Fabulous Fleecy Fun

This past weekend, Marc and I had a wonderful trip to Prince Edward Island.  My in-laws treated us to a night at a lovely little cottage in a place called Point Prim.  It was a wonderful night away - quiet and comfortable - and I think we might go back to the same place next year.  Of course, since I am a fibre fanatic, I was thrilled to notice that we were going to be quite close to the Belfast Mini Mills location in PEI, and then I saw that on the same road, there was a new fibre destination called "Fleece and Harmony" (clever name!) that of course warranted a visit.

We left New Brunswick on Saturday morning and wanted to pack as much fun as we could into our one night holiday.  I'll do another blog soon about the places we visited on our way back on Sunday. Saturday afternoon was fibre day though, so we'll start with that!

We set off to the Belfast area to visit the two fibre destinations I'd identified as worth a visit.  I was really excited to see what new treats awaited me at Fleece and Harmony, and I was not disappointed. The owners are sisters who gave up life in the big city to start a sheep farming and fibre milling operation on the island, and now they have a wonderful shop that sells an array of their own yarns, as well as a well-curated selection of yarns from other Canadian sources.  I had a great time chatting about all things wool, and of course couldn't resist some new yarns for my stash.  For example, I had to have a couple of skeins of this stunning tonal spruce green wool - I love the depth to the colour and the bounce in this yarn is pure energy.  It was hard to choose from all their beautiful  colourways.

I grabbed a couple of skeins of their "fiddlehead" variegated wool, and another skein that made me think of our holiday - sea and sky and fields and sand.  The shop had some lovely knitted socks made from the fiddlehead colourway.  Maybe that's what these skeins will become!

Several unexpected bonuses arose from our visit to Fleece and Harmony (do check out the lovely sheep pictured on their website)! First, they have the most unusual cat named Smokey.  This cat (I apologize, I didn't take a picture of him) is one of the longest cats I have ever seen.  He also has a rather unusual face that is very endearing.  He's a Persian cat, but he has a different look.  Anyway, the best thing about Smokey is that when you pick him up, he puts his front paws around the back of your neck and shoulder area and starts massaging with his paws. Yes, his little claws are a bit prickly, but seriously, this cat gives you little kisses while he is massaging you, licking your neck and ear while he's at it.  It's the most adorable habit I have ever seen in a cat.  I seriously wanted to kidnap him! A picture next time, I promise.

Second, we were able to visit with the sheep!  They have a beautiful flock that is mostly white, but there are a few other colours in the mix including a deep chocolate brown and a silvery grey.  The sheep are well fed and happy on their pasture.  Look at all those cute little sheep bums!

One of the sheep was clearly on vacation on shearing day, or was hiding really well in the long grass when the shearer was there, because it still has a lot of fleece in comparison to the others. (turns out this sheep is actually just a champion at growing fleece!  Wow!)

Such beautiful natural colours in those fleeces!

Third, they also sell fresh eggs!  I had to go back on our way home to buy a dozen, and they are very good eggs.  I've already enjoyed several of them.  Fleece and Harmony also sells lamb meat, if you eat lamb, which I don't, because I don't eat animals that I also have as pets, but a lot of people like it, so now you know.  Anyway, when I went back to get the eggs, by happy accident, they had some freshly-dyed yarn that was not quite the right colour for a custom order they were making.  Naturally, it was in my favourite colour family, so even though it wasn't quite dry yet, having just come out of its rinse, I had to grab a few skeins to take with me.  Score!

I highly recommend a visit to Fleece and Harmony if you're in PEI for a visit - well worth it!  They also sell products from their website if you can't make it to the island!

Next, we drove a few minutes down the road to Belfast Mini Mills.  Their primary business is the manufacture and sales of small-scale mill equipment.  No, I am not going to start a mill.  They do have a shop there with some lovely yarns and fibres, as well as a delightful collection of farm critters, including goats, silkie chickens, guinea fowl, donkeys, sheep and more!  This goat was one of my favourites.

They also have a pair of enormous Flemish Giant rabbits - just look at them next to Marc's feet. They're huge!

I had hoped to see the daughter of my Cotswold cross ewe, Twilight.  Unfortunately, the owners were away so the employee tending the shop didn't know which one was Twilight's girl.  Maybe next time.  Here's Twilight though - I am sure her daughter is just as lovely.

I was delighted with the felt sheets they had for sale that have a thin but vibrant coloured layer applied to the white background felt.  The sheets are 18 inches long - a great size for some needle-felted landscape work.  I have some ideas already!  I also bought some matching coloured wrapped yarn that is just beautiful.

Going outside my usual colour range, I couldn't help but pick up a couple of skeins of this scrumptious mohair blend.  Will I knit it, crochet it, or weave it?  Not sure yet...

I also picked up a couple of skeins of a silk blend made with silk that is produced without harming the silkworms.  It's a soft and supple yarn - I am looking forward to using it in a special project.

All in all we had a fabulous vacation, even though it was only one night away.  I'll write another blog soon about where we stayed and show some pictures from our time by the water.

