Fiber show and antique store finds.

 I went to Townsend Tn. this past weekend to a fiber fair at the Heritage Center. My niece Jill and her son went with me. I had so much fun, talking to all the fiber people. I love them.

This is so Cormo I found. I've never spun any yet, so I got enough for a few skeins, I hope. It's really soft and pretty.

And one booth was nothing but rug hooking. She had little kits so I got one of a sheep. I had to go back Sunday and get the black felt. It wasn't in the kit. She was really nice and helpful. Had to get her to go over it with me again. I am such a visual learner, so directions don't mean a thing to me. I will get started on this soon.

This is some 100% cotton roving from The Spinnery. They had a booth at the show. I asked if they had any hand combs. She said they did in their store in Gatlinburg. We went after the show for lunch, then went to the store. It was amazing. I got hand combs. They are below.

And on the right is a bunch of Merino tops. It's amazing. Can't wait to spin it up.

This is an ounce of CVM wool. Never have tried it either. I've heard people talking about how no one really knows a lot about it and they want people to try it. So I am. It's not very soft but she said it can be worn next to the skin. We shall see.

On the way home Sunday, I went past a few antique stores that were open. I kept going, but then decided to turn around and go to the one that had all the stuff outside. I found SO many good things. I'm so glad I stopped.

This book caught my eye. Then a little tiny McCoy lamb that just had to come home with me. I'm such a sucker for sheep. Has anyone read this book yet? I've read the 1st 2 chapters so far.

Also found these 3 stacks of quilt scraps. For $10.  Now I'll have to make a quilt. We sure need more quilts on these chilly nights.

Then I'm in a booth looking around and see this tall wooden shelf, holding a bunch of stuff. I looked for a tag to see if it was for sale. It was. $18! I ran to the desk up front to grab one of the ladies to see if that was for real. It was! I got it! It's amazing. It was a wind chime display rack.  I love it. It will be to hang my hand spun yarns on. Too cool!

And the chair was on the front porch. It did not have a tag, so I asked about it. I sat in it and it's so sturdy and comfy. The lady called someone about it. She said they were asking $55 but would take $25. I said I'll take it. This will go on my studio porch.

So I sure am glad I stopped.

I can't get that top picture to separate. But that's the set of combs I got at the store in Gatlinburg.  They are hand made. Called Indigo Hound. Just $150. I had to get a bolt to put in the hole to keep it steady. And we had clamps. This is some Wensleydale locks I was playing with, trying the combs out. You can see how much I put on the comb. Then below, the 2 balls I made and then all the waste to the left. That's a lot of waste. But I posted this on the fiber group on FB and they say that's pretty much normal. That's why combed top is so expensive. But I love doing this.

This is some of Adalaide's curly kinky locks. I could not put this through my carder at all. This is why I bought the combs, so I could process her wool. And I have a lot of Romney that needs processed as well, so I'll use these.

This will keep me busy til all my sheep are sheared. Which I'm kind of glad she hasn't come yet. It's FREEZING here! Although, we have had some pretty hot days where the sheep will be panting like dogs. Poor sheep. Thank goodness, we have lots of trees.

The boys are back!

  Finally got my boys home last night. It was dry enough to drive the truck and trailer into the pasture up to  the barn. And Susan had them in a stall. They were ready to go home, I do believe. They were with about 12 other boys with lots of testosterone flying around. And she was worried they might also bond with the herd there. But they didn't. And they are back home with their own little flock of sheep. I think the sheep missed them too. I feel a lot safer with the alpacas in with my sheep too.


This is them at the alpaca farm, waiting their turn. In the misty rain. It was a nasty day to shear for sure.

And here they are, back home with their flock. Sugar is way back at the barn, eating hay.

Just about every other picture I took of my boys, this alpaca would stick his head in front of me. It was too funny! He was all over the place, wanting to know what was going on. Then it was his turn. He was quite surprised, to say the least.

And here is the result of the shearing. I don't know how many pounds. It was damp when I got it home, so I spread both fleeces out on the drying rack before I left for my weekend away. Sugar's fleece was really dirty. Someone was telling me they say a really cool box made out of small wire, where the alpaca wool is put in and they'd use a blower to blow out all the dust and VM. I might have to try that myself.

And, I have to say that last year, when the boys went to the farm to be sheared, I could not tell Sugar, the white one, apart from all the other white ones. This year, I knew exactly which was mine! He was smaller, but also hes a certain look. When we went last night to get them, she had most of the boys in a stall. But I didn't see Sugar in that bunch. He had gotten out somehow and was outside the barn. But we got them.

Around the farm today.

 I know I am not the only one sick and tired of all this rain and storms we've had, practically the whole month of April so far. But really, I am tired of all this water. And mud. And messiness. And I am worn out just walking to the chicken coop for eggs. I'm not even locking them in at night, so I don't have to slosh back down there to let them out in the morning. Just not gonna do it.

It's really windy today. And cloudy. But I do see a little bit of blue sky poking out between all those clouds. I hope they aren't rain clouds. I think it's supposed to not rain til Wednesday. Maybe.

I can't even go get my alpacas because it's too muddy to get back there to them to load them up. We had to leave them at the alpaca farm last Friday because I have to use my friend's trailer to haul them over there. And one of her alpacas broke her leg, so she had to use her trailer to take her up to the UT vet school in Knoxville. She there went my alpaca's ride home. I will get them either today or tomorrow. I miss them being here.

The red clover in the garden is finally blooming. I've had some in my dandelion tea a few times. The bees are loving it.

These collard flowers are busy these days too. Full of insects. I'll leave them there. Because it looks like I won't be able to garden til Fall, as wet as it is. I'll just have a wild garden.

My bee condo. It's getting bigger and bigger. I think I need to do a split soon. They are really do good so far. Haven't done a thorough check of the whole hive yet, because the weather is so crazy. But I added this box last week and they are already up in it.

I saw this huge ant mountain this morning. I think I should do something about it before the old tree falls down. Black Bart found some good food here. I am not feeding them now, because there is so much for them to eat naturally now. They do get scraps when I go gather eggs.

This is the clematis vine today. In full bloom! It's beautiful. And it will bloom a few more times.

This is the tree with the ant mountain. It's slowly dying. Big limbs have fallen off over the years we've lived here. But it's a bird condo. There are already baby birds in this nest. I hope it stays up a lot longer.

And some azalea flowers. I have more, but they didn't do too well this year. I have way too much of that creeping Charlie pest and it's taking over all my flower beds. I pull it up and it just comes back more.

I went North this weekend, instead of South. I'll post the rest of the week about my adventure.