Vacation, Part 2

After spending the morning at the Aquarium, we headed over to the Science Museum.  They always bring out the inner kid in us--there are plenty of fun toys to play with (such as a laser harp--no strings but you play it by disrupting light beams).  And there was a chance to take a quick lie-down--on a bed of nails!

Then we wandered over to the Museum of Visionary Arts.  Alas, like many things at the Inner Harbor it closed at 5:00 but there was much cool and fun art outside.  There was also a garage with participants preparing for the annual Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture race (to be held the next day, when we would be gone.  Maybe some other time)  But we got to see some of the creations (see Kinetic Baltimore.com)

I particularly liked the huge found object bird and nest and the eagle wing door handles.  My favorite was a mirrored wind chime tree.  I'd like to have that--to make one.  Maybe not with mirrors, but it would be possible to make a big wind chime.

It did turn out that the aquarium was open late--and we still had our hand stamps from the morning, so we ducked in there for another hour or so.  It was much quieter and emptier without the school groups.  I got to feed crickets to the archer fish.  They hunt by shooting streams of water at bugs on tree limbs-so if you hold a cricket above the water they'll try to knock it out of your hand.  My idea of a fun time--getting a fish to spit at me!  We also walked by a display of various skeletons (turtle, penguin, dolphin).  The lighting made them much creepier than I think was intended.

We spent some of the evening just wandering downtown.  Old cities are such a juxtiposition of architecture--there's the old and elegant, the old and shabby, and the new and edgy (and to me, soulless and uninteresting) all cheek by jowl.

The first two days had been such fun that we could have gone home  then and still declared it to be a great vacation.  But the real reason we went to Maryland was to go to the Sheep and Wool Festival--so that will be the next report.

Vacation! (Part 1)

Must be spring--for some people it's daffodills.  For others it's robins. Us?  Baby opossums.

But we adopted these guys after we came back from vacation.  For about 10 years I've been wanting to go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival--a HUGE gathering of sheep and fiber vendors.  Decided that this was the year to take it off the bucket list.

The trip got off to a good start--at least for me.  *Really* cute stewards on the plane.  We flew in to Baltimore on Thursday to be able to spend a day in the Inner Harbor area before going to the festival in the weekend.  There was a little white-knuckle driving in the rented car for Bob to get to the hotel but we arrived safely (and had purposely chosen a hotel within walking distance of anything we wanted to see).

There's a lot to see in the Inner Harbor area, but except for bars and restaurants they all seem to close by 5:00.  So Thursday afternoon we just wandered around.  Typical--within 20 minutes Bob found a modeler to talk with.  There is a model of the "Pride of Baltimore" being built in the visitor center and the builder was there so the guys had a long and interesting chat.  Detail that I picked up--I knew that sailors were referred to as "old tars" and often used tar to slick back their hair and ponytails.  I had always wondered  how they got the tar back out--or did they just have to give up and shave their heads when they got to port.  Well, turns out that the tar is not coal tar--it's pine tar, which smells quite nice, and can be washed out (reenactors still use it).

I was enchanted by the dragons floating out in the harbor.

After a long day of travel and the wandering around, our "night life" consisted of sitting up in bed and sharing a carton of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  This is what vacations are about!

Saturday morning we got to the aquarium first thing.  Four hours later we finally wandered out (only to go back for another hour or so.  Before it opened we looked at at WWII submarine on display--I was most charmed by the fact that the little holes and gaps of this machine of war are now occupied by pigeons building their nests.

The aquarium is huge and beautiful and peaceful (even with school groups on field trips).  As well as tanks of fish, there was a large pool of rays and sharks (and a large turtle).  There is a walk-through Austrailand exhibit (with free-flying birds) and a rain forest (with a sloth just hanging around).

Next, the science museum!

Family Time

What a fun couple of weeks!


