Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. We went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! Unfortunately, it was near 90 degrees and the youngest kids started to wilt early. We got to see plenty of sheep and some sheepdog demonstrations, but we missed the spinning and weaving. I had hoped to get some raw wool and a drop spindle so we could try our hands at spinning, but it was the better part of valor to head out when we did. On the whole, it was the cause of more wild and wooly puns than ewe want rammed down your throat, so it was a good thing we took it on the lamb before the authorities herd us and shepherded us sheepishly away.

2. Zorg is not a morning person. One day this week, after groggily stumbling out of bed, he announced, "My mind feels like... a trap... caught in a mouse..."

3. On Tuesday we spent a singularly perfect morning down at the Bay collecting shark's teeth. Within the first 15 minutes, the kids had collected more teeth than they ever have before. They then stopped looking for teeth and collected sea weed instead (which is now drying all over the front porch). We looked at the rock strata in the cliffs and found some recent cliff falls where we collected these interesting trace fossils. I like going down by the cliffs because you can really see how rocks are formed. They are made of a sort of compressed mud: not quite rock yet, but certainly not mud or sand. The best part, however, was not seeing (or feeling) any jellyfish until, on the way out, we saw two small ones from a reasonable distance. Jellyfish are the scorpions of the Chesapeake Bay.

4. Did I mention that my glass cooktop shattered last week? I had it for about 5 years and I replaced the glass surface once and a major switch once. I had sunk $400 into repairs and this would be another $200 - $400. I had asked the repairman why it was breaking so often and he told me it was because I was using it too much. I was floored. He said they just didn't make stoves and cooktops to be used every day anymore, let alone the twice a day I was using it. I gave up and bought and old fashioned coil stove. Way cheaper and more dependable.

5. Did I mention that my lawnmower broke last week? Klenda was mowing her patch (she and Mxyl each have a part of the lawn they mow) and she stopped and told me it had a funny smell. I said, "Just stop, I'll be there in a minute." Then she added, "And smoke is coming out of the handle." That hurried me up! At least it was under warranty.

6. I have discovered that it is inevitable that lawnmowers break at the most inconvenient times: they break (or you notice) only when they are being used, and you only are using them because the lawn needs to be mowed... Add a week for repairs... Not looking so good. It's like a man growing a mustache. There is the point where he is clean shaven and the point where he definitely has a mustache. In between you get, "You've got something on your... oh, nevermind." Our lawn is now uncomfortably equidistant between "well-groomed" and "prairie." I am fervently hoping to get the lawnmower back and "well-groomed" restored before the big co-op meeting at my house tomorrow night.

7. The roses are blooming! Irises, too.

More Quick Takes at Conversion Diary!