Round Tuit

I have had several loyal readers contact me "encouraging" me to update my blog. Don't worry, I will be starting to update it tomorrow. I will start with the Michigan Fiber Festival.

The photo today is one I took this morning outside the doors of the library at work. It felt like fall this morning and apparently I was not alone. I heard the same comment throughout the day.

I'm home...

I am home. It wasn't a smooth ride home, but I'm home safe.

Image by stevendepolo via Flickr

I have been in Kalamazoo since last Wednesday attending the Michigan Fiber Festival. I am physically and mentally exhausted. I am suffering from extreme sensory overload as well. I think I am good, shopping-wise, at least. I didn't overspend. I will be able to confirm this after

Color, texture, ideas, knowledge, excitement and the smells of herbs, food, fiber and the animals that produce it.

I did not take a single photograph. I will be completely relying on my new gadget, Zemanta, for photos from the festival. Thankfully, there are lots of photos from this year's festival available through the creative commons!

Image by stevendepolo via Flickr

I will update my blog throughout the week in order to cover the entire experience. My plan is to break it down by day and try to include all I can remember of the vendors, classes and experiences! I learned soooo much! From angora and drumcarding to picking out fleeces and spinning alpaca...and that was just from the vendors! The classes are whole other story!

Image by stevendepolo via Flickr

This was the first of three fiber festivals in our "house crawl". I will have to see if I have mentioned this before in a previous post. If not, I will elaborate later this week. Right now, I have a couples threads to tie up and then I will return to a vegetative state. Like Sadie, here.

Meap Week is over

I survived MEAP Week! Some days were more tiring that others, but I really had a great group this year. I was bummed when the MEAP Week Newspaper came out (Journalism class) and there was a giant photo of me on my class page - that was it. No kids' photos. The kids were bummed too. They noticed immediately. There were some quotes from several kids, and they were excited about that too. The journalism teacher is going to post a copy on his website and I will link to it when it goes "live".

After hours, when not going to bed super-early, I washed more fiber, walked with Barbara and Maisy, weed whacked, or tried to rest in the hammock.

Image via Wikipedia

Today I rushed into town after work to make the 3pm deadline for submitting entries at the county fair. I entered two of Dad's drawings in the Art division. My charcoal cat and the second fish from the pair created with colored pencils. The first fish won first place at the Ogemaw County Fair last summer. They were going to do the judging this evening. I will check it out tomorrow and see how he did. :)

Mud bogs are there tomorrow too. I enjoyed those the last couple years.

I am getting hooked on Add-ins and gadgets for Firefox. I downloaded Zemanta.

Image via CrunchBase

It suggests pictures or other content based on what you type in your email, posts, or blog. Just click on any photo or content and it is added to what you are typing. It will not replace my photos, but they are nice to have when you are short on photo opportunities due to exhaustion...or when last blog entry was a tough act to follow.

Oh, and thanks to whomever posted the comment referring to that purple wreck as a goal for my retirement! lol

I have also downloaded the add-on called yoono. It follows facebook, twitter, flickr, and yahoo messenger all in one place. There is a share option also, but I haven't played with it yet. I think it will take whatever content is on the page you land on and stick it into a twit, or status update. I may experiment on you guys. Beware!

Image via CrunchBase

I'm off to read the Twisted One's blog, I noticed an update on my way into posting my blog.

Next week is the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan! Woo hoo!

MEAP Week 2009 and my favorite photo opportunity to date

I am behind in my blogging responsibilities. I have been busy at work and the weather has been nice too. I am doing my best to enjoy the pleasant weather. Pleasant, but not hot. I unwrapped the gazebo right after the 4th of July weekend and haven't been able to go back since. Our sunny days have been mid 70's and windy. Hopefully August will be warmer.

When I get home, my usual practice has been either a nap in the hammock or sorting and washing wool on the back deck. I am making good progress on the fleeces, but still have maybe 5 more to do. There is at least one that will be too matted to process normally. I am thinking of cleaning it and felting the back to see what kind of rug it will make.

Once and awhile, my neighbor will see me working on the deck and wander over to check progress and visit. Last time she was over, her dog followed her 1/2 way and stopped. He has been trained for an invisible fence and will not proceed any further. Check out how he sits and waits for her! We were laughing at him as he laid there looking like "sad sack".

Today was the beginning of MEAP Week. This is the week I work with the 4th grade MEAP kids and teach them web design. The orientation was today out at the college and it went well. I had only 2 students show up - out of the 20 students I will have next week. I sat in the back with Erin (French) and Samara (Spanish) and filled out paperwork. Erin said it was real busy at the party store the night before and I asked, "why". Well, it is Bud Bash Weekend (click on the link to read more about it and see an aerial view). It didn't take long to address their questions and give them an overview. I was on my way to Houghton Lake by noon.

After finding out it was BB Weekend, I was not looking forward to going to Houghton Lake, but I was hopeful that everyone would be out on their boats, instead of on the road or at Walmart. WRONG. Traffic was heavy and the store was a zoo. I grabbed everything I needed and was out of the store in 30 minutes. No one was harmed in the process, but I was tempted.

I got almost everything. I still needed a weed wacker. The back yard is completely out of control. Even Sadie is afraid to try and break trail through it! I didn't see any name brand electric ones at Walmart, so I headed to Home Depot. When I pulled in I saw the RV in this photo. It was still there when I came out, but pulling away. I followed it through the parking lots until I could snap this photo. Aren't you glad I did? You can't make this stuff up!