Necessary Chores

Greenberry House Kitchen

Dad and I started cleaning house today. I'm not sure anyone will believe it so I'm enclosing pictures to prove it. While I love my house and adore to see it neat, I HATE being the one that does the work. Partly because it stirs up my allergies so much; this house is old and dusty and there's mold around, I'm sure. But mostly I don't do housework like I should because I get involved in so many other projects. The clutter gets ahead of me and then I put off tackling it until I just can't stand it anymore. Or until I know company is coming. Company is coming in October, lots of it, so I am knuckling down to the chores!



Dining area in half of kitchen

The house isn't impressively large; the rooms are cozy and I love all my stuff and enjoy having it on display. Some of the wall hangings are from my days with counted cross stitch. The others are metal signs, modern but fun because I used to raise chickens. I fell in love with the purple chairs at the antique shop where I used to work and had to have them. I painted the walls white when I moved in and had to put in a new floor, which I also painted. It all needs painting again but I want to remodel and expand the kitchen eventually and keep putting it off.


At long last, a light!

My parents had the kitchen remodeled when I was quite small; my mother's engagement ring is probably somewhere in the cabinets because it disappeared during construction. A local man put the cabinets in; his work is distinctive and I often recognize it in other houses. I like the shelves that are beside the windows and the hand-cut framing, as well as the cabinets with the glass doors. There used to be nice flour bins and a bread board, but those disappeared over the years and I use the spaces where the bins were to store my dye supplies. The renters that were here before me mended the pipes with duct tape and the sink cabinets are in bad shape and need replacing. But it's amazing how nice a coat of paint made the outside look. I had the plumbing redone (twice because the first time froze and burst) and am saving to do more work to the house when I can.

Today Dad and I replaced the kitchen light, which has been broken for about three years. He tried to do it but it's tough for him to balance on a ladder and reach overhead. So I hopped up and put it together the way he told me, with him watching very carefully to see that I got it right. It's really hard on the shoulders to reach up overhead and screw things together, but we did it! I was very proud of us both when I tripped the breaker back and the light came on!

More interesting things in between housework; I got a call-back from our tourism director in Patrick County with an invitation to demonstrate at their booth at the folk festival next weekend. It works out very well, since I'll be down there anyway representing the Lost Arts Guild with the Round the Mountain project booth. I dug out my very first hand spun shawl to loan to the Patrick County booth for display, carefully labeled "Not for Sale". It's from a Coopworth fleece I bought from Deer Run Farm in West Virginia; despite my inexperience with spinning it turned out pretty nice.


Sterling Shawl

Rain

The rain came just as I was finishing bunny chores. A gentle mist that became a steady shower rattling against the tin roof of the barn. The rabbits nibbled contentedly on their hay as the sound of the rain blended with the rustle of their feeding.

Changes

One minute the sun is shining outside; the next the clouds are rolling in. The wind is blowing and the surface of the pond is silvery ripples. Finally it feels like fall!

Yesterday was a lovely day, cool and sunny and perfect for getting bunny chores done. I sheared two lovely girls, Living Water Farm's Angel and Woolybuns Snickers. Both were happy to get rid of their heavy coats and were darling to shear. Angel had a beautiful coat, thick and soft and very even in length all over her. Even her legs had wool long enough to be prime and in good condition. It's funny to see Angel's eyes again; she is one of the poofy faced pure Germans. Snickers has good color and lots of wool, a bit softer than Angels but nice to work with. I popped her in with Delly's Delight Quenten to see if we could get some chocolate colored bunnies for the fall! She was amiable if not enthusiastic, so, although I didn't see a mating, we may have some results. Snickers is a chocolate doe and Quenten is a lynx buck, so chocolate colors are sure to be produced!

The rest of the day was spent in the not-so-glamorous task of hauling manure out of the bunny house and doing laundry. On a day like that, though, I don't mind either. I even managed a few rows on the lacy shawl and blocked the angora/alpaca one. I'm calling that Cinnamon and Allspice. I wanted to name it after a gray and brown moth that I see here but somehow the idea of moths and angora isn't appealing. I understand that angora is VERY attractive to wool moths; I haven't had those here but I don't want to jinx anything!

