I'm Baa-ck!

Well, the trip was absolutely wonderful, in about a hundred different ways, The Sheep and Wool Festival was huge, and exciting and just fun. Gayle is a seasoned hand and got us there early on Saturday to get a good parking place - wise move because the cars kept arriving in a steady stream until past noon - even on a cool and drizzly day. We had time for a "tailgate" cup of coffee before the gates officially opened, headed in and grabbed a program book, picked up some sheep milk cheese to add to the lunch stash, then headed for an initial spin through some of the vendors. Overwhelming! I was too involved with gawking and fondling yarn and ooohing and ahhing to snap pictures. Trust me, it was amazing.



Met up with Sis and niece, who were taking a class in drop spindle spinning and made arrangements to meet up for lunch. On the way back from picking up the picnic supplies from the car, Gayle and I took a quick detour through the Ravelry meet up.






Whoo Hoo, brush with greatness. Casey really is a complete cutie. Well they all are.



After lunch, the barns. I think I have more sheep pictures than any others. This was the cutest face in the bunch





It's little brown muzzle made it look a bit like a koala. And the young girl prepping it for show was a sweetie, too.






The Jacobs just fascinate me. What evolutionary impetus ever led to those horns?






A Khatadin Hair Sheep. The overcoat just falls off - no shearing. From what I can tell, it's mostly a meat breed.






Merino on the hoof (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what this one is).



Then back to shopping. I didn't escape a little stash enhancement.










And my niece acquired her very own drop spindle. By three o'clock the crowds were really thick, and we were all pretty pooped, so we headed out tired but happy.



Gayle and her hubby and I went back again Sunday afternoon. It was pouring rain, but we slogged happily through it to catch the sheep dog trials, visit more vendors, say and"hi" to the sheep again. After closing out the festival at 5:00 we topped off the day with a visit to an incredibly good Belgian restaurant on our way back to their place.