Saturday, October 28, 2006

Strange weather today. Almost hurricane or tropical storm like but it came at us from Tennessee rather than the southern Atlantic. And it is warm. Up over 60 degrees F. Yesterday morning when I went out to feed the rabbits, it was only 26 degrees F. A bit of a deviation, eh? We're having buckets of rain with flash flooding, high winds of 50-60 mph and now the thunder has started. Very strange for the end of October. Of course, when they first announced that this storm was headed our way, they called for snow instead of rain. Guess we got lucky there.


I have been exhausted all week. I've been dragging myself to work and then fighting not to fall asleep at my desk. I don't know if I'm fighting off a cold or the flu or if this is just the result of the two previous busy weekends. My legs have been like rubber all week too. I usually take about a mile walk at lunch time and I haven't had the strength to do that this week. I have a stuffy nose and a bit of a sore throat. And my GOD it's HOT IN HERE! I could have a fever too. I woke at my usual weekday time of 4:00am today thanks to various cats and Ms. Bailey. They do not understand the concept of sleeping late on the weekends. I did a few odds and ends and then fell back asleep at 10:30 this morning. Woke up coughing and I thought I was melting I was so hot. Yeah, I guess I might be sick.


I'm giving myself today to get over this. I don't have time to be sick. I took a shower and I chose to get into sweatpants and a tee shirt, which is strange for me. Normally on the weekends I am showered, fully dressed with makeup and jewelry by 8:00am at the latest. This is out of nature for me to still be lounging at 2:00pm.


I had a second interview yesterday for one of the jobs in the department where I am a temp. I also received a call and an appointment was set up for Monday with the big manager to speak with me. I think it looks good that I will get a permanent job there. It's not the job that I had initially wanted, but the more I hear about it, the better I think I'll like it. Out of the 3 jobs I bid on there, this one is the lowest paying but it also is the least amount of stress with very little deviation in hours or overtime. I really don't want to work OT unless it's absolutely necessary. I have enough to do here what with guild meetings, spinning and knitting groups, orders for the business to fill and animals to feed.
I'm spinning some Louet Merino/Silk blend in Glacial Green. It's a light, pale green. I haven't decided what I want to do with it, but I just needed to spin something this morning rather that trying to concentrate on a knitting pattern. My brain is a bit cloudy today.


My Louet order came in this week but more than half of the Northern Lights was on back order. We've suddenly been selling quite a bit of it and I'm disappointed that I didn't receive it. Please be patient if you are looking for some of it on our site.


Oh, dear. The wind is now howling outside. Very creepy sounding. The trees are virtually leafless. I suppose if I must feel ill, today is a good day to stay inside. I'm going to try to get some more spinning done before the fever climbs again.


Stay safe.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

My weather report for today is again the same. It's very cold out at this time, only about 35 degrees F. It's supposed to slightly warm up later than around dinner time and cold rain is due in. Summer is gone.

Steve and I drove to Rhinebeck NY yesterday for the Duchess County Sheep and Wool Festival. Normally I go up on Friday and stay the weekend with the girls from the guild. Unfortunately, that was not in the budget this year. Besides the usual cost of lodging, meals and all of my purchases, I would have also lost a day's pay on Friday. There's always next year.


Anyway, this was my fourth visit to the festival and all I can say is OH MY GOD! I have never seen that many people there before. There were THOUSANDS of people. It was nearly impossible to shop. I came home with extra bobbins for my wheel, a couple of batts from Grafton Fibers and a souvenir tee shirt and calendar. That was it! One of the batts is for Rianne. I didn't even buy my usual default purchase of souvenir sock yarn. I had wanted to buy dyes from Little Barn. His prices are great. I had to push my way into the back of his tent, I found the dyes but there was a line of at least 30 people at his register. I don't need them that badly. I'll order online. I then had to push my way back out of the tent. It was so crowded everywhere that I started to get claustrophobic. I get that way at Christmas time if I have to shop at the mall too. We never got anything to eat as the lines at all the food vendors were just as long. Steve was getting cold, tired, hungry and cranky. I was just about the same. We left at 1:00. I didn't even bother to check out the fleece sale. Last year, I was first in line. I couldn't wait to leave the chaos.

I met Gail, Kathy and Jessie only once when we first arrived. I never saw them again. Usually, when we all go, we shop separately but see each other throughout the day and meet up for lunch. There were just too many people. I couldn't have found them if I needed to. Since I never found them again, I was unable to give them my Bingo badge. Sorry folks.

I had to go to Rhinebeck this year because I was a participating square in the Rhinebeck Bloggers Bingo. I met a few other squares, but they did not have me on their cards. I also had to deliver an order to a lady that we all know from PA. I never found her, but Jessie expected to meet up with her and she took the order from me to deliver.

Rhinebeck is the fiber event for this part of the country. I'm disappointed that it was so crowded. I'm sure the vendors did very, very well. I walked by the vendor that sells Socks that Rock yarn around noon (I can't remember her name). Her yarn racks were empty and she too had a line of 20 or so people waiting to check out!