No craft tent this weekend. The wind is giving it fits and the upcoming Folk Festival is making a dent in our stock. Patrick County has a booth and Sue has been invited to send some of her gourds. But Sue will be back here next week with a jewelry vendor while I'm in Richmond.

Just noticed while updating my sidebar that I've had over 10,000 visits. Appreciate everyone stopping by!

Quiet Times

Beginning of lacy crocheted stole/shawl

Not a lot going on this weekend, with very foggy weather both days and rain yesterday. I started this shawl from some yarn I painted in the crock pot. It's a light weight yarn from the millspun I had done awhile back; it turned out thinner than the sport weight. I painted it but wasn't totally satisfied with the results as skeins for sale. But it is working up beautifully; I'm using two balls to keep the colors even since there is a good bit of variation in the skeins. The pattern is one I tried to use for a triangle shawl, of loops and single crochets, but I wasn't happy with the results. Now I'm working it as a long rectangle that will have fringe and doing some 5 double crochet clusters to add some substance to the lace. I think it would have felt very light otherwise. Not a bad idea, really, but not what I wanted for this project.

Hard to believe September is nearly gone! It's getting dark earlier; we came back from a trip to town and had to turn on lights in the bunny house. The sun is shining brightly now and there is a little breeze; feels like fall!

Going to the Chapel

Small chapel, once Catholic, near Cockram's Mill

Interesting couple of days for me, as more people are bracing for hurricane weather in vulnerable areas in the Gulf. Holding everyone in my thoughts and prayers.

Favorite cousin and I headed for our bi-weekly trip to town on Wednesday. She's feeling so much better after her summer of the surgeries. We visited several stores and had our favorite lunch, then headed home under clear skies and unseasonable warm weather. Nice to have her able to wander the shops with me and enjoy all the fun things!


Hand crocheted Angora and Alpaca Shawl

On Wednesday I finished the first of the three shawls I want to have ready for the National Folk Festival in October. I put a little picot edging on the shawl and I really like the result. Simple luxury!


Joan and Timmy, September 22, 2005

Yesterday evening I had the honor of officiating at the wedding ceremony of this nice young couple. I don't know either of them well but I have admired Joan's beauty for a long time. The ceremony was held at an old chapel built by an artist who came to the community many years ago. From what I understand she was involved in the foundation of a small Catholic monastery near the millpond that existed for many years.


Mural at the Chapel

The building has been remodeled by the current owners; I never saw it before the restoration but there were murals on all the walls. I don't know how much like the original art the new murals are. Each wall is done in sections and it's an impressive effect. The ceiling is wooden boards and there are large beams across the vault. A skylight acts as steeple. There was an impressive stone pulpit, waist level and large that was carved with religous symbols. Small wooden plaques represented the Stations of the Cross. Outside there was a small pond with a fountain.

It was a small wedding, just family and friends of the couple. It was a sweet group, some people that I had known all my life and others I had met here and there. They held a reception nearby, just a small punch and wedding cake with friends gathered to chat. That was nice; I don't often get to visit with many of them.

We sent the happy couple on their way under a shower of birdseed, while the evening closed in quietly. Mist rose from the streams as I made may way home, and the night seemed dark without the full moon that has been so brilliant every night. I settled in after checking on my quince butter project; the stuff is very tart!

Last Roses of Summer

Climbing Yellow Rose

When I first moved into my house I planted rose bushes everywhere. I love them, but having to neglect them because of years of looking after my grandfather and not being home has decimated the population. Most of them have died back to the root stock, and there are some odd little briars here and there on the property. But this rose was lucky; I planted it on the warm south side of the house and it has bloomed cheerfully for years. There is a bit of color there all summer; if I ever manage to do roses again they will all be on the south side of the house.

