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Yesterday was another driving day. It happens on this vacation thing. The difference now is that we're heading East.
Generally, as we drive, I look out the window and see all sorts of things that I think are beautiful, or remarkable. Yesterday, it dawned on me that if one has honed the fine art of Kinnearing, one could take pictures of those remarkable and lovely things. So I grabbed my camera, and went a few rounds of Kinnearing the landscape.
Here, for example, I enjoyed what I thought was a stunning view out the windscreen as we crested one of countless hills in Vermont.
Look at all those rolling hills! Here are more
We just don't get those kinds of hills where I come from. Sigh.
We also don't get rocks like these sprouting up beside the road.
Then, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that it was pretty.....so I Kinneared the view behind me by aiming my camera in the general direction of my left side mirror.
Eventually, Bookworm and I realized that I needn't Kinnear the landscape -- I could hand off the camera and have her photograph it! Duh!
Here are a few more shots of our journey from Maine into Vermont
More hills!!
I like this one -- it proves that a whole series of pictures and fabrics and such weren't just someone's crazed imagination.
There appeared on my camera a whole stream of cloud pictures.... this is a prime example.
After crossing countless rivers before we figured out that the view out the windows could be captured on camera, Bookworm did get one shot ...
and there were more amazing rocks -- this time in the center of the road (between the east bound and west bound lanes) ...
But finally, we arrived at our destination. We had dinner, we hung out, we watched favorite TV shows with my folks. It is good.
Since my arrival, I've learned two things.
1) Marissa is having a contest. It's worth a visit to her perpetually interesting blog about life on an Island in Maine... and a then a visit to Coveted Yarns...
2) You can get Screech in the States!
So... I've opened with a Yarn Harlot link, and am closing the same way. At least there's some balance to my day.
(Comments closed on 9/7 to foil the spammer bots)
We got in one last shopping spree -- to Reny's. Reny's is a favorite from Damariscotta, and we've discovered one in Bath! This one may even be better than the old favorite. Anyway, we decided to check out school supplies at Reny's, since their prices are so good on everything.
Boy howdy am I ever glad we went! 5-subject notebooks with built in pencil cases for $2.99!! At home, the 5-subject notebooks are $8.99 or more without the bonus pencil case!. And the other spiral notebooks were a buck instead of $3.99 etc. etc. Everything we got was 20% of the cost we usually have to pay. I'm sure we'll still need to pick up a few things once we get home, but I'm really glad to have gotten the bulk of it out of the way.
And I got the holiday cards -- for $2.99 a box.
Now I know why we put the clamshell on the top of the car <grin>
After Reny's and a bit of ice cream, we paused at
Halcyon Yarn! I feel so much better! The thought of being so close (ten minutes away) and not getting to stop in at Halcyon was bugging me. And I'm so glad we went! First, I met (again) a friend of my mother's. We had no idea she knits! I now have her email address, and we'll be corresponding about various fun knitterly things. We'd have chatted for hours, but the girls were bored. Never a good plan.
And... Debra recognized me from last year! That always makes a girl feel good.
In addition, I found (okay, Debra showed me) one more Made in Maine yarn that.. well... I just had to have. I don't actually have it yet, but the folks at Halcyon will make sure it gets to me. What is this fabulous yarn? It's 100% certified organic merino wool... fingering weight (which you see below in red). They didn't have the color I wanted (which you see here in worsted (or is it sport?), so I've ordered it up, and they'll ship it to me when it comes in.
It's so new to the shop that it's not even on their website yet. It is Swan's Island Yarn
It's so soft and delicious! And the fingering weight comes in 580 yd skeins!! I see a shawl in my future.
Now, it's time to face reality. There's a pile of dirty clothes I need to wash before we hit the road, and packing of the car to do. With so much recent success in the shopping for amazing deals department, I'll have to do some rearranging. Luckily (?), Burlington is not a high shopping zone for us.
So... farewell from Maine, we'll see you in Vermont!
We're on our last day here in Maine....
Monday, I spent the day with my mother. We thoroughly enjoyed our annual trip to Freeport to shop and hang out together. Both of us scored some nice sale clothes.
Linen slacks were the score of the day. I found some for Golf Pro at Brooks Brothers for 60% off. Mom found some at Ann Klein for some amazingly low price, and I found a pair at L.L. Bean for $17.50!! I also found linen shirts for both me and Golf Pro on amazing sale.
