Respite

Today is a day of rest. Of sorts. But it's a day I've been looking forward to!

First, I slept in. As a matter of fact, I'm still in my bed right now... My beautiful bed in a beautiful hotel.

This is a lovely, historic inn - and the details are so beautiful! The wallpaper, curtains, bed linens and even upholstery fabric in my room are all the same - which is cool, but a trifle disconcerting (the chairs seem to disappear into the walls - all I need is a dress of the same fabric and I'd be invisible...)

I'll be having breakfast with a very good friend who's a transplant to this snowy horse-haven from sunny California, so I can't WAIT to get her impressions of the recent snowstorm that hit this part of the country!

She suggested that I visit a local establishment - Mrs. London's - before I leave. Since they're closed Monday, I walked over with one of my students from the Sunday afternoon class. I pretty much cleared the case of all baked goods. Not really, but I've seldom spent so much in a bakery!

The main thing I bought was a beautiful chocolate/raspberry cake for my hosts tonight (their daughter - one of Hannah's best friends back in NJ - has a birthday!) but I also got myself a small brioche, which I ate last night, and a larger brioche for another friend back in NJ. YUM!

I also went out to dinner by myself last night and bought a delicious steak (filet) and enjoyed myself more than a human should be allowed to. Steak, then a walk back to my hotel for brioche and tea. Life is good.

SARATOGA CLASSES
I adore this part of the country. When Gerry and I lived in NJ, if we had a weekend to get away, THIS would be the area we'd head to. For a few years we rented a house in Wells, NY for a week or two every summer (pre-kids) and part of our honeymoon was spent up here visiting minor league baseball parks, Shaker museums and heading over to Utica for the FX Matts Brewery tour. Good times.

So I was already pre-disposed to absolutely love my classes here. The shop which hosted me, Saratoga Needle Arts, opted to hold the classes in a conference room at the Saratoga Inn (swanky!) so it was a pure delight to be able to wander easily between tables, getting to each student at least once to check their work, or chat briefly.

The class I taught was an amalgam of several other classes - I called it Annie Potpourri - but I only give instruction in the form of a question.

I'm experimenting with new classes and this is a way to see what techniques work best for students, and to try to find the best way to tailor a class to a specific group.

It was Sunday, and as usual on a Sunday I get a little preachy. (I'm currently reading a history of Scotland, so I'm just feeling lucky that no one threw a footstool at me when I got a little long winded...)

Both classes were tremendous, though - so much fun for me, and I hope for all of the participants! The first class was rather large, so I went a little over (I don't usually do that, but I was having SUCH a good time!) I kept everyone over so I could show them an extra technique, then used my down time to shop at the Empire Alpaca Breeders convention that was also taking place at the Inn.

How lovely of Cindy to arrange to have all that yarn and alpaca garments just waiting for us to peruse!

The afternoon class was smaller, but that allowed me to really dig deeply into certain techniques and cover them more fully. And it was a delightful class - so good - and so QUICK! I love telling a joke and having folks GET IT immediately!

Sometimes I felt like they got the jokes before I finished them, which means less work for me. Comedians should have such great audiences. Maybe it's the proximity to the Catskills?

And today - after breakfast off to NJ, and then teaching tomorrow at Knitty City. I'm hoping I get into NJ in ample time to visit with my friends, then head off to my old knitting group without feeling that I'm shorting my hosts, and have a visit with the Yarrn Pirates (yarr!)