festival, fiber, and goats

Thanks for all your good wishes for Sunday - the weather was perfect! The Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival was worth the long/short trip: lots of cashmere goats, lots of friendly folk, lots of yarn and clever fiber-y creations. A perfect opportunity to prepare an entire portfolio of images for you, my readers, right?

A hank of handspun in apricot and muted greens caught my eye right away, and I asked the vendor if she minded photographs. Not at all! she said. I turned on my camera, focused, pressed the shutter release, and nothing happened.

Because the memory chip was still in my laptop. At home.

So, I'm very sorry I can't do a fiber fair picture post. I feel like such a dunce...I finally went somewhere interesting, and I can't bring you along!

Tell me about it! Not only did I miss a fair
where I could have shown those crazy Border Collies
a thing or two...but today I had a BATH!

Since I couldn't take any pictures at the fair, I decided I'd better bring that hank of handspun home, and photograph it here:

It's cormo/merino and only 49 yards, so it may become an element of a larger piece of knitting: a brim on a plain hat, or cuffs on solid mittens, or an accent of some kind.

Or it may continue to function beautifully as a display:

Purty, no?

And just like that, as smoothly as

a pebble falling into water,

my Yarn Buying Moratorium has ended.

And I'm okay with that, because the knitting? It's back.

Remember the orange half-a-sock?

The first long-neglected project reactivated for the WIPCrackAway KAL?

Tada!

I'm already on to the next WIP.

~~~

And now, instead of pictures of the goats at the show,

how about a couple of familiar goat faces?

Yesterday afternoon, I dragged my chaise to a sunny spot on the Upper West Side, to spend a little time snapping pictures of my gang browsing on a newly-fallen leaves.

An odd thump on the back of the chaise told me Campion was up to something, so I just leaned forward, held the camera over my head, pointed it backward, and clicked:

Don't mind me!

Campion is standing on his hind legs, front feet on the back of the chaise, mouthing the top.

Maybe this is why people think "goats can eat anything" and "goats eat tin cans." They don't. In fact, goats have specific dietary needs and can be extremely picky about their food. But they will explore just about everything with their mouths. And I do keep things out of reach that could be dangerous to ingest, like scraps of paper or plastic feed sacks, or bits of wire, just as you would for any animal.

In fact, despite considerable caution on my part,

Piper has found and ingested more noxious items

than all of my goats put together.

That's still no reason for a BATH. You overreacted!
And besides, I didn't "ingest" anything this time,
I just rolled in it!

~~~

Remember Dara?

When he saw me sitting in the chaise, he trotted right over.

So did the other three kids.

I told the kids that they must not jump up on the chair.

Three quickly returned to browsing, but Dara waited.

He was very quietly disappointed.

He didn't jump, but he waited, politely.

I relented, and said, "Okay, Dara, you can't jump up here, but I'll try to lift you. I don't know if I can, and I don't know if you'll fit on the chair. And if you do, you'll have to be perfectly still or get right down."

I don't know what I was thinking.

Dara is a big boy now.

And even though he was a very unusual baby,

it's been a long time since he could climb into my arms

and completely relax, chewing his cud and dozing.

Like this:

Dara, 6 July 2014

Well.

Dara, 6 October 2014

He sat perfectly still.

(Believe me: this is not something you'd have seen at the fair, even if I'd been able to take pictures of every goat there.)

Time passed, leaves fell. The sun went down. I don't know how long we would have been there if I hadn't eventually had to get up and start evening chores.

All my goats are individual characters, some easier than others to get along with. And at this point, I think all four of the 2014 babies are developing what I hope will be pleasant, sensible temperaments.

But Dara is...unique.

~~~~~

rain today, sun tomorrow

That was the weekend weather prediction, and it's been raining non-stop since last night, so the forecasters certainly got that part right. Chores were a muddy mess this morning, and I am having a very hard time getting motivated to do anything. At all.

But I hope tomorrow's weather prediction is also true, because I've planned an exciting daytrip to the 26th Annual Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival in Tunbridge. Two shepherds on ravelry described this as a lovely fair, with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. I've never been, but this year I decided to try because it's also the Cashmere Goat Association show.

It's a long drive for me these days - about 2.5 hours north of home. And since I'll be trying to get home before dark for chores, I may be spending nearly as much time on the road as at the fair. Couldn't be helped; a weekend holiday was not an option, as my wonderful critter caretaker is away.

I'm really looking forward to perusing a variety of cashmere goats from herds I've never seen. And just wandering around in the livestock barn and seeking treasures to bring home from the vendors booths.

Dear readers: have you ever been to this fair? Do you have any suggestions for "can't miss" vendors or "must see" exhibitors or "must eat" festival snacks?

