new lambs

We had our second series of workshops at the Hatton Farm yesterday, and these sweet little Finnsheep lambies were there to greet us in the morning.  They had been born earlier in the week, and could not be more precious.

 

We had a nice turn out for the workshops, some of the people coming from out of state to participate!  It is really fun getting together to teach new skills and share ideas with other fiber people, and even though I am the instructor for some of the classes, I always come away with a little something that I learn from the students.

 

The one drawback about being an instructor is that you don't have time to take one of the other workshops.  Since there are 4 of us teaching, the mini workshops are going on in different areas of the farm at the same time.  For instance, while I was teaching the spinning workshop in the barn, Grace was inside in the kitchen teaching the casserole dyeing workshop.  When it was time to switch, I went up to the house to teach the needlefelting, and they were having a great time and just finishing up.  What beautiful skeins of yarn they created, so colorful!  And in the living room they were ending the Tri-loom workshop that Judy had been teaching- while out on the patio Louise was completing the Alpaca Fiber workshop.  It is a little like musical chairs, with lunchtime being the only time to really visit with everyone.  It is fun being a teacher, but sometimes I would like to be the student too. 

 

Once again at the end of the day there were many inquires about when and what the next series of workshops would include, but we did not settle on anything as of yet.  It is really good to see the interest, and to have such a positive response from those who came out to join us.

 

I was so busy teaching, that I did not get time to take pictures--except for those sweet lambs in the morning...when I see new life like this, I feel like I am seeing something that only a few people have ever seen before....kind of makes it special to think of it that way.  And just so the rest of the crew would not feel like old hat, I took their picture too....

When I got home in the late afternoon, I had some time to relax and visit with the rabbits and chickens...a nice way to unwind bask in the quiet of the day.  The weather has been really beautiful... no frost in sight, but things have been still and dry.  At dusk, we checked in on the chickens before we locked them up for the night.  We always do a head count...just in case.  One of the hens did not come home last night.  It was the new aracuna pullet.  We searched all around until it was dark, could not find her and went to bed with our fingers crossed.  I was hopeful that she would come walking home in the morning as they sometimes do.  She was not that lucky.  We woke at 4:30 am to hear bagaulking, and by the time we got outside it was quiet and still...no sign of what it was that got her. It is always hard to loose a chicken, but she was a sweet one that we did not have very long.  Here is the last photo I had taken of her earlier that day...

On the fiber front, I have been spinning up some mohair that I plied with silk...and then weaving it directly onto the loom...something a little different...but every now and then I feel the need to do something different.  It is helping to keep my mind off the loss of the little pullet.  The poor roo, he looks lost today.  I walked down to the river and looked all around to see if I could see any signs of a struggle or feather or (gulp) a carcass.  Nothing anywhere.  Not sure if it was raccoon or fox.  Usually with the raccoon there are signs of a struggle, and I would find the carcass.  Fox tend to run off with their prey.  See how my mind is wandering back to the chicken?  Anyway, here is a shot of the fiber.