Spinning again!

Coming home from Rhinebeck with some lovely fiber has inspired me to dust off the spinning wheels. They haven't been touched in many months. Shame on me! I forgot how much I enjoy spinning!

Before I could get started on the beautiful BFL I got from the Briar Rose booth, I had to crack the whip on myself and finish up the merino I started spinning for Linda (I hate to say how long ago). It has been a huge weight on my shoulders and I am happy to say that since I've been home, I finished spinning it, plied it and then this morning wound it into 2 hanks, soaked them, and they are outside drying right this very moment. I'm hoping that the 70 degree temps and sunshine will help them dry so I can present them to Linda at our knit-night tonight. 

Meanwhile, here's the first bobbin of Briar Rose BFL. (isn't it GORGEOUS?) Click to get a better look....

The fiber is prepared well, and it is a joy to spin. The colors in the roving are just beautiful and I love seeing how they blend together as I spin. I will probably end up with 3 bobbins, and am debating if I should do my first 3-ply or stick with 2 ply. I'm not sure if the colors will look too muddy if I ply 3 strands together. I guess I could try a little bit and see, and if I'm not happy, just do 2 ply!

Rhinebeck Recap

I've already posted about my birthday, but there was so much more to the weekend. Linda, Tamara and I left early Thursday morning, drove up to Pt. Huron and across the bridge into Canada. The drive was just beautiful. It was a crisp, clear fall day. The further east we got, the more the landscape changed. Soon we were in the rolling hills, and they were covered in autumn's splendor of colors.

It was a very long drive, but I knit for several hours of it, thinking I might be able to actually finish my Rhinebeck sweater, but it wasn't to be. The chatter and laughter made the time fly by and before we knew it we were checking in to our hotel.

Frankie had arrived just before us. Frankie was a friend of ours, and was a member of our knitting group before she moved to NY a while back. She and Linda knew each other before they joined our knitting group. It was great to see her again! 

We all had some dinner and caught up a bit with Frankie, then got some sleep.

On Friday we enjoyed the fall colors some more, and the big event of the day was visiting the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park.  Click the link for lots of info, and photos of the interior. 

I loved hearing the guide tell the all about the Vanderbilt family, and the history of the magnificent home that we were touring. (Magnificent, but the smallest of their many homes). We were not allowed to take photos inside, but I got some great shots (with my new camera) of the grounds, and the mansion from outside. Here is just one of them:

After the tour, we went into Red Hook to find some lunch. We ended up at Bread Alone Bakery. Yum. After that we visited a winery, and then the indulgence of the day, we found Taste Budds, which is all about chocolate. Here's what I ended up with. I told myself all along that I was not holding back this weekend. Whether it was food, or drink, or fiber...I was going for it!

Isn't it pretty? It was sooo good. It's called Life By Chocolate (better than Death By Chocolate, right?)  Chocolate graham crust, flourless chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and chocolate glaze. Here's a peek at the inside. Mmmmm... And yes, I ate the whole thing. 

When we were done poking around in Red Hook, we headed back to our hotel for a bit, then went back out, tried to find a Geocache but Tam's phone wasn't able to pinpoint close enough. In trying to find it, we did enjoy driving through a neighborhood with some beautiful old homes. The architecture in the area just oozes history. The girls decided to get a light dinner from Panera Bread, but I still was filled up with the above chocolately goodness. We went back to the hotel and knit in the lobby, watching TV, while they ate. Eventually I walked across the parking lot and grabbed some Taco Bell when I got hungry. There were several other knitters in the lobby. It was nice to just relax before the craziness was to begin. 

I've already posted about most of my day on Saturday.  Sunday was more of the same.... walking and browsing and fondling and desiring and deciding and buying and eating and spending time with friends and enjoying the animals, etc.  I think a future post will highlight all of the purchases. 

We were back on the road early Monday morning. We left the hotel at 7am, when it was 28 degrees and there was a thick layer of frost on everything. It was actually several hours later before we saw the last of the frost. It took a long time for the sun to warm things up enough to melt it off. Enjoyed the scenery all the way home, but it was very anti-climactic.... The excitement was gone, we were exhausted, the landscape became more and more flat as we left the mountains and rolling hills behind. Before we knew it we were sitting in a long line of cars to cross the bridge back into Michigan from Sarnia, Ontario. 

