F Is For...

A fantastic weekend!

Seriously. The last two weeks crushed my sanity and robbed me of any free time. (Full-time job + end-of-term for 10 grad school hours + puppy = ANN AT HER BREAKING POINT.)

But I soldiered on. Put my head down, listened to a whole lotta iPod, and kept my focus. JT was a champ and kept me fed and let me sleep a little extra here and there while he tended to the puppy. And at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, I turned in my last paper. (I hope it makes sense.) And then: Freedom!

I could not have asked for a better weekend to celebrate the end of my semester from hell. On Saturday, I got up early with blogless Gwen and Mollie to hit Maryland Sheep and Wool. We were so lucky that the rain held off and it turned into an absolutely gorgeous day. Some highlights:

A mama sheep with her two babies. They were only one month old so they got to hang out in the stall with her. So cute!

Rasta Sheep. (Okay, I think they're technically Rambouillet.)

Alpacas: so cute!

This little guy had to hold still to get shorn, and boy was he fussy about it. You'd think they were pulling the locks out one by one, they way he was bleating at the top of his lungs.

Blanketed sheep. I thought they were covered because they were cold, but then I saw a sign that said that if their wool is going to be judged, they get covered to keep all the hay and straw bits from getting in their fleece. Don't they look so cozy?!?

Here's me with Jody at the Cloverhill booth. So nice to finally meet her! Also at Cloverhill, I ran into Stacey, who was working like a champ, and Mama-E.

I actually saw far fewer blog-friends than I expected. I didn't hit the Ravelry meetup - we were having too much fun watching the sheepdog trials. Also, because of my lack of sleep, my brain was firing on far fewer neurons than normal. Which is why I didn't recognize Christy in her sassy new haircut. (Sorry again Christy!) But seeing her with Jody put her back into context. Funny how that happens.

Also spotted: Former KH Irregular Erika, Rossana, Holly, Kel, Olga, and a ton of other folks from the happy place.

My shopping was extremely restrained, mostly because my knitting pace was slower than glacial this semester. I did find two sock yarns at Cloverhill I couldn't resist:

Wollenstudio sock in Tangerine Dream, and Spritely Goods in Peppercorn Blend. Neither one of these are my "normal" sock colors, but they both totally called to me. I'm excited to try them!

So, that was Saturday. The other thing I bought was seeds and seedlings from the D. Landreth Seeds tent. I think I spent more on garden supplies than yarn! [Note to Grandma: Thank you for the seed money!] But I am so excited. Ever since we bought our house, I've wanted a little vegetable garden. JT built me a garden bed over the past couple of weeks, so on Sunday, I spent all day outside.

If everything cooperates, in about 2 months that space will be a cornucopia of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, eggplant and herbs. We'll see. I joined the gardening group on ravelry and hope to pick up some tips.

All in all, it was just a perfect weekend. After many many days and nights of sitting in front of a computer writing, spending two days outside in gorgeous weather with tons of fresh air was just what the doctor ordered.

Also, Sam liked being outside with me. So fun.