Sadly leeann in Wollongong can't host Stamps, so I have made the following changes to his itinerary.
NorthernDyes to Cora (Edmonton)
Cora to Sarah in Oregon Sarah to MaryjoO (Sacramento)
MaryjoO to Izzybellarina (Reno)
Izzybellarina to dollycheeks (Bellflower Ca)
Dollycheeks to Knittingalone (New Jersey)
Knittingalone to jacsel (Yorkshire)
jacsel to Periwinkle (Sunderland)
periwinkle to charminglochie (Outer Hebrides, Scotland)
charminglochie to eddyg. (Bridgend, Wales)
eddyg to freddycat (France)
freddycat to Sinjeto (Finland)
Sinjeto to Gemma (Burwood, New South Wales, Aus)
Gemma to kittenkong67 (Preston, Victoria, Aus)
kittenkong67 to Joeyn (Hazelwood, Sth Vic Aus)
Joeyn to Nimloth ( Camberra, Aus)
Nimloth to Stinkymum (New York)
Stinkymum to Gerryberry (me) in Dublin
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
2009 Austin Healy Redezvous - Ashland, WI
The "Chamber Ladies" welcome Stamps to the 2009 Austin Healy Rendezvous!
There were so many beautiful cars here today. They cam from all over the Upper Midwest and Canada. We could do this every Saturday!
So many different makes and models to gawk at.
This wonderful couple from Minneapolis let Stamps drive their Jaguar Sedan. The picture turned out terrible, but come on, he's driving a Jag, how can I not post it? Anyone know the make or year? I forgot paper to write these things down :(
According to the sign this baby's is an original, right down to the paint. (Man, my car doesn't look that good and it's no where near 60 years old....) This is an Original MGTD Midget Mark II competition model for road rallies. They did an autocross down at the airport after the show. I really wish we'd been able to go to that, but I needed to eventually go back to work....shoot.
"Mom, you gotta see this!!!" Wendy can not get over the fact that this car has no doors. This is a British Mini Moke and I'll admit, it *is* pretty dang cool. The owners came over and asked if she wanted to sit in it. She's probably the only one there that got to sit in a car without guessing the number of cylinders first. Wendy is absolutely giddy about being in a car with no sides or doors! Apparently when you are four that is just not a concept you can grasp. Poor Stamps is gasping for breath!
I asked Wendy to find the prettiest car at the show, and this was it. According to Wendy, "I love white stripes! It has white stripes!" Yeah, Wendy, but it also has doors... what a fickle thing she is!
Pie ON Politics
The Alliance for Sustainability held a fundraiser where you could vote to have a politician get a pie in the face. No one made their goal so instead they did everybody!
Top Left to Bottom Right: Bayfield Mayor Larry MacDonald, Washburn Mayor Ralph Brzezinski, Ashland Mayor Ed Monroe (the one that greeted Stamps to the US) and Wisconsin Senator Bob Jauch. For a play by play of everyone getting pied start here on flickr.
All in all another great day!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
To Market! To Market!
This morning we head over to the Ashland Farmer's Market. It's the first market of the season, and Stamps is lucky enough to be here for it! At first people give us funny looks (we don't have hedgehogs in Wisconsin) but soon everyone insists on getting to meet our foreign visitor. If there is one thing about Northern Wisconsin that visitors are always taking away, it's that we're pretty friendly folk! We figure the lake makes us patient.
Stamps helps the girls check out the cookies at Chili Joe's Cookies & Confections. He says nothing is better than to follow up a big bowl of steaming chili with a nice melt-in-your-mouth cookie. His cookies are nice and big! Oh, and in the chocolate chip, the first ingredient by weight is CHOCOLATE! Yes!
First he tries out a little "bling" that JW has for sale at the Dyeworks' booth. Then he visits Wallner's Sugar Bush, Lucy's handspun, and takes a moment to inspect some green onions across the aisle. He is keeping an eye on those "HOT!!" pepper plants behind him!
