Basket-Case

For supposedly "doing nothing," we seem to be awfully busy.  Most mornings are swept up with necessary daily chores like laundry, cleaning, gardening, home maintenance, and shopping.  For two people, we go to the grocery store quite often; perhaps that is because I do not plan meals well, or perhaps that is because what we DO have to eat around the house, neither of us feel like eating when the actual meal time arrives.

Walking each day also takes up part of our morning and time after dinner.  For some reason, we never seem to get around to pumping up the bike tires or riding the bikes.  They are there and readily available, but we choose to walk instead.  Our walks give us time to talk without interruption or distraction.  We get our exercise, walk off tensions so we can relax, and find time to enjoy the fresh albeit pollen-filled air.  With biking, we get our exercise, but talking is impossible, and the tensions of being on the road on low-slung bikes never leaves us.

When we finally do get to the point of each day to relax, though, that is my favorite time of day.  I can weave, sew, read a good book, or work on my Ancestry research.  I have just finished editing my cousin's non-fiction book, so I once again I can get into a good fiction book.

Rick spends his time reading or working on a set of nesting Nantucket baskets.  The history of Nantucket baskets is a fascinating study all by itself, and nesting baskets are a part of that tradition.  I would suppose one of the reasons nesting baskets became popular is because houses in the 1700 - 1800s in small, coastal towns were not large.  Families needed baskets, but when one was not in use going to market or holding yarn, the woman of the house needed a place to store them.  Having them fit one inside of the other was the perfect solution.  She could choose the size she needed to complete the task at hand, and the others would still only take up the floor space that was needed for the largest basket.

Rick just finished the first, largest basket in the set of nesting baskets he is making.  His hard work is pictured below:

The basket dries in the garage after Rick sealed it
with a clear finish.

The wooden bottom makes the basket sturdy and beautiful.

The rim also adds rigidity to the basket.

The handle finishes the basket.

The second basket sets on the mold as Rick
starts to weave it from the base up.

The last picture shows the start of the second basket, so stay tuned as the set continues to grow.