2013 Blacksmith conference, with SNOW in May!

Last week was a great week to have a conference, not!  It snowed in Mid-Missouri.  It snowed from 4 AM to 4 PM.   The same time last year we were sweating our butts off and couldn't keep enough bottled water cold. This time it was trying to keep the water hot, to make hot chocolate. One morning alone I made 120 cups of coffee for the group!

 I took this picture of the Casita from the truck in order to keep my camera dry.

At least the roads stayed clear. I blame all this on my friend Nathan. He's from MN and he sent it our way.

I found this awesome machine at an antique shop. I  delivered it the first day of conference, to my friend Phil.  It's a model 301A. He tells me it's called a long bed, as some do have a shorter plate. They are known as short beds. It needed no work. The girls used it the next day to sew sock monkeys.

Here are the monkeys being stuffed.

 Mary Jo McCarty taught basket making once again.  Someday I need to try this.

There were women doing blacksmithing too. Gabby had two broken legs, but she didn't let that stop her!

The blacksmith had a display in the gallery. 

Remember the quilted wall hanging we made?  This is the label I made for the back. The quilt sold for $320 at the auction!!!

My time was spent working the Boutique. Hoodies were the hottest item. Since it went from 82 on Wednesday to 2 inches of snow on Friday, many were unprepared for the weather. 

Despite the weather it was an awesome conference. The Blacksmith Association of Missouri has the best members.