I scored a great gifty for The Divine Though Blogless Elizabeth. It's a long over due reciprocal gift for one she got me in Spain. (And that, my dear Elizabeth, is all you get to know about it until I get home.)
Mom and I had a lovely lunch at our favorite restaurant in Freeport: the Azure Cafe. I love a place that puts anchovies on your Caesar Salad. The Azure Cafe goes one better, and puts white anchovies on your salad. Yum.
After a full day of shopping amazing sales up and down the street, we came home to a welcome family. And to this view for our after dinner walk.
That's the last of the blue skies for us.
Yesterday was gloomy. The girls and I nipped down to Brunswick for a quick look at the Bowdoin College campus, where Kitty thinks she'd like to go to college. We drove around it for awhile before finding a parking space, and then took one we weren't sure was legal. We had a short walk around the quad (a quad?) before loading back up and popping over to a nearby yarn shop. We thought there was one right on Maine street, but it turns out to have been a google lie.
The google lie did leave us right next to a spot that was selling Round Top Ice Cream. Since we've gone to Round Top every year since the kids were wee, I couldn't resist buying us cones, even if it was before lunch. As always, it was yummy.
After ice cream, we headed over to the Knitting Experience Cafe, where I met Becka (Becca?) and Amanda.
Becka is Chesley's sister. We just missed meeting Chesley (who owns the shop) as she headed out the door while we were there. As you can see from the picture, the Knitting Cafe is more than "just" a yarn shop. It's also a lovely tea room! I'll certainly be back next year when I've time to sit for a cuppa and knit with the lovley folks who seem to frequent the place.
In addition to tea, and many wonderful and familiar yarns, the Knitting Experience Cafe also stocks yarn from a local dyer -- Spunky Eclectic, who hails from Lisbon, Me. We all know what happens when I'm faced with local yarns. I lose my sanity, am overcome with yarn fumes, and have to buy at least one skein.
Here are the three colorways that I was choosing between.
Can you guess which one I brought home?
Today, we're just hanging out at Mom's; we'll be doing a bit of packing, because tomorrow we head West to Vermont.
I did my swatch (no really, I did) with the new French Twist yarn, and discovered that on size 1's I get 9.5 stitches to the inch.
I also thought I'd actually rather use 0's for the foot of the sock to be sure it's firm enough.
So... since I left my 0's at home (silly me), this means I get to try a reverse of what I did for the Jitterbug socks. On those, I started at the toe, and used 1's, increasing to 2's for the cuff to yeild a yummy soft skooshy cuff. For these, I'll be going top down, starting on the 1's, and then switch to 0's for the foot.
At 9.5 stitches per inch, and 10 inches around the portion of my calf where I want the top of my socks, that means 95 stitches. YOUCH.
Then I got this brilliant idea for a cuffed top. I started gamely enough, using Judy's Magic Cast On, I provisionally cast on 95 stitches. I got only this far in the first round
before deciding that this was going to be way too fiddly for a) me to want to do it again for the second sock or b) for anyone else to ever want to do it.
I frogged those 95 stitches right back out again. Methinks a nice rib will do just fine.
My plans for these socks are something to invoke ideas of Organic Chemistry. What? Why yes, there is a story to go with that. The yarn, you see, is dyed in Solon, Me, and comes from sheep who live in Solon, Me. The name Solon, in my head anyway, is permanently and irrevocably tied to my dear friend Nathaniel, whose middle name is .... you guessed it, Solon. Nat is an Organic Chemist. Since the yarn already reminds me of him, what with being made in Solon, why not make socks that resonate with Organic Chemists?
I've been prowling the web. I've found some molecules and chemical compounds and amino acids charted for color work (I do love that there are other geeks out there knitting). While I'm familiar with the lovely DNA double helix cable, but that screams GENETICS to me, not organic chemistry. Subtle difference I know, but there it is.
I've attempted to design a cable/slip stitch charts for the caffeine compound,
but have also written to my friend Nat to see if he has any favorites. While waiting to hear from him, I'll swatch caffeine to see if it works, and will gleefully accept recommendations from any other organic chemists out there.
...
