Back from spending 4 out of the last 6 weeks on the road, sleeping in strange beds, slogging through airports, snuggling up to total strangers on airplanes. And teaching 106 people to spin. Dude, ONE-HUNDRED-AND-SIX people! I've been busy.
You've read about SOAR. You've read about Tucson. You haven't had the Sedalia report. Yet.
This is the second year I have taught a Level 1 class in Sedalia, MO, and it felt rather like coming home. The accommodations in the Hotel Bothwell were fabulous, the weather (except for one very blusterous evening) was fine, and the students (as always) were amazing! Many of the students I taught last year were back for their Level 2 class, as well, so it was rather like a homecoming for me.
The first day of classes fell on Halloween, and there were a few shenanigans...
...including a pair of rather sassy sheep from the Level 2 class. (Sheep-nanigans?) I even made a sad attempt at cobbling up a last-minute costume...
...Ooooh, scary!
I decided three days before I left Tucson to knit a sheepy costume and whipped up the headband, and a tail in my "free time". There were others who got into the spirit, as well...
...and we all went out to dinner together.
We sorted fleeces, we washed, fleeces, we carded, we spun woollen and worsted yarns, and we dyed...
The week absolutely flew by. And then it was over. But I wasn't ready to leave.
I had been invited by some of my students from last year to visit Chillicothe, MO, so I packed up my gear and hopped into the waiting chariot and was whisked away to that very charming community...
... for some well-deserved R and R. My hostess, Zelma, took excellent care of me. And kept me hopping!
We visited a covered bridge that dates back to the Civil War, one of the few remaining in Missouri...
I learned about osage (aka "hedge") trees...
...and that the dye derived from them, osage orange, was used to dye the uniforms of US WW1 troops at the suggestion of local-boy-made-good General John J. Pershing...
I visited longhorn cattle...
...and llamas...
I also attended a local church service, and a concert featuring country music legend Gene Watson. I was even the guest of honour at a brunch hosted at Nico'Z for the local Fiberistas...
Yet, as busy as the weekend was, I managed to rest and recuperate from two solid weeks of teaching. It was a perfect little getaway. Then back onto a plane and home.
Where a gargantuan mountain of laundry and an empty pantry were waiting, along with the final paperwork for Fibre Week 2012, another writing assignment, and a pile of requests for proposals. And as I have been chipping away at those things, a whole pack of exciting new challenges and opportunities have been coming up.
And, of course, there is much spinning to be done!
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