It’s a blur.. I’m here, I’m alive, I’m exhausted, and I’m still in motion.  This will have to be brief, I’m falling asleep here at the keyboard.  I’ll be thanking the Lord of Typepad for spell check before this post is over.  I remember Thursday going to Burlington and hitting the high spots like Ben & Jerry’s on the way.  Umm, there was a shortish stop in Stowe to pick up stain for my sister’s project.. hold on, it’s coming up.  Friday, more berries, this time thirty some pounds of blueberries.  Have I mentioned (no, of course not, not yet)  that my BIL is a pie maker / baker?  Everyday he puts two more pies on the counter, and everyday we decide that they make for a perfect breakfast (fruit and carbs, I’ve had to shelve the whole low carb thing this week.. no one is that strong).  Saturday, I remember doing the Farmer’s Market.  Sunday, it rained… all day.  The boys did what boys do on rainy days.

The girls did what girls do. After, that is, going for High Tea at a local Perennial Garden.  I felt like I had been transported back in time and was living in the Secret Garden.  I’ve probably read that book twenty times since I was 8 or 9 yrs. old.  Anyway..

And today, the weather cleared. It was lovely and we got back to work.  (remember the stain?)  There was no way my sister was leaving here without her own. 

Oh, Tivoli is finished, except for kitchnering the endles icord edging that I decided to knit around the bottom and neckline.  It fits great.  Picures soon.

SP5 is my first round with secret pals. I really hit the jackpot when I was matched
up. I have absolutely no idea who she
is, but my SP is someone I’d like to get to know. She makes jam AND shares. She has spent, apparently, an awful lot of
time going back in my archives to figure out what I like, what I do, and who I
am. She WROTE ME A LETTER! It’s one thing to send stuff, but she took the
time to write.  This is to my secret pal.. I just got your
absolutely amazing package. I love it
and you knew that I LOVE alpaca, have wanted to try Knitpicks, yes I do use
stitch markers, and yours are lovely, and I think that Loop-d-loop is fascinating. I will probably make the first scarf pattern
from the green yarn. I will post
pictures, as soon as I catch my breath. My sister and her family arrived last night, making 7 people and three
cats (very unhappy, they may just run away for the duration) in a two room
house. It is WILD and WOOLY! I mean that in every sense of the word. My sister arrived with her own assortment of
knitting projects (say many bags) and has already gone over to the Merlin Tree
to draw out her own HitchHiker on my left over spalted maple. My niece’ fed ‘Sweetie Pie’, we went to pick
muchos blueberries and two pies are presently in the oven. I’m exhausted, blogging will take second
fiddle to the calamities, umm adventures. Please excuse me.  I will get back
into a regular routine as soon as I can.

Yep, after a rather pushy greeting by none other than ‘Sweetie Pie’, the lady Katherine herself, and after a bottle (for SP and it was only water) we got down to work.  David showed us what to do, and that’s what we did.

and did…

some of us with preconceived notions, most without.

  and when the afternoon was over.. (and a shot or two of teaquila)

there were four nearly completed wheels

  pretty neat, huh? 

Just a note here, it spins like a dream.  I’ve spent a lot of time, as you know, at the fairs, and I’ve heard and read discussions on it’s height, or rather the height of the orifice.  Will you be hunched over while spinning.. the answer is ‘no’.  I for one, tested this one in an Adirondack chair, leaning back.  Another, ‘a wheel like that can’t spin fine yarn’.  That’s silly.  It’s the spinner not the wheel.  This will spin anything you want (read that as anything you know how to spin).  I say these things not to step on anyone’s feelings, but come on… really.. IT’S THE SPINNER.

  When I got home there were a lot of beans waiting to be picked, blanched and readied for the freezer.  These are Romano beans, my absolute favorite.