After the wedding I spent a few days in Southeastern MN with my SIL and BIL, parents of the bride. It felt like coming home as there are only three family members I can think of from my younger years who still live in the same house. And what a house it is, over 150 years old:
Greg, my BIL, took cousin Lena from Denmark, and me on a tour of Bluff Country. We stopped in several little towns along the Amish Byway, every place having it’s motto worthy of mention on Prairie Home Companion: Fountain – The sink hole capital of the USA," Lanesboro – "A short trip you’ll long remember", and Harmony, "the town that’s more than a name." I had the feeling that every elected official of the Bluffs took the same marketing course that emphasized taglines.
Harmony is home to Austin’s Angora Goats and Mohair Gifts, home to everything purple and as an added bonus – their own yarn shop. They have a motto, too – "Touch a baby goat, feel the fiber on the hoof." I kid you not (groan); I couldn’t have made that one up of I tried. All their yarn was from their goats and sheep, spun and dyed locally. If you were hungry they also sold goat fudge and sausage.
Entering the gift shop we were asked what brought us to Minnesota. "A wedding," we said together "Better’n a funeral," said Lady Austin. My BIL then made the mistake of commenting that I had said mohair can be itchy. We were ordered to sit down and remove our socks and shoes, and given brand new socks to sample. We were commanded to replace our shoes and walk around. Then we were required to describe our first experience with mohair socks. It’s like walking on clouds. Lady Austin told us that we could wear ’em for a week of huntin’ before they’d need washing. Before we left we were the proud owners of three pairs of mohair socks. Below are pictures of Austin’s Bonnie and one of their yarns, a mixture of mohair and rayon thread.
I don’t know why I have this passion for the prairies, the rolling hills and big sky. I think I could live there again if it weren’t for the snow. I’ll settle for visiting and someday doing the Bluff Country bike trail. If you’re ever in the area you should visit because, as they say in their literature, "Wherever you are you’re not far."
Life's a Stitch 
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