Show And Tell

Monday (yes, five days ago - you gotta give me a break, blogger and the latest Firefox upgrade were having issues) the wool house porch was abuzz with color and talent.

Several years ago a neighbor (we're all neighbors in Cynthiana/Harrison County) called to ask if she could set up a farm visit while her sister from NH was in town. Of course. And from that visit I made some more new, fun and interesting friends.



If you've seen/tried to steal my gorgeous felted laptop bag, this is the artist. She is never allowed to visit without show and tell! Grab a cup of coffee and spend a few minutes. This should really be a 40 picture post.



A nuno felted scarf she made for the "local" sister. Could the colors be any more perfect?



She brought so many beautiful projects, but this was my favorite. Felted from an heirloom wool scarf and (insert something exotic that I can't remember) wool batts. Can you see the scarf showing through?



She picked up a set of beautiful leather handles from Homestead Heirlooms at the festival. The perfect finishing touch.



And she knits too. Yet another first lace project. BOOOO!!!!!



Even more interestingly, my connection to this fun group of sisters could have begun years ago. I took a (required) college art history class from the sister in the top photo. Who's also a felter. Look how the colors in her painting match the colors in the back yard.



And a weaver.



So colorful. If I'd known "x" years ago that I had any interest in art...



And they can make derby hats too :-D.



Stella thought she didn't have any show and tell, but her lovely knitted lace afghan lives in the wool house and one of my most treasured gifts.



And the grand finale - Miss Renny! Remember Cathy's painting of Hank? Just amazing. And it's even more amazing than it looks. Due to my negligent photography you are missing that it's three dimensional. Looks like she'll need to come back for another visit!

So everyone had some show and tell. And then they turned to me.

"I got nothing."

It's probably not a good sign when you can summarize things with yet another famous City Boy quote ;-).

I don't have the Punkin throw finished, Janbaby's KAL scarf, the striped knit shawl. I have "x" fleeces stashed in the loft. I didn't get my yarn spun for the skein competition. I haven't painted anything since Christmas. The list is endless...and depressing.

However - and I'm not exactly sure what I'm trying to say - we have a nice, friendly, peaceful farm where the work isn't horribly behind (okay, it's behind, but not horribly - come on, it's springtime and it won't stop raining ;-). We all lived through the 2nd Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival and while I'm never completely happy, for the most part everything went really well and we were proud to be a part of it.

I'm pretty good at teaching people how to take care of/work with wool. I have a darling bottle baby who's delighted so many people this spring. I take decent photos and enjoy sharing as many stories as I can, time permitting, and I can put together a heck of a porch party - well, except for food, beverages, basic vacuuming... Sigh.

For now, at this point in my life, I think that's my show and tell. A little bit of everything, all jumbled together, like the colors in Jinney's rugs, the wisps of magic in June's scarves, the pieces of tin foil (I kid you not) adorning Beth's derby hat, the steadiness of Stella's knitting and the light in Renny's eye.

And maybe that's okay.