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This is always a tough time of year. It often feels like we’re coming out of winter, and then this happens

It’s actually warming up some now, but it was a very wintery week, with some days not even getting above freezing. I knew it was coming, but decided to start some seed last weekend anyway, putting them on heat mats and hoping for the best.

Remains to be seen if the onions and peas are still viable, but I was so excited to see some brave, hardy little broccolis poking their heads up this morning!

And it looks like some precocious poppies might have made it through as well.

I did manage to get my sunshiny batts spun up yesterday, and So here is how the violet heather and the buttery yellow multi look side by side

So springy. It actually just occurred to me that I am kind of recreating some of my favorite roses in wool

To wit-

Anyway, so now we know where that impulse came from!

And I wanted to share a neat little book that I received as a gift from Donna over at Schoonover Farm

It’s a series of letters written between twin sisters, Nora and Flora Johnston, written in 1918, in the midst of the Spanish Flu epidemic. Very interesting piece of local history that really beings to life the cast of characters that populated this area about 100 years ago. No specific reference to the Canavans, who would have been the occupants of our house at that time, tho she does mention a “Nell” which could be Nell Canavan. Also McMackins (original land patent owners of our property) come up a couple times, but not specific people, just a reference their home/property. Kind of makes me want to followup on some of the lines of inquiry I left dangling years ago. Some of the folks that I’d corresponded with back then have since passed on, but there are some historical organizations that I could reach out to.

Have a good week everyone-

Mighty gray and rainy outside this weekend, so rather than prune the Big Apple, I decided to create a more pleasing palette, with the help of the fiber stash.

I dove into my bags and bins of dyed wools, and pulled out a bunch of energizing shades-

I love love love that violet color, and thought it would make a beautiful base color for a heathery mix of different hues. A few passes through the drum carder resulted in a blend that was so fun to spin- just watching the different shades pass through my fingers was a tonic.

I spun the singles on Mighty Red (who might be on the verge of getting a new name. I’m almost there). She’s got some good energy. Such a smooth and easy spinner.

I decided to make this a two-ply, and only have the one original bobbin for MR, so had to wind off onto storage bobbins. Sophie was happy to help out with that bit-

I remove her bobbin brake, and move the driveband over to drive the bobbin to use her as a winder. So now I’ve got two Sophie bobbins of Violet Heather singles ready to ply

Sunshine with a side of blue sky, and dashes of infrared and ultraviolet getting all melty on the drum carder.

I think these two are going to coordinate fabulously

Perhaps in a sweater project?

Hmmmm. Something to think on this week.

Ps. Special thanks to The Man for shooting my the video clips for this post 🙂

Today we checked chicken butts and treated for mites and lice. But you don’t want to see pictures of chicken butts, so I’ll share some yarn and seeds 🙂

Squishy!

Blendy!

And full of packets of possibilities that came in the mail a couple days ago.

Got a start on the pruning this weekend as well (small fruit trees and roses). Maybe photos later, once my forearms recover. Hope to tackle the Big Apple next weekend, weather permitting.

That’s about it from the homestead.

Have a good week-

Are this weeks yarn!

Very blendy. That was fun. But I wasn’t inclined to spend time carding this weekend, so this week’s spin is going to be a fancy Polwarth/Silk blend that I purchased a couple years ago from The Artful Ewe in Port Gamble, WA.

I’ve not decided yet how I’m going to approach it, but I’d like to get some decent yardage from it, so I can maybe use it in a sweater yoke- thinking it might look nice against Fiona’s soft beige-y tones.

And in anticipation of seed starting later this month, I took some time today to do some housecleaning- hoop house cleaning, that is.

Thankfully the twinwall cleans up pretty easily. Little bit of simple green. little bit of elbow grease.

And we’re off to a fresh start!

Oh- and I ordered some dye plant seeds from Botanical Colors today- Madder, Dyer’s Chamomile, Marigold, and Black Knight Scabiosa. Been meaning to get some madder started for a long time now, so nice to have taken the first step. 🙂

Have a great week folks-