Huge Thank you

Can I just say.....I had so much fun at the MSSBA show this year.  We had so many friendly, helpful volunteers and exhibitors this year.  Several familiar faces and a few new faces, but all were supportive and there to have a good time.  I got to meet some great youth exhibitors this year, and what a fine bunch they were.  The young people at this year's event exhibited professionalism, good sportsmanship, maturity and friendliness that makes me smile each time I think about watching them.  Good job kids, I'm sure all your parents are very proud.
Every workshop that took place ran over it's allotted time due to all the questions, no matter how many times Kate and Alan got side tracked or hit with new questions, they patiently and thoroughly answered us.  I don't think our UK friends could have been any nicer, they simply wanted to help in any way they could.

If you happen to see Lori Stephenson.......hug her, if you can't hug her, visit her blog and thank her, she was instrumental in making the entire show happen this year.  Without her, I'm not sure how it would have been done.  I'd like to thank all the folks that helped me with things too.......Corinne Rasso, Marie, Maureen Koch, Garrett Ramsay, Krisi from Argyle Fiber Mill, Kim Nikolai, Cyndee Wolff, Terri Mahlkuch, Clayton Mahlkuch, Donna Wolff, Theresa Gygi, Juliann Budde.......and the biggest thank you of all goes to my hubby that tirelessly waited on me all weekend while I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off.   Without Mike, the Shetland herd at our place would not exist.

We had one last session with Kate and Alan at the WSWF on Sunday morning.....sadly, I and a number of other volunteers had to leave the talk before it's conclusion due to having classes that started at noon and we needed to get set up.  How I wish I could have seen the last 10 minutes or so of that workshop.  I know there was a lot of great questions and discussion concerning wool and it's properties.  One participant mentioned that the crimpy wool was problematic for her and asked Kate and Alan what she was doing wrong in her spinning process to cause the issue that was a concern.  In their usual friendly manner they simply indicated that might be a question better answered by a fellow spinner.  At that point a few spinners in the audience chimed in and suggested someone more experienced with spinning Shetland fiber might be an avenue to pursue.  This sort of exchange of ideas is what makes the Shetland and fiber community such a great place to reside.
The entire weekend glowed with this sense of wonder and awe for me.  The atmosphere in the barn was friendly, relaxed and visitors commented to me on how great everyone was about answering questions for them.  I think more than one person that strolled through for the first time fell in love with all our Shetland sheep.  Comments about how cute and sweet the sheep seemed were overheard, and a couple folks stopped me and asked me questions about my sheep.  There is even this great "front page" article in the Country Today newspaper this week showing Alexandria and Andrew Tobey with one of their sheep.  Cross your fingers that I can get it scanned and post it.  :)
So again, thank you, I'm proud to be a part of such a great group of people.

That which angers us, controls us.