No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, although I've wanted to lately! So sorry for not updating here more often. I think I've finally discovered the limits of what I can do, and unfortunately the blog had to get put aside.
Summer is visitor season in Maine, during which time every member of my near and distant family comes to stay for several weeks. It's also shop season, during which time I add a full-time shopkeeper job to my already full plate.
Then this year it was deer season as well, when I stopped to let three deer cross the road and a drunk, speeding lobsterman whammed my car from behind. The car should take about six weeks to repair, and the frame was bent, which means no matter what repairs they do, the car won't be the same. That whole episode has been extremely jarring and upsetting on many levels, and I still can't drive without breaking a cold sweat when I see (or think I see) an animal by the road.
The garden has fared beautifully. The strawberries were the most delicious I've ever, ever tasted. Lettuce and spinach have been plentiful. The green beans are ready to be picked, and the basil is dying to be made into pesto. Next are the tomatoes, weather permitting. So that coyote urine -- regardless of how it was extracted -- is doing the trick.
Even now as I write this, a customer has just come into the shop and expecting my undivided attention -- so I must cut my update short. But I am here, and I will write more later!
And in other news to be elaborated on later, here's where the Knitter's Review offices are moving this fall! The downstairs is where my summer shop is located, and the upstairs is where the offices will be. It's the same building where Wooden Boat Magazine was founded many many years ago, and it used to house a knitting and weaving shop, so it's got good history.
