has it been THAT long? a miscelleanous collection of events & a request for help

well, it has been a while since i've posted.  i'm not completely sure how that happened.  i often find myself writing bits & pieces of a post frequently- in the shower, driving, walking sadie.  actually posting them is a different story! the good thing about not posting for a while is that things happen.  generally, my life, which is a good life, consists of work, knitting, reading & danny.  i've been a bit light on the friends time lately- need to do something about that!!  too much work, really.  the past month has been rather busy.  my brother, tommy, his wife dee & my niece grace were out for about a week at the end of april.  grace has not been out east for about 10-13 years.  it was a great visit - though not long enough.  isn't it nice to feel that way when you visit with family?  grace is a great young woman- it was fun to spend time with her.  we went to berkeley plantation- the day was beautiful outside.  grace is studying english & wanted to visit a plantation to get a feel for the South- the south she read about in william faulkner, flannery o'conner & various other southern writers.  the virginia plantations don't really give you a feel for the south like those farther south do-  with the steaming heat, the spanish moss, the cotton fields-  virginia's plantations are often very colonial & more remniscent of england than the south. anyway, it was fun to go & a nice way to spend the day.  that's dee & my mom in the one photo leaving berkeley plantation & tommy & grace in the other.  virginia really is so beautiful in the spring...

                  

so the day tommy & dee left (grace left earlier in the week), i went to my first sheep & wool festival.  it was the maryland sheep & wool festival which is like mecca for knitters & spinners.  i am only now learning more about yarn- there is a lot to know.  the maryland sheep & wool festival was...... well....... it was wet.    very  very wet!!

                                            

as we were preparing to leave, roz mentioned she had brought her rain boots & i remembered that i had a pair of plastic rain boots.  so we stopped by the house to pick them up on the way out of town.  thank you, roz!   was that ever a good call!!??  it rained all day long... & then some.  but the knitting crowd bravely trudged on to inspect the possibilities.  it is very cool to see the yarn in all its inceptions.  a lot of it is hand-dyed & you can buy the fleece directly.  they have sheep for sale & lots of fiber & year ready to be spun.  i don't know that i'll ever be a spinner, but it sure is cool to look at.  

there were lots of very patient men standing about all day.  they just stood around, some with their hat in their hands, probably trying to figure out what quirk of fate landed them here- standing the muddy, rainy field of the howard county, md fairgrounds  waiting for the love of their life to end her orgasmic pleasure at the feel of the last fiber she held in her hands.  i would feel compassion for them at any time, but especially so in the pouring rain.  & we were all there in search of this......      the perfect yarn for their project & the yarn they must possess.  

                                                                             

i had gone in search of yarn for my next project-  a sweater i was going to make for myself.  the picture of it is below.  i am hopeful that when i put it on, i'll look like her-  & that is more likely to happen if i knit it out of the perfect yarn! i did find the perfect yarn for this project-  a malibrigo & silk blend that is soft, soft, soft.  i chose the undyed yarn, so it is in its natural color- an off white/cream kind of thing.  i think it will look fabulous & this project should challenge me a bit more than i've allowed some of my past projects to do.    it's a cool looking sweater, don't you think?  i can't wait to see how it looks.   i know it will change my life.  i'll be popular, smell incredible, i'll never have to shave my legs again & sadie will decide i'm her favorite instead of danny.  of course, if i use the wrong yarn- well,none of this shall come to pass!

       

the other fun thing going on at the maryland sheep & wool festival were the sheep & animals.  i had no idea there so many different varieties of sheep.  some photos of some of the more interesting ones follow.  the one is called a jacob sheep.  the little animal with the baby horns is a kashmir goat-  yep, that's where it comes from. they produce the raw material for cashmere.   i think the jacob sheep looks like he belongs in that early scene from the first star wars movie.  

the sheep next to the jacob is a black/white face sheep.  i guess they ran out of creative names.  & speaking of creative names......

the big news & the place we need help is..... drum roll, please....   we are the proud owners of a boat.  a sailboat to be specific.  danny took sailing lessons last summer & fell in love with it & has been looking for a boat-  we found one.  it appears below.   our boat needs a name & any help is appreciated.  so far, the names under serious consideration are Knot Knamed, SeaWord, WindWord,  Yellow Beach House & Sea- bago.  any & all suggestions are appreaciated.

  

                                                     

so, i've successfully broken my fasting since the last post.  maybe somebody is even reading this.  anyway, happy spring