Friday, Saturday, Sunday

LMC is not a child lacking for new experiences, because it is so much fun seeing your child experience something for the first time. It's so easy to forget how amazing things are and how much we, as grownups, take for granted. I took LMC for a walk around the block today sans stroller and she literally stopped to smell every flower, and collect every loose stick, rock, and acorn. When do we lose that and how can we get some of it back?

By the end of the day, Mr. Cleaver and I are exhausted, LMC definitely wears us out (in a good way). But I think it was less than 5 minutes out of the Wildlife Park parking lot that she crashed in the car seat, so it's safe to say that we wear her out too. We've spent a lot of time cramming activity into the short time period that is summer weekends in Maine, and we've made a valiant effort, but I have to remind myself that it's okay if we won't get to everything on the list and that a walk around the block has as much to show us as a walk around an wild animal park, if you take the time to look.

I've been seeing a bit of theme in the blogosphere, that we've all gotten so busy. Guilty as charged. I, for one, don't handle down-time all that well, it's a skill that I sorely need to develop. But it may just be that I've got the best instructor right in front of me, because who knows how to live more in the moment than a toddler?

Portland Splash Pad LL Bean KidsFEST Maine Wildlife Park

SPA -Knit & Spin Retreat

On Saturday, my knitting group made the short drive up to Freeport for the annual NETA SPA Knit and Spin retreat.

We grabbed our spot in front of the lobby fire for the second (third?) year in a row and spent the day shopping, knitting, and spinning. With a brief break for barbecue.

I spent all my time spindle-spinning and I made significant process toward my 2011 Knitolution to spin 4 oz. and knit a shawl/shawl-lette. I only have about .5 oz of spinning left to do.

(This shirt should come with an asterisk -

*unless you're buying cashmere. Which I didn't, but someone else did!)

From Away

For Memorial Day weekend my friend Kasey came out from Chicago for a visit - we got to do some catching up, get in some shopping, eat some seafood, and soak in the sun.

We had a picnic at Evergreen and saw baby ducks and snapping turtles.

Played a string of candlepin and a few bucks worth of pinball.

Caught the sunset at Prout's Neck

Picked up lupines and local food from the farmer's market - including some tasty greens from my favorite farmers.

We did some shopping for clothes in Freeport.

And some shopping for shellfish in Portland

Caught a game at the ballpark (the first time I ever saw the Seadogs win!)

Made a fabulous local feast - including  Mr. Cleaver's scallops, Kasey's lobster and clam chowdah, and my first (quite successful) attempt at crab cakes

A trip to the chilly beach and a slightly warmer lighthouse.

And don't worry - Mr. Cleaver didn't miss out on all the fun - he just didn't make it into all that many pictures!

(and thanks to Kasey for the great time and the use some of your photos - you're welcome back anytime)

Roadtrip: PKOTT at NETA Spa

This Saturday the lovely ladies of Portland Knitters On The Town took a field trip to NETA's Spa, Spin and Knit weekend up in Freeport, where the Hilton Garden and Haraseeket Inns were crawling with Spinners and Knitters from throughout New England.

Many were day trippers like ourselves, but others from New Hampshire and Vermont came to stay for the whole weekend. The Hilton was sold out - primarily to knitters and spinners. It was great to see so many fiber lovers in one place!

There were also a ballroom full of the usual merchants, but being pretty stocked up at the moment, I only purchased a card of beautiful pewter buttons that made me think of a new sweater design almost instantaneously.

With so many spinner around I was inspired to pull out my spindle, which I haven't touched since sometime in late September/Early November, when Christmas and other deadline knitting kicked in.

So while I didn't purchase any yarn, I did come out of the event with some new yarn. Which as Mr. Cleaver accurately described it, "feel like you hair after a day at the beach." It's llama, and yes, it's a bit straw-like. I'm hoping it'll soften up a bit when I wash it (which it seriously needs - so much dye transfer!!), but I'm proud of the thinness and relative evenness of this skein. Inspired, I started spinning it's companion purple fiber last night.

We also made side trips to a BBQ joint and a fabric store. So all in all, it was a good day. :)