harvest festival

I spent the past weekend sitting down by the millpond in town with a bunch of 4-H kids, helping them run a petting zoo and bake sale at our town's annual festival. Hauling sheep down there for two days in a row was not on my list of how I wanted to spend the weekend, but I couldn't be too grumpy about it because I get such a kick out of the group.

Our 4-H livestock club is blessed with a lot of really great kids, who take genuine pleasure in each other's company despite considerable age differences. Terzo is the youngest at 5, but the group goes up to seniors in high school and college-age kids who were in the group not so long ago. They love to sit together for hours on end, just hanging out. Don't get me wrong, they have their moments when they drive me around the bend, but for the most part they act like a large family and rarely tire of time together. One of my constant thoughts when I see them interact is how lucky they are to have such a positive connection in their lives. Every year I think that the magic can't possibly last another year, but it somehow does.

Here they are at the start of the festival (the kids made the vendor cart last year with the help of one of the 4-H fathers):

It was a bit chilly and damp on Saturday, so Primo had to borrow Oreo's fur coat to help keep him warm (I think the rabbit appreciated the body heat as well).

By the end of the weekend, they had sold almost everything on their cart, and I had finished Colonnade, my Rhinebeck knit.

Yes, that's right: I am actually blocking it a little early! I can't wait until it is dry so I can really get the finished effect. Now, to accomplish everything else before I leave for Rhinebeck on Friday...