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Things start to feel like they are moving so fast as May approaches. I’ve been busy outside keeping up with garden and critters.

All the seedlings are off heat and growing fast, with cabbages, bok choi and broccoli already in the garden and tucked in under floating row covers. I hope that this extra protection will let them get well established without the pressure of slugs and cabbage butterflies. So far they seem happy.

Took some time saturday morning to clean out the eastern rollup side panel of the hoophouse, as it has a tendency to collect all kinds of debris over the season, which then gets slimy and nasty. Requires removing the tie-down ropes, unrolling and removing the plastic from its rollbar, and scrubbing/spraying down the plastic sheeting, then reassembling. But it feels good to have it done and knowing that it’s not harboring all kinds of crud. Hope to have a chance to tackle the west side maybe next weekend.

In sheep news, I got a start on shearing Dottie. She’s never been an easy haircut customer, but I got her neck and chest clear, and back past her shoulders. I think that she enjoys the extra freedom of movement, minus her heavy coat, but she wouldn’t ever admit that 😉

I went ahead and washed up this first batch of her fleece since the weather was so favorable. I love her wool, with it’s range of silvery greys.

Also mixed up a small batch of Pat Coleby-esque sheep mineral, using up the last of my available dolomite lime. For my own future reference, the ratio of ingredients (by weight): 25 parts dolomite lime, 4 parts copper sulfate, 4 parts yellow sulphur, 8 parts granulated kelp. I’m providing this free-choice to everyone, alongside the purina goat chow mineral.

It was a good week for spinning and weaving, too.

Just finished the first panel of this current blanket project.That last photo is showing the spacers (recycled paper grocery bags) I use between the panels. The warp ends become fringe in the finished object.

Looking forward to a couple of great events in nearby Bow this coming weekend- Wonderful Woolies fiber sale (6414 Worline Rd) and the Skagit Weavers Guild silent auction (16775 Allen West Rd). Both Saturday 5/2 from 10am -3pm. Should be a good time!

By focusing on things here on the ground. Patch of english daisies in our back lawn

Happy little seedlings-

sheeps hangin’ loose in the sunshine

Feelgood stuff flowing from sheepy sources include Daphne wool becoming batts

and some stash yarn becoming another blanket

Plainweave, 6 ends per inch, alternating white and taupe weft against striped warp (purples, orange, green, teal, grey)

Have a good week, folks-

A couple months ago I mentioned that I’d started soaking some apple bark in preparation for using it in a dye bath, based on info in a new-to-me book, Wild Color by Jenny Dean.

I had an opportunity a week or so ago to cook it up- here’s the bucket with the soaking bark before heating (nevermind the indigo residue ring!)

and this is the color of the bath after a few hours of simmering

I decided to dye a variety of natural shades- bright white, creamy white, beige, and silvery gray (but didn’t get good “before” pictures, sorry). They weren’t mordanted, because the book indicated that it wasn’t necessary to mordant the goods for dyeing with apple bark, and I was hoping to get something like that rosy color (4th color swatch down in book photo above), which corresponded to the unmordanted sample.

Here are my results from this batch-

Not exactly rosy, but a soft, warm yellow. Hard to capture the color accurately wit my camera, but on the grey it reads a bit like a loden green. and it turned the beige a lovely golden brown. remains to be seen how lightfast it will be. Before I do any testing on that I plan to to another round- this time mordanted with Aluminum Triformate.

In garden news, I’m excited to have developed a plan for a runner bean arch –

Still needs a bit of cross-bracing, but hopefully by mid-summer it will be covered in Weinlanderin beans, (and maybe some scarlet runners as well), with enough clearance underneath to stillbe able to mow the between the beds.

OK, that’s all I’ve got for now. Have a good week folks-

This morning I had planned to do hoof checks on Daphne and Fiona. Somehow, one thing let to another, and now they are both sheared!

Amazingly, they both were so nice and cooperative. I don’t know what has gotten into them! 🙂

Though haltered, I didn’t even secure them to a fixed object. They both just stood nicely for their entire haircut. Amazing. Perhaps they have been itchin’ to get our of their heavy coats with the nice warm afternoons we’ve been having?

Anyway, I’m so please to have them done. Only Dottie to go, and I might let her keep her coat a while longer because she’s gotten kinda skinny.

Fiona was a bit scurfy along the topline, but fleece is so much crimpier than prior years, Finer/softer around the chest and shoulders, a with a bit more scritch factor in the rear, but seems to be getting better with age

Daphne’s fleece is really interesting. Shorter than usual, but very crimpy and very dark, I thought Daphne was starting to shed, but it turns out that Fiona was the one with a natural break happening. Go figure.

Exciting to have fresh new fleeces in the processing pipeline.

On the spinning end of things, I’ve been working the last few weeks on small batches of blended dyed wool to restock my stranded colorwork yarn stash. It’s been fun, and I’m enjoying the results so far-

And things are moving along in the garden and hoophouse.

Just separated out and repotted brassicas yesterday. Lots of cabbages, bok choy and broccoli on the way!

And won’t be long until tomatoes graduate to 3 inch pots. I’ve got 8 varieties going this year: Palmento, Thornburn’s Terra Cotta, German Pink, Gold Medal, Brad’s Atomic Grape, Jaune Flamme, and Cuor de Bue Albenga. Just planted 6 seeds for each, but almost 100% germination means that I’ll still have extras.

Alrighty folks- hope y’all have a happy Easter. I found my one egg today, so I’m good 😉