NH Sheep and Wool Festival 2008 aka a Fiber-Lovers Extravaganza

Warning :: This post my cause you to suffer from fiber sensory overload.

Oh. my. gosh. If you love, knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, the NH Sheep and Wool Festival is possibly the greatest event ever! I don't even know where to begin...

I guess I'll start with my purchases. I had limited funds for the day, but I managed to score some great things.

* The Official Vermont Maple Cookbook purchased from Sweet Maple Alpacas - at $2.25, how could I resist, really?!



* 100% Romney/Border Leicester Roving, hand-dyed, 4oz for $8, purchase from Brimstone Hollow Farm, (no website, 603.525.3070). I plan to use these in another round of thrummed mittens to go into my shop for next winter. The deep red is going to go nicely with the chocolatey brown wool I use to knit those up!



* Tashi, oh, tashi! This was one of the first yarns that we saw during the day, and I thought about passing it by ALL DAY, so we had to return to Ball and Skein's booth before we left. This is to be shared with mum, because at $20 per 195 yards I would have never been able to take this home! It's so soft!!! It's 65% Merino/20% Bamboo/15% Silk and Hand-Dyed, so gorgeous, I could gush on and on about this yarn. Mum and I are going to combine the colors to make shorty anklet socks for summer. I didn't catch her first name, but the owner of Ball and Skein has a blog called Smatterings where she records her spinning and knitting adventures. Smatterings shared her booth with Leslie Wind, a talented jewelry maker who makes shawl pins. She blogs at Folly Cove Fiber Freaks. They were both super nice people, nice chatting with you ladies!

That was it for me on purchases, but I saw so much more that I wished I could've scooped up and taken home with me.

Don't you just want to dive into this hammock of roving from Riverslea Farm?



This yarn from Buckwheat Bridge Angoras was deliciously soft, and I loved the vibrant colors!




I learned tons of fun things too! I was amazed by watching the ladies of the NH Weavers Guild in action. Their work was mind, numbingly over my crafting head!





Another weaver created this ingenious first prize loom out of drinking straws - now that's what I call rock n' roll!



Then there was Dilys Morris (no website, 603.744.3047), who sells ancient beads for support spindles from every continent. She was kind enough to give us a spinning demonstration.





I know this is turning into a fiber love-fest novel, but this post wouldn't be complete without mention of the many cutie animals that I saw...

Like these guys:



Look at that punim!



This fluff ball is an angora bunny:



Oh there was food too - frozen apple cider, cobbler straight out of the oven and a fair staple, fried dough - yum!



Are you still with me? Here are links to more fibery/crafty goodness.

* Cheryl Kumiski - beautiful, art glass jewelry and buttons

* Ewe and I Farm

* Foxfire Fiber and Designs - this booth had some fun knitting patterns such as the bird in the hand mittens and the wintergreen mittens.

* Maple Creek Farm

* Melissa Jean Handknit Design - original patterns and AMAZING handmade buttons

* Thyme and Ewe Farm -my mom bought a ton of preserves and jams from this booth.

This is...what reminds me of my mum

When I saw this week's "This is" topic, it really stumped me for a moment. My mom is such an integral part of my everyday existence, that it was difficult for me to think of something that reminded me of her. I see her a few times a week. We knit, we cook, we sew, my mom fixes my sewing mistakes as I get crabby and eat doughnuts, (more on that thrilling topic soon)! Being reminded of something makes me think "past tense" so it's not surprising that the memory that popped into my head for today's Mother's Day post was something from our mother/daughterly past...

Music, for me, is something that is inherently entwined with memory. I'm sure that if I put enough thought into it, that I could make a mix tape of songs composed entirely of music that reminds me of specific moments in my life. Certain songs just bring me back to a past moment in an instant! You may laugh at what comes next, but it is the absolute, honest truth.

The album that reminds me of my mother is ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits



Oh, ABBA. I love ABBA. Listening to ABBA is a completely corny, guilty pleasure of mine. It may be one of my mother's lesser gifts to me, but a gift nonetheless!