It has been unusually warm this month; hard to believe that tomorrow is the first day of fall. It hasn't been hot, but there has been none of the crispness in the air that I think of when I think of autumn days. But there are signs of the changing seasons. I drove to my mother's in the late afternoon and surprised a large flock of doves spread across the road and field above the house. There's a hunting season for doves here but no one does any hunting, as far as I know. The mourning doves are almost tame and stay close to the house, decorating the power line that strings across the field from my neighbor's place. There's a wild aster blooming in the creek ditch that is a pale blue. It only shows in the fall, unlike the summer blooming variety, which is white. Grasshoppers accompany my walks to the bunny house, darting across my path. And the light is changing in the early mornings. Hard to define the difference but there is a golden red glow in the early mornings that I don't see at daybreak in the summer.

There's a bowl of quince on my kitchen table, another sign of fall. I've never done anything with this knobby, heavy fruit but tomorrow or Friday I'm thinking about trying to make quince butter. I found a recipe in an old cookbook; they say the color of quince is beautiful! Wonder if you can dye with it?

I worked on the computer most of the last two days, trying to catch up on getting some stuff out there to sell. The SO went to an auction Saturday and came back with some interesting bottles; I put some of them up on the web site yesterday. It's a long process; I have to take pictures and run them through a photo program to convert them to a smaller size for the web site. Then I make a description that will comment on any flaws and still make the item seem attractive enough to purchase!


Greenberry's Maple Shade

After a morning of computer work, I was ready to get out into the sunshine and shear a couple of bunnies. Maple is from my first line of German crosses; she is a fawn and only about 69% German. She is also one of the oldest rabbits here at four and a half years. Maple has a lovely coat with a satiny sheen that I love to spin. I'm retiring her from motherhood; she only had two bunnies this spring and just one of them survived. I put some bunnies from another litter in with her and she raised them easily. But the small litter feels like a sign to let her retire and just enjoy life and grow wool.

I also sheared Maple's daughter, Amber. Amber is kind of a hard luck bunny. She was left over from a litter and I didn't intend to keep her because her ear dropped. But she has a richly colored satiny coat and is a fantastic mother; she raised a litter of eight this summer and didn't loose an ounce of condition. But she pulled out ALL her wool for her nest; there must have been half a pound. A lot of that wool didn't come back; she has a totally bare streak all the way down her back. I went ahead and sheared her when she was due, hoping that it will come in evenly next time.

Just as I was finishing with the rabbits a dark cloud came up and we had a terrific storm with high winds, heavy rains and lots of thunder. It only lasted about 20 minutes but it kept raining off and on all evening. It was the first real rain we've had since the first of the month and we needed it. This morning is cooler, probably because of the rain and there's some mist hanging over the pond and creek.

Weekend Wonders

The most perfect weather you could want, wonderful days of spinning and working on a crocheted shawl at the craft tent and nice visitors. What more could you ask of a weekend?

Friday was a little rocky, when we went up to finalize things on the SO's house and ran into a few problems with noisy kids that are throwing trash and toys on the property and a problem with a boundary. He was a bit discouraged but still figures to go ahead with the closing. Unless we find out about more problems.

Saturday was a gorgeous day here, clear with a steady breeze. I sold some yarn at the craft tent and we had some great people stop by both Saturday and Sunday, including some old friends that I hadn't seen in awhile. I'm so tied to the house and computer during the week that it's fun to get out and talk. And do I talk! By the time I explain everything about the rabbits, spinning, dyeing and answer questions, my voice feels strained! It's fun when people ask so many questions and are interested in what you do.

The crocheted shawl is coming along splendidly, at long last. It's a simple pattern, just triple and double crochet with increases at the point and each edge. But I'm liking the effect, with very fluffy angora I don't usually like a fussy pattern. I'm really enjoying working on this and will be sorry to let it go. But I really NEED to!

Dropping In

Shades of Fall

I looked at my yarn basket up at the craft tent over the weekend and realized that there was too much blue in it. In trying to avoid purple, my favorite color, I must have subconsciously substituted blue, another color I like! So yesterday I was determined to produce a hand painted yarn with NO blue in it. This kid mohair yarn turned out very well; there is some variation from skein to skein but the overall effect is exactly what I was hoping for!


