I’ve been wanting to go to the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival for many years now, but somehow something has always comes up that has kept me from attending. Finally, this year, encouraged by the chance for Nick to spend some time with his friend Zephyr and realizing that it’s about darn time, I decided make the trip to Rhinebeck, NY and see what I could see.
With Clare happily at a friend’s house for a sleepover, Nick and I woke up Saturday morning and hit the road. We got to the fairgrounds later than I had hoped but still early enough to have most of the day ahead of us. I had been to one other sheep and wool festival (you can read about it here) so I kind of knew what to expect. Yarn, sheep, border collies, food, and lots of knitters. What I wasn’t prepared for was the size of this fair compared to the one I had been to in Connecticut. The fair in Rhinebeck was huge and jammed packed with things to see, do and buy and there were lots and lots and lots of people. Bus tours full of them. I had no idea that people came by the busload to go to the sheep and wool fair, but believe me, they do.
Nick and I walked around until I got him hooked up with Zephyr and the two of them took off to do their own thing which was totally all right by me. Time alone surrounded by lots of yarn and knitting accessories was something I could use, and so I began to wander and look around. I have to say that “overwhelming” doesn’t even come close to describing what I felt in the midst of all that yarn, buttons, roving, needles, spinning accessories and people.
I have to admit to coming a bit close to hyperventilating at the sight of all the knitting goodness.
I decided that I would spend my alone time taking pictures instead of buying things. I meandered through the booths and aisles filled with people, occasionally stopping to pick up and fondle a skein of yarn that caught my fancy but I didn’t want to purchase anything before I had fully explored the possibilities. I met someone who was methodically making a list of items and locations so she could go back and make her purchases after she, too, had fully explored the scene, but I decided to wait until next year before I am that organized. For that moment, my focus was on the sights and the sounds and the smells of the fair.
After exploring booth after booth of the wool part of the event, I went off in search of the sheep.
There were all sorts of goats, sheep and alpacas, all prettied up for the admiring crowds.
Isn’t this guy silly? He looks like he’s singing.
After exploring to my heart’s content, I met up with the boys and Zephyr’s mom and she took me over to see the new travel sized (I had no idea there was such a thing!) spinning wheel she was purchasing and with her encouragement I bought a few skeins of sock yarn in the hopes that I can start knitting again and make someone lucky one a pair of lovely socks for Christmas.
The day flew by and soon it was time to head for home. I’m so glad I finally made it to this special event. I’m already planning for next year’s trip.
This morning I was watching an online video about homeschooling, thanks to my friend at The New Unschooler, which you can watch for yourselves if you care to; just follow the link. It’s a good video and I was enjoying it very much until a homeschooling father who just happens to be a math teacher began talking about why we learn higher math in schools. He talked about the need to learn logic and deductive reasoning and while algebra and calculus are ways of teaching that, there are other ways that don’t require math sheets and workbooks and the like. He talked about his use of logic games in the classroom and a huge, big lightbulb lit up over my head (just like in the cartoons, really!) I ran up to the playroom and grabbed all the games I could think of that would fit the bill. Not Monopoly or the dreadfully boring game of Life, but Blokus and Rumi and Bananagrams (spelling, anyone?)
Clare was awake first and she and I started with a couple of rounds of Bananagrams. Then Nick woke up and the fun continued. There was a bit of fussing and fighting about really silly stuff like who got the red blocks when we played Rumi (who knew that an almost 15 year old and an 11 year old would even care about what color blocks they had?) but for the most part our play was cooperative and we all had a blast. When we had gone through the pile of games I had chosen, Nick went upstairs and grabbed our Settlers of Catan and we played that for almost an hour, again with very little drama and much good-natured fun. So much fun that we are looking into buying an expansion set for our Settlers of Catan game to make it a bit more challenging.
This is what I love about homeschooling. It’s so very flexible. Will we have game day every day? Most certainly not. But I know that it will come in handy to break out of a rut, when conjugating verbs in Spanish or learning geometry or algebra from a workbook seems to bring us down. It even broke the kids out of their routine of being nasty to each other. Afterwards, Nick had to admit that the two of them had been very close to getting along. How perfect is that? Spelling, math, a little logic and problem solving thrown in for good measure. Who knew learning could be so much fun?
