Preventative measures

Guess whose glass the sick midget keeps drinking out of? Mmmm Hmmm. Lucky me.

It's a good thing our CSA is serving up large bags of bountiful greens right now. I so do not need raging fever. Calling all antioxidants!

How many greens can one girl eat? Only time will tell...

Cold Brew

Yes, it's like 90 here in the land of humidity and mosquitoes. The dew point is something obscene.

And of course I spent the day covered in a furnace of a fevered achy 2 year old that could not be put down even to go to the bathroom. Sticky doesn't even come close to covering it.

When I finally pumped him full of enough ibuprofen and acetaminophen to break things enough for him to sleep I ran for the fridge only to find the iced tea pitcher bone dry. SOB! For the sake of household harmony I shall cast no aspersions as to the ID of the culprit, but I was indeed left with a conundrum. There was no way I was possibly going to boil enough water to fill said pitcher and set it to brew and I have a pathological fear of sneaky bacteria infiltrating any attempts at sun tea.

So I went to my local tea gurus and happily they had the solution. Cold brewed tea. It's sitting in the fridge as we speak and by tomorrow afternoon I shall have a briskly refreshing glass of contentment awaiting my pleasure. Apparently it really is the little things. I'm like deliriously happy just knowing it's in there. (that and the fact that they have a tea of the month club...how awesome is that???)

Fever Dreams.

Ah vomit. An unfortunate natural phenomena that today reminded me that 2 year olds do indeed need to be taught to chew their food.

Curly noodles. Antique Indian rug. There are no pictures. Rejoice.

ah, nature

A garden can make up for a legion of grumpy running amok.

The Loot

Yes, I finally have pictures of the goods I so liberally bought on the cruise. Hang on, it's a looong and fibery ride. See?


First you should know the one overriding rule I set before heading out. No buying anything available at home. Nothing I can walk into one of the many fiber stores dotting the cities may come home with me no matter how gorgeous it be. All purchases shall preferably be of local origin, with one exception given for Handmaiden, though that's not really much of an exception since only very rarely do I see some rogue Fleece Artist about these parts. We all clear? Good, let's go.

Starting in Seattle:

OK, so this is from California. But it's gorgeous bamboo blend. And the 2 hanks of camo on top are perfect for the long awaited clapotis of my dreams.

Once on board (which is a story unto itself....and for another day) there were several freebies nestled in the swag bags:
Next stop Ketchican:

The Raven Frog Fiber Arts is a silk blend and frabulous. Sheen, sheen, sheen and very subtly shaded in silvery goldish tones. In front we have some great tweedyness by Purple Carrot Creations that was a blast of sunshine in a veeeery rainy day. Both dyed by Alaskan dyers.

On our roundabout way to Juneau we hit Disenchantment Bay for a bit o' glacier viewing which made me determined to find a yarn to capture even a bit of that surreal setting.

This is my favorite pic of the bay itself, though it comes nowhere near to capturing the varied colors I'm talking about...and is frankly in the exact opposite of the glaciers, but hey, I'll get you some of that later. It does give you some idea though of what I was looking for...

...and happily unearthed at Skeins in Juneau!

There are bits of startling turquoise in there amidst the deeper blues and greys. Raven Frog Fiber again. The color is Stormy Seas, which is so appropriate given the weather we powered through.

Then we come to Victoria, and the Churchmouse. Really, I thought I had prepared myself. With reportedly the biggest inventory of Handmaiden and Fleece Artist I was prepared to be fairly liberal with myself. I will go into this saying that I put back at least half of what I was at one time hoarding. Easiest decision first, the yarn with which to work up the wonderful comp sock pattern by Chrissy Gardiner we all received. What better than working seaweed in cashmere?

And then it got sticky. Deep breath. Here goes, full disclosure:

Really, how could I be expected to not by Camelspun??? It's part SILK.

...and again with the SILK. This I am imagining some sort of complex, perhaps freeform beaded stole. Uh, a really big one because the ever enabling Heather Ordover said she would feel horribly if I went home and did not have enough to do what I wanted. Mmhmm. So I of course readily bought 2. Baaaaa.

...and yet again with the SILK content. This time with the linen thrown in. I blame Amy Singer and her no-sheepy ways fully for opening my eyes to how very lovely linen is and how horrid it is that I had none with which to craft. I wish I had smello-blog-o-vision. This is the epitome of earthy silky warmness.

So. Seven hanks of Handmaiden in one fell swoop. Deep breath. That's not even all...there was fiber too:

Those 4 braids at the bottom? Yep, ya guessed it, Handmaiden. The pinky tanish is a merino/silk blend, the sea tones are straight up merino. The autumnal wad is more from Raven Frog Fibers, split with the frabulous Jenniethepotter, as was the other blueish blob I believe from the Purple Carrot peeps. And why was there so much fiber? Uh, because I learned how to spin too. It's a disease, I fully admit it. My name is Dawn and I am a full-fledged follower. Baaaa.

...and so it begins

Friday marked the big kids' last day of school, so we are now officially 2 days into summer vacation and life is indeed looking rosy. I love the ripe prospect the beginning of summer holds. Plans and ideas are running about absolutely higgledy piggeldy amok in my temporarily unburdened brain.

Our CSA has had the rough end of Minnesota's lack of spring and crazy early start of serious storm season, so weekly deliveries that in better years began weeks ago should start Wednesday if the fates smile upon us for a few more days. I absolutely CAN.NOT.WAIT. Opening that box and delving into the mystery bounty within is the best weekly treat ever. makes my day every single time. So to tide us over #1 and I ran to the Saint Paul Farmer's Market this morning. Today's haul:

Asparagus...GROWN IN MN!!! This is a first for me, and the result of several long year's TLC for the grower. It's amazingly sweet and tender.
Picked this morning pea shoots, mixed lettuces and red spring onions.
Pasture raised chickens and their beautiful eggs.
Jalapeño cheddar brats.