Anyone that is going to Rhinebeck just today, I wish you luck. I don't think you'll find much left to purchase.

I had to place another order with Louet this week for more of the Northern Lights fiber. It's seems to be catching on in popularity. Either that or now the cold weather has people thinking of spinning more. The order should be here next week.

I've been told that I'm going to get called for a second interview for one of the jobs in the department. It's not the one I that I really wanted, but I'll see what happens. It's the lowest paying job but I'm told that starting salary is negotiable. It's also the lowest stress job. That's a plus. The company had some lay-offs last week. Someone in Hartford that I had to talk with daily is now gone. She was a nice lady. I miss her. Steve is safe. No job cuts in his department. And where I'm assigned, they are still growing. Hopefully I'll get one of the jobs. It would be nice to have benefits again.

Today is my day for chores. Steve and I are going to head out to the grocery store and feed store soon. There is absolutely no food in this house. Really. We've had cereal for dinner a couple of nights! I never went shopping last week so we are very low on everything. We must stop at the feed store for more bunny kibble, hay and of course, the homemade dog biscuits they sell for Ms. Bailey. After shopping, I must do the laundry and if it ever warms up a bit outside, wash out the bunny hutches. It never ends.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Okay, since I will only be at Rhinebeck on Saturday and not the entire weekend, I'm going to hand off my name badge to someone in my guild. Here are some photos. Look for these ladies! Of course, I haven't asked any of them yet so I don't know which one will be willing to wear the name tag.




And here is a lovely picture of me. It's about a year old but I still look about the same. See you Saturday.


Wednesday, October 18, 2006





Just a quick note to tell you that I will be at Rhinebeck on Saturday only.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Just a quick note. It is still very early but I must get ready to leave by 7:30am. This weekend is the annual open farm and museum weekend at Blue Slope Farm in Franklin (Bozrah) CT. It's a great time for families. There should be a Colonial encampment, oxen wagon rides, pie eating contests, quilting, a blacksmith, butter churning, 4-H kids usually have a booth or two, and my friend Jessie and I will be weaving and spinning. If you are interested in taking a nice ride on what is supposed to be a beautiful autumn day, come over for a visit. There is an admission fee, but I really don't know what it is. You can give them a call. Their website is here for directions: http://www.blueslope.com They haven't updated the site in a while, but you can see some photos of previous events there.

It's 32 degrees F at the moment. We will probably be in the loft of the barn for our demonstrations. It's going to be a bit nippy.

Hope to see you there.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

My weather report for today has stayed the same as the last time I posted. Sunny but cold. Only 42 degrees F in the bunny shed. It's supposed to warm up later today, but there is no escaping Autumn.

I am sick. I've had a scratchy throat for a couple of days. This morning I woke with it sore and my head is full of cotton. I can't breathe. My eyes are droopy. It hurts to swallow. I really hate it when I'm sick. I have so many things that I want and need to do, but all I have the strength to do is sit here like a lump. I could have slept this morning for hours. However Westchester cat and Ms Bailey the Spaniel had a different idea. They both jumped on the bed and I swear they were marching around me. It wouldn't have been so bad except we have a water bed. They create a Tsunami when they walk around. I'm sure there were other cats up with them also. They made sure that I was up and moving by 5:00am.

I was supposed to go to the Nutmeg Spinners meeting today. It's an all day event and I know that I couldn't handle that. I'm really going to need a nap soon. I wanted to go just in case some of the new people from Madley Spinners showed up. If you ladies are reading this, I'm sorry I couldn't make it! Tuesday night is the Madley meeting. At the Colchester town hall from 7:00-9:00.

Steve has just left to go to the grocery store for me. I can't handle that either today. We don't spend much now that Ryan is back at school. But we do need the basics of bread, milk and of course, carrots and kale for the bunnies. A new store opened up in the next town. The prices should be a lot lower that our local grocery. The local store is a big chain name, but they have some of the highest prices in the state. Many weeks, we drive over to Norwich (about 20 miles) to grocery shop. The store there has great prices and it really is worth the trip. Just to compare, a simple can of tomato soup is 40 cents a can less at the store in Norwich than from our local grocery.

When I got into work on Monday, I had a message that management wanted to interview the next day for all three jobs! I don't know how it went. I can never tell with interviews and I've been disappointed so many times before. But I will say that after the interview on Tuesday, they have started treating me differently. I was given a big project and told to "run with it". The woman that just quit had been working on it. I have to set up procedures and processes while remaining within the guidelines established by our legal dept. I've also had to sit in on two conference calls with field representatives. In my opinion, these are not responsibilities normally assigned to a temp worker. Still keep you fingers crossed. I was the first person that they interviewed. I know that they have received over 60 applicants. It would be really great to get a regular full time job and that way I would actually get paid for the upcoming holidays. Not to mention the additional cash.

I think I'm going to make some oatmeal and go back to bed now. Bye.