yep, summer’s coming . . .

it’s that time—poppies popped this weekend right on schedule for memorial day; how do they do it? i can’t help but snap one shot after the other of these gorgeous flowers.

and the buds with their tight bundles of papery petals

hahaha, speaking of paper, we had a very interesting morning here yesterday . . .
on sunday evening, david decided it was time to set our plan for mulching the garden in place. we’d been collecting newspapers from neighbors for several weeks, which we planned to lay down all over the dirt between the plants, top that with soaker hoses, then spread a layer of clean straw on top. this design (copied from our friends beckie and mark, who used it last year to great success), would cut down on weeds, keep the ground damp and cool (thus conserving water), and hopefully, help keep the plants healthier. a great plan, right?

i was a bit dubious about getting started without the straw on hand but david was convinced it was a ok to go ahead. all went well with laying the paper—the weekend was warm humid, and still.

first thing monday morning, it was all still in place. then the wind picked up and the sun began to dry out the paper—are you getting the picture? i quick went out back out to start hosing everything down again, but i had to run out for a bit to pick up a friend, so i couldn’t stick around to keep vigil. by the time we got back to the house, there was paper all over the yard (but very little in the garden, oy!)

i roused david and asked him to please go get some straw while i wet everything down again and got the paper back in place. within a couple of hours, we had it all fixed up again

but wow, i never expected to spend half of memorial day chasing paper around the neighborhood . . . instead of say, writing a nice blog post about poppies and wool shows, heh.
but all turned out fine, and if nothing else it was completely entertaining for our guest, luci, to watch us figure out another gardening dilemma. if you try this at your house, do not start without all the requisite supplies on hand, no matter WHAT your significant other says.

luci, a filmmaker, is an old friend of ours from NYC who is in town for a few days to do some screenings of the documentary she and her husband scott made this past year about children of missionary families. and we’re lucky to have her with us for a few days that have been really fun (and a nice break from the usual pace).
we went to the film saturday night—it was awesome. it was great for us to see the results of their work for the last few years—they stayed with us during some of the filming in 2004 (some local families are featured in the picture). she was out of town sunday and then yesterday she came here for a day of vacation (and odd, spontaneous outdoor entertainment, as it turns out). she has one more screening and is staying tonight as well—it’s been SO so good to have this time together to catch up.

BTW, if this film sounds like something you’d be interested in viewing yourself, or viewing with a class or group (highly recommended), you can contact luci or scott here to find out more about screenings or purchase a personal copy here. you can also find out more, watch clips, and see current news on facebook

(see our strawberries? im so excited about them . . .)

and that’s not all that’s happening around the place—this weekend was also the time for our local fiber show in wooster. friday evening we went to dinner with chris and roger of briar rose fibers and had a wonderful meal at the south market bistro, spending several hours talking about all things under the sun and enjoying each other’s company.

roger held the sock knit in his honor (i think he has a future as a sock rep, don’t you??).
on sunday, i went to the show with my spinning class, where we spent the first hour or so in chris’s booth—we all came away with something gorgeous.

i picked up this beautiful shawl pin—you might be familiar with the one-of-a-kind buttons chris sells, which are created by her sister; now she has pins, too (and stitch markers). every single one is different and i fell in love with the pebbled texture and color of this one. it is surprisingly light and will look wonderful on a shawl or scarf knit from natural wool.

i also came away with a couple of skeins of harmony, perfect for the hillflowers scarf or stole, to be released very soon. and i might have scored a small bump of merino roving, which i haven’t tried yet, but it feels very promising

just four ounces, quite mangeable to spin over the summer, i think.

not far off we came across catherine’s knitting notions booth where whole other realm of colors and yarns tempted us

catherine’s been busy over the winter and spring getting lots of yarn ready to sell at summer shows. this is one of her new colors—winter sky—i just melted when i saw it (look familiar?). this is her classic merino sport yarn i can’t wait to think up something to knit with this (hmm, it would be beautiful and soft for a baby . . .).

catherine was also happy to feed my love affair with good bamboo merino sock yarn with this wonderful skein of gray classic merino bamboo to knit up into some classy socks for one of my guys during the summer.

it was so good to see catherine and talk about what’s new (she has a new sport yarn coming out soon with a tighter twist), what yarns would work with what patterns, and just catch up on news. and meredith was there with her, smiling as always.

we found the fleece sale soon enough and purchased a gleaming white, blue-ribbon coopworth fleece which we are having processed by wooly knob fiber mill and blended with nylon for spinning sock yarn. we’ll split that between a few of us when it’s done; we were actually looking for a nice light gray fleece when we started out, but then this white one stole our hearts, what can you do? anne marie and i also found some lovely finn fleece that we bought and dropped ff for processing as well—beautiful soft brown fiber, enough for a sweater each—yummy.

unfortunately, we were so carried away doing all the we didn’t take any photos (and i managed to leave home completely forgetting my camera, so there you have it).

between the ride to and fro, i started the second roger sock

obviously, we also did a LOT of talking in the car, heh.

last night we watched a wonderful german movie and i finished the second david sock

all in all a great holiday weekend—there’s more to talk about, but i think i’ll save that for next time. also, later today—the release of the ondulé sweater pattern. right now i have to take luci to her screening but i’ll be back in a few hours to post that. meanwhile, how about another mighty poppy picture?