Catch Up on Blogstalking #4...

Three things I love, three things I hate...
I love the smells outside...in the fall there's leaves, burning wood, dirt, in winter there's that crisp, cold smell of snow and ice, in the spring, mud, the first flowers, and that light muskiness of new animals, and in the summer, the smell of heat, cut grass, lilacs, and fresh gardens. As I get older, I am discovering I am a very olfactory person, sensitive to every smell. These smells (most of them) make me so happy. (this pic is from ohadonline.com, an amazing photographer and worth checking out)
I love starting with nothing and making something. A bag of fleece turns to yarn, that turns to a hat. Seeds turn to tomatoes, that turn to canned tomatoes and then salsa and chili. Rhubarb from the yard turns to juice, and then wine. A pile of fabric turns into curtains or pillows. Flour , water, salt and yeast warms with heat and turns to bread. There's something so amazing about using raw materials that are so simple and changing them into something that we can use and love.
And, I love my hubbie. This is him fishing on the St. Croix River in Maine last summer. I love being outside with him, playing in the woods. When we're outside, we can totally relax, put aside all the excess crap of our lives, and just enjoy each other.


Three things I hate? These don't get pictures, cause they don't deserve them.
1. I hate that there are so, so many places that people can't feel comfortable or safe being themselves. I tried to narrow this down to be more specific, but I realized I can't.
2. I hate that our entire society is constructed around making and spending money, with some people at the top, some more in the middle, and too many at the bottom. What a sad thing for us to focus on with our whole being.
3. I hate that I don't hate these things enough to say fuck the US and give everything up, move to Canada, and join a commune. Because there are too many other things that I love more.

Fryeburg Fair

I went to the Fryeburg Fair this weekend, and oh wow, the animals were soooo cute!I again, reinforced my desire to have alpacas someday, cause they're so cute and fuzzy and *bonus*, they make yarn!!!
This poor sheep was so naked you could see his neck wrinkles. They had been doing shearing demos all week, so there were lots of naked sheep.
This naked sheep was actually asleep like this.
The baby pigs were cute stacked up against each other, except for that one who decided he was hungry,
and started a huge freak out. Most of them found a spot to nestle in, but two of them kept fighting and squealing like hell until they finally settled down.
Oh look, more alpacas!!
This was in the fiber barn, it's a board with all different fibers on it, sheep and goats and llamas and alpacas and bunnys and even dogs. The hair was spun up into little mini-skeins so you could compare the softness.
I watched the draft horses do their pulling competition, and despite the packed house in the arena, I still don't quite see the intrigue.
BUNNIES!! These two week old bunnies were sooooo cute, they were each about the size of a raquetball. I will admit that I think bunnies are even more cute than kittens.
See? Isn't it cute? These are 4 weeks old. Don't you just want to smush your face in them? Too cute.

Project Update...

The Shoalwater Shawl is coming along well, I'm almost done with the second complete pattern repeat. I don't want to post a pic, as it's a present for my mom and I want it to be a surprise. I'm backed up on the Ink Flared sweater, I'm fearing that it may end up looking like a maternity sweater. I may frog and use the yarn for Chamomile which looks like the same gauge. I'm also DEFINITELY going to be ordering the yarn for the Olive Branch Yoga Hoodie, I already got the pattern. I just need to decide on what color, and I HATE picking colors off my monitor. Unfortunately, color cards for Knitpicks Wool of the Andes are not available now. I've been checking ravelry to try and get an idea of what the colors really look like, and narrowed it down a bit (like, to something heathered). I hate choosing.

Blogstalking #3... how do I get Around...

This is how I get around...almost. If you turn it silver, get rid of the air scoop things, and cut the kick-ass horse power a bit, it's my car. I love my car (okay, it's really OUR car, but I'm the primary driver as Mr. VT is in mad love with his love-child-of-a-cooper-mini-and-a-UPS-truck AKA our Honda Element. Oh, and the element is itrium.)
We actually have a relative who races Imprezas like this, I think that would be sooooooo cool. Especially if I was in Europe.