A Brief Southern Sojourn

I decided on Wednesday night that this would be a good time to look around down south where I am probably going to be living. This is Plan B if I can't find work, and with the earthquake causing a lot of disruption to businesses, this is looking more and more likely. So I packed up the pooches on Thursday morning and headed for Dunedin, to stay a couple of nights with my friend Desi. I spent Friday touring around Otago Peninsula with her, the poodles and her little Bichon. One place we went to was Long Beach, where we were able to let the dogs out for a good run. Here they are on the sand dunes. This was their reward for all the hours spent in the car, where they behaved impeccably.

Today we had to come home again, as it was only a reconnaissance trip, though also designed to put some distance between me and the aftershocks. On the way home, I stopped at Ashfords and bought this skein of 2 ply laceweight kid mohair blended with merino. It's 100 grams in weight, and 900 metres in length. Yes, I could dye my own, but sourcing the plain yarn is a huge mission, which is disappointing for a country with 10 times more sheep than people. Unfortunately, our small population means much of the good stuff goes offshore. Rats. Perhaps I should keep angora goats and merino sheep and alpacas, and learn to spin........