Naptime was never this fun

Fiona and I enjoy "big girl" time while Nora takes her afternoon nap. Usually we do something ordinary like run a load of laundry with Fiona dumping the detergent into the washer and helping socks find their warm, fuzzy mates.

Today, however, we had a grand plan. Our friends Paul, Heather, Helena, and Ada had brought over an early birthday gift for Fiona. Ever since we visited the local Fiber Arts Festival and were wowed by the weaving there, our friends have been hatching a plan to build a loom.

And they did-- a wonderful, silky soft wooden loom with a handmade set of bags of holding handmade tools and colorful yarn balls. It is truly a delight to the senses and a birthday gift to treasure. Fiona and I read through the instructions giddily and got started.

It's not that she didn't make mistakes, and she needed a break after about fifteen minutes of it, but it was a great start to a wonderful activity. At one point Fiona forgot what to do next, and as my addled brain was trying to describe the next step, I said, "On this side your yarn ball needs to go through that natural hole. You know, whatever that little spot is called." Without skipping a beat, Fiona recalled, "Natural shed."

So together we muddled through our first day of weaving, and I can't wait to see how much we retained when we do it again during naptime tomorrow!