Saturday Sky

I woke this morning to wind, low clouds in the sky and the dash of rain against the windows. By the time I tended rabbits and TJ and had my morning tea, the sky had lightened. I walked with Lily and watched the world change.


Heavy clouds racing across the sky


Clouds thinning and fleeing north with the wind


Trailing away

Time Is Flying

Hand Painted Shetland Wool Roving

here on the mountain. Anyone else noticing that the days are just flying by? Seems like yesterday it was hot summer; now it's fall and the cool days are wonderful!

I've been dyeing; had a cold or annoying allergies this week and haven't felt like doing anything but got the dyeing tackled, anyway. I hand painted some Shetland roving in my crock pot; really liked the soft colors that came out. I hope to get it rolled up today into four ounce lots.


Shetland Wool Roving

I liked the soft blue-green so much in the painted roving that I dyed the last of the Shetland that I have here that color. I'm trying to build up some stock for the McLean show; I sold a lot of stuff the last few weeks. I've been busy making hats and pocketbooks as well as dyeing.

It's a cool, gray morning. There are a few leaves changing in the trees near the Parkway and the fields are slowing giving over to gold from green. Last night I walked the dogs under a low dark sky. When the stars are out they are brilliant, shining like a winter sky in the cold.

More about dyeing and the business at Fiber Femmes blog later today.

Y'all Ain't Gonna Believe This ----!

Program from the show!

No one would ever guess what I did this weekend, and who I did it with. I already know that because the news has been greeted with astonishment by those who do know me pretty well. Favorite cousin and I went off to Greensboro to see the Jerome Davis Challenge. Not a craft show, obviously. Nope, it really was bull riding!

Favorite cousin is a big fan of the Professional Bull Riders and follows the season closely on satellite. I promised awhile back to go with her to the show if she was feeling up to it. So Saturday we loaded up and headed for the big city to a huge and posh hotel where the shuttle bus would take us to the Greensboro Coliseum in plenty of time to settle in for the night's show. It was a hard trip for RJ, but mountain gals have plenty of determination.

We settled in after greeting a Floyd County boy I've known for years who happened to be sitting three seats away from us. Funny to see him, although not a surprise that he would go to the show. His dad was a horse trainer for years and we all used to ride together around Buffalo Mountain. I wondered how many other people might be there that I had seen over the years; lots of people from the Greensboro area come to the mountains on weekends.

The show was amazing; I didn't really know what to expect. We had fairly good seats in the lower section, but it was too far away to see faces, except for on the big screen TVs above the arena. It was just as entertaining to watch the bulls as the cowboys for me; they seemed to know the score and some of them seemed to enjoy the show as much as the riders. One circled the arena looking for all the world like he just wanted to show off and wouldn't run right into the gate like the others. I'm sure there are people that don't approve of this sort of activity for the sake of the animals, but it was obvious that these creatures were well cared for and the cowboys came in for more abuse from the bulls!

The goal is for the rider to stay on the bull's back for 8 seconds. It's amazing how long that seems when you're watching. Several riders managed to stay on and the crowd went wild every time. It was pretty exciting. There were two "home town" boys among the contestants. I think one did fairly well and one had a bad ride. One young fellow injured an arm but no one was hurt badly, which was a relief to me.

Spending time with RJ is alway wonderful, even with the added bonus of an adventure. We spoiled ourselves with good meals and were spoiled by plush carpets to walk on, elegant chairs lined along pleasant halls with interesting art where we could rest, piles of fluffy pillows in a bed I didn't have to make up in the morning, and loads of hot water in a shower that didn't dribble water at me. If I had thought to bring a bathing suit I bet I could have found a hot tub.

