Diversions

I wrote 3,000 + words, not including the ones I edited in or out, today so am rewarding myself with a blog post. First a hint of some things to come. In May I will be teaching at Halcyon Yarn in Bath, ME. I'll mention it again closer to actual May, I just wanted to share. I can't wait to visit this shop and see the town. One class is scheduled for Saturday, May 16th and if it fills, fear not - we can just tack on another on Sunday! I love Maine. It's the cold and snow I dread. Which begs a question, or an answer: why am I wearing polypropylene and silk longies under my regular day clothing in the first full week of October? And why have I already burned up half a forest in the woodstove? Something seems very wrong with this picture. I know why my mother's relative emigrated from Canada. It wasn't the farm they were after. It was less cold. My father is pretty thin-skinned about cold too. There's something a little sad about Yankees shivering around a fire in October. It's not right. We should move south.
Next weekend (not this one coming, but the one after!) is Rhinebeck. I'll be signing at Barb Parry's Foxfire Fiber booth (A30) from 11am-2pm on Saturday. Come and find me!! Bring a book, buy a book, or just say hello! Also, Girl comes home that same weekend. I haven't seen her since we dropped her off in Indiana the last of August. It's strange to muse on this, so I choose not to. She'll be home for a week, and then we send her back. I shall not muse much upon that either.
This weekend I went shopping for fabric to make a carry-bag for Dazee. After much searching and one failed Lands' End purchase I am going to make it the way I want it, so it is perfect. I found this delightful brown cord print at JoAnn Fabrics in Keene.I loved that it was 50% off, and the whole mess, including thread and feet and zippers and all was under $20. I love that they had a corduroy I could get my heart around. I love that my husband not only "let" me (well, he was driving, and he did voluntarily take me there, no begging) but HELPED me shop for fabric. What a man. I think there may be enough over to make her a matching jacket, possibly reversible. I feel this is important. Dazee does too, when she's not otherwise occupied.
This astounded me. An 8 year old dog entranced by Nylabones. It was a longshot after her second theft of my leather slippers. I figured I'd give it a try. She loves the thing, and is doing more damage on this small size than I thought possible. She needs a bigger bone, and more of them. She's on Boo's bed. She's taken it over during the day, moving from his to hers as the wind blows her. He sleeps down cellar all day; I do not know why. He comes up only after dark and stays until after breakfast, then retreats.
I am mailing this out today to one anticipatory sample knitter. It should be a sock or two when it comes back to me. It involves chickens and really awesome yarn. More will be revealed. It's totally not anything related to the book, but is here.Sometimes things itch my brain so very badly that I have to get them out before I can move on. This sock niggled at the base of my brain until I could not stand it another minute. I had to get it out. So, Marcy, it's in your hands now. It's not easy, but it's so worth it. Knit fast, that others may suffer. I mean, uh, enjoy, of course!
Yesterday we walked the farm across the road. It's on the market now, and I walk it daily while I pray for a way for us to own it. I love it. It's a disaster; overgrown, tires, junk cars, house full of utter crap, barn falling down, and a "cottage" that has alternately housed rodents and teenagers for the last few years. There's a plethora of dead snow-blowers, lawnmowers, trash, piles of cans and bottles and dismantled or tumbled down shacks. It's 75 acres of hard time, and not worth more than half of what they're asking as a result. It verges on a blessed super fund site. But I found things. I found apples, growing on trees, and I stuffed my kangaroo pocket full of them.Green and so good...they are kind of like those ones Rue brought to drop-in a couple of weeks ago. I want the tree, and in order to get it simply must buy the farm, right? I think I'll go back for more today. I found the perfect spot for the garden over there, and the perfect spot to write (That nasty little cottage? It's a writer's dream come true). I found fields long in disuse, begging for livestock. And an outdoor bar. No, really, they built an outdoor bar and seating area out of discarded pallets and such. Someone even used a chainsaw to carve stools, and there appears to be an area off to the side for...more amorous activites perhaps? I should have taken the camera but I've got three dogs this week so it's impossible to do anything constructive except stop every five feet so someone can sniff something.
I leave you with this. Home, home on the range. I let the birds back out. It's not fair to them to have to spend the rest of their lives in a cage. Live free or die, right? Well, it's time for them to be free. This is our new rooster, and two of the hens who survived the spring disaster. I do not know their names. They have none. All done with that, folks. Do not name animals that get killed by coyotes. Simple solution.

They're so happy to be free again. Who am I to hold them back?