Here is a picture of my brother and my SiL.  They came all the way from Rochester to watch their nieces ride in the horse show last week!  Horse shows involve hours of waiting around to ride for 10 minutes – so this was a very large gesture of love.  My brother and I are adult orphans, so we’re all we got.  It’s always great to see them and it’s too bad we live so far away.

My Sil commented that all my blogging buddies are spoiling me —- and it’s true.  I am very spoiled. 

Just today a package arrived from Nancy, my favorite Bronx Girl.  I am very very lucky that Nancy doesn’t spin otherwise she never would have parted with this. Look what she sent – Orchid Delight Dyed Wool & Tussah Silk.  Nancy went to Maryland and felt sorry for me.  Take a look at the card – if my menagerie every gets themselves organized, I’m in serious trouble!

Thank you so much Nancy — this roving is so lovely that I fear I am not worthy.

A package from Anita arrived yesterday!  I can tell that Anita is a much nicer person than I.  (she is also an English doctoral candidate and I feel compelled to use my very best grammar and the biggest words I know)

A while back, Anita and I engaged in a little Spearfish sock side bet.  The thrill of competition got the best of me and I displayed some of my ‘lesser’ character traits. 

• I publicly accused her of being evil.
• I wished knitting disasters to befall her.
• I considered purchasing a gris-gris.

I want you to know that I am not proud of this behavior.  Evidence suggests that Anita’s mother did a much better job with her than mine did with me. 

Our wager was for sock yarn.  Look at the bounty Anita sent!

a new knitting bag, luxurious Mountain Colors sock yarn, Dove Chocolates to share with my Boar and Snausages for the poochies!

thanks Anita — you’re the best!

and since you are the last person to feed him, you are Mr. Poe’s favorite! he’s easy like that.

If Anita had been the victor, I certainly would have sent her the sock yarn – I am not a squelcher.  However, I can’t say that I would have been so gracious and generous.

Anita is a great teacher!

I have spent the past few days reading of everyone’s adventures and misadventures at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.  It has been lots of fun to live vicariously and I have miraculously managed to remain mostly not bitter.

I have been telling myself that I have enough yarn – that I really shouldn’t add to my stash until I whittle some of it away.  I have also held on to the thought of Rhinebeck in the fall – it’s a smaller event where I am less prone to cranky outbursts.  These thoughts combined have made me feel somewhat, if not completely better about missing the festivities.

That is until this morning.  Until I saw this.

Do you see that?

It is a mini.  A little red mini sitting happily in the field/parking lot.

Until now I have thought only of myself – how it was okay for me to miss the fun.

What about Onslow?  What about his feelings?  Why doesn’t he matter??

If I prick him, will he not bleed?

You realize of course, what this means …… yup 

I was away for five days.  Most of you know we were at a horse show.  This means that I had nothing, absolutely nothing to do for these five days.  Hours and hours of sitting around and knitting.

I fully expected to finish this sweater.  Well, maybe not finish but at least dazzle myself with how far I got.

This is it.

I am almost finished the back.  I knit about fifty rows.

I couldn’t understand this.  Why so few?  It felt like I was knitting a lot.  Except for the interruptions or the times when my fingers were too cold …..

I timed myself on a row. I thought it was taking me about 5 minutes per row.  Man, oh man —- it took me 18 minutes!! 

So those 50 rows represent 15 hours worth of work.  Not to mention the tinking back I had to do and the fact that I didn’t knit at all on the last two days there.

Why didn’t I knit at all on the last two days?

Because I was drunk.

mostly that and because I was stressing over this (click on right hand picture).

what does he have on?  you ask

that’s a face mask – we put it on him to protect his stitches.

yes — the horse ripped open his face right below his eye and required stitches.  Mr. Spencer is not the friendliest of neighbors and got into some kind of altercation with the horse in the next stall.

I am happy to tell you that it is healing beautifully.

I am also happy to tell you that emergency vets at fancy horse shows aren’t nearly as expensive as you might think.

***added later:  as Kathleen has noticed, lots of my animals seem to have eye issues.  I must be some kind of Medusa that they all seem to want to pluck their eyes out.