Last night, all I could think is that I need just one more day. Just one! But this morning, as I get laundry started and begin to pack and put the house back together, I realize I am also quite eager to get home and see my family. So, I’d say that’s a successful retreat. But next time, I might just take one more day.

Since I am leaving shortly, I figure I can tell you where I’ve been. I mean, I didn’t think it was overly wise to state publicly that I was going to be in a certain place all alone. Maybe that’s paranoia, but it helped me feel safe all by myself. I am at the Okoboji lakehouse again. Mr. Ink wasn’t so eager to come this time, he wanted to stay home and dig. So I came by myself and it was wonderful!

Despite the fact I believed, genuinely, that I would not get yarn finished while I was out here, I pushed through and finished 8 ounces of 3 ply. They’ll just stay on the bobbins until I get home.

And I worked pretty hard to make it into the color change of my dragonefire. In the end, I am allowing the gradient to do the work for me.

It’s been pretty wonderful out here all by myself. I’ve discovered lots of things, like how there’s a tunnel that can be used to cross under the highway nearby to get to the bike paths, rather than what Mr. Ink and I were doing this summer, standing for long amounts of time waiting for the slightest break in traffic. It wasn’t an easy to see tunnel, but I found it! And I found out how to get around the lake by myself, I found the fish hatchery by bike, and the trail that leads even father north into Minnesota. I didn’t have time to take it this trip, but that’s on my list.

But for now, time to stare at the lake a bit, and then get packed up to leave. A couple weeks of nose to the grindstone and then Thanksgiving, though it hardly seems possible since it’s been 70F both days I’ve been out here!