End of winter?
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: The Spinners "One of a Kind (Love Affair)"

Well, we made it through with only a slight interruption in our cable, but kept our power. Of course we are still having really high wind gusts. The last gust just caused a white-out in front of my office window for a few seconds, with all the blowing snow. And it is REALLY COLD OUT THERE! I'm ready for Spring. And warm weather. And grass. And flowers. And everything that comes with it. I'm ready to plant apple trees, my main goal for planting this year.

And for those interested in a bit of local history:

After reading the blog of a friend of mine, she showed this link. Less you think I've completely lost my mind, my interest in this is because my MIL used to work there as a nurse. The whole place is falling down now since it was closed by the state over 15 years ago. The architecture is beautiful. Some group is buying or (or maybe they already have), and plan to renovate it, turning it into commercial office space, and some housing. My husband has stories to tell of going there when his mother worked there, and being taken through the buildings. There are underground passages so that workers could take residents to other buildings without having to take them outside. DH and I have decided to buy the book for MIL as a gift. She has many fond memories of working there. She liked the staff, and met a lot wonderful people who lived there. While many were seriously mentally ill, she knew them and cared about them and what happened to them. I'm lucky to have one of those MIL's that people wish for. I can imagine she was as good, kind and caring to those patients as she is to every person that enters her life. My MIL surely has a spot reserved for her in Heaven when her time comes.

And the current weather conditions are.....
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Foreigner "Urgent"

This picture doesn't accurately show what it's really like outside. Yes, it's snowing, but the snow is going sideways. We are expected to have wind gusts up to 50 mph between now and when the storm ends. The wind is actually howling outside as I type this. I expect to loose power sometime before this ends, as the storm started with rain, and it was 42 degrees outside. Now it is down to 25 degrees, and the tree limbs are heavy with water. Somewhere, sometime tonight, people will be without power, which is not good. We have a woodstove, so if we loose power, we'll still have heat. But I get concerned for my own mother, and my neighbors that don't have alternative sources of heat. If we do loose power, I'll go see if my neighbor wants to come over and stay warm.

I'm also wishing that I had fed and watered the rabbits this morning, but I wound up doing other things and wasn't even home. Such is life. Sometimes I need to schedule my time a bit better. :/

And as a side bar, for those that want to stay current with the latest products and classes that we are offering, I've started a Yahoogroup for Bay Colony Farm. To join, send an e-mail to BayColonyFarm-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and you'll be added to the group.

Who knew?
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: Rick Springfield "Don't Talk to Strangers"
Two or three years ago at one of the fiber festivals, I purchased a couple of skeins of this Opal Sock Yarn. I thought at the time I would knit socks for my kids with it. But I'm not much of a sock knitter, so I decided to eBay it. Now I have 16 people watching it, and I'm waiting for the auction to end. I have lots more yarn that I want to sell as part of the great destashing, but I'm not much of an eBayer either, so we'll see what happens.

The Mating Game
Mood:  amorous
Now Playing: Elton John "Philadelphia Freedom"
Topic: Rabbit Talk
O.k, I'm not feeling amorous, but the rabbits were this afternoon, which I was surprised about due to the cold temps outside. Today Mia was showing signs that she wanted a date, so she met up with Gewurztraminer, who is from Leslie Samson's rabbitry (so is Mia). Gewurtz is built like a brick house; wide shoulders, good length, big bucky head and just solid feeling. Once I put Mia in his cage, it didn't take long for him to figure out that today was his lucky day! He's done this before up at Leslie's, so he was familiar with the drill. Afterwards Mia would have nothing else to do with Gewurtz, although I give him extra points for trying. :)

After removing Mia from his cage, Gewurtz continued to look around for her, but I consoled him with extra head pats. He's still a happy camper.

I do wish that we'd start to see signs of Spring. I'm ready for warmer temps and tired of feeling chilled to the bone!

I'm so excited!
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Erasure "A Little Respect"

I'll be vending at NH Sheep and Wool in May! Wahhooooo! I've been told that I can have an outdoor space, which is o.k. with me. I'll also be vending at the Jamaica Fiber Fest on May 21st, and at MA Sheep and Wool the weekend of May 28th. This will make May a jam packed month, as we will have Beth Brown-Reinsel here April 30-May 1st, teaching Traditional Construction Techniques for Ganseys. And after MAS&W, Leslie Samson will be here the following weekend teaching the felted coat/vest class. I'll take a picture of the vest to put up on the blog that Leslie made so that I could show what the possibilities are for the class. It's gorgeous! I had a lot of people coming up to me last weekend Oooohing and Aaahing over that vest. :)

Something is finally being worked on...
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Golden Earring "Twilight Zone"

And it's not fiber related.

O.k, I know that no one else cares about this, but I do. I have been working on having my downstairs bathroom renovated for a couple of years. We've finally got it really going, and today I picked out my flooring! Here it is:



Completely different from what I was originally looking for (something that would go with light green walls), but when I saw it, I knew that was it! And for me to find something immediately is amazing. The last couch I bought took over a year for me to pick out. Now my walls in that bathroom will no longer be green, and I'll have to find another color, but that's o.k. I'm now thinking some type of beach/ocean theme.

