Mud, Maple & Fabric

The Maple Open House weekend was as expected... lots of yummy maple and lots of sticky mud. Jed's had their line of tasty product out to sample. We had our sugar-on-snow, warmed up in the sugar house, made our purchases and walked back to Eric's folks house. We even got a little free entertainment by watching the flatlanders try to take a muddy dirt road at 50 mph. hee-hee.

Corie and Zakary trying to chew their sugar-on-snow

The Shop Hop was great. I have already started another project with some of my new fabric. I posted the pictures on a Picasa album in case anyone is interested. Our first stop was Knits and Bolts. We had initially scratched it from the list due to its out of the way location, but a previous promise of a pecan pie to be delivered to my cuz, Sandy, had us reroute our trip. We were rewarded with a wonderful shopping experience. The shop had an amazing selection of fabric (and yarn for you knitter/crocheters), and to top it off they had a long table full of goodies for the shop hoppers (which included hot coffee and Girl Scout cookies). We hit four more shops before the day was over. We arrived home exhausted, hungry and poor, but with our minds buzzing with all the great fabrics and amazing projects we had seen.

Eric & Zakary working on the driveway.... again

While on our shopping trip we listed to The Water Mirror on CD. The story was great but instead of ending it just sort of stopped. A quick check on the internet explained why. It turned out to be the first book of The Dark Reflections trilogy by Kai Meyer, and now we were both hooked. Since then I have read the last two books of the trilogy, and I highly recommend them. They are written for 9-12 year olds but so were the Harry Potter books, and I couldn't put those down either.

SpRinG FEveR

Spring fever has hit Vermont! We are in the middle of mud season and loving it. Corie and Zaky have been outside everyday in the mud and puddles. They come in exhausted and sleep like babies at bed time. It's worth the extra (muddy) laundry to be able to skip that eternal argument, "but I'm not sleepy...". Eric has been doing what he does every year at this time... draining the excess water from the driveway by making little channels everywhere. I caught Zaky doing the same thing with his florescent plastic hoe last Monday. Eric explained that he and Zaky are genetically programed to do that, and if I called his Mom and asked her what his Dad was doing at that exact moment she would say he is draining the driveway.Spring fever hits me a little differently. Usually I'd be planning my garden (even though nothing can go in until mid May), but this year I am celebrating the coming of Spring with my Mom via the Vermont Shop Hop. Nothing says Spring like buying a bunch of fabric! We started last Saturday and will finish up this Saturday. What fun!

This is at the Norton House in Wilmington, Vermont

This is at A Quilter's Garden in Montpelier, Vermont

So what am I doing with all this gorgeous fabric? I made an apron for Cheryl (I forgot to take a picture), some coasters for Pat, and I finally finished my first purse. I found a free tutorial on the blog, Ric-Rac. It gave great step by step instructions. The applique design is from the Piece o' Cake book Applique Delights.

Eric has finished his third year of classes. He hasn't been notified of his final grade yet, but we are sure it is an A. The only question is whether it is the highest in the class. Just one more year of classes!

Another sign of Spring is sugaring season. We will probably head up to Eric's folks house next week to enjoy Jed's open house. I highly recommend his Maple Mudd, Maple Cotton Candy, Maple Apple Chutney and Maple Shakers. In fact, I recommend EVERYTHING that they make! Of course I may have a maple bias as I have been known to sip maple syrup from a shot glass, but that doesn't make me a bad person, does it?!