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Weatherwise, the '03 Festival was just perfect for two people
coming down from Maine. Daytime temps were mostly in the mid 60's
( 18 degs C ) -- the sun was in and out -- mostly out
-- there was a little breeze. 
Early
Sunday morning there was the slightest spit of drizzle for just
a moment or two, but that was even earlier than the Festival's
opening at 9am.
There were people...........................
.....LOTS OF PEOPLE!
Sad picture: this is the empty space whereon the Hatchtown tent usually sits. Our vendor neighbors told us that on Saturday morning there was a BUNCH of DISGRUNTLED people looking for Hatchtown Farm. Sorry! I thought just about everyone had gotten the word that we were going to be a no-show.
We WILL there next year!
Happy Pictures!!
Our best buddy Allison C. took second place honors
with the the doll's sweater she knitted from yarn she'd spun herself.
I didn't have the guts to ask her whether she'd used a Hatchtown spindle to spin that yarn or not! <BG>
Pretty Pictures! 
Turn in just about any direction and you're greeted by the vibrant colors of dyed wool.
Here you're looking at bins of colorful locks dyed by Hope
Yankey of Wild and Wooly Coopworths and boxes of skeins
natural-dyed by Jody McKenzie at Shades at Tregellys Fibers
Mainers, Mainers, EVERYwhere! Robin
& Gil of Robin Wheels. I dropped by their booth twice,
but they were too busy to visit on both occasions!.
Likewise at Journey Wheel -- Jonathan & Sheila were
each schmoozing in two directions at once -- too busy to talk
to an anemic spindlemaker! <G
The ULTIMATE VENDOR award MUST go to Susie McFarland
of Susan's Fiber Shop. You have to see her at work to understand.
All at the same time, she can schmooze three customers, re-stock
a shelf, assemble a looom AND demo a spinning wheel.
....and MORE Mainers! Elaine of Pine Tree Yarns and
Seacolors' Nanney, the mother of the Maine Blanket, do
business in Maryland.
Jody of Shades at Tregellys Fibers rings up a sale. If Craig looks perplexed, it might be because three days earler he was in Syria servicing jet engines.
Wild and Wooly Coopworths' Hope Yankey offers
what appears to be some heartfelt advice :-)
Dan Korngiebel, hiding back in the shadows, runs The Yarn
Farm -- the place to go if you need a book on training a Border
Collie, wormer for your sheep or a shepherd's crook. By the way,
Dan has those crooks both right and lefthanded!!
Speaking of things vendorish, the two leftmost ladies are Margot Johnson and Carolyn Buckingham, Vendor Co-Chairs for the MDSW. They are both VOLUNTEERS! I can always get Carolyn to laugh, no matter how stressed she might be at the moment, by referring to the "big bucks" she gets for overseeing the vendors.
The lady <G> on the right is DW Pam 
This was the first time I'd ever made it down to the Festival's
"camping area" where the sheepdog demonstrations are
conducted. They put on quite an informative show!
I bet I walked up this hill a dozen times. Thank goodness I
have more red blood cells than I did a few weeks ago!! <BG>
MUSIC ! If you don't recogonize the middle picture as
being a hammered dulcimer, you MUST attend the next MD Festival
-- you're missing out on too much!!
If the vendors happen to leave any $$ in your pocket, then
there are the fleece sale and auctions where you can easily drop
the last of that cash!
There are almost non-stop sheep shows going on
for the two days of the Festival. There's no better place to get
a look at a breed you might never have seen before.
Look at this face!
I'm not so sure about the reason for wanting miniature
sheep === twice the problems with half the productivity??
I know this pic cannot convey the SMELL of grilled lamb. I
had a "pit lamb" sandwich on Saturday and a lamb sausage
sandwich on Sunday before we headed back north.
The
lamb for lunch in conjunction with having had scrapple for breakfast
BOTH mornings left this camper a happy one!
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