Changes

The beginning of school was long my new year beginning, not January.  When I was not in school, I still always liked the beginning of fall and feeling rejuvenated by the change in temperatures.  We're back to the new year being in September, with kids in the house.  And this year has seen many changes.

First, neither Bud nor I am taking piano anymore; he, because he lost interest, and me, because I couldn't justify the expense anymore.

Sis has also dropped speedskating.  Her foot is still a bit tender from when a 1000 lb horse stepped on it!  And I think she realized that she didn't like competing, which was the main point.

Mama has started playing the ukelele, a present from me on our 21st anniversary.  She's been strumming along to "I Lava You" from the Pixar short.  It's sweet--and she's gotten good fast.  She's dabbled at playing piano, guitar, and violin over the years, but this one has stuck.

And . . . and I've saved the biggest for last:  we bought a horse!  It's a convoluted story.  There was conflict and disruption at the barn, as the current owner was trying to retire and sell the place and it fell through with much acrimony.  As part of the proceedings, the prospective buyer bought several horses, including Sis's favorite horse, Patience.  And then, as the deal fell through, the new owner of the horses was going to take away Patience.  With all the chaos, and with the sadness of Murphy's departure so fresh, we bought the horse.  We worried that it sends the wrong message--that you can buy your way out of pain.  But we think it will be outweighed by all the hard work, discipline, sacrifice, persistence, etc.  Hopefully. 

We are boarding the horse--Patience, an 8-year-old chestnut mare (Quarterhorse, apparently), who is so named because she stands very still and patient in the aisle while being groomed and bridled--at the farm where Sis has been riding these last years.  They will care for the horse Monday through Saturday, with three meals a day, one blanket change, turn out, stall cleaning.  And on Sundays, we will do most of that.  But horses have to be ridden, so Sis will be there several days a week to ride her.  One of Sis's friends at the barn will be leasing her (and paying us) and so will ride her as well; she comes from a horsey family and will also help us.  Because Mama and I know nothing.  Sis knows a lot, but owning is different than leasing and it's a large learning curve.  We all went to visit Patience on Sunday and there was some concern that she might be a tad constipated--which can be very fatal in horses, quickly--but soon enough she wasn't.  I've never been so happy to see a pile of poo in my life!! 

Otherwise, Sis taught us all how to brush her--with three different brushes (curry brush, hard brush, and finishing brush)--and then took her for a walk.  Sis also washed her, tended her hooves, and picked the stall.  She's a very gentle, beautiful horse.  The farm owner said it would be the easiest horse purchase we'd ever make!  (Oh, goodness--the implications in that sentence!!)  Bud was a little apprehensive--horses are huge, even if Patience is barely a horse side-wise just a bit of a hand over a pony--but he'll settle in.  And Mama loves Patience.  She was talking to her and has been researching horses.  She'll even ride.  I'm not sure I will, but I like being around Patience nonetheless.

So that was this week's up-side.  The down-side was that I went to the ER on Monday night with severe abdominal pain yet again.  This time they didn't expect GI issues, but gynecological.  Perhaps a cyst or endometriosis.  It hurt like hell--almost like a partial obstruction--but no evidence of such; the ultrasounds didn't turn up anything.  I have a colonoscopy this week.  I think it's scar tissue from the four abdominal surgeries I've had; I can feel the baseball-sized tissue behind my belly button, but it isn't anything but scarring they've all told me (which if we remove would just, Catch-22, make more, apparently.)  We'll see.  I feel much better now, relieved it wasn't anything else.  But I would like more answers. 

All in all, it's a new beginning all around here.  I love fall.

Fall Fun: The First Fall Family Weekend

I wasn't posting, but, oh, were we having fun!

Gommie and Pop arrived here on Friday, just before the kids got home early from school.  They were all so excited to see each other, as I had been a bit earlier.

As usual, there was some show-and-tell when my parents arrived, this time in the form of watching the school musical on DVD, pointing out the kids in each scene, commenting on the whole experience.  Almost as good as being there in person!

Then we went out to dinner at a local place, with artichoke dip, fresh bread, steak, chicken, mussels, meatloaf, hamburgers, profiteroles, bread pudding, creme brulee.  A nice feast!

I think they even squeezed in a couple of games of checkers, with Sis roundly beating Gommie a few times--Pop managed to win against her, finally.

Saturday brought our usual round of kung fu, followed by a special performance at a local festival.  The festival was very small and local, but Gommie and Pop were so glad to get to see Bud perform.  He did his tong bei (first form), spear, and 9-chain routines as part of the larger team performance.  I just love watching him fly through the air!  We did a few of the activities--Gommie got a red flower painted on her cheek; I watched a calligrapher at work.  We all made "snow skin" Singapore mooncakes, which are bright white.  They are made of a pre-cooked dough of glutinous rice flower, coconut milk, with sweet bean paste in the middle--you make a ball and then stamp it with a symbolic decoration.  (See here for a similar recipe.)  It's a lot like mochi, though the woman in charge of the activity balked at the suggestion, saying, "The Chinese invented mochi, not the Japanese."  We walked the beach for a bit and then had a quick lunch of dumplings, shumai, scallion pancakes, and egg rolls.


Then we went out for ice cream!  Not your usual ice cream but the popular new nitrogen-frozen one that's all the rage around here.  Pop and I got the bourbon breakfast one, which is quite boozy.

For dinner, Mama made a delicious pork shoulder in her pressure cooker.  Yes, hers.  I am a bit wary of the steaming, squeaking thing.  But the dinner, with sides of roasted sweet potatoes and also broccoli, was delicious--and the first homecooked meal Gommie and Pop had eaten in 2+ weeks!

Sunday was church, a discussion and celebration of "accounting" of Rosh Hashanah.  I don't remember the exact context, but my favorite part was about those who yell loudly because they feel as if they aren't heard, literally and figuratively.  How true is that!  I see it here at home, in online discussions of local issues, on the national stage from both politicians and their supporters.  It seems like we have a rash of many people trying to communicate without many feeling heard.

And then it was time for Applepalooza!!  I was so excited that my folks could be here for our usually annual party for the first time.   And also for the first time, none of my usual playgroup friends could come; they were missed.  Still, we had our great neighbors and bus route friends, plus more from the community and church.  It was a great group, with lots of good conversation and delicious food, as usual:  apple rosettes, honey apple quiche, apple pie, caramel apples, old-fashioned apple cake with brown sugar frosting, cupcakes, doughnuts, mulled cider, and some fall beers.  Plus Pop's spicy homemade salsa!  The adults chatted around the fire pit, while the kids played--the younger ones in the dirt or on the swingset, the older ones running around playing zombie tag and climbing trees.  It was all going so well, until, simultaneously, a child was smacked in the head by the seesaw and the low dogwood branch the kids were sitting on it the tree cracked.  We confirmed the tree kids were fine while fetching an ice pack for the crying little one.  Soon, all was right again, though Pop later cut the branch off the tree.  The dogwood has some rot, so it's not surprising, but it was a lovely branch.  Still, I'm so glad no one was hurt.


Sis rushed off to speed skating after the party, with Gommie and Pop watching her race around the ice in her impressive "skin suit," made of kevlar for her protection.  She's still a beginner, of course, trying to learn the crossover and such, but she loves it and tried very hard.  We had Italian for dinner, with Sis inhaling a whole entree after her three-hour workout.



