I DON'T Have A Problem, Dammit!

Another package arrived yesterday. This was purchased long ago, y'all...it's not like I'm buying MORE stuff...

I do, however, have to show off Fedex Packing Guy's mad skillz...I thought my mom wrapped things to withstand reentry into Earth's atmosphere...

All that bubble wrap protected this little bowl. Yeah. Good thing that bubble wrap is going to another, greater purpose. Holiday shipping, hooray! I have packing supplies for years!

I'd better be going - I scored the rare couple-o-slices of buffalo chicken pizza from our local deli. Sonnets should be written about this paaah. Seriously.

Shut Up! I Can SO Stop Whenever I Want To...

I've been rather blog-silent lately, mostly because not much is happening. Joe is traveling, I'm working/knitting/talking to the cats, and pretty much nothing else. I'll try to catch up on the few exciting things...like--oooh, the pretty!!!!

Anyone who knows Joe and me knows that we're total pottery whores. We can't stop ourselves. We have 2 sets of one-of-a-kind table settings. I have more bowls than should be legally allowed. Lasagna pan, casserole dishes, wall hangings - you name it. If someone shaped some pretty mud and threw it in a really hot oven, chances are we'll buy it.

And so when my dear friend Kristin put a bug in my ear not too long ago, little did she know she was feeding my inner demons. From her friend Lisa...

Some nice, solid cereal/soup bowls (yes, I know - we already have...er...20 or so, but you never know when you might need more). Plus something you don't see every day - a gorgeous decanter and shot glasses. Tall, thin things are rare - they tend to break in production, so I couldn't resist.

Also, these two adorable little bowls:

They're about the size of a little girl's tea-set saucers. The one on the right is a "wishing bowl" filled with cobalt blue glass melted into the middle. I just get lost in it.

Then Mom had to go to some show in Watkinsville - she took some pictures, emailed them to me to see what I wanted, and I just responded (within some kind of budget, of course). It was like having my own personal shopper! She's shipping them a few at a time, thanks to The Wonder Wrapper at FedEx...they could be dropped from a plane into an ocean of rusty nails, and still no harm would come to them...

Bowl and top/plate and really cool leaf tray.

I just couldn't pass this one up. I love unusual color schemes and patterns.

Yes. More bowls. But I don't have a problem. Really. Just one more piece, and that'll be the last one. I swear. Sure, I don't have any place to put this right now, but it's just so preeeetteeeeee....

Rhinebeck 2008

Okay, so I've been a bad blogger. Shame on me. But now I finally have the time to share the wonderfulness that was NY Sheep & Wool Festival 2008 at Rhinebeck, NY.

Just like last year, we were joined by friends near and far, old and new. Ginger and Kelly flew up from FL, and Lulu (who rescued Willow) came up from Brooklyn. On Friday (after I picked up Joe from the train station - he'd taken the red-eye from Vegas, then hopped on a train to join us), we went to Montgomery Mills:

We later had lunch at The Guilded Otter, then hit a few local wineries. Adair Winery and Vineyards:

Outside of Whitecliff Vineyard, looking out at the Shawangunk Ridge:

We then went back home, tipsy and full, to spend some downtime knitting, napping, generally chilling, until we ventured out for a candlelight ghost tour of the Patchett House. Then it was home for a good night sleep to prepare for the weekend of yarny goodness!

What a perfect weekend it was - quite chilly, but warm enough in the sun...

Joe was particularly fascinated with the auction

We both enjoyed the sheep dog trials

On Sunday, I hit the sheep judging arena

And Sunday night Kelly made a fabulous Indian-inspired lamb chop dinner.


Here's what I scored over the weekend:

Starting at "noon":
- purple wool/mohair blend that just jumped out at me and right into my bag
- directly below: Kona DK Superwash from Mont Mills
- gray prime alpaca from Mont Mills for scarf/hat for Joe
- black/brown Peruvian tweed from Mont Mills for friend's gloves
- GORGEOUS handspun from Ginger
- LOVELY Alpaca from Lulu
- The cutest, warmest, best-fitting house socks EVAR from sweet Sharon
- Joe fell in love with some Alpaca socks from a local farm
- Two skeins of sock yarn - Creatively Dyed and Done Roving
- Bijou Basin Yak/merino blend

I didn't go too crazy this year - it helped that Saturday was so very packed, it was hard to pleasure-shop. But we met some lovely Ravelry people (and Ginger and I both won prizes at the Rav party!), and it was just a perfect weekend all-in-all.

We missed those who couldn't join us, but we expect you here next year!