After the Weekend

Felted Rug and Chair Pad

Memorial Day weekend was absolutely beautiful. Clear skies, cool breezes for most of the time and lots of fun and company throughout the three days. Our weekend started on Thursday, when SO and I headed down to Asheville to pick up a rabbit from Cathy at Perfect Spot Farm for Chris. Known affectionately as Harvey, this buck is a great fellow. We bred him to three of my does; there should be lots of grand babies soon here! It was great to see Cathy, too, and I'm hoping she will be able to visit us here before long.

The trip to Asheville was a bit of a washout otherwise. We got started late and then it rained, but we got some rest and were ready to head home and tackle all the chores for the festival. Three tents had to go up; we bought a new pop-up for me that works much better than the little tent I had before. Sue used the little tent for her plants and it worked very well.


Greenberry House at Hit and Miss

Chris arrived late Friday night, and we had a little time to visit before we all headed for bed. Saturday she set up to demonstrate felting while I did my usual spinning. Cousin JAG came by to visit and she took some wonderful photos of Chris and the felting process, along with lots of other great pictures of the festival. I think her dad took some of the festival shots, too.

So many people visited I'm sure that I'll miss mentioning them all, but Linda from Goin' Up Cripple Creek spent Saturday morning with us. It was lots of fun to sit and spin together, and then she went over and helped Chris with the felting. Chris made a beautiful purple scarf for me from my dyed angora. I wanted to get a picture of it for this entry but my camera battery finally died. Dave came over from Here, There and Back, with his beautiful wife Wanda. It was wonderful to finally meet her. We caught up on some news from down the Parkway. The most exciting thing was that they are planning to take over operation of the Orchard Gap Market and Deli, just ten miles down the road.


Antique Tractor at Hit and Miss

There were 48 big and little engines at the show. I didn't get a chance to look at many of them closely but they looked and sounded fascinating. There is a rhythm and a spare utilitarian beauty to old things that just doesn't seem to exist now. There was an ice cream maker that someone was operating with one of the engines and someone was also roasting peanuts.


Greenberry House Antiques

We also set up an antique booth as part of the festival, with the Civil War stuff, some bottles and some silver. There was another antique dealer and several craft vendors. Woodworkers, jewelry makers, a painter, baskets, pottery; a pretty good representation. Sales were good on Saturday, when all the engines were around. Next year the hit and miss people plan to stay longer.

Dinner out every night, talking about bunny plans with Chris and everything and anything else. Not good for my diet but lots of fun, of course. Then we came back and slept in a tent set up in the festival area, so we could guard crafts and antiques. A couple of other people camped out as well so that they could set up their engines.


Darnell Pratt and Sammy Shelor

On Monday afternoon a newcomer to the area, Darnell Pratt, entertained. Sammy accompanied her and it was lovely to sit and spin while listening. She does bluegrass and some old songs with a Scottish/Celtic flavor, folk songs and gospel. The music suited the mood and scenery; the breezes tossed the long grass in the fields behind them.

Then, after a long and successful weekend we packed up the tents and stock and brought it all back down to the house, to be greeted by happy dogs. Tj had a lot of trouble through the weekend remembering to be good with so much going on, but he did pretty well. It was fun to do bunny chores with Chris, comparing notes all the while. It got warm enough during the weekend that I had to pull out the fan for the bunny house. It cooled things down pleasantly.

Yesterday I had to work, and today I'll be putting together the Blue Ridge Gazette June on-line issue. Time to get to work on that, with a sleeping spaniel at my feet and a rollicking Lab trying to distract me.

Housekeeping

Joy's Litter

New baby bunnies! Well, about eleven days old now, and already bouncing around in the nest box. The one at the top that looks sort of silver is probably a lynx; he has agouti markings. There's also a chocolate and chocolate agouti bunny in there. And do you see those great big white ones? Not what I was hoping for, those white crossed buns! There are some eyes opening already!

I'm busy cleaning the house for company, and for me. Sometimes I want a tidy house; I just hate being the one to do it. My allergies are so stirred up from the dust and mold. But the upstairs is in good shape; I packed up a bunch of clothes to go to Goodwill and now I have a place to put the piles of clothes that have been laying around in the way. Today I'm heading for the bunny house to clean that up. It isn't too bad, but next week is going to be busy and I don't want to get too far behind.

Surprise!

Dawgs

TJ and Lily wandered over to Hillbilly, Please, this weekend while I was gone. They were in great company, and I hope they had fun!

I is for....Inspiring!

