Rhinebeck Day 2

(warning: heavy photo content) Sunday I didn't set an alarm to go off so I slept in. Considering how tired I was the previous night it was good to get the rest. As it was I was up by 9 am and on my way back to the Dutchess County fairgrounds. I expected to be parking some ways from the entrance, but Asphalta, the goddess of parking, was very generous and gave me a place right next to the path that led to the entrance. The day before I had had a good spot but finding my vehicle when I was done was awful. Thank goodness for the horn button on the remote, else I would have been there for over an hour looking for it.

My focus on Sunday was taking pictures. I had no obligations so I was free to wander about and see what people had to offer. There were fewer people so it was much easier to see things and get around. Breakfast was one of the yummy chicken pot pies and coffee at the 4H booth. The wind wasn't as fierce as the day before but while I ate I still needed to wear my shawl. And there was plenty of people to watch walk by in their knits.

My first stop was at the farm implement museum. In a fenced off section stood a number of steam powered machines all fired up and running. There was a conveyor belt, a couple of water pumps, a planing saw, and a finishing saw. One man was taking logs of wood and running them through the planer then finishing off the edges to make planks. I was able to take one as a souvenir for Rod aka ToolMan to see if he could make some shawl pins out of it. The place was noisy with popping, farting, and hissing as the machines chugged away.

I worked my way through several buildings, fondling fiber, asking questions, and observing. I found a vendor who was selling custom made wheels using a Majacraft-type flyer. I found another vendor who was needlefelting fiber inside a cookie cutter. The range of colors available of fiber was dazzling. I snagged business cards from those vendors and others I wanted to follow up with later when I was more flush with cash and because the crowds were smaller I was able to talk with vendors about their products.

I made a stop at the livestock arena to see the sheep that were waiting their turn at the judging. Another building had been set aside to display different breeds of sheep. I took photos of the different breeds and most I can identify now but foolish me didn't take notes. There were certainly more breeds than I've seen here in the NW but there were also a few missing. Considering how many breeds of sheep there are there's a limit in how many you can show. The breed of the show was the Oxford, a breed I'm not familiar with, and the sheep there were quite nice.

After all the wandering around I decided to take a break. I found a bench set at a crossing of several paths and sat down to spin for a while on my new handspindle, the music of the Peruvian band wafting from nearby. It was a great fit for the fiber I had brought to play with, so I was churning out my single without any effort at all. Occasionally someone would slow down to watch and little kids were fascinated. A few people came up to me and asked me questions about spinning which I did my best to answer. The most interesting person was a woman who came to me and had me feel some white fiber in a baggie. It turned out to be Samoyed fur. I can see why people would spin it – it's so soft and has no smell at all.

I ended my day with a nice dinner and an early bedtime. The following day I wasn't going to leave until late in the afternoon, giving me time to visit my friend Sadelle and drive through the countryside to enjoy the fall colors. It was an exhausting but very enjoyable weekend. Would I go back? Not likely what with the crowds. If I do I'd most likely visit one of the other fiber festivals in the area and focus on meeting up with my friends. But Rhinebeck is still an experience I'll remember and say, "Yep, I've done it."