Fall 2011

On the Farm

Had a sad end to the summer. Our oldest riding horse, Oliver, had to be put down in August. He was a good age, guesstimate of the vet, was 29 or more. Our heat wave really aggravated poor Oliver's heaves and he had no quality of life left. We are still looking for a permanent replacement for him, but it is a hard thing to do.

All the market lambs are gone. Will have to wait till spring to watch a new group play and gallop about. Maybe there will be some spots this time in the crowd as our new Icelandic ram is black and white spotted...Hopefully he will break the all white trend of the last 2 years for the purebred Icelandics.

Good old Norton is still hanging about. Have again had several people look at him, but then decide that I was not kidding when I said he was a large coloured ram, part Lincoln, part Colombian and God only knows what else. His about 300 pounds is a bit intimidating I guess :)

Have a Blue Eyed White English Angora soon leaving for Newfoundland. She will be my long distance flyer for this year I think. Others have gone afield, but so far.  In the spring I will be using a new tort buck to bring in some new blood to the BEW's. Expect to have a number of spinner/wooler bunnies of assorted colours ready to go next summer. But that is enough looking ahead on the farm front.


At the Torch


Not much happening here. Have not felt inspired to do new things with so many beads already available from passed sessions. Maybe inspiration will stick as the weather cools. I feel it stirring now and then, but nothing to light a fire over yet:)


With the Pliers


Has been a Byzantine link summer. All things chainmaille in fact, but the byzantine link has really got stuck. Have made this bracelet in every colour of wire can get my hands on so far. Hopefully the pictures show up. Am told they loaded but can not see them anywhere... Sometimes new technology and I are not best friends...


In the Mill

Still the center of attention here. We are currently clearing and rearranging for a larger carding machine to arrive shortly. Will let us more then double our capacity of roving production and free the current smaller machine for more custom fibre blends days. Expect to see lots more of things like Blushing Vanilla or Sailor's Delight in future.

Once the dust settles and we are running will get some pics up here.

Have also been busy logging in new colours of Ashland Bay fibers. Have almost every colour available now instock. Next thing to work on will be getting more of the ecru yarns in stock.

We will be taking a day or two to do some fibre and yarn dyeing. Just have to wait for the yarn to get here...


On the Road

We have been hitting craft events this month. Small venues for the jewelry and the beads...So far we have been at the Napanee Lioness's Christmas Craft sale, St. John's hall Christmas sale in Bath, and coming up will be the Odessa Christmas Sale at Emmanuel United.