Weeds and errors

The "weed" in yesterday's post is Musk Mallow—Malva moschata—and it is considered an invasive weed. It grows on dry but fertile soil, flowers profusely and is considered an edible "wild salad" plant. It was brought to eastern North America by early European settlers. It is a relative of the hollyhock. 

Years ago I had a small clump of daisies by the driveway, and it has since spread all along both sides of the driveway and into the back yard. I've let that one go too, this daisy is not the cultivated variety but the wild one, I see it everywhere. So between the forget-me-nots, the daisies, and now the mallow, my property is being overrun with wildflowers. There are also buttercups, dandelions and yellow hawkweeds growing in the lawn; years of lawn mowing have encouraged these plants to flower low to the ground, below the level of the mower blade. Smart plants. 

And then there's the Creeping Charlie, once that gets onto your property you're done for, it can't be exterminated without heavy duty chemicals. I've got it everywhere. The only weed I actively try to control is the False Bamboo, which grows all over this town. I pull it up every time I see it (on my property or growing right in the road nearby) and if I can't pull it up then I strip off its leaves in hopes of starving it. Somebody introduced that plant thinking it was a nice ornamental, but it chokes out everything. Like the Creeping Charlie only much bigger. I'm prepared to live with Creeping Charlie but not False Bamboo. Unfortunately my neighbour has a big clump of False Bamboo which they allow to go to flower, I think that is why I am fighting off an invasion of the stuff. I politely suggested they cut it down but they are from out of town and don't really see how invasive it is, they like the flowers. I wish we had False Bamboo Police that I could complain to.

I got all the threading done on the loom and the next step is to wind the warp onto the front roller. Unfortunately I discovered two threading errors late yesterday afternoon; I decided not to tackle them at the time because of the receding light and my growing tiredness and hunger. I know where they are so that will be the major task for today, to get those threads sorted without breaking them. It's annoying to have to backtrack, but it's also to be expected. 

When this project is completed, I'm thinking about moving the loom into my living room, that way I can continue to weave in the winter time. The loom room is not heated in the winter. It'll look kind of weird but not being a big home entertainer that shouldn't matter. I've done some measurements and it will fit if I move some other furniture into the loom room.

Nova Scotia had its first new case of covid-19 in three weeks yesterday. It's so easy to let down one's guard when there have been no new cases in that long. I was telling my son that our provincial premier is a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, very risk-averse, cautious and conservative. Never thought I would hear myself saying this, but I like him for it.