Monday, April 20, 2009

Lookin' Up

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My friend Amy and her kids came this weekend for a visit. They are from Connecticut and were on the tail end of their spring break. They'd never been to Maine, so we had fun showing them around... so strange to be the tour guides instead of the tourists! Great fun. We are on spring break this week... we're going down to visit them this weekend. We're also going to the 100th annual Connecticut Sheep & Wool Festival... so excited!

Amy is an avid knitter as well... so we did a mini yarn crawl. I took her to Purl Diva (of course!) and some other shops along the way. We also went to Halcyon Yarn in Bath. I had never been there. This may be silly but I have to admit that I got a little choked up with glee when I entered the store. It's amazing. It's spacious but also just jam packed with goodness. There were many unique yarns there that caught my interest. We didn't have much time because we were there shortly before they closed. I left empty handed but that was alright. It is close enough to be one of my LYS's so I didn't feel the urgency to buy anything. It was quite the experience.

I was so thrilled to have my friend visit but it coincided with me losing my voice!! All I wanted to do is gab gab gab with her and pretty much whisper/squeaked the whole time. Now I'm really paying for it and am trying to stay completely mute... not easy with two boys in the house! It's working though and I'm starting to feel better.

Spring has finally arrived in Maine. The trees are all budded out, the daffy's are blooming, and there is an overall ease in the air now that we're out of the grips of winter. Such a nice feeling to be outside again!

I've continued to go adventuring every chance I get. We've found some great places to walk/hike lately and there are countless more to discover! Recently we've gone to Pineland Farms which is an amazing place... it's a working farm/creamery that also has a huge network of hiking trails. In the winter they also are a big cross country skiing spot which I'd really enjoy. They also outfit and offer lessons. I was so thrilled to find this place! I took the boys on a hike there after school last week. J. was quick to notice how quiet it was and also the whisper of the wind in the pine trees... it sounds so different and unique. It was so much fun to watch him completely relax and unwind by just taking our time on our walk in the woods. The babe also enjoyed it immensely... he tried to bring every rock and fir cone back to the car. I managed to convince him to bring just a few. He has quite the stash of treasures squirreled away around here.

Yesterday after our friends left, we hit the road and ended up at Preservation Park which is a part of Poland Spring ... you know, the bottled water brand? It was a beautiful place full of trails similar to Pineland. We walked just a short distance because my allergies were spiraling out of control pretty quickly. We also drove down to Bethel and reminisced about the time we stayed there last summer! Again, so surreal to be back and be residents.

On the knitting front, I'm almost finished knitting a bulky weight afghan for my brother who will be 17 in a couple weeks. I know he'll appreciate a grown-up blankey... his blankey was his comfort object when he was little. He attended prom this weekend. My parents forwarded photos of him in his tux... what a handsome man he has become! I can't believe my baby brother is growing up.

After I finish the afghan, I'm going to focus on finishing up my other big projects that I have going on... two sweaters for myself and a sweater for J.

Also -- after whining about having too much yarn in my last post, I decided to not take any drastic measures. Sara really summed it up with her comment. It would help to get it all organized ... nothing makes me happier than having a reason to organize something into Martha Stewart tidy-ness. (sideways glance at the teetering pile of papers that need to be filed) It's spring cleaning time I guess.. get organized, clean off the needles and start fresh! Sounds good to me.

2 comments:

essjay said...

I'm so glad you had such a nice time with your friend and I do hope your voice returns for your visit next weekend so you can do all the gabbing you missed last weekend! I love that you've found so many awesome places to hike - I need to find those places here. I can't wait to see pictures of the afghan for your brother!

thistledowns wool & cotton said...

the one year i'm not going to be there...with my goods anyway. i may try to get there to visit. maybe we can meet up for a hello! my husband will be returning from 2 weeks away. once i know what time he's rolling in, i'll try to figure it all.
i'll be in touch through fb. k?