I Was A Housecleaning Tornado

I was certainly ready for some sleep when I turned off my lights last night. I worked hard on cleaning and shopping throughout the day. It was a relief to take an hour off and chat with Aearwen. Except for that, it was go, go, go. 

I barely sat down yesterday, it was go, go, go all day. By the
end of the day I was exhausted, but it was good
exhaustion - an accomplished day. 

I dropped the four boxes of books off at 9:00 am at Half Price Books. Barely got anything for them, but they're out of my house and away from my thoughts. That's a win/win. I do have one last box that needs to be taken next week, I think, but that'll be the end of it. I shopped Target and the grocer, did multiple loads of laundry, and cleaned, cleaned cleaned. 

Except for bits of paper and the boxes of LIFE magazines against
the wall (which will be there for the time being), I declare
Sharon's room ready for habitation, and much cleaner than it
has been in prior years. 

I declare Sharon's room ready (except for vacuuming which I've scheduled for next Wednesday/Thursday). Take a look - there's floor! The items on the sleeper sofa are her bathroom linens, sheets, bathrobe and blankets, so all focused. The shelves have been dusted and all is ready for the annual visitation. 

I adore my Rio Grande Spinning Wheel - it's a beautiful and
very versatile wheel that spins a treat. Behind it you can
also see my hand-operated drum carder. I have a standard
drum and a fur drum for the carder. It's so much faster than
using the hard carders that are in my sewing area. 

I was able to get to my Rio Grande Spinning Wheel and check it over. It seems to be doing quite well, I hadn't used it for a while, and wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything, so I went on an internet hunt for assembly and use instructions, finding a wonderful and inclusive video on Vimeo. After signing up with them, I was able to download the video and ascertain that my wheel seems to be in excellent condition. I'm rather relieved about that since I adore the wheel. 

The Fair opens today. My way to and from work goes directly
by the Fairgrounds, so it will be interesting to see how the
traffic is impacted. The Park-N-Ride stations throughout the
wider metro area have helped traffic congestion a lot. 

Today is the first day of the Minnesota State Fair. It's the largest attended State Fair in the nation for the days it runs. The Texas State Fair has more attendees (2.5 million versus our 2+ million), but Texas holds the fair for almost a full month. We hold our Fair for a total of 12 Days, and in that time we bring more than 2 million people through our gates. The State Fair - you either love it or hate it. I happen to love it. When I first moved to Minnesota I lived 1/2 block from the Fairgrounds. I don't think I could have tolerated that if I hadn't loved the Fair. 

One of the new foods that I absolutely want to try is the loaded
breakfast potato skin at the Blue Barn. I've had a lot of
different food from the Blue Barn over the years and have
never been disappointed. 

Chickie will be taking today off to go to the Fair on opening day. I've already warned her that I expect regular texts and photos of the foods she tries. I'm Fair envious, even though I'll be there next week with Sharon and the gang. 

On that note, time to wrap this up. Have a totally excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow.