Been and Gone

The annual summer trek to 'Way Out West has been made and we've returned.  I did accomplish some work on the book, but the most valuable part of the journey was talking to friends about what I was trying to write.  That was of enormous help in clarifying what I want to get across, and my friends reminded me of some important (and hilarious) things I'd forgotten about.  During the entire trip, however, I was dogged by the feeling that I should not have gone, that I really should have spent the time in my office writing, that I was being dangerously unproductive.  Briefly, I didn't have very much fun, except for one nice long afternoon talking about yarn with The Amazing A--.

Of course I bought a little bit of yarn -- I had planned on it.  I got a nice ball of Berocco sock yarn for the Emperor's Christmas Socks, a ball of Opal for me, and a ball of Wisdom Yarn Pix because A-- said it reminded her of me (it reminded me of me, too).

Plus, I bought one totally unnecessary ball of lace yarn to go along with a pattern I admired.

Sometimes I need saving from myself.  However, I do not plan to get another inch of yarn for the rest of the year, and possibly for the next year as well -- unless I buy it from A--.  A-- included a nifty little nylon project bag made by a woman trying to improve her life and support herself (I'd tell you more but I took the tag off and promptly used it as a bookmark; that's a sign of my American wealth and privilege).  It has a drawstring and toggle closure, and inside there's a nice little loop to carry your yarn through.

I ended up not taking the Joy wheel with me.  Right before we were supposed to leave, the Emperor got sick, and we ended up waiting for several days until he was better.  By the time we got out of the house, I was at the end of my patience and just grabbed my handspindle and a nice roving.  Sis's house was still a sea of boxes and she wasn't ready for company, so after helping her move a couple of pieces of furniture we headed right on over to the One Horse Popsicle Stand and E--.  By that time, I'd been driving for three days and had a whale of a headache and crafting of any sort was the last thing I wanted to do.  While the Tour de Fleece came and went mostly without me, I do have a big pile of carded fiber ready to spin, and my wheel is still handy, so that much was accomplished.  Ah, best laid plans of mice, etcetera.

While we were gone, or more precisely, the morning after we left, our city went through a terrific storm.  Straight-line wind of more than 90 miles per hour ripped up trees and power poles by their roots, and damaged other trees that were still standing.  I'm glad I missed it, but about half of one of the trees in our yard snapped off and fell, blocking the alley.  Our landlord dragged it to the curb for us, but left the rest of the yard in a pretty sad state.  I've mostly cleaned it up, but it still needs a good raking and then a mowing.  Two nights ago we had a really long, hard rain, so there's plenty of moisture in the ground to make the grass grow.  At any rate, the city has been sending around trucks and crews to help us all get rid of the downed wood, and they came to our house this morning and took it all away.  All that is left is for me is to get out the rake.