Blackberry Vine

But back to purple! Blackberry vine is one of my top sellers in yarn, but if I don't sell the skeins I'll enjoy working with it to make a shawl or scarf this winter!

Sheared a beautiful boy yesterday, the Storybook Dreams pure buck that I'm calling Puff Boy, even though his official name is Alm-Uncle. Very sweet to work with, as I expected, until he flipped off my lap and messed his tummy wool up with debris. He has a beautiful crimp in his wool.

It was a quiet day yesterday, with some sun and some clouds, no rain. I was able to do some cleaning in the bunny house between pots of yarn. This morning I worked at the antique shop and in a few minutes I'm heading to my aunt's for computer stuff. So this is a drop in visit to the blog!

Inspiration

Ellen and Me at the Antique Shop

Back in April I had a lovely visit with three special ladies. Ellen is a friend that Dawn had told to stop by when she was in America from the Netherlands. Ellen's daughter Liz and her friend Roelie were also along. It was so special to meet someone so far away. It's also hard to believe that it's been all summer since they visited. Time has flown so fast!

I received my new Spin-Off a couple of days ago and have been glued to the pages since. I always enjoy the magazine but this time it was particularly interesting to me. There were several articles about dyeing and about fine fibers, both my particular obsessions at the moment. I even noticed ads that were more interesting to me than usual. Interweave Press has changed hands and some people are worried. I've been taking a wait and see attitude; as long as a magazine is enjoyable, I'll pay for it. Probably this issue was laid out before the change in command, but I'm happy so far.

I worked on the computer yesterday, putting up more jewelry on the web page and Tias.com. Then last night I wound more yarn into skeins for the dye pot today. The sky is overcast this morning and there's a little rain, so I don't know if I'll get to do the bunny chores I had hoped to work on today.

Working Days

Food for the auction by Burk's Fork Brethren Church Folks

Busy and fun weekend, with Saturday spent helping out the members of the Burk's Fork Church of the Brethren provide the food for an auction. The estate belonged to one of their members and the family invited the church to raise funds this way. They did a splendid job and raised a lot for hurricane relief efforts. My mom and step-father are very active in this church and I said I'd help out. It was a lot of fun, even if it did seem a little like work.


Lots of goodies

Unfortunately I ate a good bit; the baked goods were irresistable! Mountain girls can cook, when they take the notion! Everyone was appreciative of the good food and we were busy all day, selling out breakfast before 10 in the morning and swamped at lunch time by hot dog demands! The auction was held at the home place, which is in a beautiful valley in Floyd County. I used to drive down this road often, just to travel by the beautiful stream that cuts through green fields by simple, beautiful farm houses, surrounded by higher hills.


Auction Tent

I didn't see much of the auction; it was too busy and I'm just not interested in getting more stuff until we have a place to put it. The digger is coming next week. Of course, he's been coming next week since July. It's kind of sad, though, seeing an estate sale of someone you knew. The family took as many things as they could that meant something to them, but there was so much more that the owners once valued, going to strangers.

Sunday at the craft tent was quiet. We made a few sales but Sue said it was busier on Saturday. Seemed like nothing much was going on on the mountain on Sunday. Saturday was busy everywhere; maybe everyone was tired on Sunday. The local winery hosted Ralph Stanley and there was a farmer's market type gathering in Floyd. I took a few minutes to visit that and saw quite a few people there. The weather is so beautiful; people will be heading out to get their mountain produce soon!

Yesterday I caught up on errands and had Lily shaved down again. She's back to the embarassed stage but enjoyed a walk down to Mom's to show off her new 'do. The skies are so clear and the air is crisp and tastes clean. As I crossed over Concord Creek I could smell fox grapes up in the woods. The chinquapins are just starting to open up; Dad found a very few that I hope to plant here in the yard today. It would be fun to have a few more trees and maybe help preserve them. Everything seems so late; the few grapes on my vines aren't ready yet and chestnuts are still tight in their burrs.

