Jayjay made a great observation on her blog the other day: that the year doesn't really go from January - December. Instead, as all academics (and, I would add, parents of schooolchildren) know, the year goes from August/September - May/June, depending on the school. And this end-of-the-year time has been nutty. I've spent the past week or so writing the exam, writing the reviews for the exam, making sure everything is graded so the kids can know their grade going into the exam (or, as one student asked me, "What's the minimum grade I need on the exam to pass this class?" Love that attitude.). Next week will be giving and correcting said exam, then figuring out how to get all this information into the computer system. I don't mean to complain too much, though; I've really enjoyed this semester and this school and it's going to be a bit sad that it's all over. In spite of the fact that I'd like to stay part-time while the baby is little, I almost wish the teacher I've been covering for had decided not to come back after her maternity leave. Ah well.
I have been meaning all week to write about the wool fair, even though it was a very small one, nothing like the big events I've read about in various places. It was held at small local farm/living history museum, where the people dress in the period clothing and all that. My mom, Old Friend, Baby Sister, and I drove down. Baby Sister fell asleep in the car, and we squinted at all the signs as we got close, not being particularly familiar with the area. When we saw one that said Sheep Shearing we literally all yelled in unison, "Sheep shearing!" and woke the baby up. Seriously, we are such dorks. But we had a good time, and there was, in fact, sheep shearing:
What I thought was most interesting was the people dyeing wool using old, completely natural methods. Look at all the colors they got from the local plants:
These yarns weren't for sale; the tags say what was used to dye them. There were, of course, items that were for sale. There was a lot of stuff for spinning as well as knitting, and actually, I didn't see anybody knitting, but I saw a lot of spinning. It really made me want to try it . . . maybe when the kids are a bit older and I have a little more free time . . . because I'm sure I'll have so much more free time when they're teenagers . . . sigh . . .
I didn't buy much, just the sock yarn I mentioned in the last post, and a spinning kit intended for kids. It contained a drop spindle made with a CD, and a bit of wool, which I don't really think had been processed all that much. It cost a $3 donation to the museum, so I said what the heck and picked up. I used it to make some incredible crappy yarn.
All in all, a pretty good day.
While I have been blog-absent, I got tagged for a meme! I am unreasonably excited about this, it being my very first. It's the "seven things about you meme" and I plan to do it very soon, as soon as I can find seven people to tag who have not yet done this (it seems like everybody has!) and who would have any idea who I am if I tagged them. Coming soon! Oh, and FO's coming soon too!
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