All Things Bridal . . .

We are in full bridal mode! With just 12 days to the first-ever Diamond Bridal Faire in Virginia, we are still checking with vendors, designing the show booklet, knee-high in favor ideas and sundry odds and ends like a sound system and chairs. The barn has been cleaned from top to bottom thanks to Vanessa . . . If only it would stop raining so we didn't have to bring our furry alpacas in on Thursday to keep them dry. Yup! Shearing all weekend. After the Faire we will sort fiber and get it shipped off to Blue Hill. New today: bring a pre-1975 wedding dress to display and admittance to the Faire is free! We are excited (and a little scared) at such a big undertaking. Everybody come! And check out the website www.DiamondBridalFaire.com.

Check out my @constantcontact newsletter archive

Check out my @constantcontact newsletter archive

So, I actually did it. All five goals for the week: check! I just have to make file labels for all that filing that is now organized. Amazing. Plus I shoveled out twice. Feeling very successful. Finished another scarf tonight; starting a cowl. Now I can focus on W-2's, 1099's and getting tax materials to accountant. I should easily be able to skein yarn at least two hours a day this week -- plus watch a Netflux movie. Will be at the store next weekend if the snow doesn't foil my plans.

The Year Begins Anew

Here it is: 2011. I like those two little "ones" sitting together, very neighborly like. Less zeros in the equation makes for increased coziness. This fresh start means my "to do" list is never-ending. But I will focus the first week in January on only five. Can't do everything all at once. ;-) #1. Get all Christmas decorations put away by Wednesday. (I've decided some items need a completion date.) #2. Finish filing at home. (I may need some time to plow through that stack; ergo, no firm date). #3. Go back to Jenny Craig. Unfortunately, enough said about that. #4. Organize and plan monthly Fiber Features at the store. This means we'll have a project a month for our customers, and it'll be priced at a discount and focused on in our classes. Hope this can begin in February. Watch for it! And finally, #5. A clean office makes a more productive Me. Both my offices have to be tidied by weeks end. Here it is the second day of January and those five already have me feeling overwhelmed. Can I follow through?? Check back in a week and hold my feet to the fire!

Enlightened Pet Owner Very Surprised

This has been an amazing discovery! My beautiful 10-month old Keeshond puppy, Carmen Ruttkay, was being stubbornly difficult to train. She is very smart, and gorgeous is not enough to describe her sweet face and luxurious coat. But when I would attempt to walk her she pulled on the lead till my arms ached from trying to hold her back. Now touching the scale at more than 30 lbs, I knew something had to change. I took her to the pet store and read on the back of a halter (as opposed to a collar) that some dogs bred for pulling (like huskies who pull dog sleds though snow) just naturally "pull" when their collar strains a certain place on their necks. Whoa!! Keeshonds are originally from the Netherlands and were originally bred to pull barges along the canals. I thought it way too easy to simply swap her collar and change a total behavior pattern, but definitely worth a $24 try. My Carmen was Immediately a different puppy when the halter replaced the collar. She walked cheerfully alongside me -- nary a pull in sight. This morning, after both of us had a good night's rest, we headed out for our daily walk. There was absolutely NO pulling of any sort. She walked right beside me, adapting her pace to mine, looking up approvingly and appreciatively as we enjoyed the crisp beauty of fall. Maybe dog breeders knew this secret all along, but for me it was a discovery of Einstein proportions! Anyone else have this experience?

The Castle Is Ready!

The Castle Sweaters site (known more officially as svetre zo zamku) is up and functioning! We are also on Facebook. Please LIKE us and tell all your friends!!! The love of your life would be thrilled beyond words to get a beautiful, hand knit, uniquely designed alpaca sweater. What better way to let that special someone know they dazzle your life?

Castle Sweaters Premiere This Weekend

Very exciting news! We've been working for months on a great project: a small group of extremely talented European women have been making sweaters out of the yarn produced by our own alpacas. This is not as easy as it sounds. But the designs are exquisite. The techniques are flawless. You could never find sweaters like these in any store, regardless of how high-end it might be. They are premiering this weekend at The Homestead Arts and Crafts Festival in Hot Springs, Virginia. Stop by if you're in the area . . . But at least keep an eye on the website because we will soon put up a link to the new sweater website, www.Castle-Sweaters.com. Or in Slovak, svetre zo zamku, which means "sweaters from the castle". We've named them all after Slovak castles. Truly, these are straight out of sweater dream-don.