To my SP5:
Thank you, thank you. I am only now getting around to really looking through the beautiful Loop-d-Loop.  What fun!  And this afternoon, I finally wound a ball of yarn to begin one of the scarves from the patterns you sent me.  I’ll knit Bess first.  And, I will use the beautiful stitch markers you made.  Thank you for taking the time to find things I’ll use and enjoy.  I really thought that maybe I’d be able to find out who you are.  But, this summer wasn’t working with me on that.  I’ve had dial up ALL summer, no broadband.  It’s been slow.  For much of it, I’ve had very little internet.  The phone line is funky to say the least.  I just can’t seem to convince Verizon that they should put my phone line up on the poles.  You’d think they’d prefer it that way.  (It rained yesterday and my phone went out again, see what I mean?)  So anyway, it slowed down my detective work.  Here’s the long promised shot of my wonderful package, that by the way, arrived just when I really needed it most. 

  Tonight, when I sit down, I’ll be knitting Bess and I’ll be wondering who you are.  Oh, and thanks for making it so much fun.

When I’m not doing the fun things… check these babies out. 

The quarter is for scale.  It’s not easy to find, is it?  C bought these things that look like they could very well eat us for dinner tomato plants this year called Pink Amish.  Holy smokes!

Today: more applesauce, more squash, more… and yes, I’m thankful to have it.

To Ann: I am SO happy that you are putting stuff up.  It’s a really good feeling.  In a world where we have so little control, it’s good to have something that feels as if we’ve begun to take charge.  Kudos!

I was doing some figuring.  I’ve posted 151 times since I switched over to Typepad, and only eleven times this month (August).  I was busy, much busier than usual.  I also find that it’s hardto get back in the blog groove once you’ve had a hiatus.  I’ve had 684 comments, roughly 4.5 per post.  Hardly gangbusters there.  It figures that about one out of every eighteen people, or hits, leaves a comment.  What do the rest of you think?  I’d love to hear from you, know who you are, stuff like that, you know?  Typepad’s figures are a bit wonky.  I have another hit counter that isn’t coming up witht te same numbers.  Maybe they’re both wrong, who’d know? 

Trivial stuff in the face of the natural (seems super-natural to me) disaster that keeps unfolding in our south.  I sit here in my office / bedroom / studio and work on this months’ billing, check my email, and ply bobbins of mohair that I’ve been accumulating over the past weeks while waiting for the printer to finish each batch.  The pouring rain has let up enough to take a breather and walk down to the barn.  I have everything.  Guilt creeps into the cracks in my psyche.  I am a TV voyeur,  awstruck at the enormity of what I am witnessing.  Contrary to reason, those in rural or poorer conditions may actually be in a better situation to cope.  Imagine being walled in by all the concrete; your home, your neighborhood and all those surrounding you, filled as you would a backyard pool.  City dwellers neither have the resources nor skills to fight back.  Country folks use propane, not natural gas.  It’s stored onsight in big tanks in the backyard.  We’re used to having power outages and stock things like batteries, candles, and drinking water as a matter of daily life.  We have axes and chain saws.  We have tractors, and folks that know what to do with them.  I can’t imagine what it would be, to be stuck on an elevated highway, or a roof for that matter, an island of concrete in the hot sun without water or food, with kids or elderly parents or just not knowing where they were… or..
Get those people on buses, trucks and boats and get them out of there where they can be taken care of or take care of themselves.  Water trucks, where are they?  This is a disaster that has been in the making for years.  I remember talking to folks in New Orleans fourteen years ago about just this kind of a situation.  There must be a plan, right??    

I have been working.  This picture was from long ago, um mm.. Saturday.  It feels like a century or two may have passed since then.  Sunday was the Fleece to Shawl at the Champlain Valley Fair. 
Monday was mostly fiber stuff in the morning, then C was stung by something black that flew away ( maybe a white face hornet?) that he became increasingly allergic , until I rushed him to the closest medical clinic.  When I phoned to make sure that they were open they had the audacity to inform me that they did not take ‘walk ins’.  I told them I was coming in, they were 20+ minutes away, a hospital MUCH further, and to get themselves ready if they needed to.  We spent the rest of the day with them.  He’s still swollen and I don’t think the adrenalin did much for his disposition.  Time; it’s taking its jolly old time to stop itching. The swelling is still going down 30 hrs later.  The hives are mostly gone.  We now have epi pens at the ready.  I wish I had one yesterday.
Today, I stayed in the kitchen, unless I was running stuff down to the freezer.  I picked and froze tomatoes, broccoli and did apple sauce.  The apples are starting, today was just sauce from the drops I’ve collected. 
I found a set of 1.5 needles on my way home Monday before all the excitement at home began.  I was thrilled and amazed to find them so close to home.  Now, what to start next.  I haven’t been able to decide.  I’m having so much fun reading lately.  I’m thinking about ‘Frost Flowers’. 
Sam is in outdoor training, total supervision.  He’s loving it and I’m loving him.