We Are Doing Well

Thanks to our friends who called and emailed and texted from all over the country.  We truly appreciate your concern.  Our 1927 Craftsman home, just a block from Peconic Bay, weathered the storm like a trooper.  We lost a few roof shingles, which Pete has already replaced, and we had a thick carpet of small branches, leaves,  and pine needles to clean up, but life is back to normal for us.  Our little village, with its own power station and utility crew, was without electricity for only very short periods of time.  The rest of Long Island is not so lucky as customers of the Long Island Power Association.  Yesterday, more than 100,000 homes between here and Manhattan were without power. 

Our friends Paula and Ann, who live even closer to the Bay than we do, evacuated to our house for the duration of the storm, along with their friend Miranda.  It was very festive to have them here.  We chatted and knitted and cooked and ate and answered lots of phone calls from concerned family and friends.  Pete made waffles for breakfast the morning after to celebrate Miranda's birthday.  Ann emailed me this morning and called our house the "Happy Heaven Hurricane Hotel" -- how funny is that?  

My sister Barb has not faired as well.  Her house is just yards from Long Island Sound.  After having experienced the wrath of Irene last year, she evacuated early on Sunday in preparation for Sandy's arrival.  She hopes to regain access to her house today to assess the water damage, but the electricity is still out.  She was without power for 7 days after Irene.  If she is allowed to move back in, she will need to spend the weekend putting her house back together, so we will not be participating in the New England Fiber Festival this weekend as planned.  

Today I am counting my blessings and sending kind thoughts and positive energy and a donation to those who have suffered so terribly this week, especially the more than 100 families in the lovely little seaside enclave of Breezy Point whose homes burned to the ground right before their eyes, and to all the friends and families of the people who lost their lives as a result of the storm.  It is incongruous to me that a storm that has destroyed so much can have a name as sweet as "Sandy."

We Are So Sad

We just heard that the HMS Bounty is sinking off the coast of North Carolina.  This is a replica, made for the movie, Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando in 1962.  It is a beautiful tall ship and has visited Greenport many times.  She is an old friend of ours -- Peter read the entire Bounty trilogy to Clara when she was little.  They read a bit before bed every night -- I think it took almost a year to get through the three books.  When Clara was in 8th grade, her class was spent an overnight on the schooner Ernestina.  They were berthed right next to the Bounty before their departure.  When the teacher asked if anyone new the story of the Bounty, Clara was the only one who raised her hand.  She stood and recounted the whole tale -- from Captain Bligh to Fletcher Christian, and Tahiti to Pitcairn Island.

We're distraught to think that this beautiful ship will end up at the bottom of the Atlantic, even more distraught to know that two of the crew are missing.  Sending lots of positive thoughts their way.

We are still dealing with high winds and high tides and waiting for the full force of the storm.  Some friends have come to stay for the duration, which makes the days more festive.  I'm trying to get some work done, but its a little difficult to focus with the storm swirling outside.  If there's a lot of damage, we may not even have a show to go to this weekend.  

***UPDATE: Even more sad -- Captain is missing and Claudine Christian has died.  

The Calm Before the Frankenstorm

We have been battening down the hatches all weekend, waiting for Hurricane Sandy (same name as the neighbor who routinely mows down my day lilies . . . ) to arrive.  It looks like we are in for a lot of water, even if it is a category one storm.  The tide surge is supposed to be epic, what with high tide and the full moon.  The foreground of the photograph above should be paved road, not water.  Who knows what it will look like tomorrow?

Our neighbors are out in force, picking up and tying down and packing away.  I picked one last bunch of zinnias for the kitchen and Pete has been harvesting veggies all day: eggplant, green beans, carrots, even a few pale tomatoes.  We will certainly have plenty to eat, even if the power goes out.  We had planned on buying a generator to run the fridge and freezer after Hurricane Irene last year, but, of course, we never got around to it.  

