3rd Annual Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival!

Barb and I are traveling north this weekend for the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival.  It is the Festival's third year, but our first year as participants.  I am so looking forward to this -- to all the fiber frenzy, but also to being in the neighborhood of Saratoga Springs, a city I love.  (My daughter went to college there and I miss my visits.)  We will be staying with Barb's friend Martha, who has generously opened her home to us for the weekend.  And she has sheep!  I imagine the leaves are starting to turn upstate and if the weather holds out we should have a great weekend.  Please join us if you can!  We are in Building 12, Space #5.

Here's the information -- if you go to their main page and scroll down, there's a coupon for $1 off the entry fee.

Saturday and Sunday, September 24 & 25, 2011

10 am to 5 pm

$5 for Adults, Children under 14 are free

Free Parking

Washington Country Fairgrounds

392 Old Schuylerville Road
Greenwich, NY 12834

(518) 692-2464

Harvest Time at Hallockville

It is time for the Hallockville Fall Festival.  Barb and I don't have a booth this year, but my guild has taken a booth so that members can sell their wares as well as demonstrate rug hooking. The Festival will be held for two days again this year, but the Peconic Ruggers will only be there on Saturday.  So if you want to see hookers (including me) in action, that's the day you need to come.

Hallockville Museum Farm
Sound Avenue, RIverhead, NY
10 am - 5 pm     9/17/11 and 9/18/11
(631)298-5292

Admission: Adults: $7  Children 5-12: $5

Another Brilliant September Morning

What I am wishing for the world

while I watch and remember

Moving On

It's funny -- most of the rest of the world has moved on from Hurricane Irene -- Katia is now on the horizon -- but Irene is still very much a reality around here.  I'm pleased to say my sister Barb, who lives in Connecticut, finally has power again.  She's still living with the smell of rotting sea creatures, but at least she can take a hot shower.  We still have piles and piles of downed trees all over town, but Greenport is back on its feet.  When I paid my utility bill yesterday,  I wrote a thank you note to the crew who worked so diligently to get us electrified again. 

I didn't take many pictures and what I did take are not the greatest, but here they are.

Before

During

 After

Safe and Sound

Our blustery weekend visitor, Irene, has departed, leaving us without power and with a yard full of debris, but everyone is okay. Our utility pole needs to be replaced before we can be hooked up to the electric again, but that should happen pretty soon. Our little village has it's own electric crew, so we are not dependent on the big power companies and repairs happen fairly quickly. We still aren't hooked up to cable, so I am dependent on my trusty iPhone still for posting here.

Jane and John, our next door neighbors, have power and have graciously run a heavy duty cord over to us to keep our fridge and freezer working. We have been using headlamps in the evening to read and rug hook. We even had hot water left to clean up with this morning. So all in all we have faired quite well. My sister Barb had a harrowing day in Connecticut, but I'll let her tell that story once she gets her power and computer back on line. She is okay, too, just exhausted from the pre-storm prep and her emergency evacuation.

We had an ice cream party with the neighbors yesterday. It was melting and we either had to eat it all or throw it away. So that's our new pithy saying around here: When life gives you hurricanes, eat ice cream!

She's Here!

I woke at 5:30 to strong winds and rain. Turned on the electric kettle for coffee and just as it came to a boil, the power went out. There's a large limb on the power lines two doors down and the utility pole is leaning precariously. The police are here, and the village work crew is on it's way, according to radio reports. The weather report says Irene is moving much more quickly now, so we should be okay by afternoon.

I am posting this on my iPhone -- love you, Steve Jobs, wherever you are!

Waiting for Irene

I spent most of yesterday putting up awnings, taking down swings, moving lawn furniture and potted plants, filling water bottles, gathering flashlights and batteries, candles and matches.  I went to bed at 10, I was so exhausted.  This morning Pete and I did a few last minute things -- putting the canoe in the garage, buying some ice cream to go with our hurricane pie which I plan on making this evening.  We're as ready as we can be.  

The village is abuzz with activity.  Stores are boarding up windows and closing early and neighbors stop to chat about their preparations.  The atmosphere is, amazingly enough, very festive.  There's a real "we're all in this together" attitude, what you expect in a small community like this.  I have checked on my older friends to be sure they are set, and I have offered a watchful eye to those who can't be here to monitor their vacation homes.  

The air is thick and murky and the first rain drops are starting to fall.  I love to watch the weather from the safety my window, but Irene isn't supposed to arrive until midnight -- too late to view.   We'll see what daybreak brings on Sunday.  Stay safe and dry, wherever you are.