Saturday, May 7, 2011

You never know when you get out of bed, what the day will bring when you live in our house.  For example. Today is Saturday.  You know, chore day.  On the schedule was laundry, shopping, house cleaning.  The usual.

There's that word WAS.  I was awakened by one of my neighbors and his whiny lawn equipment at 8:10 in the morning.  On a Saturday.  This was just wrong.  It was a glorious morning but I was allowing myself to sleep in just a little.

Then I remembered that today was Maryland Sheep and Wool.  I had a brief thought that it might be fun to go.  I mentioned it to Peter Kevin who said, "let's go".  I called Kate but she had to work.  I called Em but she had plans she couldn't change.

So, we set off, just the two of us, on an adventure.  Most of our best adventures start out this way.  Someone says "let's" and the other one says "ok".  I thought I'd share our day in photos.

First thing to note, You can take a photo almost anywhere along Rte 95 in NJ, PA, DE, MD and they all look the same.  Yep.  The construction companies all use the same sound baffle material and seem to plant the same trees/bushes.  So, I'll spare you that and show you the support towers of the Commodore Barry Bridge from NJ to DE.

Can you see what a beautiful day it is?  We stopped at a convenience store for a cardboard cooler (we forgot ours) and some ice for water and tea and got some snacks and hit the road.

It only took us 2 hours to get there.  It was much easier than I had imagined and took far less time.  I spent some of my time in the car working on a sock.  This is Goth by Knitpicks and those colors are pretty true.  When El bought her skein of yarn for her socks, I said I liked this one so she bought it for me.  I'm using the small zippered bag that came with our printer (I think it held the ink cartridges) to double as a sock bag.  It's a perfect size and holds just one small project.  Very high techy looking.

Soon, we were standing way out in a field where we parked our car.  It was about 1 in the afternoon and the sun was bright but not hot.  See those tents in the distance?  That's the fairgrounds.  We walked but you could wait at designated spots for an antique tractor to pull you on a trailer.

Let me say that I was a mite apprehensive about this whole thing.  As you know, I am not a fan of crowds in any form and I had been told that this show would be crowded.  It was and it wasn't.    There were a lot of people but I never felt overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.  That's a good thing.  I had some anti-anxiety medicine just in case but never needed it.




There were men who played music and men who made brooms.  There were sheep made out of beeswax and sheep with Icelandic wool.  We saw a huge sign that said Feeder Lambs. 

Now, I know if I go to the pet store, I can find Feeder Goldfish.  They're just small goldfish that are used as food for larger fish.  So, I wondered what fed on Feeder Lambs?   Well, the answer is simple.  People.  I asked a young man what a Feeder Lamb was and he said they were meat lambs which weren't large enough yet to be slaughtered.  People buy them and take them home and fatten them up and then have them slaughtered.  I couldn't look them in the eyes after that. 

I was restrained in my purchases.  I have learned that I am not a stash person.  I'll buy sock yarn because I know that I'll use it but I don't buy sweater quantities of yarn.  I might buy some laceweight but there
didn't seem to be a lot of that around.  I bought enough roving to spin for a sweater for me.  It's border leicester and feels soft and lovely.  It's a rose brown color.  I want to make myself a simple cardigan.  I got some honey, jars for Pk and myself and some honey sticks for the girls.  We got the spices for spiced mead which we are going to make sometime soon.

I also bought a bar of Bay Rum scented handmade soap.  I love it when Pk shaves with that.  It smells so good.  I got a tshirt that says "Fleece on Earth" and some Wool Wax hand cream.  Very thick and lanolin based. 

We stayed for a little over 3 hours and it was really enough.  We didn't sit in on any classes and were getting tired.  There was a section of vendors that I think we missed but really, we didn't miss them.  I guess I'm not as much a consumer as I always thought I was.  After a while, everything starts to look the same and I just want to stop.  I am happy with the roving I bought and will get a great deal of pleasure out of it.  The honey will sweeten many pieces of toast/muffins/biscuits.  And I wll love the scent of my husband after he shaves.  I don't need yarn/wool on top of all that.

We drove home without incident and had some dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  Pk is snoring here next to me on the bed.  He keeps telling me he isn't asleep but I can tell.  He's tired.  And so am I. 

I have laundry to do tomorrow and groceries to buy and put away and a kitchen to clean.  And then we're having dinner at Kate's.  It'll be a busy day so I think I need to put the technology away and go to bed.

Mother's Day is tomorrow.  It's been an odd day for me for a long time.  I love my children and really don't need a special day for them to tell me they love me.  I know they do.  Everyday.  I loved my mother and I think she loved me in her own way.  I'll think of her tomorrow and smile, just like any other day.

And I'll hope like hell the grocery store won't be too crowded......

9 comments:

amy said...

Well that sounds like a fun adventure! We thought about going to a local farm that was having a sheep-shearing day, but the two younger kids were so fractious I decided it wasn't a good idea, trying to squeeze that in before the oldest's soccer came. So we stayed home instead.

I think Mother's Day is weird, to be honest. Nobody forced me to be a mother, I wanted to be one very much, and I don't need to be put on a pedestal one day a year. Weird weird weird.

Rose Red said...

What a lovely day you had! I know I wouldn't have been so restrained if I went to MS&W but I do admire your restraint, I wish I could do that!
I hope you have a lovely Sunday.

Denise said...

What fun to have an impromptu adventure like that! We're very similar, you and me — I don't like crowds either, and I don't go nuts at yarn shows, generally a skein of laceweight, and maybe some sock yarn, but definitely not large quantities of anything.

The honey and other treats sound wonderful.

I hope you have a lovely Mother's Day tomorrow with your children around you :)

Kaye said...

Such fun!
I skipped MDS&W for hopefully Rhinebeck...hopefully!
Kinda glad I wasn't planning to go to MDS&W anyway...
Have a Happy Mom's Day!

Anonymous said...

im like that, i get a bit overwhelmed with crowds and stalls and dont know what to get and end up with the wrong thing! i think you purchased very wisely, cant wait to see what you make from the roving.

roxie said...

You spontaneous kids! What a fun excursion. Hope your mother's day was as warm and wonderful as you are.

Saren Johnson said...

What a fun sounding day. Large stashes are over rated.

Louiz said...

Oh, what a lovely spontaneous adventure:)

Dianne said...

Sounds like a wonderful day. It's been too many years since I made the trek down to the festival. I hate crowds, too, but love the whole creative atmosphere.

Happy Sunday!  I am sitting here working on my sweater made with the cashmere yarn my husband gave me for my birthday last year. I’m further...