The Geekend That Was, 4/15

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We had THE most gorgeous weather this weekend...warm but not too hot, clear and not too humid. We were pretty wiped out from the week...although I did get some relief at work on Thursday afternoon (I can now see a light at the end of the tunnel, although I will not rule out the possibility that it's a train). Anyway, we got a late start on Saturday, but we ran by the library to pick up some books and DVDs to prepare us for our upcoming Europe trip. Not having cable, I had never experienced Samantha Brown before. I gotta say, that although her perkiness might get to me eventually, her aversion to cold and affinity for cool, nice hotels would make us good travel partners. ;)

Before the library, however, we ran a few blogiversary-related errands. I haven't forgotten my giveaway!! I'll announce the winner tomorrow, I promise. I usually conscript the hubby into "drawing" service and it seems like we haven't had two free seconds lately...but maybe I'll let the SCOD decide this time! Anyway, our first stop was the Atlanta History Center, where I was looking for a very specific item (score!). Now I am the last person to wax enthusiastic about anything with "history" in its title, but we had a great time! We were only planning on hitting the gift store and the garden, but when we arrived, we found out there was a Sheep to Shawl festival going on!

I know at some of these events there are competitions where they actually do start with a sheep and end up with a knitted shawl, but this wasn't one of them.

However! I did get to see a sheep get shorn!

 

I couldn't BELIEVE how much wool came off this little sheepie!

Another animal whose fur I'm fond of knitting...

 

I don't know if you can see his sign, but it says "Dudley the alpaca. I do not spit!" LOL.

There were the sweetest curly-haired goats (so soft!), a burro, a miniature pony, a crazy-looking rooster and a giant rabbit, but I didn't want to make any parents nervous by photographing their children who were petting them. =) (You don't know what gymnastics I went through to get Dudley's picture!) But take a look at this sweet Highlands Cow!

 

And I thought Jersey cows were cute. I mean, they are...but look at Lily here!! The best part of the petting "zoo" was that it was on the grass, in the shade, with no fence around the animals (they were tethered or in open-top cages or wagons). They had brushes you could use on the animals and it was fairly uncrowded.

And now for something completely different:

 

Spinning! The lady in the hat is warning me she might break my camera (I asked if I could photograph them). I told her not to worry, her hat brim saved it, LOL!

After looking at all the kids' activities (dipping candles and story time were very popular), we wandered into the quarry gardens (situated, unsurprisingly, in an old quarry).

 

The rhododendrons were starting to bloom!!

 

If you ever do go to the History Center, do take the tour of the Swan House. It's totally worth it.

 

This view is only visible if you take the short walk through the woods, or book a really ritzy reception and get to come in the front drive. =)

The walk back was through the Asian garden. It features Asian plants and their Southern counterparts.

 

And more rhododendrons!

 

After the History Center, we went and got plants for the deck. Hopefully I can share pictures soon! It was pretty late by the time we got home; we only managed to watch half of Amadeus. =)

Sunday after church there were more blogiversary errands, an emergency power cord drop-off for DF Teresa who was in town for a class (LOVELY canvases I saw there!), and epic planting on the deck. I was so exhausted at the end of the day from walking around all over and planting that I could hardly move! So no stitching happened. =( Ah, well, you can't have everything!!

JiffNotes
This much pollen in one weekend is still not good for me.