Have you had your daily dose of FIBER?

Sarah and I had a very fun and relaxing trip to the Michigan Fiber Festival yesterday. Our adventure started out at 8 with breakfast in Haslett at this little breakfast/lunch diner whose name is completely escaping me. It's at the corner of Haslett and Marsh, where "Great Wall of China" used to be. I've never eaten there before and thought that it was just what this area needed -- a non-chain, little place to have a good breakfast.





With that said, we didn't actually make it to Allegan until 10:30-ish, but that was still early enough for all that we had wanted to do. We first visited the barn and the vendors there, ran into friends, and saw a sheep-herding demonstration, though the dog didn't seem to be taking commands too well and kept taking off and hiding under a nearby truck and trailer.








After that, we visited the animals in the second half of the barn and saw everything but the goats. If we really wanted to buy a llama, sheep, or anogora bunny, we could have; but then I'm sure there's an Okemos-code against that.

The llama in the photo on the left reminded me of Chuck's mom's dog; the one in the center just loved posing and having its photo taken; and I thought the guy on the right had quite the mop-top cut.




The bunnies were really quite something and if Sylvain were with us, I'm sure he'd beg for one. Unlike the llamas, they really didn't like to pose and since they were in these smaller cages, I needed to get up close to take their photo without having the cage take over the picture. Every time I approached the cage and got the camera in place, they'd each run over thinking that I had something to fed it or that I wanted to pet it.

Luckily, I got quicker on the draw and was able to get a couple of decent shots of these guys. They're like live-action bunny slippers!









There was an overwhelmingly large variety of sheep. If I were really into knitting (okay, roll your eyes) or if I were into spinning, then I'd probably be able to tell each from appearance, but pretty soon, they all started to blend together. Sarah kept commenting that she'd love to just reach over the fencing and pet a couple, but after seeing one nip at a guy standing next to us, her fears about how deceptively unfriendly the sheep could be were confirmed. We ended our tour of the barn by watching part of a shearing demo.




After we visited the animals, we headed over to the other two buildings, which were full of vendors. We were both very good, with Sarah purchasing only one skein of a very nice silk (called "Silk Thread" by Blue Moon, which I was also tempted to buy b/c of the beautiful colorways and luster that each shone). Maybe when I really get into lace knitting, I'll take the plunge and try out this yarn. I bought a table-top swift that I've been looking for. It's maple and doesn't need to be clamped to a table.

Needless to say, I was very satisfied with my trip to the fest; so, before leaving the Allegan area, we decided to have lunch at a restaurant in nearby Plainwell that I had visited before while doing field work on the Kalamazoo River. It was a small "colonial British-Indian" restaurant called London Grill. If you didn't know for a fact that the restaurant was there, then you'd never guess that such a place would be in Plainwell. The menu is very unique (check it out for yourself as it's on their webpage).

Our lunch started with an order of papadam chips and a very tasty chutney (was it apricot?) that had a little kick to it that came at the end of each bite. Sarah had the sauteed cod, which was topped with a black-bean sauce and came with a side of white rice and spiced cabbage. I ordered saag paneer, which is a vegetarian Indian dish of spinach, mustard leaves, curry, and a cheese called paneer (I dare you to find that one at Meijer!). My dish came with a side of rice, grilled veges, red dahl, naan, and *I think* a dollop of dill sauce. We can both say that our lunches were excellent and were very filling.

The ride home was uneventful and seemed to go pretty quickly. I was so geeked by all of the yarn and project ideas seen throughout the day that I was inspired to sort through my stash (and if you're not a knitter, I know you're probably thinking something else right about now). In the process, 4 UFOs were uncovered; and several other queued projects were re-discovered. Now, I just need to do all of that again before Stitches Midwest, as a reminder that more yarn is needed in my house like a hole in the head....

I did feel a little guilty about spending my day playing with animals and yarn when I saw that Chuck had spent the day painting our house. I'm glad that he's keeping this project going and I'll be sure to join him out there next time out.

I did manage to watch a movie last night and thought that it was a good one: "Flawless" with Demi Moore and Michael Caine. It mostly takes place in the 1960s with Moore as an executive employee for London Diamond who keeps hitting the glass ceiling and Caine as a janitor for the firm who has plans to rob it of its jewels. I thought that it was suspenseful and this movie kept me watching. I also watched Disk 1 of Season 1 of Hex and really got into that. If you're a Buffy fan, you might want to try this one out; it's from the BBC and is somewhat different.