Author: denisemor

After the Rains

Over the course of this past week we got 3.04 inches of rain! So we are now thoroughly dampened and out of any fire danger. Air is nice and clear too!

Now that the curtain of rain has parted, we find ourselves well and fully in Fall. Sheep seem pleased with the change of seasons-

And decided to take Goadldi’s suggestion and make a pair of fingerless mitts from my first Fiona skein

Just kind of winged it with the pattern, and initially they turned out a little too large, but the addition of a cable down the top and ribbing on the palm pulled them in just perfectly to make a snug fit

In hoophouse news, we’ve got the corner groundposts in! Been slow getting started because the site is a little challenging, but now that we’ve established the footprint and are confident that everything is square, I think we are on our way.

Hoping that we’ll have nice crisp Fall weather for a while so we can keep this project moving!

Ps. Go Hawks! 3 and 0! Woo Hoo 🙂

All Spun Up

Picking up where I left off last weekend, here is the first skein of baby Fiona yarn-

Still Life with Wool and Apples 🙂

I love the heathery oatmeal color. Just what I was hoping for! The little girl has also turned out to be super friendly, so that is awesome. Such a little sweetie.

In other news, I finally got myself some rooting hormone so I took a little time the other day to harvest some one of our beautiful old rhodies that is on it’s last legs. Here is a photo of it a few years ago when it was in better shape- it’s the dark purple one in the middle of the photo

Here are the little cuttings all prepped and tucked in their pots

and then they go into their ziplock bags to keep them nice and humidified during their incubation.

So now we wait. And maybe in a few months, if the stars align correctly, one or more of them might root and the dark purple rhody’s legacy will continue. Here’s hoping.

In the meantime, we’ve got our hands full with a new project!

Yes indeed- its a hoophouse! All the pieces, at least. “Some Assembly Required” you know.

Thankful to have a big project to focus on for the next couple of months, and very excited about the prospect of starting seeds out their early next spring!

Fall Fleeces

This morning I finished Daphne’s haircut! She was such a good girl, and it went pretty fast. And all the while, Fiona stood watching and munching hay close by. Maybe it helped to have company in the shed. 🙂

Funny how the front third of her is already sun-bleached- after only, what a couple weeks?

I’ve already got the first bit of her wool in different stages of processing- with about 3.5 oz spun up

I think the first skein is a little bit under-plied, as my swatch has a smidge of bias- so I might run it through Moto, my e-spinner, again quick to add little more ply twist.

But it feels really nice. And I love the rich, nutty gray/brown color.

I’ve also got Fiona’s fleece washed up and ready to play with-

Baby Fiona fleece, just as soft as it looks!

And I wanted to share an update on Welsie, my rehab chicken. I can’t remember if I’ve shared much about her here, but she was in a pretty bad way about a month or so ago.

She’s been living in the shop in a dog crate while I’ve nursed her back to health, and I’m so pleased that she’s pulled through. She’s growing new feathers and putting on weight, and I’ve been letting her out in the yard for supervised field trips so she can scratch and peck and dust bath and such.

Today (as I write this) she is out in the shed getting reacquainted with the flock.

Let’s hear it for the girl!