sunday stealing, a day late....as usual....

1. What do you consider your hometown to be? peekskill, even though i moved away when i was 10, i still say i'm from there. Just feels right. it's where i'm from.
2. What’s the hardest part of your average day? getting up in the morning and going to bed at night have it tied. in the am, my body usually hurts and I have a hard time getting myself moving, it takes awhile. at night, i can't fall asleep. i'm a night person, by nature, and have always had a hard time relaxing enough to fall out (even when i'm exhausted!).
3. The easiest? Why? having to stop what i'm doing because my daughter wants me to do something with her like read a book or snuggle. because i know those that don't have the opportunity to do that with their child anymore and nothing is more important than those minutes.
4. What beverage do you reach for to quench your thirst? water
5. What is one not-so-secret goal you have for your life? I’ll let you keep your secret ones to yourself. to finish my college degree.
6. What physical pain do you fear most? For example, I’m trying to decide how bad my jaw pain needs to get before I risk a potential needle from my dentist. So, for me, throbbing is preferable to jabbing. lupus.
7. Where do you find solace? the lake. and in music.
8. What makes you the saddest when you read/see the news? when children are hurt or suffering. when they show the people that have lost and seeing their pain is unbearable to watch.
9. What do you eat for a favorite snack?cereal.
10. What movie could you/would you watch more than two or three times and still enjoy just as much as the first time? HA! there's a list! in the interest of going to bed tonight i'll just say: oh, i don't know.....breakfast club, ferris buellers day off, stand by me, the princess bride, scarface, goodfellas, say anything, cool hand luke, dazed and confused, serendipity, high fidelity, brown sugar, love and basketball, the notebook, breakfast at tiffanys pretty woman, dirty dancing, hello, dolly!, groundhog day, you've got mail, roman holiday, pride & prejudice. WOW, if that's not a list that should be analyzed by a professional, not sure what is!
11. What boy/girl first made you cry? i'm assuming they mean in an emotionally attached kind of way so i'm gonna go with shane. betcha wanna a story here? yea, you're not gonna get it, this is a blog, not a novel!
12. What brand of coffee/tea do you drink most often? recently the pumpkin spice lattes from starbucks but usually i brew lavazza espresso at home and i drink republic of tea most often with a bit of tazo sprinkled in for good measure.
13. Dig in the dirt with or without garden gloves? usually start with gloves and then rip them off and throw them to the side because they're hindering, then go looking for said gloves the next time and can't find them, go out and buy new gloves. nasty cycle. a groundhog somewhere has a very nice collection.
14. James Taylor or Carly Simon? james taylor.

i would like to add a a little note here to say that any mis puncuation, misspelling, or non capitalization of a word in this post is not going to be corrected or checked on purpose today. this is for a special reader who keeps telling me how boring my blog is (thanks ma!). there, that oughta keep your "should have been an english teacher/librarian" mind occupied for awhile. hang on, i think my phone is ringing........ oh, and :)

Ten on Tuesday!

Ten on Tuesday this week is 10 Ways to Enjoy Halloween!
I'm more into the Fall/Harvest stuff than the Halloween stuff but in keeping with the theme, here goes:
1- carving pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns (pictures to be posted)
2- get a chance to wear my pink wig. Though I should try pulling it off on other days of the year, just for the heck of it. :)
3- bake cupcakes and cookies for my daughter to decorate.
4- eating candy (I always go through the kids candy and separate their favorites, they can keep what can fit in a sandwich baggie, some may not make it there though!) :)
5- Halloween costume parades at school, big around here.
6- costume parties and dances, also big this year, it seems.
7- Getting dressed up,
8- painting faces, and..
9- trick or treating, of course!!
10- Start Christmas shopping (LOVE!)

My daughter's favorite fairy tale is Little Red Riding Hood and we have been reading it in both English and Spanish. She had planned to be a butterfly for trick or treating and a witch for handing out candy later on in the night, until we were at the store and she screamed (a good one!) and saw IT! So this year for Halloween she has decided to be Caperucita Roja. The oldest won't decide. He plays this game every year, never deciding which costume he wants until it's time to actually trick or treat and then he sends me scrambling! Any suggestions, maybe we can actually be prepared this year?!?!?!

Another Late Sunday Stealing

Fall in New England.....

football and knitting come to mind:

Wrapped in blankets, of course!