Our friend Beth brought the orphaned baby bunnies she is caring for to coop today. She has been feeding them ever since their momma bunny died and the little bits of cuteness have to be fed about every 4 hours.
I have a confession to make though about the whole “cute” thing. Ever since we got our kitten (the little bundle of cuteness that she is) I have been a little bit overloaded on “cute.” So when someone said to me, “You have to come out and see Beth’s bunnies. They are so cute,” well, seriously, that was enough to turn me off right there and then. But I’m a photographer at heart and “cute” photographs well.
And now, I’m sure you think I’m an orgre and don’t even deserve to be exposed to the kind of cuteness that little, helpless, orphaned baby bunnies bring. Really though, I went out there simply to Take Pictures. And I came back in saying, “OMG, you have to go out and see Beth’s bunnies. They are so cute!” Yes, they truly are.
Tuesdays mean Wilderness Skills class for Nick and a morning Yogalates class for me. I had hoped that Clare would have a class as well but there wasn’t enough enrollment to run it, so for most of Tuesday it’s the two of us until we pick up Nick at 3. While I’m at Yoga, Clare has been spending time with a new friend, Sage, whose mom works at Great Hollow, the place where we take our wonderful classes and have our homeschool coop. Today, despite the fact that Clare and I both had hair appointments at the Salon, Sage opted to come with us for some company and some fun. After our hair was done and we went to the health food store for a decent lunch, we blew all caution to the wind and went to the candy store. I went for the eye candy. The candy store is full of colorful images just waiting to be captured with my camera. The kids went for the sugar.
Not everything that was purtyful was good to eat.
But most of it was.
Is this not a festive image of colorful bliss?
And while Sage insisted that he would make good choices because he knew what his mother would allow, all I could say was, “Your mother is going to kill me.” Luckily, we are good enough friends and she was gracious enough not to do so. But I’m still not sure if that was only because the neon orange color had already faded by the time we brought Sage back to the barn.
It is Monday and that means a trip to the barn for the afternoon. The horses are still able to grab some pasture time but I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be able to do that.
We are at the halfway point in Clare’s Monday vaulting class and I’m hoping the weather holds out so she can finish the series. While we can ride during the colder months, vaulting is done barefoot or in socks and with little clothing to hinder movement. So when it gets cold and those tootsies start to freeze, vaulting can be a challenge. But so far, the weather is mild enough so that it isn’t a issue. Yet. Meantime, the girls are learning about horse care.
Today’s lesson was about learning the proper way to lead a horse on a lead rope.
Piper is generally good natured and a willing subject. He’s really such a sweetie and I think he eats up all the attention the girls give him.
The Monday class is smaller and that means more riding time, which seems to be ok with Clare. The girls are working on some pairs routines and that looks like tons of fun.
Clare’s confidence is growing and I’m very happy about that. This riding thing seems to be good for both of us.
It was one of the those Saturdays when I really didn’t want to go out of the house but I had Things To Do. I needed to pick up some gourds and Indian corn and some apple cider for my workshop at church on Sunday so Clare and I headed up the road to Warrups Farm to see if they had what I wanted and to grab a breath of fresh air.
I hadn’t really been feeling the fall but at the farm signs of it were everywhere.
There were dried flowers for sale in the shed . . .
and dried berries showing their fall colors on the vine.
The leaves are turning but not dramatically yet.
There are cornstalks dried from the summer’s harvest . . .
and plenty of apples and cider.
What started out as overcast and rather boring, turned into a perfect, sunny New England fall day. So instead of grabbing what we came for and heading on our way, we lingered and visited for a while.
We walked down to the barn yard and visited with some of the animals.
We chatted with the farmers and ran into some people we knew from church. We watched people picking pumpkins and choosing mums for their garden. I bought some lovely green chard to make for dinner.
While we weren’t quite ready to leave, there were Things To Do at home as well. So we headed home to do them.
And even though we ended up a long way from that rather boring morning of Not Wanting To Do A Lot, we really had only traveled up the road. How lovely is that?
I met Karen in 1996 at Danbury Hospital. We, along with a couple of hundred other women, were there to apply for one of 30 odd positions being offered as childbirth doulas in the hospital’s new and groundbreaking doula program. The hospital had placed an article in the local paper and I think they were a bit surprised at the response. Karen and I were both lucky enough to be selected. I’m pretty sure that if fate hadn’t have thrown us together, our paths would not have crossed. I’m so very glad that it did, because Karen was a rare gem.
