Heritage Crafts and Politics

What a great weekend!
Last night my friend Denise, her daughter, Lily and I attended a fundraiser in Pine City for Democratic candidate Tim Faust. He's running for the MN house. It was a fun evening. Democratic state senate candidate Tony Lourey and his mother, Becky Lourey who currently holds that office, were there and they were very personable.
Al Franken was there and he was fantastic. I love the way he mixes humor and politics - his speech was great. He was mixing with the crowd and seemed very interested in all the people that attended. I loved all the speeches and how personable all the candidates were. I encourage everyone to get out and vote in the upcoming election. Every vote counts!
On Saturday I took a class at the Kanabec History Center and learned to do "countered twining" rug weaving. Using fabric cut into stips and a simple loom, you can make beautiful durable rugs that will last for decades. These rugs look like they are braided, but they aren't. I was surprised at how heavy they were. I wish I had a photo to show you, but I'll have to wait until I get one made -- I didn't bring the camera to class.
Stan worked on repairing the pole barn even though it was so cold and windy over there. He got the roof done (except for the peak) and started on the walls. We now have cattle grazing the pasture, about 30+ head. It's so nice to see them out there making use of the nice grass that grew in after the fire cleared it this summer.
Oh, and Saturday night we were guests for a delicious spaghetti and lasagna dinner at our friends, Dick and Kate's. Kate is an excellent cook and a truly creative person. She has a wonderful old spinning wheel dated 1899 that she got from her grandmother. I wished I had brought some string along so we could have gotten that wheel going. It looks to be in excellent condition with all the parts...