Meander

Playful Harry

Mother Nature

This week mother nature reminded us who is in charge.  

Tuesday we experienced an earthquake - my first one!  I was at work.  Once we all realized we were safe and sound, it was kind of exciting.  I know many people freaked out.  I think the upcoming 10th anniversary of 9/11 makes for a lot of jitters.

I was more jittery last night as we rode out hurricane Irene.  Our house is surrounded by very tall, old trees - mostly oak but there are tulip poplars, ash and birch which aren't always as strong.  We were as prepared as we could be with food, water, batteries, cash and refreshing beverages ;-)  We decided to camp out in our family room which is the floor below our bedrooms.  If any trees were going to come crashing, they'd have to go through a couple layers to get to us - ha!  We fared very well.  No flooding, no loss of power, no fallen trees.  There is a lot of debris around the yard but that is minor in comparison.

Loving the lichen!

     

Poor black-eyed Susans.

As we toured the neighborhood this morning, there was the sound of generators and chain saws.  I'm so glad we didn't have to worry with any of that.

Hopefully friends and loved ones further north will be as lucky.

3K

It had to take something special to get me out of hibernation ;-)

I <heart> Derek Jeter!!!

No matter your MLB affiliations, you have to agree that he is a class act.  I'm really happy for him and all Yankee fans.  (And Meredith, TB is part of the historic event!)

 

Supervision

I'm watched very carefully when I'm outside taking pictures ;-)

     

 

The month of roses

My great grandmother's rose bush is putting on quite the show.  The blooms are so delicate.  They never last very long.  I see the petals drop with each breeze that blows.  Growing up in NJ, the rose bush always bloomed around the time of high school graduation.  Here in Md, it blooms a bit earlier.

It is the prettiest pale pink, like ballet slippers.

I was named after this great grandmother, Rebecca, and another great grandmother, Rose.  A rose from each of them.  So many sweet and special roses in my life.  

The rose upon my balcony the morning air perfuming,

Was leafless all the winter time and pining for the spring.

~ William Makepeace Thackeray

Sheep and Wool

One of the many fun things Mrs. Staggs and I did during her visit was attend the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival.  It is the largest fiber festival in the country.  It always takes place the first full weekend in May and is practically in my backyard (it feels that close!)  I was thrilled to be able to share this with Mrs. Staggs.  This festival is big.  I haven't heard exact numbers but one number floating around was 40,000 people over the course of the two days (we would each count twice as we went both Saturday and Sunday!).  Folks travel far and wide to attend.  I think Rhinebeck might cover more ground but having never attended that one, I can't say for sure.  Sheep & Wool can be overwhelming - there is so much to do and to look at.  As Mrs. Staggs is a bit new to the fiber world, it was nice for me to take a step back and not be so vendor-focused and experience the festival through 'new eyes.'  Don't get me wrong - we did our share of shopping :-)  But we also looked at the animals, listened to the music, people-watched, and took it all in.  There's lots of inspiration at the festival and it provides great motivation to keep on knitting and being creative.

We were greeted at the front gate by the Maryland Lamb and Wool Queen and Princess.

My friend Robin and her friend Terry (they've know each other since 3rd grade) joined us at the festival.  Robin and I go together every year so it was nice for us to have our BFFs with us this year.

There were people as far as the eye could see.

And sheep too.

Young folks were awarded sheep to raise as part of the Young Conservationist Program. These kids really seemed excited to be given these animals.  It was heartwarming to watch.

We also watched the Parade of Sheep with 41 different breeds.  We didn't make it into all the barns or get to see the sheepdog demos.  We'll do that next time.  Mrs. Staggs and I talked about how great it would be to make this a yearly event - or even every other year - like Meredith and Claudia do with Rhinebeck.  Just the thought of that makes me giddy!!

Robin entered her beautiful handknit purple shawl in the Skein and Garment competition.  She won a 5th place ribbon!  That was very exciting.  There are some amazing items in these competitions.  For her to win a ribbon the first time she entered is quite an accomplishment.  It was prominently displayed which was icing on the cake.

When it was all over on Sunday and we got home to our boys, I have to say, I was a little grumpy (no comment Mrs. Staggs!).  I look forward to this weekend all year.  In the fall when I buy my new appointment book for the upcoming year, it is the first thing I write in the book - before any birthday or anniversary.  To have had Mrs. Staggs there with me made this year even more special.  I was sad when it was over.  It was that bittersweet, melancholy feeling of looking forward to something so much, enjoying it so much as it is happening, and then realizing it is over.  Till next time.  After some BBQ and a beer I felt a little better ;-)

I leave you with this video by Clara Parkes of Knitters Review.  She does a nice job of capturing the feel of the festival.