Kerplink-Kerplank-Kerplunk

Anyone who has ever read/had to read Bluberries for Sal to their kids KNOWS from whence my title comes! This was our first trip to Stonington, Maine in the "on" season. No antiquing for us this time. We looked through the Book of Things To Do that our inkeeper, Christina, leaves in every one of her rooms at Inn on the Harbor, and chose accordingly. Being as we had Daphne with us, we thought she'd like to see where Sal and her mom picked wild blueberries, so off we drove to find the trail leading up to the summit of Blue Hill. I'm not much of a hiker, and certainly I have never undertaken anything this physically challenging! I am sore today, but it was worth it. I even managed to knit a few stitches before the black flies found me and started to feast.

Note to self: never, ever go hiking in Maine without Bug Spray, preferably stuff with DEET in it.

But here is the view...spectacular, yes?


I have been working on more Lucy bags, finished one on the ride up to Maine, and began a second one. The second one has a few body rows left to go, and the two straps. Then into the washer it goes. Here I am, working on the beginnings of the second bag. It's in two colors of Cascade 220, rather than my hand-dyed stuff.


Again, I only managed to do about half a round before the black flies got really nasty, but at least I can say that I came, I saw, and I knitted.

We were much too early for the lupines, but on the other side of the hill, we found ONE with a few colorful buds at the bottom of the flower spike. We were also way too early for wild blueberries, but noted that many of the bushes are already covered with blossoms.

Would I do this hike again? Well, Christina says it is really extraordinarily beautiful in the Fall. No matter how much my ankles, hips, and knees ache today, I think I just...might...have to...

But only AFTER a trip to LL Bean for hiking boots with good ankle support and some killer bug spray.

If you are ever in the Sedgwick area, on the way over to Deer Isle, there is a brand new Mexican takeout place called El El Frijole. (If you know any Spanish at all, you'll "get" the name. Very clever!) Anyway, you get a whopping huge burrito stuffed with beans, rice, and a choice of excellent fillings, and free access to a fantastic fresh salsa bar. Unbelievably good, not too expensive, and well worth a visit. The restaurant is in a barn behind the owners' house and there are picnic tables galore for outdoor eating. Inside there are a few small tables, and we camped out at one of those, so we could have continual access to that salsa bar! It's right on Route 15, heading towards Deer Isle, in the Sedgwick area, officially in a little town called Sargentville. They just opened this brand-new restaurant for business YESTERDAY. What luck! I'm so glad we decided to stop and try it.

Eye and Ear Candy!

If you like the blues and have heard me go on and on and on about Rory Gallagher, see/listen for yourself!

Rory & Taste - If the Day was Any Longer

Rory & Taste - Gambling Blues

Yes, I spent too much time on You Tube today. My knee is out, due to the wet weather, so what else is a gal to do while resting the afflicted joint?

Surf, watch, & listen, of course.

Cindy, you will get your wish. the bag is done, and I will bring it to Su's on Tuesday. For the rest of you, I'll post pics when it's dry. Came out darn good, even if I do say so myself!

Stupid Fun

For pointless, mindless fun accompanied by skirling bagpipes, try the link below.

http://bashthehaggis.com/

Yes, I have had far too much fun with this since I found the link on one of the Black 47 forums.

Off to a sock machine workshop tomorrow, in hopes of learning to work with my freakin' ribber.

Yes, I have also been watching too many freakin' Sopranos re-runs.

Having a slow 'n stupid day as far as writing goes, but will post part 4 over the weekend sometime.

For knitting, I am working on a Lucy Bag made from my hand-dyed yarn. Will post pics if it comes out the way I think it's going to.

Spindle Spun

Coopworth/Mohair blend -- 8 oz. -- 560 yds. -- ALL spindle spun by moi.

Close-up. What would YOU make with it???

Whorlwind Weekend...

I'm back from NH Sheep & Wool finally, and procrastinating getting my eBay store back up, 'cause frankly I am tired of wool right now and would rather write. However, I think I've earned a Day Off to live in my head and write a bit.

I enjoyed my time at the Festival, but did not do as well sales-wise as I had hoped. Still, I have signed up and pre-paid my space for next year, and this time I will make sure I advertise my location well ahead of time. I also learned a lot, watching what sorts of purchases walked by as I manned my booth. Multi-colored rovings seemed to be hot this year, so the coming months will see me experimenting with dyeing rovings. I'll start from stash and see what I get, and if it's good, I will start looking for a Source. You all know the kind of Source I mean -- good quality, not too expensive -- and probably a b*tch to find. LOL.

I have been finding odd moments to continue work on my short story, Doubtful Sound, and now have three consecutive parts up on my website. I feel confident enough of finishing it that I have dared to build an index page and add a link, which you will find on the right hand side of this blog, in my links list. I do hope some of you will read and let me know what you think. Intrigued? Not? Dull? Interesting? Roped in? Don't care what happens next? All feedback is useful when I have a work in progress. Also, if I know people are keeping up with what I'm writing, I'll be more inclined to be punctual about working towards the end. If there's someone out there reading (and I know I have at least one reader) heavens forfend that I should disappoint by skipping a week! And I do need to keep this writing thing going. It's good for me, and I really enjoy imagining all sorts of things and sorting them out on paper. Yes, I do this mainly for myself, but part of the fun is knowing that other people enjoy reading it, too.

I think I've done enough on it today, though, and in spite of the fact that I said I thought I'd earned a day off from wool, I hear it calling me! Yikes! One would think that after two solid days on my feet doing little else but drop-spindling, I would have had it by now. Not so. I have two new spindles and some gorgeous wool/mohair roving to play with. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd post some pics now, but as it is, maybe I will put some up tomorrow.

At least two people returned to my booth late yesterday afternoon to show me drop spindles they had purchased after being inspired by watching me work! I referred lots of folks to the Bosworths, and sent a few over to looks at Goldings as well. And one lady came back with a beautiful Kundert, of which I have one that I love, so I was thrilled to see that those were available from some vendors, too. So you see, sales or no sales, I have to go back next year, to see what these folks will have accomplished by then!

New profile picture was taken at a drop-spindling workshop last summer in St. Margaret's Hope, Orkney, by photographer par excellence, Liz Lovick. She's one heck of a great knitter/designer, too. Have a look at http://northernlace.co.uk