Now I am sitting at my work table, about to start hooking for the first time in a week and a half.  I have three more shows this year, and I need to restock.  I will get the dye pots out tomorrow.  Thankfully, we have a gas stove and I can cook even without electricity.  I don't know what this will mean for the New England Fiber Festival next Saturday and Sunday.  Springfield was hit hard during Irene last year.  Oh, well.  It is all out of our control, so I will just wait and see.  Barb, who lives near the shore in Connecticut, has evacuated to my nephew's house.  Her neighborhood was flooded last summer and she's not taking any chances.  Hopefully any damage anywhere will be minimal.

Have a safe and dry Sunday.

Rhinebeck Revisited

I neglected to get photos of our booth on opening day -- I was fussing with the internet hook up so I could take credit cards.  These are from Sunday morning, after we moved Halloween to the north wall and rearranged everything to make the booth look full again.

We are always tired at the end of the day, and Rhinebeck is always crowded, so we often eat dinner at the Eveready Diner in Hyde Park.  It's not far from the hotel and not too expensive.  It is also not very good.  Lots of people sing its praises, but we've tried all sorts of stuff there and have never really been happy.  The salmon is dry, as is the chicken, and the sandwiches and fried stuff are really greasy and salty.  I am a foodie of sorts, and I really do like to eat finely made food, but finding a parking place in Rhinebeck at dinnertime is near to impossible.

For years we have driven past an Indian restaurant with a big parking lot on Route 9 heading toward Hyde Park.  I looked at it wistfully, knowing Barb didn't care for Indian food and because there were very few cars in the parking lot.  This year, it was packed, so I looked it up and discovered it was under new ownership.  So on Saturday night we stopped, and, boy, were we glad we did!  It's called Cinnamon now, and the decor is young and elegant.  (They have these cool hanging lights made of squares of kraft paper.)  It is more expensive than diner food, but it is worth it.  I had sea bass the first night, cooked tandoori style, and Barb had Chicken Tikka.  They were both moist and delicious and served with fresh veggies seared on a cast iron pan.  Paired with a bottle of Kingfisher beer, my dinner made me smile for the rest of the night.  We even had leftovers for lunch the next day.  And we went back for dinner again on Sunday night!  The young couple who own it sent us some delightful little onion fritters as a gift when we sat down.  The meal was a great reward for a busy weekend and Barb now officially likes Indian food.  We'll be dining there again next year, for sure!

The Economy is Definitely Improving

Wow!  What a Rhinebeck!  We had an amazing weekend!  We were so busy, I did not get many photographs.  I wasn't even able to take photos of our booth until Sunday morning after we had rearranged everything because we were decimated on Saturday!  I made double -- yes -- DOUBLE -- what I did last year.  Patterns and wool and Medici thread were flying out of the booth.  I had to take orders for patterns that I ran out of.  People who had come on Saturday emailed and called to buy things over the phone or internet.  It was crazy.

I have lots of things to talk about -- where we ate, what I bought, who we saw -- but I have orders to fill and I have to get more stuff done for the New England Fiber Festival the weekend after this coming one.  Eek! So here are a few photos and I will post again when I can . . . 

Yep.  That's a kangaroo.  

We Made It

Arrived in Rhinebeck around 2. Drove up the Taconic Parkway, which s usually lovely this time of year, but was harrowing in today's torrential downpours.

Tomorrow should be lovely, however. Come out and see us and pet the sheep.

My Email Adress

It has been brought to my attention -- by more than one person -- that my email is nowhere to be found on my blog.  So here it is, just in case you need to contact me:

paisleyrugs@gmail.com

Progress

It took me two days to make the braids and stitch them around the rug -- almost longer than it took to hook them.  But I think the braids add a little spark to the rugs.  Parson Brown is my favorite.

Just a few days til Rhinebeck.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't rain this weekend.  I really love it to be crisp and clear and chilly at the Sheep and Wool Festival.

What's on My Work Table

Piles of pumpkins, stacks of sheep and a few other things.  Getting ready to go -- the New York Sheep and Wool Festival takes place in one week and one day!  Come visit us in Building A, spot 28.

Did you realize today's date is 10  11  12?

I Lost Two Hours of My Life!

