Friday, June 30, 2017

Let The Games Begin

Well, I'm at the ANWG Conference "Treadle Lightly", which in my case hasn't really started yet since I'm not attending one of the pre-conference workshops. UVic is a lovely but somewhat confusing campus, built on a circle with buildings plopped randomly everywhere and paved pathways laced between. There are campus maps all over the place but the pathways aren't very clearly marked. So far (touch wood) we haven't gotten lost! We all brought our own breakfast and lunch stuff so it's only dinner we have to hunt for which saves a lot of time and effort, not to mention money that could be better spent on more fun things.

Our cluster residence is spartan but reasonably comfortable and very quiet because it's as far from the action as you can get. Also on the third floor with no elevator. It was a bit of a challenge getting all the luggage and ourselves up here. Obviously all that heavy gardening work I've been doing paid off in muscles! Not to mention all the walking to get to the food court and the gym where the vendor hall is being set up.

When we got here yesterday, we headed straight to the gym ourselves to set up our guild booth. I wasn't on the committee but got dragooned into assisting anyway! Here's the results before all the people will be getting in the way. Pay no attention to those bags in the corner - they're not part of the display.

My hermit crab found his beach! He's in the middle there just behind the driftwood and starfish. The butterflies are handwoven napkins. Just don't try to sit on the chair, OK? Even if it looks like a perfect spot on the beach.

Today we have the morning to ourselves because we can't even get registered properly at the conference until 1pm. The vendor hall is open at noon though and goes right through until 8pm. There's also a strawberry tea this afternoon after registration. As Thom said when we were messaging each other last night, let the games begin!

So as I suspected the wifi is rather flakey here so I'd best not overwhelm it with too many photos. I'll leave you with the view from my bedroom window. This is how I know I'm in Victoria - arbutus trees! (Arbutus menziesii or as the Americans call them, madrone.) This member of the heath family only grows in a narrow band in dry areas along the Pacific Coast. It's a beautiful tree with glossy broad evergreen leaves, flowers that develop into bright red berries (beloved by birds) and peeling red bark.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does any part of the arbutus make a good dye?
Vancouver Barbara

Louisa said...

Sorry to take so long to answer you, Barbara, but not as far as I know. The wood is apparently interesting to work with in woodturning though, if you can get it before it cracks.