~~~

Meanwhile, the rain is pouring down, and it's nearly dark at 4 in the afternoon. I'm going to start chores early, and do a few extra things tonight so the morning chores will be a bit quicker. I must be on the road just as the sun is peeping through the woods behind the paddock.

~~~~~

a few brief updates

Book Report:

Have you ever read Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca"?

One day last week when I was searching my much-appreciated online regional library for an audiobook to download, "Rebecca" popped up as a recommendation. I read it for school when I was about 13 and a few images from the story have stayed with me, but not much of the plot detail. After checking the brief sample clip to be sure the narrator would be easy to listen to (for me, the narrator can make or break any audiobook), I downloaded the novel for knitting entertainment.

Well.

I'll tell you what.

This book is a stunner.

That Daphne du Maurier really knew

how to put the words together.

And the narrator, actress Anna Massey, was brilliant.

I've listened for an hour or so each evening, while working on the second(!) orange sock. And today, while listening to the final part of the book, I mindlessly knit an extra inch

on the foot of the sock.

Hundreds and hundreds of tiny (unnecessary) stitches.

That's a pretty good book!

~~~

Weather Report:

I have not been talking or writing or thinking about Autumn yet. This is not denial. I know it's right around the corner, and I'm already working hard to prep for the season that will come after it. No, I love Autumn and will welcome it gladly, but I've had a strong feeling that we have not seen the last of Summer.

And sure enough, for the past three days we've had mid-70s. Truly Hot. It's been hard to sleep; hot and stuffy even with all the windows open.

This isn't even Indian Summer...it's just 

Not Yet Autumn.

~~~

Gardening Report:

A friend generously offered some of her perennial plants for my new border garden. I was thrilled! We had a lovely time chatting while she thinned numerous spots in her vast and varied gardens.

There is some question as to the exact identity of several of my new plants, as their blooms are for the most part gone. But they include bee balm (possibly in two colors!) and echinacea and hyssop and several other things. Now all are planted either in the new border garden or in one of the small flower-and-veg beds between the barns. 

Tansy! I'm told it produces light yellow flowers.

It took me about 5 hours to get everything in the ground and watered. Now I hope the plants will have time to develop new roots and get snugged in for a good rest, in preparation for a revival in the Spring.

~~~

Piper Report:

Piper went into fits of serious barking several times last evening. There was clearly Something In The Woods, and Piper wanted to holler at it but not chase it off. I went out twice and walked around in the dark - which Piper always finds great fun! - but couldn't see or hear the mystery critter. The goats were upset, but not all facing into the woods and staring the way they do when they sense a threat - no, they were all staring at That Dog Is Scaring Us.

I know the feeling, goats. My heart pounds when Piper barks. She rarely barks at all, and when she does, it is very sudden!

The more typical Piper: Not Barking.

~~~

and a Follow-Up:

I should add a little more about the rock and root...apparently not the best subject for a wordless post, sorry!

Here's the story behind the pictures.

I was digging a hole for one of the new perennials in untilled, hardpack soil, removing roots and stones as I went along. The "plant-end" of the root in the pictures snapped when I pulled on the stone. I might not have noticed it had it not been bright orange-pink;

probably my nemesis, oriental bittersweet.

Here's my interpretation: the root, perhaps when it was quite small, had begun growing into a tiny "fracturable" spot on the stone. As the root grew longer and wider, it forced the the stone to begin to break apart. The depth and degree to which the stone had begun to fracture was clearly associated with the progress of the root, with a wide crack on the "entry" side narrowing to a nearly invisible hairline on the opposite side. And on the non-root side of the stone (I'm running out of "sides;" but it's kind of a lumpy stone), on the other end of the stone, let's say, it is completely solid rock; there isn't even a hairline crack. I tried to show all this in the pictures by rotating the stone, but when I saw HelenB's comment about the potato, I realized a few words of explanation would have helped! I'll try to keep that in mind for the future.

Thanks for visiting and commenting...

I hope you are all having a lovely week!

~~~~~

speechless saturday

~~~~~

roof and sky

As I try to work through a long and growing list of prioritized pre-Winter projects,

I'm trying not to be distracted by a feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Three weeks ago I had a property inspection for my homeowner's insurance, and every day since I've checked the mail, hoping for The Letter.

The Letter will tell me if there is something about my little cottage in the woods that has shocked and alarmed someone sitting in an office in Boston.

And if so, exactly what I can do to make that person feel better.

I wish The Letter would just arrive, already. Because whatever "improvement" is required - and I hope very much it is not another list - I'd rather know now, so I can try to get it done before Winter.

My best/worst guess: something involving the roof.

So while I wait to hear the news

(as in "new shingles" vs. "new roof")

I've been thinking about - guess what? -

Roofs. Or rooves. Whichever you like.

~~~

When it comes to building,

I have favorite parts and tough parts.

One of my very favorite things is opening up a wall

to put in a window or door.

(After many years, my tiny house now has

very little wall and very much window.)

And one of the hardest things for me

is closing a roof.

When I built the screen porch years ago

(I did much of that project myself)

it was touch and go at one point

whether I could bring myself to actually put a roof on

or if I would just leave the rafters

and the view into the forest canopy.

I did put the roof on, and it made it much easier

to sleep on the porch during thunderstorms.

But the decision could have gone either way.

When the new goat barn was built this Spring,

I was reminded of building the screenporch.

And when the builders stopped for lunch,

I ran out and quickly snapped a few pictures

of a familiar view that was about to disappear.

~~~

If I have to tear up the roof on my house,

I won't see the sky during the construction process

because the ceiling will still be in place.

But if it is within reason

(cost-wise, I mean; of course it is perfectly reasonable to wish to see the sky),

maybe I will add a skylight.

~~~~~