The One Where I Go On…And On…And On…

It has been a lonnnngggg day here! And I’m going to warn you right now…I got a little snap happy.  Brace yourself. :)

Girl Child and I were on our own today since the fellas were off in the next state for an AAU basketball game.  Well, we were almost on our own….

Meet the in-laws! I really have a better relationship with them than most.  I’ve known them since I was nineteen years old and since I’m thirty-er uh something right now…that’s a pretty long stretch.  We’ve had a long time to work out our quirks.  But in that time, one thing I came to find out about them…they have always known EVERYTHING there ever was to know about this state.  Until today. ;)

I took the folks to Greenbank Mill today! When I signed up as a member at the Spin-In, I listed that I would be a volunteer as well.  So, when I asked, Abby was kind enough to contact me to give me an orientation and take my in-laws along for the tour.  Let me tell you, there’s a lot of stuff to learn.  I won’t be getting bored any time soon!

When we first arrived, the sheep were nowhere to be found.  Then all of a sudden we heard a “baaahhh.”  And one by one the sheep came out of their hiding places.

One sheep.

Two sheep.

Abby saw that we were interested in seeing them and she left us while we were looking at the sheep.  We figured the sheep were just wondering what was going on and who the new people were.  Maybe they had come out to get a little TLC.  Boy were we wrong! They hung around about half a minute and then started back-tracking to where they came from, lol.

But a funny thing happened.  Just as the last one was rounding the corner, out of sight…Abby showed up.

LOL! It was time for lunch! Check them out.  They are perfectly lined up and everything.

The sheep feed is pretty much corn, wheat, vitamins….everything we eat.  It’s just in a form that we usually wouldn’t eat.  Looks like little, grainy pellets.

And can you guess who got to feed the sheep?

Girl Child…who promptly started throwing their food at them! It fell all over the ground.

Hey kid, what’re you doing with all the grub?

Sigh.  She’s a mess!

According to Abby, sheep at Greenbank Mill need their food fed to them by hand.  Otherwise, some get overfed and others underfed.  Interesting.  Abby allowed me to feed one of the sheep by hand.  I didn’t get a shot of that, but I can tell you there was tongue and spit…and a lot of tickling, lol! You have to try it sometime.  When you do, be sure to hold your whole hand flat.…You’re welcome. :)

Another interesting tidbit Abby shared is that these sheep are not pets.  So officially, they don’t have names.  But unofficially, some of them do…so keep that under your hat.  Greenbank Mill has two types of sheep.  One Leicester and the other Merino.  They are historic breeds and Greenbank Mill has the task of keeping their genetic integrity in tact.   This is a no cross-breeding zone.

Next, we went into the gift shop and the Madison Factory Textile Mill.  OMG. Was there wool?  Yes!  In EVERY form.  EVERYwhere.

Wool.

Wool.

And more wool!

Crazy right?! Fabulous!

And does anyone out there know what this is?

My MIL knew.  (DIL-1; MIL-1, for those that are keeping score, lol)

This machine is called a spinning jenny and it’s Abby’s favorite device in the whole Madison Textile Mill.  Can you tell why?

I was actually clicking away when she told me why. A few seconds later when it registered, I looked up from my camera and shouted, “Twenty-four spindles!”  A spinning jenny holds many spindles and spins them all simultaneously.  It’s like having twenty-four spinning wheels going at once…only faster.  That’s amazing.

Okay, so my MIL had that one.  But this one, she didn’t know. :)

Abby showed her a drum carder and why she prefers hand carders over them…Can you see how intent my MIL is?  I guess we’re neck and neck here now.

Next stop…the gristmill.  This is where grain used to be ground into flour back in the day.

I felt like I was in a giant clock.  I suppose it’s more like a time capsule as this equipment dates back to the 19th century.  Amazing.

By this time Girl Child had had her fill of the mill.  We took her to get fries (where she shared NONE) and said our good-bye’s.

But, it doesn’t end there…You were warned.

A few weeks ago, I signed on to participate in a Tea & Yarn Swap hosted by Libby of Artistic Expressions by Elisabeth. Truth be told, I’ve never done one before.  But I figured it might be fun.  So, since I hadn’t gotten to pick up the yarn for my swap buddy yet, I did stop by Stitches With Style to see what they had in stock today.