Weaver Crafts is there with some of their amazing pottery and a special treat that they must show Stamps. Hand-carved pipes, they look like they are right out of a fairytale!
No trip to market is complete without popping by The Garlic Man's booth! Sadly, there wasn't any garlic left this morning, but we did still have fun saying "Arugula" and asking for potted "chocolate." Good Times!
Great Oak Farm is one of our favorite stops. Honey, syrup, veggies, herbs, strawberries (the best ever!) chickens, pork, lamb, and eggs. They are their own little supermarket with the added bonus that it's all grown only a few miles out of town! We can't eat anyone else's honey anymore, we're too spoiled. One of these jars came home with us!
Nothing is better after a long morning of shopping than a ten minute chair massage! It must feel good, look at the smile on his face!
Mock Duck, anyone? Handmade tortillas, focaccia, and faux meats. These entrepreneurial vegans were grilling up kebabs right there at market, YUM!
City Heights Gardens' booth is a wall of blooms this time of year. She specializes in flats of annuals along with a few planters. Excellent cut flowers and more perennials are two booths down at Whittlesey Creek. You can always count on picking up some fresh cut flowers at market!
This started out as a handshake, but now they're best friends. Those are jugs of Maple Syrup behind them. 100% Pure, and yes it comes in quarts and gallons! Now it's time to say goodbye to the weed management guys, grab a loaf of Swedish Limpa Rye for the road, and strike a final pose in front of a tie-dye silk banner at Northwoods Dyeworks' booth. We're expected down at the Austin Healy car show, so we'd better get moving!
Day 2 Getting to know the Lay of the Land
Stamps keeps himself busy by exploring the shop a bit! He checks out
the batt bins over in the needlefelting section and then get distracted
by a spinning wheel with toes! (It's a Merlin Tree
HitchHiker.)
While Stamps is checking about, Gordy walks in! Gordy Johnson is
currently a bit of a celebrity in these parts. One of the locals did a
mini-documentary about him for a short film contest and the paper posted
it on YouTube.
You can
see it here (The little girl in it is Bea, and the lady sewing his
sleeve is Libby.)
Later in the day Libby comes up front and can't find Stamps! Oh no!
Where could he be?!?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Stamps Arrives in Ashland, WI - USA
His hosts are eager to meet him! We can't wait and have to pause on the Post Office lawn to let him out.
On our way back to the shop we stop by City Hall, where a surprise is awaiting Stamps!
Sitting on the planter in front of city hall.
Someone special is waiting for Stamps inside City Hall
It's Ashland's own Mayor Ed Monroe, "Welcome to Wisconsin, Stamps! We hope you enjoy your stay in Ashland, it's a great weekend to be visiting!"
Ok, it's time to head to work! But as we are leaving City Hall Bea notices something exciting on the shore. She points it out to Stamps and her sister.
The coalboat is here! In Ashland we get our power from hydroelectric and fuel burning plants. Although our bayfront plant has been upgraded to burn wood and tire waste, we still use the traditional coal as well. A couple times a year you can see this smaller oreboat come in with our delivery. Currently it is the biggest boat that regularly visits our harbor. I'm pretty sure she is the "American Mariner." Here are her specs from The Duluth Shipping News
She was built in 1980 by Bay Shipbuilding Company at Sturgeon Bay and is 730 feet long and 78 feet wide. Above the deck she has 24 hatches that open into 7 cargo holds. The American Mariner is powered by two diesel engines that produce a total of 7,000 hp and give her a top speed of about 16 mph.We learned recently that transport in these big ore boats is 8x cheaper than road transport!
Along the final leg of Main Street Bea & Stamps stop to check out the movie listings and to chat with some friends in the J.C. Penny's display window.
Finally we get to our destination! Stamps' hosts are the owners of Northwoods Dyeworks, an LYS and manufacturer of yarns & wheels. Libby has a lot of work to do today that involves dyes and fire (wood burning) so all hedgehogs must keep out of the workshop today! Stamps finds some friends to keep him company!
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