and that there seemed to be fewer small farms and natural/unprocessed yarns as opposed to knitting shops and handdyes. I just discovered that I had some kind of smear on my camera lens, which means my photos didn't turn out nearly as well as I would have liked. I've tried to sharpen them up with PhotoShop, but....
See this adorable baby goat? The little bastard bit me.
Now this provided much amusement for Goat-Boy here:
and you can imagine the snickering that went on about city slickers who don't know enough not to put their fingers in the livestock's mouth. In my defense, I would like to say that the goat didn't have any front teeth, and was very sweetly gumming my fingers, putting me off my guard, so that it could unleash a mighty molar from the back on the unsuspecting knitter-lady. Since the injury will not affect my knitting, no harm done. (Except to my dignity.)
Here, lovely Laura (one of my co-authors and my co-bus captain this year) poses with her sister, the also-lovely Sasha:
The day wouldn't be complete without some fuzzy-wuzzy bunnies, like this beauty:
And while we're at it, how about some camelid porn?
[Before you email me to tell me it's not a camel, please use the Google to look up "camelid."]
As always, the food selection was, um, eclectic:
Hee-Haw fans may enjoy the "Fill Yer Own" old-fashioned soda cart
complete with Daisy-Duke inspired server fashion (will someone please introduce the Muffin-top Twins here to Twisty Faster?)
And before I return to the dyepots to dye up some of the stuff I found, I leave you with today's Political Correctness Sensitivity Quiz:
Is this sign offensive to Appalachian-born Americans? Discuss.
More (slightly smeary) pictures Monday.
Heh. For some reason, I didn't take any photos of people yesterday, except the incidental folks at the sheepdog trials. Of course, I took seventy-leven photos of the sheepdog trials... sigh.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the sign is offensive. After all, in Louisiana it is the Cajuns themselves who call Cajuns "coon asses".
ReplyDeleteI suspect the moniker "hillbilly" is considered a badge of honor, too.
You can always claim that the smear on your camera lens was an attempt at being "artistic" ...
ReplyDeleteI can tell you that people from West Virginia - well, at least the northern panhandle - take great offense a being called hillbillies. When you are from WV, and someone says, "Oh, you're a hillbilly" it's kinda like when someone hears your name (which is very Irish), and says, "Wow, you must be Italian" ... :-)
Or asking a short woman if their head is flat...
ReplyDeleteBut I understand that Jeff appears to be calling himself a hillbilly, thus appropriating the offensive moniker and reducing its power...
Got that, Paddy O'flanahan?
I know that Goat Boy! http://www.kidhollow.com/
ReplyDeleteMost of the hillbillies I know are proud to be one. Now, rednecks are a whole 'nother thing.
Yep, Margaret! If you click on "goat boy" in my post, it'll take you there, too.
ReplyDeleteI hope none of you smart-alecks tell any Polish jokes.... for example,
Q: Why did the Polacks freeze to death at the drive-in?
A: They went to see "Closed For The Season."
Oh, yes! My husband did a triple take at the Old Fashoined Soda Cart, commenting, "Were they here last year? I don't remember them if they were." Heh.
ReplyDeletereally, it's very simple -- if the fudge is good, then the hillbilly sign isn't offensive.
ReplyDeleteAs a born and bred Appalachian dweller, hillbilly is offensive when it's being used in an offensive manner, like any other term that is used to belittle people and is usually said in a way the person saying it refers to as being a joke. However, I'm kind of bemused about how it relates to fudge. I haven't ever heard of fudge having a hillbilly connection. If he was selling cornbread and beans, I could understand it better. But, no, I don't find the sign offensive at all.
ReplyDeleteWe don't call ourselves hillbillies. Southerners, yes. But I can't think once of calling myself a hillbilly. I think I have enough of a handicap trying to get people who can't get past my accent to take me seriously. I know my daughter has run into this in college in Maryland-one of her professors even wrote on a paper she needed to stop using "southwest Virgina-isms" in her writing.
And I most definitely would never refer to a West Virginian by that term. My momma would beat my butt. She's very sensitive about that, being from Matewan and all.
Yes, I live in a holler, I love NASCAR, I love Hokie football, I can be spotted a mile away if I open my mouth to speak but I also have a college degree, can intelligently discuss a variety of subjects and like classical and jazz music. Just don't let anyone know the last.
Rednecks, yep, that's another thing and don't confuse the two.
Oh, on a totally different topic, I love the merino sample you added to my BBF order. I'm loving all the roving I've been playing with and once I figure out how to get Etsy to let me add a rating and send you a photo, I'll send you one of the Masham I've spun on my spindle.
That birch beer was darned good, and the girls had the sense to be wearing jeans and windbreakers Sunday. From the photo, I would have guessed that was the line for the toilet not the sock yarn. 8-) Of course, there was little sock yarn to be found on Sunday and that's what I wanted. I picked some up from Spirit Trail - purple. MMMM!
ReplyDeleteSorry we missed ya on Saturday, my service dog and I were something of a hit. "Hey, look at that lady walking the SHEEP!" Then, "Hey, that's a DOG!" Snicker. Oddly enough, a couple of friends spotted us because of Cowboy. Me, I look like every other person at S&W - knitwear, greying hair, bags of fiber - there is only one Cowboy. 8-) Heck, we ran into a couple of people who had heard of Cowboy who we hadn't even MET yet. Turns out my boy has quite a rep in the local dog world.
Sorry if this double posts, Blogger hates me.
Ann
Wish I would have run into you yesterday! I love reading your blog so it would have been icing on the cake.
ReplyDelete9:30? Pshaw. My friends and I were there at 8am and were 4,5 and 6 in line. Hey, ya gotta do it once in your life I suppose.
The Vanilla Cream soda was dreamy, and I did feel somewhat sorry for the poor girls at the soda stand.
ReplyDeleteSeriously....giant line for sock yarn I can buy online...and that was just to LOOK at it. Knitters are weird. I would only do that if beer and a massage awaited me with the yarn. The Lovely women at Autumn House Farms were in total agreement with this idea!
It was nice seeing you my favorite yarn dyer!
Oh, ya hey. You got me in your STR line photo. Well, sorta.
ReplyDeleteSee toward the back of the line, the gal in the blue top and the one in the red hat? Between them on the bench in the distance is an orange blob...that's me! LOL! My Deb must've been in the booth choosing or paying for our STR when you took the picture.
Mmmmmmmmmm fudge. What was the question again?
ReplyDeleteooo those socks are so awesome.
ReplyDeleteI saw them some time ago on flickr.
I really wish she would post the pattern.
She said it was an adaptation from Turkish knitting, but didn't go into detail as to what pattern or yarn.
I'm going to my first shearing in a couple weeks - can't wait! Cute cute pic of the llama.
ReplyDelete