Why is it that vacation time is at least double the speed of regular time?  Anyone figured out that little quandary of quantum physics yet?  it just goes by too darn fast.

… I slept in… read three books from cover to cover…  made some progress on my knitting… ate way too much candy…  went to an arboretum… walked on the beach with my nieces… took many photographs…  went on a boat ride…  stayed up late…  my vacation in a nutshell 

The Adkins Arboretum is a privately owned sanctuary on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, near the Delaware state line.  They are dedicated to the native plants and trees of Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic states.  Kris and I so enjoyed strolling around the trails and looking at all of the flowers, trees, and mushrooms.  [Full Photoset Here]

Since I got back earlier in the week, my knitting progress has been so slow… this is why I hesitated to blog, honestly… truth is, I have spent a lot more time with my nose in books,  in the garden,  in the kitchen, or in the yoga studio rather than knitting right now.  So, at least for a little while, I will be sharing blog posts of book reviews, recipes, and gardening shots – hope this is agreeable!  I won’t be such a stranger…

Kris and I are enjoying a few days respite at the beach… it’s our annual trip to the Maryland shore with his family.  It always seems to fall at a nice time – and this year was no different.  Work has been quite busy for both Kris and myself and we were both projecting for this trip – sleeping in and lazy days.  So far so good

…I have read two books from cover to cover and started a third just this morning.  I am planning to write up a nice summer reading post very soon, and I will include information about these books, no doubt!  The rain and fluctuating weather has primarily kept us indoors, but we did enjoy a nice cookout and boat ride with Kris’s uncle and family last night.  It was a lovely evening on the Bay – and we managed to fit 14 people on a pontoon boat with no consequences.  Of course, you know I will have plenty of photos to share when we return home… you all well know by now that my camera is pretty much strapped to me at all times!

In that spirit, I will whet your appetite with some photos from our previous trips to the beach… from 2007 and 2008 trips

Being the “first lady” of a certain local plant-loving group (no, he doesn’t make me call him Mr. President…) affords me all sorts of privileges:   Sitting through discussions held almost entirely in Latin (Limnophilia repens, anyone?) for instance…  but the things I most enjoy are the special hook-ups.  He gets behind-the-scenes tours of cool places – and if I am lucky, I can tag along

This past Sunday, Kris and I, and several of his friends from his group, went to the US Botanical Garden production greenhouses:  in other words, these are the nurseries where they grow and propagate all of the things that will then be moved to the Botanical Garden on the National Mall.   And it was amazing…

Greenhouse after greenhouse – new wonders inside each one of them.  Since I was accompanied by several hobbyist experts (they get as excited about certain rare plants as we do for say… quiviut) I felt like I learned so much.  Of course, none of the Latin names for so many of these plants actually stuck with me… but as a plant lover in my own right, I just really enjoyed seeing all of these beautiful flowers and plants nurtured and propagated.

In high school (when I lived in New Mexico) I was active in the FFA – Future Farmers of America – for a short while (before I moved to Maryland) in the Horticulture section.  My class built a greenhouse and set up automatic sprinklers, and chose plants to propagate.  My family – both grandfathers and my mom and dad – have always had vegetable and flower gardens, and I feel like I am continuing this legacy with my organic garden and my love of plants and composting!

We heard a few funny stories:  apparently the Botanical Gardens is THE source for plants on Capitol Hill and the National Mall.  So, when a Congressman wants a plant for their office or for an event, they contact the Garden.  The Congressman has six free passes – if they kill more than six plants, they cannot get anymore and they have to buy their own!

Another great related tidbit:  Each spring, the current First Lady hosts a First Ladies’ Luncheon for all the surviving First Ladies.  The event is themed and color coordinated, and all of the flowers and plants are provided by the Botanical Garden.  Since Michelle Obama’s favorite color is purple, there was a whole section of the greenhouse devoted to growing out the purple flowers and plants for her first Luncheon!

With cameras in hand, Kris and I shot photos all over those greenhouses… it was hard to not post every single one!  You can see some of Kris’s photos on his blog post. I love to compare how the two of us frame our shots differently – truly the eye (and the camera) of the beholder! I have not uploaded all of the photos from the tour, but there is a nice set on Flickr of the ones that are currently processed… check it out and let me know what you think!

…while I snapped several, I thought this one was particularly fitting for Project Spectrum!

Kris found out from one of our co-workers that there was a “Pick Your Own” farm in our county (Larriland Farm in Howard County for you locals).  We don’t venture that far north often, but the call of fresh berries and veggies was enough to make us go out in the heat and humidity for a couple of hours.

