Christmas has passed and the New Year is coming

Happy New Year to all!

What a wonderful Christmas we had. It was great to be together. My children are almost grown and gone from the nest so it won't be long before our holidays change BUT not this year, this year we were all together. On Christmas Eve we all went up to the Church to listen to Lynn Thomas' annual Ancient Carol Concert that Hyde Park sponsers. It's always enjoyable. Hayle's boyfriend Trevor joined us. It's just one of those things that we do so if he's going to hang-out with us he better get familiar with our traditions and "strangities" and some things we do are very different. Afterwards we headed back to the house to finish up Hayle's last minute wrapping. I had all of mine done which is unusual. With 'visions of sugarplums dancing in my head' I said goodnight. The kids woke me up at 7:30a and we made our morning Pero, Spence had wassail and we proceeded to the living room where it was apparent that Santa had indeed made his annual visit. Gifts were passed out as we enjoyed our white Christmas.

My kids said I'd be surprised with my gifts and I have to admit that they outdid themselves. No wilted dandelions... instead I opened a box to find a new digi camera! I was thinking about getting a smaller camera to carry with me and this one is perfect! I love it! Then on top of that Spence gave me a little digi photo frame keychain! I love it too! This little gadget replaces wallet photos. I love electronic gadgets and this is great with the new camera. Spence received some new cowboy boots from me and a new headset from his sister. Hayle received a set of bone crochet hooks that she really wanted and some cute knit items. That little cutie on the screen is my youngest grandson Brendan. He's a little hooligan and love him to death. Anyway, we had fun opening gifts.

Later on we had a ham dinner and afterward decided to go to the movies to see Seven Pounds with Will Smith. What a good movie! Very different. I'm not going to say more because I don't want to give anything away. Difinitely worth the admission.

Afterwards the day came to an end with another movie at home and lots more snow.

I took yesterday, Friday, off work and had a truly decadent day. I took Spence down to the shuttle in the morning as he had an afternoon flight to California and I went home to shovel snow. I was ecstatic to find that some kind soul had used a tractor in my driveway to push all of the snow into the yard. What a wonderful gift. I planned to use the couple of hours that I would've used shoveling to read and play with my new toys but instead spent the entire afternoon reading and playing with toys. What a joyous day. I don't know when the last time was that I just "wasted" a day. I don't really consider it wasted but I don't usually take a day just for myself. It was rejuvenating and I think I really needed it. I went to work today invigorated and ready to jump into it. Maybe I should do it more often.

Lynn came down to the shop today to work on her socks and I got back into the bamboo "t-shirt" that I started awhile back. Made some progress on that and then we went to Takara for dinner. Yummy sushi! I really enjoy their chef special.

The new year will be here in just a few days. 2009 is almost here, it's hard to believe. The older I get the faster it goes! I think it's probably time for me to give up soda again... I can't say that I'll completely give it up but I'm giving up the 2-3 times a day refills. It's not good for me so I need to get rid of it. I'm not a health freak by anymeans but it needs to stop so I better enjoy it between now and New Year's Eve because then it ends. Knocking off the sugar and caffeine will be a positive way to start the new year.

So now it's almost 2a and it's time to say good night. I'm not really tired so maybe I'll knit or read for awhile. I have more to say but I think I'll save that for another time. Happy New Year to all and to all a goodnight.

Saturday night at the hearth...

It's been a knitting frenzy this week. I'm trying to get all of these small Christmas projects done before C-day. Sure hope I remember to wrap everything... better make a note of that. This week I finished a pair of clogs, knit 3 hats and started a 4th... hopefully I'll finish number 4 tomorrow and start "caliometry" tomorrow... maybe I'll start it tonight w.t.h. I need to make another headset cover for Christmas too. How do you like my green ones? And my model's not too bad either. My baby boy is growing up. He'll be 17 next month! I think I'm feeling old.

I'm making the next ones in red/white/green cotton... not my choice but that's the request. They're quick to make so I'm not too worried. I'm thinking of quick putting together a pair of clogs for myself as I finally had to toss mine, the hole in the sole just got too big. They lasted for several years. I like wearing them in the shop during the wintertime.

I finally knit up one of those Anne Norling Fruit Hats and they're really cute for a little one. I made one for my little granddaughter Mikayla. I think she'll look so cute in this. I changed the pattern a bit. Just enough to get the texture to show up a bit more. These are so easy and quick to do that a person could have an entire fruit bowl done in no time! I knit up a couple of beanies for the boys too. Now to run out and find a couple of dinosaurs and a dolly for these three.

Tomorrow is church, cleaning up, cooking and relaxing. I'm going down to the range on Monday, I think this will be my last free visit... maybe the rangemaster will take pity that I have to drive so far and will extend my free time. One can always wish. I will finally get all of my paperwork sent off for my CCW also on Monday. I'm excited. Cheryl and I took the class two months ago and I'm just now getting my act together and finally getting the paperwork in. I still need my photo so off to WM for a passport photo.

