Let Me Say This About That: More MDS&W Festival

I'm trying something new and uploading all my pictures first, then adding text. We shall see if this way works better (i.e., makes me feel less like chewing off my own hands).

For me, the highlight of the festival is always -- always -- the animals. I don't know why, but this part never gets old. Here's some sort of long wool (I think) getting a touch up. I finally got up the nerve to ask this woman why the sheep didn't just kick her through the wall, especially since she was working around his ... um ... tender bits. She told me that sheep don't kick. Really? No, seriously ... really? Wow!

This guy is going incognito to keep clean. I felt so bad for him (or her) because it was so hot.

I worked up the courage to ask the man tending these sheep why they were wearing clothes. I figured it was to keep them clean, and it was. However, they wear these sweaters or jammies to keep their skin taut, which is, the man said, a good thing. Huh. Learning new things all the time.

Just look at that black wool. Yummy...

Hello to you two, too!

At about 3:00, I headed to where the sheep dog demonstration would be held. Unfortunately, I had to schlep there from the opposite end of the fairgrounds. Between the heat and the crowds, I was fairly tired by this point.

This woman had a microphone clipped to her shirt and told us everything she was going to do and why. This was a great part of my day, both because I was able to sit on the cool grass in some shade, and also because a little boy of about 1 or 2 decided to plonk himself down on my lap to watch the demonstration. The father was a bit anxious that his son was bothering me, but I told him that, since my "babies" are now 12 and 15, having such a little guy want to spend time with me was a treat.

Once the demonstration was over, I turned around to see this. Ugh. A sea of people, and many, many more in all the buildings. Still, this is a once-a-year deal, so I set out to take a look at the main exhibition hall again. (I'd missed seeing a lot when I was hurrying to get to the Little Barn.)

This exhibitor was just inside the main door. They were from some sort of coverlet museum in Pennsylvania. What stopped me in my tracks is that my father has two of these coverlets, which have been in his family for umpteen years. I'll have to have him haul them out so that I can photograph them. I sure can't actually use them, not in this house!

Here's a yurt. Those panels are felted wool, thick and heavy.

Inside the yurt, you can see the way the thing goes together. Don't ask me how they get the panels up onto the roof.

Even though it was very hot, it was quite cool in the yurt, and there was a wonderful breeze coming in through the doorway and up and out the top. I think I want a yurt of my own. I know that Ed wants one, too. Maybe we can get a yurt for ourselves and leave the boys and dogs to take care of themselves.

By this point, I had to sit down and take my shoes off. Yes, I was wearing hand-knit socks of wool. I felt less like a bum sitting there with my shoes off since I had my Kai-Mei (pattern by Cookie A.) socks on.

Where I was sitting (back where that woman is with the red tank top, I was able to admire the alpacas, including this guy.

And this one, too.

The pen next to the alpacas had llamas. I kept my distance, though, since our family history includes an incident of llama spitting on my brother. No spit for me, thanks.