… and oh!  the rewards …

We met an adorable little girl and her father at the blueberry patch.

He asked, “Are you picking the berries for our basket?”

She answered, “Nope, I am snackin’.”

My sentiments exactly.

Most went into the basket, but some went into the mouth.

After picking a six pound bag of blueberries, we headed to the raspberry patch, further down the road.  The farm has so many pick-your-own fields, and now that we know about its location, we will definitely go back.  There were several fruits and vegetables in season this time, but we only had two hours, so we chose blueberries, raspberries, and beets.  (Sweet cherry season ended today, so they were planning a “Cherry Dash” this morning for the last of the fruit on the trees… too bad we missed it!  I have been eating some great cherries from the farmer’s market!)

The raspberries appeared to be overpicked, but upon closer inspection, the best and juiciest berries were deep inside the bush.  So, you put aside all decorum and reach right into the thorny patch for the best berries.  With scratches on our arms and purple stained hands, Kris and I managed to get six pounds of these as well! 

In all, we got some amazing berries and some fresh beets (I pulled them up myself!) for a very reasonable price.  It was great fun to spend the evening outside, meeting new people, and enjoying the fruits of the season. 

…Now I have to figure out what to do with all of these berries! We split up the berries with half in the freezer, and half in the fridge.   Right now, I have visions of muffins, smoothies, crumble cake, sorbet, and some yummy borscht for the beets.  Do you have a favorite berry recipe to share?

Once I get a new warp on the loom, I can zoom right along.  It’s just getting that new warp on… the process takes a steady hand and a dedicated attention span – threading all of the heddles, sleying the reed, beaming.  Once I am in that zone, I quite enjoy the process of it.  Especially with a good audiobook* playing.

Silk Stripes Scarf 
Warp: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed in Linen (2 skeins)
Weft: Noro Silk Garden in 249 (1 skein) & 269 (1 skein)

[more photos of the Silk Stripes Scarf here]

Each skein of the Silk Garden yielded three bobbins (to put in the boat shuttle) each, so with six bobbins, I alternated the striping patterns between the earthy colors of the 249 colorway and the cream variegations of the 269.  Each bobbin gave me between 7 and nine inches of woven fabric.  The deep colors of the 249 colorway appear to be three different skeins of yarn – but that is the true beauty of Noro!  Every time I work with Noro, I fall a *little* more in love with it.  (Sad side story:  Remember my Shinano cowl?  Totally loved that thing.  Well, I seem to have lost it somewhere en route to Nova Scotia.  I think it must have been at Dulles Airport somewhere…  I am thinking around the security check when I was hurrying to put my shoes back on… ack.  I loved that thing.  And now I want more Shinano to compensate!)

I am brimming with weaving inspiration right now – so many great ideas and designs out there!  Many thanks to Barbara at The Lumpy Sweater for sending a weaving book she found at a sale.  It is about Finnish weaving techniques.  I look forward to trying some… once I get a little better!

…

I had a nice holiday with the family.  We planned to go down to see the fireworks in DC, but the thunder and lightning kept us at home.  We played a few card games and Scattergories whilst munching on my leftover Friendship bread!  It was a fun night.  My sister Sarah and I made plans to get together the next day to check out the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.  The weather forecast didn’t look particularly pleasant, but it ended up being quite nice once we got to the National Mall.

The themes this year were Bhutan, Texas, and NASA.  Very disparate themes, but a good mix for a day of learning.  The SFF seems to always include a rich textiles display, and that offers some amazing photo opportunities.  So full of color!

[All photos from Festival here]

 We saw several demonstrations, heard a few discussions (a particularly interesting one on the environmental sensibilities of the Bhutanese people and their Gross National Happiness) and in the Texas “Opry” pavillion, I got to dance.  The band was playing some polka music, and this older gentleman came up and held his hand out to me.  I hesitated and pointed at my sister, but he pointed right at me.  So, I polka-ed with this man (who didn’t speak any English… I believe he was actually Polish) in front of a large audience.  Even though we lived in Texas for a short while when I was young, I guess I didn’t realize that polka was so “big” there.  The band was pretty good, and my dance partner was getting quite into it.  He kept on saying things to help lead me in the dance (but I did not understand!) and I just stepped around in a square figure.  He even twirled me around a few times!  what a charmer!  (…but Kris should have no cause for concern…)

*I listened to The Man Who Loved China whilst weaving my scarf.  Fascinating and engaging story!  (Psst – anyone else on Goodreads?)