I arrived back on my doorstep at 7pm, and fell into bed shortly afterwards. After a wonderful whirlwind birthday weekend, it was great to be back in my own bed. 

What a day!

Oh my goodness, how much fun did I have on my 50th birthday today! 

It started early, and my first gift was on my bed when I got out of the shower, from Tam. It was a skein of pretty green Socks that Rock yarn, and the book It's Not Easy Being Green. Cool gifts, thanks Tam!

Rhinebeck was fabulous.... SO much to see, and about a gazillion people all sharing the same fun. I loved watching all the beautiful handknits walking by. That was really fun. 

I  got to meet Jane today. We've known each other only online for several years now, and finally meeting her in person and spending time with her was wonderful. It was not awkward in the least, and we really had fun. We spent some time going through a few vendor barns and then split up again, making plans to meet for dinner later. 

Tam and I continued on and bought some goodies. There was some fiber (chocolate-colored alpaca roving, beautiful autumn colored roving, black alpaca yarn and some beautiful autumn colored yarn... I wanted my fiber purchases to remind me of the beautiful landscape of the changing colors on the mountains near Rhinebeck, hence the 2 purchases of autumn colors!) and I bought a number of other fun items. The PERFECT button for my sweater (no, it did NOT get finished, but I'm still plugging away) I really could have used that sweater today. It was a bit chilly, especially when the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up a bit. I got a few Christmas gifts for Diane (neener neener, Diane!). I bought a beautiful handmade lucet.   

There were a few other purchases, and I may get a few more things tomorrow. But I enjoyed the experience so much. Seeing all the animals, all the various vendors, and like I said before, just the wide variety of handknits on everyone from infants and toddlers, as well as women and men of all ages.  

We watched the Frisbee-catching dogs, we watched the sheep-herding dogs. We wanted to hug all the alpacas, and laughed at the long bottom teeth on the llamas (I had never noticed that trait before). 

Mid-afternoon I looked at Tam and said "stick a fork in me, I am DONE!" I was so exhausted. My feet hurt, my knees hurt, my back hurt. So we joined the other hundreds of people who seemed to have had the same thought at the same moment, and slowly made our way back to the hotel. 

I iced my back, then got in the bath to soak for a while, and rejuvenated myself. We rested a bit, and then Jane and her cousin came and met us and we went out to dinner. We ended up at Ship To Shore and had a really good dinner, but mostly a really great conversation. 

Oh, and there was the matter of the BEAUTIFUL green scarf knit for me by the lovely Jane. It's Kid Silk Haze. So soft, so light, yet warm. I just love it. Thanks again Jane!

The plan originally was to go to the Ravelry party in Red Hook after dinner, but we talked for hours and ended up missing it. Oh well, I was very happy to have spent the time with Jane to get to know her a little better. Jane's cousin Gail was great to be with too. Such a nice time.

Tomorrow morning we'll get up a little slower and arrive at Rhinebeck a little later. We'll revisit some of the places we took notes to go back and look again, or decide on (or against) some things we couldn't decide on today. I don't know if it will be more or less crowded (or the same) but I'm hoping maybe a little less crowded. There were a heck of a lot of people there today. I mean... seriously, a boat load of people. 

But...what fun it was~

Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who made this day very special for me!

Pictures tomorrow or when I get home.

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm off to buy "some" wool! It's a beautiful fall day in New York....we're gonna have some big fun!

Yay!

Fabulous Fall Foliage

What a beautiful weekend! It's been quite chilly, especially in the mornings when the temps have been down in the 30s and we've seen quite a bit of frost already. But this weekend was in the mid to upper 70s and sunny.

Saturday we had a bash here to celebrate Kim's college graduation. She now has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration. Her major was Management. She did most of her classes while working full time, so it took her a few extra years, but the hard work paid off and I can now say I am the proud mother of a college graduate.

Before the main group of guests arrived, we had a little tiny celebration for my birthday, since I won't be here on "the day". Mike wanted to give me my gift early, so I could familiarize myself with it, and take it with me when I leave on Thursday to go to RHINEBECK! OMG can it really be less than 3 days til I leave???

