It's Wine-Thirty!

Changes in the past 8 months

I've decided to get back to blogging.

Taking 8 months off was necessary.  Life can get pretty complicated and sometimes spilling your guts in a regular basis takes WAY too much effort.    ;-)

However, I have decided that I'm not going to even try to concentrate on the fiber arts since I've hardly been doing any.  Anyone who checks in will find that I might take about anything, or just show interesting pictures that I have taken in my everyday life.

So just to give you all a quick update:  Dale walked with his graduating class in May and received his diploma.  The governor of MA gave the commencement speech, and he was very good.  While I liked his ideas, I also view some of them as being somewhat impractical, like the "everyone should have a free college education" part.  Yeah, that sounds very cool, especially since we now have a student loan to pay, but WHO is going to pay for it, and HOW? 

Dale also went back to work in January, which made my life significantly easier.

I have taken a part time bartending job at night which I LOVE!  Had I known how much fun it would be to do this, I would have started 20 years ago!  And I can make a killer Washington Apple and an amazing 24K Nightmare.

I've been reading at least 3 paperback books a week now during the summer.  TV has reruns, and the books are more interesting anyway.  I've reread just about every paperback book in my bookcase, including some that I forgot that I had that DH found when he cleaned out my old office/craft room.

The boys have been busy this summer swimming in the pool, and riding their bikes around the yard.  Their cousin Zach has been with us this week and the three of them have had a blast playing together.  DH even set up a real tent in our family room where the boys have been "camping out" since Wednesday night.

DH and I have also been busy the past couple of weeks cutting down trees and splitting wood for burning in our woodstove this winter.  Two weeks ago a terrible storm went through North Amherst, taking down many trees in my old neighborhood.  We were able to get a couple of jobs cutting up the fallen trees (and taking down some ones still left standing).  And the week after that storm, another one blew through my neighborhood, toppling an huge maple that we figured to be over 100 years old in my neighbors yard that fell partly into ours.  We have most of the wood from that tree too now. Yes, believe it or not, I can run a chain saw and wood splitter.  We now have a couple of cords of wood waiting to be stacked in our backyard.

Has this been a weird summer or what?  We've had more thunderstorms than I can ever remember happening; almost one per day for the past several weeks.  Usually my back yard looks like the Sahara desert, with brown crunchy grass, but it is so green and tall that Dale can't keep up with mowing it!  Last night's thunderstorm lasted over 2 hours.  Strange weather!

Wow! Thanks!

Most of the books have sold, which I'm thrilled about!  You have no idea how much easier that will make my life for the next couple of weeks.  (if you aren't interested in any of the remaining books, please feel free to skip the books; I do have a bit of news below).

I still have three books left, so if anyone is interested in these, please let me know.

Winding a Warp & Using a Paddle by Peggy Osterkamp, Number 1 Revised edition, published in 1998 (second printing).  From what I can find, this book is also OOP.  It is spiral bound and in like new condition.  It is currently listed on Abebooks for $39.95 and Amazon for $35.95. 

The Weaving Book by Helene Bress.  This was printed in 1981, but is in like new condition.  It is OOP, and hard to find; listed at $499 on Abebooks and $268.85 on Amazon. 

I'm going to sell it for $250.

Doubleweave on Four to Eight Shafts  by Ursina Arn-Grischott.  This book was printed in 1999 and is OOP.  It isn't listed on Abebooks, but is listed on Amazon at $325.

Today was a big day for my oldest son, Calvin.  We brought home his two new Belgian Hares.  If you don't know what a Belgain Hare looks like, look for the drug commercial for Chantix.  You'll see a tortise and a hare running around.  The hare is actually one of 4 Belgians used during the filming of the commercials.  They are a beautiful arch-type breed.  Calvin has named his breeding pair Star and Sam.  Both are settled in nicely tonight.  I'll try to take a couple of pictures tomorrow for everyone to see.  He is very excited about the prospect of showing the rabbits come Spring.

Rare Out of Print fiber art books

I should have mentioned when I posted this yesterday that the more expensive books (over $100) are "or best offer".  I do want to sell these.    :)

Now that the holiday season is upon us (and DH is still finishing up his degree in college), I'm going to sell some of the books I've had in my stash.  Most of these are out of print and hard to find.  Several of the books are listed for several hundred dollars on Amazon and Abebooks.  I'm selling mine for a bit less, because I'd like to be able to buy Christmas presents for my kids and family this year.    :)

I can take Paypal and money orders.  Payments must be made within 3 days, and books will ship media mail the business day after payment is made.  Buyers pay for shipping.  Please include your zip code so that I can calculate shipping for you.

The Weaving Book by Helene Bress.  This was printed in 1981, but is in like new condition.  It is OOP, and hard to find; listed at $499 on Abebooks and $268.85 on Amazon. 

I'm going to sell it for $250.

Doubleweave on Four to Eight Shafts  by Ursina Arn-Grischott.  This book was printed in 1999 and is OOP.  It isn't listed on Abebooks, but is listed on Amazon at $325. 

