New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Festival.

It all began the normal way... load van - the new van! Not vanagon... serious woot. Turns out, there's enough space for TONS more stuff in the new van (mental note for upcoming Mass Sheep & Wool Festival in a couple of weeks).

So, Friday I set off on the most direct route known to AAA. Used the AAA 'TripTick' which includes the most up-to-date construction and advisories (this part is important to the story). The new van scores serious points here because we get to take that most direct route that crosses Vermont to get from NY to NH. Couldn't do that last time as there was no possible chance the vanagon was going to make it over hill & dale for that long (yes, the long way is longer and less direct - by about 3 hours by way of Boston).
I would like to point out here that while AAA tries it's best I'm sure, they do not have the most up to date construction and advisory information. Like, when a bridge is under construction and NOT THERE. For a while it would seem from the debris - this wasn't thursday's new project, as evidenced by the detour directions taped to a barrier in a ziplock bag as you turned around to head back, bewildered. I obviously wasn't the first person to be unbelieving of signs saying 'bridge under construction' etc. oh well, mischief managed.

Ok, NOW the bad news. Bennington VT is a lovely place to visit, get rear-ended, and chat with the officer there. They were so nice! No one hurt, going next to no speed at all and the motorcycle behind me tapped the bumper. He did the most graceful handstand on the handlebars though, before coming down next to his bike... he hadn't noticed me stop. He's perfectly fine, offered to buy me lunch, even. Anyways.
The worst part of all of this is the car rental while they fix the bumper... it buckled slightly and the rear door won't lift properly - the 'buckle' of the bumper is in the way slightly. The car rental is something called a 'compact'. Evidently, this means 'absolutely nothing useful' by way of automation. Well, I'm not pedaling to go, but it's close. I would think that by now, power mirrors would be a safety requirement - making it easier to be a safe driver just seems logical somehow, but what do I know. At least it's a compact so it wasn't to far of a crawl to adjust the passenger mirror... 7 times. I'm also not clear about why the seat is also angled so that while my mid-section is sitting back, the chair curves as it goes upwards so that by the time it reaches my shoulders, I'm leaning forward in an almost hunched position... oh well again. Removed the headrest completely because it leaned forward enough with the shape of the chair to actually interfere. But who's complaining. (It's fine. Really. I'll just sit here in the dark....)

ANYWAYS again! We shall now move on past my car ''issues' and into better things. Like the Festival!

Couldn't make it? I took pictures of the important things for you.


Like the Booth (which they moved to a different space in the same building at the last minute but oh well):


And the most absolutely wonderfully cuddly baby Mohair goats EVER.

And also, this fellow who wanted nothing more than for someone to scratch his nose.



I made the mistake of asking these 2 for directions. They're still trying to decide which way to go.


Enigma (do you have a blog? I couldn't find one.) brought us homemade Ice Cream! The look on Lisa's face translates to 'ohmygawdthisisawesomesticecreamever'. The handsome gentleman giving he a moment to enjoy & savor that ice cream, is none other than BrewerGnome a.k.a. 'Naked Guy' in-fully-clothed-cognito. (I have some of his roving and handspun here in the store. Just lovely stuff.)


Enigma also brought us homebrewed beer! (which I may have forgotten to share when it came time to pack up & go home. Lisa, I'm so sorry. I will be unable to save one for you as you have previously met my husband.)


Liber brought us cookies! I have next to no proof but an almost empty container and I'm refusing to take a picture as that will show someone how many cookies were consumed.

We met lots of our imaginary friends from Ravelry and from the TsockClub - but they remain imaginary as I have no proof (picture = proof). I am a marginal blogger. mea culpa. Some of them may have been better and gotten evidence - if you are one of them, let me know, eh? I'd like to see :-)

I actually did a little shopping, which is rare. I got my mother her mother's day gift, from here as she's an avid hooker, this might be a new twist for her. (Mom, don't click, ok?) I also got a pound of the softest mohair locks, unwashed. Those are for the Build-a-Batt corner in the shop, so I'll dye the locks in lots of different colors, maybe an ounce or so per color for blending. I somehow found some cashmere when I unpacked, but I have no recollection of going to a cashmere booth. There are vague recollections of Brewer Gnome getting some amazing cashmere at an awesome price, and then there was some dizzyness, and then I blacked out for a moment. When I came around, I had vague recollections of dreams involving money being passed to Brewer and him heading back in the direction he'd come from with the cashmere... I dunno. It's all a blur. I need to finish putting things away now, and work on the website so Georg doesn't nagnagnag me to death and you all know what's going on for real around here.