The HitchHiker!!

Keeping this a secret has been pretty , hmmmm, well it wasn’t exactly secret, but it was a LONG time in the making,  This little wheel meets all my specs. for the perfect travel wheel.  First, it’s light, under 9 lbs..  It will fit in carry on (just in case you’re needing / wanting to take a wheel with you on an exotic vacation.  It will also fit on the front floor boards of the passenger side of many small cars… just in case (again) that you are the passenger, and you need / want to spin on the way.   It has a built in lazy kate, can have a right or left side foot (check out the treadle) and has a ratio of 7.1:1.   David Paul, The Merlin Tree (GO THERE NOW, read the rest of this afterward..) my friend, neighbor, and girlfriend’s husband..  took it upon himself, to build this fun little wheel.  (We bugged him for years.)  Friday morning, just before we were ready to drive south, he ran one over for me to bring along and show off.  This really is the first one.  There is one very special Connecticut spinner who just happened to be at The Merlin Tree on Thursday, and who also just couldn’t leave without one so somehow managed to cajole David into giving her the sample I was supposed to bring along.  So, that means there IS one other one OUT THERE.  And, sight unseen, just from knowing David’s work (he also makes a Canadian production type wheel, the Hyacinthe), there are almost a dozen spinners out there who have placed pre show orders. 

The whole weekend went way too fast.  I was busy every minute, but will just mention this one thing and save the rest for Monday or whenever.  Saturday, all day, was the OSKG annual retreat.  Thanks to Judith, hosting us in her home, we had a terrific day.  I’ll be shedding carbs for a week, chocolate scones, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate macaroons, chocolate garnished canoli.. then there was the rest of the food.  Good food,good friends, it rained most of the day and no one noticed.   Yep, I took the wheel for everyone to try. 

  First sock done.. too bad, I would have enjoyed a pair of them today.  When your feet are a size 9, you should get extra credit points, like a second book report or something.   If I were a size 5, I’d be wearing both of them..

Putting the water rock out on the steps yesterday morning
was the kiss of death. This morning, the
water is frozen… solid as the rock it’s in. The temperature was 24!!          I don’t want any of you far to the northerners to misunderstand.. that would be
Fahrenheit. It’s windy and it’s
COLD! Gloves, hats, scarves.. the whole shebang. C put on his insulated jeans before going out
in the field to fertilize the trees. Poor Bu wants to be outside so badly she’s curled into a little ball in
a sunny spot against the back of the house. I’ll think about you all in NY who will be enjoying those 80 degree
temperatures, they mentioned on this mornings news. Me, I have another shot at wearing a hand
knit hat. 

It was very disappointing to find that all the blackberries
had been ‘trimmed’ to 18”. I did not do
this. Eighteen inches was the depth of
the snow at the time they were eaten. The moose provided a handy and sort of
romantic cause, and deer are always getting a bad rap. However, the evidence was there, all around,
and it was the deer. After seeing this,
I walked down the hill to the peninsula to check out any bedding areas that
they might have used. It seemed like it
would be a really handy spot for them, protected in the young balsams. Yep, sure was.. It didn’t take long to cut out what was left
of the old dead canes form last year. They
were the only things standing, too dry to eat. Every young juicy cane had been eaten or trampled. 

 Several times during the winter I had snow shoed to an area
that the otters use when they are in residence. I hadn’t found any signs on my walks and wondered what had happened to
them. Found out today.. right where they
were supposed to be, piles of fish scales left after the otter scat had washed
out in the rains. We just never crossed
paths. Quiet neighbors. 

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All the red raspberries are thinned and trimmed. It took a couple hours to do the nearly 100
ft. both sides of the rows. Check that
off the list. 

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proof

Not much fiber stuff, but it was a great day, sunny and warm
and we’ve all heard the old adage.. make hay while the sun shines… eh? Tomorrow it should rain.