I'm selling it for $300; this copy is in like new condition.

SOLD  Aran Knitting by Alice Starmore.  This was printed in 1997 and is in like new condition.  It is OOP.  It is listed on Abebooks for $258.82 and Amazon for $289. 

I'm selling my copy for $235.

ON HOLD - Waiting for payment  Completely Angora by Kilfoyle and Samson.  This is the second edition book, in like new condition.  It is OOP, and listed on Abebooks for $35 and on Amazon for $45.

I'm selling my copy for $35.

SOLD  Angora - A Handbook for Spinners by Erica Lynne.  This was printed in 1992 and is OOP.  The cover has a crease in it, and there is a small chocolate stain on the inside of the front cover.  Abebooks has this listed for $40 and Amazon for $45. 

I'm selling this one for $35.

SOLD  Network Drafting: An Introduction by Alice Schlein.  This book was published in 1994, and is OOP.  It is spiral bound, and in like new condition.  Abebooks doesn't have this listed, but Amazon has it for $42.59.

I'm selling mine for $40.

Winding a Warp & Using a Paddle by Peggy Osterkamp, Number 1 Revised edition, published in 1998 (second printing).  From what I can find, this book is also OOP.  It is spiral bound and in like new condition.  It is currently listed on Abebooks for $39.95 and Amazon for $35.95. 

I'm selling my copy for $35.

SOLD  A Handweavers Notebook by Sharon Alderman (Swatch Collections from Handwoven Magazine).  From what I can find, this book is OOP.  Abebooks doesn't have a listing for it, but Amazon has it for $37.93.

I'm selling my copy for $32.

SOLD  Hands On Rigid Heddle Weaving by Betty Linn Davenport.  This book is listed on Abebooks for $13.83.

I'm selling mine for $10.

SOLD Purl Stitch by Sally Melville.  I have two of these for some reason, so I'm selling one.  It is listed on Abebooks for $10.95. 

I'm selling my copy for $10.

Please contact me at Baycolonyfarm @ aol. com (leave out the spaced between the @) if you are interested in any of these books.   I will answer all e-mails as soon as possible.

More cooking

Not much has been going on here.  I've been busy with work; no necessarily the type of busy that makes money right away, but busy just the same.

When I haven't been working, I've done a bit of cooking.  Last night's meal was Minnesota Wild Rice casserole .  My mom used to make this for us when we were kids.  She got her recipe out of a magazine, and I found mine on the web.  It's a delicious, easy meal to make, and I always have some leftovers if I double the recipe.  If you like sausage and rice, you'll love this recipe!

The kids have tomorrow off from school, so I plan to spend the day relaxing with them, and possibly digging out my spinning wheel and some fiber.

And in case you thought I had completely forgotten about Saturday Sky, I actually did take pictures of the sky on Saturday; I just never got around to posting them.

Killings WIPs.

It has literally been months since I've read any blogs.  Part of that is just pure exhaustion on my part from stress (working, DH being in college, kids in school, etc.), and part of it is because I haven't touched any thing fiber related since last May.  My lack of fiber stuff plus reading about everyone else's fiber stuff is kind of depressing.   DH has been on a campaign for me to organize my stash as part of the "let's clean out Helen's old office" which has really become a storage room for my stash, old work, and just about anything I didn't want going into the barn.

So finally, on Veteran's Day, he convinced me to just haul out one bin, go through it, save what I wanted and ditch the rest.   That one bin led to another, and another and another, until I had gone through over 8 bins, several knitting bags and 4 cardboard boxes.  After the first bin, I asked DH if he could get our burn barrel going (I didn't feel like shredding 2 year's worth of work dating back to 1996 and I didn't want to toss out personal papers from the early 90's either).  Once I started getting rid of stuff, out came the knitting and fiber bins.  Many of these held projects that I had started 6, 7 and 8 years ago.  Many of these projects weren't very good to begin with (like what was I thinking knitting a sweater for DH out of bulky weight yarn when he's always complaining that he's too warm anyway???).  Or the circular shawl that I had spent 2 weeks knitting, only to find out that I couldn't get past one section because I kept making the same mistake over and over and over again?   

Part of me has hesitated to blog about this, because the last time I decided to burn a bunch of yarn, I had all kinds of negative reactions to what I had done.   But it is an incredibly freeing thing to do.  Tired of that project just laying around, and don't feel like dealing with eBay?  Burn it.  Had that project that looked so good in the store, but the color really doesn't suit you?  Burn it.  That sweater you started in 1986 with the big boxy shoulders and the crazy intarsia pattern that was reminiscent of Bill Cosby's sweaters from "The Cosby Show"?  Burn it.  There is something truly satisfying about watching an old WIP go away quickly like that.  I like to think of it as "killing" my old WIPs. 

