My Own Two Cents

When I am finally recognized for my beauty, invited to take part in the Miss America pageant, and asked to describe my perfect day, I might come up with something like the day I had yesterday. The basic components, boiled down, are wool, rabbits, beer, goats.

Wool and Rabbits 

Upon hearing about the California Wool and Fiber Festival, I intended to make a weekend of it and include hiking and camping into the agenda. Then I dropped the ball and didn’t book a campsite in time. Phil, being the hero he is, agreed to go with me to Booneville which is about 2 hours away, for just a day. And who is Bethro to say nay in the face of such gallantry? So, we took a day trip to the Mendocino County Fair and Apple Show, which held the fiber festival.

He even posed for me next to pumpkins in which he and I could happily abide, with room for the cats. Posing for blog pictures is one of the ways the modern husband shows his love.

All of his good will paid off. He ended up quite glad we went because of this.

An English Angora Rabbit, whose fleece is about to be sheared and then spun right in front of our eyes.

The rabbit was blown out with a machine that looked like an old school vacuum that emitted instead of took in air. Then, and here’s the kicker, put into that bag and spun instantly. No carding. We watched this presentation for over an hour, so fascinating was the process and so cute the rabbits. In fact, we took a break (did a wine tasting) and came back to see the shearing, something Phil insisted on. And why not, when we got to see that bunny go from huge fluffball to this

and then eventually this.

I sat and knit and watched and sat and knit and watched…

…and got up to touch all the fleeces every so often.

Turns out, I was essential to the California Wool and Fiber Festival because not only did rabbit-man ask me how long it took me to knit a sweater to help him demonstrate the amount of work it took to get from rabbit to Angora sweater, but someone made a  prize-winning scarf with the yarn I am using for Amelia.

We spent three hours at the fair and enjoyed every minute of it. It helps that we get up about two hours earlier than most Californians and enjoyed a mostly crowd-free, cool part of the day at the dusty fairgrounds. With the sun and the excitement, we were a little tired.

No napping for us, though. We went on to…

Beer and Goats

I’ve been playing up Phil’s sacrifice in driving four hours to indulge my fiber needs, but in truth, Booneville has another draw. One we discussed with enthusiasm before our little road trip.

We got to Anderson Valley Brewing Company a little after 1:00, took a look at the schedule, and decided we likely wouldn’t stick around for the tour at 3:00. Killing two hours at a visitor’s center just didn’t seem that likely. So, we each got a pint and sat in the beer garden.

Phil’s got a Poleeko Gold Pale Ale, delicious and hoppy, like much of the micro brews in California. In my glass you see Brother David’s Triple Abbey Style Ale. Originally, I was going to get a pale ale, because I likes em hoppy, but Phil talked me into the ale. You see, it has 10% ABV, and he was driving but wanted a taste. And, it was one of the best beers I’ve had recently. Sort of sweet like a barley wine, but not too sweet. It had that taste I always think of as “Christmasy” that you find in also in Pacific Coast Brewing Company’s Gray Whale Ale and Unibroue’s Fin du Monde.

Anyway, at 10% ABV you can bet I made that beer last over an hour. I was sipping (and enjoying it) at room temperature about 1/2 hour after Phil’s Poleeko Gold was a thing of the past. When the last bit finally went down the hatch, we sauntered out to the front where we had spied some…

Pygmy goats! And yes, that’s an adorable little baby there in the back. By the time we were done feeding the goats some delicious dried fodder just outside the fence, Phil’s watch read ten of 3:00.  With the fates smiling on us, we took the brewery tour, one of the better tours I’ve been on. Some things we learned:

• Not only does AVBC produce 65% of their energy with solar panels on site, they sell the old grains to local farmers for livestock feed.
• “Boontling” is an old language of Booneville that the locals used (and a select few still use) to confuse “bright lighters” or outsiders. Their beers are often named in a combo of English and Boontling. E,g, “Poleeko” is the Boontling word for “Philo,” a nearby town.
• The brewery has two small kegs that employees can use to experiment and do their own brews on when they like.
• They’re offering some new, small batch, unfiltered beers in only a few days at the brewery. But! We might be able to find them at the Toronado. Woo!

After the tour we got our tasting, and I had the Cerveza Crema (which I’d had before but the season’s almost over, so…) and Brother David’s Double. Phil had the wheat (good, but not all that wheaty) and the Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout.

All in all, by the time we left we were approaching dinner time. So we stopped in Santa Rosa, ate pub food (I had a Racer 5 as well, since I wasn’t driving), and collapsed on the couch.