when
ben
woke up this morning, the first thing he said to me was: "i dreamed about sheep that had heads like carp."
i'm sure that this came from a story i was telling him where i was wearing a beautiful prom dress that looked like it was made from mackerel skin, with a headpiece made of catfish whiskers. thankfully, it was not any kind of portend to our day in maryland, which had the best weather of any sheep and wool festival i've visited in the last ten years.
the first time i went to the festival, tim and i drove up in the company of "sister ellie", a nun we had "met" on an america online message board. in subsequent years, we often went with my father, his current girlfriend, and sometimes even met up with family there. this year,
ben
and i drove while listening to david sedaris CDs.
we did a few things differently this year than we've done in the past: things that really made the day more comfortable. at the sheep and wool festival, the most comfort you can get is that of cleansing yourself, inside and out, of various substances that accumulate throughout the course of your day: lanolin, sunblock, horseradish, animal saliva, sweat, mint jelly. a few bottles of cold seltzer water and a container of wet wipes really make the day run smoother.
also, we ate a spartan cereal breakfast at home, rather that stop and friendly's or denny's on the way. although it was fun to sit near the biker gang that was having their breakfast in the booth next to us last year, it was better to have grape-nuts this morning, to prepare for the onslaught of french fries, lamb ribs, chocolate dipped soft serve and deep fried twinkies that we consumed at the fair.
we shopped, of course. i am happy to say that, as i do dislike to put the cart before the horse, almost everything i purchased was done so with an already-thought-up project in mind. in fact, i found some really perfect missing ingredients for some secret projects. i got no yarn at all, but did get some wool batts for spinning, as well as indigo plants and seeds and a book on indigo, some flax seeds, and a stockpile of very nice handmade soaps.
i almost bought a book featuring patterns on some very detailed knitted historical figure dolls -- henry VIII, an old testament rabbi -- it was intriguing, but expensive, and i had no idea how to fit it into an already too-long list of plans (although i do swear that one of these years i'm going to do hooked rugs. and bobbin lace. one of these years.)
i did go a little overboard, with no particular need in mind, on these. this company has no website, so there's really nothing you can do short of go to newburyport MA and find them. but i spent almost fifty dollars on buttons.
"this one is yummy!"
ben
said. and truly, they are.
we got a few other plants for outside, including a moonflower vine. mon mec is outside planting them as i type.