You know I'm starting to do my annual "look back on the past year" thing that I do and I think it's really been a good year. A lot of good stuff came out of a lot of bad stuff. Things really do come full circle. I've accomplished alot personally and we've accomplished alot as a family. I still need to stay on top of keeping up my bedroom a bit better and walking on my treadmill more often but I can put that on the 2009 list of things to do. I think I'll head down to Maverick and get a refill. More another time.

Black Friday

Why do they call the day after Thanksgiving "Black Friday"? When did that start? As usual I missed something... AGAIN! I haven't blogged in awhile so let's see... my family had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration yesterday. We have much to be thankful for - our loved ones, our faith, our health, our home... and so much more. Heavenly Father blesses us A LOT! And for that I'm forever thankful. We had a nice dinner and all watched a movie afterward. Hayle's boyfriend Trevor came over and joined the festivities. For some absurd reason we all decided that we needed to have pie after the movie.

Tuesday the 25th Peggy and Sally hosted a going away party for Margaret upstairs at the Coppermill. Margaret is headed out to Colorado this year and we'll all miss her. I think everyone has benefitted from her vast knowledge and skill in many areas of fiber arts. Everyone enjoyed a great dinner and a few hours of spinning or handwork while reminiscing and yammering away. We're all good at that.

Wednesday night my friend Claudia called me from CA to wish me happy birthday. What a great blessing it is to have good friends. I haven't chatted with C. in more than a year but it was like yesterday. All of our babies are about grown now and we don't know where the time has gone... wasn't it last week that we were pushing strollers up the hill? Spence and Jojo (oops! Joseph) were just babies. Hayle, Dolly and Carl were running ahead of us... the picture is so clear... it couldn't be 16 years ago but I guess it was. Life goes on. We had a great chat and hopefully she'll be coming to UT next month.

Last Monday was my BD... I had a great day, many online birthday wishes when I got up. The weather was gorgeous. I went shooting and did well. I had garlic pasta for dinner. Now does it get any better than that? You can't stop the years so you may as well roll along with them... it sure as heck beats the alternative!

Today I decided that the shop really needed some rearranging. Spence came down and helped me move some things and tomorrow I'll finish rearranging all of the yarn... people will be surprised when they come in... I don't know that anything will be where it was before. I think it will have more organization and I think it will have more of a visual impact. These things must happen every so often and today was the day. I'll try to take some photos when I'm done.

So I guess that's what's new. I've been knitting like crazy as everyone is getting small knit items for Christmas and maybe some other surprises as well. Now it's time to start decorating... maybe I'll put Christmas carols on tomorrow.

October fiber swap and "swaps" in general

Look what I received in the mail today! Thank you Gianina aka Thegrotonknitter! This is my October package from the fiber swap that I'm in. The swap is for three months and we send and receive a minimum of 4-oz of great spinning fiber. My package included a 2-oz batt in royal blue and bright green and 2-oz of combed top dyed blue/green/purple. I'm not sure what kind of wool or wool blend these are but they both have a lovely hand. I don't have a finished project in mind yet but I believe I'll spin these separately and then ply them together. I see a truly yummy fiberlicious yarn coming from these.

Swapping is so fun. I really enjoy "snooping" around, learning about my swap partners preferences and things they might need. It's alot of fun putting together these boxes knowing how much they'll be enjoyed. And, on the receiving end... what can I say! How great to get a present that's exactly what you want...it's a win-win for everyone. I LOVE SWAPPING! Maybe we need some type of bumper sticker that says that.

I'm in two other swaps right now. The Outlander swap is based on fans of Jamie and Claire from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. My "sporran" is complete and I think I have all of the goodies for it... now to get it off in the mail! I'm also in the Worldwide Christmas Stocking swap where we swap a hand-made Christmas stocking. Mine is done and it's headed off to New Zealand in a few weeks. I still need to gather goodies for that one. The stocking that I receive will be a complete surprise... this isn't a secret swap but for some reason my partner wanted to keep it a surprise so I have no clue who's making it or where it's coming from. I've been told that it's from a long way off and that it will be fabulous. I love fabulous!

I'm determined to be strong and limit my swap habit until after the holidays... no more swaps till '09. But now I've discovered KALs... I'll try to be strong there too... at least til after the holiday. Knitting - yarn - fiber strength... is there any such thing? No... just weakness. Oh well, no one's perfect.

Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair

Wow! What a weekend... cold, mega rain storm, more cold and more rain. I'm really saying this in a positive way. My hat is off to Utah fiberholics as they came in droves and truly supported all of the vendors who attended. You all have a very big thanks from Rumplestiltskin . My daughter and I arrived on Friday evening to set-up our booth and had just managed to get our tent erected and the trailer unloaded when the sky opened up. An executive decision was made to keep all of the pretties in their plastic totes, drop the tent and continue set-up on Saturday morning. Off we headed for Sugarhouse for sushi and shopping. Shoe shopping at Sundance outlet... such cute stuff and great prices too! Then on to Nordstrom's Rack and Barnes/Noble finishing up with sushi at Tsunami. We had a great time then headed back to our hotel to hang out in the hot tub for awhile.

