The Not-So-Long Con (vention)

Todd and I haven't done very many local toy shows, mainly setting up a booth at Star Wars Celebration every 2 years.  But when he heard that a toy show was happening about 10 minutes from where we live, he couldn't resist.

Even for a small show, setup takes a couple of hours.

I was surprised to see a that a line had formed outside before the expo opened.  It's hard to predict what the interest will be, but this one had a pretty healthy attendance!

It was nice and steady all day!  I loved seeing the costumes...

I always get a kick out of seeing fan-worn sci-fi merchandise at toy shows.  My favorite from this one:  a U.S.S. Nostromo hat (for non-Alien fans, the Nostromo was the beleaguered ship in the movie).  I also made a mental note to purchase a Always Eat Hole Foods tank top featuring a donut that I saw a little girl wearing.

For an introvert who despises crowds and gets worn down by noise very easily, toy shows are pretty exhausting.  You have the early morning set-up, the long day of conversation and interactions, and then a lengthy tear down at the end of the day.

These smaller shows are a lot easier.  The flow of customers is steady and not an overwhelming clamor, like at the big shows.  Todd and I had plenty of time to chit chat and people watch.  Still, I was pretty tired by the end.

Todd, of course, loves it.  Happy place!

Speaking of happy place...

...the cats are still loving their recent acquisitions.  I had been worried that they'd be affected by the dramatic change in space and windows from our old house to the temporary apartment, but they're adjusting without any problems!  I guess I can shelve my plans to turn our 2nd bedroom into a cat paradise.  

I've been slowly getting back into classes with my wrapped knee, but I haven't wanted to push it by adding lengthy night walks.  One more week and I should be totally back to normal.  Fingers crossed.

Have a great week!

the knee bone's connected to the...

Cabin fever!  I've been apartment-bound for almost a week.  I strained my quad at the gym and, since walking was painful and ill-advised, spent several days with my leg propped up, anxiously prodding it for sore spots. A few weeks ago, I'd signed up for an adult dance class that started this week and I hated to miss, so when I'd passed from sore to tender, decided to take the risk of going.  Bad idea.  A fascinating (and painful) anatomy lesson:  one of the jobs of your quad is to keep your kneecap in place. If your quad is compromised, your kneecap is at a much greater risk of sliding all over the place injury, especially if you are doing a lot of jumping.  By the end of class, my quad felt fine, but my knee was agonizingly pained.  Two more days of healing later and I'm pacing the apartment, looking outside (sunny and 75 degrees), and trying to keep myself occupied.  At least the cats are entertaining.  I bought this hammock-like contraption that hooks onto any window...

It holds up to 50 pounds, and the Amazon review page shows delightful customer photos of two cats curled together in the hammock.

So far, the cats have politely taken turns, but I'd love to catch a cuddle!

I'm a terrible invalid.  I've greatly missed our daily walks.

Just last week (the night before the injury), we had a wonderful one, seeing some chattering crows...

...and even a barred owl in the woods.

I'm hoping to, at the very least, resume the daily walk tomorrow.  Meanwhile, I've had a lot of time to plan the remodel on the house we're hoping to get.  My room-by-room analysis has been challenging and time-consuming, two absolutely welcomed characteristics this week.

-Rip up the carpet and put down light-colored bamboo flooring.
-Remove all pendant ceiling lights and fan and install recessed lighting.
-Paint walls (including paneling) Benjamin Moore Paper White.
-Paint bookcase Benjamin Moore Pale Smoke. 

Etc., etc.

If we do get the house (which we're hoping to know for sure by this time next week at the latest), we will be ready!

Have a great week!

the castle is worth the hassle

We're in a bit of limbo as these mid-August days pass.  We are moving toward a house, but still in temporary housing while inspections and negotiations take place.  We are moving toward a big business expansion, but those plans are on hold until we get into a new, larger space.  So while planning, phone calls, and general settling in take time, we still do have more free time than we're used to. 

Thankfully, there are some amazing hiking trails here.  I found about 8 trails within 10 miles of our apartment, so we're out almost every day.  Yesterday's trail, Porter-West, is part of the Sycamore Land Trust.  A portion of the trail wound through the woods, but huge swatches of it were just mowed paths through overgrown meadows.  I love the sweet smell of meadow grass in the sun, and the sweet-spicy smell of wild honeysuckle and sweet peas.

Plenty of insects...

I've become pretty adept at spotting these bagworm moth cocoons.

We even found an old graveyard with inscriptions dating back to the mid-1700s!

It hasn't been all hiking, though.  We tried out Bloomington's famous Saturday farmers market!  It has been on top 10 lists for markets nationally and I could see why.  Live music, fresh produce, meat, cheese, honey, syrups, herbs, flowers...

...plus local bakeries set up booths for coffee, pastries and miscellaneous sweets.  Food trucks serve all sorts of international dishes.  Artists have booths at the far side of the market, selling pottery, handspun wool, jewelry, prints, etc.  I wish I would've gotten more pictures but I'll save that for next time!

For fun, we also decided to take a cardboard cat-castle building class for adults this week too.  The library provided the cardboard and the art supplies, and we chose a blueprint. 

Oh, and the library also provided the cats!

They waited patiently while we completed our creations...

...and then tried them out!

We had a great time.

We've got many more fun things planned over the next few weeks, but the best feeling of all would be the completion of the house stuff and a definitive move toward closing!  There are so many things that could go wrong right now.  We've got some pretty pricey inspection-driven requests for the sellers, and if they balk, it could be back to the drawing board for us.  A pretty dismal prospect.  So this week it's crossed fingers, prayers, and distracting activities.  Bring on the cat castles!

Have a great week! 

Farm-tastic!

More lovely days in the town where even the graffiti makes us feel right at home:

It's wonderful to have so many great places to hike close by.  We've gotten into the delightful  habit of a leg-stretching stroll at least every other day.  There's so much to see.  Beautiful butterflies...

...including this aptly-named great spangled fritillary.

Check out those spotted eyes!

I also saw a banded tussock caterpillar making his way across a leaf...

...and these sawfly larvae were making short work of a leaf of their own!

Sawfly larvae are very destructive.  A group of sawfly larvae can skeletonize a leaf in no time, and even adult sawflies prey on plants! 

This was a fun discovery: the corpse plant (Monotropa uniflora).

It lacks chlorophyll and does not get its energy from the sun.  Instead, it uses its root system, and a has a parasitic relationship with a certain fungus, from which it draws nutrients.  Because they don't utilize sunlight, they can be found in some very dark places! 

We stumbled on this really colorful bog yesterday, full of birds and odd, spiky flowers.  I can't wait to go back with my binoculars!

We even found a nearby park with a pond where we can indulge in goz love!

More great news:  we're under contract to buy a 5-acre hobby farm!  I'm so picky and I don't like contemporary house styles, so I was absolutely thrilled to find this great A-frame.  It needs massive updating...carpet removed, walls repainted, cabinets knocked out, lighting replaced.  But I think it will be AMAZING. 

Two of the acres are fenced in and animal-ready!

The view from my future office deck:

The barn!

The deal isn't done until the deal is done, so right now I will say that I'm thrilled to be under contract and hopeful that there are no problems and we'll close as planned in early September.  I'm already planning a fruit orchard, massive vegetable and flower gardens, a chicken coop, climbing roses up the side of the house (A-frames just beg for climbing roses!), and a beautiful red door and window boxes full of red geraniums to offset all of that drab brown! 

Stay tuned!