Flying Goat Farm

This will be the first in a short series of posts outlining the wonderful yarns I bought during the 2017 Maryland Sheep and Wool. Look for more posts throughout the coming weeks as I will be providing links to the designers.

One of the first purchases I made during the festival was this beautiful Corrie Sock SW Wool/Nylon from Flying Goat Farm. The colorway is Fire Opal. I couldn't resist the dark colors combined with the soft blue-greens and that wonderful pop of pink (and I must say I'm sorry about the horrible light in this photo). I must admit that I didn't pick this yarn with a project in mind, but chances are it will become a shawl of some type. I may have to play with it to see how those colors work together in stitches.

Maryland Sheep and Wool 2017

One of my favorite parts of the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is the working dogs demonstrations.

Sure, there are sheep.

But these dogs are so dedicated to their craft. I will sit on a cold bench for 30 minutes just waiting for the working dogs to show up. Why? Because working dogs of all types are amazing to me.

Two of the dogs this year were there last year. Old ones. This fella is 11.

And young ones. I will say this 3-year-old lady mellowed a bunch in the last year. She is still eager to work but now works so much better with her human partner.

Friday was rainy so Saturday was muddy. I learned about the spectacular mud in a prior year and packed my boots. I wasn't going to get muddy sneakers again.

I did stop over to see this smiling face between the humanity-packed trudge through the vendor barns. I love to see all the wonderful creators and their creations but the crush of people can make me feel like I want to bolt. More than once I passed by a shop just because there were too many people.

This happy bunny face was hanging out over in the rabbit barn. Sure there were plenty to pet, but I just wanted a picture to share. He looks like he doesn't mind missing the attention.

Did I do any shopping? Of course I did! I'll spend the next week going through this pile of loot to share the names (and links) of the amazing creators that made this all possible.

Camping and Breakfast Casserole

This week has been super busy.

Last weekend we loaded up the travel trailer and headed to western Maryland for the Sheep and Wool Festival. I think this is the fourth year I've attended. The first step was to make the bed with this amazing quilt.

The next morning I pulled together the ingredients of some breakfast casserole. What is in breakfast casserole you ask? Well, loads of tasty and bad for you things.

• 1 cup of Thrive sausage crumbles
• 2 cups shredded potato (I used frozen hash browns, and a single layer of tator tots will do the job just as well)
• 1/2 cup of pico de gallo
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Don't forget to grease the baking dish. Trust me on this one. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Follow the directions to rehydrate the sausage. Mix the potato, rehydrated sausage, and pico de gallo in small bowl, pour into the baking dish (I used a round cake pan lined with foil) and spread evenly. Whisk eggs and pour over potato mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake 35-40 minutes, let cool for 5 minutes before cutting.

This is what happens when you forget to grease the pan. It wasn't tragic but it wasn't easy to serve. This recipe makes 2-4 servings depending on the size of your appetite.

I've heard that the heat of some RV ovens can be uneven. We picked up an inexpensive pizza stone to put in the bottom of the oven to help even out the temps inside. We bought the Nordic Wear Pizza Stone. It seemed to do the job, but there isn't much finesse with breakfast casserole. It did work out for the little cake I baked. That will have to wait for another post.

Odds and Ends

I wanted to have a nice post about my recent trip to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival but the last couple days have been busier than I expected so I don't even have all the pictures in one place much less the time to write a post about it.

So, here is a picture of my blooming strawberry plant.

 A wonderful iris from my front garden.

 The bind-off on my Hale-Bopp Mystery Knit Along Shawl.

And the beautiful green that I find on my afternoon walks.

I promise something with a little more substance for Friday.