Okay, I tried my cable. I think it might work in a solid. It would certainly work in color (which I think might be very cool), but in this yarn -- the cabley stuff just doesn't show up enough to make it worth it.
Other than me playing with yarn (and the computer), we had a peaceful day.
Kitty made a King Cake with my mom,
and otherwise worked on her knitting. She's knitting a scarf that I designed for her.
I think I may have to knit this myself -- only out of something lacier and drapier than the Plymouth Wildflower she's using. Once one of us has confirmed that it looks as good in the yarn as it does in the chart, I'll release the design.
Bookworm mostly lounged about, but she did spend some quality time stalking a helpless beach ball at the pool. She would creep up, slowly and quietly -- creating as little disturbance in the water as she could...
And then...
She'd POUNCE!!
To achieve victory.
I sat by the sidelines chronicling... it's what I do.
This afternoon, we ventured into Brunswick proper and got ourselves a bit of decadence, and followed it with some history.
First, we went to Gelato Fiasco. Oh baby oh! They have gelato in a myriad of flavors -- some you'd expect (espresso, chocolate, lemon) and some you'd not (kiwi, pineapple rhubarb, creme brulee, lavender rose). They offer tastes of everything, and then, when you simply can't decide, allow you to combine any number of flavors in their cups.
I had espresso and dark chocolate with a little bit of the lavender rose. Lavender rose is a very interesting flavor, but not one you'd want a LOT of. It also goes well with the dark chocolate. (Yeah, I know, what doesn't go with dark chocolate?).
That's our friend Max next to Kitty.
After indulging in far too much gelato, we took a walk through Brunswick, along the park that borders Bowdoin College ...
Past the church regularly attended by Harriet Beecher Stowe (where either her father, Lyman Beecher (or possibly her uncle)preached itinerantly).
Harriet Beecher Stowe, of course is the woman of whom President Abraham Lincoln is alleged to have said,"So this is the little old lady who started this new great war." She wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin in this house
I had no idea that Brunswick, Maine was such a hotbed of abolitionism, but one learns something new every day.
Anyway, we went past the church to the Brunswick Cemetery, where, as it turns out, a pretty famous Civil War General is buried. He has two stones. One at his head:
And one at his feet
Imagine leading part of a major battle in the Civil War, and still living to 90 years old! Which major battle? He led the bayonet charge in defense of Little Round Top at Gettysburg.
Enough of that, we wandered about the old cemetery, saw some lovely grave markers,
and a mausoleum that makes it easy to understand why folks write about the dead coming out of them (refer to your favorite vampire book, movie, or tv show here)
and then wandered back through Harriet Beecher Stowe's neighborhood. I particularly liked this house (just across the street from Harriet's home).
This does in brick what so many do in paint.
And one parting shot, in which someone actually managed to catch me with the camera...
I've been telling you for days that I'm only a few rows from finishing the Jitterbug Socks. Well, this morning, I sat myself down with the socks and the camera and finished them off. Since I did a new-to-me, slightly funky bind off for this toe up sock, I thought I'd share.
Now, I was doing a 2x1 rib for the cuff, but I'd decided that I wanted a tubular bind off for the top. A tubular bind off works really well with a 1x1 rib, but not so much with the 2x1. What's a girl to do??
I'm sure there are any number of options, but here's what I did.
On the second to last row of the sock, instead of my happy 2 x 1 rib, I worked bar increases into the first knit of every pair. In other words, kfb (knit into the front and back of the first knit stitch), k1, p1. It looks something like this:
You can see the little bars between the two knit stitches.
Then, I slid all of the stitches on the first needle of the round onto the second needle, so that I had two empty dpns to work with. I could as easily have grabbed another needle (or a nice circ), but I'm away from my home needle collection. Having gotten two needles available, I then slipped the knit stitches on to one needle (and held it toward the front) and all the purl stitches onto another (and held it toward the back). This was a bit fiddly, as it was slip one to front needle, slip one to back needle, repeat.
Thus, from the front, it looks like this:
From the top, it looks like this:
This puts me exactly in place to start the grafting part of the tubular bind off. I started a bit oddly, in an effort to avoid the end-of-round jog. I failed to photograph this fiddly bit, but I did take pictures of every step in the regular grafting process. (See below).
