Another decade gone...

Today is my birthday. One used to be able to keep birthdays a secret, but with the advent of Facebook, nothing is sacred anymore and I can no longer pretend I never age. In general I don't get too worked up about birthdays. What would be the point? They're great if you're 7 and get to wear a paper hat, but once you're past the balloon and streamer stage, birthdays are mostly just good for getting a great chocolate cake for desert. Today was low key and wonderful (except for the 30 seconds after I realized I was now in my 5th decade of life which seems rather old to me). I feel okay saying that I am now 40.

On my 30th birthday I was hiking with my sister in California and she took this photo on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). As I used film back then (an ice age ago in digital time), this is a photo of the photo that has been hanging on my refrigerator (or various refrigerators) for the last decade... its intended purpose at the time still remains--to inspire me to hike (whether I hike the 2,655 miles from Mexico to Canada or not).

And today I went hiking with my sister again--and her husband and baby and Emily... in Colorado, and we ended up on the Colorado Trail. In 2002 I was dreaming of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (which I have not yet done) and in 2012 I was celebrating 40 years and the fact that I at least DID hike the Colorado Trail in 2003 (with my sister and dog Cassy end to end, 500 miles. Yep.)

Now there is a tiny niece and hikes have to be shorter and it can't be too hot and my life is busier. But I still get immense joy out of being in the woods looking at or climbing 14ers, watching for moose or deer or grouse, daydreaming through sweaty days and starry nights, and dreaming of long days and weeks and months on the trail.

40 years is the blink of an eye and there are still many more adventures to come. I have so many interesting things to do at the loom and in the woods and with my family. I am grateful and still very very lucky. Happy Birthday!

Lucky.

Emily and I made it home yesterday evening. This is what I can say about the last month.

I'll give you a quick overview of the trip and later I'll fill you in on a few details.
We drove through 17 states and 3 Canadian provinces for a total mileage of:
[Editing note later in the day: One of the Canadians among you--thanks Trish for being kind--pointed out that Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick are actually three separate provinces, so we visited 5 total. Perhaps I should have Emily proofread this blog from now on.]

(States and provinces were: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ontario, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Maritimes [Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick], Quebec, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. We went through some states and provinces twice.)

Most of the country was suffering under a heat wave when we were nice and cool up north... we did buy a lot of ice for the cooler and the last few states were a little rough. When we hit Colorado Springs yesterday and it was 100 degrees I started to despair. But in Alamosa it was 75 degrees. Elevation helps.

We visited some great national and provincial parks including Prince Edward Island National Park, Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia, Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Wind Caves National Park in South Dakota... we bypassed Rocky Mountain National Park as the call of home was too strong and the pile of dirty laundry too large.

Canada was lovely. The Maritimes were so much fun.  And Canadian money is clean. I don't want to wipe my fingers after handling it (though likely it is still as germy as USD)... and I like the queen's picture. I also like that their big coins are called loonies ($1) and toonies ($2)... though I didn't like having so much metal in my pocket and kept looking for the one dollar bills.

We did some hiking in the Green Mountains of Vermont.

Tracked down (and I don't have a smart phone!) multiple yarn stores and visited many of them.

I was able to spend a lot of time with family from all over the country including this little stinker:

These two kids belong to my oldest friend (we met in preschool). They were playing with rocks at Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick.

And this sweet thing belongs to one of my new sister-in-laws. You make me smile too J!

There was all the camping. We tried to find a camping spot in Quebec.  They had a huge book of campgrounds. The province seems to be littered with them. The book was in French, but I was proud of myself for figuring it out mostly (it was fairly graphic). We ended up needing to make some time and opted for a beautiful hotel in Quebec City. This modern, very European Best Western was courtesy of one in Maine which had some issues (they gave us a gift certificate).

Camping in Vermont was lovely--we opted for shelters after a big storm though.

Camping on the ocean, Cape Breton Nova Scotia.

I was able to see this amazing show in Minneapolis at the American Swedish Institute (much more on this later, never fear):

But of course the most important thing was that I got married.

I am the luckiest woman alive.

Some little responsibility...

I have to admit that I now feel some sort of responsibility to this blog for some reason. I actually do meet people who read it. Thus my vague feeling of guilt for not posting for quite awhile. I assure you that I have loads of things to relate, but no time to complete the posts. They'll likely come in a flood once I find the time. Sorry about that. I know it is so much more delicious to catch up in bits and pieces.

I went to Vermont. I got married (Whoop!)... that was the best part.
Then my sweetie and I went to Canada and had a blast.
Now we are in Minneapolis where I am attending a remarkable workshop which I will tell you all about sometime in the future. We have thus far driven 7500 miles. Say a little blessing for the remarkable Camry (and her 38 mph gas mileage--no, I don't know what that is in liters per kilometer--which helped a lot in Canada where gas costs more... and I am conflicted about this due to the environment and all--likely it should cost us a bundle more in the states--don't get me started)... and may she take us safely back to Colorado next week.

What with all the honeymooning and the driving and the camping without internet access, the blog has fallen down the list of things that must be done. I promise it'll return one day soon.
In the meantime, keep weaving!

Here I am warping my Mirrix on the shores of a little lake in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario Canada. Looms can go anywhere after all.

And here is a little clue to where I am right now. Do you know who's work this is?

July 28, 2012:
Here are another couple shots of the Helena Hernmarck piece (which Kathy Spoering identified right off). It is Full Costume Details woven in 2006 and is installed in the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis.

More Vermont yarn stores...

Some of you are undoubtedly sick of yarn store photos... for some reason I find the hunt for yarn stores immensely gratifying though I have to admit that the selection doesn't always vary that much.  I'm looking for that one gem that has the yarn I've never seen before. Maybe I'll still find it... we're heading to Canada next week after all!