I'm still playing catch up here so, Fall in New England (LOVE):
1. Have you turned the heat on in your house yet this fall? Absolutely!
2. Do you allow your pets on the furniture? Absolutely NOT!
3. What were your final words for September? I need to dye more yarn!
4. What are your first words for October? How can it be October already???? I have to dye more yarn!!!
5. Do you think you’ve ever seen a ghost? Possibly but I was a kid so who knows???
6. What is the one color that represents this time of year? Orange
7. Which of your senses do you think is most sensitive this time of year? smell
8. What is your favorite thing to do at the county fair? Avoid it! too crowded, hot, expensive, etc. The only time I go near the fairgrounds is for Sheep & Wool Festival!
9. What do you like when you have a cold? tea and for everyone to be QUIET!
10. Are you willing to spend over $100 for a piece of winter clothing, like boots or a coat? For the kids, yes. For me, only if it's on sale for much, much less! Purses on the other hand........
12. What do you have too much of in your kitchen? stuff! Oh, like one item in particular......right now, candy but it's all for Halloween.
13. What gripes do you have about this time of year? Usually that it's cold and rainy and everything dies off but this year it's been pretty and warm and I'm actually enjoying it. :)
14. Other than yourself, are you responsible for getting anyone ready in the morning? My daughter. The 14yo is on his own. I avoid teenagers in the morning!

Horses at the farm while we were apple picking!

15. When was the last time you cleaned your gutters? um, what, clean, what? I'm gonna go with never. I am vertically challenged and would therefore need a ladder on a chair on a table to reach my very low eaves. I have those cage things over them though so they keep pretty clean on their own.
16. So, it’s after Labor Day. Will you still be wearing white? probably.
17. What shows are you most looking forward to this Fall? I wouldn't say I'm "looking forward" but Burn notice comes back in November so that's cool and I like that show Parenthood that's on right now.
18. What three things have you just not gotten around to from the summer, but probably should do before snow flies? Pick up my yard, clean out my basement and have a yard sale. Put away the A/C's and fans, too!

Love this parting shot, my daughter off on a mission to find the perfect pumpkin! :)

Got anything??

10 on Tuesday

My first 10 on Tuesday!

This is one of my first cars, about 12 years ago :( I won't say here how fast it could go but man, was it fun! :)
This week's 10 on Tuesday is 10 Ways to Have Fun on Long Car Rides which is good seeing as I am still in the middle of fiber festival season and certainly clocking in the miles.

1. play lots of music, really loudly!

2. play I spy

3. play "who can spot the big sign 1st" (this kept my daughter and younger sister occupied for a good hour on a very stressful trip to PA last year!).

4. knitting (not if you're driving, of course).

5. paint your nails :)

6. catch up on reading (I'm one of the few that can still do this without getting carsick).

7. stare out the sunroof at the trees and such flying by (man, I miss having a sunroof!)

8. time to calmly wind yarn on your hand or nostepinne.

9. catch up with each other on what's going on at school, work, etc.

10. most recently I listened to a George Carlin cd on the ride to PA and it was great, I should be listening to those much more often!



Anything I missed?? :)

A Late Sunday Stealing

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? Huh, I DO look as tired as I feel!

2. How much cash do you have on you? about $20, I don't like carrying too much on me.

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? FLOOR (I know I could've gone mean with that but eh...)

4. Favorite planet? I'm gonna go with Earth though I hear Jupiter is beautiful this time of eon.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? My friend / neighbor, L.

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? The one it's on, a kind of funk tune.

7. What shirt are you wearing? This one.

8. Do you label yourself? Like with a tag????

9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing? New Balance

10. Bright or Dark Room? somewhere in between.

11. Did you do anything to celebrate John Lennon's 70th yesterday? yes, it was very exciting, when I went on Google, I said "oh, look, it would have been John Lennon's birthday."

12. What does your watch look like? It looks like it's buried in a drawer somewhere needing a battery undoubtedly.

13. What were you doing at midnight last night? For the first time in a long time, ASLEEP!

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? got in fine

15. Where is your nearest 7-11? the only one I know of is across the river in Wappingers.

16. What’s a word that you say a lot? word.

17. Who told you he/she loved you last? My daughter. :)

18. Last furry thing you touched? hahahahahaha! wish I had a good one here but I have to say my dog.

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days? 0

20. How many rolls of film do you need developed? 3

21. Favorite age you have been so far? tough one.......I would say 15 but I couldn't drive yet so it wasn't all good.

22. Your worst enemy? my procrastinating self!

23. What is your current desktop picture (extra points if you post it.)? the lake

24. What was the last thing you said to someone? wash your hands!

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be? I'd take the million bucks, if God wanted me to fly, he'd have given me wings!

So....how would you answer? :)

The "Stolen" post

Found this through a blog through another and so on and so forth....



