reports of 'side effects' came in. Hope 'they' get it right this time.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Egypt being largely Islamic, I'm not surprised that happened. A handy excuse, of course.

Yes, you're remembering the 1975-76 incident? During the Ford administration? That was when they went full panic to make a vaccine and then found out that the side effects were worse than the flu itself. Oddly, no one seems to remember it. I've seen little about it in the media, but I certainly will not be queuing up for a vaccination. The entire thing has been way overblown from the beginning.

[mondhasen.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure whether that's an overall trend or they've just lost so much business to three new WalMart stores in the area that they're desperate.

WalMart presumably places their stores in threes, and when the businesses in that triangle begin to die off they restructure their prices. Scary thought it is.

Glad your work progresses! Do you ever exhibit at work?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard that about WalMarts in threes. It's certainly true that they built three new "superstores" within 20 miles of here in three years' time. The newest of them is just a year old. In general, my observation would be that their prices on most things aren't that great. They are certainly the cheapest for things I don't buy, the "convenience foods" and junk foods (couch potato stuff.) They also have a huge selection of those. Their produce, bakery, and meats simply don't compete in quality, price, or selection, which is why I still shop at the local independent grocer. Their everyday dairy product prices, though, are definitely much lower. Canned and boxed foods are cheap there, but the selection is mediocre and you have to watch out for all the "product of China" fine print. Something is very wrong when mushrooms or peaches canned in China can be transported to the US and sold for less then the same products grown here (or in Mexico or Canada) and canned locally.

I haven't exhibited my fiber work at the library, other than showing it around to colleagues. We have several people interested in knitting, and my boss is a long time knitter whom I got started in handspinning.

This is National Spinning and Weaving Week starting today I think. We are contemplating a library exhibit, but not until January, when one of our residents who teaches weaving will be holding a week long class in our meeting room. We thought it would be good to have those coincide.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Here there is one supermarket and Wal-mart. Wal-mart generally has lower prices on what they have, but not always - and their grocery selection is limited in comparison. Yesterday the supermarket was a madhouse for a while as there was a six hour sale. I got in (and OUT!) early to take advantage of 0.99/lb ground beef and 0.99/lb deli sliced ham and a couple other things. I haven't been watching the pork prices much but they don't seem lower (or much lower) than usual here. Of course, 'here' happens to be if not the pork capital, close to it. That and I'm not that big on pork, generally.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Pork prices on the commodity exchanges and in the consumer market have dropped by about 50% in the last twelve months. Granted they were a bit high just before that, but everything was, and I think that is partly due to the "ethanol bubble" which had caused massive increases in the price of feed corn. Interestingly, though, pork has crashed in the last year while beef has dropped only slightly. The last time I remember beef prices being so high relative to other foods is I think all the way back in the 1960s, when retailers actually tried promoting horsemeat as a less expensive alternative largely because beef was so astronomically priced.

We use pork in small amounts, usually in Asian style dishes where a single pork chop can provide all the meat needed for two or three servings. Generally I prefer fish or poultry, though fish has been going higher and higher the last few years so we have less of it than we used to.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

I have noticed the price of fish. I used to eat more fish, but now I rarely buy it due to the high prices. I do prefer fish and poultry myself. I'm trying not to hope for an outbreak of overmisreported chicken pox or a misnamed "bird" flu to get lower prices.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

How about "fish fever"? We could start a rumor. ;p