1) I inserted my yarn needle into the first stitch on the front needle as if to purl, and pulled the yarn through,
2) then inserted my yarn needle into the first stitch on the back needle as if to knit, and pulled the yarn through,
3) then I inserted my needle into the first stitch on the front needle again -- though this time as if to knit and pulled the yarn through. Instead of pulling the stitch wholly off the needle, as one would normally do while grafting (or working the Kitchener stitch, whichever name you prefer), I slipped that stitch onto the end of the neighboring dpn before slipping the yarn needle through the next stitch on the front needle as if to purl and pulling the yarn through.
4) then, I slipped the yarn needle through the first stitch on the back needle as if to purl, and pulled the yarn through. Again, instead of sliding the stitch off the needle and letting it fall, I slipped it onto the neighboring dpn. Then, I insterted my yarn needle into the next stitch on the back needle as if to knit and pulled the yarn through.
This set me up for standard grafting procedure.
1: Slip yarn needle into the first stitch on the front needle as if to knit:
2) Slide that first stitch off the needle, and slip the yarn needle into the next stitch as if to purl
3: Pull the yarn through, and snug it up gently.
4: Slip the needle into the first stitch on the back needle as if to purl:
5: Slip that stitch off the needle, and insert the yarn needle into the next stitch as if to knit:
6: Pull the yarn through and snug it up gently.
Repeat steps 1 to 6 until you're done!
Here is the cuff after the first half of the stitches have been bound off:
Ahhh... nice, smooth and stretchy!
Soon, I'll even have pics of the socks themselves. For now, here's the heel.
Today, we lounged about in the morning, and then met our friends the Jordans to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I'd heard good and bad about the movie, and think that those who panned it just didn't understand that this book is about things pending -- not things happening. I enjoyed it.
Though I still don't like that they made the memories go black in the pensieve. They ought to be silver!
After the movie, we were practically across the street from a little shop called Ewe & Me (I can't find a url, or I'd linkity for you). I'll bet you'll NEVER guess what they have there.....
oh, you guessed.
They also have two of these
This one's name is Daisy. She and her buddy greeted us at the door. Daisy is the friendlier of the two, and she enjoyed receiving loving from Kitty and Bookworm while I browsed.
I stuck to my guns, and despite finding some Wildefoote in a wonderful colorway I'd not seen before, limited myself to fondling yarns from local dyers and/or manufacturers. I'm going to keep resisting Green Mountain Spinnery's wares until I get to Vermont, where it will be local.
I was unable, however, to bypass the yarns from New Hampshire
And from Solon, Maine
This is French Twist, from French Hill Farm. I had a hard time with this one. There were three colorways that I really liked. Luckily, I had my iPod with me. It has most of my yarn pics in it, so I can check to see whether I'm about to buy something close to what I already have. This one isn't close to anything in my sock yarn collection. I think it will be cast on next ...
ETA: Or not. I found a lot of this
And several clean breaks as well. In fact, there were six or seven breaks in about one third of the skein. At 350 yards a skein, that makes it more than a bit of a challenge to eke out a decent sized pair of socks.
We are not happy. This wasn't cheap yarn, and in even the cheapest yarn this would be a serious quality control problem. I will be calling the yarn shop in the morning to see whether they'd be willing to trade this one for one of the other colorways (and I'll wind it there). If not, I'll be contacting the folks at French Hill. I have faith that one or the other of them will do the right thing. I'll tell you what I learn tomorrow.
Edited Again to add that I emailed French Hill Farm, and Diane responded in about five minutes that she'd happily refund my money. I'm holding out hope for the shop though. I'd rather have the yarn!!
A mellow day -- let's start it with some amazing music (thanks to the Thriller who shared this).
I particularly like the opening sequence -- humans sound just like a thunderstorm!
After sleeping in for a long time, Golf Pro and I took a leisurely walk around my folks' new neighborhood. There are some pretty nice views ... even right along the side of the main road.
There are small ponds...
Fascinating rock formations
I love the shiny white quartz with the shiny black -- the rock just came that way!
We also walked a bit onto the golf course he played while the girls and I were riding
After our walk, my folks took us to lunch, and then I drove the Golf Pro into Portland to drop him off at the airport. I miss him already.