Friday's Hunt v 2.19

It's that time again - where did the week go?  I am still busy with work.  I have many things I want to blog about, but don't seem to find the time to get the posts written.  I really hope things calm down a bit soon.  I'm still doing my best to keep up with Friday's Hunt, and this week I'm actually going to post on Friday!  Our prompts from Eden Hills are:  Starts with S, Week's Favourite, and Amazing.

Starts with S
S is for spinning, and anyone who has read my blog for any length of time probably knows that I'm a spinner.  When I went to the Maritime Spinners' Retreat a couple of weekends ago, I did some spinning, and then I finished a little bit more when I got home.  Here's some yarn that I have spun over the past couple of weeks.

The purple blend is something that I made at the retreat using the fibre they gave us to play with - not my usual colours, but it's what I was given!  The green mix is some Coopworth roving that I had hanging around in my stash.

This multi-coloured yarn is some 50% merino - 50% tencel blend that I spun fairly fine, and then chain-plied to maintain the colour sections.  I really love the way it turned out and I'm very pleased with the overall yarn.  It has a nice shimmer to it and a lovely drape.  Not sure what I'll use it for yet.

This is a soft grey alpaca blended with a mixed batt that had alpaca, bamboo and wool.  The turquoise is the bamboo.  I spun one ply with just the grey alpaca, and the other with the batt.  The batt was spun at the retreat, but I did the solid grey when I got home, and plied them together.

Week's Favourite
My favourite picture this week is this blue jay.  I like the way he's tilting his head, sort of like a dog who has heard a funny noise.  I believe he's doing that to actually take a better look at the ground. He's under the seed feeder, picking up sunflower seeds dropped by the chickadees.

He certainly had some success with seed hunting that day!

Amazing
Sometimes, the word "amazing" is thrown around in a rather haphazard manner.  People say that things are "amazing" when, in reality, they're good, or even great, but perhaps not quite amazing.  I looked up the dictionary definition of amazing, which says that it is "causing great surprise or wonder" and "startlingly impressive."  I'm going to tell you about something that certainly falls into the startlingly impressive category.  Even though I'm biased, I have to say, my parents are AMAZING!

When I think about all the times over the years that they have helped me, in a myriad of ways, it's really remarkable.  I know, it's a parent's "job" to help their child, but their help goes so far beyond the requirement, it's not even on the chart any more.  So let me tell you about a few weekends ago when my amazing parents helped me out yet again.

I have had a lot of work contracts lately, and since I work for myself, I just have to take the work as it comes.  Before the busy time, I had purchased about 300 spring bulbs for planting, thinking that I'd have plenty of time on the weekends in the fall to get them in the ground.  As is often the case, the best laid plans of mice and men (and women!) don't always work out the way we expect.  I had very little time to get the bulbs planted. In the meantime, I also had the terrible experience of having the nuthatch die by hitting my window.  I had purchased some special tape for installing on the windows to help prevent bird collisions but...no time to install it.

Parents to the rescue!  They knew I was in a bind, so they came to visit for a couple of days to lend whatever help they could.  My mom and I spent a morning and afternoon weeding all my garden beds and planting all those many bulbs - assorted daffodils, alliums, English bluebells, Chionodoxa, many kinds of tulips, Siberian iris, and more.  I know you can't see the bulbs, but they're in the ground, and they'll be glorious in the spring!

As if that wasn't enough, my mom and I then processed about 60 lb of apples (I'd bought huge bags of apples, thinking I'd have time to process them...oops!).  We peeled and chopped for hours, and I put some into the food dehydrator for dried apple rings, and others went into a fresh apple crumble for our dessert, while the majority went into freezer bags.

Meanwhile, my amazing Dad installed the anti-bird-collision tape on all the windows of significant concern, which required washing all those windows first, and then using a little plastic scraping device to properly adhere each of the little squares to the window by rubbing it into place.  The squares are evenly spaced on a tape-based product.  This bird-saving product is endorsed by FLAP and I have not had a single bird collision since it has been installed.  Before it was up, I regularly had collisions from "gentle" to severe.  I am really impressed with the product, but I am even more impressed with my Dad, who just got straight to work and helped me, and the birds, in a time of need.

Although the squares are white on the outside, they are not as obvious from the inside, and the mild effect on the view outside is certainly worth the trouble!

That's not all he did!  He also did some work on that tree that fell in our woods a few weeks ago.  He cut off all the branches so the log would lay on the ground and begin its decomposition process more quickly.

Then he cut the top end of the fallen tree into four sections, all of which will be easy to move.

And even that's not all.  My mom prepared a slow-cooker turkey dish ahead of time, which she brought with her, so we didn't have to worry about making supper while we were doing these tasks. To top it off, it was actually her birthday as well, and we were able to celebrate despite our hard work. I definitely owe her a cake!

So when I tell you that my parents are amazing, I do mean it, in every sense of the word.  I am a very lucky daughter, and a very grateful one too!