Did you know there is free Wi-Fi at the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center? Me neither. But they do, so I am writing this post while in my booth at the Smoky Mountain Fiber Festival in Townsend, TN. Of course I could have tethered my phone to get 4G but this is even better since I don’t have to use any of my precious 2G of bandwidth. LOL!
It’s been quiet today, and I have gotten some more knitting done on the Gust. I only have a couple more repeats to go.
Here’s a few shots of the booth.
The girls tool Elijah outside to explore. He lit up like a Christmas tree when he got sight of this old tractor. I daresay they had a hard time tearing him away.
This was not a real horse, and he was checking it out pretty intently. LOL
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Now this is hilarious!
There is an historic settlement/museum with cabins, a barn, and a sawmill.
Sorry for the sporadic posting lately. We are in the thick of fall show season and it won’t get less busy for awhile, but I will do my best to post as often as possible, like at least once a week. We leave on Wednesday for Wisconsin Sheep and Wool, which is quite a jaunt for us but worth the trip. We have been attending the festival since 2008. Our booth is in the East building and we are usually in the center aisle towards the back, a little down from Briar Rose Fibers.
We have had a fun Labor Day weekend that we have been looking forward to for months. Our second daughter Heather and son-in-law Garrod brought the grandbaby down from Baltimore for her first visit to see the whole family. Jerry and I went with Elijah and Cassie (daughter #4) when baby Willow was born, but we have only seen her on Skype since then (late February), and the rest of the family hadn’t seen her in person at all. It still doesn’t feel real that we are grandparents, even though it looks completely normal for me to see Heather with a baby. I guess since she spent much of her time growing up helping with little ones that it looks natural to me, but I still have a baby myself, so it’s a little weird. It’s a good weird though.
On Friday night Willow was having a hard time settling down for the night with all the noise and commotion which she’s not used to, so I took her outside for a walk in the quiet moonlight where the only sounds were crickets and my voice to bore her to sleep. During the course of our alone time before she passed out from sheer boredom, LOL, we agreed that I would be Nana to her. It fit better than any thing else I could think of, so yeah, we’re good with that. Everyone else agreed too.
She is such a little social butterfly! All of our children, especially when they were babies, were stranger shy. So, when Heather walked in the door with Willow and saw all of us, really complete strangers to her, I didn’t expect her to jump into the arms of one after another of us and just be all smiles and laughs. It was wonderful that she wasn’t leery of us, but it did surprise me.
Now, you know I took tons of pictures right? Of course! None of me, mind you. The babies are what you want to see anyway. I don’t like having me picture made unless it’s a candid shot, and even those can be dicey since my mouth is usually moving and that’s never good.
From left to right: Ian, Kyla, Emma, and Elijah; then Willow is up front.
Such a silly boy! He’s going to be her favorite uncle I bet, LOL!
Cassie with Elijah and Joanie with Willow.
Elijah trying to suavely remove the ball from my trailer hitch.
Notice that Cassie now has Willow and has a big smile? Check out the next picture.
Someone is feeling a little insecure about that I think. He did pretty good after they had been here for awhile but it freaked him out at first when Cassie or I, in particular, were holding Willow.
She was just so smiley and friendly!
Heather, the mommy, and I hope she won’t kill me for this one, but it was the only one I had from the visit. It’s not a bad picture to me but see there the mouth is open? That’s what always happens to me too. Sorry Bean.
EDITED to add some more I forgot about.
This one was taken minutes after they arrived, and see? She went right to Kyla like she has known us all her life. LOL
Uncles Josiah and Elijah
What a ham, right?
This was the suspicion which Elijah regarded Willow for the first hour or so. LOL
Okay Heather, I did find a better picture with Emma claiming the spot light for a few minutes.
The visit was all too short though and they are on their way back home today. We miss you already!
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We have been attending the festival since 2008. Our booth is in the East building and we are usually in the center aisle towards the back, a little down from Briar Rose Fibers. 
During the course of our alone time before she passed out from sheer boredom, LOL, we agreed that I would be Nana to her. It fit better than any thing else I could think of, so yeah, we’re good with that. Everyone else agreed too.
