it's that time of year again... the black sheep gathering in Eugene, OR and i think i've only missed maybe 1 or 2 of these events since about 1984. the first couple of times i went, it was still being held in Cottage Grove, OR.... back in the day when it was really small. and now it's so big that 3 large rooms of vendors isn't enough, so there are several outside on the lawn... and the fleece show and sale is in a separate building (which i stayed FAR away from as i knew i'd be tempted and be unable to resist coming home with wool and/or mohair fleeces). Kate took amtrak to portland, i picked her up and we drove on down to eugene. got there about 2pm, giving us plenty of time for the first cruise around the vendors booths and thru the animal barns. we were on a mission to find the newborn angora kids we'd heard about and they were so adorable!! and little! not sure how i ever resisted adding angora goats to the farm when we had other fiber animals. they have the sweetest faces ever... esp. the kids! and i love to spin mohair locks. after the initial quick tour thru the show and reconnecting with lots of friends, we went to the motel and had a little lie-down before meeting twisted sisters and So.Cal. friends for the traditional Sat. night chinese dinner at Ocean Sky (and yes, Rachael, we did have the fabulous garlic eggplant... and thought of you!) damn... i do love traditions... after dinner we went back to the motel, went next door to Laurie, Jane and Crystal's room and had some spinning, wine and show-and-tell. Kate and i weren't able to live up to our night-owl reputations, as she was really sleep-deprived and i was just getting over the cold from hell which turned into pneumonia followed by painful reaction to antibiotic. by sunday morning, we were ready to go again and did some serious shopping. i'll take some photos of the fiber purchases soon.
here's Janis Thompson... an incredibly creative person.. and one of my favorite people!
