The days are starting to blend, berries, beans, broccoli.. Somewhere in that list should be knitting and spinning, and dyeing but today it’s office work; the billing time of the month, and probably most of the day.  My breaks will center on printing time.  Remember Steph’s computer socks?  I think I’ll stick with Tivoli today, it’s so close.  Yesterday afternoon, after packaging up the 6 qts of raspberries I’d picked, I headed down to the barn to the freezer.  I figured I’d pick a few string beans for dinner and was surprised to find that I really needed to do the first picking.  Back to the house to blanch beans, pack them up and back to the freezer.  The barn yard needed to be cut, check.  The day passed.
This morning..

much cooler, much dryer, and beautiful!

Have you seen the Dayflower Lace Scarf by Toni Maddox?  Very nice.. 16 row repeat, something a little differnt and a one skeiner.  Kristen has hers finished and I saw it last night when I was finally able to surf around. 

I know there is a whole lot of knittin’goin’on out there, but when surfing slogging (at 16.8) around blogland, it seems like there’s a whole lot more of midsummer knittin’ blues.  In short, the heat has got us down.   It’s time to take action, grab your projects and take them somewhere new.  Meet up at a new air conditioned café, take the ski lift to the top of the mountain (that’s what I want to do, anyone?) or as a number of my lil’ Rhody friends are planning, take a morning champagne breakfast knitting cruise.  That ought to lift them out of the doldrums.  I plan on putting my wheel on the raft later today, and float around the pond spinning.  There is at least another large bobbin of plying to do.  I haven’t decided if I’ll take my ipod and listen to my current book, or just listen to the frogs and pond sounds (fish, bugs..). 

Monday is my second blogiversary (blogversary, blog.a.versary?).  Two whole years, seems like forever and seems like yesterday.  I’m going to search back and see what it was I was working on then.  More on that, Monday.

Oh, thank you phone guy… he tripped over something; a stump, maybe the wire, something.. this is the way he told it, and there in front of his face was the new break in the line.  It was broken clear through the waterproof coating, through the shield, and the two inner wires were exposed to the weather, rubbing against one another.  So, I got a new piece of wire.  It’s still on the ground, but it’s new and I’m back in business.  He also gave me a can of mace.  After seeing all the line damage, he asked what I was carrying while I was working in the field and woods.  When I told him I just sing, he screwed up his face, said he hoped I was a really bad singer, and handed me his can with instructions to aim for the eyes and nose.  Nice guy, the phone guy..

On another note, NPR says Carly Simon is  60.  Imagine that.

  ‘big red spider’

When you are confined to the limitations of dial-up internet and you can’t get a dial tone… you can’t blog, or get email, information, order from any online service or…  get the picture??   Real inconvenient!  That’s been my problem, intermittent service.  Well that and too much of everything else.  I’ll post when I can get through, and I’ll make pretend I can post until then. 

Good news..
Berry Report:  ( I know no one cares, but I’m really impressed this year)
Sunday: 10 qts
Tuesday: 15 qts.

Bad news..
I am totally out of freezer space.  I almost didn’t get it closed after putting in the berries last evening and the vegetables haven’t really started.  I’m still down one freezer after the smaller one crapped out this spring.  Today I had planned to drive to the nearest Sears (that’s still the closest appliance kind of dealer in this rural area) and pick up a new one.  Sure can’t phone and order it, can I?  That was before the phone completely went dead.  What is it with the phone repair people, anyway?  You tell them that you are without ANY service, and the next question they ask is if you can be reached at another number.   You have to remain at the location with the dead phone service from 8am – 6pm (translated loosely as ALL DAY) and they want another number?
If I had that would I be calling them? 

Monday I spent the whole day in Burlington getting the brakes done on my car.  I took my knitting.  I took my spinning and my lucet.  I have finally found a use for the lucet.. making little bracelets to give to the littlest kids that visit us at the fairs.  SO CUTE!  We always tie a bit of roving or yarn on their wrists.  Their faces light up, and they’re off with a ‘bracelet’, sometimes two.. ‘mommy needs one’.   I made bracelets.  Around 12:30, they took pity and loaned me a car.  I headed over to my favorite Japanese restaurant for a lunch box, soooo good!  then a trip to Costco.  It blew the day.  On the way home (it’s 1:40 hr) the brake light came on.  Shop closed, I drove on.   It’s been like that. 
Saturday and Sunday I managed to fill almost 5 bobbins on the Joy with a gorgeous grey Shetland.  Today looks like a great day for plying it up.  The motor on my Louet ( I know, weird huh, but fast) is so loud that I decided to take it off and treadle.  You can’t beat the soothing sounds of a treadled wheel.   I love the huge bobbins for plying. 
Tivoli has a few inches to go.  I’ll try her on again and decide where she should end.  I’m happy enough with the pattern at this point to be checking out some black Calmer in my stash for a second one.  That round and round mindless knitting is a terrific break from lacework, know what I’m saying?
ps. finally connected… after the phone guy was here.. at a whopping 16.8Kbps  know what that means???