I don't remember exactly when my mom got this CD, but we didn't have a CD player until I was in 8th grade/high school, so it must have been around that time. This was definitely one of the first CDs that my parents bought for themselves. Every weekend my mom would blast this throughout the house. ABBA was cleaning music. ABBA was for washing dishes, and shouting lyrics over the hum of the vacuum, and I ate it up. To this day, hearing Fernando, Chiquitita, Money, Gimme a Man After Midnight and all the rest make me think of my mom. Those songs make me want to dance with a vacuum, sing into the handle like it's a microphone and hard core clean my house.

I'll leave you with an ABBA classic, Thank You for the Music. I loved this song as a kid. I thought it was about me, except for the golden-haired, beautiful Swedish girl aspect of it. Thanks for the music mom, and everything else that you do for me. Happy Mother's Day!

Saturday Scores - All About the Farmer's Market

This week's bounty:

* Seen above: Starter lemon verbena, thyme, lemon basil (from another farm, I can't remember the name!), rosemary, greek oregano and orange mint respectively, plus a bar of beeswax calendula soap from Ragged Robin Herb Farm

* A delicious Indian bean(?), pea(?), (can't remember I ate it too fast), dish prepared with spices and coconut with saffron flavored rice, on the side, from Divine Cuisines from Kittery. Matt and I devoured this for lunch today - so good! Apparently they're opening a restaurant in Kittery very soon. This will be a must to revisit for the future!

* Another visit to Sugar Momma for a maple candy, my beloved maple cream and this week, something new, maple coated walnuts to go into my salad. Sugar Momma told me that I'm going to need a 12-step program by the end of the year. Umm, I think she's right. I have a slight maple problem.

* A medicinal buy from Blueberry Hill. Little known fact here on the bloggy, I've suffered from mild psoriasis my whole life. I'm running out of my store bought cream that I've used for years, that doesn't really do anything except moisturize, and I'm looking for an herbal alternative. I bought a tincture made from burdock, red clover and yellow dock that you take with a little water everyday. It's supposed to be good for any skin ailments, so I'm interested to see if there are any marked improvements!

* Italian Sausage from Kellie Brook Farm

I love shopping at the market, because you always run into people that you know. I saw a few of my dance students, and I bumped into Sara Zoe from the Seacoast Eat Local blog.

That's it for me today! Tomorrow I'm going to the Sheep to Shawl NH Fiber Festival. Whoo-hoo! I'm sure I'll come back with lots to share!

Crochet Bandit

I've reached clinical crafting insanity. I've decided to teach myself how to crochet, (okay with heavy help from my Stitch n' Bitch ladies + and the SnB lady, Debbie Stoller), because I truly have an insane amount of leisure time to devote this. I've already torn apart the swatch that you see in the photo above and have made a new, slightly less wonky, more even little number. I now know how to chain, single, half double and double...whoo-hoo!

The reason that I'm doing this is that I've become obsessed with crocheted necklaces lately, like this one from Creative Yarn's Etsy shop.

Beautiful? Yes. Can I afford to pay $23.50 for it? No, but if you can, I've linked to the store so hop to it! Can I make it myself? Probably. Without swearing? Definitely not.

I'm so happy that I learned to knit first, because crochet is so fast! If I learned how to crochet first I would never have had the patience to knit anything. Crochet is definitely difficult thus far for me for two reasons: 1) I want to move my yarn around, and not let my needle do the work 2) Crochet directions have nothing to do with their names. For example "double crochet" implies to me, as a knitter that I have to make two maneuvers to complete this stitch. Wrong! Try...like five maneuvers. Throw in some swearing, okay six maneuvers. Wind, push, loop pull, loop wind -AHHHHHH! I'll get the hang of it, I'm sure. We'll see how it goes!

Hibba Bibba

I'm feeling a little clothing recon crazed lately. I have urgent desires to attack everything in my closet and cute it up for summer.



This shirt is a hand-me-down from my sister, that I've had forever, but I've never really cared for the Old Navy, fake "Miami Athletic" club logo. It's also a little short, so I always layer it over something, and until now it's pretty much been relegated to studio time or pajama duty.

Not anymore!