On my way home from the airport (cough), I nipped into an old part of Portland to visit Tess' Designer Yarns shop there. Getting there was quite the challenge. First, as I was trying to navigate through Portland, my directions kept telling me to make turns onto Congress Street. But Portland doesn't seem to want to put signs up on Congress Street, so I was never sure I was actually ON Congress Street. Then, Google had told me it was at 4 City Center, not 1 Spring Street, which is where it actually is. Eventually, however, with the help of the wonderful man at the bookstore, I found the shop.
Though I'm sad to have missed Melinda, I'm glad to have seen Tess. I'm also glad to have snagged some more sock yarn (what with being about to bind off the only socks I have to knit this trip).
I also bought this little bit of silk lace weight. It took a long time to decide on it, and though it seems sacrilegious to get a solid from Tess' , it's one of few solid yarns I've got.
Now... I've got to go cook dinner. It's my mom's day off.
Everyone has a charitable something that they support. (Well, most everyone). My dad's thing is Habitat for Humanity. He's on the local board, and he regularly works building the houses they put up here in Mid-Coast Maine.
Every charitable something needs money to do its thing. And the money comes from fund raisers. Up here in Maine, they can do some pretty marvelous ones. The wonderful folks who operate Dad's favorite sandwich shop (Larson's Lunch Box) contributed their day off for the one we attended:
That sign reads: Habitat For Humanity Fundraiser to benefit local family.
How can a body resist? So what if it's a 40+ minute drive to get there. These folks make the BEST lobster rolls around. Seriously. That yummy roll I showed you a couple of days ago? Nothin' compared to the ones the Larsons make.
And since I lolled about, got up late, and dithered in general, I broke my fast with a huge lobster roll. Every lobster roll they make has the meat from a whole lobster in it.
I live such a rough life, don't I?
Now Larson's is a simple place. It's just a shack, really. And folks eat their food on picnic tables outside. We were visited at our picnic table by an interesting bug. I've never seen one quite like it, and so I took its picture. Here it is, enlarged to five or six times its actual size -- maybe more.
I'm curious as to whether anyone can identify it.
After lunch, Golf Pro and my parents headed back to Topsham while the girls and I wandered around town, pausing in our favorite shops, including a stop by Pine Tree Yarns (Elaine Davey's lovely shop), and then went to our favorite clothing shop just outside of town (Mexicali Blues). Golf Pro was rather amazed at how long we were able to spend shopping for clothes, but we did have to try on a lot of stuff to find the gems that came home with us.
I promptly changed clothes to go out for dinner with the Golf Pro (our last evening before he heads back home). We drove into Bath, and enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Kennebec Tavern.
The views from our table were delightful (especially for land-locked folk like us). Downstream (that's the Bath Bridge in the background there).
and upstream
The gull you see here, and in the downstream photo, was very protective of this spot. He diligently chased off any other gulls who dared come near that post (or the post on either side). This, of course, meant that I got to get a good picture of him.
We lucked into two great specials. First, it was Wine Wednesday, so bottles of wine were 25% off. (And no, we didn't drink the whole thing there, we put the cap back in and took it home). Second, there was a twin lobster special, so we were able to share it and avoid an insane dinner tab. Even though I had my camera, I utterly failed in my bloggerly duty to photograph the beasties when they arrived at our table. Heck, I didn't even photograph the exquisite salad (baby spinach, goat cheese, sliced almonds and strawberry vinnaigrette) or the marvelous steamed mussels. As a food photographer, I've a long way to go. But as a lobster eater -- twice in one day? seems a good track record, dontcha think?
And, I still remembered to do the Good Waiter Picture (even if I do have a bad angle, and poor lighting). Andrew was very understanding, and let me take his picture for the blog (I decided agains offering the sock).
Those of you who read this blog over time know that I only ever photograph excellent waiters. Andrew (who may well be Andrew Desmond, since his father owns Desmond Funeral Homes) is among the excellent waiters of the world. It doesn't hurt at all that he's cute. He also has very good taste in Tiramisu (oh, and yes, Kennebec Tavern's tiramisu is more than worth the calories. Go there, have a great dinner, and then get tiramisu for dessert).
As we waited for dessert, the sun began to set.
Golf Pro looks pretty content....
After dinner we took a leisurely drive home, with a detour down Sebascodegan Island to Orrs Island along Route 24, just to see the pretty views.
