Linn, I think of it as like a tangled skein of yarn - you just have to spread it out and pick at it carefully before it can be neatly rolled up in a ball. ;-}

I went with a friend to a tiny museum in Peterboro yesterday (about an hour's drive). Interesting. People have decluttered their houses of all sorts of things from all over the world, some of them rather recently made. The key is, they put the less-precious things out for hands-on play and inspection. Toys, musical instruments, costumes, puppets, all down at kid level. The only thing missing while we were there was kids. If my kids were still little, we'd be making monthly trips there. We went for a travelling exhibit of Woody Guthrie's manuscripts and drawings (which were interesting) but fell into a talk on textiles. What fun! For me, the highlight was Kuba cloth. I'm not really sure how it's made, but holding a piece is like having jazz in your hands - wildly inventive, restrained by color and size (the piece we saw was very finely made). I had to tear myself away.

Today's job will be battening down and winterizing the side porch. Possible hurricane sideswipe by Monday.