“…see what they had in stock.” (snickering) 

Why do I ever go in here?  I can never leave empty-handed.   No doubt, I found something for my swap buddy.  And something for me too!

Ann Budd.  Ever heard of her? LOL! Of course you have!  She’s on Ravelry, has a Ravelry page and her own personal blog too.  You should stop by and check it out! :) At any rate, look at those socks!! I could just eat ’em.  Yes, this book went home with me.  I’m wondering if I’ve spun up enough to get that much color in even one of them…Simply beautiful.

As soon as I had found what I needed for my swap buddy we had to get out of there quick! Why?  Because Girl Child, who should’ve been doing more of this…

…was actually doing more of this.

And this.

And when she started her second round of Hugs For Everyone, I decided it was time to call it a day.  Everyone thought she was pretty cute.  And she is.  Until she starts grabbing at your knitting needles for some undivided attention.  At about the third dropped stitch you have to pick up, it gets old, lol. She’s so smiley though, you’d never see that rugrat coming.  Stealthy, I tell you.

So, we left there and came on home where I threw her in the tub for a few so I could get some things done.

Oh.  You guys come here to see yarny-crafty type stuff, don’t you?  Well, I haven’t forgotten you…

This was what I picked up for my swap buddy.  Pretty, huh?  It’s an alpaca lace by Cascade Yarns.  It was a tough choice, but I know I never go wrong with Cascade Yarns.  They behave very well for me.  Hope she likes it too. :)

I also stopped by Teavana since it is, after all, a tea and yarn swap. I asked for something fruity and relaxing…perfect for summertime.

Then, I made a box.

This is the same style origami box I used for the hubby’s socks.  Square box with a lid.  In blue.

It’s a design by Tomoko Fuse and it’s easy to remember once you get the hang of making it.  Try it out some time and see for yourself.

Furoshiki cloths can be a little trickier for the sewing impaired, lol!

Now, I was a little rusty with the sewing machine this time around because I haven’t made one of these in quite some time.  Kept mistaking the presser foot for the reverse lever! (I know, I know…)

Well, I never said I was a genius. :)

Lastly, I would like to…Oh, you thought I was done?  Nope.  Not by a long shot.

As I was saying, I would like to thank Holly of Hollynothollie for the One Lovely Blog Award as well as Veronica of the Agujas Blog and Curls & Q of the blog that is their namesake, Curls & Q for the Versatile Blogger Award.  Thank you wonderful bloggers so much for your kindness!

So…seven things you might not know about me…

1. I’m extremely clumsy.  Severely so.  If I ever become a waitress, don’t sit at any of my tables.  I mean that sincerely and you can thank me later.
2. What’s more fun is my short-term memory is nil. Seriously almost as bad as that dude in 50 First Dates.  You know who I’m talking about.
3. I keep getting asked by lefties if I’m a lefty.  I’m not.  I can write legibly with both hands.  But I usually write with my right and do almost everything else with my left (including catching things).  I think it’s called cross-dominance rather than ambidextrous. But it’s fun to fool people sometimes.
4. I’m really a painter. I’m much better at that than knitting or spinning.  But, I get to do that less.
5. I actually like beets.  No.  It’s more like love more than life itself.
6. I’m scared of dogs higher than my ankle.  I do like their photos though.
7. Occasionally I obsess about snakes or alligators coming in the house through the toilets.  I fault too many horror movies as a young child.

I know that’s more than you would ever want to know, lol.

Now, if I were to combine the rules of these awards, I’d need to pass them on to blogs that I read regularly or have found recently….So, in order to keep this post from becoming anymore sizable than it already is….and simultaneously keeping all of you who have already begun to snooze where you read from falling onto the floor in an exhausted heap….what I’m going to do is tell you that I do visit everyone in my sidebar pretty much regularly and I also read everyone that posts comments linking to their blog as much as I possibly can.  There are times when I post comments and times where I’m just lurking around.  I’m all over the place, lol.  And, personally, I think if you’re able to keep up with a blog on any kind of regular basis, you should award yourself! So, please, visit anyone and everyone you can because you never know what you might see next that might inspire you.

That was a blogful, wasn’t it? :)