Signs of Fall

Autumn Joy

There's a low mist on the fields this morning that drifted from the pond and the creeks. Crickets sang last night and I've been seeing flocks of birds in the sky for awhile. My Autumn Joy's heavy bloom and the brightness of ironweed are ushering in the fall season, which will be bright with leaf color and busy with tourists. It seems as if it has been a very short summer.


Greenberry's Bina Wade

Another sign of fall; a group of bunnies, particularly does, that need shearing. Bina is a young purebred German doe, four months old that I'm late getting clipped off. She weighs seven and three-quarter pounds at four months, which I appreciate about her because I need to build up the size of the animals in my herd. A nice clip of 170 grams was OK, too, although I was late with shearing. She doesn't have quite as much crimp as some of the others in the litter but her coat held up well with very little matting. I'm eyeing Puff as a suitor for her in the spring; he has crimp to spare! Bina didn't like the tattoo pen; I think it was the noise, but was great to shear. She posed pretty for her picture!


Greenberry's Eliza

Eliza is one of my favorite rabbits from my favorite old line. She loves to be petted and is the rabbit that is always at the door of her cage to bump noses with me and share kisses. Her coat is dark with a lot of guard hair; it should be lovely spun up. Although these rabbits aren't huge producers (254 grams this clipping), I find the quality of the coat to be far more important to me than the quantity. The mothering skills of this line are amazing; they rarely lose a bunny. I don't have a buck right now for Eliza but in the spring I plan to breed her to one of my pure bucks, unless a nice black buck shows up in another line.

More does are due for shearing early in the week; I will probably only breed a couple of them, since I'm very low on cage space. But I'd like to try Snickers again with Quenten, for more chocoate babies!


Hand Painted Kid Mohair Yarn

I'm beginning to like the results of my experiments of hand painting yarn in the crock pot. The color changes are much more subtle than they are when I paint it on a table and then steam it. The first batch, the kid mohair, has a lot of variation in the skeins; more purple on some than others. But the overall effect is very nice and I think it could be knitted up from two skeins at once to make a nice garment. Scarves seem to be very popular with my customers lately, so most of them are only buying a couple of skeins of one color.


Hand Painted Alpaca/Wool

After I hung this up to dry, I realized that the colors of this yarn turned out to be closer for each skein than with the mohair. It might be because of the different fibers, or because I decided to put a little vinegar in the pre-soak for this yarn. Each skein has some variation, of course, but I find that appealing. Not sure what the customers will think, though, and that's what counts. Still, it's fun to do and I like these autumn colors.

Last night I worked on the natural colored shawl, after ripping much of it out when I discovered I didn't like what the increases were doing to the top edge. The new version seems much nicer. Hope I still like it later!

Outing

Handpainted 60% merino/40% Angora Yarn

Yesterday I slept in because my gym buddy had a late night at work and just couldn't quite manage the early morning workout. We've been good this week with three mornings at the gym, so I didn't feel too guilty! Then I went out and collected out of the apple tree the yarn that I had painted and "cooked" in the crock pot. This was my first time with yarn in the crock pot; I have done several runs of roving and was pleased with the results there. But yarn needs a different and more thorough painting technique, I guess. I like the results but there are spaces on the yarn where I didn't get the color on very well. I think it will be OK for a lacy scarf/stole that I have in mind, though. This was a small run of fine yarn that was an experiment in my last yarn run. There isn't a lot of it so I thought using it for my first crock pot yarn would work well. It didn't, exactly, but I learned a lot about how I should approach this kind of project next time!

Cousin RJ arrived driving her own car! This was the first time we had been out since before her surgeries, and it was great to see her in fine form and feeling like taking a trip to town. We immediately headed for our favorite restaurant, where the food tasted great after our long absence. We didn't stay long, though, because it was COLD in the room with the air condition blasting. The waitress kindly turned it down but because we were early there weren't enough people there to absorb the chill! Still, we enjoyed the meal and had fun talking!

