Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Opening Weekend

It's bigger than baseball.  It's bigger than football.  It's bigger than the Penn Relays and the NFL Draft, both of which are also taking place this weekend in Philadelphia.

It's the opening weekend of show season.

It starts Saturday, and it just keeps rolling.

Saturday, 4/29, I'm at The Woodlands (Cemetery) at 40th & Woodland from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  This is always one of my favorite spring events -- I love Woodland Cemetery anyway, and walk there all the time, but it's a wonderful contrast, the serene graveyard and then the near-circus (literally) that's going on in front.

It's a good time.

On Sunday, I'm trying a new event called Flavors on the Avenue, also from 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.  This event has existed previously, but prior to this year it was simply a restaurant festival in South Philly.  This year they decided to add vendors to turn it into a proper street festival, so I hopped on board.

I do two shows a year on Passyunk Avenue -- Bang Boom Craft, which is combined with a vintage car show and occurs at the end of July, and the annual Halloween show.  Both are good days, and the organizer of those events is the one who pulled the vendors together for Flavors.

Let's see: nice weather, lots of food, alcohol being served on the street . . . and shopping?  I'm always in favor of events that allow alcohol; it either lowers the shopping inhibition or it gives the spouses something to do while the other half shops.

I have a seriously large quantity of stuff made, so here's hoping I come home with a lot less of it.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Find your tribe


Getting ready for show season in two weeks.  The machines are humming, the fabric is flying and me, I'm tired.  But that's okay.

Friday, April 7, 2017

Spring Cleaning

One of the problems with having a big house is cleaning it.

Another problem is that, even having hauled a metric shit-ton of stuff over the past few months, I have a lot of stuff.  Which also needs cleaning.

First world problems, I know.  My house is too big, sigh.  I have to clean it, sigh.

But still.  I live in the first world, and occasionally I have to deal with its problems.

This past weekend I did a mother-daughter sewing workshop at the house (in the dining room) and thus,the house had to be cleaned.

Yeah, seeing a deer head on the wall will distract momentarily from the dust bunnies hopping merrily down the hall, but if people stay long enough, reality will start to creep in around the edges.

So we cleaned.  Mario tackled the powder room off the kitchen and I excavated the dining room. It was amazing how much stuff ended up in there that belonged in other rooms.  Then we polished furniture and scared ourselves with the unfamiliar smell of lemon.

And now it's clean. It looks good, if I do say so.  Sharing simply because it won't last and I want to remember it.

























Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Move over Bonnie

There are new chicks in town.

Meet Grace and Frankie.  (And now you know a little bit about my Netflix viewing habits).

They came from a farm in New Jersey which had, in addition to chickens, ducks, sheep and goats.  I want a goat.  Since chickens are still illegal in Philadelphia, I think a goat might be crossing a line.

We picked them up on Sunday after I did a couple of fittings for prom dress alterations, and got them settled in their coop. They came home, if you can't tell, in a cat carrier.

Two hens, one white (Grace), and one red/brown (Frankie). Both brown egg layers,and both apparently dumb as rocks since neither one can figure out that they're supposed to sleep on the perch in the roost.  First night, one slept in the straw up in the roost and the other downstairs by the waterer.  The next night, they both made it upstairs.  One even slept in the nest box.

Best thing about having chickens again? I'll actually spend time in the garden. Last year I put in a ton of veggie starts,and then Bonnie died. Without a reason to be in the yard twice a day, the weeds took over.