All in all, a nice last night for the Golf Pro. Tomorrow -- he heads west.
There are things that we'd do a lot more of if we were rich. Tuesday was a day when we enjoyed some of them.
First, after a leisurely morning and a delicious lunch, the Illinois contingent left the house together. We girls dropped the Golf Pro off to shoot a round of golf at the Highland Green Golf Club, and progressed to Whorff Stables in Topsham where we enjoyed a lovely hour horse-back riding.
When we arrived, Rhonda was gathering up the saddles for our horses, one of the wee goats found the saddle and the blanket particularly interesting.
She paused long enough to get some affection from Kitty,
then knocked the whole thing over for a rest on the soft blanket.
This handsome fellow is Casper. Bookworm loved him.
Eventually, we got the girls saddled and mounted...
The dogs joined us for the ride, and had a blast, chasing about and sniffing EVERYTHING along the way. Here we all are heading out (well, okay, there's Bookworm, and Kitty, and our fearless leader, Rhonda, who owns the stables.
All of our horses were rescue horses. They were friendly, patient, responsive... and seemed well fed. A couple of them had longer than optimal hooves -- evidently the farrier broke his leg. He's due back next week.
After a lovely ride, we turned the horses out into their pasture... two of them promptly rolled in the dirt. I ALMOST caught that on camera. This was my horse, August, shortly after her roll...
Around about this time, the dogs brought us their ball to play catch... quite amusing. One of the black labs would come up from behind me, shove his head between my knees, and drop the ball between my feet.
After a great afternoon, we had a lovely supper at home before heading out to Harpswell, where we enjoyed another Rich Man's Pleasure: we listened to a wonderful performance by the Da Ponte String Quartet at the Kellogg Church. They were wonderful! The Mendelssohn was delectable, and the Gershwin Lullaby was a real treat. The Brahms... well... what can I say ... WOW. (Note: I am not a music reviewer. I'll never be a music reviewer. But I DO like fine music, and cannot recommend these folks highly enough.) If you're in Maine, the same program will be performed at the Union Church in South Bristol on the 16th, and at the Barn Gallery in Ogunquit on the 17th. It's DEFINITELY worth going to hear them! (If I could persuade the family, I'd go again).
After the show, we got to go out for a late snack with Myles Jordan (the Da Ponte's cellist), his lovely wife Honora (whom I really enjoy), and their elder son Max. We ate at Henry and Marty. These folks really know what to do with a scallop. And... they make this drink -- a Bissou-Bissou (which translates to Kiss-Kiss). I'm deeply dissapointed that the only place I can find one of those is 1200 miles from home. All the other food was great too. If your'e near Brunswick Maine, and are interested in good food... go there!
All in all, a great day.
Tomorrow -- Lobster Rolls, shopping, and a hot date with my Golf Pro.
Mondays are better beach days than, say, Sundays. On Mondays, some of the folk who would otherwise go to the beach are at work. So... Monday came, and it was sunny still, so we went to the beach!
Now that Mom lives in Topsham instead of Bremen, we're much closer to Popham Beach than to any other. Mind you, that's not that close. Because in Midcoast Maine, no matter where you intend to go, it's very likely that you have to drive down to the end of some peninsula. Popham Beach (this link goes to a web cam) is like that. But it's a wonderful beach.
When we arrived, the tide was mostly still out. That meant that the sandbar was fully exposed, and folks could walk out to That little island.
Alll the beach you see in this shot is covered during high tide.
See the folks walking out?
We walked up and down the beach. In some areas, behind that island for example, the water was pretty warm. Out of the lee of the island and the sand bars, the water was pretty chilly. While there, we met our friends the Jordans (the father of that family is a wonderful cellist, about whom you've heard before and will again). Finding the other kids renewed the girls' interest in being wet, and allowed us grown ups to chat amiably in our beach chairs.
Eventually, the tide started coming in. The life guards wandered by and warned us that within an hour, the place we were happily ensconced would be under water. We nodded, and smiled, and kept chatting. Then Golf Pro returned to his book. Five pages later the water looked like this:
Not the absence of nice uncovered sand bar? Yeah, we packed up our blanket and moved.
Among the visitors to the beach was .....