I've had a fat quarter of the red and white print for a long time, and have never quite figured out what to do with it. I purchased the rick-rack as a finishing touch - bringing the project total to .99 ish cents. I think that's a pretty sweet trade off for my spankin' new shirt!

Ugly logo-ed t-shirts, beware! I feel a bibbifying campaign coming on!

Skully Fake Isle - Complete!

My skully fake isle is done!









What I learned:

* I hate circular needles, so I made the large size of this on double pointed needles. I don't recommend doing this! The tension caused the design to be difficult to block, and fit a little snugly across the forehead area.

* The large size is LARGE, if I were to make this again for myself I would probably make the regular size.

Hopefully my hubby likes it! I think it will be a good snow-boarding hat. What do you think?

This is (these are) the pair(s) of shoes I would sleep in if I could

Yesterday I went to the Mass Market in Boston with a bunch of the ladies from my Stitch n' Bitch group. I had such a blast! I think the best part was watching my mom shop til she dropped from all of the indie vendors!

One of my very fortunate purchases were these heavily marked down sample moccasins from Manimal



These puppies retail for $140, and I scored them for $15. Now that I've worn them for a day I wish that I had had more money on me to buy a few more pairs. They are ridiculously comfortable, and very well made. I love that the soles are made out of recycled tires. These are definitely my new fave kicks.

Now, in keeping with the "shoe" theme of this post, I must share a shoes that I have been lusting over the past few weeks...

XXHi Converse



I saw these on one of my students a few weeks ago and I just about fell over in awe of the awesomeness! I'd love to pair these with a girly dress or skirt :)

Featured Etsy Blogger :: Stormy Designs

Etsy Bloggers Street Team

This month's featured blogger on the Etsy Bloggers Street Team forums is Stormy Designs. She is a mom/grandmom from Virginia and a talented polymer clay artist.

These are my top four favorite items from Stormy Designs' Etsy Shop

Purple Haze Earrings - Big and sparkly with a $12 price tag - my kind of jewelry!
Tear Drop Pendant - I like the simplicity of the design. $14.
Psychedelic Cuff - Rad! $18.
Abstract Designer Vase - I can't say that I would necessarily want this, because it doesn't really go with any of the decor in my house, but I think it's pretty sweet that someone made a VASE out of polymer clay! I love the needle tool detailing. $68.

Check out Stormy Designs at:
Stormy Designs Blog
Stormy Designs Website
Stormy Designs' Etsy Shop

A Perfect Date...With Myself!

Awhile ago, cute-as-a-button Sarah from Pink of Perfection posted a project, or a challenge to take yourself out on a date, and write about it. Considering all of the work stress, financial fuss and family craziness that I've been dealing with lately - a "date myself" day not only seemed like a fun idea to carry out, but a necessary one!

Last Sunday, I started the day bright and early, and took myself for a walk on the beach. It was a gorgeous mild day, and there were quite a few people out playing with their dogs and enjoying the breeze. After walking for a bit I sat myself down and knit for a spell watching one family desperately trying to lure their dog away from a new dog friend. It didn't go so well! The husband and wife figured that if they starting walking away, then their dog would eventually come back to them, but oh no. Their dog was perfectly content to follow another woman and her pup halfway down the beach without a single care! I think they had to end up walking the entire length of the beach to chase after their dog. I'm guessing obedience school didn't work out for this little guy!

Next up, I headed home and decided what to do with myself for the day. I had tickets to see a new show at Portland Stage, where my hubby works, which is about an hour away from my apartment. I opted to go early for a solo adventure in the "other" Portland, (Maine, ayuh!).

My first stop in Portland was Two Fat Cats, which I *think* I read about on Soulemama. This bakery is little more than a hole in the wall on India St, but boy is it ever worth visiting! I bought myself a chocolate chip cookie, for the NOW factor, and a small box of cupcakes to share for later, (I ended up eating three of the four, does that constitute as sharing?). The second I bit into the cookie I knew that these were my kind of bakers. Half a stick of butter must have oozed onto my tongue within three bites. Oh it was heavenly! The cupcakes (later) proved to be the best I think I've ever had in my life. I bought vanilla ones with chocolate frosting garnished with a little sprinkle of purple sugar. The cake was dense, but not dry, and the frosting rich and tasty. MMMMMmmmmm. I will definitely be going back sometime.

Next up was a shopping stop at Edith and Edna, which carries handmade wares, unique craft supplies and features local artists in the art gallery downstairs. This is one of my favorite places of all time to visit! I bought myself a poster of Nikki McClure's "Breathe" and even managed to get my Mother's Day shopping done, which made me feel organized, (that may be the first time ever).

Then it was off to the theatre for some laughter and tears. The show was good, but I was definitely in need of a caffeine pick me up afterwards! I headed around the corner to Coffee by Design. I was slightly annoyed to notice a five dollar limit for credit cards, and as I had already reached my sweet quota for the day I opted to buy some organic, fair trade coffee. I underestimated how serious these people are about their coffee!

"Do you need this ground?" The cute tattooed, emo-hair barrista asked me,

"Oh YES that would be great!!! (I was a little over enthusiastic, I don't own a coffee grinder, so this pretty much made my day)."

He mumbled something incoherent to me, to which I replied "What???" and he patiently repeated, "What kind of filter do you use?"

My mind was blanking...filter, filter, oh *light bulb* "French Press! (Clearly I'm an idiot possessing no articulation skills away from a computer)"

After we got through that communicative mess, I ordered something called a Tuxedo Latte aka the best damned coffee I've ever had in my life. This is a shot of espresso poured over white and dark Godiva chocolate with whipped cream over the top. Waist line be damned - this is my date, right?!

That was a sweet ending to a really great day. It was really nice to fly solo and have some "me" time - thanks for the idea Sarah!

This (post) is...(not about) my favorite book

Forgive me this-is-ers, I'm taking a little departure for my post this week.

This week has been so insane it would take me novels to describe it all to you, but here it is in a nutshell:

-I worked for drama/dance/writing program for at risk teen girls where they write, create and perform their own show in just five days.
-My grandmother passed away - and I attended her marathon wake and funeral
-I chopped off all my hair and donated it to Locks for Love
-I did not receive the promotion that I was up for at work
-Subsequently, since there is no room for growth at my current job, I am pretty much planning to leave at the end of the school year. This=Good+Terrifying.
-My skin is launching a rebellion against all of this

On a related note...

I attended a teen poetry reading, part of the JazzMouth Festival accompanied by live musicians including the legendary jazz composer/conductor/multi-instrumentalist David Amram.



He prefaced the event with a short speech that I wish that I could've captured on audio or video to share with you here. His words were too perfect for what I needed to here at that very moment. He said something to the effect of: "When we are children, we are free to create. Children make up songs, plays, games, paintings. And then they grow up, and they stop all that. Why? Because someone said to them "You can't do that!" Well, if everyone listened when someone said "you can't do that!" there would be no musicians, no composers, no artists, no ballerinas, no writers. If you have something to say then you say it! Don't listen to anybody else."

I almost cried when he said all that. That's what has just happened to me. I've been told "NO, you can't do that."

I was very calm when I received the news that the promotion is not mine. I was bursting on the inside, but I calmly said this: "A little over two years ago my husband and I lost our first baby, out of the blue, when I was 35 weeks pregnant. We later found out that the pregnancy could have killed me, because I wasn't on a certain type of medication. This has made me realize that life is too short. Dance is a very ageist industry. You have to be young and skinny and beautiful to be a performer, and a fifty year old man to be an administrator. I knew at eighteen years old when I was in the best shape of my life that I loved performing, but that's not was I was meant to be. I always loved the teaching, the choreographing, the administrative end more. I will never be a fifty-year old man, and I certainly will not wait to be a fifty year old woman to pursue what I know that I'm meant to do. The way I see it, you never know if this day will be your last, and I don't have that kind of time (25 years) to waste. You might not think that I'm ready for this, but I know that I am, and if that means doing the work that I want to do somewhere else, that's what I'll have to do."

So I've been told "no." But I'm not listening, and I'm going to move forward so that I can say what I have to say.

Locks for Love Donation

This has been long overdue...and my friend Rachel craftily convinced me to do it on a whim!

These are my Locks for Love donation bundles



The CHOP! *GASP*



Rock n' roll!



After.



Not only do I love it - but I did a good thing at the same time. That's the best!

A tad of sad

Well, I thought that I was going to come to this space today to share about my fantastic day of self indulgence that I had yesterday, but it is inappropriate for today, so again that post will have to wait.

My memere (grandmother) passed away last night. It is hard for me to be too upset or sad, because she was in her nineties, she lived a full life, and she had all of her wits about her until the very end. Really, who could ask for anything more?

My mom wrote a beautiful post about her here. It leaves nothing to be said. She will indeed be missed.

This is...my latest discovery

Parallels...

Mark Rothko


Beach Rothko


This was the beginning of my fantastic day today...we'll chat all about it tomorrow!

WIP :: Skully Fake Isle Hat

I've been squeezing in some crafty time over the past few days. I'm working on this hat for the hubby for Christmas. The pattern is Amy King's Fake Isle Hat from the now defunct MagKnits (sniff, sniffle). I'm substituting the center chart with the skully one found here. My version is nowhere near as cute as Tess' or Roe's, but I'm trying to stash bust the acrylic wonderland living in my craft closet!

Super great things that you should check out:

* Sister Diane's latest podcast Men Who Craft. I love what her guest Digibudi has to say about life and craft.

* The latest Shopping Green article on Etsy's Storque is so much more than product placement, the narrative is right on about changes that we must make as a society for a greener planet!

* The first, relatively close, farmer's market of the season kicks off tomorrow in Newburyport, MA. My locavore heart is skipping beats over here!

Etsy Blogger Street Team :: Blog Carnival Post

Etsy Blogger Street Team

This week's theme: "Bull"

When I saw the theme for this week's blog carnival, it definitely stumped me! What to blog about that has to do with a bull? My craft room looks like a bull in a china shop most days??? No, that's definitely boring, and has been stated here many a time before. With a lack of immediate ideas, I went back to the source, Etsy!

I typed "bull" into the search engine and one of the first things to pop up was Primped Paperie's "Between the Bull Rushes" print.



Leaping lizards that's adorable! And I want to steal her little figure's outfit!

Further perusal led me to Amanda's "Home Sweet Home"



and "Chance Encounter" prints.



(Charming, cute, affordable are coming to mind)

Show Primped Paperie some love by visiting Amanda at:

Her blog

Primped Paperie Etsy Shop

Oh, and super-coolness, Amanda's running a contest this month where you could win up to two prints of your choice from her shop. All you have to do is convo her with your address to enter.

Cheers!

Sarah

P.S. Photos are used with permission courtesy of Primped Paperie.

::EDIT:: Amanda just e-mailed me to give me a heads up that she listed three new girls in her "Zodiac" series and one of them is Taurus! Perfect timing!

Sweet Mail Love!

A few weeks ago I attended an opening at Nahcotta which featured the work of Lillianna Pereira. Her work is amazing - she makes little, tiny mixed media collages, and somehow sculpts these tiny bits of things so that they look like they always belonged together in the first place! I was so smitten with her work.

I saw Lilly there at the show, but me being my shy, anti-social, hater of approaching new people self, I chickened out and didn't say hi. Later when I got home I thought to myself, "I'm so silly, if the situation were reversed and some stranger came up to me and said glowing things about my choreography, I'd be psyched. Silly fraidy-cat me..." So I sent her a glowing e-mail (cop-out, but hey I got my point across). Not only was Lilly super cool and appreciative, but she sent me this amazing print of her Rapunzel as thanks!



Isn't it gorgeous?!

Lilly, you rule! Thank you so much!

This is...my perfect dinner party

I'm two days late for this week's This Is post, but since I have no new crafty-ness to show you for the moment, I thought I would share just the same!

This is a tough one!

Location: In a cabin porch at Silver Bay - where Matt and I got married.

Music: Hmm...arrival a little Marvin Gaye, drinks/Prince, dinner/Ella Fitzgerald and dessert/digesting time/Feist (the first album).

Drinks: Seadog Blue Paw (Blueberry Beer) and Mojitos

Meal: Grilled Salmon with mint and mustard sauce, w/Rice and maybe some sauteed summer squash and zucchini (clearly this is a summer party)

Guests: Me, Matt, Jess and Allen, Q, Rachel, Allison, Mark, Biggie, Geoff and Renee

Maybe some post dinner swimming!

Worst

I'm so moody I could kill a crowd with one scowl right now.

Nothing like being on your way to your hubby's show, where you were going to partake in tasty Mexican food and hang out with friends you haven't seen in ages, who are sleeping over, and you spent most of the day cleaning your apartment in preparation - then suddenly remembering you randomly agreed to strike a touring Broadway show tonight from 10 PM - 1AM, and you're teaching tomorrow at NINE IN THE MORNING.

What the hell was I thinking?

I was thinking I need money more than sleep - and now I'm thinking I'm a fucking idiot.

I had *actual* crafty goodness to show you - but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I refuse to write a crafty post without a cheerful disposition.

The Mystery Knit *REVEALED*

Wowza - this post has been sitting in my draft box for days! I didn't expect to be as busy as I've been over the past few days!

I'll give the highlights, then on to the knitting...

* Attended/Played merch girl for 2 of 3 Growler shows this weekend
* Got over my pissy-ness and had an okay time working at the theatre
* We had company this weekend, which accounts for 90% of my house looking stunning right now - hurray!
* Taught all day Saturday/Watched my students perform their choreography showcase - proud mama moments abounded for sure.
* Attended a second teaching artist training workshop - amazing.

Okay - on to the crafty shhhtuff!!!

The mystery knit was...



a pair of legwarmers!


Over the years I've become a bit of a yarn snob, but I have a ton of acrylic nastiness in my stash from my learning days. This is the perfect project to dent that stash, and still make a nice little gift. These are a Christmas present for my bestest dance bud, Allison, who I'm pretty sure doesn't read my blog, so I think it's safe to show! Now I have to get on another Christmas project right away. My goal is to do one per month, and I'm already two months behind - yikes!

P.S. Sorry my blog has been angry, spotty, and f-bomb dropping. I marinated on deleting that post, because I try to keep this a receptacle for my happier thoughts, but sometimes a girl's got to vent, ya know?

P.P.S. My husband is currently slaving away on my taxes. He's my hero.

Old Friends

Lately I've been missing my best guy friend, (aside from my husband of course), Mark.

When we were younger, our group of friends called themselves "The Urban Family" and this was our picnic spot:



We would usually only go out there at night, sitting under that light, drinking pina colada Goya brand soda, stuck in the sand to keep it cold, talking, laughing and daring each other to do ridiculous things.

Mark is a creative writing grad student at NYU (lucky bastard) and lives in Brooklyn now. I haven't seen him since before Christmas. We used to be great at writing awesome letters in each other's absence, but life has gotten in the way a bit.

I decided to remedy this today, by using up some of the ultra cool pirate stationary that I got for Christmas (sorry I can't remember which artist designed this at the moment).





The stationary came with cool stickers to use as sealers...the opposite side of the paper is awesome too!



Great envelope



I used to write letters a *LOT* I heard an episode of Craft Sanity a few weeks ago about writing letters and it got me all gung-ho to send out some mail. (By the way, there are still some Pay It Forward gifts available if you comment on my previous post!)

Is there anyone in your life that could use some fun mail?

Go. Write them. Now!

Pay It Forward

I've been chosen by Kyla at Two Peas in a Pod to receive a "Pay It Forward" gift sometime in the next 365 days. Now it's my turn to spread the love to three more people!

So, it works like this:

The first three people to comment on this post will receive a gift from me, sometime within the next 365 days. Who knows when it will turn up, or what it will be, but rest assured, it will arrive. All you have to do is promise to make the same declaration on your blog, and send out gifts to three of your lovely readers.

Like Kyla, I'll also choose a random blogger to send a gift to, so leave a comment, even if your not in the first three! Now please let me know what you love - because this is all about YOU dear readers! Oh and what colors do you like?

Family this is not open to you, because I always make you stuff! (Still love you all!) International bloggers are fine. Please make sure I can get a hold of you either via your blog or by email. I will be in touch!

Cheers and Lets Play Pay it Forward!!

Sarah

Random Bits of My Day

I learned how to braid a scarf into my pigtails from 99 Ways to Cut, Sew, Tie and Rock Your Scarf, which I did not buy, but looked at longingly for a lengthy period of time...



Seeing Abby's post reminded me of my arty weird senior portrait. (Which was not allowed in the yearbook, by the way. Somehow me covered in leaves = "inappropriate" so it was replaced with a considerably less fun stereotypical me hugging a tree and smiling, hmpf!)



^ Wow - was that really eight years ago???

Cassie is looking particularly adorable today - she's currently purring away nuzzled right up to me and my laptop as I type this...



This is a mix of beautiful flowers that I received congratulating me on my show. The lilies are from my costumer friend, Lori. The tulips are from my mom. They look like the could have been purchased together, don't they?



That's all - little bits of beauty from me to you :)

Blog Introductions

Hello everyone - it's been awhile.

My show is done, and whew I must say it was pretty awesome! I've been recovering over the past few days. I took the longest shower yesterday with a delicious smelling coconut/vanilla candle burning. The candle was from a "relaxation basket" my dancers bought for me from Bath and Bodyworks. Tres yum.

Matt stayed home for the majority of the day and we cleaned together. I've seen him more in the past three or four days than I have in a few months, and it has just been SO NICE.

As you can probably guess - I have no projects/cooking/pictures to show you at the moment. However, I thought that now would be a perfect time to introduce you to a new blogger.

Her blog is called Said the Hobbit. She is talented, witty and my mom!

I gave her one of Heidi Kenney's stuffed mushrooms for Christmas, and my mom has dubbed it "Champignon Etouffe," her blog mascot. I must share one of her latest images:



She actually cut out a little "singing" mouth to stick onto Champignon Etouffe, to change his expression in this photo. My mom is so fun!

Please go visit Said the Hobbit and tell her that her super cool daughter sent you ;)

Maple Weekend

I did get a brief reprieve from work this past weekend by have a little local eating adventure at Sugar Momma's in Northwood.



This big piece of machinery boils the sap down into syrup. It takes an enormous amount of sap to make syrup. I might be remembering this incorrectly, but I think that Sugar Momma said that it goes in 2% sugar content and comes out 68% sugar content! Sugar Momma was so cute with the little wee kids, who she called her "sugar buddies." She sang them a little maple syrup song that went something like "First you take the tree and you tap it, you tap it, then you take the sap and you boil it, you boil it, then you take the syrup and you eat it, you eat it!"



Sugar Momma uses this little tool to tell what grade the syrup is. The first and last two jars are permanent fixtures to this little tool. When a new batch of syrup is ready, she places it into the center slot and hold it up to the sunlight to determine the grade. Pretty nifty!

Outside the sugar shack they had samples of all sorts of maple products. Maple cobbler with ice cream and syrup on top, maple cream with doughnuts, little cups of maple syrup to try, and maple cotton candy!!! I brought home a fifteen piece box of maple candy and a container of maple cream and I'm slightly ashamed to say that it is all GONE! I think I have a slight weakness...

Wendy, (who I buy most of my local meat from), of Lasting Legacy Farms was there with little baby animals. There was a calf and two little piglets there. The calf was sleeping, so I didn't want to disturb it, but these little piglets where lovin' the camera.





They were so cute and friendly and would butt their noses up against your hand to see if you were holding anything good to eat! All in all, it was a fun little adventure.

If you would like more information about Sugar Momma's products - she does not have a website as far as I can tell. Her contact information is:

Sugarmomma's Maple Farm
213 Ridge Road Northwood, NH 03261
603-942-7005

Why I Have Not Been Blogging

Oh my, where did the days go? I've been tremendously busy the past few days. Firstly, I put in an application to be a juried teaching artist with my state's arts council. If accepted I could possibly get a greater amount of work in my state's school system - more dance for all! The application process was daunting. Eight essay questions, resume, video samples of my work, three confidential recommendations - I pulled an all-nighter editing it and putting the finishing touches on everything, before driving it to the capital. Exhaustion definitely ensued after that!

The other thing - even bigger if you can believe it - is that I have a show opening on Saturday!



If you are local, I would love it if you came out and supported this event! The last piece in the show is a collaboration with the Funky Divas of Gospel, and it is the largest thing that I have ever choreographed. I'm nervous/excited at the same time!

Dear Weatherman,

Why do you taunt me?

Yesterday I was running around in the lightest of Mr. Rogersesque cardigans and today you greet me with this.







Did you know that in a few days it will be April? I want to be perusing seed catalogs, not shoveling snow!

Deal?

Thanks,

Sarah

Ahhh...

Relaxing "Buffy" time with my hubby...I'll be back tomorrow :)

Coffee? Tea? Hot Chocolate?

I've noticed lately that I'm very drawn to images of coffee, tea, hot chocolate and the various mugs/cups/presses or what not that those beverages are served in. Weird? I wonder if there is some subliminal thing with coffee/tea/hot cocoa causes it to be really compelling to me, who knows!?

Anyways, with a lack of finished projects to post, (there are a few in the works), I thought I would share as many of my hot beverage related flickr faves as I could squeeze into one mosaic. There were a ton! Enjoy!



1. coffee or tea? 03, 2. tea cup parade, 3. Friendship Wall, 4. for me, too, 5. off to work, 6. Hot Chocolate, 7. Domestic, 8. 30 days :: 2, 9. Cozy Tumbler, 10. coffee press cozy, 11. Untitled, 12. vintage tea set with cupcake, 13. fuel to work, 14. Lady Green tea and Lichee, 15. ° g r e e k . c o f f e e °, 16. pretty packages, 17. studio breakfast, 18. Day 284/365.......just me and my happy juice, 19. (Real) Maple Yum Breakfast, 20. in good company, 21. feira das velharias, 22. Orla Kiely Mug, 23. Owly tea for me, 24. Cafetera, 25. new mug, 26. little red birds, 27. tea bird, 28. Untitled, 29. wedgewood lustreware, 30. vintage finnish enameled tea pot, 31. Decole - Mushroom tower., 32. cups, 33. The Boy Who Wouldn't Eat His Breakfast, 34. Decole - Tea for one set, 35. 1960's dishes, 36. Decole - Mushroom tea?

Crazed and Busy

...but ahh, this looks serene...



These tea napkins are my mom's cast-offs that she didn't think were nice enough to sell online. Therefore they are mine, MWAHAHAHAHA! I'm smitten with these - the strawberry/daisy print on the gingham is so sweet.



I love the way that she embroiders - and the "Tea Time" looks just like her handwriting which makes me happy.

I wish that I had gotten to use them today and have a nice relaxing tea!

Instead today was full and crazy:

* Rehearsal
* Desperately working on my application to be on the state's Artist in Education roster - the moved the deadline up fifteen days, eep!
* Started a new session of an after school dance program
* Sitting in traffic for an hour while an accident was cleared - usually this is a fifteen minute trip
* More rehearsal with the gospel choir

Maybe I'll make that a cup of SleepyTime tea!

Obsession

This is probably news to absolutely no one, but Threadbanger is freaking awesome. I watched every single episode to date whilst I was on my little cleaning spree, I'm officially obsessed! I remember when it debuted last year, but at the time I only listened one podcast (the ultimate) and I wasn't even really aware of vodcasts. I wrote it off. I remember thinking - "Eh, I read a million blogs. I don't have time to watch that." What was I thinking???!!!

So if you're the one other person on the planet besides me that hasn't checked out Threadbanger, what are you still doing here? Go. Now.

Seriously. Go.

This is...my demon(s)

The first is obvious...the second sinister and lurking in the shadows, because it is a demon that haunts me and encourages me to waste time!

Spring Fling :: Forget Spring Cleaning! It's Saturday Night!

My life and times as a band wife...tonight was so much fun!

Crafty Interruption

I'm interrupting spring cleaning week with a little crafty goodness, I hope you don't mind!

I whipped up this Waldorf-inspired play crown for my four year old niece today.





It's a belated birthday present. My nieces and nephews on my hubby's side live far away, so I try to and spoil them rotten from afar so that they know who their Aunty Sarah is. (The crazy craft nerd, as if there were a doubt!?)