Ghost Garden

 

We've got two new additions to the Ghost Garden. I've got another Ginko. This one is bigger than the first one I planted. 

We also planted a River Birch down by the creek. The bags are working really well to keep the deer off of them. The Mister picked up some PVC pipe and cut them to size to hold the mesh off of the trees themselves. We didn't want to crush the leaves. 

The Grand total of new trees in the ground stands at 20. We're still 4 short of our city mandate but look at all the new trees that  Mother Nature has gifted us and are now being allowed to thrive since the giant poplars are gone. We've got baby Beech and baby Black Gum all over the place. It's getting crowded out there. 

One fail was the Paw Paw tree I ordered. We had one out back that died last year and I wanted to replace it but this pitiful thing is what showed up. It's nothing but a stick with some browning leaves on it. I'm going to keep it up on the deck and try to nurse it back to health but I honestly think it's a goner. 

Some good news is that one of the Sweet Bay Magnolias that arrived broken seems to have recovered. It's really taken off. The other one is still a bit spindly but I think it will fill in with time. 

Speaking of filling in. Look at what the hostas have done. I wish I could stop time right now. Everything looks so green and healthy but it won't be long before the sun scorches all those leaves and the deer nibble them to the ground. I suppose there's nothing to do but enjoy the good days while they last because they don't last long. 

I also need to thank Ruth at nypeapod for sending me a package of her award winning jams, syrups and pickles. After I posted about The Mister buying jam from the jam truck at the Farmer's Market, Ruth offered up some of her goodies and I jumped on it. If you're a foodie and you haven't visited her blog you are missing out. She also sews. Like whole wardrobe sews. I'm always in awe when I read her posts.

Thanks so much, Ruth! It was most appreciated. 

Wednesday WIPs: Forgotten Friends

 

I really need to get these socks done now that I have Miss Babs on the way. I worked my way down the foot on both pairs on my ride up and back from the MDSW on Saturday. I thought I'd have gotten further along that day because it's 1 hour and 17 minutes from here and I knit pretty steadily but I guess not. 

So far no ripping back on the Hue Shift this week. I was wrong about this being the last row in this section. There is actually one more row after this one. 

I've started the May panel on the Doodle Cowl....

...which reminds me that I still have Chestnut sitting here right next to me in my knitting stand waiting to be finished. If I just did one round a night I could get this done. I've got to work on getting it back into rotation. 

TNT: Slowly but Surely

MDSW wasn't the only thing I attended this weekend. On Friday night we went to the First Friday block party on the boardwalk and on Saturday morning we went to the Farmer's Market. By the time I got home from The MDSW on Saturday I was beat. I had planned to spend Sunday recuperating by working on my stitching while The Mister was gone all day playing golf but all I did end up doing was taking a lot of naps, icing my back and finishing up the first Star Wars trilogy. I even had a pizza delivered. I NEVER do this. I felt better yesterday so I started the next border box on the Patchwork sampler but I didn't get too far. 

Earlier in the week I had rounded the last corner on Funky Flowers. I'm very close to getting this done. So close that I've been searching on eBay for another vintage kit. 

I started another block on the quilt on Thursday. It's the 12th one. I still have 13 more blocks to go and the entire outside border but if you'd have said I would be this far along already I wouldn't have believed you. I started quilting it on January 1st of this year and I had such a hard time believing it I had to go look at that blog post to make sure. 

 

MDSW 2026: The Stuff

 

My primary reason for dragging my pitiful self around the fairgrounds was to bring home some gray wool for Spiral Chicken. See any gray here? Nope. None to be found at any of the rug hooking booths so that was a big fail. 

Then I elbowed my way to the Miss Bab's booth in the main exhibition hall and found this year's festival colorway. It's called Perfumed Air. She hangs all the different weights of MDSW dyed fiber on one rack and everyone is trying to get to it at the same time. It's chaos. Trying to find the sock yarn I wanted was impossible so I gave up and ordered it online instead. I even got free shipping. 

