LYS! Toledo Rocks!

So if you've been listening to me at all these past 2 weeks, you've heard me mourn over leaving the Bay Area and how sad I am to be away from friends and community and fresh produce and my lovely yarn stores. I've been pretty sad. Well, that has changed, my friends.

Three things happened yesterday to Will and me that made us feel at home in Toledo.
1)Our new record player arrived in the mail. Our record player we had had for many years (bought during college- a cheap one from RadioShack) died on the move out here. Who knows if it was just ready to rest in peace, who knows if it just received one too many blows in the shipping. But when we tried to play a record while unpacking, it refused to oblige us. And so we bought a new one. Or we bought an old one that is now new to us. We are very pleased to be able to play our records again (yes, we have vinyl). We are listening to Edith Piaf right now- a record we bought in Ann Arbor last Friday when we were so very sad. At least, I was sad until I found a few Fairy Doors. It was good times.

On to the second thing that made us feel more at home
2) We found a Mexican grocery store. Back in California, we had a lovely local Mexican grocery store, complete with a butcher and small taqueria. We like to make our own Mexican food at home, and we own the tortilla press to prove it. But we did not transport our tortilla masa. Instead, we left it with friends (hey, Sara!). I expected to easily find a Mexican grocery. This one was not too far off the beaten track, and found it on day 13 of our Toledo experience.

Now, these are lovely things, but the BEST thing by far, the thing that has me the happiest to date in our Toledo experience is
3) I found my Local Yarn Store. And it rocks! I had googled yarn stores in Toledo, but the websites are not that revealing. In fact, the website for my lys does not do it justice. Fiberworks is not that far away (only about 15 minutes away, I think) and it has a lot of really great yarn. And they have a weaving studio there and- wait for it- they have spinning wheels- that you can rent! If the exclamation points aren't yet signifying for you, I am VERY excited about this recent development. I can't wait to knit down my stash so I can go buy yarn. And Wayne, who teaches there and who may own the store (I was too distracted by the yarn to remember to ask who owns such a lovely store) said I can come down to knit any time I want to, well, I'm sure he meant whenever it was open.
I've been wanting to learn to spin for a while now, and apparently, they give classes that start with the drop spindle and end on the wheel, which you can then rent out and try out at home. They have different kinds- an Ashford, I think, and some others which I didn't recognize yet.

Today, Will and I spent time devoted to other crafts. We got up early and went to the Farmer's Market (which is more "homegrown" than "organic", but hey, beggars can't be choosers). We bought 2 pecks of roma tomatoes, among our regular groceries. We are planning on spending Labor Day here canning tomato sauce. To that end, we drove to Indiana and looked in my mother's boxes which are eventually going to her in California where she just moved.
In the end, we were triumphant on several counts. We found the Squeezo in a box, as well as my baby trunk, some books of mine, and some pictures from my childhood.

During the car ride, I completed one bootie and one dishcloth. I am definitely suffering from Second Bootie Syndrome.