I think that this is Farm Club's fifth annual retreat to San Francisco where we spend the night at the Home, designed by Julia Morgan and owned by the Native Daughters of the Golden West. If you search for NDGW in my blogs you will find photos of our activities during past retreats and of this gorgeous Home. We usually try to find a farm-related activity for Friday afternoon, but couldn't come up with one this year. Since a big storm was predicted we decided that it was just as well to curl up in the parlor for the afternoon and evening with our spinning and knitting projects. And that's just what we did.
We arrived in the early afternoon from the North Bay, East Bay, South Bay and Solano and Yolo Counties. Since there were to be 14 (!!) of us for dinner we scoped out our favorite restaurant and the pie place (where we get pie for the next morning's breakfast), were assured that there would be room for all of us at dinner, and returned to the Home (only a block away) to spin and knit for the afternoon.
This is an example of one of the 30 rooms that can be reserved for NDGW members and their guests. Each room is decorated and maintained by one of the many "parlors" around the state.
The rooms are on the third and fourth floors. This is looking down the stairway to the second floor. To the right is the dining room and a huge kitchen available to all who stay there. The atrium is directly across from the stairs and I found out on this visit that originally there was a glass pyramid in that area directly over the museum that is beneath. How wonderful that natural light must have been on the lower story. There was also decorative painting (I have just blanked on what that is called) on those columns and around the ceiling. To the left is the parlor where we spend our time socializing (albeit in pajamas instead of flowing gowns).
We walked up Baker Street to Green Chili Kitchen...
...where we had an early dinner, which left us plenty of time for our evening of sitting around in the parlor in our pjs.
There was a record 14 of us! Here are some of our projects:
Alene spun Teeswater wool.
Amy began a knitting project with help from Shelby.
Betty was knitting a shawl.
Wandering around the room to take a stretch break from projects one can find all kinds of interesting things. This is from an oversize journal in which donations to the Home were recorded. "Wool" caught my eye here. Other donations included tea towels, dishes, and preserves. Look at that penmanship!
Carol brought spinning and knitting.
Kathy set to work on deleting what may be an embarrassing number of emails that were bogging down her computer. She worked diligently on this all evening and made good progress.
Another break time with yoga for Amy and Shelby.
I worked on the Zoom Loom and on spinning Raquel's fleece, bringing far more than I could possibly spin in a week.
Joy needlefelted a guinea pig.
Polly worked on rug-hooking while Janis took photos and worked on her computer.
Another break. This is a book on the coffee table edited by John Muir.
Kathleen finished a handspun knitted sleeve. Only one more and a body to go!
Lisa spun and knitted. If you look closely you'll see someone else also wearing sheep pajamas.
Mary knit a colorful sock.
Shelby knitted and...
...Stephany worked on a sweater. She is wearing a Jacob sweater that she finished last year.
Stay tuned for the Saturday adventures of Farm Club in the City.
Colleen brought roses for all the tables...
Alison led a Sheep Portrait class.
Feeding the bottle baby drew a crowd.
At 4:00 everyone pitched in and sheep were put away, pens moved, and signs stored for next year in no time. Wow! What a crew! (What I haven't talked about in a blog post was the huge help that Farm Club members were during the last week when I had severe tendonitis and couldn't use my right arm at all. They did all the pen cleaning.)
