Visit to Vavning Weaving Studio

I know this visit to Vavning is a week later, but with all of the recent motorhome repairs I wanted to devote those blogs to one subject at a time....  

I have a lot of RV readers who don't want to wade through a bunch of family and fiber stuff to get to the "meat" of the RV repairs.  It's amazing how many people come back time and time again to read about RV repairs when they need help or information.  I am told that my blog becomes a source of reference, no matter how long ago I wrote each post.

For example, just this last week alone, 73 people came back to read my blog posts from SEVEN YEARS AGO about coating our roof with elastomeric paint, and 37 came to read about taking a tour of our motorhome.  Also the recent waterpump, alternator and isolator repairs brought in a bunch of readers.

Now to get back to the visit to Vavning Studio... 

It's a great place owned by my good friend, Juanita Hofstrom.  Her studio is located in an old Methodist church in a tiny village called Shopiere, WI, It's just a tad bit east of Beloit, WI along the banks of the Turtle Creek. 

Juanita's website is www.vavningstudio.com  and she is also on Facebook.  I met darling Juanita about 15 years ago or more....  via an online Yahoo discussion group called Rugtalk.  We connected and shared emails and stories and ideas and became fast friends. I have helped her through the years host for her annual 3 day classes at the studio by Jason Collingwood, a weaving teacher from England. Jason is the son of famous rug weaver Peter Collingwood.  http://www.rugweaver.co.uk/   Juanita put on these workshops for 10 years and I was there for each and every one.  I would help with the cooking and cleanup, while Steve helped with background tasks of unloading and reloading looms from students' cars. Then I would also attend  the workshops on shaft switching, block weaves and twill weaving rugs. She also gives classes on other types of weaving, painting and is a retired art teacher who can help with just about any project. 

Her studio is always a place of wonderful fiber adventures...  and Steve has helped her through the years with projects and upkeep as needed.  As her husband Norm aged, Steve would help him with the tall ladder type repairs and things that needed assistance.  Sadly, Norm passed away last year.  We miss his quiet companionship and dry wit and zingers he could throw in from time to time!  

This year our visit was started by arriving on Friday evening. We were in time to take Juanita out for a fish fry at her little cafe in the tiny hometown of Clinton, Wi.  Called the Sundown Cafe.  We enjoyed home cooking, friendly atmosphere and good company.  

Parking in the studio lot with our motorhome makes it easy to visit.  We are not taking up a guest room in her home, we have a place for our dogs, and we can bring along our own things for comfort. 

We rarely need a "hookup" for power, but this particular time our inverter was acting up so we did run a power cord into the rig to just operate our tv's and Steve's laptop (I forgot his DC cord to plug into the cigarette lighter) 

I love spending gentle quiet time with Juanita, working on fiber projects side by side... so peaceful. I cherish our time together. Steve busied himself with repairs and ran for parts a few times. Once Steve retires, we can go down and spend more than just a weekend, working on things and perhaps sitting by side and weaving together on projects. I would love that. 

We enjoyed our relaxing spring evening out in the parkinglot, sitting in lawn chairs and laughing away the time till we all turned in for bed.  What a great gal! 

I wandered around Juanita's studio and took pics of this and that....  

Now you can see why it's such a special place! 

And THIS is the lady is who makes it so great-----

Sunday was our time to head on over to our good weaving friends Jim and Norma Burkett of Pa and Ma's Rugs, Beloit, WI. They invited us over early for coffee and a breakfast bake of a french toast brulee.  They were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary at a banquet hall in South Beloit, Illinois that afternoon.

We got gussied up and I snapped a selfie of me and then a pic of Steve that I thought came out pretty good!  

The party was so nice with seeing them celebrate with family, friends and fellow crafters. They made the rounds with everyone to chat and laugh.  The party had their maid of honor and best man present.  40 years, what an accomplishment.

Happy Anniversary Jim and Norma! 

Their cake was wonderful as was the food buffet. It was so good to see them both doing so well, after facing a few health challenges.  They are going strong and have a number of rug shows and events scheduled throughout the state this summer.

I will end this blog with a pic of a Happy Little Colorado Spruce Tree!  It's my mother's day present and we planted it in a spot to be able to decorate it with lights each year at Christmas.

  Grow tall

little tree

may we smile each time 

we look at you