Hand Spun

Hand Spun
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Monday, July 18, 2011

Sawtooth Mountain Mama Craft Fair

The annual SMMCF came around again this month and my friend Karren and I had it on our list of "very important things to do." So we met in town at 7am and started to drive. It's an easy 3 hour drive from here to there but we had good company, a little music and loads of beautiful scenery to keep us busy!! The craft fair itself first of all smelled amazing. They had this bakery there that was making Navajo tacos and scones with honey and butter. Mmmmmmm!!! I didn't splurge on a scone but it was very tempting. There was a booth with dutch oven food - pulled BBQ pork and potatoes and cheese, a sno-cone booth, ice cream in giant waffle cones and a ton of other food we ended up just avoiding to keep from putting on 150 lbs each. :)
As for the craft booths, there were A LOT of jewelry booths. Some good. Some not so good. I don't wear much if any jewelry so it wasn't hard to look and not touch. There was a booth of homemade Native American flutes and a really amazing booth of these giant bells that were welded onto things like gears. They were functional art and too expensive for me but lovely to look at. I only found ONE fiber booth. Nobody was spinning either which disappointed me. Basically, as wonderful as it was to wander around and look and "oooohhh" and "aaaahhh" at things, we didn't find anything we couldn't live without. So we drove to Redfish Lake next and bought shirts. I try to get one every year when I go up. Here is this year's version.

Here is a picture of a few of the Sawtooth peaks as we were leaving Redfish Lake. Man I love those mountains!! I used to hike and backpack in them when I was younger and some days I long to do it again.


We went next to Alturas lake, got out our flip flops and towels and headed for the beach! The wildflowers up there this time of year are gorgeous too.
 Alturas was FREEZING! There is still a lot of snow in those peaks and it feels like it's melting directly into this lake. lol! Karren and I waded in until we were up to our knees and almost immediately lost feeling in both feet. My ankles started to ache and I realized why all the kids on the beach were making sand castles instead of swimming. ICE COLD WATER will do that. lol!
These gems grow just about everywhere you look. It's purple penstemon, buttercup and sheep sorrel in this picture. American bistort, monkshood, lupine and indian paintbrush grow in perfusion too. It's a wonderful area to learn about local flora and edible vs. poisonous plants. I cut my teeth on the subject up here. Just me and my field guides. There were fields of blooming blue camas up there as well. When the breeze blew it looked like a rippling lake of blue with the flower heads bobbing in the wind.
Next stop was this lovely little waterfall off the side of the road. I've driven by it a hundred times at least and never really stopped to play in it. This time we stopped. Both of us got down into the pool at the bottom and splashed around. I stood under it completely clothed and got a good soaking and I laughed the whole time. These are the things that seem ridiculous and frivolous if you think about them too long and you just keep driving by that waterfall until one day you don't go that way any longer and you've missed your chance. I'm not going to miss any more chances to enjoy something even if it's childish or frivolous. I got doused in this waterfall and even though I looked funny and even though I steamed dry on the way home, it was wonderful to laugh and feel good. The water was pretty cold but not as cold as Alturas lake was.
The Payette River was running high. Lots of groups were out riding the rapids. They looked cold but seemed like they were having fun. When we drove by the rafts when the river was calm on top the rafters were spread out on the rafts soaking in warm sunshine before they hit the next patch of cold, rough water. This picture is of a narrow area and although we could walk down to the water's edge, no amount of coaxing was going to get me in there. It's deep, fast, cold, and the undertow would be incredible I'm sure. But it was lovely to look at.
We just basically had a great time being outdoors on a warm sunny day in the middle of the woods. We had a little craft fair, a little lake time, some waterfall action, a river walk and a long drive to soak it all in. We topped it off with dinner in Horseshoe Bend at a nice little restaurant with good service. Can't ask for better than that.
Today I had to go back to work. Somehow even the grind of the normal every day activities didn't seem as onerous after Sunday's activities. I definitely need to get out like this more often.

4 comments:

  1. I wish I was there & could go too,such beautiful scenery!We have a lake here that is spring fed & it`s always ice cold till the end of summer.Then you`re spared a little.It has been years since we swam in it.With our heat wave,I almost feel like going,it`s not far.
    I may try to put out things at a fiber fair next year if I can get the time to get things together.This running in & out with the rabbits have me exhausted.I do love them tho.The goats don`t seem to mind the heat.phyllis

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  2. I love the tee shirt too.
    I have a natve american flute made from purple heart wood,it has a buffalo on the finial.Marina Raye`s husband,Charlie,made it.I play some,never had lessons tho.I wonder if the bells were on the finial of that one you saw?phyllis

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  3. Your photos are beautiful and I enjoyed reading about your day. Thanks for sharing this! I don't take time to stop and enjoy the little things enough.

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  4. By the way, this is Stephanie C. :-) I was trying to sign in with my AIM ID and it looks like it doesn't know me or something.

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