Secret Pal Package

I received a package from my secret pal yesterday. It is wonderful and it lifted my spirits. Pictures and descriptions will be posted tomorrow. Thank you so much, secret pal. This post is just to let you know that I really loved the package.

I haven't been feeling well the last few days - nothing serious - "just" a sinus infuction. It has sapped my stamina and muddied my thinking. I haven't been on the computer much lately. I have stuff that I want to post about and plan on posting later this weekend, including the beer labels I put together for the brown ale and wee heavy.

Irish 2000

This last weekend was very busy for us. On Friday night, we bottled the brown ale. I'm working on the label and will post it when it's finished.

On Saturday, we went to Irish 2000. The music was great! We saw my two favorite bands: Gaelic Storm and Hair of the Dog. Both bands had new cds so, of course, I purchased them. Hair of the Dog's is called Donegal and I think it is the best they've done so far. They said it was two years in the making and it is very apparant when you listen to the cd. The harmonies and sound are spot on.

We also heard Kevin McKrell's new band: Hard Road Céilidh Band. They were excellent! All of the members are from other bands and they are all very good musicians. I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Another band we really enjoyed was Teada (pronounced Tayda), a traditional group from Ireland. They were all very good but we were especially impressed by the bodhran player. He got more sounds out of that drum than I've ever heard before.

We were at the festival for about 12 hours. We don't normally stay so long at these things. I have an onion allergy so we usually have to leave early because I'm not feeling well. This time I brought my own food and it made all the difference in the world! I was still dancing at the last song!

I have more to stuff to blog about but will do another post in the next day or so.

Wool Wanderings Update and more

I updated Wool Wanderings today. I removed some broken links and updated others that had moved to a different site.

I'm on row 88 of the Rose Trellis shawl. The picture shows a closeup of one of the diamonds.

A few weeks ago, I was poking around the net, looking for knitting sites, as I often do, when I came across a page that mentioned Sacred Harp and shape notes singing. I became intrigued and did a little research. I found a local group that meets regularly. I went last night and had a great time. They are a very welcoming group. I'm not very good at it yet but I think it will get easier as the tunes become more familar. The next meeting is the first Saturday in October.

We went to Bennington, VT tonight for supper at the Madison Brewing Company. They've got great food and the beer is very good. It's only about 30 miles away from here but far enough away that we don't get there very often. It's fun to do something a little different now and then.

More Brewing

Yesterday we brewed a clone of Newcastle Brown Ale. It should be ready to bottle in two weeks. We used some of the yeast from the wee heavy we brewed last week. I've started working on label ideas and planning for next month's brewing. We tend to brew more this time of year in preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It's Labor Day here in the US so I have today off. We're planning on having a picnic later in a local park. The weather is perfect - sunny and not too hot.

I'm on row 78 of the Rose Trellis Shawl. I'll post a close up view in a day or two.