I had some things to pick up at the big store so RJ waited for me in the car, content with her crossword puzzles. Then we headed for a bookstore so she could look for a few light novels and some more puzzle books for herself and her sister. It was nice walking around with her and looking at things, discussing oddities and curiousities. I picked up a pretty little organizer notebook that was on sale to record sales for the craft shows, until I can get them into the computer at home. Hope that doesn't jinx me into not selling!

After a run out to get bags of bunny feed, we headed for home. It was a pleasant drive on such a beautiful day, with such a wonderful person as company. We talked of the usual, good and bad in the world and about books, a little about movies and about family. There's always a story!


Beginning a shawl

After a little rest when I got home, I tended to the rabbits and settled down to winding some millspun mohair yarn to be dyed, hopefully today. I also started crocheting a shawl I want to make in natural colors of angora, wool, silk and alpaca. This one looks like it will work out much better than the last one I tried! I love working with natural colors again, although I also enjoy dyeing. But there's something about the rich chocolate of the alpaca, sparkling with silver silk, the more subtle grays and browns of chocolate angora, the creamy tones of the wool with tussah silk and fawn angora and the delicate tan of pure fawn angora that I just don't find with dyed fiber. I guess the delicacy of shading, which I can't duplicate in dyeing, is what appeals to me as I work with these yarns.

It's another lovely cool morning, with bright sunshine and clear skies. The stars seemed brilliant when we left for the gym, almost winter bright. When we came back we topped a hill to see Buffalo Mountain standing dark against an early sunrise, rising out of early morning mists in the lower blue hills.

Stillness

Alpaca in the fields

This image from the Chinquapin Festival delighted me, as an alpaca strolled casually down the path to my house from the festivities. What could be more charming?

I spent a quiet day yesterday working on computer web pages and catching up with laundry. I love these beautiful, breezy dry days! In the afternoon I wandered down to the bunny house and sheared my lilac Gem, a sweet little doe that was happy to have that heavy coat taken away. For her first shearing she had a nice harvest, over four ounces of lovely wool with just a little matting around her ears. She's been in with two other does because of cage space issues here so I was very happy with the quality of her coat for her first quarter. While I was shearing her I watched the breezes toss the ironweed across the field.


Angora, wool, alpaca and silk handspun yarns

The evening was spent washing yarn and plying a blend of wool, angora and silk that I've been working on. I'm hoping I have enough for a natural colored shawl. Although I enjoy dyeing, natural colors will always be my favorite. There's just something about the subtle variations in the yarn when I spin natural wool and angora. The angora for this shawl is chocolate, a silvery brown with a delightful softness. The wool was from a fleece Chris at Woolybuns and I split when we were at SAFF last year. And the alpaca is a blend of alpaca and silk in rich browns and silvery hues from Misty Mountain Farm (I think!) in Amissville, Virginia. I can't remember where the silk came from that I blended with the wool and angora for the lighter brown yarn. It's tussah, though, with that soft honey color.


Ironweed in the fields

The field by the creek is covered with the rich green stalks of ironweed, topped off with the brilliant purple of the flowers. I love the fall colors of ironweed and Joe Pye Weed, bold against the green grasses that are fading to gold and the clover turning brown. After a time of the subtle bloom of daisies and Queen Anne's Lace, ironweed is a riot of color ushering in the brilliance of fall.


Lily fights the sock

The breezy coolness of the morning delighted Lily as well, and she found her sock and invited me to romp with her in the bright sunshine. Half the time she won't let me have it to throw for her, preferring to toss it around herself and then tease me into trying to grab it away. The sock is looking a little ragged. Now she's lying by my feet after playing, softly snoring as she dreams.



Ironweed

Chilly Morning

View from the Barn

This is what I see when I sit and shear bunnies. This weekend I spent a lot of time just talking about what my life is like. People from the busy towns in North Carolina are fascinated by how we live here on the mountain, and I enjoy showing people that there are other ways to live that don't involve the fast lane and rat race. Probably my life is harder in ways that they wouldn't enjoy or want to deal with; tending animals and shoveling manure isn't always as much fun as I let on. But people seem to like knowing that I sit looking out over the fields with a contented rabbit in my lap, shearing him with a pair of scissors so that it's a peaceful experience. (I have no objection at all to shears; I just choose scissors from personal preference.) Sitting and spinning in the craft tent with other artisans around me is such a wonderful experience, even on days that aren't as successful financially as this weekend.


