Counting Down

Thanksgiving weekend, and I'm being very thankful. Work is winding down for the season, but I know they want me back next year. I've managed to keep up with everything else I wanted to do, and enjoyed almost every minute. Plus, I'm as excited as a kid at Christmas, y'all. Only 4 days or so (and 3 days of work) until I leave town and start on the road to Rhinebeck for the NY Sheep and Wool Festival! So happy I get to go this year, (and have a little more room in the budget to enjoy than previously)! All the reservations have been made, and tickets bought, shopping list and packing list made, and American money taken out at the bank to cope with the said shopping list ;)

Four of us in the car, myself, my mother, Chantal, and Francine, who's new to the whole experience, and we are gonna have a blast. I  love introducing new people to the festival - it's so much fun to watch them go into sensory overload...

Friday we've got reservations to tour the Vanderbilt Mansion in nearby Hyde Park. Mom and I went the first year we did Rhinebeck, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again. Italian formal garden, marble foyer, tapestry-hung bedrooms...not my idea of a comfortable summer home, but nice to look at! Depending on what time we hit town, we may also get a little antique shopping in, then dinner, and off to bed to be ready for the main event. 

On the subject of wool and counting down, here's something I found posted on Ravelry today. A Kickstarter project (which I gather is a little like crowd-funding, but they have to raise the whole target amount to get the money) to restore machinery in an old woolen mill in BC for local processing needs. I think it's a great idea, so I've pledged help. Only a few days left to raise the money though, so take a look and pass it on to people who you think might be interested.

Birkeland Brothers Wool Company, BC