1. Where are you from? New York


2. If you could live any place in the world, where would you live? The Adirondacks or Boston


3. What's your favorite blog? i have a really long blog roll and am not sure it would be fair to choose just one!


4. What is your biggest blogging pet peeve? Being hung up on.


5. What's your favorite TV show this season? Parenthood. I also like (tho they are not all "in season") Rescue Me, Burn Notice, The Office, 30 Rock


6. What's your favorite 'down' time {nothing computer related}? Reading books w/ my daughter or watching a movie with her. She loves to watch movies that I used to and she has a surprising sense of humor for her age. The other day we snuggled up and watched Uncle Buck! Time to myself would be knitting, usually while catching up on shows.


7. Are you a parent? If so, what's your favorite thing to do with your children? Yep, see above.


8. What about your blog, have you considered changing? It's really all I know. It was free and easy to set up though I need to figure out how to blog MORE!


9. What do you do for a living (if you work outside the home or if you work at home)? It's not exactly a "living" but dye yarn and roving.


10. What is your favorite song at the moment? I have about 8! I like all kinds of music so it's kind of a hard question to answer without breaking it down by genre. I like Eminem's new stuff and I can't wait for Staind and 3 Doors Down to come out with new albums and I'm going to a Lady A concert soon. I listen to country, rap, rock, alternative, classic rock, r&b; just about everything except that new dance crap where they take a usually decent song and add a horrible dance/techno beat behind it that makes my head want to explode!

What is your favorite song ever? Well, when you break it down to "ever" it becomes more of a classic thing. Drift Away by Dobie Gray if I was only given ONE to pick but there is just so many. My mp3 has 737 songs on it and is on a constant shuffle. That's about 1/4 of my digital music library.


11. What is your favorite niche TV channel to watch? Well, my family would say the Weather Channel but I would have to say anything funny that's on or news, I watch way too much CNN.


12. If you could have any career, what would it be and why? I always wanted to be a civil rights lawyer and work to help people who couldn't help themselves. Now that I am where I am, I would love to have my own business, not only online but with a location as well.


13. What is your favorite outfit? jeans and a fitted tee. I'm a jeans girl!


14. If you could tell your teenage self something, what would you say? Let it go!!! and let him go!!! and when the time comes, just GO!!!


15. What is your favorite recipe? my chocolate chip cookies. :)


16. What is the funniest joke you've ever heard? the knock, knock jokes my daughter makes up!


17. What is your favorite vacation spot and why? The lake that my family goes to in the Adirondacks. It's beautiful, peaceful, quiet, it's the only place my family seems to have history and solidarity. When I get there I'm calm, which is BIG for me. My anxiety goes away and everything is as it should be and even when things go wrong it doesn't seem so bad.


18. What are you most excited about with fall here? Well, we already did the apple picking and fiber shows are almost done now so I would say that winter will be here soon. I enjoy the snow and the days the kids get off of school. Oh, and I LOVE Christmas!


19. Did you envision yourself to be where you are today ten years ago? If not, what did you envision? NO! 10 yrs. ago today I was in college and looking to transfer out to another. I thought that I was going to go away and finish school, get a real job, buy a house on the lake.


20. If money were no object, what would your dream house look like? On the lake, with lots of big windows looking over the lake with a wrap around porch and high ceilings. I would want a cushioned window seat that looks out at the lake and built in bookshelves everywhere. A master bath with a huge whirlpool tub.........oh, sorry got carried away. I'm sure something like "a large a-frame on the lake" would have covered it. :)


21. What is your all-time favorite Disney movie? Bedknobs and Broomsticks


So, what would your answers be???

Fiber Festival Season!!

Yes, that time of the year is FINALLY here! The air gets just a bit cooler and the idea of knitting miles and miles of hot, heavy wool or alpaca is a welcome thought. Below is just a quick update to post the upcoming shows and festivals that Serendipity Hand-dyed & Hand-painted Yarn & Roving will be vending at:

August 12-

Speculator TWIGS Craft Show 9am-3pm, info can be found here.

Sept. 11 & 12-

PA Endless Mountains Fiber Festival Sat. 10am-5pm/ Sun. 10am- 4pm, info can be found here.

Serendipity will be in booth #30, same space as last year!

Sept. 18 & 19-

Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival Sat. 10am-5pm/ Sun 10am -4pm, info can be found here.

Serendipity will be in Booth B16.

Sept. 25 & 26-

Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival Sat/Sun 9am-5pm, info can be found here.

Nov. 6 & 7-

THE Fiber Festival of New England Sat. 9:30am-5pm/ Sun. 10am-3pm, info can be found here.