Monday was a school holiday and our rest time, though Mama had to go to work.  We sat at home, playing games like checkers and MarioKart.  Pop tried his had a few times at it, finally mastering the controls so that he didn't come in last.  Gommie and I tangled tiles. We watched "Speechless," which Gommie enjoyed.  Pop cut down the branch.   They all went swimming at the hotel. We even practiced flipping bottles, which apparently is the new craze; I didn't even know about it til I read a Boston Globe article, but the kids say it had already been banned at school.  Gommie got down on the floor and was flipping water bottles with the best of them.  Bud had piano and Sis had horseback riding; Pop and Gommie went to the horses, happy to see Sis riding Pooh, as well as grooming him and taking care of the tack.   We nibbled on Applepalooza leftovers until we made our own pizzas for dinner.  (And had some grumpiness with the kids, Mama, and me--if Gommie and Pop wanted a taste of our schedule--with all of our activities and such, they got it and a few of some of our breakdowns when we're tired.)  It was also Gommie and Pop's 54th wedding anniversary!  And as Gommie told the kids, without their marriage, the kids wouldn't be here.  True enough.  We cheered their long marriage.  

Today, Mama is at work, the kids are at school, Gommie and Pop are headed to the Adirondacks or somewhere, and I am at home still fighting this cold.  It wasn't goodbye--we'll see them in Vermont for another wonderful, long weekend.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

King Arthur's Old-Fashioned Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting--it was fantastic!

Cake

• 2 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon each ground ginger and ground nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups peeled, cored, chopped apple, about 1 1/3 pounds whole apples 
• 1 cup diced toasted walnuts or pecans (we skipped these and added more apples)

Frosting

• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 9" x 13" pan.
To make the cake: Mix all of the ingredients except the apples and nuts in a large bowl.
Beat until well combined; the mixture will be very stiff, and may even be crumbly.
Add the apples and nuts, and mix until the apples release some of their juice and the stiff mixture becomes a thick batter, somewhere between cookie dough and brownie batter in consistency.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan, smoothing it with your wet fingers.
Bake the cake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few wet crumbs clinging to it.
Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a rack to cool completely; don't remove the cake from the pan.
To make the frosting: Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar and salt and cook, stirring, until the sugar melts.
Add the milk, bring to a boil, and pour into a mixing bowl to cool for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat well; if the mixture appears too thin, add more confectioners' sugar. Spread on the cake while frosting is still warm.
Yield: about 2 dozen servings.

Tips from our bakers

• To toast nuts, place them in a single layer in a cake pan. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 6 to 9 minutes, until they're golden brown and smell "toasty."
• To guarantee lump-free frosting, sift confectioners' sugar before adding to the butter mixture. Usually all the lumps disappear as you beat the frosting; but to guarantee no lumps at all, sift the sugar first.

1. Apple Rosettes
2. • 1-2 sheets puff pastry
   • 1/4 cup cream cheese
   • 3 tbsp sugar
   • cinnamon
   • 1 apple
   • 1 tbsp lemon juice
   • 3 tbsp water
     
     
   • Take out the core and thinly slice the apple.
   • Combine the apple slices with lemon juice and water in a bowl and microwave 3 minutes. Cool the bowl in some ice water. Pat dry the apple slices of excess moisture and set aside.
   • Roll out the puff pastry and cut into 4 even strips. 
   • Spread cream cheese and sprinkle on sugar onto the puff pastry strips. 
   • Arrange the apple slices and sprinkle cinnamon on top.
   • Fold the pastry puff in half lengthwise and roll them up. Place in greased muffin tins.

Bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Miss CA

Homemade Caramel Apples--made by a friend's daughter, via Land of Lakes

1 cup finely chopped peanuts, optional
1/2 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup

dash salt

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

10 tart apples, washed and dried

Butter waxed paper; set aside. 
Place peanuts into bowl. Set aside.
Melt butter in 2-quart saucepan; add brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 10-12 minutes or until mixture comes to a full boil. Stir in sweetened condensed milk. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, 20-25 minutes or until small amount of mixture dropped into ice water forms a firm ball or candy thermometer reaches 245°F.  Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
Dip apples into caramel mixture. Dip 1 end of each apple into peanuts. Place onto prepared waxed paper.

