We left Sandy Oaks for the season on April 29 and took three days to travel to Brasstown, NC so I could do my annual Nantucket Lightship Basketweaving teaching gig the following week.  The puppies rode with me in the truck, and Dot followed in the car.  Having the car with us in Florida was a boon; it gave the truck a much needed hiatus, and it was infinitely easier to park and get around in.  Interestingly, we hardly ever needed two vehicles for separate travel.

On the way, we stopped to visit with Bob and Pat Rotchford in Cumming, Georgia.  Bob and I were business associates in Boston as well as officers together in the New England Direct Marketing Association.  He and Pat came over to our unit in the county park and we treated them to a sumptuous five course dinner, anchored by individual Beef Wellingtons!

My class at the Folk School this year numbered five, just as it did in 2012. The makeup of this class was quite different, however.  Two of the students were serious basket weavers, members of the N.C. Basketweavers Guild. They had both worked with Nantucket Lightships, but they were anxious to learn the process end to end – as I teach it. One brought a mold made by her husband, a 13 inch tall round behemoth that was solid through and through. I’d guess it weighed 30 pounds. Fortunately, she brought a stand for it, along with a base and a set of wood staves.  Another student was a returnee from two years ago. She was ready to make a Reyes Friendship Basket, and she did a great job.  Another was director of operations for the Chautauqua Society, an organization of great interest to us.  We had a wonderful week, meeting everyone’s needs.  By request, a new trick was included: the creation of a spiral pattern in the weave. The picture at right shows how it develops. (P.S. my students liked it better than I did. I’m quite a purist about Lightships.)

JCCFS holds over 800 classes per year;  mostly week-long but some over a long weekend.  If you’re interested, peek at their website: www.folkschool.org.