It Wasn't a Day to Wear Wool

The Commander and I made it to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival today and boy, was it ever hot out!  It had to have been in the mid-80's at least and I swear it felt about 100 degrees in the shade.  I was wearing a wool vest (but more on that later) so you can imagine how I felt throughout the morning.  First we had to hike from the back "40" down to the entrance into the fairgrounds from our car.  Believe me, it was a sea of cars everywhere you looked in a large open field.

Then it was a sea of people.  This was the average sight heading into each vendor hall - wall to wall people.  Many times I couldn't even squeeze into a booth, let alone see what they had.  In the first barn, a lady was walking around pulling a wagon full of tomato plants through the crowd.  Needless to say, she wasn't too popular with the rest of us who were all trying to navigate around.

As we came onto the fairgrounds, I spied this yurt.  Cool beans!  I had to duck inside long enough to get the Commander to take my picture.  It was pretty stifling inside in that heat so I was happy to come back out even if it was into full sunlight.

There was some awfully good smelling brisket cooking over the coals but we restrained ourselves.  The average price of a sandwich on the fairgrounds was $9.  Can you believe that?  We made do with $4 corndogs and contented ourselves with the thought of that Mother's Day meal we were soon going to be enjoying with our daughter and son-in-law.

I was wilting fast.  But if I thought I had it bad, imagine how this poor guy felt in his full coat of wool!  He looked pretty miserable but at least he had found a bit of shade in his pen.  That's more than I can say for one of his other pen mates who was languishing in the full sun.  If that's indicative of his intelligence, I think the poor guy will be lamb stew before too long.

This guy had the right idea.  Yes, that's a guy with the long hair, wearing a "man-kilt."  I saw about 4 guys walking around wearing man-kilts.  In this heat, I think they could easily start a new trend.

Back to my wool vest -- I finally got to meet one of my favorite yarn vendors.  This is Dianne, the talented lady responsible for Creatively Dyed Yarn and the vest I'm wearing is one I knit up using her yarn.  I've been admiring her yarn (and buying it) for some years now and following her adventures on her blog.  I finally got to meet her and it was a real thrill.  I had wanted her to see the vest because it was done in her yarn so that's why I braved the heat to wear it to the festival. 

The Commander found a shady spot to try to cool down while I browsed through one more booth and then it was time to make our way to the exit.

I had to snap this comical "model" first though on our way out because it certainly got my attention.  And after that sight, I didn't look left or right because I was totally focused on getting to the car and getting that air conditioning cranked up.

We made it over to our daughter's home but the heat must have made me so groggy that I completely forgot to take any pictures of our meal and the lovely old inn where we went.  However, I did try to snap a picture or two on the drive back to her house through the lovely Maryland countyside.

We're finally back home and I was REMARKABLY restrained for someone attending a fiber festival.  I think it was because it was just so crowded and so very hot.  Plus, I had a list of what I was looking for and I actually got everything on the list except for one thing - an Ann Grout acorn spindle.  So here's my loot.  I got my usual homemade bars of soap from Leslie's Garden.  I buy soap from this vendor every year and it is so long-lasting.  I use it to wash my face and it doesn't irritate my skin at all.  I got enough yarn from Creatively Dyed to make a sweater, a cute baby sweater and hat pattern, a high-speed bobbin for my spinning wheel, and a yarn gauge.  That's it.  And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go sit in front of the fan.