Blue Ridge Spinners and Weavers Guild

What an awesome weekend! Friday I had a lot of fun going to Ferrum to interview people for the Blue Ridge Gazette; more about that in future posts. Then Saturday Sandra, Linda and I all headed north to Berryville, Virginia to attend the first Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival. As anyone might guess, the fun began long before the festival. Sandra drove and we all talked all the way up the road, getting to know each other better and comparing notes on the usual subjects that interest a group of women with so much in common.


Chester Farms of Virginia

It was a lovely little festival, well laid out in a nice fairground, with enough vendors to be interesting, especially for a first year. Demonstrations of dyeing and felting, and of course spinning and weaving, attracted attention and provided a chance for comparing notes and meeting some very interesting and lovely fiber people. The vendors, many of them local, provided a nice selection of fiber and fiber art to study, fondle and try to keep from drooling over. There were many lovely animals, sheep and llama, some angora goats and even a few rabbits.


Wool, glorious wool (with a little mohair!)


The end of a perfect day!

And how do fiber folk spend a night on the town? A good meal at a nearby restaurant, and then back to the room for more talk, knitting and crocheting. As one of us commented "Good friends, good food, good fiber, what more could one ask?" This is where the inspiration comes in: seeing what my fiber buddies are doing. Talking with such a knowledgeable person as Sandra, with insights from Linda's beginner discoveries, and seeing all the beautiful work of the vendors at the show.


Purchases!

And of course I came back with fiber. One of my favorite vendors for sturdy yarn that makes great purses is Chester Farms, of Churchville, Virginia. I really liked the colors of the cotton/wool blend, shown at right. All of us fell hard for The Barefoot Spinner's merino/mohair painted rovings, and I saw quite a few bumps heading home with other people. I chose the red/orange/pink because I never chose colors like these, to try to keep diversified! The skeins draped over the arms of the chair are chenile in wonderful colors from Dovetail Farm. I think these will make elegant little purses.

This small addition to my stash is inspiring me to get into my fiber room and dig around, especially since Chris is coming for the weekend and I have to make a path to the bedroom for her! But I have to hurry to Stuart; things down there to tend to. And I have to get my dog buddies home; it's lonesome here!

We had a lovely time at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival, and I hope the show will continue. On Sunday we visited the Double Tollgate Flea Market with an eye to obtaining a swift and niddy noddy for Linda. Neither of those appeared, but Sandra and Linda found some good buys in pots to use for dyeing. I behaved and didn't buy anything!

Some Time to Catch Up

Greenberry's Blueberry Bell

Monday Sue and I went to Galax for what turned out to be an all day series of seminars on starting a business. We've been to a few of these recently; there are always a few gems of information. They tend to try to cram too much into a day, though, and can't really get into details on any given subject. The presenters did very well in the time that they had to work with. We stopped back along the way and handed out brochures for the Hit and Miss Festival. There's a huge flea market in Hillsville during Memorial Day weekend, so we made sure to cover the town. If you're traveling down I-77 that weekend, allow extra time! Traffic is crazy around Hillsville.

I've been working on the blogs this week. I remodeled Squirrel Spur; tired of the green and a couple of things had gone wrong lately with the template. This template was really easy to work with; I found another one back in March I liked but it was taking hours I didn't have to add the links and other information. I never did get the web ring code to look right. This one was a snap to put together, compared to that one.

Two fine writers submitted articles to Gossamer Strands this week. Connie submitted an excellent article on the history of merino sheep, with some fun personal experience comments. Kathy from over at A Particularly Persistent Point of View wrote a wonderful piece about how she discovered rug making. This article should really help the uninitiated see how the fiber addiction grabs us. Kathy does some wonderful work; check out this link that she added in the comment section for one of her hooked rugs.

I actually managed to get some updating done to the Greenberry House site; not much but a little. I reworked the index page; it was getting too cluttered and I went back to my original idea of just a portal with main links. I added some postcards to the postcard page and tidied up a little here and there. Things have been selling fairly well, especially fiber. I really need to tackle the fiber page and update it drastically. Unfortunately, after I did the updating, I couldn't get access to my server. Yelling at the poor server guy again!

The baby bunnies are doing well. Joy lost one, which I expected since the baby seemed pretty weak. What I didn't expect is two white bunnies in this litter. I knew there was a small chance of white when I bred Quenten and Joy, since Joy has a pure grandparent and Quenten a pure great-grandparent (or something like that). But the last litter the bunnies were all different chocolates. This time there are two chocolate bunnies, one that is probably lilac, and two white ones. Mary still had nine bunnies when I checked yesterday; they all looked well fed but as they grow the runts may lose out.

