Home Away From Home, Part II - The Road Trip

So, after our leisurely Thanksgiving Thursday and Black Friday events, Kelly and I hit the road on Saturday for a trek north of Eau Claire. Our goals? Yarn and lattes, natch.

We started out badly, with Kelly experiencing severe discomfort in her left eye almost as soon as we headed out. She had forgotten her glasses, and we couldn't go back home because it had sapped almost all of her energy to pry herself away from Sam, her son, who was not pleased with our plans. So on we went, made an emergency stop at a drug store en route for eye drops that, from the sounds of it, burned the original pain right out of Kelly's cornea and gave her something else to focus on. The girl's a trouper, though, so we carried on.

My recollection of the order of things may be off, so Kel, feel free to correct me where necessary. We found ourselves a couple of cute little church craft sales in St. Albans , where some Christmas purchases were made. Lots of interesting items, some very handmade and others not-so-much. We also found the first place Kelly had written on her list of things to see, which was a goldmine - really nice selections of yarn, books, pottery, paintings - really, they have the whole arts thing covered. Across the street, we found some more items of interest (well, they were of interest to me, coming from well-behaved, buy my meat at the grocery store Southern Ontario) - all your bow hunting needs in a festive, Christmasy setting...

After the excitement of the craft sales, we needed nourishment pronto, and so found ourselves here , where we got ourselves Nutty Englishman lattes and the BEST donut ever - fried cinnamon. Need I say more?

We achieved our destination after a couple of hours, Kelly's eye still smarting but bearable - , located in the town of... what??? Are you ready?? CABLE, WI. I'm sorry, but that is just too perfect.

And the shop itself is just lovely, well worth the trip. In fact, Kelly was completely overwhelmed at one point , and we both had to catch our breath. I would like to point out here that I am wearing an $80 Hanna Anderson sweater that Kelly got at a thrift sale (like a garage sale, but more of a religious experience in WI) for $1, and which didn't fit her - SCORE!

We went across the street from Pine Needles to a book/craft sort of shop owned by the yarn shop owner's daughter, which was fabulously sophisticated and small town corny, all at the same time . How come we don't get chili and hot dogs before our Christmas parade, huh??

It was time to start making tracks south again, before it got dark, so we made one more latte stop at a cute little shop right beside this - no, we didn't "bite", but I will always wonder how big a world record musky actually is. There was one more quick stop which I did not photograph because my lens was not big enough - Bargain Bill's - think of the biggest dollar store ever, with everything you can imagine, and then triple it. Still probably not big enough. It was honkin'... 'nuff said.

And with that, we got ourselves home before dark (which is important in deer country), got into our flannels, watched Elf (which was a nice change after 2 nights of highly depressing flicks) and knit.

next time: Part III - The Trip Home, The Homecoming, and OH MY GOD Christmas is how soon???!!!

Home Away From Home, Part I - The Trip

I was lucky enough to be invited again to visit my BFF Kelly and her family for their Thanksgiving celebrations last week. I agreed on the condition that we did NOT get up at 3:30am this year to shop on Black Friday, to which Kelly agreed - I think it took both of us a week to get over the whole thing -


So I left last Wednesday, having printed off my boarding pass the night before, and got to the Toronto Airport with one carry-on and my purse - all smug and prepared, that was me.


Until I went through security, where I found that my cherished Swiss Army knife, which I thought was in another purse, was in fact with me. I asked if I could put it in my bag and check it, but was told that because I had chosen the 'No Check' option when I bought my ticket (back in September, when gas prices were scary-high, and luggage was being charged for), I could not. I asked if they could mail it to me and got a small, smug smile.


So it's gone. Sigh.


The flight was uneventful, except for the young gal sitting next to me who asked for a piece of my granola bar. She didn't get one.


My first day state-side was spent poking around Minneapolis and St. Paul, and finding some fabulous yarn shops, some of which I forgot to take pictures of. We went to the Yarnery, which is very nice and well-stocked, and bought nothing (I know!). Next stop was Borealis Yarns, which is one of my two favourites from this visit. The shop is big and bright, TONS of stock, the girls working there are utterly friendly and helpful, AND there is a sandwich shop/cafe next door. The only improvement I could see would be a wine/sandwich shop/cafe next door. We both did our best to help them out in these financially unstable times, and when my box from Wisconsin gets here, I'll show you how I helped. Yes, that's right, I mailed myself a box. Of stuff that I bought. So?


We found another beautiful shop, Depth of Field, and entered through their back door, which was nicely marked .
The shop is lovely, old floors and exposed brick, and two levels of all kinds of yarn , including a decent supply of blaze orange yarn , always important in hunting country.

Kelly introduced me to a few members of her knitting group, which, incidentally, she started, and I got to show Jill and Kelly how to use Jill's swift and Kelly's ball winder . In the first shot, I am wearing the Cozy V-Neck Pullover in Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits, which I finished especially for the trip. It was, in fact, still damp from blocking when I got there so I had it wrapped in plastic in my suitcase.

Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving, and after a great meal at Kelly's in-laws, why, we shopped, of course. Some stores were open, and they were selling things at their Black Friday prices. Much more civilized than 3:30am, in spite of the fact that we were served by a cashier from the backwoods of Deliverance-territory, and as a result missed out on lattes by 10 minutes. But we survived, mostly because we are so mature and wise. A bout of serious cussing in the car helped, too...

Next up... The Road Trip...

Denial...

not just a river, but a state of mind...

no, today's post will not include reference to the passage of time, nor to the importance of the day (milestones all round)...

no, today we will simply reflect on what has been a most enjoyable, relaxing summer...

okay?

We will think about short trips to Sandbanks Provincial Park: about the best signage ever

(this gives one-stop shopping a whole new meaning, although I thought you'd want to hit the chocolates before the dentist, so he could repair the damage, whereas Ben thought the dentist first, for a clean bill of tooth, made more sense);
the best sand dunes and sunsets.

Let's think about the things that have amused us most this summer:
(best $80 bucks I've spent in ages - it's better than watching TV) (look at what they deem important enough for this bag... I was SO impressed!);

the things we've seen grow
(Ben's jalapenos) (honest to God, the yarn was just growing there!!!)
(this is the Sidelines Top in the Fall Interweave Knits in Dream in Color Classy, "Gothic Rose", and because of my utter obsession and devotion to it, it has grown to a front, back, and 1.5 sleeves)

what else has grown this summer, you may ask?


but like I said, denial is a wonderful thing...

I'm so glad to be home...

Not! (Thank you, Wayne's World, which we have been watching much so far this summer)

I don't get to smell pine trees, or wake up to this, or watch a black bear cub ambling across my front porch while sitting inside having a coffee (I actually thought it was Charlie at first, and by the time my poor brain registered that Charlie wasn't with us, it had gone off in search of dirtier barbecues)...

I can't drive down the road for 10 minutes and see this


We can't pop into a canoe and find a view like this (these pics were taken by Tanner - he has quite an eye, it seems!)

There aren't a lot of these or these - at least, they're not as friendly around here...

There has been some of this since we got home, but the setting changes everything...

there was much playing of Monopoly - we actually had a week long game that ended with the 'Death Match on the final Saturday night - I lost quickly, and Ben was declared the winner with $180million, while Tanner was runner up with $43 million... not too shabby

somw swimming although it wasn't as hot and humid as I'd hoped - still, nothing beats swimming in a lake to me, absolutely nothing...

there was even some knitting, although for some reason I had a VERY hard time focusing... I started some Jaywalker socks with a skein of Perfect Day Yarns as my easy project. While I loved the start of them , I soon found that because of the number of stitches, the three colours did not stripe together and I was ending up with this , which just isn't the look I'm going for. I also started a pair of Marina Piccola socks using merino/sea cell yarn from Unwind - took me three times to finally get the pattern and sizing set, and I quite like them ... the yarn makes for fairly weighty socks, which surprises me, actually...

I also got started on a KAL with the Loopy Ewe using Dream in Color Baby - I am making the Lace Ribbon Scarf from the Spring '08 Knitty, and after 5, count 'em, 5 attempts, FINALLY got the damn thing to look like it's supposed to...


So we packed quite a bit into our week away, and still managed to relax and actually enjoy each other's company... hopefully that carries on through the remainer of our vacation, during what looks to be (of course, now that we're not on a lake anymore) a hot, hazy and humid spell...

So... am I glad to be home? Why don't you be the judge of that??

Oooohhhh, An Adventure

Well, if the dogs are at the kennel (they are), my mom has been enlisted to check in on our intentional rodent population (she has), and the van is being packed up puzzle-style (it will be), then we must be heading out on a trip...

and we are..

we are going up to "our" cottage at the Blue Spruce Resort on Oxtongue Lake, just outside of Algonquin Park for the next week... when we went last year, it rained every single frigging day and was COLD

the weather forecast for this week looks hot and humid, which, when you are lucky enough to have a clean sparkling lake in front of you, is what you want... not that I actually trust weathermen or anything, but when it suits my purposes, I believe them...

I believe that makes me a fair-weather friend???

Happy summer, see y'all in a week...

Well...

well, where to begin?

We are recently returned from two (uh-huh, TWO) weeks of this

and this
and this
,
where I was also able to to this
,
and to read all this .

I have never, in my life, read 5 books on vacation - and that doesn't count the two audiobooks I listened to ("Tweak" by Nik, Sheff, and "Change of Heart" by Jodi Picoult).

Why, yes, I am a little more relaxed, actually... thank you for noticing.

And then we came home to this

,
and these


Lord, how I love vacation... and as glad as I am to be home, I want to know where the guy is who just knows that, by 3 or so in the afternoon, I am in need of a dose of mango daquiri... we don't seem to have those here...

sigh

on the plus side, we have a long weekend coming, so a little more recovery time is planned...