Anybody want a kitten?

Does anyone want one of these adorable kittens? They need homes! More on that later...

After our Alpaca visits, we arrived in Camden, Maine, a really cute and authentic (meaning not terribly touristy) town on the water. They had a wonderful yarn shop called Unique One, which was still open at 8pm (even though the website said they close at 5). There were a lot of local yarns there, and so many buttons! But I restrained myself because I had just bought more alpaca on the way up. Amazingly, Dave seemed to enjoy touching all the different yarns, but I think he was just appeasing me so we could finish up and get some lobster.

We went to Acadia National Park on Friday, which was really beautiful. However, the leaves were predominantly green. I guess the lack of rain this summer really slowed down the color change. We stopped at a beach with cold water, and I pretended I was young again by following 2 kids up a big rock pile. But I realized that going down was a lot worse than going up as I fell on my ass onto a pointy boulder during my descent. Ah, youth...

We planned to hike on Mount Battie in Camden on Sunday, but it poured and poured the whole day, so we left Maine and headed down to Lowell, MA, to visit our friends Paul and Andrea, who have a 2-month-old daughter, Rebecca (recognize the Blue Sky Organic Cotton sweater?) Watch out -- their house is a den of fertility! They adopted a stray cat when they moved in, who turned out to pregnant. So 2 weeks after Rebecca was born, Sophie the cat gave birth to 5 kittens. They are so cute! If anyone wants a kitten, let me know. They are trying to find them homes. I like the little grey and white one, but we already have 2 cats so it's out of the question. My theory is that once you have more than 2, you become a cat person and it is really hard to say no to more. I mean, what's the difference between 3 cats and 4 cats? Or 4 and 5? Pretty soon you end up tripping over felines on your way to the bathroom at 3AM and that's not good for anybody. So as cute as they were, I restrained myself and Dave and we left sans adorable kittens. But I mean it, if anyone wants a kitten, please let me know.

We stayed at my parents' house in CT for a night, and then went to visit my adorable, beautiful, perfect niece Samantha. Guess who knit those hats?

My current WIP is the Greta Poncho from the book Viva Poncho. Thanks, Claudine! I'm making it with my Rhinebeck alpaca. Jenn, see how my ball is shrinking? Is yours shrinking, too?

By the way, if you are ever in Freeport (home of LL Bean), eat at Morrison's Chowder House!!! They had a corn chowder (in a bread bowl!) on the menu billed as a "vegetarian's dream come true" and YES it WAS!!! Consider this a whole-hearted endorsement. We even stopped again on our way back home, and Dave, who had the lobster chowder the first time around, even switched up for the corn chowder. They don't have a website, but if you're in the area, it's on the side street right across from LL Bean and so worth a visit (or two).