My first purchase was from the Into the Whirled booth. I still have some of their fiber from a trip to Rhinebeck that I took 12 years ago. That old fiber is so pretty I just want to look at it but I did buy some yesterday that I intend to spin for the TdF. 

Besides that Into the Whirled Cormo in the Mirepoix colorway, I came home with two other braids. The far left one is Polwarth from Kim Dyes Yarn in the Canyon Camping colorway. The middle one is from a booth I don't know the name of. I thought the name would be on the tag but it's not. It's Shaniko tweed in the Sunset colorway. I have to say that finding braids of fiber was hard to do this year. So many of the vendors I usually buy from aren't here anymore. Fancy bags of gradient mini skeins seem to be the thing most vendors are pushing these days.

At the end of the day I was disappointed with my haul so on our way out we stopped at the merch building and came home with a festival tee for me and a wool hat for The Mister. In all these 30 plus years I've attended this thing, I've never had a shirt. I do now and I'm already looking forward to wearing it next year when I hope I'll be back in shape and ready to shop.

MDSW 2026 Pt 1: The Event

 

I made it and have lived to tell about it but it wasn't easy. First let me say that we had a very scary moment when we rolled up to the place AND THERE WAS NO TRAFFIC. Did I have the wrong weekend? Every year, for over 30 years, we've sat and sat waiting our turn to get into the parking lot from the main highway. The event website even says to expect an hour wait. Yesterday we didn't see another car on the road but....the lot was full. We got there at about 11 which apparently is the sweet spot for traffic but not for admission. Now that you have to pay ($15 per person!) the line to do so is around the block. We stood there for a good 25-30 minutes slowly inching our way up to the cashier booth. 

If you want to know what the crowd looks like, here it is. Remember that the barns, exhibit halls and tent booths are also filled to the brim as is the corral where they hold the sheep dog show. It's a lot of people in one place. 

After fighting our way through that crowd we always head to the sheep first. This year's featured breed is the Scottish Blackface. This handsome fella was camera shy but...

...the babies weren't. You could have picked up this little one and put him in your pocket. He enjoyed a good rub down from The Mister.  His little baas were adorable. So sweet. 

The fleece sale was uninspiring. I had almost talked myself into buying one but there wasn't anything that tempted me. I'm happy to say at least the prices have gone back to being reasonable. 

The sheep dog show was entertaining. That dog is newly trained and wasn't listening to the shepherds at all. It made for some comical moments for the crowd not so much for the poor sheep. 

It was an unusually cool day which would have been perfect for showing off your fancy knits but there wasn't much to see. I suppose most folks have packed their fancy stuff away for the year anticipating another blistering hot festival. I know I did. I had to go digging to pull out last year's Miss Bab's MDSW colorway socks just so I would be wearing something that was in the spirit of the day. 

We stopped for lunch before I did any serious shopping which I will post about tomorrow. Here's a candid shot of me The Mister took while I'm using my new doohickey. It was a life saver. I was really struggling with all the walking and it was good to have a place to rest for a bit. Yes, I know I look like a homeless person. It's been three weeks of complete misery with my aching back and stiff neck. Bathing, getting dressed, washing my hair...all that takes a great deal of painful effort and I'm worn out before I even get started since I can't even get a good night's sleep. Next year I'll fancy myself up. At least that's what I told myself. This year was all about survival.

Tomorrow: Part 2 The Stuff

Meet Me At the Fair

 

I'm probably still sitting in traffic as you read this. 

In case you are wondering how I am planning to hobble around in my pitiful state over the vast acreage of the fairgrounds. This is how. I bought myself one of these doohickeys so if needed I can sit. It wasn't cheap. I could have bought two seated walkers for the price of one of these but pushing one over the rough, hilly terrain that is the Howard County Fairgrounds would not be fun. I pushed Dad in his wheelchair through it one year and it was hard work. 

Duck, Duck, Goose

 

On a walk down by the marina yesterday we ran into a family of Canadian Geese. A big family. We could count twelve babies all huddled with mom and dad except.....this cute little guy who wanted to come home with us. No fear at all. Mom and dad didn't look too happy about it but never made a move so we skedaddled away before things could get ugly.