Well, one day removed from my trip to western New York and I can say is that it is good to be home. It wasn't nearly as bad as I made it sound. We had a great time. The weather was great...well, after Saturday's showers. The bed and breakfast was very nice. The scenery was amazing. The friends met were great. The most amazing thing of the weekend (outside of seeing a Golding spinning wheel in real life) was that I managed to pack for me and Steve in ONE suitcase. We ended up with three checked pieces...the wheel (suitcase to itself), our clothes and my travel case - hair dryer, brushes, etc. Here is a short run down of the weekend...

The weekend began Friday morning around 3:30 AM, when we woke up so we could make it to the airport for our 7 AM flight. We got to the airport, amazingly there was not a line at the US Air ticket counter (not that it mattered, I had upgraded us to 1st class), around 5 AM. We get checked in, through security and to our gate (why is it always at the very end of the corridor????) with about hour and 15 minutes to spare. After an uneventful flight to DC, we had 3 1/2 hours to kill. I knitted, crocheted and dreamed of the fibers I would buy the next day. As we are waiting, we realize we will be going to Rochester in a puddle jumper. This plane was so small that we had to be taken by bus out on the tarmac to load the plane! The flight from DC to Rochester was very short - 43 minutes. We made it to Rochester about 15 minutes early. Ironically, our luggage had made it there long before we did! We get our car and head to the B&B (The White Oak B&B in Avon, NY). We get the B&B around 3, I take a shower and a nap! I finally wake up about 7 PM. We went out for something to eat and then came back to the B&B. Amazingly, I was able to go back to sleep around 10.

WOOHOO!!!! Saturday, the day of the festival had arrived!!! Steve and I get up, have breakfast and head out to Hemlock. We get there and meet up with Jody. Steve decides he doesn't want to look at wool all day, so he goes to Rochester to look for the house he used to live in. Jody and I wonder around the fair grounds, buying stuff as we go. I have never been in fiber overload before that day...but within 20 minutes, I was there. Regardless, I still enjoyed myself.

Along with all of the fiber, I bought a Bosworth spindle. If they would have had any Moosies, I would have bought one of those! I will be putting the pictures of the stuff I bought on Flickr soon. Jody bought an antique wheel to take to demos. Steve made it back to the festival. While Jody was taking the class on spinning design yarn, Steve and I walked around the festival (dodging rain showers) and I made a few more purchases.

After Jody's class, we headed out to her mom's cabin in Prattsburgh for dinner. The scenery was amazing! Jody's mom and stepdad don't want to be found. The cabin in basically in the middle of nowhere...but that nowhere is on a hill with a small vegetable garden, orchard and wild flowers! What a place...It was beautiful! For dinner we had venison, cucumber and tomato salad (fresh picked by Jody), beans (again, fresh picked), dumplings, and mashed potatoes. For dessert we had an apple crisp with apples that Jody and I picked from the orchard. It was a great evening.

Steve and I went back to the festival on Sunday for a bit. From there, we drove around to get lost on purpose in hopes of finding some photos. Unfortunately, there weren't that many photo opportunities, but I did get a few.

Because of all of the stuff I bought, we had to buy another suitcase! hehehe

Finally Posting....

Still knitting, spinning and crocheting....All is still the same. The change I was looking for has not happened....this is fortunate and unfortunate. Fortunate because, at this point, the only way for a big change to happen would be for Steve to lose his job (that is not an option!!!!). Unfortunate because I would like to fulfill my dream of living in Maine. I guess I just have to be patient.

Let's see, off the needles...FINALLY finished the purple stole I have been working on since Feb/Mar - knitting a blanket for a friend's baby. On the needles...feather and fan stole (x2 - one with handspun); Glamour Capelet in Cash Iroha; a triangle shawl in Malabrigo lace weight. On the crochet hook - a tablecloth from a Russian doily magazine (translated by me!). On the bobbins - merino/silk blend and mohair.

Friday, Steve and I are hopping a plane to Rochester, NY to go to the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival in Hemlock. We will be meeting up with Jody for the festival. Then, Saturday night, we will have dinner with Jody and her family. We don't have a set schedule for Sunday, but we are hoping to make it to Niagara Falls and a couple of lighthouses along the way. We will return to Orlando on Monday. I am sure the return will be bittersweet as always - good to be going home, but sad to be leaving.

Back to the crocheting....I was on EBAY and came upon a magazine with a couple of doily patterns that I wanted to try. After looking a little closer at the item, I discovered the magazine was in RUSSIAN! I though "what the heck, I'll get a Russian/English dictionary and if I get stumped, I have a friend that is Russian". The translation was a little easier than I thought it would be, so I thought, "what the heck, I'll get a couple of books and CDs and teach myself Russian". Learning Russian has been more difficult than I thought it would be. The whole different alphabet thing doesn't help - especially since there are a few letters that look the same as the English letter, but they have a completely different sound. After looking a the letter B for 32 years and thinking - bee, it is hard to look at it and think vee!!!!!

Hopefully, I will be able to post from New York, so I can write about all of the fun I am having and all of the wonderful yarn and fiber I saw (and bought)!