Quiet house
The Fool is mowing the lawn, Grandma Fool is napping, Jamie is napping, and the cats are all in the basement. So nobody is bothering me for anything and I can use the computer. Here are some random things from the weekend at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair and beyond.
1. I was the vendor coordinator, which was fun enough that I would do it again. I got to talk to lots of interesting folks, and even though I ran around a lot, I liked it. I got to meet author Nora Murphy, and had read enough of her book, "Knitting the Threads of Time," to be able to say something intelligent about it, other than how much I liked the cover art.
2. Jamie is scared of angora rabbits ... the Fool went to show him the rabbits, thinking, as I did, oh, cute fluffy bunnies, but I guess one of the rabbits gave him a beady-eyed stare (or basically looked at him with a typical rabbity expression) and that was enough to get Jamie to make his "I don't like this" noise and demand to be picked up, safely out of reach of the scary, scary rabbit.
3. Animals Jamie has recently met that he does like: Ducks, toads, alpacas. Every time he saw the paddock of alpacas, he pointed and hooted and insisted that whomever was with him take him closer so he could look at them.
The Fool spent a lot of time at the fair hanging around the alpacas. They were there so often, Jamie even got a little souvenir of alpaca fiber to fondle. Here he is napping with a keepsake from his woolly friend.
4. In light of our stunning success with alpacas, I think the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival is a must-do this fall.
5. Grandma Fool's visit is going just fine. I see my role as facilitator -- I keep Jamie well-fed, clean and happy so his grandmother can get in all the time she likes playing with him. We've been to the botanic gardens and to an Irish festival where the Fool played and out for gelato. The two went for a walk today and yesterday and spend lots of time looking at books together and playing some kind of horsie game in German that I really ought to videotape for the sake of preserving family culture.
6. The Fool is old today! I made him blueberry pancakes for breakfast (note to self: miniature blueberry pancakes for Jamie, while cute and delicious, are too messy to have been a smart idea. Hence the shirtless dining.)
And I made him a birthday cake, which we are taking to a block party this evening to share. That's a triple-layer, made-from-scratch devil's food cake you're looking at. It's in such opposition to things like the fruit desserts and oatmeal cookies I usually make, I felt rebellious melting all the different kinds of chocolate, and banging around cartons of whole cream and cream cheese and butter.
7. Preparations continue for the trip out West. My aunt offered to watch Jamie for one night while the Fool and I go to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival. So weird. With the exception of two wedding gigs, we haven't ever been away from the little wiggler for an evening, and certainly not an evening that resembles a date. So weird. (It's "Much Ado About Nothing" set in 1940s Italy.)
8. The Herringbone Rib socks completely kicked my butt. I could not knit those things correctly to save my life, and they were going really slowly and I have to get these socks done sooner, so I bailed for a simpler pattern from "Knitting on The Road." Picture later.
1. I was the vendor coordinator, which was fun enough that I would do it again. I got to talk to lots of interesting folks, and even though I ran around a lot, I liked it. I got to meet author Nora Murphy, and had read enough of her book, "Knitting the Threads of Time," to be able to say something intelligent about it, other than how much I liked the cover art.
2. Jamie is scared of angora rabbits ... the Fool went to show him the rabbits, thinking, as I did, oh, cute fluffy bunnies, but I guess one of the rabbits gave him a beady-eyed stare (or basically looked at him with a typical rabbity expression) and that was enough to get Jamie to make his "I don't like this" noise and demand to be picked up, safely out of reach of the scary, scary rabbit.
3. Animals Jamie has recently met that he does like: Ducks, toads, alpacas. Every time he saw the paddock of alpacas, he pointed and hooted and insisted that whomever was with him take him closer so he could look at them.
The Fool spent a lot of time at the fair hanging around the alpacas. They were there so often, Jamie even got a little souvenir of alpaca fiber to fondle. Here he is napping with a keepsake from his woolly friend.
4. In light of our stunning success with alpacas, I think the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival is a must-do this fall.
5. Grandma Fool's visit is going just fine. I see my role as facilitator -- I keep Jamie well-fed, clean and happy so his grandmother can get in all the time she likes playing with him. We've been to the botanic gardens and to an Irish festival where the Fool played and out for gelato. The two went for a walk today and yesterday and spend lots of time looking at books together and playing some kind of horsie game in German that I really ought to videotape for the sake of preserving family culture.
6. The Fool is old today! I made him blueberry pancakes for breakfast (note to self: miniature blueberry pancakes for Jamie, while cute and delicious, are too messy to have been a smart idea. Hence the shirtless dining.)
And I made him a birthday cake, which we are taking to a block party this evening to share. That's a triple-layer, made-from-scratch devil's food cake you're looking at. It's in such opposition to things like the fruit desserts and oatmeal cookies I usually make, I felt rebellious melting all the different kinds of chocolate, and banging around cartons of whole cream and cream cheese and butter.
7. Preparations continue for the trip out West. My aunt offered to watch Jamie for one night while the Fool and I go to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival. So weird. With the exception of two wedding gigs, we haven't ever been away from the little wiggler for an evening, and certainly not an evening that resembles a date. So weird. (It's "Much Ado About Nothing" set in 1940s Italy.)
8. The Herringbone Rib socks completely kicked my butt. I could not knit those things correctly to save my life, and they were going really slowly and I have to get these socks done sooner, so I bailed for a simpler pattern from "Knitting on The Road." Picture later.
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