Friends in DC

Jo made at least two new friends at Jean's: Harry Potter and Snowball.

 And fell for Awesome at the Scheyers. He is carrying two balls in his mouth, one behind the other (the dog, I mean.)

 I would have taken Lucky home but he decided to stay with the Scheyers and catch chipmunks.

Rosh Hashana

We were lucky enough to be included in the Berney's Rosh Hashana celebrations which included their three grandchildren. 
The three grand cats stayed out of the way.
There is Merlin who spends most of his time in Carolyn's wardrobe:

Merangue who, at 17 has perfected the art of sleeping:

And Nim who loves the garden and wants you to spend time there with her:

Not that that is a hardship.

Complex Weavers Seminars

I cannot remember which seminars I chose way back in February but was happy, like most people, with the ones that I was given:
     Looms of SE asia 
     Advanced Inkle Weaving Techniques
     Weaving fringes found in early American Coverlets
     Lituanian weaving
     Designing multishaft crackle
     Designing, weaving and wearing tartan
I don't take photos in seminars because I try to concentrate on listening and taking notes. But I couldn't resist a photo of this neat fringe.

 One evening there as a fashion show. Usually this takes place after dinner with attendees walking through the dining hall showing off their weaving. This year an auditorium was available which scared some weavers not used to walking on stage. So Grete asked me to model her scarf. In return she gave me a Lillian Whipple card. The bee weaving is 1 inch long and half an inch high. Darrly Lancaster was the MC.

I helped Janet Stollnitz display those hand wovens that were not suitable for the stage like scarves and table napery. It was hard to keep weavers from handling the exhibited works. But guarding the exhibits kept me away from the silent auction going on at the other end of the hall.

 It was lovely to spend time with my Waterford Weaver mates, Liz, Melissa and Linda. Jo enjoyed them too.

The seminars were held at the 4H centre = head, heart, hands and health.

Vienna

The reason I didn't blog while travelling was that my iPad told me that my Picasa file was full and I couldn't upload any more photos. The paper dresses that I uploaded yesterday to show my fashion/textile curators at PHM are still there today. But the animals I met on my travels are not on the Awlsome blog. Something is happening. . . .
I just checked (to get the awlsome url) and the photos are back again. Who knows. . . .

Vienna is looking very prosperous. There are a couple of McMansions in our old neighbourhood. Our old house has been stripped bare of most of the trees and my gardens have all gone. But the house seems to be in good nick and has a new front door.
The deer are a problem all over the east coast. This man has one solution:

On one street, I took a photo of an old house, they were all like this when we first arrived. Small houses on big blocks with big trees and foundation plantings.













Then across the street:

Then next door:

Then catty corner:

Paper dresses

On a free day while staying at the Days Inn on Connecticut, we visited the Hillwood estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post to see the paper dress exhibition. 
They are lovely. First you scrunch large sheets of paper, iron it, scrunch it again, iron it, paint it, scrunch it, iron it, etc until it looks right and is made up. These are the work of Isabelle de Borchgrave.

Way behind

First, I did't have a connection from my camera to my iPad. Then I didn't have a good enough Internet connection. Now I seen to have both and, because we are on the bus to New York, I have the time to blog. The scenery is only of trees planted beside Route 95 . . . still all green.

We arrived in Vienna close to Wednesday morning, so I walked to Nottway Park, maned after this house, to visit my old farmers market. We used to play tennis there with a crowd of retired locals in the morning.

 The markets have moved to Oak Marr, 3 miles away and too far to walk. But I enjoyed hanging over the fences of the community garden plot beside the old house. It had only just been started when we left 12 years ago. Now the gardens extend over two huge paddocks. Strange when most Vienna houses are on large plots and what is not house is covered in grass.

 This was the only "wild flower" to be seen in the park.

Although there was a wild man close by. Jo got a warning for jay walking on his way to the Metro. He admitted that he had not crossed the road (off Nutley St) at the crossing but objected to a second policeman, in a marked car this time, taking his photo without his permission. We carefully crossed at crossings thereafter.

Complex Weavers Seminars

We are here at the 4H Conference Centre in Cheny Chase. But I haven't had time to blog. Soon.