Who, What, Where, When, Why.

Notice anything new about this blog?  No???  Look again.  Forget it – just click here to view the new 2012 PA Farm Show page.  To get things going, I’ve packed it with all the F/S2S info you could possibly want.  Keep checking back for updates.

Tomorrow, I’ll be heading up to lovely Loganton, PA for my interview with the Sugar Valley Shepherds… I can’t wait!

On With It.

Well hello there, 2012.  Glad you’re here – 2011 and I weren’t exactly the best of friends.  Looking forward to a better relationship with you.  No, I don’t expect you to do all the work.  Here’s what I plan to contribute:

• Continue to reconnect with old friends (Facebook, I love you for this), and go visit them.  Cathy and Nancy, I’m lookin’ right at you;
• Continue to volunteer at my favorite organization, and try to volunteer more at my daughter’s school;
• Connect with more local fiber artists and groups, and share their stories here;
• Knit for charity, knit for family, knit for friends, knit… for profit?  Look into it.
• At the end of each day, be able to honestly say to myself, “I did my best work today, and I can do it again tomorrow.”

I hope everyone had a happy and peaceful holiday season.  Now let’s move on…

FARM SHOW FARM SHOW FARM SHOW FARM SHOW!!!!

You already know that I’m live-blogging the Fleece and Sheep To Shawl contests at the 2012 PA Farm Show (on Jan. 11th.  At 10 am and 3 pm.  In the Sale Arena.  But you knew all that already.).  Maybe it’s because I didn’t cover these events last year, but I’m so unbelievably excited for the show this year… and this is from a hard-core, born-and-bred city girl.  Besides spending the one whole day there, I’ll be back with my husband and daughter on a different day for our annual family visit, when we buy locally-produced honey and maple syrup, meet a few of the 6,000 farm animals being shown, meet the Dairy Princess (which ought to be my daughter, given the amount of dairy products bought and consumed in our household), and eat.  The Farm Show’s food court is somewhat reminiscent of the Roman Coliseum – part combat sport, part entertainment – but oh so worth it.  Milkshake, anyone?

Coming real soon:  random Farm Show news, and a highly-anticipated interview with the Sugar Valley Shepherds, a Fleece To Shawl team from Sugar Valley Rural Charter School, in Loganton, PA.  This team consists of students in Abigail Schrack’s Social Studies class, where learning about Civics, Government, and History combine seamlessly with carding, spinning, and weaving.  Interest piqued yet?  Keep reading…

Not Necessarily The Knitting.

The past couple of weeks, as you know, were very busy.  Work, family, blog, readying myself for the marathon that was Fleece/Sheep To Shawl… you know, typical busy stuff.  But there was something else, one of those little details of life that kept me up at night but was pushed to the side while F/S2S became a temporary, and welcome, distraction:

Bilateral medial rectus recession.

Which means, “Your daughter needs eye surgery.”

Remember this picture?

Look closely... what's wrong with this picture?

Here’s another one:

Do you see it now?

My daughter was diagnosed with strabismus (lazy eye) almost a year ago.  She was also very farsighted (I blame Dad for that).  So she started wearing glasses, which took care of both problems at the same time – her lazy eye didn’t have to work so hard to focus, so it went away.  Until a few months ago.  That’s when the glasses weren’t helping the eye to focus anymore.  Three doctor visits later, and she’s scheduled for corrective surgery.  On Groundhog Day, no less.

The surgical procedure is common.  The risks are minimal.  The recovery period, extremely short.  But I’m the mom, so you’re gonna have to deal with my being a little scared and upset.

So… by the time Punxsutawney Phil makes his way into the light, we’ll already be on our way home from the hospital with our beautiful daughter.  And if all goes as it should, we won’t be repeating that day anytime soon.