The Butterfly Whisperer

We had a busy and eventful weekend! Saturday was Mr. Bee's birthday and in keeping with our Birthday-Palooza tradition, we turned it into 3 days of fun. And I actually started a little early since I went to Knit Night on Friday night. I got a hardy chunk of Mr. Bee's sweater done. At least enough so you can see the pattern. I'm really liking it. It's enough to keep me interested but not overly complicated; just lattice and seed stitch.

Saturday we went out for a big brunch and then meandered to up to Ho-Chunk Casino in Baraboo. I went to the $1 slots and won $500 ($150 and then $350) in the first 10 minutes. I took my voucher over to the Blackjack table, handed it to Mr. Bee and said, "Happy Birthday! I'm going to knit." Then I went up to the second level of the hotel atrium, picked a big comfy leather couch and knit more sweater. The atrium is amazing. Even if you don't gamble, you should dodge in and take a look if you happen up that way. There's a waterfall and sandstone ledges like in The Dells. I had a perfect view of the falls and the bald eagle. Bliss. Mr. Bee lost $50 on Blackjack and more on the slots and came to get me about 1 hour later. He asked me how I won and I showed him the machine. He put in $3 and won $350. We ran to the cashier, got our loot and scurried out of the Casino like we'd robbed the place; giggling all the way!

Yesterday we went to Milwaukee to the Body Worlds exhibit. It was every bit as amazing as I had hoped. There was no danger of being 'grossed out' because the bodies were so plasticized that they didn't look real. My favorites were The Horse and Rider, and Phoenix woman. The only time I really thought about the fact that they were people was when I noticed one man had tattoos. It was very educational.

While we were at the Museum, we went into the Butterfly Room as well. Now, I'm not a bug girl, not even if they are hooked to colorful little hang gliders, but I was fascinated! It's a small (very tropical) room and there were hundreds of butterflies of every imaginable color, size and shape just doin' their little butterfly thing in there. At first I was proud that I ignored the instinct to swat.Then I notice that little kids were putting their hands down and the butterflies were crawling right onto them. I thought, "If they aren't killing those little kids, maybe they won't kill me either. I'm a lot bigger than those kids, and even if I get a really nasty butterfly bite, how much venom can they possibly inject?" And before I could think further about the venom I might be inflicted with should they decide to swarm me, I put down my hand and picked up a little black-winged fellow with brilliant rose spots. He was very polite. He licked me a little and once I got over the notion that he was possibly cleansing the potential wound site, I settled in and enjoyed the tickling. And then I was hooked. I tried again and again to catch another one but failed. I finally asked a little girl who was literally covered in the things and she explained it to me. She spoke these words of infinite wisdom...The Butterfly Whisperer said, "You just have to invite the ones that're willing." And she was right. Pretty profound. Mr. Bee practically had to drag me kicking and screaming from the room, I was having so much fun.

I'm almost done spinning the singles of the aqua apricot merino I've been working on. I've shored up my wheel so that it doesn't wobble so much since I am only using one of the two treadles. I'm trying to spin it a bit thicker than the Mermaid Tails, which turned out a lot finer than I'd anticipated. We'll see how it goes.

Our magnolia finally blossomed yesterday so it must be spring!

Don't forget! The Alpaca Festival is at The Coliseum this coming weekend!