LUCKY...

This is Mary Ellen. Mary Ellen is the president of MSSBA (the Midwest Shetland Sheep Breeders Association). Mary Ellen is lucky because she stepped on a copperhead snake and lived to tell about it.We had the 2006, summer MSSBA meeting in the Bluff Country this past weekend.

In conjunction with the MSSBA meeting, we also had Letty Klien and Annie Brown, co-authors of the book "THE SHEPHERD'S RUG" present a hands-on workshop, where we all learned how to make a braided rug out of Shetland roving! It was awesome .
In spite of the suffocating heat & humidity, we had a grand time!

Letty & Ann are wonderful teachers...very patient and helpful. It amazed me how difficult it was for me to learn to braid "with my HANDS"...not my fingers.

It was hellishly hot a bit on the warm and humid side, so by 10:30 in the morning, we decided that it was time to bring out the Brandy Slush. It's a PERFECT "breakfast" drink!! It's got orange juice and lemon juice and tea ! Nobody even noticed the pint of Brandy... ; -)



During a break we, of course, walked out and met the sheep. Letty & Ann were impressed by the beauty of the Bluff Country.
Paco and Bravo hung around like a couple of family pets until Paco noticed I had the camera. What a ham!


What a wonderful weekend with wonderful people! Thank you to Nancy Larson and Mary Ellen for preparing lunch and doing the dishes! I apologize for the nightmare, trying to find anything in my kitchen cupboards is. I works for me ~ ;-)

Want to see my 'rug in progress'?.....Isn't it beautiful??? I can't believe I'm doing it myself! OR how much roving it uses up!! ;-)

We had so much fun visiting and chatting and sharing stories about our families, friends and of course, our Shetland sheep. I feel like the luckiest person alive. I live in SUCH a beautiful area, and have so many truly great friends.

My friend Becky missed the meeting this weekend because she had a booth in a fiber event in Mora, MN. While she was away, the land she and her husband had recently purchased and built a brand new pole barn on, went up in flames. Along with the new barn and all the hay that was stored in it. Becky was lucky. She didn't have any animals over there. They were able to save some valuable equipment and nobody was hurt.

Thank you to all my MSSBA friends and to Letty and Annie for a great weekend. I hope every one got home, safely and has a relaxing day today! I hope we can all count our blessings and be grateful for all the good things (and people!) we have in our lives. I am so grateful for all the wonderful people I have met through my Shetland sheep.

Dream says........"I feel pretty LUCKY too!"