Had a belated mother’s birthday visit from Mike and Margo for a few days. We had lined up some things to do—go to the Maclay gardens, maybe the Brogran museum—but ended up mostly sitting at home, playing scrabble, and having a chat fest. Then we’d pick up some goodies, head out to the parents', and have some more chatfest. No family pictures to post—none of us particularly like having our pictures taken. Pookha, Nazgul, and Apache were good hosts to keep Mike and Margo from going into cat-withdrawal. As usual, Fiona was the Amazing Disappearing Cat but Bob was able to drag her out for a few seconds just to prove that she does indeed exist (she’s 12 now, and except for Bob and I and the vet when necessary she’s quite invisible)

We did run over to Lofty Pursuits to see the candy machines. The owner, Greg Cohen (who used to be one of my advisees in the English department a lifetime or two ago) collects Victorian-era candy machines. And uses them—old-fashioned candies are made on the premises. Alas, there was no candy production that day but it was still fun to play with the toys.

Mike and Margo are such good friends as well as good family, and it’s always a happy time when we get together. Shame that Boston and Tallahassee are a bit far apart—we *told* Michael to invent that transporter.

We must have *really* missed them when they left, because we both promptly became sicker than the proverbial dog.  It was chancy timing--because less than a week after they left we were going to Maryland for the big Sheep and Wool Festival.  But other than being a few pounds lighter (which didn't last, alas) we were both well and ready for the trip.

Bad signs, happy ending

The problem with living close to nature is that sometimes you have to face teh reality of it--nature ain't always kind.  Monday morning when Bob went out to feed the birds he found a clutch of feathers;  that usually indicates that one of the birds has become dinner for something (we now have coyotes)

We followed the trail of feathers, finding a clutch of body feathers, a pile of soft down .  .

A pile of tail and wing feathers . . .





And finally . . .

A rather bedraggled and slightly bald peahen.


She's all right--in the vernacular, she's a bit "stove up."  We'll be keeping her in a pen for a few weeks until she feels better and grows some feathers back.

Random Catching Up

Oops!  A couple of weeks have slipped by--and I'd been being so good about posting.  So . . . to catch up.

April 6--Happy Birthday, Mom!!  No--no pictures of the birthday girl (she wouldn't let me) and I'm sure as hell not going to say which birthday this was.  I did take champagne and make my now-famous shrimp and grits.  And a double fudge cake courtesy of Mrs. Publix.

The "woodland elf" fabric became a bathrobe for my father (although I don't think of him as a woodland elf at all, the fabric was both elegant and colorful, and that describes him as well.

I participated and survived a zumba marathon (fundraiser for the American Heart Association).  Two hours of hard working out--I have to admit that the last 20 minutes was a little rough.  No pictures--too busy dancing.

I spent the weekend at a weaving workshop (don't look for me in the picture--I was the one behind the camera).  The theme was "extreme warp makeover."  Normally you thread a loom and weave one pattern of fabric with that threading.  We did about a dozen different fabrics.  I was even able to make some corduroy by weaving some floats (long strands of yarn) and cutting them open (I only cut half so it would show.)





And more springtime (sorry that text and pictures are being in wonky places--blogger is not cooperating and it's past my bedtime so I won't find it).  Our butterfly garden is beginning to bloom--and we got our first sweet pea blossom.

Happy cats and Swings

Cats love cardboard boxes.  Cats love paper bags.  Pookha found a box inside of a paper bag--kitty heaven!

The seat of our old garden swing was finally falling 

apart.  When we created the butterfly garden last year, we talked about getting a new wooden swing for it.  Problem is--the old swing was a padded sling and *very* comfortable.  Couldn't find another one like it.  It finally split open completely and something had to be done.  So I bought some outdoor fabric and padded, took the old one apart, and figured out how to make it.  It was really a simple pattern, but slightly awkward because of using large stiff pieces of fabric.  When it came to the last seam (which enclosed the padded seat) I realized that there was no way to get it under the pressure foot of my sewing machine.  Hand sewing to the rescue.  We have our new swing!  Sitting in the butterfly garden is my favorite place to read (at least for now.  When the temps get in the 90's . . . . .



More Color

The "woodland elf" cloth is off the loom and washed--now it has to decide what it wants to be when it grows up (I draped it over my dress form just for fun.

And more color is happening outside.  The azaleas remind me of popcorn getting ready to burst open.  You step out one day and there's suddenly hundred of little green buds.  Then a few days later there's hundreds of little pink buds.  Then *POW* and they all pop open.

While I was shooting these, Babs the peacock was trying to get my attention, so he gets yet another picture of himself in here.  The sun was behind me and I thought my shadow on his tail looked pretty cool.