Now Playing: "Hard Habit to Break" by Chicago
Update on my father first: He was taken to the hospital on Tuesday night. He'll be there for 3 or 4 days, until they get his meds back in order, and they've had a chance to run more tests. It's scary, and frustrating all at the same time. My dad doesn't need this.

Other than that, I knit a bit on my sock yesterday, and today I'm going back to the hospital to visit, and then I'm going out to buy carpeting for my family room. My new furniture is in, and I want to redo the whole room before the furniture is delivered. I picked up fabric samples from Templeton Furniture yesterday, and while there, purchased a mantle clock which had to be ordered. It plays the Westminster chimes, so it will sound just like the clock that my grandmother had on her china cabinet (it's still there, but it needs to be fixed). I love that clock and Dale had promised to buy one for my birthday 2 years ago.

Please send some good thoughts my dad's way. He could use them.

Some of the things I see...
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney and Wings
Topic: Daily musings

while on my trips around Western MA for my job is the wildlife, especially in the hilltowns. Last Monday, while on my way up to Middlefield for a job, I saw four wild turkeys crossing the road in Huntington (pronouned Hun-ing-ton) in front of my car. I was able to pull up next to them, and get this photo of two of the turkeys.



And later, in Middlefield, a deer jumped across the road about 200 feet in front of my car.

Not a bad day for wildlife sightings.

And here is a picture of the sock in progress. I'm up WAY too early this morning, so I decided to work on the sock a bit before starting my work at the computer.



And here is a picture of Annie's babies, who are still living in my office. They are now 17 days old. Aren't they cute? :)

Slow weekend
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: "Never A Time" by Genesis
I have spent the entire weekend with a cold, which means no visits to my father. But I'm sure he understands as they don't need me bringing a cold to the nursing home!

What I have done is start a pair of socks. I need something easy and mind numbing to do, as I can't take cold meds (they will kill my stomach). So, I cast on for a pair of socks in a pink/white/cranberry/brown Regia that I picked up at Webs on Monday, along with some 12" Addi Turbos, and two Joy bobbins for my wheel. I cast on 70 stitches, knit for about 3 inches, and decided that they were too big. And after some coaching from Cath, the Scullery Maid and Claudia, I ripped out what I had done (complete with picot edging, inspired by the two ladies mentioned above), and started over with 60 stitches, knit for 7 rows, did the YO, K2Tog, and then 7 more rows, to form the picot edge. I'm happier with this sock, and have a couple of inches done.
I did have a quiet evening last night, as DH took Nate over to my SIL's surprise birthday party (Cal stayed home with me). Today, DH is taking the kids to his family reunion. I would go, but they don't need me sneezing over everything. I am on the downside of the cold, but it's also windy and chilly outside, which I don't need. The sooner I get my health back, the sooner I can go see my Dad, and start working again.

One of the hardest things in life
Mood:  sad

is to put a parent into a nursing home. I had to do that on Monday with my father.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease back in 1990. This is a progressive disease, that robs the patient of their muscle control, causes dementia, and other sorts of horrible effects. My father had finally come to the point where my mother could no longer care for him, even with help from CNA's, who we had coming for 4 hours every evening.

This has been the hardest 3 weeks of my life. I had find the nursing home, interview them, fill out the paper work, tell my father that he would be moving there, and then move him in on Monday. So far this week, I've made 7 trips to the home (which is 35 minutes away), but it still doesn't seem like enough. This is my dad. Someone who has loved me no matter what I've done, walked me home from kindergarten where he worked next door, guided me through the horrible teenage years, gave me away at my wedding. I remember him taking a picture of me, sitting outside under the birch trees in our front yard with two pumpkins, when I was 2 (this is one of my earliest memories). My dad has always been there for me, and I want to be there for him. So we'll slowly move into this unknown area, and go from there. I can only hope that he adjusts to living at the nursing home. I'm doing everything I can to make the transition easier for him. I hope that he's enjoying the food I'm bringing him, and I'm going to start crocheting an afghan for him to keep on his bed. I put together a small photo collage, with two pictures of my kids, and pictures of the place he was born and raised in in Nebraska.

As I said, this is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but it's for my dad, and I want him to have the best that we can give.

Forgot to Mention....
Mood:  sharp
Now Playing: "Big Log" by Robert Plant
That we also purchased a beautiful old/new bench at Brimfield. It's a former church pew, which has been painted black (the vendor had them in various colors). We'll give it a coat of marine varnish, and put it out at the end of our drive so that we can wait in comfort for Cal's bus each day.

If my feet weren't hurting so much tonight, I'd seriously consider going back to Brimfield tomorrow afternoon to see the rest of the vendors we missed. Next Spring, Carol and I have already decided that we'll go during the week, when there are fewer crowds, and when we have more time to wander about.

And now I get to look forward to the Old Deerfield Craft Fair, which is next weekend!

The Treasures of Brimfield
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" by Bryan Adams
Brimfield blew my mind! So many antique (and non-antique) vendors in one spot. I don't really think of myself as an antique nut, although I do love old things, but this place was amazing. And I scored my biggest deal of the day before we even got to Brimfield, at a little antique store in Palmer. This is my newest treasure:



I was able to talk the dealer down by almost 50% off his asking price on this wheel, because it needs work, and he didn't know wheels. I'll send this up to Dave at the Merlin Tree, and let him do his doctoring magic, and then I'll have a lovely little chair wheel.