Saturday morning we were up early and finished setting up our booth and then they came... it was cold and gray and drizzly out. Because it was Conference weekend coupled with the bad weather I really thought people wouldn't be venturing out at all... but they did...all day long. Everyone was bundled up and umbrellas were everywhere but they came and they shopped... oh boy did they shop! Many came from far away to attend Utah's one and only annual fiber fair and they did not let cold and wet deter them from that mission at all.

My daughter spent Saturday in Connie Denton's basket class and, as always, had a ball. You can't take a class from Connie without spending the day laughing as well as learning. What a cute basket she made... it doesn't look like the sample Antler Basket that Connie made but then when Hayle took the Market Basket class a few years back her basket didn't look like anyone elses either but it was a truly fabulous basket. A good time was had by all. If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of Connie's class don't miss it. She is extremely knowledgeable about her craft and an excellent instructor.

Cheryl and Peggy came down on Saturday as they had classes scheduled for Sunday and we had a girls weekend planned. Hayle has dubbed Cheryl and I "loon 1 and loon 2" but decided that with Peggy we are truly "loon-a-tics". We had dinner reservations at Buca di Beppo but decided we needed a "field trip" to Big Lots for long johns and sweat shirts to protect us from the "freezing" weather... add to that some Christmas shopping, snack shopping (because we were starving!)... well, maybe we are "loonatics". Back to the hotel to pick Hayle up - she opted not to go shopping with us (I wonder why not?) - and then over to Buca.

I had the advantage of dining at Buca di Beppo before and I knew that my friends were in for a very different dining experience . First off, it is by far the BEST Italian food anywhere. How many restaurants still have a doorman? Nice touch. Buca has a table in the kitchen and if you know to ask to eat in there then you are in for even more of a treat. To be in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant is like eating in the kitchen of a big Italian family... incredible aromas, laughter, loud voices, fun and oh what food. As dishes were prepared for serving the waiter would bring them by our table so we could see what the various dishes looked like. In addition to what we ordered, a dish of garlic mashed potatos and some spaghetti appeared for us to try - yum! Words cannot describe our dinner. Everything is served family style so you can have the amount you want. We ordered a pasta sampler plate and chicken saltimboca and garlic bread...indescribable... every plus word you can think of coupled with dining in the kitchen with good friends made for a most memorable evening. Add to that a family order of tiramisu plus our left-overs and we had plenty of food left for Sunday too.

Now back to the hotel for the jacuzzi. Us "old girls" soaked while the "youngster" played on the 'puter. Then back to the room for tiramisu and the rest of the night laughing. Thank you girls for coming down... what a great girls weekend.

Sunday morning weather gave us more of the same, wet and cold. Fortunately, where Rumplestiltskin was located we didn't get the rising ground water. Some booths had to be moved about but by late morning the rain had stopped and the sun started peeking out! And with sunshine even more came. What a fun afternoon, beautiful weather and a festival atmosphere... and leftovers from Buca... can't get much better than that. Cheryl and I took a triangle weaving class from Clark Otterness . I've wanted to learn this technique for awhile now and Clark is a great instructor. This is such an interesting technique and it is "self-warping"... it just happens as you weave. Very fun and what a great way to show off your handspun yarns. Very simple and Clark makes very beautiful hardwood looms.

Well the weekend came to a close and it was time to head north. Thanks again to all of the fiber addicts who supported this fair and many thanks to Wasatch Woolpak Fiber Guild. Kudos to all of you for your hard work... I know there were some roadblocks along the way but as always you handled everything very gracefully and those of us not involved in the business end didn't feel the bumps. Thank you again for a very well managed event... look forward to seeing you all again next year.

It's been a long summer/fall. I've dyed a lot of yarn and fiber this year. I've driven many miles and attended a number of fairs this summer. It's been a learning experience and I've met alot of new people, visited a number of new places and had alot of fun but winter is coming and it's time to settle in. Guess I'll start some new lists and start planning which shows to attend next year.

If you know about any good mid-size shows in the western/Rocky Mt. states please comment and let me know about them. I'm always looking to add new shows to my list.

The Walk

Well... today is October 2 and today Hayle "walked". It was important and today is the first day of the rest of her life. This won't make sense to most people but that's ok... it's a great day!

Now, on to fiber stuff... Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair is this weekend, October 4th and 5th at Wheeler Farm in Murray UT. I've been dyeing like crazy and have lots of new colorways in bombyx silk, 80's merino top, superfine s/w merino top, corrie x top AND Happy Feet sock yarn. If you make it to GBFAF stop by my booth and say hi!

Milestones

What a great day we all had today but especially Hayle. It's been a long year and it's time to move on and that's what we are doing. Success, goals, healthy lifestyle, everything good out there in front of her... the world is her oyster... or at least some really great fiber. My hat is off to you daughter, we are so incredibly proud of you. There are still a few hurdles to jump but they are very small and it looks like Hayle will be entering USU in January. This was a fabulous day to be a Mom!