American expert!

What started out as a drizzly day did clear up to be quite nice, temp and humidity-wise.  Oh, the weird noise last night was a koala in the tree outside, so I was told.  Although someone else was certain it was a possum.  I’m going with the koala.

Eleven new students today and most of them basketry virgins as we started the four day soft sculpture twining class. And the virgins are outproducing the old hands so far!  Really some nice work with all sorts of materials being used.

Had a bit of a stop in at the traders (vendors) after class today and found some really cool big safety pins.

And then went to the evening activity thinking I would just watch. Well…

I am now an American expert on patanque (not quite sure of the spelling, but it is pronounced pa tunk’).  Sort of like bocci ball only played on pea gravel with solid iron balls, a cush (sort of like the golden snitch from Harry Potter), a pitch (although I sure thought they were saying a piss), two teams of three each, a judge with a tape measure and lots of fanfare. We played on the local club grounds and the club members were delighted by our presence – actually they think this whole group is hysterical and they can’t wait for the fiber conference to come back each year!

The whole idea is to have one or more of your team balls closest to the cush by the time all balls have been thrown/pitched/rolled  – however you want to do it. First team to reach nine points wins. Great fun, especially after a glass of wine on an empty stomach.

I really was tired after class and just thought I’d watch, but the reigning champions from last year were desperate for another player – their third person had a bad case of tennis elbow and didn’t want to throw. So, under pressure from one of my students, I joined their team replacing Sharon who then took on the role of team manager.

Penny, as team captain, was the most expert at the game – she actually knew how the scoring happened. Pam and I held our own with some good pitches far outnumbering the number of wild ones. Our opponents hung in there – lost to one team and then beat the second team when they ceded to us so they could go eat dinner! (Which was a BBQ – grilled hamburger, chicken strips, sausage links, potato salad, cole slaw, red beet slices and a ginger/pear cake.)

Although we were sadly disappointed that we missed being in the playoffs (they actually had prizes of wine and club wine glasses this year for the winners!), we vowed to practice regularly and be ready for next time.

One of the cool things about the whole experience was the kangaroos jumping around and watching us play.  Pretty awesome evening all around.

And now I really am tired!

Ed.: pics of patanque and roos now online.