Wonderful Weekend

Our first time at the Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival was a great success.  We had great weather, a good spot, and sold lots of stuff.  We also saw lots of friends, old and new.  We're already signed up for next year!

We have three weeks to restock for the Long Island Fleece & Fiber Fair at Hallockville.  Back to work!

Off and Running!

It's a beautiful day here in central Connecticut! Lots of sheep and goats and FIBER! Corn dogs, too.

Just to Let You Know

Barb and I set up our booth tonight. We are in the Green building and we are listed under Barb's business name: thimblefolk, just in case you are looking for The Paisley Studio. Ten fifteen and we are hitting the sack. Gotta be up and at 'em at five!

Connecticut Bound

I'm heading up to New England for the weekend while Pete stays home and repairs the fence and walks the dog.  (I think I got the good end of the stick!)  I will swing by Barb's this afternoon and pick her up so we can set our booth up tonight.

The Festival is just one day, so don't forget!  Although this is the 104th year of the festival, it is our first year vending here.  So we need all our New York and New England friends to come and visit.  This is a great opportunity for those of you who miss the Fairfield and Newtown rug shows.

Hope to see you tomorrow!

Gloomy Day

We're having rain today, which I am glad of.  This storm brought my in-laws in northern Wisconsin a foot of snow, so it could be worse.  This rain will bring cherry blossoms and purple lilacs in its wake and that makes me happy.

I was riveted to the television last night, watching the events in Boston unfold in real time.  It was surreal --  a movie made in Hollywood.  Boston completely shut down? How did they manage that?   I told my 25 year old daughter how amazed I was at how quickly the authorities caught the bombers and she said, "Of course they caught the bombers quickly.  Their photographs were all over the place!"  She is from the generation of instantaneous results and expected nothing less.  And how wonderful that the results came from a fellow walking out his back door and noticing blood on the cover of his beloved boat?  I was wondering aloud to my husband last night if insurance would cover the cost of the bullet ridden boat and the black SUV the bombers hijacked . . . 

I began my oral surgery yesterday and am pleased to announce that it was not so bad.  I made the mistake of looking up dental implants on the internet the night before.  I turned from a person who is vigilant and nonchalant about dentist visits into a quivering mass of jelly.  So stupid --I learned a lesson in not self-diagnosing things on the internet!  The surgeon was wonderful.  He answered my very many questions patiently, and when he realized that I needed to know everything, he described each step as he did it and showed me what he took out and what he put in.  I am not even in pain -- its more annoying than anything else and feels a little weird.  In three months time, the bone graft should be ready for the titanium implant.  

We really do live in a space-aged world, with titanium teeth and facial recognition software that catches terrorists in the blink of an eye.  What a world!

Our First Show of the Year: Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Rain or Shine
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Tolland Agricultural Center
Route 30, Vernon/Rockville, CT

GPS - 24 Hyde Avenue, Vernon, CT

This will be our first time vending at the Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival, so if you are in the area, we hope you will stop by.  What with the demise of the Newtown and Fairfield rug shows, there aren't many places for rug hookers to stock up on supplies.  I will have some new patterns and kits available, and Barb will have her scrumptious wools and delightful decorative items for sale.

***

There was lots of competition between my seven siblings when we were growing up, as is the norm with families as big as ours. My younger brother was -- and still is -- a devoted Yankees fan.  I rooted for the Red Sox -- really just to get his goat.  But today, like every other American, I am a dyed-in-the-wool Boston fan. I am sending positive thoughts and healing wishes to everyone in Beantown.  

My Favorite

A Weekend Away

DC!

Quiet Corner Rug Show

I just received a poster for the Quiet Corner Rug Show in Connecticut, now the only rug show in the state.  The Quiet Corner chapter of ATHA holds their show every other year at the Woodstock Fairgrounds.  This year it will be held on June 22, 9 am to 3 pm.  Kathleen Herbert will be speaking about antique rugs at 1 o'clock.  Refreshments will be available and there will be several vendors.  Admission is $5.  Be sure to save the date!

At the End of the Rainbow

We visited with our friends on Tuesday night -- drinks that turned into a delicious dinner.  As the gloaming settled in, I looked out the window and saw this magnificent site:

The rainbow started over Shelter Island and ended in our little village of Greenport.  A lovely evening with lovely friends.  Thank you Ann & Paula.

Spring is FInally Here!

April Fools!  No, actually, it really is here, despite the chilly temperatures.  I spotted my first osprey of the year this morning while walking Cairo.  The hyacinths and daffodils are about to bloom, and we may need to mow the lawn in a week or so.  

We had a lovely Easter with visits from friends and a good dinner of leg of lamb, asparagus, and fresh spinach from Pete's garden.  I didn't sleep well the night before, however, and I ended up making lots of mistakes all day.  In the process of making a pound cake, I dropped a huge dollop of sour cream which splattered everywhere.  Got that cleaned up, finished the batter and popped it in the oven only to realize I had forgotten to add the eggs!  (It tasted fine in the end.)  While I was cooking dinner, I put a pot of Irish oatmeal on so breakfast would be ready this morning and it boiled over and made a huge mess.  I moved it to another burner, cleaned up the mess, and promptly forgot about and it boiled over again and burned to a crisp.  Another mess to clean up.  Pete and I hung some new wooden blinds in the guest room and I knocked over an entire chai latte -- it went in the bureau, under the bureau, in front of the bureau.  More clean up.  I was so very happy to go to bed last night!

Before we went to sleep we watched Steven Spielberg's Lincoln.  What was all the hype?   It was ponderous and plodding with scene after scene of politicians arguing . . .   I think I nodded off a time or two, not surprisingly.  

Anyway, I made a successful batch of oatmeal this morning and we enjoyed it while listening to the birds out in the garden.  The weatherman says a few more days of chilly temperatures and then we'll be on the upswing.  Now I have to go scrub the burnt stuff off the pan that has been soaking since yesterday.