This was the thought that occupied my mind while I sat at my son’s trumpet lesson this afternoon.

Had I consulted the weather report as well as my calender when I scheduled the lesson, I would have picked some other day or some other time. Something, cold or rainy or both.

As it was, instead of spending the entire afternoon outside enjoying what will no doubt be one of the last warm days until spring, I spent a substantial portion of it indoors listening as my son’s trumpet teacher instructed my son in the art of playing the major scales with deliberation and care.

I myself would have benefited from more deliberation and care today.

The first thing I did after breakfast was to finish all of the joining and weaving in of ends for a project that I was repurposing into a felted pet mat for my dog, Clooney, the pattern for the original project long since forgotten and misplaced.

Well before lunch, I had the pet mat-to-be pieced and ready for felting:

Thrilled with my progress, I immediately got started on the felting portion of the project. Like the children in the poem “Night Before Christmas” with visions of sugar plums in their heads, I had an equally fanciful notion in mine. Namely, that I would finish felting the pet mat before lunch.

And if I had scheduled a late afternoon lunch for 5 o’clock, I would have achieved my goal, but my original intention was to finish four hours earlier than I did.

The problem I experienced was of my own making. As with my last felting venture, I used way too much detergent, and the bubbles were so numerous they created a bed of bubbles that made it difficult for any agitation to take place.

But after dumping out the bubbly water a couple of times, rinsing the future pet mat several more, and taking a much needed break to get my son to his trumpet lesson in the mid-afternoon, it finally happened. The fibers had been sufficiently shocked for the piece to felt; here is how it looked when I finally decided to call it done:

I don’t expect this will dry before Monday, but I am pleased with the result, and if my dog doesn’t like it, I am sure I will be find another dog who will.