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Slackin’

I know I still have to write about our Sunday – Wonderful Woolly Weekend.  It’s just that it takes so long to upload the photos that I haven’t had the time.

Today, Jacob does his G2 road test.  I’m a little freaked out.  I’m happy for sure because this now means that I have a lot more freedom!  BUT, is he ready???   Some days, his head’s in the clouds and I want to yell at him to “Pay attention!”  “Don’t do that!”  “Hold the damn steering wheel with your whole hand.”  “Stop playing with your IPod!”  “Don’t read your texts while you’re driving!”  “This is not a DISCO!  Turn the music down!”  (I like loud music though but I’m older and more mature…”

All that to say that I’m afraid.  I don’t know if he’s ready.  When  he’s on his game, he’s awesome.  BUT, he’s a 16-year-old boy.  He’ll go cruising around today with his music blaring so he can look cool in his new (old) car.

The ONLY thing I’m looking forward to is the fact that he can drive his own arse home after work!  That means I get more sleep.  No more waiting in the parking lot at Pizza Hut at 10:30 at night when I have to work the next morning! Yayyyyy!

The one thing I AM excited about is that we leave for China on Wednesday.  That means I only have tonight and tomorrow night to pack.  I have an idea of what I want to bring – I just haven’t physically started taking anything out.  Because of all the transfers, I’ve decided that we’re only taking backpacks as carry-ons.  No suitcases.  I don’t want Delta to have an excuse to lose my stuff.  Two transfers on the way there and three on the way back is asking for trouble.  So, Tuesday night, we’ll pack our stuff and I’ll measure our packs to make sure they’re within the allowed 45 inches total (height, width and depth combined).  Keep your fingers crossed everyone.

I’m freaking out!!!  I’m really excited and really scared at the same time.  This is the biggest adventure I’ve been on, as an adult.  We’re going to have so much fun.  I get to stand on The Great Wall of China with my son!!!!!  Then I get to come home and scratch something major of my Bucket List.

On another note, I’ve been knitting here and there – when I had time.  I haven’t, however, had time to take pictures to post here.  Sorry.  I’ve almost finished a reversible cable baby blanket that I made up based on a stitch pattern.  I’ve knit a pair of red baby socks for little Benton who was born two weeks ago tomorrow.  I started a some Monkey(s) by Cooky A yesterday (which I was going to knit on the flight.  I’ve since decided I’ll make something up that doesn’t need a pattern.) (If you want the pattern, it doesn’t actually cost anything if you click on the “visit pattern website” link.  It goes to Knitty – where the pattern was originally published FOR FREE.)  I’ve attempted to find a belt for Cass’ Belt Bag but only ended up with clothes instead.  I still haven’t sewn the sleeves on my Tilted Duster and I added the Brandywine Shawl to my Ravelry “projects”.  I have Knitting ADD!

Things are bound to slow down when we come home from our trip.  I’ll go back on shift and actually have days off again.  I can’t wait.  PLUS, I miss working in dispatch.  It’s the best job with the best people.  I missed it like I would miss an old friend.  Pathetic, I know.  I’ll be back soon!

Well, I best get Jacob up and ready for his test!  He’s nervous so… say some prayers people!

I likely won’t blog before our trip so… BON VOYAGE!!!

A Wonderful Woolly Weekend – Saturday

Alright, I’m back!

Saturday morning, we went to St. Distaff Day at the Almonte Agricultural Hall.  It was a fantastic day.  We had such a blast!

Almonte Agricultural Hall with all the ladies (and maybe 3 boys/men) as well as all the vendors (where I spent too much money):

There were morning workshops.

Drop Spindling
Funny Foot Spindle
Drop Spindle Rack for plying
Diane and Lise carding wool with hand-cards
Claudette basket weaving
Gisele (Mom) domino knitting
Bonnie doing some funky Kumi Himo braiding
Louise making a pine needle coaster
Lucie and Reina (hiding on the left) also making pine needle coasters
There's the old girl! Spry as ever.
Mary-Anne making a way-too-complicated-woven-necklace.
Marie making little buttons.

