Stitchin' With The Dogs...

(If you're on dial-up...this is a picture-heavy post, so be forewarned!)
Today was the Virginia Fiber Folk (a Ravelry group) trip to Chateau Morrisette for "Stitching With The Dogs" (the dogs are an integral part of the history of the winery - and the wines - hence the name of our event!

We began the day with lunch (oh my what food!) and knitting in the restaurant...

What a great group! And we chatted and enjoyed what otherwise would have been a pretty dreary day...The other diners probably wondered about us - in fact a couple of older ladies stopped by to see about this crowd of women knitting and laughing at a dining room table with wine all around us!

Upon leaving the restaurant we took a short walk across the parking lot to the winery building:

We entered here (there's a gift shop, and they not only sell their lovely wines, but great cooking sauces and condiments, too, many made with the wines they produce). There's every conceivable wine accoutrement available in the shop.

Not being one who knows a thing about wine-making (do they still stomp on the grapes? well...not exactly) I was amazed to see these towering stainless casks (?) that the wines process in...

And frankly these oak barrels made a lot more sense to me...but I'm really a dry red-wine gal so of course, oak barrels are necessary for the flavor...Notice the pawprint on the casts - that's in honor of The Dogs, doncha know!


We left the winery late in the afternoon after participating in a tasting of a selection of 10 of their wines. I have a list of 1-2 white wines (yes, I liked a couple) and 2-3 reds that I'll be trying (or gifting) over the next few months...

And we drove down to Meadows of Dan to Greenberry House for yarn, fiber, knitting paraphenalia, vintage books, quilts, and an assortment of oddments. Leslie's shop is delightful - I'll show you the spoils of the trip in a minute.

On our way back to Roanoke, I was riding in Kimberly's car. It was very foggy, which was unsettling. It was a first for her, driving north on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is high on the ridgetops...way out in the country. Every few minutes we were either slamming on brakes for crossing herds of deer, or because there were so many of them on the side of the road, that Kimberly couldn't help herself! Here, a shot of one (I hope her photos are better!) who seemed as curious about us as we were about them...


And here? You can see, if you look closely, their white tails as they fled back into the trees. There was a herd of 7-9 of them, but some are already out of the picture by the time I snapped it...

Once back in Roanoke, the four of us stopped at Taaja, our newest Indian restaurant, for dinner. The waiter kindly took this photo of the four of us:
Left to right: Stephanie, Nikki, Kimberly, and MOI!

We had a delightful day. This was my first time meeting a fellow blogger that isn't from my state! Kimberly and I have been pals and communicating with each other for over a year, and always hoping that our common ties of knitting and Virginia Tech would bring us together more than just in cyber-space. What fun!

Stephanie and Nikki, who were my friends from RVSpinnerKnitters Group before this, are better friends now, as we learned more about each other and had a laugh a minute.

Such is the company of knitters. My day lasted 13 hours (which is entirely too long for someone like me who wears out fast nowadays...) and I wouldn't have traded a minute of it!

Pam we so missed having you with us! (she had to cancel at the last minute for childcare reasons - boohoo!)

Now...I gotta rest up, do a little bit of sewing, and get ready for another trip - this time to be a groupie for the Yarn Harlot!
(((hugs)))

OH! I almost forgot - this is what I got today:

A complimentary wine glass with the Chateau Morrisette crest, The Magic Loop book, a size G crochet hook in Forest Palmwood (for the Earth Stripe Wrap edging, if I ever get started on that project!), a "door prize" from Liz of Swizzle sock yarn - I love the royal blue, Liz! The Coffee Syrup is a gift from Kimberly, too. (oh...and that's my name tag - didn't Liz do a wonderful job? We each had our names and our Ravelry "handles" on them as well as the event title - which I used as my blog post title, too)

Now...off to bed!