This all Tammy Burks fault (Skip to My Ewe).  I was reading her blog post about adopting a new Bassett Hound and accidently clicked on Alquemie in her list of "Simply Beautiful" blogs.  I spent a good hour . . . well, maybe more . . .  looking at the most amazing collection of photographs of the most amazing things.  Archways made of books!  Wedding bouquets of apples and vines!  Little wooly mice dressed in sweaters!  Cross-eyed cats!  Fairy tale cottages and fern fronds unfurling in the sun!  Macaroons in every color of the rainbow!  Upside down houses and walls made of doors! Berries and beaded bugs and buildings and balloons and books and boats and bicycles and the Duchess of Devonshire feeding her chickens!  Hurry!  Go there now!

ALQUEMIE

October

September slipped by me somehow.  Suddenly the shadows are longer and come much earlier in the day.  The garden is waning and the evenings are chilly.  I spent too much time in the studio last month, what with three shows in three weekends.  I decided to take some time off to enjoy the last vestiges of of nice weather.

Pete was sailing in the Whitebread race around Shelter Island yesterday, so I headed out by myself  to St. Peter's Harvest Festival.  They always have a fabulous yard sale.  I wasn't early enough to score a set of really sturdy tomato cages, which we could use in the garden.  (Pete tied our tomatoes up with some jute twine this year and it rotted so quickly the tomatoes ended up on the ground), but I did get a tin of old plastic buttons for $2 -- most thrift stores are selling them for lots more than that since people started using them for crafting.

They aren't Bakelite -- not nearly that old -- but they are fun colors.  I particularly like this pink one -- it reminds me of Depression glass.

After the sale I took a trip out to East Marion to Sep's farm stand.  I wanted some fresh corn for supper and some tomatoes, since ours are long gone.  I bought some beets, too, since Pete didn't plant any this year.  They had enormous heads of cauliflower and broccoli and cabbage on sale for only $1.  I may go back today and get some to stick in the freezer.

Later in the day I baked Pete's favorite cookies -- Molasses Crinkles -- and scrolled through my blog list while sitting in the sun on the sofa in the living room.  Took a snooze.  It was a lovely day -- rejuvenating.  

This morning I am back in the studio -- aka the dungeon -- finishing up the Father Christmas mat.  The temperature dropped last night and storm clouds are rolling in.  Our plans for cleaning up the yard may have to be postponed.  Oh, drat.

Gloom has descended on Greenport.  When Cairo and I walked the beach this morning we walked through a cloud, gray and wet and sticky.  Not even the glorious tumble of roses and Montauk daisies in full bloom could brighten my spirits.  It's the kind of day that makes me want to curl up with a book, a latte and a cinnamon bun then take a nap.  But I was good -- I had a poached egg while writing out my grocery list, stuck a load of laundry in the washer, and answered all my emails.

I have been hooking and stitching a lot.  I need to catch up on merchandise after having three shows in three weekends.  (I won't do that again!) I finished hooking Parson Brown on Tuesday evening.  It's a pattern I designed a few years ago but never hooked.  When I finished him, I decided he needed a companion and drew out Father Christmas.  I think I may put a braid around each of them.  I thought a pair of related rugs would look good in our booth at the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, aka Rhinebeck, on October 20 and 21. At any rate, I am headed out to do a major grocery shop today and rest my shoulder, which tends to ache if I spend too many hours at my frame.  Do you think Father Christmas needs buttons?  He's a little jealous of Parson Brown, although when his beard is finally hooked he'll have something to show off.

New Forms Group Show

 Prints by Joan Rogers:

 Will Paulson's amazing tables:

 Harvey Hellering photography:

 CC Bookout ceramics:

Sarah McNamara Fiber Arts:

I am sorry to say I neglected to get a photograph of Alice Van de Wetering and her jewelry.  My apologies, Alice.

Scottish Highland Cattle -- aka Hairy Coos -- at the Vineyard.  I love them!  They are very gentle.  I actually pet the biggest bull.  I bet their hair can be spun.