I am very excited to be attending so many shows this fall and can't wait to meet more great fiber people! Hopefully, they will have great turnouts. There are plenty of workshops (many of which are free) as well as sheep dog trials and demonstrations at the fiber shows. Be sure to stop by and say "Hi."

DRRROIIIDDD

I got the new Motorola Droid and I LOVE it! I was trying to hold off and get the iPhone when it (hopefully) came to Verizon but my Voyager was broken oh, about 6 months ago so I finally caved. So glad I did because it's fabulous, does just about everything I have tried so far and now that I got it a nice purple case isn't so manly looking. I like a cute, girly phone (dumb, I know). So far I have only downloaded some knitting and yarn stash apps and a few games for my daughter like Princess Memory. Help me out a bit, will you? Let me know what apps I NEED to have right now. I have no idea where to start! Thanks! More tomorrow..... :)

Sorry for the delay....

But I got real sick and getting better was priority numero uno. Now that I've accomplished that I'm back to work and with a vengeance. There is so much more that I want to accomplish with this yarn business and after taking a serious look at things I realize that, in fact, the problem is me. (Surprising, I know). I am going to try and work really hard to make this work b/c well, I want to. I enjoy what I've been doing and the people it has allowed me to meet. I just have to work a hell of a lot harder! And blog more, b/c I think it's good for me. But I am going to think a lot less about what I write and just write, so I hope I don't turn anybody off by that!

I promised pictures of May and the MA S&W festival so I'll start there:

I was on a waiting list for the show and got an email 4 days before the show asking if I could make it. After much running around like a chicken with my head cut off I managed to secure a place for the kids to go (thank you mom and jeff!) and tried to get some fiber ready to go. I was way under prepared and wished I had had more time so I could have had more fiber but you do what you can with what you have. Since I did show up I get to go back next year so that was great. I will have a ton more fiber next time around. With such short notice I had no idea where I was going to get put but was lucky enough to be able to set up in the garage type booths which was fantastic because it kept us in the shade for most of the day.

I brought my (new-more about that next time) wheel since I didn't have any yarn to tag and didn't want the heavy alpaca shawl I was knitting at the time sitting in my lap on the hot days. I am still learning but managed to spin about 16 oz. (full pound!) in the 2 days, not bad for a new spinner!

My view from the booth:

I was lucky enough to be next to the Merlin Tree and his wonderful Hitchhiker wheels. It was all I could do to not come home with one but I resisted.

Look at these beauties though! Some lovely old wheels restored to their original charm.

When I was leaving the 1st night I heard a ton of bleeting and baaing and went over to see what all the ruckus was about. There were SO many sheep I was amazed (I've never been to MASWF before), it rivaled Rhinebeck as far I was concerned.

Some were ready for bed, like me!

And these I fell in love with at Rhinebeck last year, the Cheviots. I think they are just so sweet looking.

The mama (I think she was the mama) did not seem happy that the babies were coming over to be petted and actually shoved them away from me so I took the hint and moved along.

MASWF was amazing overall, I met some great people, did well enough to make me want to go back again and couldn't have hoped for better weather. The local area is gorgeous and I only wish I could have stayed longer.

Before the crazy week that ensued after receiving the "we have a space" email I was crazy busy working on a last minute gift for my oldest friend's daughter for her baptism. It's actually the Pinkie Blankie but I used a sport weight alpaca yarn and went up a couple needle sizes and am thrilled with how it turned out. Although my last minute blocking job in the sunshine that morning was horrible, I'm sure, being a baby, she'll forgive Auntie Em (I know, I know). I just hope she still has it when she's grown and enjoys being wrapped up in it.

More tomorrow, I'll try not to be so boring, ahem!

GIVEAWAY!!

Not here! Over at ---> Tracey Knits.

Serendipity was featured as her Handmade Shop of the Week and I'm giving away a skein of Seaside alpaca/wool yarn on there. So go and check it out, she features some great Etsy shops on her site so be sure to scroll back and check out some of the others as well!

So much to write, so little time....

Well, as usual it has been awhile since my last post but I have so much to post about! So the next few days promise to be filled with lots of goodies! Since last time Serendipity has been at Clermont, MA Sheep & Woolcraft Festival, spring has come (and in the NE gone straight to summer!), we've seen some graduations and joined a local CSA.

To start where I left off: Clermont Sheep & Wool Showcase-

Rovings ready to bought up (hopefully)-

My stand at Clermont (well, one part of it anyway).

Some bright, yummy fingering weight yarns.

Pretty and lucious alpaca/wool blends.

Some llamas that my daughter seemed to be enthralled with (she pulled up a chair and made herself right at home).

My view from the booth of some lovely fibers, nice people and spinning wheels!