My next treasure is a pristine cranberry barrel label, one that I've never seen before. I collect vintage cranberry labels. I started this on our honeymoon, almost 8 years ago, and have continued, picking a few up here and there each year when I have a little extra spending money. My goal is to have each one framed, and hang them in my kitchen. So far, I have over 20 labels, and I was able to pick up another 8 at another dealer, for $5 each. Score!

Here is the big label I purchased. DH is going to make a round frame for it for me.



We had a lovely day with Jim and Carol, and Carol scored a few items for herself; two small wooden baskets, and two wooden buckets. One of the baskets had fruit labels on each end, which were in nice shape.

I did see a total of 4 spinning wheels in Brimfield, and we only covered approximately 1/4 of the vendor area. One great wheel (badly warped, and missing the minor's head), and three smaller wheels; two antiques, and one which was approximately 30 years old. The best antique wheel was only selling for $325, and all the pieces were there, but since I already have one that is similar in size, age, and style, I decided to not purchase it. Some other lucky spinner will find that treasure. :)

Exciting News!
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: "Kissing A Fool" by George Michael
The new website is officially up and running. Bay Colony Farm went online Monday, and I'm thrilled with the results. I want to thank Audrey for doing such a fantastic job and all of her hard work.

Actual fiber content!
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: "The Politics of Dancing" by Re-Flex
First, a big Happy 35th Birthday to my younger brother Luke! I hope he has a wonderful day today! :)

Last weekend was full of fiber related stuff. First, I made my felted vessel. Here is the picture.



I really enjoyed this class. I'm hoping that I'll get the chance to make a few more bowls before Rhinebeck, to use as displays.

Sunday was felted fantasy creatures. I hate to say it, but I'm *not* into needle felting. At least not a needle felter for small detailed items. While the head of my mermaid looks kind of cool, I'm just not into making the body. So I'll have another bodiless needle felted head on my shelf.

And this is the nice surprise I found in the nestbox on Tuesday morning.



Samson's Annie gave birth to a litter of 8 babies; 7 were alive when I found them in the nestbox. All seven are doing well, and Annie is being the model mom. These babies were sired by Samson's Merlot, so I'm expecting great coats on these babies.

I've had an incredibly stressful week, so tomorrow I'm taking off to go to Brimfield for the antiques. The show ends on Sunday, and I've never been to it. A friend of mine (Carol) and I are going. If our men don't join us, we'll go by ourselves. I believe that this is the biggest antique show on the east coast, and rumor has it that when you go the last weekend, anything that is left is heavily marked down, or the sellers are willing to bargain. And I do love a good bargain!

The only other thing I've promised myself that I'll do this weekend is knit or spin. It's time to get a new project on the needles (something portable and easy, like socks), and start spinning for a project. What I'll spin, is up in the air, but I need to get back into the fiber groove.

Fiber stuff happening soon!
Mood:  flirty
Now Playing: "Drive" by the Cars
The three H's make one even less inclined to pick up fiber of any type (especially when one does not have A/C). But, Leslie Samson will be coming down this week, and teaching the felted vessels and fantasy creatures on Saturday and Sunday.

I'm really looking forward to the felted vessels class. I have visions of green/blue bowls sitting in my living room as decoration.

But first, I must get the new curtains hung in the LR, clean, and plan the menu for the weekend.

Back from the beach!
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: "Jack and Diane" by John Mellencamp
It is hard to get back into the grind when you've been gone for 11 days, soaking up the sun and sand at the south Jersey shore.

We had a nice vacation; spent with my entire family; 2 brothers, sister in law, niece and nephew, parents, my husband and children. The weather was perfect; sunny every single day except one, the water was in the 70's, and an off shore breeze which kept the bay flies away. What could be better?

We were vacationing on a barrier island halfway between Atlantic City and Cape May. This is the view of the bay from the deck of our house.



And this is a view of the ocean to the east from our deck.



While we couldn't see much of the ocean, it's a mental state for me to be able to at least SEE it, which I could. I was born under the sign of Cancer the Crab, so I'm very water orientated. :)

Vacation is as much of a mental state as it is a physical state. So I was thinking that since I was physically on vacation, my stomach would agree to that, and I started to eat all kinds of things I've been avoiding for months now; chocolate, coffee, tomatoes, and the like. My stomach gave me exactly 2 days until it rebelled, and reminded me that I am NOT supposed to eat those things, no matter how much I like them. The only thing it did agree to allow me to have which is on the forbidden list is the Icewine I brought down from Canada. So I was able to partake in that, and found that the Legends Estates Cabernet Franc wine was the best of the bottles I bought.

One of the things we do during vacation is take turns cooking. My brothers and I each cook 2 nights during the week. It started out very innocent 16 years ago, but has developed into a competition on who makes the best meals. One night we do a complicated meal, and the other night is a slightly easier meal. My two meals were spaghetti and meatballs (the easy meal) and grilled tuna, the hard one. I think my brothers will agree that the spaghetti and meatballs was one of the best meals that we ate (although Luke will say that his grilled lamb surpassed that meal, but I don't like lamb, so I'm not agreeing). All of this is done in good fun, and provides us with wonderful meals throughout the week.

I'm now tanned, rested and ready to return to work. Who says family vacations can't be fun?