GOSCHENHOPPEN FOLK FESTIVAL!

The weather was herrlich for our trip to the Goshenhoppen Festival yesterday.

It is a long drive for us, but there is nothing like it any closer. This year we got to sample an old fashioned stew of potatoes, onions and wurst as well as homemade peach ice cream - - peaches, sugar, vanilla and heavy cream, oh my!

There were lots of Mennonite show towels embellished with drawn work, cross stitch and satin stitch and folks making them in the old ways. The towels were normally hung on two little nails on a door and never actually used as towels.

When we got there the teams were just being hitched. Draft horses are so impressive no matter what they are doing. There is even a threshing machine operated by a grey draft horse on a treadmill.

The highlight for us was being able to talk to Eleanor Bittle. We met her for the first time last year at the festival. She has been demonstrating on her tape looms at the festival since 1983. She had a marvelous loom with her yesterday dated 1816. It was clearly a labor of love by who ever made it. It would be hard to find more bells and whistles.

She was showing how her narrow linen tapes were made on her treadled floor tape loom.