The Jitterbug socks! Yes, they're still on the needles... but then again, I did have to frog and reknit them after we had some yarn issues. At the time of this posting, I'm binding off sock one, and have ten rows to knit before binding off sock two. I'll tell you more about that when I've photographed it.
All in all, it was a pleasant, if slightly chilly and very windy beach day. We were about ready to pack it in for good anyway, when the rain finally showed up. That made it easier to persuade the girls to come away.
(Amusing to me: when we got "home" to Topsham, we learned that it had POURED there. The sun gods liked me Monday).
Tuesday -- more athleticism and some music.
Yesterday, it took until after dinner to get us out of the house. LAZY us.
But, then we went on another walk on the trails here. This time, we tried a new route, trusting in the handy dandy trail map we picked up along the way.
We paused again at the Vernal Pool , where we saw this fellow.
Then we continued on to the Cathance River just like we did the day before. Only this time, we headed downstream. Allegedly, this took us along the Beaver Trail. We saw lots of lovely river views...
and wandered along enjoying the scenery, and the laughing of the Cathance as it leapt over rocks and stones in its path
And marveled at the ways in which it would go from placid
to ... well ... clearly not canoe-able
And didn't much pay attention to the setting sun until it started feeling a tad gloomy on the wooded trails. Then, we noticed that even though the map clearly showed that the Beaver Loop met back up with the broad gravel path, the trail did not show us how to get to it. Finally, we wound up completing the loop and returning to the river, and worked our way back to the familiar path from the night before.
Bookworm twisted her ankle, and was cold and cranky; Kitty was getting scared, and started asking wether anyone else was getting an "ominous feeling"; I was fine, but Golf Pro was making worried noises about the impending dark; and when we came out at the trail head, we found Grammy and Grampy and the dogs --- worried about our delayed return.
There was much ice cream upon our safe arrival at home.
Today, we did much better. We left the house early enough to drive up and out to Boothbay Harbor (that link gives you webcams, if you're interested) for lunch at McSeagulls. I utterly failed to resist the lobster roll.
It was yummy. (I ignored those icky onions -- I still don't get why anyone would want to eat raw onions, much less raw red onions).
After lunch there was touristy strolling about, and we returned home for more lazing about.
After a long drive, we arrived at my Mom's new house yesterday afternoon.
While it's not the old place (pause for moment of silence), it is lovely. The landscaping isn't done yet, so there's lots of bare ground, but there are also interesting things.
For example, she has standing stones in her yard:
Okay so they're not six feet tall.
But... the pile of sandy dirt in the lot next door certainly is:
As you can see, we've clear blue skies, and lots of trees. That figure atop the mound of dirt is Kitty, in typical teenage pose:
Back to the yard. There is some grass coming in. There's also a sort of impromptu creek bed that formed when the local rains failed to abate, and nearby water flooded a bit.
Mom has been assured that they'll be fixing that. Soon even. If they don't, that tree is a goner.
Meanwhile, see that huge rock? It's right in front, and is actually pretty cool. There's lots of quartz in it, so it tends to get sparkly in the sun
Meanwhile, while there is no salt marsh or tidal stream out the back window, there are nature trails very close at hand. One of them leads past a vernal pool.
The water is quite high -- there's been lots of rain (I did mention the rain didn't I?)
I'm pretty sure that measure means that the water is 20" deep right now. The frogs who live here are quite happy about it.
A bit further along this path is the Cathance River. Right now, it's also very high, and is rushing along with some vigor:
(okay so I took about a dozen pictures, but I'll restrain myself, and show only one more)
Upstream, we found clear evidence of the local fauna
I wonder if we'll ever see the beavers themselves?
The Golf Pro arrived late last night (and I do mean late -- his flight into Portland didn't land until 10:50 pm!). He surprised us by secretly shaving his mustache. Evidently the folks in his office (yeah, the ones he sees every day) didn't notice. The lady at security in the airport did though -- and suggested he might want to get a new ID picture w/o the mustache if he doesn't intend to grow it back. _I_ noticed... but the girls didn't figure out why his face looked skinnier until I asked why he'd shaved it.
I'm still ambivalent about the change.