The sun stayed out all day yesterday, although it was cool. I sheared Blueberry, pictured above, and Chocolat. Blueberry is the daughter of Elwood and has a lovely blue coat with lots of color. I had a buyer waiting for her wool, and packed it up and sent it off right after I sheared her. Chocolat had a nice fleece, too. He's such a good boy; while I was shearing him Dad came in needing help with a project. I left Chocolat in my chair and he just sat there until I came back.

Clouds are moving in today. I'm working in Stuart and then with the aunt on the hill. I'll probably take the opportunity to run some errands. The rest of the week will be busy. Tomorrow morning I'm going to Ferrum to interview a writer for an article for the Blue Ridge Gazette, then this weekend I'm going with Sandra and Linda to the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival up in Berryville, Virginia. Next week I have to clean up this house again for delightful company and then we are making a quick trip to Asheville to see Biltmore and pick up a rabbit. The Hit and Miss Festival is Memorial Day weekend. It all should be a lot of fun (except maybe the house cleaning!)

Week End

Rainbow Over the Fields

We had a nice weekend, in spite of the fact that not many people were moving around on the mountain. If the TV stations even mention rain, folks don't show up. But I got a lot of spinning done; finished two skeins of Coopworth and I also finished my crocheted rug and chair pad. The corcheted part of a little purse is finished as well. Pictures tomorrow.

One of my favorite does, Autumn Joy, had a litter on Saturday. Pictures of them, too, probably tomorrow if it gets light enough outside. She fussed a good bit Saturday morning, carrying hay around. When I went to check on her, she had moved all the hay out of the nest box into a corner of the cage. I put the hay back and moved the nest box to her chosen corner. That made her happy and when I went back six healthy looking bunnies were squirming in a pile of her wool in the nest box.


Rainbow's End

Early Sunday morning we had a thunderstorm. Lily sat beside me on the bed, guarding me from the weird noises and flashes. She used to be brave about storms but during the last couple of years they upset her. So she pretends to be protecting me, growling back at the thunder while she sits pressed as close to my side as she can get.

It was sunny by the time I was supposed to go to the tent, so I loaded up the truck with the spinning wheel. After a few last minute chores in the house, I came back out to see half a dozen little birds perched on the wheel and tailgate of the truck. They scattered when they saw me; I would have loved a picture. I think they wanted the tuft of wool at the end of my yarn, so I went back inside and found some loose wool for them. It disappeared during the morning.


Pot 'o Gold

We set up and the sun lasted awhile, then clouds drifted across the sky. We weren't too worried until it started getting darker, then we moved things into the center of the tent. Pretty soon there was a flash of lightning that looked like it hit down in the hill below the tent. Dad went home to rescue TJ, who was outside, and Sue and I fled to the truck. Lots of thunder and lightning, and then hail that was a little larger than a pea clattered over the truck and danced on the pavement of the road. It didn't last long, but long enough to get some of our stuff wet and make us decide to pack up and head for home. Not many people around anyway.

Lily was annoyed when I got home, because she had to sit through this storm by herself. So to apologize I took her to town with me and we went grocery shopping. On the way we stopped by to say hello to Mom and Wendell and wish Mom a Happy Mother's Day. I ran into Judith and went by her lovely house to set her up as a contributor to the Blue Ridge Gazette. Judith is a Naturopath and we're looking forward to her articles.


Rainbow Over the Hills of Home

It was raining again when I got home, and I hurried down to the bunny house to check on things and feed everyone. It was so pleasant working in the barn with the rain clattering on the roof, while the rabbits munched peacefully on their carrots. The sun came out as I left the barn, silvering the shower. I looked up to see a rainbow arching across the farm, from the road to the woods, and ran for my camera.

We settled in for a quiet evening, with rain and thunder outside at times. When I took TJ out for his last ramble of the day the stars were out and clouds were moving lazily across the sky. This morning it is overcast and cool; more rain expected today.

I heard from some of Cyndy's friends about how things are going at Riverrim. The news is encouraging; Cyndy's husband is doing very well. Much better than first expected, apparently. Cyndy thanks you all for your warm thoughts and prayers. There will be a long recovery period, it seems, and still some anxious times ahead, so if you have time spare a thought toward Riverrim.

Sunshine

And a lovely, cool morning! I hurried through work on the computer, and am hoping to head outside in a few minutes to enjoy the day. Much rain lately, needed but fogging up the mountain and my head. No walking, which makes me lazy!