The 34 women who were lucky enough to be chosen got to know each other a bit during the first days of doula training and as we worked together to make the program a success, we became more of a family. All of us shared a passion for helping women have the best hospital birth experience possible. We supported each other, listened to each other’s birth stories and together we learned how to mother the new mothers in our care.
If I had simply met Karen at a party or on the street, I wouldn’t have pegged her as the doula type. I don’t even think I would have imagined that she would have been selected as a doula in the first place because she didn’t fit my mold. I was a pretty crunchy granola, breastfeeding, natural childbirth advocate and well, Karen just didn’t fit that bill. Isn’t it a good thing I wasn’t in charge? As I learned from getting to know Karen, believing a certain way or living a certain lifestyle wasn’t the criteria for being a doula. Having a bg heart was and Karen’s was the size of the entire state of Connecticut. Karen jumped into being a doula with both feet, took off running and as far as I know, she continued caring and educating expectant couples up until the end.
Although I had to leave the doula program shortly after my daughter Clare was born, Karen and I managed to keep in touch on and off throughout the years. She helped me retain my sanity when my children were still babies by passing on her sage advice as a more experienced mother. She made me laugh when I wanted to cry. I called her once when my son was little and I was particularly sleep deprived and at the end of my rope. “Do you have any cheerios?” she asked. I told her I did. “Go get them.” “OK,” I thought. “Now what?” “Now lick one,” she said, “and stick it to his face.” “Feel better?” she asked. Strangely, I did. We talked and I made cheerio designs on Nick’s face while he sat in his high chair, not complaing a bit about the pieces of cereal stuck artfully to his cheeks, forehead and chin. It was pretty hard to do anything but laugh and Karen laughed right along with me.
Karen cried with me, too. When it was clear that my sweet little dog, who had been my companion before I met my husband and had my family, was ready to make her journey across the Rainbow Bridge, Karen came through for me yet again. She drove me to the vet’s office and sat with me as I said my goodbyes to my dearest little friend and together we cried at her passing. I hope that Karen knew just how much her being there meant to me. I don’t think I could have handled that task on my own. I knew that there wasn’t anyone else who would understand what I was going through like Karen.
As I became more and more busy being the mother of two young children with a husband who traveled almost 200 days a year and Karen began her own venture as a private doula and childbirth educator, we spoke very rarely. Our last few words were emails through Facebook and I hadn’t spoken to her in ages when I learned of her death. The world just isn’t the same without Karen in it. My heart goes out to her family and loved ones who are learning to deal with her absence.
If you are interested in the wonderful work Karen was doing as a doula and childbirth educator, you can still visit her website: Birthways
This is just to prove that with all that talk about riding and vaulting, I really do get out from behind my camera and get up on a horse from time to time. As you may know, in addition to my regular lessons, I’ve been taking vaulting classes with Clare on Sundays (thanks to the support of Andrea, the other mom who’s crazy enough to join me along with the girls.)
Today my hubby tagged along which is why there is a picture of me instead of only ones of everybody else. It was nice to have him there and introduce him to the gang and have him watch me ride (first time in the year we’ve been riding and going to the barn.) In fact, the end of September has marked my one year anniversary of getting on a horse. For all you guys who went to school with me and teased me unmercifully about my horse obsession, all I can say is, “Na na na poo poo.”) Or something to that effect.
It’s a typical Sunday morning and no one wants to move too fast. I sit on the couch and drink my coffee while I check some email, read the NY Times online and see who’s on Facebook. The children are still asleep and the hubby is in the other room listening to the radio and napping. The pets have run around a bit and tired themselves out from play so they join me and we all just chill. We have places to go and things to do today but no hurries, no worries. I love Sundays.
Nick has gone on a field trip with our church group to work in a Soup Kitchen with a Quaker organization called YSOP, Youth Service Opportunities Project. Clare rarely has time alone with the ‘rents so I thought we’d spend some quality time and go out to dinner and see a movie. I chose a restaurant thinking one place was another but we ended up happy with the result. Here’s Clare having her first taste of tempura. I think she likes it, how about you?
