If I Were a Chicken....

.... I'd rather lay a skinny egg than a fat one!


Yep, my hens are FINALLY laying. They heard my talking about how lame they were and how I was spending all this money on feed for them and they would just take, take, take. While my son and I were cleaning out the coop yesterday I said "If they don't start laying soon, their ass is grass, (what does that mean, really?!). Well, I guess I scared them cuz when I went out today, their were 2 eggs! Yippee! Lay on ladies! thx

Fun Times in Oxford

Recharge, relax, recover, refresh... a few days spent at a friend's place near Oxford, Maryland. Her house is right on the water and is just so lovely, it's like a fairy tale.


The weather was misty and cool when we arrived. Leaves were falling, the trees abundant with color.


The house was so inviting, cheery lights on and Sharon there welcoming us in. We were shown our options for sleeping and all chose the 'bunk room' upstairs, four white beds with handmade quilts and extra blankets.


Dinner, wine, stories, knitting time, then to bed.





After a peaceful night's sleep, and coffee in the morning, we pulled the kayaks down to the dock and went for a misty morning paddle.


There are still farms right on the water, although most of the waterfront has houses on it.


I thought this little cabin was so charming, with the rocking chair on the porch, a perfect place to rock away an afternoon.


Most of the trees on Sharon's property had peak color. There are many sugar maples, gingkos and a variety of other specimen trees. Trees were planted every year for years and years and are now decades old.


This sycamore had such lovely bark.


The gingko was just beginning to turn and each leaf had a 'skirt' of yellow.


Susand and Penny chose to paint with pastels in their leisure time, capturing the autumn scenes in the yard.




Sharon showed her prowess with the boat, zipping along over the water at great speeds.


Another fine dinner, with everyone pitching in. We chanced upon the farmer's market while biking in Oxford and had to call back to Sharon's to bring money so we could buy dinner!


Sharon, looking like she's about 25!


Oxford is one of the oldest towns in America, started in 1666. It was, and still is, a port town, with watermen bringing in the catch of the day.




We checked out many of the boats anchored off shore. Yep, pretty nice.





The houses of Oxford are just so darn cute, well taken care of and most were tastefully decorated for fall.


Gingerbready


and more cutaway detailing.


The Oxford-Bellevue ferry, believed to be the oldest ferry in the country, crosses the Tred Avon river. It's not a long ride, perhaps 10 minutes. Just my bike and I (along with the two men who run the ferry) journeyed to the other side this time. The other girls were coming in cars and I was meeting them in St. Michael's for a bit of shopping and lunch.


See ya, Oxford! When I got to the other side, I had an ear to ear grin, riding fast over flat ground with farms on either side. I'm so used to riding around Barnesville, where it's hilly and Cumberland, where it's mountainous, that riding on flat terrain seems so easy.


I passed fields of sorghum (used for food, fodder, alcoholic beverages and even biofuel) and I love the way they look, especially in fall.


Thanks girls, for a very special mid-week getaway. I feel totally rechar

Fiber Fun

Last weekend I was a vendor at the Shenandoah Fiber Festival near Berryville, Virginia. This was the first time I did this show and it was really great. Saturday was a stormy day, intermittently raining, then windy, then a bit sunny, and raining again. The customers still came out to buy and even stayed in the buildings longer because of the rain.


My view looking out from my booth, full of autumn color. This was a small, manageable fiber show with only 3 buildings housing 65 vendors. My husband, Houston, was nice enough to help me out, setting up, writing tickets, packing up and even drove all the way to Cumberland (while I knit an entire handwarmer) Saturday night and back on Sunday morning (another handwarmer).


I had many familiar faces stopping by and plenty of new customers. It's always nice to see so many happy people, picking out colorful yarn to make them even happier. I had a nice time myself and will hopefully be back next year.


and when I got home, unloaded the car and truck, I poured a glass of wine, grabbed my current novel and sunk into the hot tub for a bit of R&R. ahhhhhh!

A Little Getaway

I was able to spend a few days in Cumberland last week. The trees were really showing off and the weather was amazing. Those last (hopefully not though) days of warm fall weather drew me outdoors, to bike, hike and enjoy. I caught this photo of the train depot as we were walking downtown and the light was just incredible. It looks like a vintage postcard.


On Tuesday evening, the biking group I've joined has a ride going up the Allegany Trail. This is the trail that connects the C&O Canal Trail (from Georgetown) to the Great Allegany Trail to Pittsburg. We went out just an hour and a half, up a bit, then turning around and riding fast as it's downhill all the way home.


On Wednesday Seal, Macee, Piver and I went on a hike down Monroe Run, near New Germany State Park in western Maryland. This path follows the small creek, Monroe Run, which we crossed many times, hopping (and somethimes slipping) over rocks. One of my favorite things is to hike through dry leaves, listening to them crackle and crunch beneath my feet.


Thursday I loaded my mountain bike up and drove over to Rocky Gap to ride the trails around the lake. What a treat! There was some double track, and plenty of single track to keep me happy, some rock gardens (I'm out of practice....I had to walk my bike over some of them) and plenty of sunshine and color in the woods. Including two hunters I came upon. Oops! Didn't know it was hunting season. I said "It's good I'm wearing pink!" They said it should be orange. Oh well, close enough. I tried to not act like a deer and rode away fast.


I saw this large group of folks enjoying a picnic under this glorious maple.


Then back around to the other side of the lake. Can't wait to get back to these trails again!