After Clermont I got back to a prayer shawl that I've been knitting for my dear, sweet best friend who has both kidney disease and lupus and needs a little something nice to be wrapped in! (more pics when it's actually finished!).

I finished some socks in April!! They are the black dress socks I was dying to finish LAST YEAR!! But....at least they are done so I won't harp on myself for too long!

I will be dyeing yarn tomorrow and posting to the shop on Thursday and Friday with some new yarns and roving. But be sure to come back tomorrow for some new stuff, we move on to May!!

Clermont Sheep & Wool Showcase

I have been dyeing, reskeining and tagging yarn all week, why????

Well, because Serendipity is going to be vending at the The Clermont Sheep & Wool Showcase along with some fabulous ladies! Jenn from Bluestocking Yarns and Jen from Dog Gone Yarns will be there alongside me selling our hand-painted & hand-dyed yarns and roving, bamboo knitting needles, tote bags, skeinwinders, niddy noddys and such.

Clermont Sheep & Wool Showcase

Saturday April 24, 2010

11AM-4PM

Please be sure to stop by and say Hello!

ETA: Please be sure to check here for the change in directions due to some road work on 9G.

Spring Catch-up in pictures....

Local Garden Show (sorry for the bad pics, they were taken with my cell phone):

A nice, potted arrangement of sedums...somethings I may do if I get the time...

I wonder if I can build one of these to sit under.....

The new addition to the family, my dear...Stella!!!! (She's an older Ashford Traditional single drive, single treadle that I found through the forums on Ravelry and just happened to be close by! I'm having fun learning.)


And Zhu, Zhu pets (small hamster toys that make noise and roll all over) have taken over.......apparently these are the must-haves these days. (Anybody remember tickle-me elmos??? Going to get these was something like that, the same moms at each store looking for them before they were sold out, crazy! I highly dislike these types of things.)

What have you been up to as Spring unfolds?

Phat Fiber Giveaway

Please be sure to go and check out the Phat Fiber Sampler Box Page for a giveaway of a 450 yd. skein of Serendipity Hand-painted Superwash Merino Wool (plenty for a pair of adult socks and then some!) in colorway "Love-A-Lot."

Shop Update

Listed some new yarn in the Shop today:

Earth Spinning- superwash merino wool, fingering weight

I See London- superwash merino wool, worsted weight Tie Dye- superwash merino wool, fingering weight

Clementine- alpaca/wool blend, sport weight

Frosted Pine- superwash merino wool, bulky weight

More coming tomorrow!

Also, coming soon, a list of upcoming fiber events. I sent in applications for a number of festivals this year and will post them as soon as I have confirmations.

Don't forget to become a Fan on the Serendipity Facebook Page, I will post updates regularly, as well as giveaways, etc.

Better posts to come.....until then, here are some pictures of the place I'd much rather be these days :)

Of course, right now it's frozen solid and covered in snow!!! :)

THAT day...

So, today was Valentine's day, I don't really DO Valentine's day. It tends to be to me what Friday the 13th is to some people, so I try to avoid remembering that it's coming and am quite content when it's over with and the 15th comes along (which for those of us in NY, looks like is going to be another day of snow!) I, however, was pleasantly surprised with how I was able to spend my dreaded "V-day". My lovely sister came for a sleepover (I can still say sleepover, she's 8), I made chocolate covered strawberries w/ some dark organic choc. chips from the nature food store and dyed yarn. I was also given this:


A really pretty picture that I have been wanting for some time from a small chocolate and gift shop in the village nearby. I thought it would be perfect for my daughter's room but now that it has been given to me as a gift it may go somewhere else. There is a lot of transition in my life right now so it may just stay safely wrapped for a bit. But isn't it lovely?

Oh, and speaking of yarn, I did post some new yarns in the shop and have many more to put up tomorrow night and Tuesday (bring it on snow!).
Also, if you haven't yet, remember to join the fan page on Facebook, link is here. I thank you kindly! :)
Hope that your Valentine's Day was pleasant and full of things to make you smile!

It's been awhile...

Yes, I know I won't be winning any awards for blogs anytime soon! I could go into a whole long thing about what's been going on but let's face it, if you made it here it's probably because you want to see yarn, or knitting, or some other fun thing. For drama, we watch the news! So, I'll just say that I'm back and yes, it's been awhile. My issue with blogging is, as it's always been, how personal should I go? I am a person who has a lot to say (and if you know me in person, you're saying "and then some!") but I started this to be about my business so we'll see how it goes. My mother tells me I have the most boring blog on the internet, she's probably right.....let's see what we can do about that! Til next time, this'll get you updated since last time: