Coming in From the Cold

I've been missing in action, burying my face in CSPAN programming watching everything and anything associated with the new White House trying to convince myself that while the economic sky is falling it is way better than listening to those clowns from the former administration f%$#up the country. Now, with that said, and to keep from indulging in a full on pity party, this is some of what I've been up to.

went to visit son #1 in North Carolina to hear him sing with the North Carolina Symphony


This is a partial sound recording of the Carmina Burana. Not my favorite choral piece, sort of reminds me of a scary movie but it was my chile singing so...




Got caught in the historic nor' easter snow storm. Tried to get out of town before it hit and the lady at the airline checkin said, "honey, if anybody in North Carolina thinks it's gonna snow, we close down the city! Better find you a hotel and sleep in." Well, after I checked out of my very nice hotel with a great wine list and midnight cheese and fruit platter room service -


I found myself thankful for any room at the airport hotel. Even the crows were confused.

Made this gorgeous Radiating Star Blanket as a baby gift (pattern found on Ravelry).

Tried to follow the Harlot's advice with the stash...

FAILED

Why did I keep these??

There were months that brought me little or no joy - except for this occasional backyard visitor.

My pal Phyllis tried hard to lift the gloom, we explored yarn stores and old fashioned soda fountains. I had my first vanilla ice cream soda in many years!




She even baked me a cake and brought me some noro sock yarn and those cool square needles!

I pulled myself together long enough to host one of those local Obama house meetings.

There were a few of them around my town. My friend Arlene, a professional chef, did one with desserts and champagne!

Went to hear a Cornel West lecture with my boys. That was a really good day.

Attended my town's library's author luncheon. Guess who?

I auctioned off several baskets with baby hats. And, the poster below from the Democratic Convention's Women's Caucus that Michelle Obama presided over.

So, hope still remains and is perhaps all that is left when we succumb to our darkest worries and can't seem to see the light. Thanks to all of you who have written to encourage me to write again and to report on my whereabouts. I'm sorry I've been gone so long.

P.S. if you would like one of these historic posters, I have another that I would like to share so, just comment here with your name and I'll do one of those random selection thingies and send one to you, sorry, it is not signed and I won't be able to frame it.

Horsing Around

What is it that drives someone to leave the comfortable streets of a Jersey suburb to the outskirts of... Queens, New York?

For years I shopped online at Smiley's yarns before the recent crop of yarn stores popped up around my town. Their website offers lots of closeout type stuff. I'd buy basic wool for felting and on occasion I could get some rather nice alpaca.

A few weeks ago, after dropping my oldest off at the airport, I realized that LaGuardia Airport is in Queens, New York and that Smiley's "warehouse" is there too. I punched the address into the ol' GPS and voila, I was driving down the combustible streets of Jamaica Avenue. Dang that was a mistake. It is one noisy street! Far noisier than Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn or any other street I've been down in the last 15 years.

Inside the store, the place was virtually empty (pun intended)! I guess they reserve their stock for internet sales.

Disappointed, I couldn't let this hare brained idea to go unchallenged so I set the GPS toward Manhattan and drove to Purl Soho in well, Soho.

Sorry about skimpy pictures but it's actually a good representation of how small the store is. Remember, New York City real estate is EXPENSIVE.

I couldn't not buy any yarn right? I bought a skein of this curly locks stuff intending to use it for an icord handle

Well it doesn't quite look like what I had intended so I'll have to figure out what to do with this

A few doors down from Purl's yarn store is Purl's fabric store.

Of course I bought some fabric. Who cares I don't sew

Oh and speaking of sewing, I bought this from Etsy, this girl can sew!

I got an entire set of double points to go into their neat little compartments!

Yeah, so I've been making lots of bags for gifts. I made this one for one of my sisters-in-law.






I used some stash yarn I bought last year at Rhinebeck. I found the brooch in North Carolina at a vintage store.


This bag was intended for my mother. I bought these cool leather straps for the handles but I'm not sure if I'll give her this one yet. Gifts for her are always so hard...


Finally, after horsing around driving here and there, would you believe that I stumbled upon a retirement home for horses? I was driving my youngest to a basketball event when out of the blue I saw these adorable horses. They were in various stages of recovery from something or another. I didn't want to leave. They were so sweet.

The North Carolina College ride

I just got a call from my son. His books cost over $400 dollars and he needs more money. I put $500 in his book account and thought, "nah, he won't need more money, I mean how much could 1 poli sci, english and spanish book cost?"

Then I remembered this display at the book store

First of all, if somebody put Serena Williams on my science text book, I'd be a scientist today! No dead president or some 15th century wighead ever got me excited about spending $252 for a book!

Walking around campus really brought back how wonderful college was. Even though I didn't have the conventional experience, I worked during the day and attended classes at night and starved pretty much every day in between, I still think fondly on those years...




And speaking of food, check out these prices from an eatery in Greensboro -

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that they served up some of the best burgers I've ever had for only 3 bucks too!

A stone's throw from Chapel Hill, I was able to check out some great stuff in a town called Carrboro. There was a farmer's market

where I met and chatted with an amazing herbalist. He wouldn't let me take his picture

It was hard to resist buying some of these. I mean New Jersey does produce watermelons in the summer but I was truly curious about how these tasted.

I even got to check out a nice craft store that featured works from local artists.

I think I stood in front of this display for 15 minutes trying to decide which mug to bring home.

This is Sara. She owns this lovely and very friendly store, N.C. Crafts Gallery . It is certainly worth the visit if you are ever near Chapel Hill.

Carrboro has a nice yarn store. I resisted buying too much stuff because as it turns out I had already hit their sister store in Greensboro. I did have a chance to hang out and knit with this nice lady -

Alisa is a new grad student in library sciences. What luck I had meeting a book lady working in a yarn store. I'm afraid I did talk her ear off about life on my town's library board.

Back in Greensboro, the 105 degree temperatures didn't stop me from checking out their downtown

And my new college student finding a dog pal in the local yarn store, Yarns Etc.

Nope I don't spin but this store has some of everything

Except they didn't have catfish.





Or a brass band