K.I.S.S.

Yes, Keep It Simple, Stacey.  That would be the motto for me today.

This week has been pretty full, to say the least.  That last skein I was working on, actually took another two nights to complete! It was almost another 400 yards and I’m so glad that this is all spun and ready to go.  Well…almost.

From here, Heather will be dyeing them…and then she asked me if I would weave them.  Weave? I’m still new to weaving y’all.  I’m a little scurred, lol.  So, we’ll see.

In the meantime, there have been other things to keep it on and poppin’ around here.

Yesterday evening, the family hopped in the car and went to a Christmas party of a family friend.  We’ve known this family for a few years now as our sons were on the school basketball team together all during middle school.  Now that they’ve gone on to different high schools, it has been challenging to get them together.  But this holiday evening actually worked out.

Everything was gorgeous and all of the food was SO good! Mya found another friend to play with, the boys talked basketball (and probably girls too–yuck!), and the adults got to mingle, watch the ball games that were on and just kick back in beautiful surroundings.  As it is the season for giving, all of the gifts were lovingly packaged and just too cute not to snap a pic!

Party favors for guests…

Gifts from guests to the host…Can you guess which one we brought? ;)

I have stopped by the mill twice this week as well.

The first occasion was to take a photo of the door to the Madison Factory (The Mad Fac, as we like to call it).  It needs repairing.  No insulation to speak of and some fixtures that need to be swapped out.  There is currently some grant-writing going on to attempt to cover this cost.  So, we’ll see how that works out too.

Now, the second time I visited was for something totally different.  AND I visited part of the mill, I’m sure I never mentioned before.

The Philips miller’s house was built in 1794.  It was acquired by the Greenbank Mill Associates in 1997 and converted into museum space, complete with period rooms and furnishings to give visitors an idea about what life was like during that time.  I have been in meetings in other parts of this building and it really does feel like another time period! But in this part of the home is where I met board member, Tony Shahan, Executive Director of The Newlin Grist Mill.  Tony used to be the Executive Director at Greenbank Mill as well.  Today’s meeting, however, was not about board meetings.  Today was about bouncing.

Cherry Bouncing to be exact.

I’m telling you , the more I hang out with these folks, the more I learn.

I’ve met Tony a total of three times and from what I can tell, Tony is OBSESSED with all things milling and 18th century.  Not a bad combo for an Executive Director of a mill.  At the last board meeting, Tony introduced us to Cherry Bounce, a drink that dates back to the 18th century.  In fact, it was one of our first president’s favorite drinks (read more about the history here and find a great tutorial here).  Now, don’t let me mislead you.  I’m not much of a drinker at all.  My basis for if it’s a good drink or not is if it tastes like juice, I’ll take it.  But in my defense, I think I was ruined for all things alcohol and drugs when I was young…(cue dreamy, nostalgic sound effects)

• When I was smaller, my grandmother let me taste  beer while she was using it for cooking crabs.  Hated it.  Tasted like burnt peanuts. Nobody had to worry about me again.  To this day, I have not tasted another beer.  Yuck.
• When my mother used to smoke cigarettes, she let my brother and I puff a couple times on her cigarette.  He could blow rings and I couldn’t.  I felt there was no need to further solidify my obvious under-achieving status…I kicked the habit right then and there.
• My grandfather liked alcohol.  A LOT.  It looked just like water (which tasted so boring), but he liked this stuff so much I thought it must’ve tasted SO good. Once, while at a babysitter’s house, during an adult card party wherein all of us kids were supposed to stay upstairs, I tip-toed downstairs and asked my mom if I could taste some…and what do you know?! She let me! I was finally getting to taste some of that clear, heavenly nectar!  One sip and…OMG.  I think I would’ve welcomed anyone washing my mouth out with soap that night.  I went back upstairs where I belonged and wondered what in the world my grandfather saw in that stuff.
• When I was probably about nine, a relative, who will remain nameless, allowed me to puff once on a left-handed cigarette (you know, the kind of cigarettes that are just not right, lol)…Well, I didn’t feel anything, so I thought it was a complete waste of time.

Yeah.  Though I suggest you refrain from using reverse psychology on your kids…And while I’m not convinced that was the actual intent in these cases-except for that alcohol (she knew exactly what she was doing), it absolutely worked for me, lol.  But I did have a taste of this Cherry Bounce and it was great!  And all of a sudden, I had a great idea!

Opposites attract, and while I’m not an alcohol connoisseur, the hubby is.  His favorite drink of all time is a Long Island Iced Tea.  Now, if you are at all educated about drinks, liquors, liqueurs, wines, etc., then you know exactly how opposite we are.  Since having married him, I still really don’t know much or indulge much, but I do get the punch line in “Prelude To A Kiss” now, lol.  

I asked Tony if he’d make some up for our anniversary coming up this week for the hubby and he said he’d be glad to do it.  Sweet! If you can recall, the last gift I made for hubby was a pair of socks and an origami box.  While he seemed to love the socks, the packaging was a little lost on him.  So, this time, I’m cutting straight to the chase!

String of yarn and a short and sweet card.

Cherry Bounce has to sit for three months though, so, of course, I’m telling him if we last another year, it’s all his. ;)

Hmmm…Well, what do ya know?  Looks like red’s our color this year!