Pop's Spicy Salsa

can of diced tomatoes

onion

cilantro

jalapenos (without seeds)

black pepper

In blender, mix tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and jalapenos. Pour into dish and cover top with black pepper.  Stir.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Pop

Pizza Dough--this is Mark Bittman's recipe, essentially the same as the one the girls did at their overnight

• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, or more as needed, plus more for kneading
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt, plus more for sprinkling
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as necessary

• 
  

1. Put the 3 cups flour, yeast, 2 teaspoons salt and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a food processor. Turn the machine on and add 1 cup water through the feed tube. Process until the mixture forms a slightly sticky ball, about 30 seconds. If the mixture is too dry, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time and process for 5 to 10 seconds after each addition. If the mixture refuses to come together, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time and process until it does.
2. Rub a little olive oil or sprinkle a little flour onto your hands and shape the dough into a ball; wrap in plastic. Let rest at room temperature until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours. Or, if time is tight, let it rest at least 20 minutes before proceeding. Or refrigerate for several hours, deflating if necessary if it threatens to burst the plastic. (Or divide in half, wrap each ball in plastic, slip into a plastic bag and freeze.) Let it return to room temperature before proceeding.
3. Reshape the dough into a ball and cut in half, forming 2 balls. (From here on, use olive oil if you're cooking on baking sheets, flour if on a pizza stone.) Put them on a lightly floured surface (a pizza peel is ideal), sprinkle with flour and cover with plastic wrap; or brush then with a bit of oil and place on a lightly oiled sheet. Let rest for about 20 minutes, while you heat the oven to 500 degrees.
4. Press a dough ball into a 1/2-inch-thick flat round, adding flour or oil to the work surface as necessary. Press or roll the dough until it's as thin as you can make it; let it rest a bit if it becomes too elastic. (Patience is your friend here.) You can do two baking sheets at once, or one after another, as you'll have to if using a peel. If doing the latter, slide the dough from the peel onto the stone.
5. Sprinkle the pizzas with olive oil (just a little), salt and rosemary. Bake for at least 10 minutes, perhaps rotating once, until the crust is crisp. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Let the Fall Fun Begin

Yesterday, we attended one of our favorite events, fall or otherwise:  our old church's annual harvest festival.  And we had a wonderful time.  There were dozens of vendors--so many fabulous crocheters, some lovely crafters, and great food.  We got a large embroidered cat cushion for the couch, a lovely dried flower arrangement for the front door, a stained glass starfish for our upstairs window, and some cute screen-printed cat shirts.  For lunch, we had empanadas, chicken fingers, plantains, and chocolate cheesecake.

And we saw so many church friends!  The kids said several people they didn't know came up and said, "You've gotten so big!"  It was 11 years ago at this event that we debuted the twins, over-dressed for the fall day, and introduced them to the church that had supported us so.  How time flies!  Our friends, who just had a baby about 2 months ago, similarly brought their newborn to the fair--also overdressed in a fleece bunny suit for the 69F day.  I think it must just be new parenthood.  But she was very sweet looking, just like ours were.

Good memories, good times.

There will be a whole bunch of fall fun in the coming weeks--and Gommie and Pop arrive this weekend!

Fall Fun Possibilities

1. Applepalooza (our family fall open house, with apple desserts)
2. Apple picking
3. Decorate a pumpkin
4. Make apple or pumpkin butter
5. Church in-gathering celebration--this was last weekend
6. Florence Griswold Museum Wee Faerie Village (the month of October)
7. Make faerie houses
8. School Open House
9. Gommie and Pop visit
10. Vermont vacation
11. Make a leaf pile
12. Make leaf roses
13. historic house fall tours
14. Go to Fantastic Beasts movie (November)
15. Trick or treat
16. Backyard fire with foil dinners and s'mores
17. Tent in the backyard
18. Prepare Halloween costumes
19. Boo gifts for friends
20. Amish Friendship bread
21. Brandied fruit--it's fermenting on the counter
22. Nature walk or bike ride
23. Kiddos go to Nature's Classroom
24. Mama goes to Celestial Navigation course
25. Girl Scout "mountain" hike and tree study
26. Kellogg's Olympic Gymnasts' tour
27. Installation of the new minister
28. Paint pinecones
29. Yarn!
30. Explore sourdough bread recipes
31. Vote
32. Make pies
33. Church Harvest festival--lovely time yesterday!
34. Get out mittens, hats, scarves, sweaters, etc.
35. Pull out quilts and blankets
36. Change fire alarm batteries

Where is Fall?