After a quick lunch and some more rolling on a felt scarf I'm working on, Seal and I took off up the Allegany Trail. Through Brush Tunnel (where they now have lights!)....


....over golden covered hills....


....past beautiful farms







...and finishing up at the 'Narrows' right outside Cumberland. After last week's 5 days of downpour, it was great to be out nearly every minute of daylight, taking advantage of 'Indian Summer'.

Sunseed

For the last couple months my felting group has been working on a large scale felting project. I created a separate blog for Sunseed.

Autumn Studio Tour

Autumn is here and so starts my busy season. Dyeing, skeining, spinning, felting, labeling, packing up for shows, unpacking and setting up, then packing up for another show.


This is how my studio looked while I was at the Fall Fiber Fest and before I set it all up again for our Countryside Studio Tour.


What a mess! Looks like a yarn thief came in and had to scoot out fast.


Unpacked from the trailer and ready to set up.


Pretty much in order now, ready for customers.


A place for every yarn and every yarn in its place.


Cheyenne tends to lie right in the way of customers coming in. Casey and Cheyenne vie for this spot.


Totally relaxed.


and Ozzie gets up a bit higher to greet the folks.


Here I am after studio tour, still standing! (coffee is my secret weapon!). Thanks to all who came out and hope to see you again in December (or before). I promise I'll have even more goodies by then. I'll be at the Shenandoah Fiber Festival this weekend, October 24 and 25.

No Slackers

I really do not like that some people are lazy. In fact I hate that in humans. I don't see how someone can just sit on their porch when their yard is trashed. They don't take pride in their surroundings. Animals are cleaner than some people.

So in comparison, this young couple in Cumberland has a business hauling unwanted items away from your house. When some folks are just sitting in front of the tube on a Sunday evening, Anna and Jay drive around scouting for trash. Monday morning is trash day in Cumberland so there just might be aluminum to be recycled. My friend had arranged for someone to haul away 3 very large air conditioners, 2 storm doors and a myriad of other things, but the guy couldn't get to it until Tuesday. This young woman came knocking on the door and asked if they could move the stuff at no charge. Hey, yeah, whatever! They have just a small sedan that they've converted into a sort of pick up truck by taking off the trunk door. The car has no back window. There were three small children in car seats in the back seat. Now don't go all child services on them, because they are doing what they have to do to support their family. They probably can't afford a sitter and have to take the kids along. Jobs are scarce, especially in Cumberland, and I have to admire them for trying to make a living.

The air conditioners weighed over 100 lbs each and they wrestled them into the back, strapped the doors onto the top and off they went. I hope they get a good price for recycling them. Kudos to them. Now go do that chore that you wanted to get done!

It's a Fiber Festival

My busy season has begun with my first show, the Fall Fiber Festival at Montpelier (James Madison's home) near Orange, Virginia. It was perfect weather, not 95 degrees, like last year, not 9" of rain the year before, just sun and temps in the 70's. I see many fiber friends there, customers who have visited me for the last 19 years that I've been there. I think this is my favorite show because it's small, just about 50 vendors, in the middle of a field and woods surrounding it. The customers are happy, the sheep clean, the food pretty good (best donuts in the world!) and it's just plain fun.


I have a large double space that at first appears way too big, but I soon fill it up with heaps of color.

I love these old suitcases to display yarn in. I find them at our local dump or for cheap at yard sales. When was the last time you actually saw one on the luggage carousel?

This is the yarn from my sheep, last fall's shearing. I sent it to Prince Edward Island to be spun into yarn. I knit my 'Going to the Barn' hat and handwarmers out of it.

This adorable little girl came in and bought scads of my purple "Gotta Knit" bracelets. Guess she's addicted to knitting!


Mr. Clean took his sheep for a walk!


Happy fiber enthusiasts.


Natalie helped me out over the weekend. We stayed in nearby Culpeper, a cute little town making a comeback with some trendy restaurants and tony shops. Painted on this building is "Butter, Eggs and Poultry" and "Highest Price Paid For_____." Wonder what it was and do I have any for sale?!


I really do like the architecture of these old, early 20th century buildings. They're full of character and charm.

Missing an awning.


This old hardware store is now a restaurant.

A well know artist, Sara Schneidman has taken up residence in Culpeper and opened a fabulously colorful store featuring her wool rugs, cards and many other artists' works.

After a full weekend of selling yarn, it was back to the studio to put it back together and dye more yarn.

Darling Darlene

My mom, Darlene, came a-visiting last week. She lives way far away in Arizona and I only see her once or twice a year which isn't nearly enough. I left home at 18 and never looked back . I was a bit rebellious and really didn't want much to do with my parents and 3 brothers. I had things to do, people to see, places to go, oats to sow. My mom was a dork, my brothers a bother and I couldn't wait to leave Mobridge, South Dakota.

But time has passed and my mom changed!!! As I got older, Mom got better. It took me awhile to realize I was changing too. Now we are just the best of friends. We went shopping in Frederick while she was here, trying on clothes in a cute shop downtown. We both came out with the same top! Never would we actually go out at the same time wearing them, but it was fun having our pix taken with our 'mother/daughter' tops.

I look so huge next to my mom but I'm only a little over 5'3" so you can see how tiny she is. Both my grandmothers were under 5' so I'm 'tall' in my family.

We visited Garrett too in his new condo in DC. It's really too bad that my boys didn't grow up with their grandparents close by. Both sets of my grandparents lived in my small town and I was always over at their houses. My mom is back in Arizona now and she probably won't be back until next May. I'll just have to go on all our good memories of her time spent here. See you next time Mom!