This yarn store was adorable--and in Burlington. Nido sold both fabric and yarn and was on the second floor of the pedestrian section of Burlington.

Whippletree is in Woodstock and we drove by it repeatedly until Emily recognized it as a yarn store.

I did find a beautiful silk merino blend though they only had one skein. I think it is destined for a baby hat.

In Woodstock, VT there is a large old mill on the south side of the road which is signed prominently for Shackleton Thomas. This little weaving cooperative was inside of that building. They were not open and it looked like they made mostly rag rugs out of t-shirts.

Does anyone know what loom this is? They were weaving rags on it using some tapestry techniques.

This is the longest warping board I have ever seen--a great idea though especially if you don't warp sectionally and you don't have room for a reel.

Shackleton Thomas makes beautiful furniture and pottery. It is worth a visit... and this particular Shackleton is a relative of THE Shackleton (the polar explorer himself).

Apparently the intrepid explorer loved legos as a kid. You can go play with them if you want to--though they are covered with a lot of sawdust (they are upstairs in the woodshop).

Hurricane Irene hit this part of Vermont very hard August, 2011. There are still signs everywhere--buildings destroyed, huge swaths of rubble, creek beds widely expanded, bridges recently rebuilt, a covered bridge only half there. Even the elevators haven't recovered.

Imagine

Love.

Vermont trails

We are enjoying Vermont. It is a lovely state. Much of our poking through corners of central Vermont was in search of the perfect wedding site. Let me just say that Vermont is much smaller than the west and there are not huge expanses of public land where someone might have a ceremony un-molested by mosquitos, traffic, or tourists. (In case you are worried, we did find a place this morning and will be eternally grateful to the lovely rangers at Coolidge State Park in Plymouth, VT.  Thanks Tammy and Bill!!)

I have continued my yarn store search and now believe that the yarn-store-per-capita statistic must be much higher for Vermont than New Mexico or Colorado. And the stores are pretty good also. I will put the yarn stores in another post so those of you who just don't care can skip right over it.

We visited Billings Farm and Museum in Woodstock, VT which had some amazing animals, people, and exhibits related to farming. There weren't any old looms though I am sure the people here in the 1800s must have woven. There was this modern LeClerc with a sign saying "No Weaving Today" which I will admit was slightly disappointing.

The sheep at the farms had names (as did the jersey cows and the oxen). I chased Grace around awhile before I got this photo with her name tag (one of my new sister-in-law's names is Grace. Grace the person is much prettier than Grace the sheep).

We climbed Pico Peak which is 3,900+ feet. The hiking was awesome and the views of the Green Mountains were so beautiful. I hope to come back and hike the whole Long Trail one day soon (and perhaps even the AT). I will say that hiking in New England involves steep trails, lots of rocks, mud, and roots everywhere. I now believe it when they say that of the three long trails (AT, PCT, CDT), the AT is the most physically demanding.

We went up to Burlington for a day and I loved walking on the boardwalk and watching the boats on Lake Champlain.

Both gay people and dogs are welcome in Burlington. At least I'm pretty sure this doesn't just mean gay dogs...

And lastly, there are many cemeteries in Vermont. They are old and lovely and nothing like cemeteries in the west (except for the dead people of course)... and sometimes the headstones are somewhat amusing...

We did stumble across Robert Frost's grave at First Church in Bennington.

A double yarn store day

It was a double yarn store day yesterday and for that I have to thank Emily.
Firstly, there do seem to be more yarn stores up in Vermont than in the parts of the USA that I frequent. For this I am grateful. I like yarn.

The first store was an accident. We were on our way from Emerald Lake State Park (fantastic camping!  Thanks State of Vermont!) to Rutland and we passed this store:

This store did seem to have a thing about these big yarn balls. I suppose it is one way to "use up" extra yarn.

I admit that I picked up some new soy yarn for a little baby project... I might have also bought a pattern to go with it. It was one of those silky fantastic yarns that I'd never seen anywhere before and I took it home with me. They did not have blocking wires for the Pagona. This will be an ongoing issue.

We picked up a free phone book at the tourist information place in Rutland, VT and I quickly turned to the "Yarn" entry in the yellow pages. I wanted to visit Six Loose Ladies in Procterville. I steered us expertly with the use of 6 different maps miles north of Rutland to this city:

There was a street name vaguely similar to the one listed in the phone book for the yarn shop and off we went. After driving through a very not-yarn-shop neighborhood on the edge of Proctor, Emily suggested that perhaps Proctor was not indeed the same place as Proctorville and maybe I should check the map index. She was correct. There was an entirely different city called:

And perhaps I should have realized that Proctor and ProctorSville were not the same place at all.

Fortunately for me and for those of you on the virtual yarn shop tour, ProctorSville was close to where we are camping last night and we were able to visit this yarn shop:

I do wish I had asked who the six loose ladies were though. The shop was lovely. They didn't have blocking wires for Pagona but they did have little bottles of Eucalan that were small enough to carry along.

We will see how long Emily participates in the yarn shop tour. So far she has been quite the trooper. If she gets tired of it I may have to find yarn shops next to bookshops, disaster museums, or at least a coffee shop with wi-fi.

We also stopped at the Calvin Coolidge Museum near Plymouth today as well as seeing damage from last year's hurricane Irene and a great deal of marble. Even the fence posts are made of marble. I'm not kidding.

Also there is cheese and a few mosquitos in Vermont. The few mosquitos that I saw must have actually bitten me and it will add a nice decoration to my wedding attire I'm sure.