Happy new weaving year!

Dear Weavers

Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all the very best for 2026 and may it give you lots of time to be in your happy place. May your creativity flow, as a writer, crafter, gardener, reader, listener, cook, mechanic or weaver.... The list could go on, there are so many things one can do to be in a happy place, aren't there? Wherever you are in this world, please never forget to enjoy life, no matter what is happening around you, life is precious and amazing!

Starting this blog post, I've just noticed that last year I only managed to write 3 posts. Three!!!! That is horrible. 2025 was quite a stressful year for me and I HOPE and wish that 2026 is not going to end up like the last. I will certainly do my best that this won't happen. I hope to weave more this year, I hope to write more blog posts this year, I hope to be more active on social media, I hope to be more healthy, I hope to be able to relax more and enjoy. Overall I hope to be a better person for me and everybody around me. This is not a new years resolution, this comes from something I take with me from last year.

What happened? It all started in September going into October. The weather was dry and hot, no rain for a while. I guess belonging to the rural fire brigade makes you even more aware of the situation. There were some fires here and there, nothing major. Until the beginning of October when a fire was lit during total fire ban and got out of hand. The brigade was full aware of the fire getting larger and larger, creeping closer and closer into our area. Until it was here. The fire came over the hills from a remote place to our populated area, creeping closer to our own street every day. The wind was the speed factor. The first couple of days the wind was so strong, that I was actually sent home to pack up my things and prepare the property as good as I could. Roland was out fighting the fire. Luckily for us all, the wind changed last minute and slowed things down. But having a fire slowly coming closer and closer is not really good for your nerves either. Everybody around here was on edge and tension was extremely high. I was glad that I was able to go to the fire station every day, from mornings until evenings and not having to deal with it. At the station we tried to keep everybody hydrated, fed and healthy. Lucky, our Labrador was with me every day and greeted each fireman/woman with a waging tail,  cheering up everybody. I saw many of the exhausted firemen sitting in a corner, hand on Lucky's head and talking to her. That was her job and she did it well. While our support team was busy cooking and more cooking. I have never made so much potato salad and burgers in my life! At the end of the day every bowl of food was empty again. At one stage we fed up to 50 firemen! No easy task. But I rather did this and had my hands busy than sitting at home and worrying. Eventually the fire did reach our road and thanks to water helicopters and planes, all structures were saved. Nobody came to harm. Of course the fire didn't stop there, it kept moving into the neighbouring area, where it ate its way forward for another week. Finally we got some rain, which made it much easier to control. 

The whole fire situation was extremely exhausting and worrying, close to scary. Roland and I learned a lot about bushfires and behaviour of people. It was overall an enormous life lesson. What really stood out was our brigade. I felt safe at our station, everybody was helpful and it was a good atmosphere. Yes, a fire is dangerous and serious, but it was all dealt with professionally. It gave me the feeling of understanding the situation and control. I can recommend full heartedly that if you live in a rural area to join the local fire brigade. It is the best way to make sure you understand the terrain, people and authorities in case of a disaster.

During the fire, everything else was left in the corner. In November I tried to catch up. But we were all so exhausted, so much so, that the whole brigade got sick. There was a nasty flu going around and it caught us all, one after the other. I was sneezing and coughing nearly to Christmas. And that brings me to the new year, where we won't have any fires, no flu and a strong immunity system. Haha....

In weaving perspective I feel like I didn't achieve much last year. The tea towels are still on the loom and I only just finished the half sarongs last week. Bookmarks, yes, at the beginning of 2025 I wove a crazy amount of bookmarks..... So this is why I feel like in 2026 I will have to weave!!!

Happy 2026 everybody!

Cheers

Ursula   with greetings from the locals