Wisconsin was wonderful! Uneventful travel both ways (with a spindle and Bart's hogget roving to keep my fingers busy); good times with fellow fine fleeced Shetland sheep breeders, a blog pal, a Ravelry acquaintance, and family; and beautiful, beautiful scenery, natural and manmade. It was so GREEN there! The following sunset photos were from Thursday evening at the fairgrounds; quite the welcome, don't you think?
Inexplicably, that's ALL the photos I took at WSWF – none of the Shetlands (there was a ewe lamb I loved), breeders, fleeces, or blog/Ravelry meet-ups (oh, wait; I did take a selfie with the Ravelry member). I downloaded a couple photos from Kelly Bartels' Facebook page so I had something to show for the reason behind going – judging Shetland fleeces. There were six classes (five different classes for various colors and one class of rooed fleeces); ALL the fleeces were crimpy and fine with not a straight, double-coated, or overly long fleece among them. That made picking an overall champion and reserve champion, plus "judge's choice," VERY difficult, though I did my best.
On Friday evening my mom's cousin and his wife picked me up and took me to their lovely home on the Fox River. Sunset on the road:
The next two days were filled with talking, walking, driving, eating, and looking through family photos – in other words, making precious memories!
From walk #1:
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| Random pretty house – I LOVE looking at pretty houses and yards |
From the end of walk #2, near cousin's house:
From walk #3:
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| Appleton, WI is the birthplace of Houdini, who inspired this sculpture |
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| A jaw-dropping house on the river and across the street from Lawrence University |
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| This is the front |
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| And nearby, an unfortunate piece of public art 😳 |
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| Lawrence University |
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| Lawrence University Chapel |
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| LOTS of public art around Appleton... |
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| ...which is known for its annual music festival |
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| An old paper mill on the river turned into high-end apartments |
A few old family photos:
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| A Nystrom – on horseback! (Inscription is in Swedish; not sure if this was taken there) |
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| My great-grandparents |
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| The original Nystrom homeplace in Minnesota |
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| A great candid photo of my great-aunt Hilma, my host's mother |
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My host's caretaker while his mother recovered from childbirth
(his mother was 47) |
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| My great-aunt Anna and her husband |
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| I didn't know that my two great-aunts started two different beauty shops! |
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| From left to right: my grandma with sisters Hilma and Anna |
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| My mom's oldest sister; they were missionaries in Hawaii before statehood |
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| My mom's other sister with husband and oldest daughter |
Family 😊:
And then it was home again to dry, brown, dusty Oregon. But the forecast holds rain – over an inch! – this weekend, so it won't be long until we start greening up, too. Hurray!
Next post, the news from here.
That's it for my Wisconsin trip from . . .
10 comments:
Good for you for taking the trip to the Midwest. And lots of kudos to you for being asked to be a judge. You know your stuff, girl! Visiting a new place, especially when family is involved, can be a real upper. Glad you got the chance to go. :o)
Wonderful photos! So glad that you went to Wisconsin.
And what about the ewe lamb??
The time spent with family, priceless. Thanks for sharing the family photos.
welcome home!
I am, too, Mama Pea; I am, too!
Debbie, the lamb would not have been happy stuffed into my carry-on, and she wasn't for sale anyway. But four girls went in with Spot this afternoon, so hopefully I'll have some good-looking ewe lambs of my own next spring!
Looks like it was an absolutely fantastic trip! I loved all the photos. Beautiful time of year to visit. And it sounds like you were surrounded with wonderful people too!
It just jumps off the screen what a wonderful mix of sheep and family. I love old pictures and yours were so interesting. Loved this post.
What a wonderful time you had! I almost went to WSWF this year but had to back out at the last minute. Glad you enjoyed the trip. It was fun looking at the photos of Appleton as I have been there many times while in college in Milwaukee. They brought back some good memories. Congrats on being asked to judge fleece, it’s such an honor. Living in the Midwest is an experience all of it’s own.
Sounds like a wonderful trip all around. Glad you had fun and got to expand the family knowleldge.
Thanks for your pictures and comments about your trip! What a wonderful time for you! Wisconsin is a lovely state. I've been there twice, long ago, though not to visit relatives.
Your spinning en route, was lovely, as it always is!
I'm so glad you were given the honor of judging the fleece there. What a treat for you!
Welcome home to Oregon!
YE to all of what you said, Leigh!
I'm glad the joy came through the post, Elaine. 😊
Oh, it would have been fun to meet you, Kim! I have lived several places in the Midwest – Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota – and visited others. But I don't remember Wisconsin being this beautiful!
It was, Sue. And this has been my year to expand family knowledge, starting with the Alaska trip, then visiting often with my cousin after that, to this trip.
Thanks, Jeanne; it was ALL a treat.
What a great trip! We loved the Wisc. festival the year we went :-). And of course love Wisc. as a whole ;-).
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