Here We Go Again

 It's 5 am and She is dragging me off to another fiber festival. This one was in Rhinebeck, New York.

 I'm not going anywhere until I've had my coffee.

 This time the trip involves trains-four of them. One from here to New York City and then another to get upstate. Ten hours round trip to spend a few hours looking at sheep. I should just buy her a couple so we can stop going all over the country just to look at them.

 We saw the sun come up in Jersey.

 It was either look at this.....

 ...or look at this.

 I was glad to get onto land in Rhinecliff. We were only a half hour behind schedule.

 I know from experience how bad the food lines are at this particular festival and how fast the vendors run out of food. First stop was to eat something. It wasn't the best they have to offer there but it was the shortest line.

 The next step was to venture into the largest crowd you will probably ever see. It is insane.

 We missed most of the dog show but they were the same group I saw last year.

We did a little shopping inside the ridiculously crowded barns. I could barely get near this display for potholder materials. I gave up trying. I'll order it online.

 The animal barns were less crowded and more interesting. Quite a few were getting haircuts which I thought was odd since winter weather is right around the corner.

 My official title was bag handler. She had to pack one of everything she owned and then got tired of carrying it around.

 I can spot a Border Collie a mile away even when it's behind a vendor's booth.

 I can also spot free food samples.

By closing time the food lines had died down so it was time for another snack. No one was at the beer tent.

 Back at the train station we had an almost two hour wait for the train back to NYC. Coffee from a vending machine kept me going.

On the five hour train home I played solitaire on the Kindle. She even talked me into listening to one of the audio books she had downloaded on it. She had Dr. Sleep by Steven King and in spite of two noisy little boys sitting in front of us, I managed to listen to quite a few chapters-but don't ask me what I heard. I was too tired to remember. If she decides to do this again next year, we're driving or she's finding someone else to go with.

Got Balls?

 Whenever I play a few rounds of golf I seem to find abandoned balls all over the place.

Doesn't anyone go look for their balls anymore?

 They're not exactly cheap.

 Some are very unique.

 They are all dirty when I first pick them up.

 Cleaning them doesn't take much work.

You can't get cleaner balls than this.

That Time of Year

 The leaves are really starting to come down.

I hate them.

 I hate raking leaves when I could be doing other things like hanging out at the beach....

...or hunting down water towers. I really like water towers and I really hate leaves.

First Fire

 It's finally gotten cold enough for a fire.

 It's my first one in two years.

This time last year, Daughter and her Husband were living in the downstairs and had so much packed around the stove a fire wasn't possible. I've got two years worth of wood saved up and I hope it's a cold enough winter to make good use of it.

Since She helps me write my posts, She is insisting that I show you Her fireplace. She asked for one in the living room twenty years ago and this is as far as I've gotten.

Down in the Valley

 Yesterday She drug me to the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest in Berryville, Virginia.

 It was Sunday. There was football on. 

What a way to waste a day.

 I could be on the couch with a bag of chips.

 I was in a bad mood all day.

 This pretty much sums it up for me.

A Three Lobster Weekend

Labor Day for most people involves picnics and days at the beach. Even thought it's been forever since I have labored on anything, I rewarded myself with three of these tasty crustaceans that happened to be on sale at the grocery store.

Love, Dad

 I sure haven't been the best dad in the world.

 I admit I was pretty stupid when it came to knowing what little girls needed.

 All those years fly by and before you know it they are all grown up and gone and all you have is a box of old photos and memories.

I wish I could go back in time and say and do all those things dad's wish they had of and didn't for one stupid reason or another.

It's too bad dads have to be men. It's too important a job to goof up.

I want to thank someone who's having a birthday today for putting up with me all these years. You may not have gotten the best dad in the world but I sure got the best daughter!