Finger Lakes Fiber Festival

What  a great day! I drove south to the town of Hemlock, NY for the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival and spent the day there. The sunshine and mild temperatures added to my enjoyment of the day.

I was there when the gates opened and spent an hour and a half walking around the fairgrounds, admiring all the yarn and fiber. I stopped to say "hi" to the alpacas (they are cute!).

The colors of roving were eye-opening!

And the yarn choices were many.
There were vendors indoor and outside, thank goodness the weather cooperated.
And there were sheep. The woman who owns these sheep is sitting by the pen, spinning the fiber from those sheep.
I didn't buy too much, just a small amount of roving from some Blue Faced Leicester sheep. That is a breed that I have wanted to try to spin. The fiber is supposed to be longer than some sheep and it has a nice feel to it.

After my shopping time, I had to go to work. This festival is put on by my spinning guild so I volunteered for two work shifts. I spent 2 hours at the Information Table and was able to get some knitting done while I sat there. From there I went for a 2 hour shift at the Entrance Gate, where I sold tickets to get into the festival.  I enjoyed my time in both places. Today was a big success at the festival with over 2,000 people coming in. Hopefully, the weather will hold and tomorrow will be another high attendance day. I will not go back tomorrow as Jim is running in a race at Mendon Ponds Park and I will be there to cheer him on!

Jim made dinner tonight (spaghetti, salad, green beans) since I was away until 5 PM. That was a real treat!

On my way home, I stopped for gas at the B.J.'s in Henrietta because the price per gallon is 13 cents cheaper than the B.J.'s near our house!

Corey has been checking out housing options for next year at SU (who, by the way, finally won a football game today!). Corey and one of his current apartment-mates, Mike, are looking to get a 2-person apartment together and have looked at 2 different houses. In both places the apartment on the third floor is available. I think they are leaning towards the place they visited today. Here they are, one month into this school year, and already they  need to be looking for a place for next year!

Time to knit.

Hope all is well. 

Utah Review

As promised, here are a small sampling of the photos that Jim took while backpacking with Tucker. As a reminder, they spent 4 days in Paria Canyon in southern Utah, canyon country. Paria Canyon is noteworthy for being a place you do not want to be caught during a flash flood. There is no way up and out. Hikers have to check the weather forecast for the Paria Canyon drainage, and if there is any chance of rain, the wise hiker postpones his or her plans. Fortunately, Jim and Tucker had great weather as seen in these photos. 

If you want to see more photos, leave me a comment and I will send you a link to Jim's photos on Kodak Gallery.

Trying for that perfect reflection shot... I tried a lot!

Tucker at Slide Rock Arch.

Wandering through the Narrows of Buckskin Gulch.

Noting the 'bathtub ring' from the last muddy flood through the Gulch.

The unbelievable colors and shapes of slot canyons.

A muddy, watery, narrow, and dark section of Buckskin Gulch.

The intrepid explorers!

Now in other news:We are having glorious fall weather here. I may ride my bike to school tomorrow! And this great weather is supposed to continue through next week.

I received wonderful news today at school. I won a $250 scholarship for my PE program. This scholarship comes from a local law firm, one of those that advertises, "If you were hurt in an accident. . . " During the NFL football season, this law firm gives away 10 $250 classroom scholarships each week as a promotion with the Buffalo Bills (who, by the way, are off to a 2-0 start!). Teachers can enter this drawing each week by filling out an on-line form. Pretty easy! And today I got the call that my name had been pulled in this week's draw! The amazing part is that I have now won this scholarship 3 out of the last 4 years!

I've been knitting away on my New York State Sheep and Wool festival sweater. The pattern is fairly easy and it is on fairly large needles so I am please with my progress thus far. This sweater is knit with 2 yarns, one a regular worsted weight yarn and the other a mohair boucle. Both yarns are dyed with the same variegations of purples. Maybe I will take a progress picture so you can see how it is coming and cheer me on!

I bought a new vacuum tonight. Corey took my old canister vacuum from the basement so I replaced it with another low end Sears canister. The old vacuum was indeed old, I got it when we first got married. We've duct taped the hose in a couple of places and one of the wheels cracked and fell off, but it still worked. Since I had such good luck with one low end Sears vacuum, I decided to go with another one. This new one is not fancy, it just sucks (in a good way, for a vacuum).

Corey's former track coach, Chad, called us tonight to say, "Thanks" for the baby gifts. He and his wife Jamie, just had a beautiful little girl, named Olivia, who was the recipient of the baby sweater and blanket I just finished knitting. It was good to talk to him and hear all about his little girl!

I made an apple crisp tonight, using the apples that I picked after school last Monday. We haven't eaten it yet, I hope it tastes as good as it smells!

Time to knit.

Hope all is well.

Utah Update

Tucker and Jim called me on Sunday to say that they had a successful hike in Paria Canyon and were on their way back to Bluff. Apparently the weather was great for them, the people were few and the scenery was spectacular-all the ingredients to make a great backpacking trip! Tucker sent me 2 "teaser" photos from their trip and I am including one here for your enjoyment.
I will give you more details and photos from their grand adventure when Jim gets home. He is scheduled to fly in tomorrow night. Keep your fingers crossed!

I finished knitting the baby blanket and got it in the mail today. Here is a photo of the finished product. It is folded so you are only seeing one corner of the blanket, the solid orange border goes around the whole blanket.
I am quite pleased with the blanket and already have an idea for a color combination when I want to make another one. 

I just went into the kitchen to get a glass of water and I looked out the window over my sink and there was the big old moon rising! Hopefully you have had a chance to catch a glimpse of that September moon. Is that a "harvest" moon? What exactly is a "harvest" moon? Whatever, it sure is purty!!

I had a nice conversation with Terry tonight. She called because she may be in the market for a new car and wanted to know about our experience with buying our new car. We talked cars for awhile and then got caught up on the comings and goings of our family. We are all looking forward to being together for the celebration of Michal's and Elizabeth's wedding next month. 

I made grape pies with Grandma yesterday and since Corey is not living at home most of the year, I bought fewer grapes this year so our grape squeezing time was reduced!

Gram and GrandDad returned home today from their trip to Michigan to see Bob and Joanie. It was fun to hear about all the good times they had in Hastings. They go back to camp on Wednesday.

Time to knit. I have started a sweater that I hope to have done to wear to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival on October 18th. I will have to keep my nose to the grindstone to meet that deadline and then hope that the weather cooperates so the wearing of that sweater is appropriate!

Hope all is well.