Whew!

Busy week... no time to blog.
Maybe Sunday?
Stay tuned.

Cute hat!

I'm LOVING this little hat. Great hand-spun, hand-died, wool-cotton yarn. And, it was quick! I started it last week and got a few lines done (see previous post). Then started it again this morning and a couple hours later, voila! Done.


Only problem... it's a little big for me. :(
Any hints on how I could shrink it a bit without turning it into a doll's hat are welcome.

Special thanks to my hat model... one of the dogs' (freshly cleaned) "marshmallows" - a 16-inch stuffed ball. Kinda looks like a snowman, doesn't it?

12-of-12: September 2009

Today is the 12th of September, so it's time for the 12-of-12! Created by Chad Darnell, the 12-of-12 is a photo project where participants post 12 photos from their day on the 12th day of each month.
Since today is a Saturday (with lots of free time for most people) the folks at Podcacher have suggested we make it a Geocaching 12-of-12 and post pictures taken during our caching adventures today. I'm not a "power cacher", but I go out geocaching almost every weekend with my family.

10am - Shopping!
Today was not much different from a typical Saturday... but to start, we all met at the East Aurora Farmers Market.

You can find the most amazing fruits, veggies, and flowers at this market, not to mention the honey, breads, and other fresh hand-made stuffs.















Noon-ish - GEOCACHING!!
Once we stocked up on market goodies, we made our way to Marilla Town Park a few miles away to hunt a couple geocaches. What a beautiful little park! Very well kept and two geocaches to hunt.

Geo-kids - ready to go!

The two-legged Geo-kid made quick work of the first hunt. Not many trade items fit in this cache, so we signed the log, then headed off to the second cache in the park.


I hoped to be able to place the "Viney Crush" travel bug into our 2nd cache of the day since the cache page said the container was a large Tupperware box.



The question was... could we find it?

We DID!

We finished our walk back to our starting point, but before we left this great little park of the day, we took a group photo of our caching crew. Here we are celebrating two successful finds - HOORAY!

Geocaching can really work-up an appetite, so we headed back to Mom & Dad's to have lunch together, then went our separate ways. I still have to log my finds on geocaching.com... but not before the final photos from my September 12-of-12.

5pm - Cherry Jam!!!
Earlier this week I got 10-pounds of sour cherries from a local organic grower. I made one batch of jam, but had enough cherries for two (plus some extra for a pie). So, before they went bad, I made batch #2 tonight.

Before

During
After

It's 8:30pm now and I'm ready to relax after a wonderful, yet busy day. I took a WHOLE lot more than just 12 shots today... choosing which to post was a tough decision. If you're interested in seeing more of the set, visit this link.

Farewell to summer, and hello fall. See ya next month when I'm sure there will be some new colors in the mix!

Didjya see?

Didjya see?
Didjya see?

I made a custom header for the blog. It's the moon picture I took yesterday with text of the blog title embedded in the JPG. I did it using Photoshop Elements.

YAY!

Morning adventures

Most people (I would expect) spend Labor Day morning sleeping in, relaxing, and taking it easy.

Not me! Not today!

I was awake at 4:22am and in the car by 4:45am so I could make it to the launch by 6:00am.
We had planned to spend yesterday afternoon in Dansville, NY at the NYS Festival of Balloons, but those plans fell through. I almost drove out to Dansville last night to see the 6pm launch, but didn't because I didn't want to lose precious weekend time with the hubby & pups. In fact, I had chalked the experience up to a "maybe next year" event.

Then my brain went into over-drive... if I wake up early Monday (4:30-ish)... the hubby will still be asleep (he's not a morning person)... I could get to Dansville and back by 9am. I wouldn't miss out on any family time, just a little sleep. This could work.

This is CRAZY!

"No, no, no. Be rational, Jill. Who doesn't sleep in on Labor Day?"

"But this is a great chance to see the balloons. Then I won't have to wait till next year."

So, after hours of my internal debate, I settle on NOT setting the alarm for 4:30am and leave it to my biological clock. If my internal alarm goes off, I'll go. If not, then maybe next year.

3-something... I look at the clock. "Go back to sleep!"
I do.
4:22am... "Should I get up?" "No, it's crazy."
4:29am... "I'm GOING! The weather is perfect. I can't sleep anyway. I might not ever get this chance again. I'll regret it if I don't go."

The drive to Dansville is a quiet one. And dark. The whole trip I pass, maybe, ten cars. In fact, for most of the trip it was me and the nocturnal animals... 5 deer, 1 raccoon, 1 skunk, and 1 fox. If I had to guess, they were all thinking "Lady, what are you doing up so early on a holiday?!"

This is what... watching nylon bags the size of houses fill with air. What a sight to see!

The first to go up, Spirit in the Sky.
Nik's
I'm not sure if today's launch was a typical launch scene, or if there was a lot more freedom because it was the last launch of the Festival (and technically, the Festival is over... no vendors, no entertainment, just one 6am balloon launch).

I was ALL OVER the field.

I ran between balloons, talked with crew members, and snapped almost 140 pictures in approximately 45 minutes.

This is TOO cool!

The pictures posted here are only a small portion of the pics I took during the Festival. A larger set can be found here. It includes names of balloons (if I could get them), multiple views of each balloon, and time-lapsed balloon inflation/liftoff.

I'm definitely looking forward to next year when I hope to see an evening launch. I expect there will be a lot more balloons, but I wonder, too, if there will also be a lot more people and thus restrictions on where I can go during launch-time.

All I know, is that this morning I had an incredible experience... even if I did have to wake up WAY earlier than any sane person.

E, you inspired me!

Today turned into a lazy Sunday.

I am mostly recovered from our whirlwind visit from P&E Thursday thru Saturday, but the hubby was not. He needed a do-nothing day. We postponed our trip to Dansville (balloon festival weekend), I cracked open the knitting bin, and started my first hat.

I'm only a few lines into it, but with the cooler weather - and inspiration from watching Elizabeth's fast crochet fingers - I figured it was time. Will be sure to post pix when it's finished (that is, if it actually turns out looking like a hat).

New friends, such fun!

What an amazing start to the long weekend! I'm exhausted already. There's so much I want to remember. Do I put it here, or just relish the memories?

My only difficulty... I'm just starting to come back alive after crashing once they left this morning. I think I need a little more time. My brian is mush. The excitement of having guests and the "stress" of being a good hostess really took its toll on me. Maybe I'll blog in a day or so.

All I'll say now is that I had a FABULOUS time. Paul & Elizabeth are AMAZING people and I'm SO glad I got to know them. I can't wait to have them out here again (and go visit them, too).