Melancholy, but getting better..

Despite what was not a bad weekend, I find myself in a melancholy mood this evening.

Friday night at the fair was a little odd, but not terribly surprising. When you're sitting at a booth for the Child Abuse Prevention Council, it's really not very surprising when people don't want to stop and chat, I guess. I mean, no one wants anyone else to think that they might *need* information provided by such a group, and in all honesty, the booth was not really all that inviting. So I spent a couple hours hanging out with a very nice, if rather shy, 16-year-old girl and answering ocassional questions about HCWR. And knitting. I got several inches of mom's Panobo shrug finished, but, you know, since she checks in here every now and then, no pictures. Yet. *tease*

I also touched base with a couple of folks running for state office in this area. This is by far the most .. bizarre effect of being involved with the BOD for HCWR. Local candidates *remember* who I am when they meet me. It's .. odd, especially for someone who tries to stay behind the scenes. But a couple local candidates have gotten to the point where they're *people* when they talk to me, not *candidates*, which I have to admit makes me want them up there in the state legislature all the more. Knowing who they are behind their platforms and campaign materials goes a long way toward me believing that they really do believe the same sorts of things I do. I can't quite put my finger on it, but talking to one candidate about how exhausting it can be to get up and milk the cows, then run out and pick up his grand-daughter before heading out to a community parade, followed by a brief appearance at a different community on the other side of the district, and then by a stint at the county fair, only to look forward to having to milk the cows again when he gets home.. *shrug* I trust him. I trust that he really *does* want to do this because he cares about the *people* in this district. Yeah.. not sure that really gets it, but.. yeah.

Saturday was good, if ridership was lower than we'd hoped. But everyone who rode was really wonderful. Just Good Folks(tm). There were some frustrations with the map, some confusion about the sheer number of different raffles/drawings/give-aways that were happening throughout the day (there were, I think, at least 5, which is admittedly a bit of overkill), but mostly, folks seemed to enjoy themselves and enjoy the route we planned. I kept a list of the things people mentioned that could have been improved, or that were confusing, so next year we'll be able to make it an even better experience.

Today, we tried to sleep in, but there's a new 'hound somewhere in the neighborhood that starting howling at least four times between 3 and 5 a.m. Ugh. We sleep with the windows open because it's cool enough that way, but had to shut the bedroom windows at 4:30 a.m. just to try to snatch a few more hours of rest. Fortunately, we didn't have any really solid plans for the day - just a quick run up to the county fair to check things out (and pick up lawn signs for the aforementioned candidates) - so we both napped in front of a movie this afternoon. The porch didn't get scraped, but that's not such a big deal. I'm sure we'll work on it sometime this week.

In spinning news, I've been working some more on the Shetland from Cate. Now that I have some more wool coming in for my small but growing stash, I figure it's safe to spin what I have already. I still have a bit of the Shetland to spin, but that'll allow me to compare it with the merino I have coming. I also got an email this evening from my friend on the farm with the Clun-Forest sheep telling me that even though I wasn't able to make it out to help them shear, they set aside not one, but TWO(!) lamb fleeces for me!! I can't wait to get them and take my first foray into cleaning and processing raw fleece. And with two fleeces, I'm sure I'll have enough to make something really wonderful from the yarn. So in the span of about a week, I've managed to go from a small but manageable fleece stash to more fleece than I know quite what to do with (well, not really.. I already have ideas for what I'd like to eventually make with most of it)! *squee*!!

And now, after writing this post (and a few intervening emails), I'm happy to report that I'm no longer feeling melancholy. Instead, I'm rejuvenated and off to spin some Shetland and wonder about the joys(?) of cleaning my first raw fleeces.