I missed a few of the guild girls but we got them (eventually) at lunch.

Then there were afternoon workshops.

Gisele (Mom) and Lucie getting ready to make a mini braided rag rug.
Marie knitting a necklace with beads.
Mary-Anne doing the same thing but she's not liking it.
Claudette still working on her basket.
Reina doing some tri-axial weaving (3-D triangle Christmas ornament).
Wheel spinning for Bonnie and Diane.
Roz making some kind of broom thing. (I looked through the list of workshops and I can't figure it out.)
Louise and Lise - hookin'.
Me, making the braid for my mini-rug.

When everyone was finished, we all gathered for the finale – the Grand Circle.

When we got back to the cottage, we placed our wheels in the same spots they had been the night before and promptly commenced “show and tell”.  I won’t post all the photos (because there are a lot).

Fleece - poop and all, for Bonnie and Diane to share.
A new magazine for Claudette.
A new spindle for Diane (it was so pretty I took a close-up).
Some roving for Lucie.
A new Turkish spindle and some Icelandic wool (for a shawl that three of us might make at the same time 'cause we got the same wool).
Lise and her washed (I think) fleece.
Mom with her very beautiful cashmere blend sock wool. Yum.
Louise and her new book (I really hope she doesn't read my blog 'cause she might try to smother me with a couch pillow for posting this picture - I had to... it's too funny not to. Doesn't she look like she's signing?).

We all spun for a bit until we got hungry.  We ate like queens again and were all in bed early.  That was a hard day!  (LOL!)

I think it took me three days before I figured out where to put all my new “loot”.  Some went here and some went there.  I’m running out of room for my stash.  I’ll have to do some spring cleaning to make room for more wool.  What a funny concept!

I’m going to have to continue this tomorrow.  I still have Sunday to post about.

See you soon.

A Wonderful Woolly Weekend – Friday

I will give it to you in photos with brief descriptions.

I have no pictures of the adorable place we stopped to eat at in Carleton Place.  It’s called The Good Food Company.



They don’t have a website so I stole this photo from Google.  (Haha.  I’m so smart sometimes.)  The food was excellent and the atmosphere was very cozy.

After lunch, we went to the Canadian Wool Growers Co-Op just down the street.

Where they store the wool.
That's a lot of freakin' wool.
This one is clean... I think.
I just liked the "old" look of the place.
Where they sort the wool into grades/lengths, etc.
I think they put them in these big bins to dry or to get packaged. I can't remember exactly.

Then the man (wish I could remember his name… maybe Nicholas?) showed us around the store when they keep a lot of the “artifacts” from when the mill first opened.

The store
They used to package the wool in the big sacks in this contraption. Two men would literally jump on the wool to pack it down. They now use it as a change room.
The mill back in the old days.
Old shears!
How's this for a mirror?
An old wagon wheel to used as a clothes rack. Neat ha?
How cool!
Original (clean) door.
Again! How clever!

They had the coolest stuff in there.  Here are a few more pics:

How pretty!

After this little tour, we all went into the shop and spent butt-loads of money on “stash enhancements”.

Not long after that, we pulled into Cedar Cove Resort where Diane had reserved two cottages for our little gang of spinners.   The cottages were awesome.

Cottage #11

Cottage #12

The view in black and white.

And then some color – the boats and the beach.

When we were all settled in, we took out our wheels.

Then, when the bugs got too bad, we moved the wheels inside, ate like queens, spun some more and had a little bit of de-wine.

To be continued…

More Later…

I just wanted to post a quick one to let everyone know that I’ve organized a WORLD WIDE KNIT IN PUBLIC DAY for this coming Saturday, June 11th at Lamoureux Park.  We’ll be setting up between the new water park and the museum around 11:00 AM.  If it rains, we’re planning to take over the band-shell.

Come one, come all!

I’ll write later (when I find time) about my fabulous weekend with my spinning friends (with lots of photos).