And here is my newly completed shower stall. The last time I had a working shower in this bathroom was in 1998, shortly after my oldest son was born.

O.k, enough of the bathroom renovations.

Pictures don't do it justice
Mood:  special
Now Playing: When In Rome "The Promise"
Here is Pink Ivory. Is that not gorgeous??? And it isn't even finished yet.

And here is my new Lopi yarn.

To go with this pattern.

I will start working on the sweater tonight. I figured out yesterday after I got home that I need two more skeins, so I'll have to call the store tomorrow and see if they have any left.

Decisions, descisions.....
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: ELO "Don't Bring Me Down"

Wood sl*t that I am, I had to go back to the Berkshires for a log of Pink Ivory. It isn't for the Bobbin Trees, but rather for me personally. My cousin is a professional furniture maker, and I just had to buy this beautiful piece of PI for a future sofa table for my family room. I envision it up against the sofa, as you enter the room, with a pretty little candlestick lamp on it.

And of course, I couldn't pass up three lovely pieces of wood, which are destined for Bobbin Logs; Snakewood and Argentinian Jujube.

And while out there, I had to stop at Wonderful Things. This yarn shop is extremely large, has a great selection of yarns and friendly employees. This past weekend I won one, and purchased another pattern from Lisa Lloyd at the Spa weekend. The first pattern is the Halcyon Aran Sweater. I love the cables in this sweater! The second pattern (which I won) is the Basketweave Cardigan. Are those cables going up the sleeve not gorgeous? The yarn I purchased is a Lopi in grey with black flecks. I think it will look great as the Basketweave Cardigan, yes?

Home at Last!
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Dead or Alive "You Spin Me Round"

This past weekend, we were up in Portland, ME for the NETA Spa Knit and Spin weekend. I was vending, and we had busted our tails getting the new Bobbin Trees and Bobbin Logs ready for sale (pictures to follow, unless you make a specific request, then I think I could get one to you sooner!). We arrived on Friday afternoon, and it took me a couple of hours to set up. Vending was from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Sunday. I was exhausted by the time we were done on Sunday. But, I had a great time! I met lots of people that I only knew by e-mail address so it was fun putting the faces with the names.
We ate out at several places over the weekend, with my favorite being Espos on Congress Street in Portland. Fabulous food, and excellent prices. My second favorite place to eat was Gilbert's Chowder House on Commercial Street on the Waterfront.
Due to an incoming snow storm, we made the decision to stay an extra day, and come home on Tuesday, which meant that we got to go shopping up in Freeport on Sunday afternoon. My score of the day was a black suede jacket from Wilson's Leather Outlet for $24.99! It's gorgeous and fits well.
Monday, during the snowstorm, we went to the Portland Public Market. This was neat, but I had thought it was going to be much bigger than it was. Plus, a few vendors were closed due to the snow (it was snowing about 1 inch an hour, and 12 degrees outside!). I did get some vanilla sugar from Portland Spice Company and was wishing I could bring home some of the fresh shrimp on display at the seafood market. Then we went back down to the waterfront, and visited a kitchen store (my other weakness!). Bought several items here, although nothing I couldn't have purchased around here, but fun anyway. The rest of the day was spent hanging out in the hotel room, watching tv, and then Cal and I went to the pool for a bit.

I will say that the bunnies appeared to have missed me. Cassie thrust her head at me for head patts (she is really turning into a favorite of mine!), and everyone seemed excited that I was back. Even the cats seemed happy to have us home, even though I know that Deanna gives them lots of attention when she comes to do bunny detail.

All in all, I'm really happy that I went to Spa, and hope to be invited back next year as a vendor.

Valentine's Day and continuing wood working
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Poison "Something to Believe In"

Yesterday was spent buying a folding bookcase to use as a display for this weekend, then buying various little Valentine's presents for DH, my Dad, for my Mom from my Dad, and cookies for my kids. I gave DH one of those "cookie cakes" from Mrs. Fields (I'm too busy to bake up a huge chocolate chip heart right now). I was told when he got home that his friend and coworker Cliff told him that he had to bring in milk today so that they could have milk and cookie. :)

I was on the receiving end of 6 long stem red roses. It's been ages since I got anything like that (usually, I tell DH to forgo flowers on Valentine's Day because they are so expensive, but I've decided that I'm worth it). Unless you get the wrong idea, I didn't ask for anything, nor did I hint for them, but they were very welcome. DH also suggested that we join another set of friends for dinner out at a local Japanese restaurant, but the reservation time was 8 p.m., which is way too late for us to have the kids out (Mom was willing to babysit). It would have been nice, but we'll go another time.

As part of my Valentine's present, DH brought home 6 samples of perfectly smooth sanded wood from our projects. We have 9 different types of wood being used for the spinners tool, and he worked for several hours sanding these down to show me last night. Tonight my plan is to go over to the shop, and help sand everything down. We have one more night after tonight to get everything assembled, and ready for the Spa weekend. It will be cutting it close, but we'll be ready.