It was nice to come home, though, even if the house is a little shabby and I had to wash a pile of dishes this morning. Lily greeted me with plaints and lamentation, although I know she had been well cared for and had managed to sneak an extra meal. It was lovely to get up this morning to the chores, walking through dew fresh grass that soaked the hem of my skirt while I tended the creatures, gathering handfuls of fresh hay from the bin for bright eyed rabbits. Crisp air and mist on the fields, a romping half-grown puppy hurtling through the weeds at break-neck speed, purring cats welcoming their breakfast and a cheerful cockatiel breaking the day with shrieks and coos.

Early Morning

Glorious here this bright Sunday morning, with mist rising from creek and pond. The hay was cut on Friday, and lays in curving matts across the fields, brown against yellow, with layers of mist above. A prowling black cat paces down the rows, ears alert as grasshoppers flee before him.

The rabbits are lively these cool mornings, eager for breakfast hay and bright eyed for attention. A dozen doves rise from the barn roof as I come back from doing the chores and spider webs shimmer with the dew.

Saturday Sky

Saturday Sky

In the shortening days of late summer the skies are much the same day by day. In the early evening thee was a sudden silver shower.

Making a Living....

Special Order Sock Yarn

sure gets in the way of the important things. Like blogging. And reading other blogs; really miss that! It's a good thing I enjoy what I do so much!

The Christmas special orders are gearing up, and I've been working to catch up with some of the things I've promised to do this fall. The sock yarn went off to Bristol; hope the customer is pleased with it! I liked the way they all turned out; I'm thinking of calling the yarn on the left "Almost Hokie" because it has purple in with the orange and maroon.


Smoky Blues and Gray

I took one day off for dyeing this week, and finished the last of the angora/merino blend I had spun by Still River Mill. The yarn pictured above was painted in my crockpot, with gradients of blue-gray. Different from my usual product but I like the effect.


Green

I also had a special request for deep green yarn to go with my gold for a Grandma that was making things for her special grandchild. Apparently they are involved with Patrick County's Cougar sports!

The rest of the week has been busy: I put more things out at the shop after a busy weekend and took care of paperwork. Fiber Femmes new issue is on-line and there are some fantastic articles and some great patterns. I made Cathy's Fillet Mesh Crocheted Scarf from some silk-angora blend yarn from Chris at Woolybuns, who is also featured in an article. And I got to talk about my favorite German Angoras; what could be better?

Saturday Sky and Festival!

Saturday Sky

We had an absolutely stunning, beautiful day for the Chinquipin Festival and Grand Opening of the Corn Maze. After the threat of the hurricane and three days of rain, a morning dawning crisp and clear was welcome and a relief!



The signs, up at last

It has been a busy, busy week. We finished up the signs on Sunday, and got them up. It made an immediate difference in the traffic at the shop. I think some people thought it was my house! I love the way the signs turned out, even though we made a couple of goofs and didn't put all the bits and pieces on. Simplicity is best for folks like us, and the big sign for the permanent building will be done professionally!


Greenberry's Blueberry Belle

Lousy picture of one of my favorite rabbits; young Belle produces such quantities of rich blue fiber. I have the bags I got from her at the festival this weekend and everyone has been oohing and ahhing.


Chinquipin Festival, my booth

And it's festival time again, with the grand opening of the Corn Maze as a highlight to the weekend. I have lots more pictures on Flickr; go over and have a look if you have time.


Hunter and the Golf Cart

Hunter stayed busy all day running errands and ferrying people around with the golf cart loaned by a local dealer. He was such a great help!


Ready for the speeches

Lots of people attended the opening ceremonies, and several distinquished guests spoke about the importance of tourism to our area and about The Crooked Road and 'Round the Mountain tourism inititives. Several people from both organizations attended and I was able to talk to some interesting folks with great ideas.


The Ribbon Cutting

All of the officials gathered around as Sue cut the ribbon and Jeannie, our county's tourism director proclaimed the opening of "Patrick County's First Corn Maze with the Crooked Road!" or nearly that. The day got busy after that and I didn't get the chance to find out how things went with the corn maze, but I saw lots of people heading that direction.

It was a great day; lots of fiber people around and I talked until I was hoarse. As usual!