I got this for my birthday. I took the above photo (and those below) with it yesterday afternoon. I have a lot to learn about how it works. Right now I'm shooting mostly on automatic. Whew, those 12.2 megapixels blow me away! 

Do you know about Geocaching? I had heard about it several years ago and thought it would be so much fun, a nice family activity, and a way to get some fresh air and exercise as well as seeing some sites we might never have seen otherwise. The whole "digital treasure hunt" idea just sounded exciting! We didn't have a GPS at the time, and just recently got one. We created our account, found some nearby caches on the website, and off we went! We have found 7 of the 8 caches that we searched for over the past 2 weekends (that 8th one we've looked for 3 times and still haven't found it. It is very nearby our home so we will keep trying!) What a blast. We took advantage of the above-average temperatures yesterday and went to a nearby Metropark for a hike and to scope out a few more "treasures". Some of them are "micro" size and often difficult to find (size, terrain, and difficulty of each cache are listed on the website) Here are a few pix of Jake with a micro (in his left hand in the first picture--click for a bigger look-see) and 2 bigger caches, which are usually filled with toys or other small items for you to trade with, as well as a log book that you sign with your Geocaching name and the date. Micros are usually tiny little tubes with a piece of paper rolled up in them. You have to bring your own pen for those, and no treasures are inside to trade.

These are the 3 caches we found yesterday. Once you get to the coordinates, you never know where it might be... even up in a tree! 

If you have a handheld GPS, or have the capability on your cell phone, check out this fun activity! I just wish we had started this at the beginning of the summer instead of now, when winter will soon cut off the fun. We could have hunted outside of our local area as we traveled during our vacations.

One of the caches we found yesterday had a Geocoin in it. Geocoins and Travel Bugs have registration numbers are trackable on the website. Whoever places them in the cache wants someone to take them out and move them to another cache. Sometimes they are supposed to move to a certain destination. The one we found came from WA and wanted to move as far east as possible before heading back to the west coast. I plan on taking it with me and dropping it in a cache somewhere in Ontario or NY on my way to Rhinebeck.

Speaking of Rhinebeck....my plans have changed a bit. My dear, generous friend Christine, who was going to pick me up from the airport and whisk me a way to WEBS on Thursday (and take me to NYC on Friday, and accompany me to Rhinebeck, and provide me with bed and breakfast while there) is suddenly having medical issues and will not be able to do any of these things for or with me this weekend. I am sad, and worried, and hoping she will have a full recovery without too much more pain and suffering. FEEL BETTER CHRISTINE!

SO.... I have canceled my flights, and will now be going by car with my friends Tamara and Linda (members of my knitting group for several years). Tam has so generously let me squeeze into her room since there was not a bed to be found in the Rhinebeck area at this short notice. THANKS TAM.  I have to admit I would prefer to not be in a car for all of those hours there and back, but at this point am very happy to have that option.

So there will not be a trip to WEBS or a trip to NYC this weekend, but....we will stop at Niagara Falls on our way east, and Friday will be spent moseying around, taking pictures of what I hope will be some beautiful fall colors, and some scenery I haven't seen since my last time in NY which was oh....about 30 years ago! Tam loves photography, and has a camera that is very similar to mine, so I'm hoping she can give me some pointers as we are out and about taking pictures that day. 

The trip is changed, but except for my constant concern for Christine, will be just as much fun, I'm sure. The time in the car will give me an opportunity to finish my sweater if I haven't done so by then. I'm on my way up the sleeves right now. I may be seaming and blocking in the hotel room Thursday night or Friday, but here's hoping my Hot Cocoa Jacket will make its debut on Saturday (MY BIRTHDAY!) at Rhinebeck. 

Hope to see you there!

Look Ma! No Glasses!

I'm a week into my Orthokeratology, using Paragon CRT lenses while I sleep. It has been a little frustrating at times. Yesterday was a day I was questioning whether or not this was a good idea. I do feel better about it today. 

I have made 5 trips to the eye doctor in 7 days. I have had 4 different CRT lenses for my right eye, and one for my left. I have in my possession a soft contact for my left eye and 3 different ones for my right eye.  So far I have managed to keep them all straight (I think!). While my eyes are in transition, I wear whichever combo gets me through the day until my next appointment. 

