Sep
22
What a whirlwind week this was! Anyone involved in the organization of a small town fall fair can surely commiserate with everything the Homecraft President has to do, from setting up display tables to organizing a team of volunteers to warding off the “why did THAT entry beat mine?” queries, to providing accommodation for the children’s performers, and so on, ad nauseum!
I don’t want to load you with all the details. Especially the snide interaction with a former Homecraft President who took me aside on the final day of the fair to show me a plate of butter tarts that one of my Directors had displayed incorrectly. Okay that is fine- I need to know what I need to keep an eye on in order to make the presentation even better. What irked me was..
1. She waited till the last few hours of the fair to show me
“Connie this has been bothering me all weekend”
and
2. She only needed to lift the glass 6 inches and fix the darn problem herself in 5 seconds. Heavens- she is one of the volunteers herself! She does that to me all the time. Okay to be fair, she does that to many, many people all the time! Some people need to put others down in order to make themselves feel bigger. I prefer to build others up and downplay my role in things.
…Let it go Connie, let it go.
I will share some excerpts from my President’s address with you in order to give you some sense of how important this weekend is to me, and to our community.
Welcome to the 2008 Thorndale Fair
As I wrote this address for the 2008 Fair Book, we were in the midst of planting corn, the trees were just starting to bud and we were still anticipating the first lawn mowing of the spring season.
As you all rceieved your fair books- in your mailboxes or on your front porch, and eagerly planned your entries, that same corn towered over your heads, the trees were in full canopy and we were all mowing our lawns twice a week – ahhh summer.
Now here we are, all together again! Corn harvest is around the corner, the trees are thinking about turning to their glorious autumn shades and- we are STILL mowing our lawns twice a week!
With this change of season comes that sweet feeling of excitement and anticipation that we felt as a child when fair weekend came along- and- come on admit it – you still feel now as an adult!
I suppose the beauty in a fall fair is that it all SEEMS so effortless. The transformation of an empty Progress Building to one full of cabinets soon to be filled with a Summers worth of canning crafting, baking, gardening, and farming. Okay – last night’s baking, right Nancy?! The steady stream of exhibitors from the very young to the well seasoned – all eager to share their talents. You can walk around for an entire weekend and be constantly entertained, amazed and well fed.
Most of YOU started thinking about the Thorndale Fair this week, when you saw the transformation. We on the fair board, however, have been planning since – well, since the day after the fair ended last year. No- not true. We began planning this year’s fair DURING the last year’s fair weekend.
The activities of the entire Homecraft Division this past week can be best compared to a duck swimming on an lake -seemeningly unruffled and calm on top, while paddling fuiousley under the water! The Fairgrounds transfomation does not happen without a LOT of work from a great group of people.
I would like to thank everyone who helped contribute to this years success- My entire committee- whom I would like to name personally, but I think I would get the hook before I was finished! Laura (the Homecraft secretary) and Nancy (the Main board Sec) – can’t do it without you.
I would like to encourage all of you to get involved however you can. To quote the thoughts of 2 of our newest and youngest Directors this morning;
“I never thought I was Director material- but I am SO loving this!”
and
“Wow! The fair is even more fun when you get involved and enter the classes!”
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If you are involved in a local county or small town fair- Good on you! If not- ask yourself “why not?” Your local fair would love to have your contribution, no matter how small.
And now, other than work, there are NO pressing deadlines! Whoo baby!! I hear SEWING calling to me!!! Maybe even some photos of the new sewing space I created for myself.
Todays Postscript…A few people were curious as to what the Mother of the Bride(s) was going to wear for the various nuptials. Hmmm. .. I want a fabulous suit for the May wedding. I’m not sure about the summer(?) one yet. I will try to find some inspiration for both this week.
Nancy wanted to know if any of the FiveBlondes sew. They all know how to sew, but don’t do much of it. When BabyLauren was young- about 8-, she made head coverings to sell to all of her friends! She has done the most sewing of the Blondes. Kate has been making noises about wanting to do some sewing lately- we really need to book a day for that. They ARE all very crafty. Next year we should have a friendly competition to see who can put the most entries in the Thorndale Fair!!
Sep
1
Bridesmaid dresses
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With TWO weddings coming up in the next year, I think I had better get my groove in the move gear!
Erica is having her 4 sisters as bridesmaids- this mothers dream come true! This makes for a great opportunity to get us all involved at the design level. Erica has stipulated only colour and fabric. They are - a beautiful Aubergine (I like that word better than eggplant!) chiffon with a lighter mauve underlining, and maybe - just maybe, some great netting that we found - aubergine with loonie sized black flocked polka dots. If we don’t use it for the dress, it will be great for decorating.
