Day 2 - Crowds and Cold

Saturday at the NYS&W Fest was amazing...and exhausting! The crowds were so thick at times I could have just lifted my feet and been moved through the vendor barns that way. But I didn't want to impose, so I just elbowed my way through. One thing I don't get is how people can walk through very, very crowded buildings eating a big sugary elephant ear (huge piece of fried dough) that's hanging off of a paper plate. Their fingers are totally covered in sugar (this is adults, not kids) and the hood of someone's coat is just about resting in the whole sugary mess. Or the distance between someones hair and goo-ey sugar is WAY to close. I mean, walking around outside and munching on whatever can be sort of fun, but in tight quarters where germs and who-knows-what is flyin' around...come on! Ok, enough of my rant.

Here are some pics from Saturday:

Steve and I waiting in line to get in the gates. It was so unbelievably cold and windy I could hardly stand it. It warmed up later in the day. You can't really see them, but the Catskill Mtns are off in the distance.

Fleece sale. Mobs of people in the sale area buying the fleeces that were judged the night before.

A demo of a pendulum spinning wheel from the Civil War ear. Very neat!

My new ewe. She'll make a great addition to our growing Lincoln flock.

We named her Rhinebeck (NYS&W Fest is in Rhinebeck, NY). That way  "R" will fit into our naming convention within the flock (future offspring will be named with "R" names for quick identification of lineage).

The Angora goat show. OMG very nice looking goats.

Spinning bee. Participants used either wheel or hand spindle. Timed spin. Couldn't stay to see results because there were way too many people.

We left the festival exhausted. Sunday is the sheep show for wool breeds and hopefully the crowds will have thinned out so we can get into some vendor booths.