Chocolate over-Indulgence

Have I mentioned that Dick is going to build spinning wheels? He's been researching those already on the market and studying construction methods and techniques. I've been doing my part (since I'll be the main beneficiary of his labors) by setting up study dates with my friends' wheels (thanks, Susie!) and searching for books, plans, and websites that he might find interesting. One book that was highly recommended, Understanding The Spinning Wheel by Eric Corran, just happened to be in stock at Village Spinning and Weaving in Solvang. It's a tad pricey ($80!!) so I wanted Dick to look at it before we bought it. Can you say 'road trip'?

And, of course, you can't go to a yarn shop without purchasing yarn. At least I can't. It would hurt John and Marsha's feelings if I didn't contribute to their retirement fund, right? So in addition to the book - which Dick pronounced 'excellent' - I made a slight addition to my yarn collection. (it's not stash anymore, it's a "collection". Check out the rationalization here.)
From the top, there's 665 yards of black 3-ply Superfine Prime Alpaca Yarn (incredibly soft, to make Dick a scarf to replace the one he left on the plane. sigh.), 500+ yards of "Hot Foot" Superwash Merino in luscious purples, blues, teal, and black (to make a shawl for me), and a cone of 10/2 Tencel to ply with my spun singles (to extend those 6 and 8-ounce treasures I just had to have; spun up, there isn't enough yardage to do anything with. But if I ply one spun single and one strand of Tencel . . . .)

In all the trips we've made to Solvang, we've never explored the surrounding countryside. We go to the main shopping area, check out our favorite shops, and then drive back home. We had some time to kill today, so we took a side road and explored. Have you ever heard of Nojoqui Falls? Me neither. The trail head is in a secluded county park about 7 miles outside Solvang. The area is beautiful and the falls are a 10-minute hike from the parking lot. We didn't have hiking shoes on today, but we will next time! We drove through Ballard and Los Olivos - featured in the movie Sideways - and we'll definitely go back there too.

Today's destination wasn't at all influenced by the Chumash Casino's Chocolate Indulgence promotion - Buffet ($14.95) with over 40 chocolate desserts, white and dark chocolate dipping fountains, free chocolate samples - offered only on Thursday evenings through February. They cheated just a touch by counting the various chocolate truffles and candies separately in their '40 desserts', but they had more items than (most people) could possibly eat - chocolate pudding cake, cherry and chocolate crepes (custom-made while you waited), chocolate dipping fountains with every kind of fruit you can imagine, 5-layer chocolate cake, tiny chocolate mousse cups, Italian sipping chocolate (it was like drinking liquid truffles; almost too rich), and cakes and tarts and more truffle-y chocolates than I've ever seen in one place. In addition to the main buffet dishes - two salmon, two chicken, four shrimp, tri-tip, salads and fruits and breads and potatoes and veggies and who knows what else? And all of it was well prepared and delicious.

We showed restraint and were able to walk away from the buffet under our own steam. But it was hard.