I am going for the "monovision" correction, which means my left eye is being corrected for close vision and my right eye for distance. This morning there was a distinct improvement with my "really far" vision, and close up was better than yesterday, though not quite as clear as the first few days. I can definitely tell the lenses are working. Now my brain just needs to bring the two together, because the mid-range is still pretty blurry. So walking around the house is fuzzy, but reading and computer work are pretty clear (no knitting has been going on, but maybe today!) and I may try driving without soft lenses today (but will bring them with me if I feel I need to pull over and give myself some "correction").

The concept is very cool, and hopefully the monovision will eventually make things clear. If I don't think I can handle the monovision, the eye doctor will end up correcting both eyes for distance. This will mean I will probably have to wear reading glasses at times. I guess I can live with that. But I'm hoping I can avoid glasses either altogether, or for a very large portion of my day.

I've had glasses on my face for 43 years (I wore soft lenses for a couple of years, and even then it was off and on, not exclusively). I am ready to be rid of them. I just was too afraid to go for the LASIK. 

So there has been a little hiccup in the progress on my Rhinebeck sweater, but hopefully I will be back in full swing and can still get it done. If not, then being able to see without glasses or contacts (during the day) will be well worth it.

I was able to create a WEBS fund with money I got from eBay auctions that ended over the weekend. I sold off some stuff from my crashed car. Free money! I still can't believe that someone bought the manuals for $47.00! I literally had them in my hand over the trash can before I decided to try to sell them on eBay.  I got $40.00 for my iPod cord (it was different than the one I needed for my new car) People will buy just about anything, I swear! It's all good though... now I have money ($225.00!) for my trip to WEBS and it won't take away from my Rhinebeck fund! Yay!

Excited!

Tonight, 6 of my SILs and I are going to see Journey, Heart and Cheap Trick in concert. We have been waiting for this night for months! We have seats in the 7th row, and plan to have ourselves quite an evening. I am blasting Journey right now to get myself in the mood (not that my mood needs much convincing, really). I will probably listen to Journey all day today. 

My friend Deb lent me a DVD of a recent concert, and I have to say, it's a little weird to hear/see someone other than Steve Perry singing. But I'll give "the new guy" a chance and I'm sure I'll enjoy the concert nonetheless. He sounds very much like Steve.

(I am pretty sure that the first concert I ever went to was Journey, in the late 70s. I distinctly remember paying $6.95 for the ticket. Tonight's ticket cost roughly 20 times that amount. Luckily I am not paying for it. What is up with ticket prices these days? SHEESH! Even the nose-bleed seats are ridiculous!)

The weekend: I met my new grand-nephew on Saturday. Wouldn't you know it, I didn't have my camera. Let me just say, Charlie is a real sweetie, and so darned cute. I loved holding him and sniffing his little baby head. I wish he didn't live so far away. He's going to grow up so much in between visits. Darn. 

In other news...

Rhinebeck is quickly approaching. That means I have very few days left in my 40s! The big 5-0 is looming right up there in front of me. It's all good though. What better way to turn 50 than in the company of fiber-loving friends at Rhinebeck? I finally bought my tickets so it's official...I'm going to Rhinebeck! 

AND!!! It looks like there will be a trip to WEBS squeezed in on Thursday when I arrive. I'm flying into Hartford and my lovely hostess informed me that WEBS is about 45 minutes away and if I only have a carry-on (this may be an issue, but I will work around it!) we can zip over there for a short time before she has to be back home. WEBS! I'm going to WEBS! Thanks Christine! Big excitement even before the big weekend at Rhinebeck! 

There will be several friends there to help me transition into my 50s. Friends who I know here in Michigan, and friends I have known only online. I am finally meeting Christine (and hopefully Mary Beth) who I have known online for 11+ years. We have been part of an email loop which has seen members drop out over the years but there are still 11 of us who have kept in touch. Thousands and thousands of emails have been sent and read by all of us over the years. I have met some of them, and hopefully will someday meet them all. (HI loopies!)

Jane will come from GA, and I will also be meeting her for the first time, after knowing her online for quite a few years too. Jane has been so helpful to me as a test knitter for my patterns, and I have enjoyed our friendship so much as it has grown. I can't wait to see her in person! 

