A Few Of My Favorite Things!

Well, we are almost done clearing up the downed branches from the terrible storms we had on Friday. Our neighbors across the highway had some major yard flooding, but that's receding now. It's amazing what a few feet of elevation will do- we are about 6 feet higher up than the people across the road and we had no water in the yard at all! We are pumping in the basement, though. No flooding or anything, just the sump pump and pit doing their job!

Here are some of the things I brought home with me from New York... :)

isn't this fabric amazing? It's a Hoffman California fabric. I found it at Weaver View Farms- that's an Amish fabric and general store in Penn Yan, NY.

Some fat quarters I picked up at a quilt shop in East Rochester, NY. I didn't care for the shop at all. It was apparent that because I was not a "regular" I was not worth giving the time of day to. It didn't have a very good selection of fabric, either. But I did manage to find something to take home!

100% Pima cotton yarn I found in a yarn shop in East Rochester, NY. It's called The Village Yarn and Fiber Shop- it was really cute! They had a lot of nice stuff there. They were also very friendly! I will definitely go back there the next time I am in New York. I bought enough of these to make a sweater.

And now for my FAVORITE thing- Finger Lakes wine!! It is the best wine in the whole world! Not California, Australia, or France can beat the Finger Lakes region of New York for tasty, yummy wine! And that's not just me talking- many of the wineries have won numerous ribbons and trophies and awards for their wines, beating out California and international wines. Swedish Hill Winery, Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards and Chateau Lafayette Reneau are my 3 top favorites. Three Brothers Winery was a new one to me... they have 3 wineries and a brewery. Passion Feet is one of the wineries, and their raspberry reisling is SO good!!

Last but not least, the grape pie filling! As far as I can tell, grape pie is a Western New York thing. No one I know here in Illinois had ever heard of it before, and even people in other regions of NY have never heard of it before! It's really a shame, too, because it's SO GOOD! This stuff is made by Amish families. I had these jars shipped to me from Fox Run Vineyards. Hubby told me to "spare no expense" to get grape pie filling home- it's become his favorite!

Today I am doing some cleaning and organizing... and then tomorrow- I GET TO SEW!!! It's been almost 2 weeks since my sewing machine was even turned on- yikes!