It's late September--and 85F outside.  Sure, that was okay when I lived in Texas, but it is unusual here in CT.  I don't think we've ever run the AC this late.

Even more unexpectedly, the trees are already clearing changing color--I think this is because they are distressed in the drought and heat, not because nights are much cooler.  So, it looks like the beginning of fall outside but the temperatures are at least 10-15F higher than usual.

But meterological rumor has it that cooler air is on the way tomorrow.    This is good because I've started work on a huge crocheted, rainbow Granny Square afghan for our king-sized bed and it's getting too warm to keep on my lap!  And I'm out of iced coffee and ready to switch to hot tea.  And use the oven and light a fire in the firepit.  And write my Fall Fun list.

Come on, fall!

Fall Fun: What We're Reading

Fall is such a wonderful time for many things:  baking, pots of tea, crochet, watching movies, walking outside, and reading.  And my pile of books just keeps growing.  To give you an idea of my current interests, I've got on my proverbial nightstand:

• Wake Up! I'm Fat by Camryn Manheim, whom we just saw in Spring Awakening (the kids were very concerned by the title, thinking it was rude.)
• Matilda by Roald Dahl, since we're going to the Broadway musical soon
• Tea Fit for a Queen by Lucy Worsley, a Royal Palaces historian
• How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness by Toni Bernhard, one of my favorite authors on Buddhism and mindfulness
• Perfect Pies by Michele Stuart, a local award-winning baker whose Australian pie is one of our favorites
• Exploring Midsomer:  The Towns and and Villages at the Murderous Heart of England by Chris Behan, showing actual locations used for one of my favorite shows, "Midsomer Murders"
• The Fairy Tale Girl by Susan Branch, whose watercolors I enjoy
• Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, third in the Outlander series (this one is actually on my Kindle, as is the one below)
• The Symbolism and Sources of Outlander by Valerie Estelle Frankel

The kids are blowing through several series.  Sis just finished re-reading various Percy Jackson books and hopes to start Egyptian books by Rick Riordan, starting with The Red Pyramid, soon; a new series based on Norse mythology just started.  Sis and I will be reading A Wrinkle in Time soon for her book club.  Bud is working his way through the Redwall books, trying to read them chronologically as they happen (not as they were written); I think he is on The Legend of Luke.  I sign their reading logs every night and they read so much that it's never the same book more than a day or two in a row!  I think they also have more than one book going at a time--the library books they get at school, the series books they carry back and forth, and the books on their Kindles, which we don't let them take to school.  So who knows what else they're reading these days.

Mama listens to Audible books.  She's been listening to the Maisie Dobbs books; before that, she was listening to Phryne Fisher books--yes, she's on a female sleuths in the early 20th-century kick.  (I've been reading those, too, but not at this moment.)

What are you reading?

Rainy-Day Recipes

It's cold and wet and windy here--perfect fall weather for staying indoors with my crochet, cats, and cuppa.  I was inspired to make "Snickerdoodle Cake" yesterday when it was damp and chilly; today I'm making beef stew in the slow cooker with beef, carrots, potatoes, red pepper, cabbage, and green onions (also red wine vinegar and some WT Rancher's Steak Rub and Garlic Grapeseed oil; it's low FODMAPs.)  Because Sis's Girl Scout movie night was cancelled, we'll stay home and watch something together.  I even promised them hot chocolate when they got off the bus!  It's just that kind of day.


