OK, Now Rhinebeck

First, I did not win the lottery (though I did get two numbers on one ticket, which is more than I usually get). However, when I called the hairdresser this morning to reschedule my Thursday appointment, she was able to get me in tonight since she had just had a cancellation half an hour earlier, and when I was leaving there it was sprinkling and I saw a rainbow, so it's safe to say that the week is still going swimmingly. (Not unrealistically so: I did not get three extra hours of sleep last night. It is still real life.)

Now, Rhinebeck! The weekend was awesome, good weather, good friends, no car trouble, and only some spots of traffic. Lots of gorgeous yarn, as I alluded to on Saturday night. All in all, wonderful. Here's how it went down. Are you ready for many, many pictures? Let's go!

Two of my friends were dropped off at my house Saturday morning, and we got all our stuff into the car and picked up one more person, then hit the road. The drive went fine, and it was sunny and nice fall weather. We got there before noon, and I (of course) led the way to The Fold's booth first. I got to show the mink shawl I made to Linnae (Grinning Gargoyle, the yarn) and Drin (Mushroom Knits, the pattern), which was great fun. I wedged my way into the booth, oohing and ahhing, and ended up grabbing two skeins of mill ends (which are discounted because there may be knots or other issues) one in a gold/brown mix and one (of course) blue.

Our next stop was, as planned, the Sliver Moon Farm booth for Periwinkle Sheep, but I was downcast to learn that she had not brought any of the Sock Dreams line; it hadn't even occurred to me to ask, but she said she'd had trouble with her supplier, and the only other she had found in time to be able to dye it for Rhinebeck was much more expensive. The good news is that she will be making it again, so there's that. I consoled myself with plenty of other yarn; there's no feeling of deprivation here. From that point on, we made our way through a blur of booths and buildings, seeing so much loveliness it was overwhelming. And fun decor! And animal parades!

When we did start feeling overwhelmed, we went to the animal areas and made some friends there.

It was nap time for a lot of the animals. Ear in the food bowl.

Head on your neighbor.

All in a row.

Nom nom nom, clipboard is delicious.

More naps.

I'm awake! Just resting my legs.

Whazzup? Over there?

Looking askance.

 Hey dude, what's up?

 Did you hear that? I heard something...

 Dude, all I hear is my stomach rumbling. Let a fellow eat.

 Why, yes, I am just that cute! Thanks for noticing!

I mustache you a question...

 Now I heard something over there.

 Take a load off.

 And bat those eyelashes.

 Hello, fluffy!

The name of the 4H club cracks me up.

 Spots!

 All over!

I'm just a little guy...

 What did you say? I am shocked!

Here's Saturday's haul in the improved light of Sunday morning. Beauteous!

The top one is the Briar Rose that was the last purchase of the day, that I couldn't make myself put down, and couldn't stop hugging. Mmmmmmm.

Saturday after we left the grounds, it took us over an hour to make the 15-minute drive into Kingston. Once we finally got there, we checked into the Superlodge without trouble, then went a mile or so down the road to meet friends for dinner at the Olympic Diner. I'm sorry to say that the food was only "fine" and the service was mystifyingly slow, so I can't recommend it.

After dinner, most of the group went back to the motel, but I joined one of my friends to go to a gathering back in Rhinebeck of some of her "friends in the computer" who had rented a house there for the weekend. We didn't stay all that long, what with being all exhausted, but hung around talking to people, and looking at the beautiful yarns that one of the group, a dyer, had brought (I took home one skein, the one on the right in the picture above). Eventually I had to call time, though; it was 10:30 before we got back to the motel, and I was a weird combination of exhausted and wired that meant I didn't get to sleep for an hour. Morning came all too soon, though not soon enough given all the super-weird dreams I had. The brain is a funny thing.

Once we all checked out, we drove over to Rhinebeck and went to the Everready Diner that's across from the fairgrounds for breakfast (as opposed to the one in Hyde Park that we'd eaten at in previous years). The food was delicious, a vast improvement over the previous night's dinner, but the service was again mystifyingly slow, especially given that the restaurant wasn't full up. Who knows.

Before we went in, we stopped to admire some amazing cars in the parking lot. I want this one, of course, in Bruins colors.

 But this was also a beauty.

 As was this. All in amazing condition.

The weather, which had clouded over Saturday afternoon and thrown some rain down overnight, cleared beautifully for Sunday. Sunny, but not too warm, just what the knit-fiends were hoping for.

 The trees are just lovely, right?

 

 This one agreed, of course.

 It's hard to tell what this one was thinking.

This little guy was having the best scritch of his life from the man leaning over. I'm not sure if they knew each other, but that little guy was in heaven.

 Throwing his head around, begging for more.

 Just a gorgeous day.

 I noticed at one point that Sunday, I was back on the blue wagon. What can I say, I like the blues.

 Colors everywhere.

All right, I'm flagging. I'll wrap up, and show all the yarns, another time... probably not tomorrow, definitely not Thursday, but Friday night or over the weekend.

After I take Miri in Saturday morning, that is; I heard back about that while I was working on this tonight. What a week!

By the way, for the reader who commented on Monday's post asking why I was getting rid of Miri, since there didn't seem to be an e-mail address I could respond to directly, I thought I'd mention it here. My initial reaction was, "Have you been reading here long?" Because I feel that I've complained about Miri for so many years, the question surprised me. Anyway, it's all in the archives, but this is the Cliffs Notes version.

I got Miri, in January 2009, for one reason: to keep my other cat, Harold, company. I'd had Pan and Harold since they were kittens, and when Pan died 10+ years later, Harold was desperately lonely. I looked for a cat that would like other cats, and took Miri because she'd been seen with another cat before she was rescued, and also loved the other cat where she was fostered. She was very good for Harold, and it didn't bother me much, that year, that I couldn't get her comfortable with me; I had Harold for a pet, plus that was the year my father died, and I didn't have the energy to spare worrying about her. I tried to be nice to her, and she was skittish and fearful at me, and that was it.

In November, however, Harold died, and suddenly Miri and I were all each other had. She was clearly lonely, and would try to get close to me, only to flee when I moved, or sneezed. It wasn't working well for either of us, and I knew I'd need to find another cat soon, for both of us.

In January 2010, I brought Carlos home. He's a love, sweet and cuddly with me, and he mostly didn't mind Miri's attentions, though he never sought her out or seemed to return the love. Still, she was happier and I was happier with Carlos around.

Now, four and three quarters years later, the situation is pretty much the same. I love Carlos, and he loves me; Miri loves Carlos, and he is indifferent to her. Miri is just as scared of me as ever, no matter how I've tried to be friends with her. It isn't her fault she doesn't trust people; maybe she was born this way, or maybe something awful happened to her before she was rescued, but either way, she can't help it.

On the one hand, I do believe that when you get a pet, you commit to take care of it for its lifespan. On the other, I feel I've given this sufficient effort, nothing has changed, and it's time for her to move on. The organization I got her through is willing to take her back, and I hope they can find her a situation with lots of other cats to love, and not much human interaction to trouble her.