While things have been quiet here, it's been interesting elsewhere. Check over at Blue Ridge Muse for a frightening tale of an unusual and daring daylight break-in, right in the middle of the peaceful town of Floyd. Bloggers met in Floyd, peaceably, as reported over at Ripples. Sorry I had to miss the meeting. Lots more news on blogs everywhere; check out the sidebar and visit my blogging buddies. Everything from dyeing to puppies is being discussed.

It's Friday here, which means I'm getting ready for another weekend at the craft tent, hoping it won't rain. Some roving to wind into bumps, a gorgeous doe to shear, and maybe some bunny trays to shovel out. A typical and beautiful day!

Felting Workshop at Hit and Miss Festival, Meadows of Dan

"Felting Fine Fibers with Woolybuns"

Chris Morgan of Woolybuns will offer felting workshops each day at Hit and Miss in the Mountains in Meadows of Dan, Virginia, on May 27, 28, and 29. Each four hour workshop will explore wet felting fibers into a gorgeous and warm scarf using nuno felting techniques. $50.00 per person, materials included. Each class limited to four people. Please contact me at angoralady@earthlink.net to reserve a space!

May Days

We seem to have our April showers in May; after lots of lovely days at the first of the year rain and cooler weather have settled in. Much needed, of course, but it does interfere with planned outside chores. I sheared ISeeSpots Elwood Blues yesterday. He's one of the oldest rabbits here, almost six. His wool production has slowed down considerably and some days he seems that one foot is bothering him. But other days he hops around like a bunny, and he eats well no matter what. I packed his cage with hay after I sheared him, to keep him warm if the night gets too cool.

Not much other news. Still working on the crocheted rug for my booth and after this weekend I decided to add the chair pad. I ran out of one color of the yarn but was able to substitute another blue for the one that didn't stretch far enough. It would have annoying to have to order another skein. Otherwise I've just been working on the computer, setting up author interviews for BRG and trying to scout up writers for Gossamer Strands.

And over at Hillbilly, Please, JAG was talking about this little game she found. I had to check it out, certain types of games fascinate me. This game is delightful; if you into fast-paced action it won't do a thing for you. This is a slow-moving puzzle, with scenes that are pure art. Check out the rest of their site; it's amazing. But only go there if you want to burn up some time!

Sad News

Apple Blossoms

Yesterday I received an email from Cyndy over at Riverrim, saying that her husband was seriously ill. Later in the day Dawn wrote with more details she had received from Cyndy's sister; the family is anxiously waiting to hear more news after surgery. Please keep Cyndy and her family in your prayers and thoughts.

Gossamer Strands

Recently the other editor of the Blue Ridge Gazette and I were kicking ideas around and we (mostly he) came up with the idea of putting together an on-line group blog with articles about fine fibers. So here's another blog (do I hear a groan from somewhere, JAG?) called Gossamer Strands.

Our focus will be on fine fibers, angora, silk, alpaca, bison, fine wools and other elegant fibers that are spun, woven, knitted, crocheted or felted. Articles can be about techniques, the animals, the history of the fiber, tools, whatever....the only requirement is that the theme be fine fibers and their use.

Writers are NEEDED! The guidelines are in the sidebar of Gossamer Strands. There are some wonderful writers out there in the blog world (you know who you are!) and I think we could put together an awesome site for reference and that would be a lot of fun. Soon I'd like to put together another magazine, like the Blue Ridge Gazette that would feature articles from the blog plus new articles. The only limits are our imagination; if the magazine is successful our writers could be PAID for writing articles!

Dye Day!

Linda Painting Yarn

I sometimes wonder if I deserve all the wonderful people that come into my life and the neat things that happen because of them. Yesterday I was honored to host a mini dye day with Sandra of Thistle Cove Farm and Linda, who has a fun blog called Goin' Up Cripple Creek. They arrived with knitting, books, fiber and food; what more could anyone ask? Lily was happy to greet them; TJ stayed in the yard to keep him from participating too much in our dye adventures.


Painted Yarn

I was so busy talking and getting the dye stuff ready that I didn't take many pictures. We worked in my kitchen with acid dyes and vinegar, and had time to do two dye runs. Linda is a new spinner, and she brought her first skeins of singles to be dyed. She's going to keep them as a reminder of her new venture into spinning. Sandra brought some lovely millspun yarn; large skeins of soft and beautiful wool. We painted the first two skeins with squirt bottles. We used water bottles, which work pretty well, although you don't have much control of where the dye ends up. We used turquiose, violet and gold Jacquard dye.