Woolybuns Puff 'n Stuff

This is a bad picture of a beautiful rabbit! Puff was sheared a little over a month ago and his coat is coming in SO thick and fast! He's almost four months old and getting to be a big boy, too, with such a sweet, cheerful personality. He dives into his food every day with the gusto that a growing boy should show. This cool weather has all the bunnies happy and active; I've been using the pen in the dry weather daily to get them lots of fresh air and exercise!

Chinquapin Festival!

New Friend at the Chinquapin Festival

What a wonderful, full and busy weekend we had at the Meadows of Dan Farmer's Market for Labor Day! Although traffic seemed to be a little off in the area due to the high prices of gas and all the sadness in the South, we had a good turnout of visitors and all the vendors reported good sales and happy customers.


Neglected Victorian

Friday was the beginning of the busy weekend. My SO has been trying to buy a house not too far from here (and not too close) so we met with the real estate agent to make a final offer. Which was accepted on Sunday. The house has been sadly neglected for a long time and it will take some work to restore it to former beauty and dignity. A fun project!

When we got back home on Friday afternoon, we set up my little canopy and helped a little with some final chores to get ready for the weekend. A big praying mantis was sitting on another crafter's tent; I didn't get her picture because I hadn't thought to bring the camera.

Saturday was a lovely, busy day with lots of vendors and people coming down to see what was going on with that big tent and all those little tents around it. Meadows of Dan Farmer's Market is there every weekend, but the Chinquapin Festival was something extra. Even if we didn't have chinquapins because they weren't out yet!


There I was as usual, "that Shelor girl just spinning away down there".


Then across from me was Diane, set up to paint faces and displaying hand made wooden toys.


Wonderful jewelry by an elegant artist!


Elise creates wonderful quilts, toys and baskets and is a writer.


Gourds by Sue, church birdhouses and stars.


Cheryl's pillows, throws, and quilted items.


Lonesome River Band and honey!


A local artist, Mr. Hubbard, who does wonderful portaits.


A local potter who does beautiful work.


Visiting Alpaca and his favorite friend.


Handmade Alpaca items


A storyteller came for Saturday and Sunday and delighted the crowd with his tall tales.


Local quilter Pam spent Sunday demonstrating her lovely work.


Another crochet artist, who makes beautiful buttons. I bought a decorated crochet hook from her!

Many people commented on the quality of the work done by the artisans, which may have been one reason we all did well! Sue at the Meadows of Dan Farmer's Market holds her standards high and there are some talented people coming to the festivals and to the tent every weekend.



Monday was the most beautiful of the three days, cool and clear and with just enough breeze. In the afternoon the Comptons, a local band, along with Sammy Shelor of the Lonesome River Band, came to entertain and a nice crowd visited with us. Some extra musicans showed up for a jam session and everyone was impressed with the local talent and enjoyed the show.

There are more pictures in an album at http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenberryhouse/, marked "Farmer's Market". It's hard to capture an atmosphere in pictures, though. There was a lovely festive feeling in the air all weekend, with the customers and the vendors alike. I think that after all the troubled times lately people just needed to get out and see a peaceful place.



Sue has one more festival planned this year, for the second weekend in October. I've been doing festivals for awhile and this one was the most profitable for me in the last three years. Of course, I'm only about 300 feet away, which helps cut the costs! But the other vendors were very happy with how well they did. One even made a connection with a consignment shop. Things are going well in Meadows of Dan; I'm hoping they're better in troubled areas of the country and world.

I came home to hear Lily barking a warning that something just wasn't quite right upstairs. So I dashed up to check and found that she had discovered a big praying mantis on a pillow in my chair. I carefully escorted it back through the window. So my weekend began and ended with a visit by an exotic looking creature that has always been fascinating to me. I wonder what that means?