Having had three days of hard driving, and a late end to the day yesterday, we're not the most energetic of crews today. In fact, today has pretty much been a laze about day. We went to the local library, and the grocery store, and are mostly enjoying the opportunity to be slugs. I might even knit before the day is over. :-)
So..
Sunday, I saw an amazing House Concert starring S.J.Tucker in Waukegan.
She's witty, charming, fun, absurdly talented etc. And warm and playful. She held the current sock
I drove home .. and began whittling away on the huge list of things that had to be done before departing for the Eastward Trek. This list included blocking Must Have
Isn't it lovely?
Except for the part where I'm going to have to rip back to a couple inches before the armhole shaping -- on all three pieces -- because, well, it's way longer blocked. Too long. It now hits the widest part of my butt, making sure that part of me looks ... well, broader than necessary.
Sigh.
So much for seaming with The Divine Though Blogless Elizabeth before the trip.
Sigh.
I did, however make progress on the I Love This Shrug
Then there were errands. Including the car prep: I take it to a local oil change place that also does detailing. I have them check and top off all fluids (and air pressure), and then wash and vacuum the car (they also actually wash each of the interior windows). As I drove OUT of this place, my car's all-knowing computer gave me the following error message: "Service Now!".
Grr.
Add errand to the list: take car to dealer to find out what the heck is going on.
Turns out it was nothing. The car was just a bit over-eager for an oil change. But the oil is in great shape, so the car will have to wait until we get back.
This means that we didn't get out of town until around noon. Bleah.
And now, after about 8 hours of driving, we've covered 491miles, and seen license plates from 36 states and Ontario,
See our fun license plate tracker? (50 cents at a garage sale! score). Today, we did not see Hawaii, Alaska, Washington D.C., Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington, Vermont, West Virginia or Wyoming. Tomorrow, we'll start over, but thanks to blogland, we've got a record, so we can see how many we fill in in total
This month, however, we have seen both Alaska and Hawaii, so when we tot up the balance at the end of the trip, those will be in the score.
And now ... we're happily ensconced in a hotel in Ashtabula where we're doing fun things with hair dye. Tomorrow... more driving. I will try very hard to bypass Northampton, Massachusetts (those who knit know what's there).
Yesterday was a good day.
I good goodies in the mail:
This is Araucania Itata, which I was unable to omit from the WEBS order that brought me the yarn to finish Natalia. Look at those colors. I drooled on my keyboard when I ordered it. And now... well..
I am saved from further drooling only by this
Which, despite the shoddy picture, is Malabrigo Sock that someone posted on KnitSwap when I was feeling weak.
I know, they ARE similar in color, and yet... different enough to make it worthwhile. If I weren't so distracted by working on Bookworm's sweater, I'd spend hours just petting them.
Bookworm's shrug is a joy and a nightmare.
It is turning out just the way she wants it. It is fast and fun and easy to knit. The design is working happily and has not yet tried to fight back.
The yarn, however, is evil. You may recall that the first thing I did was discover that the ball I was knitting from had a break about oh, 1/3 of the way in? I learned that by trying to find the center, and pulling out a large blob that was not connected to the rest of the skein. I'll be REALLY pissed if we discover that it's actually a different dye lot.
Then, when I cast on for the actual shrug, I found another break. This time the bit of yarn was only about 4 yards long. Even for "cheap" yarn from the big box store, this is unacceptable. I may love the feel of the soft cotton; Bookworm may love the color, but I do not love this yarn. grrrr.
I'm taking it with me anyway -- and am off to Waukegan where my dear friend, and co-moderator of Seasons of Lace, is hosting a concert in her home tomorrow. I get to hear SJ Tucker play live! Lucky me. So... do I take her CDs in the car for the ride up? for the ride home? or deprive myself to make the concert that much better?
Gotta run -- need to stash some knitting in a bag, and hit the rainy road. When I get back, it will be time to pack for the Eastward Trek!! Time to head to Maine!
As always, I'd love to meet folks along the way (lunch? dinner? sleepover? late breakfast?? just a break?). We're heading east out of Illinois, across Indiana, diagonally across Ohio, nipping Pennsylvania on our way to New York, then across to Massachusetts and up into Maine. Let me know if there's a chance we'll be passing nearby!
So, when you go looking in your costume box, what do you expect to find?
WE find ... well.....
This
Sometimes the cute around here is hard to bear.....
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