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Gardening, sailing, knitting, weaving, beautiful weather!  I’ve even managed to spin a little.  It is a lovely summer!

Sailing on the Mystic River during the Wooden Boat Show.

Alpaca and fiber at the Casey Farm market in Kingston, RI

July 4th on board a friend’s boat for the fireworks.  We had our own bagpiper!  Next morning this little sparrow sang to use from our stern lifeline.

The Spring ‘09 GoddessKnits Mystery shawl blocked and finished!  I’m taking it to the MAFA (Mid-Atlantic Fiber Assoc) Conference later this month.

A window box at Mystic Seapot and my dream house and garden in Watch Hill, RI

My next lace project from Renaissance Dyes. A farm in RI where llamas are used as guard dogs for the flock.

Nappatree Beach in Watch Hill, RI

Fringed poppy in my garden at home…. a braid made for a friend…..and lastly, the slow but steady progress on my latest tapestry….

I’m off for another long weekend sailing in Rhode Island.  I hope to visit the alpaca farm I mentioned at the beginning and also, hopefully, a couple of RI weavers!  

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A soft Sunday morning in June with a cup of capuccino, my Goddessknits mystery shawl in progress, and lots of blooming shrubs, vines and trees in view from the porch!  Does it get any better than this?

I was trying to capture how dramatic the light was.  There were ominous dark clouds, left over from yesterday’s deluge, and the first brilliant rays on sun hitting the clematis and andromeda while the maple tree nearby was still in deep shade!

A short while later there were blue skies and bright sun!  It’s been a glorious day, and I spent it all outside knitting and weaving!

My lace shawl is not worth photographing yet…it just grows into a larger spongy amoeba until I can block it…

(I tried, unsuccessfully, to include the word “idol’ as well.  I’m sort of a language nut…can’t help myself)

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I haven’t been here for almost two weeks.  That sailing trip already seems like a distant memory (good thing!)….

Today the Wednesday Group had an opening reception for our current exhibition called “Tapestry: Ancient Art for Modern Times” at a gallery in Medford Leas, Medford, NJ. 

It was virtually a perfect event!  The gallery was a lovely venue for our work, the lecture hall was modern and comfortable, the crowd was positively large…how exciting for a tapestry exhibit!  Archie and Susan each gave a thoroughly compelling lecture, one on the history of tapestry worldwide and one on tapestry’s value today.

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Today started as lovely as any day you can imagine.  The sun rose in a clear sky, there was only a gentle breeze, and we left the river on an ebbing tide to sail to Mystic, where we will leave the boat for the next two weeks.

This odd combination of attached cottages was Katherine Hepburn’s summer place. It sits at the mouth of the Connecticut River.

Our sails were set ‘wing and wing’ for the trip east. Unlike last Friday, when there was not a single other boat on the water with us, today there were plenty of sail boats and power boats out to enjoy a beautiful weekend.  There was a flotilla of fluffy cumulus cloud vessels in the blue sky, and the water beneath us was almost the color of the Caribbean.

House on “Little Dumpling” Island in Fisher Island Sound.

            Entering the Mystic River.

Bob’s big chore on arriving in the Mystic River was to find the sunken lines on a friend’s mooring which we could then use until our return.  Bob got in the dinghy with his grappling hook and began dragging the mooring field near our friend’s usual spot.

Hours went by….Bob made a few phone calls to our friend in Florida who owns this mooring.  More hours went by.

Just before the sun sank behind the trees on shore, Bob finally had the mooring up in the dinghy….probably the worst mess I’ve ever seen.  There was still work to be done adding lines and a float, more work to be done cleaning the dinghy and  Bob.  We may have to throw away his clothes! It’s 8pm and we’ve had nothing to eat all day. Neither of us feels like going ashore for our last dinner as planned, and cooking at this hour will be Spartan at best.

Tomorrow will bring its own challenges as we struggle home with large duffle bags in a variety of transportation modes which will include a dinghy, two trains, and two cabs before we reach our car.  Is this the fun part?