My friend Tamara will be driving from MI (hopefully Linda will still be able to join her!). Frankie used to be in our knitting group but she moved to NYC several years ago. She will be joining us as well.  

Now that the event is getting closer, I finally decided to get my butt in gear and have been knitting furiously these past few days on my Rhinebeck sweater. I am almost done with the back now, and that is only the first piece. Luckily sleeves and fronts are smaller, but that is 4 more pieces. Yikes. I am focused though, and hopefully will have it done in time. But, I just know that if I do finish it, temps will probably be in the 80s that weekend. And if I don't, well it will probably snow or something. So I'll work on getting it done so the weather will be picture-perfect for everyone who will be there.... never mind showing off the sweater, huh?

So that's the excitement around here. I'm off to make an appointment at the eye doctor to check out Corneal Refractive Therapy. It's a great alternative to LASIK for chickens like me who are afraid of the lasers, but still want to see without going through their day wearing glasses or contact lenses. If anyone has experience with this please leave me a comment!

I also need to call my doctor to make an appointment to get the results of all the tests from the past few weeks. Here's hoping they all say I'm normal! (not that I believe for a minute that I really am normal, but I'd like my test results to say I am!)

First Step

We have been contemplating some redecorating around the house. We've been here almost 15 years, and most of the decorating in the public areas got done shortly after moving in. The downstairs half-bath has been redone recently, but the family room and kitchen (and attached areas such as the entryway from the garage, the hallway, the staircase) are all sporting their 14- year-old looks. We are tired of it! Things look dated and tired and worn and well, you get the idea. It's time for some fresh decor around here.

This morning, these arrived on my porch:



Inside were these!
8 place settings in 7 Fiesta colors (I got 2 sets of green because....well, you know why! I'm all about the green) I also got 4 extra dinner plates and 4 extra bowls. I ordered all of this Sunday evening and Tuesday morning here they are! This website has great prices, free shipping over $100, and is obviously very fast! They have every serving piece or Fiesta accessory you will ever want or need. I'll be going back for more now that I have the basics. I went to Kohl's yesterday and got a serving platter and 2 large bowls, since Fiesta is on sale 55% off this week. I would have gotten the place settings there too, but they have the place settings with cup & saucer, and I wanted mugs instead.

Don't they look oh-so pretty in my dishwasher?



I can't wait to put them into the cupboard. They are clean now, and look how pretty!


I emptied out and washed down the cupboard this morning. Our kitchen is done in apples and green checkerboard at this time, and I had done some Gallery Glass (imitation stained glass) on the glass doors of this cupboard to match the wallpaper border. I've always loved how it looked, but that wallpaper will be coming down soon, and I want just clear glass now so I can see my new dishes!

Like this:

I thought it would be as easy as removing the glass from the doors, peeling off the designs, washing the glass and putting it back in the doors. Well, the Gallery Glass was acting like glue, and it was quite difficult to get the glass out of the doors. We finally did though, with the help of a hair dryer. One door is still down and needs to be put back together and put back up.

These new dishes are the catalyst for the overhaul in the kitchen. I don't think it will be long before the wallpaper will come down and new paint will go up. I'm thinking I'll use the yellow color from the dishes as the wall color, with one (or more!) of the other Fiesta colors for trim, doors, etc.

So, one cupboard is emptied and washed down, and refilled. Now it's time to go through the other cupboards, drawers, etc. Empty them out, throw some stuff away, put some in boxes for Goodwill. Wash everything down, organize and replenish them. I'm hoping to gain extra space by weeding out some junk, and getting things nice and fresh, ready for that new paint job that's coming soon!

The family room redo will be very soon too. I am sooooo sick of the wallpaper in there. NO MORE WALLPAPER! I'm deciding on a color scheme. I like the chocolate/lime combo, but I'm not sure if I can convince Mike of that one. I think with some turquoise or coral accents it would be quite nice! We'll see....we might come up with something completely different. Whatever it is, will be a huge improvement over what it looks like.

This is what it looks like now:

See what I mean? Blech....

No knitting news at the moment. I haven't picked up my knitting since Friday. I did manage to add $90.00 to my Rhinebeck fund though. I played cards with my SILs on Saturday and Lady Luck was on my side! Yay!