Cinnamon Bars aka Snickerdoodle Cake

2  cups flour                         2  teaspoons ground cinnamon                         1  teaspoon baking powder                         1/4  teaspoon baking soda                         2  cups packed brown sugar                         2/3 cup butter                         2  eggs                         2  teaspoons vanilla                         1/4 cup sugar                         1  teaspoon ground cinnamon                          1  tablespoon butter, melted

First, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan cook and stir brown sugar and the 2/3 cup butter over medium heat until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

Line a 9x9x2-inch baking pan with foil extending the foil over edges of pan. Grease foil; set pan aside. 

In a medium bowl stir together flour, the 2 teaspoons cinnamon, the baking powder, and baking soda; set aside. 

 Now that sugar/butter mixture is cooler, stir eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until combined.

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading evenly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack.

In a small bowl stir together granulated sugar and the 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Brush warm bars with the 1 tablespoon melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar; cool completely. Using the edges of the foil, lift uncut bars from pan. Cut into bars.

Better Homes and Gardens 100 Best Cookies (2015)

Battle of the Yards

Let it begin:  the annual pursuit of the neighboring men--mostly, though some egged on by women--to clear their grass of every single golden or crimson leave.  With their arsenal of lawn mowers, leaf blowers, rakes, and bags, they spend many man hours sucking up every leaf as it falls.  Something about protecting the grass, which they expect to still be green, even in November, even in New England.

And I don't care a jot.  I love these colorful leaves--on trees, fluttering through the air, gathering on the ground.  I wait til the last minute to remove (or more specifically, pay someone to remove) them because I like to crunch in their color. Maybe it's because I didn't really have fall colors the first half of my life.  The kids like them, too--they rake piles and jump into them over and over.

This year has been an amazingly long peak season.  The trees are holding onto their colorful leaves longer than usual.  Three of our trees haven't even started dropping yet.  It could be another month before our trees are bare.

When I posted this picture of the golden glow of our yard on FB, one of our leaf-phobic neighbors replied that her son was available to rake that weekend!  No thanks, we'll be keeping it like this a bit longer.

The Blaze

Today wrapped up our various celebrations of Halloween as we went to the Blaze, in Croton-on-Hudson in New York.   On the grounds of the 18th-century Van Cortlandt manor, thousands of pumpkins are arrayed in various thematic groupings.  We hadn't been before and were glad to get tickets this year.  

Before our ticket time, we grabbed (a very mediocre) dinner at a Greek restaurant nearby.  The kids liked it, but I thought it was dry and under-flavored.  But we LOVED the French bakery La Tulipe.  But got a raspberry-lychee pastry; Sis, a caramelized croissant.  I loved my rose-raspberry pastry.  And we have some macaroons we can't wait to eat.

Then off to the Blaze.  We saw a carver right up front who had one big, important tip:  cut off the bottom of the pumpkin and place the candle on the ground--this allows the pumpkin to dry out without staying damp and causing rot.  

And right away we began to see some of their pumpkins--along walls and even lit in an arch.  Then we followed the lit path to see the different displays.  In front of the manor, there was a circus with animals, and even a clown doing flips!  They also had a giant cake to celebrate their 10th anniversary.  There were also spiders with a giant spider web, Macbeth's witches with a cauldron, a whole graveyard with tombstones and hands coming out of the earth, skeletons, a yard full of cats, a tree full of eyes, even a headless horseman throwing his pumpkin head!  There was also a pumpkin tunnel of love, with many of the designs using hearts, a whole yard of dinosaurs (complete with hatching dinosaur eggs!), a Chinese dragon or Loch Ness Monster-y thing, a yard full of sunflowers, Celtic knots in honor of the origin of Jack O'Lanterns, and hutches full of creamware-inspired pumpkins.  All really quite amazing (and apparently, they end up carving most of them twice more because of decay over the month; some thousand a week!  Though, one volunteer admitted that a few of the big base pumpkins were "funkins.")

It was lovely and not too terribly spooky, even with the skeletons and rats.  And even though it was sold out, it didn't feel too packed.  Worth going again, maybe every other year.  We'll see if we're inspired to do any carvings ourselves next year!

Yarn Weather