Slow Progress on Two Fronts

Hello - I hope all of you had a good weekend, and for those of us in the U.S., I hope your weekend was a good one without going anywhere that included crowds and acting like an eejit.  Our weekend was really lovely, and the best part was that we actually sat in the garden and ate our picnic dinner on Monday!  It was nice that a) it was cleaned up enough out there to be able to enjoy it, and b) it was not hot and humid, but a lovely day and evening.  It was kind of weird to be home, since we are usually at my sister's, but we made the best of it.

I even pre-ordered and paid for sticky buns from a bakery in the neighborhood for us to have on Saturday morning as a treat, since we would be around.  They were heavenly, and when I picked them up and brought them home, they were even still WARM!!  It doesn't get much better than that.

Since we were at home and not doing anything other than entertaining ourselves, I did manage to get some knitting and reading accomplished.  I am still reading Mansfield Park and enjoying it quite a bit.  Just enough amusement for me at the moment.  One of the things I enjoy about Jane Austen's books is the way that she can concoct a sentence in a very proper way and still let you know that a particular character is ridiculous in any way.

But I did make a good deal of knitting progress, and have a HO to share with you:

Ta da!  I finished knitting the first of my Sousa Socks!  This is the one that had to have the end of the foot and toe redone, since I'd dropped stitches and hadn't realized it until I was ready to tie the last stitch off after doing the Kitchener stitch.  Ugh.  But It wasn't that much, and I'm really really pleased with how it looks - plus it fits, which I was hoping would be the case, but then again, when you are not too great at colorwork, it can be a crapshoot.

I have the second one well underway, and hope it won't take as long as the first one did, since I know what I want to do this time around.

As for my other projects - the sweater and the shawl - I am thisclose to finishing them, so hopefully they will join the ranks of FOs soon.  

This is my post for Unraveled Wednesday - go and see what else Kat and the others are up to!

Going to the Wolves

As mentioned in a previous post, I had a birthday last week, and the one thing I had asked to do was to visit the Wolf Sanctuary of PA for one of their tours.  So last Thursday, The Tim and I got up and got going out to Lititz, PA (which I enjoy calling "La Tits" because apparently part of me is an 11-year-old boy).  It's a lovely drive, and once we got away from the city, there wasn't much traffic, so we were there in no time!

I wasn't *exactly* sure what to expect in real life, but I can assure you that the entire experience was wonderful, and did not disappoint in any way! 

The Wolf Sanctuary is a huge area, which currently houses 48 wolves.  There is one pack ("The Big Pack") made up of some of the wolves from the original group at the Sanctuary.  They had formerly bred wolves, but then realized that it would mean they would very quickly run out of room for other wolves that needed a place to be.  So all the wolves that are there now, and that come in the future, have been spayed or neutered, to control the population and assure room for any wolves that need their help down the road.

We have both always been attracted to wolves, and there used to be a woman in our neighborhood who had a wolf/dog hybrid (who was incredibly shy), but other than that, have never had much of a chance to be around the animals otherwise.  It was really interesting to hear all about the history of the Sanctuary, as well as learn details about wolf behaviors.  But of course, the actual wolves were the stars of the day.

The Original Pack includes Lincoln, Levi, Sarge, Chomp, Trinity (Alpha Female), Frodo (Alpha Male), and Lucas.  They were very interested in us, though would have been more interested if we had brought lunch for them!

Lucas and Frodo 

The Whole Pack

Frodo

Frodo

Lucas

Lucas

Lucas

Chomp

Below, please meet Thor.  He is the oldest wolf at the Sanctuary, having turned 18 on February 15th of this year.

Thor is blind, but was still very alert when the tour guide was talking to him.

This is Jake.  She is a relative newcomer to the Sanctuary, and is in the enclosure next to Thor.  They are hoping that the two of them will form a pack.  She was very friendly, but then decided she was lonely and started to howl.

And, just like when one dog in the neighborhood starts barking and then all the others start, the same thing happened here.  Everyone else started howling too.  It was amazing.

Here is a little video that The Tim took of her howling, I hope it works here.

Next up, we met Cheyenne.  She is particularly friendly, having been someone's pet.  She was so excited to see us and the tour guide!  Here's a video of her coming to see him.  (Again, I hope it works.)

Then we met Spirit and Mika, who are both white wolves.  Mika was extremely shy, but Spirit was ready for some attention and wanted to play!  Spirit is a former pet, who one day escaped from her yard when everyone at her house was out and she got bored.  She ended up at the playground of an elementary school, where the kids at recess loved playing with her, and she loved the attention!  Only when they called to say a lost dog was there, did they find her, take her to animal control, and learn that she was a wolf mix!  She was more than happy to get some attention, and clearly loves our tour guide, Denny.

The animals were all clearly quite content in their enclosures, and it was clear that the people working there were not only familiar with them, but that they love them all, and take excellent care of them.  

This is a cow skull, which is the only part of a cow that they are not interested in eating completely.  They use this to "play hunt," as they did with an opossum that [foolishly] wandered into an enclosure.  

Happy wolves all around.  This place is amazing and the people so clearly care about the animals and caring for them and rescuing them, it was a wonderful thing to see.  I can't wait to go back - our guide told us that the nighttime tours include a bonfire, which would be really something to experience.

I would definitely recommend a visit to this place if you like wolves and are interested in animal rescue.  There is even a B&B on the property where you can stay!  But it's well worth the day trip too.  

As we were coming home, we realized it's not that far from the Stoudt's Brewery, which has a tour of their facilities and a pub too.  So you could make a day of it and probably get a yummy meal as well.  

Which is surely on the agenda for a future trip ... 

I hope you enjoyed these pictures and videos, and seeing the wolves.  I have a ton more photos, but what I have shared here surely gives you the idea of the place.  Let me know if you visit, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Off to enjoy the rest of my snow day, courtesy of the most recent nor'easter.  Have a good one!