Orange Cars and Sheep

I hope you did not come here to see any knitting. Because there is none. Progress on Colorful Tracks is lovely, but you've already seen it, so I'm not letting you have another look till it's done. Tomorrow there may be socks underway, a new design ala MelissaKnits. There is this - one happy little homeschooler - which is cooler than knitting. She's a gifted, talented, wonderful person who daily astounds me with her depth, her creativity, sensitivity, intelligence...for those who care, she graduated with honors. The school does not bestow them, but Mommys do, and this mommy has been keeping track of her grades for the last four years. This is one bright young woman, folks. I wonder where she gets it??
OK, so I am all decided about the Fit. The Fit is indeed Go. I am on a waiting list. I love the Fit. Then I read this...and I waver...if I wait a year, can I get one of these?? And will it really only be $1800 more than the Fit Sport gas version?? And what kind of tree-hugger would I be if I put selfish desires ahead of the planet? And what if they change their minds and don't do it in 2008, but put it off till 2010 or something?? Then where am I? I am driving the Saturn for possibly years more. That makes me sad. I need justification for buying the non-hybrid 2007 Fit versus waiting till 2008 and seeing what comes. It's "only a year"...oh, and about the orange? Definately happening. If we can't get it by being on the waiting list, I can be patient and order it in the fall. It's all or nothing, baby. No half-baked black 5 speed or orange automatic. I want the Fit Sport 5 speed and orange, or I WILL drive the Saturn forever. We got to sit in one this weekend - it had been sold so we could not drive it, but we got to open all the doors and see all the space and gadgetry. Mr. W was all talking about how he's going to use it to go to the dump...and the salesman AGREED!! I reminded dear John who he needed to please - I am the customer. Mr. Wonderful is a great guy, but all he's going to do is sign the check. There will be no garbage carried in my Fit. If Mr. W wants to haul trash, he can get his own Fit.With this new car thing in mind, I snagged these at Cummington Sunday. Must haves - and I don't care if it makes the car look like it's driven by a nut. It is driven by a nut. I need my Fleece, CISA and Lotus stickers, or it's just not me driving. We had a very nice day Sunday at Cummington, and car shopping, and ice cream eating. Mr Wonderful's Mommy is not a fiber person but does own an interest in an alpaca endeavor. She has come with us to fiber events before, and has a good time as a rule. She neither spins, nor weaves, nor knits. But she loves fiber related stuff in general, and animals in
particular. She spent a lot of time watching rabbits on Sunday. She bought her son a birthday gift that he really loves, an etching by Gene Matras, who is frequently at these events, and who Mr. Wonderful always spends a lot of time gazing at but never buys. He's a self-proclaimed "Cheap (insert poo-related swear word here)". At Hopkinton he spent money on tickets for the silent auction, and put a goodly number of tickets in the etching can. Now he has one to stare at all his own. It is lovely, Mad River, VT in winter. I tried to photograph it, but failed because it's framed and matted and the glass just makes a big old mess. So imagine that, only clearer, and in a lovely silver frame with a light blue mat. Oh, and without the big copyright thing across it.Girl loaded up on felting fibers. She spent less than $30 and got a ton of colorful locks, odds and ends of color, and one bag of flesh colored stuff that was apparently dyed thus by accident. I bought this from Twist of Fate Spinnery. It is lovely to look at, loaded with thrums and sparkly lurex bits. Makes me want to spin, though I have no time for spining, but begin to think I need to slap the second treadle on my wheel and get my butt in gear, even just one day a week. These folks had racoon down...we did not get to see it because they'd sold out of it, but I guarantee I would have bought it!! How'd they get is? Sssshhhh.....it's road kill....I personally would be interested in an entire Road Kill Fibers line. What else gets whacked that's spinnable? I'd try it!
Added to list of jobs Boo-Boo will never have - I bought a t-shirt to support the Northeast Border Collie Association and as a memento of things my dog will never be. He will never herd anything. He's be too busy sitting on it's feet or hiding behind something in terror. Mr W. and Girl and Mommy spent a great deal of time watching the dogs run. Mr. W. had seen the novice dogs, which he loves because they are so funny; splitting the sheep up, losing track of themselves and their animals, looking back at their handlers as if to say "Look! I did it!!" while the sheep scatter randombly around them. Yeah, you did it all right. The open classes are interesting because of the skill of both dog and handler. It gets intense. Sort of makes me want sheep. But not really. Although I have to say I find these guys interesting. I love the horns. And I love the black and white fleeces. Very cool. But sheep are generally not something I want to own. I love lamb, and I love fiber. And I love Stoney Acre Jacobs. Just not well enough to bring one home. I have heard from more than one person that they are not the sharpest tools in the shed. I kind of need an animal that does not require babysitting to prevent it from eating rhododendrons. We had a rabbit that did that once. The others all left it alone, but one rabbit decided he'd give it a shot, and ended up as a card-carrying Hemlock Society member. Shallow end of the gene pool, like hatchery bred poultry. "Grass? Dirt? Sky?? What are they?".
Most of the weekend was spent here, actually, on my deck overlooking this, listening to the water, knitting on the Colorful Tracks sweater, or having dinner with my in-laws, or letting the dogs get some air. Kioshi in particular seems to enjoy the deck. She's never been one for dirt or grass for anything but hiking on. The deck lets her get air and sun without the complication of dirt. She's a bit of a snot. Mr. W made a gate for her, so she cannot run off the deck, and this will allow her to spend what we believe is her last summer getting some quality rays. She's slower, gimpier, has some definate periods of feeling unwell, mostly in her tummy I think. Poor old rug.
I also took some time to if not smell at least notice the flowers. This is a rhododendron that was given to my mother by her neighbor Corinne who died of cancer a few years back. It would never bloom for Corinne. It did at my mother's and it certainly is blooming here - it's positively covered with flowers. I love the color. It's unusual, and very me. There are others around here, azaleas and rhodos of a more typical nature, all in shades and variations of pink. But this is my favorite.Last evening in twilight and after dinner was done we did some planting of seed potatoes. This is an experiment in organic potato farming. I had ordered a box of four mixed varieties from Wood Prairie Farm to see if we could grow healthy organic potatoes of our own. They threw in four additional varieties...which was wonderful and complicating. We decided to plant some of each, and see what grows. There's a little map indicating where each variety is planted, and if it works we'll do more next spring. I got a wide range of ripening times and types, so we'll have a lot to choose from. I think Mr. W would be contented to spend the rest of his life wandering around planting and growing food. He's got grapes growing on the hill that runs down to the brook, blueberries down by the brook (they love the acid and moisture down there) and plans for bigger gardens next year, and maybe more fruit trees. I am glad. I miss my food gardens. The peach tree we brought from our old house is going great guns, loaded with the tiniest fuzzy future peaches. I am hopeful!
Orange seems to be the color of the hour around here. I brought home paint chips for the office. My favorite so far is called Hundred Acre Wood. I find that particularly amusing. Leave it to me to pick the Disney paint!
Time to go be Very Good and get on my bike for a bit. I have been lazy since we finished up the I.P. clean and fix up. Time to get cracking!