Sandra is experienced with natural dyes, but she hadn't used acid dyes before. Linda is new to it all, so I showed them both how to measure out a stock solution of dye and explained a bit about how to get predictable results. With painted dyes I don't get predictable results; I imagine there is a way to know what will come out of the pot but I like being surprised. We painted the skeins, one of Linda's and one of Sandra's, and then put them in the dye pot to steam. It wasn't long before we had the lovely yarn above. Sandra's is the lovely lighter shades on top; she used gold with hers. Linda's turned out darker and more turquiose and green.


Bunny House Scarf

Our next experiment was with vat dyeing; we filled the pot with water, dumped in the dye solution and some vinegar, and put in a skein each for Linda and Sandra. We used Jacquard Dye again, this time violet. I dropped in a scarf I knitted years ago which is mostly twisted stitches of mohair and angora yarn. Sandra's yarn turned out rich purple; Linda's was lighter while the bunny house scarf came out somewhere in between. Each item was made of different fiber and it was interesting to see how that affected the results.

All during the time we worked we talked, of course. Fiber people always have lots to say. Lily shared our lunch with us, doing the sad eyes and begging. Busy and intelligent women are wonderful to be around; the many projects considered, debated and invented at my kitchen table yesterday were exciting to think about.

Too soon it was time for them to leave; Sandra had a long drive home and Linda had to work. I saw them off hoping they had enjoyed the day as much as I did. Today the tidy house seems empty; I'm looking forward to another dye day soon!

Springfest 2006

My Booth at Springfest

We had a beautiful weekend, although the chilly temperatures reminded us that it was still a mountain spring. All the time and effort getting things together for the festival were more than repayed with fun times and a bit of profit. Saturday was sunny but windy, but folks came out for Kettle Corn and the horticultural talks. I wound up with a nice "Flowering Tobacco" that Sue won in a drawing and gave to me. It was my color, after all!


Greenberry House, Springfest 2006

I totally changed my booth for this year. We have a lot of repeat customers and I've been thinking that tables just don't display things as well as getting things up at eye level. So I painted some shutters and put some fabric on a screen, and I added another shelf unit. Sales were pretty good in spite of the cool weather. I was surprised to sell painted roving through the weekend. There was a spinner that came out all the way from Kentucky who bought some roving, and a sweet local lady who also bought roving and sat and visited with me awhile. Painted china was another item that went well; I'm going to be working on both roving and china this week. This was the opening for the Mountain Meadow Farm and Craft Market; we'll be out every nice weekend from now until the end of October.


Farmer's Market

It's still early in our season, but Sue had lovely plants, fresh asparagus, and rhubarb from my mother's garden. Mom included her great recipe for rhubarb pie. There were beautiful herbs and hanging baskets, and Sue has been working all winter on her gourds. Lots of them left for new homes this weekend!


D. L., me and Dave

Sunday was an extra-special day! D. L., of the Blue Ridge Gazette, and his wife, Dawn, came to visit. We've been working together on the blog and magazine for a couple of months, but this was the first opportunity that we had to meet in person. We hit it off like old friends, with lots in common and plenty to talk about. It was delightful to sit and spin while visiting. I think they had a good time with our little festival, although we all nearly froze. Then along came Dave, of Here, There and Back, and it was really old home week. I got busy with customers a couple of times but when I looked up I could see that Dave and D. L. seemed to have a lot to talk about. I was sorry not to be able to meet Dave's wife, but they were having water problems down at Groundhog Mountain. I hope she gets to come visit with us soon as well!


Dawn and Me

Dawn, D. L. and Dave fit right in with our little crowd, and we had lots of fun talking about blogging, Blue Ridge, dogs and crafting. And of the trials and tribulations of country life, which not one of us would trade for all the cities in America. In the afternoon my brother got a little group of talented local musicians together and entertained the crowd. He had just come off the road from Kansas, but seemed to enjoy picking in the field with his friends.


Sammy Shelor and Friends

I was expecting the three "D's" that I have become acquainted with through blogging, but I had an unexpected nice surprise in the afternoon when a dear friend from high school and her family came by to visit. They brought their new puppy along, a real sweetheart that was happy to meet so many dog lovers all in one place. My camera disk was full and I couldn't find my extra, so I didn't get any puppy pictures. But I hope to see them all again soon!

We were all tired but happy by the end of the day, and packed up full of ideas for more fun festivals and more plans to meet with good friends, new and old. I'm thinking about a dye day this week, possibly Wednesday. Are you out there, Sandra?