Happy Holidays, One and All!

My daughter and her boyfriend are heading home for the holiday, so I have been cleaning and baking and cooking and wrapping to get ready.  Can't wait!  I hope you all have a marvelous and merry Christmas.

It's December

I'm sitting at my kitchen island, watching the afternoon light wane in the west and listening to the foghorn lumbering across the bay.  I am grateful to be here in my comfortable home, making plans for the coming holiday when my daughter will be home and I can hold her close.  While we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends in Massachusetts, we missed Clara, and came home to the news that two dear friends had died.  Both were remarkable woman: one was my age, the other old enough to be my mother.  But no matter how old, or how sick, or how wonderfully they lived their lives, it is hard to say goodbye. 

I am not doing a good job in the blogging department, am I?  I seem to only manage a post or two a month these days -- even though lots of stuff is happening.    Hmmm, I see a New Year's Resolution coming on . . . .

Barb and I have just finished up our busy show season.  We had a great weekend at the Fiber Festival of New England.  The whole thing proceeded smoothly -- from set up to tear down.  We have the most delightful next door neighbors there -- sisters Jenn and Cheryl of June Pryce Fiber -- and we get to see the gang from Wool and Dye Works, and Dan Tracy the woodworker and his wife Lorraine, and our other favorite set of sisters, Jen and Melissa of Going Gnome, and Sandy of Cozy Rabbit Farm. You get the idea: one big, happy fiber family.  We had good sales, too.

Pete and I went to Toronto for a long weekend, where we ate lots of good food and saw the fabulous rug show at the Textile Museum of Canada.  They have a great collection -- which you can view on line here: hooked rugs.  We also went to the Art Gallery of Ontario, which has an amazing room full of Henry Moore's original plasters for many of sculptures.  Saturday morning is market day, so we walked down to the St. Lawrence Market for breakfast.  We did some shopping, too, since the exchange rate is so good.  

Now it is time to get ready for Christmas.  I listened to carols in the car today, and started choosing what cookies I will make this year.  Despite the long nights and the sense of loss lately, life is good.