And a fine Memorial Day weekend it was.

I did just what I planned to do - almost. I spun, I dyed, I gardened. I read, I slept, I ate. I did not set the alarm. I did not travel out of town; in fact I doubt I went more than 10 miles from home.

I tidied the studio and found yarns I had forgotten about. Some are wonderful handspun yarns that deserve to be knitted into hats - and some already are new hats. Some are terrible, handspun yarns that need to be given to the thrift store. Some are wonderfully soft and squishy merino in dreary colors and will find their way into the dye pot. Some are interesting novelty yarns and now have been partnered up with base yarns to become 'Windy City' hats, like the one you see here. Some of these novelty yarns will tell me exactly what colors the dull-colored merino would like to become.

I even kitted up some of these Windy City combos and packed them into totes. One tote came to the office today to become my lunchtime knitting. And it did. I started knitting a deep olive green hat with gold and blue accents. Kind of pretty!

In the garden, J and I did a lovely job on the succulent bed; but last evening's deluge kind of wiped it out. Sad, but highly fixable.

I also dug and planted a kuri squash bed and planted a Japanese eggplant between the blueberries. Eggie looked okay this morning and we shall see if the Kuri squash comes up. I hope so. I got the seeds in an exchange a few years ago. I soaked them for a couple of days before I planted them.

The other cool thing I did was spend some time with my very young friend Nate. Nate is a bit under 9 months old and is a big (24 pound) tiny guy. His grandma, my pal Sally was caring for him at Locally Grown, her craft shop at the WNC Farmers Market. I went out to check in with Mac, bring her some signage materials, look for plants and shop for veggies. So I popped the rather mellow Nate into his stroller and walked through the stalls, talking to him while I looked at vegie and flower plants and he looked adorable. Eventually he curled up and fell asleep as I pushed him around. Later I gave him a bottle and sang sweet and silly songs. I've never been one who is gaga for any old baby. But Nate is one fine baby.