Craziness

Somehow in the craziness that has become my life, what with the running around in preparation for our trip to Florida (we leave Friday morning), nursing this bizarro cold I've managed to develop, and sewing like a madwoman in preparation for the opening of my shop, I managed to go out with my mom two days in a row just for the hell of it. I so wish I had my camera with me today because we took a trip to Fo'Castle Farms and it was gorgeous.

I have such vivid memories of Fo'Castle because it was a favorite day trip of ours when I was a kid. My mom would pack my sister and me up and my mom's best friend Paula would pack up her two kids, Nikki and Brianna, and we'd all go on what seemed like the longest ride ever to the farm. Of course, 20 or so years had gone by since I'd last been there, and the longest ride ever is actually less than a half hour (isn't it weird how drives always seemed much longer when you're a kid?). The foliage is almost at its peak in terms of vivid color and it seemed as though every tree on the way was glowing in all sorts of jewel tones. Everyone was selling pumpkins, too, and I'm a total sucker for pumpkins.

We had lunch in the farm cafe. While there's very little for vegetarians to eat at the cafe, I had a delicious lettuce, tomato, onion and swiss cheese sandwich on multigrain bread, and a side of fresh applesauce. Their applesauce rocks. It's chunky and sweet, but not too chunky or too sweet. Regulars at the farm go there for their cheese bread, but you have to get there at the butt crack of dawn when they first bake it and put it out on the shelves. So, yeah, no cheese bread for us. Still, we both scored a lot of good stuff. I hit up the penny candy aisle pretty hard. I bought a cute little decorative Christmas tree for the house, some cookie cutters, a secret surprise for my mom, some kick ass dish towels, and a really weird looking pumpkin for the front porch. Good stuff. Again, I'm kicking myself in the ass for not bringing my camera because this trip would have offered up some pretty sweet pictures. The little farm store is so quaint. Oh! We also discovered that someone bought the perennial farm across the street from the farm store, which totally rocks. An older couple used to run this place years and years ago and sold it when they just couldn't do it anymore. You walk through the rows and rows of perennials and when you find something you like, you dig it up yourself. I'll have to keep it in mind for next summer.

On top of all the running around, I've managed to get a ton of sewing and crocheting done. I get so many compliments on the little roundish bag I wrote about here a few weeks ago and therefore I made a ton more just so I can sell them in a few months. But after making so many, I don't want to make any more, and I really don't want to carry the one I originally made either. Overkill. I needed something new, and mostly I needed a small bag for my carry-on crap for the plane. I created what I think is a really cute and useful little number, but I'm having a hard time coming up with a name for it. Any suggestions? I used a decorative stitch on the old machine and I added a few bright red vintage buttons for a little punch, not to mention the weirdo handle situation I have going on there. What'cha think???