Now,  I'm not a violent person, but I really do hate having old projects laying around.  They serve no purpose other than to torment me with the realization that I'm not good at finishing my knitting projects anyway.   And using the term killing means that they are dead and buried (or cremated if you will).  There is no left over yarn sitting around waiting for another project (oh yeah, like I really want to figure out if I can use that acrylic black and blue yarn that was sweater project #2 for DH).  And best of all, I can reclaim all of the knitting needles and tools that have been sitting with those WIPs for years.  I just gained 2 dozen circulars back from killing my WIPs 2 weeks ago.  And most of these are Addi circulars, which aren't cheap to begin with!

So, now that I've completely shocked some of you (and hopefully given permission to others), there is my confession.  That is how I deal with my WIPs.    :)

Best of all, I freed up a beautiful batt of wool/mohair from Persimmon Tree Yarns in PA that I bought several years ago at Rhinebeck.  Since freeing it, it has been whispering my name from it's bin (by the way, out of all the yarn I dug through, I only saved a total of 1 bin full!), and I'm thinking that I'll take out my spinning wheel this weekend, and start spinning.  That something I haven't done for well over a year now.

I'm ending with a few pictures that show what else I've been working on; cake decorating!  I had my final in our fondant and gum paste class on Sunday.  We needed to make a cake, and decorate it using some of the techniques we learned over the last few weeks.  I used fondant to cover my cake, draped the comet's "tail" and made an alien along with all those little stars, the moon and the comet.  It wasn't very Thanksgiving like, but my kids loved it which is all that matters.

 

A couple of pictures to share

The sunset last week out my front door.

Roaring Brook in Leverett, MA

Where has the time gone?

Damn!  Has it been almost 2 weeks since I last posted?  Time flies when you are having fun.  NOT!

Actually, I've just been swamped at work, which is a good thing, except for the sleep deprivation I get when I'm really stressed.  However, I have worked on some really interesting reports, and loved what I've seen.

I did take last Sunday off from work, and I took the kids down to Storrs, CT to a rabbit show.  We had a great time, but I was exhausted when we got home.  I'll be taking the kids to the Taunton rabbit show on Sunday, as Nathaniel now wants to show rabbits too (he would like to show Netherland Dwarfs, which are a nice small breed).  So we'll be looking for a ND there.

And, because my brother Luke sent this to me last night and I found it really funny, I thought I would direct your attention to Disapproving Rabbits .  Have fun checking out this site.

Two special days in one weekend!

On Friday, DH and I celebrated out 11th wedding anniversary.  It rained on our wedding day and it rained on Friday.  In fact, Friday's weather was very similar to that on our wedding day.  We didn't really celebrate (we aren't the types that go all out for things like Valentines day, our anniversary or things like that), but we did have a nice pizza dinner because I wound up working late Friday night, and DH had to study anyway.  :)

Today is Dale's 46th birthday.  One of his goals before we were married was to be married before he turned 35 (we met that by 2 days, and even had to renew his driver's license down on Cape Cod on our honeymoon).  His other goal was to own a house before he turned 35.  We met that 61 days before he turned 35 too.

Now his goal is to finish up his associates degree in December.  He has made the dean's list at the college, and I'm extremely proud of him.   :)

Tonight we plan to go out to Eastside Grill in Northampton for dinner, and we'll toast to his birthday and 11 years together.  :D

I hope all of you that made it to Rhinebeck had a great time!  Linda Diak and I commiserated on not being there, but we both had obligations which prevented us from being there physically, we were there mentally.   ;-)

BTW, for those of you who are knitters, check out Linda's fabulous Darn Pretty Needles and her newly done website.  The needles are INCREDIBLE and I love the look of the site too!

Yummmm!

Last night I was short on time.  We had taken the kids over to Michael's to buy optical illusion drawing books and orgami paper.  By the time we got home, meatloaf was out of the question for dinner.   So I decided to search through the cabinets and look for something interesting.

I put the following into a pan with some olive oil;

1/2 Spanish onion, diced small

2 red peppers, julienned

1 med. zucchini, sliced thin

saute the above items, until tender.  Add 1 small can of tomato sauce, 2 cans of crabmeat (I used the kind from Trader Joe's which sells for about $3 per can).  Stir and heat.  Shortly before serving, add some lemon peel (I used the peel of 1 lemon, and then chopped it up small), and the juice of 1/2 lemon.  Stir and serve over angel hair pasta.

It was delish!

I also served this with Relax Riesling.  Probably not the best combination, although I wasn't thrilled with the wine even after finishing my supper and eating some plain pasta in hopes that the tomato sauce was changing the taste of the wine.   The wine was a bit too dry for my taste, and at $9.99 per bottle, I've bought much better Rieslings from Germany than the Relax.

Sent to me from my brother Luke:
MY LIVING WILL

Last night, my friend and I were sitting in the my living room and
I said to him, "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on
some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the
plug."

He got up, unplugged the TV, and threw out my glass of red wine.

He is such a bitch.....

Maria Von Trapps Stepson Dead at the age of 91

I forgot to add this earlier.

Read the last paragraph to see what he did in his retirement.  A very cool older gentleman!

Maria Von Trapp's Stepson Dead at the age of 91