Erica is letting each of the girls choose their own style. Once we got past silly ideas such as this one….!!!!(it was just a joke -REALLY!!)…
we got down to business. I am putting together a storyboard of dresses that they like, and pattern interpretations, and they are going to choose from them. . This one is my favourite right now. THE PURPLE ONE PEOPLE, THE PURPLE ONE- SHEESH!
Unfortunately - okay maybe fortunately as I am still working on my figure drawing skills!!- you can’t see the interpretations that I am adding to the presentation.
Perhaps I should get back to REAL work now!!
Aug
30
Ottawa…and Montreal.
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I get around don’t I?
My Mike happened to have a conference in Ottawa this week and begged me to come along. I had a huge pile of computer work to catch up on, and THAT you can do anywhere! So I holed myself up in the Westin, and let Mike visit with the Premier and such.
Of course I had to to some visiting as well! The great thing about PatternReview is the wonderful people you meet with similar interests. I got a chance to fabric shop with Lornaat Darrell Thomas Textiles. He is Wonderful, with gorgeous fabrics. Wondering what is in the bag? Some bown merino wool that feels like cashmere, finally some perfect green linen, and the happiest teal silk charmeuse. And YES I do have definite plans for each piece! Darrell was lovely enough to offer us the special sale price that was supposed to only be for the following day. Do us all a favour and visit him on Bank Street if you are ever in Ottawa. And take a look at that button wall behind us!
The evening was set aside for my best friend Katrin. We were too busy catching up to take photos- you know how best friends are!
Wednesday morning brought some challenges. I have a personal quirk- that is I hate to be late. I get agitated and generally very pissed off if anything or anybody makes me late. At that point I was already a bit anxious. We were going to meet Rhonda at 11am in Montreal. My PR friend Rhonda who was gracious enough to join me at the Yves Saint Laurent Exhibit!!
Check out took FOREVER- “what do you mean we were charged for two bottle of water from the mini bar? Do we look like the sort of people who would pay 7.50 a bottle for WATER“!!! So they had to check the room and - nope - the water was still there. Sigh Then Mike had to discuss motorcycle details with a colleauge who had biked to the conference. Can we get going puleeeze!!
SO you can imagine my dismay when the valet parking attendant came up to me in the lobby of the hotel and said “Um, Ma-am, you seem to have a flat tire on your vehicle?!”
Oh My Goodness! They must have already thought we were the hicks from the backwoods when we showed up with a van full of furniture. (moving the baby girl into her university house in Ottawa). Now a FLAT TIRE! Usually I am pretty easygoing. I handle things. Myself.
This time however, I marched over to darling husband and stated “Mike - the tire is flat. Deal with it- NOW please”! and told the parking attendant to show me the way. An hour later- we stopped at a garage to fix the leak, and had to pick up Baby Lauren who wanted to come along, we were finnalllyy on our way.
Did you know that when you are late, and in a hurry, you hit every traffic jam, the car always need gas and every traffic light is red- for you- forever!!!
We finally made it.
Rhonda is as much a dear in person as she is in virtual life! I so much enjoyed meeting her and visiting. The exhibit was as wonderful as you can imagine and it was great to see it with Baby Lauren as well! She was the official photographer, and this seems to be the only photo we have of her for the day!
You might be thinking that My Mike visited the exhibit? You would be wrong! He opted to hop on a bicycle and tour the city that way.
One last thing…
We came home to yet another engaged daughter!!!! It looks like 2 weddings next year for this family! And you KNOW that means another wedding dress that I will be excited to construct!! Check out FiveBlondes for all the details! And for photos…since I am on my work computer right now!
Aug
24
Zafu time
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I am not a Yoga girl. I think I prefer more aerobic activities, but that doesn’t preclude my taking up that form of exercise in the future.
My niece Lara, on the other hand, takes Yoga to the limit. She is an instructor - a very good one according to my daughters! Lara never asks me for anything, so when she mentioned that she was craving a Zafu, and the cost was prohibitive, I immediately agreed to make one.
Make one WHAT?? I had never heard of a Zafu. Snafu yes! Zafu NO! Some internet browsing found pics…
and even instructions! A zafu is a meditation cushion, abput 14inches by 8 inches. According to Wikopedia: Za” (?) means “seat”, and “fu” (?) means cattail. Historically it was a seat made out of cattails. Now the filler used is Kapok (fiber from the seed pods of the Kapok tree (naturally!) or Buckwheat hulls. Now to source some Buckwheat hulls or kapok.
See Lara- I didn’t forget!
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