bringing the light

I've been waking up before dawn, so I can watch the sunrise...bringing the light.

It is the best part of the day for me. A few moments with my coffee, the quiet, and the sun streaming in the window...shining through the flowers on my windowsill...

The light captures the flax on the distaff, and invites me to sit at the wheel. My mother's little flax wheel came home for Christmas. Fred Hatton spent some time with her, getting her back in shape to make many more miles of linen thread.

Spinning flax when I wake up is delightful...it is very much like I am still asleep..and just dreaming of spinning flax. And yes, I do sometimes dream that I am spinning flax. It is a good place for my mind to be at rest. How do I describe the hypnotic trance it seems to put me under? And the feeling of well being it gives me...

Did you notice my flyer hooks? Fred fulfilled a special request of mine...to have my flyer hooks on the upper right arm, the better for spinning S twist...widdershins...withershins or whidderschynnes.. ..perhaps that is why it seems as if time is standing still...and

it isn't long before my coffee cup is empty, and so the distaff is empty of flax...but the bobbin is half full.

For such a delicate little wheel, she sure likes to work hard and get a lot spun. Thank you Fred, for fix'in her up ...she is a keeper!

star

Star of Wonder in the heavens...

Wonder what you want of me..

Should I follow you tonight?

Star of Wonder, burning bright.

a cappella written by terre roche ~may your holiday season be filled with peace, love, joy and beauty~

starting to finish

I've been working on getting some Alpaca Fleece processed for hand spinning. It is a good job to do when the weather turns cold..I work in the mud room near the wood burning stove. First I sort and scour the fiber. I've been using Unicorn Products and absolutely love how they do such a wonderful job. I place some Alpaca in the basin with Power Scour.

After a quick bath, the fiber comes out of the rinse and goes directly into the dye pots that are simmering on the stove. While the dye strikes, I am busy blending and carding. This is a good multi-tasking type of day..and from time to time I change my activities..switching up between carding, dyeing, scouring etc. The clean smell (has a touch of fresh lavendar) of the Unicorn Fiber Rinse fills the air as I work ....and the colors on the drying rack greet me the next morning...reminding me I still have more work to do.

The early morning sun catches the colors and I am pleased with the results...the greens...

...the reds...

I find myself pondering names for colorways..

...and the job continues...on and off the drum....

...there are a few more bags to tie before the job is finished....

..so not exactly "in the bag" ~ yet.

sun catcher

Sunrise at 7:10 AM in direction 119° East-southeast East-southeast Sunset at 4:35 PM in direction 240° West-southwest West-southwest Duration of day: 9 hours, 25 minutes (53 seconds shorter than yesterday) Sun in south at 11:52 AM at altitude 27° above horizon

There were 53 less seconds of sunlight today. And we will be losing seconds of sunlight each day until the 21st of December. Have you noticed?

It is only a few minutes..but I am sensitive to lack of sunlight..and it feels like hours. I appreciate each second ..I wish I could bottle it.

Some days, the sun does not even come out. Today, it showed up ...just in time to go down at 4:00pm. Oh, I know you are saying the sun does not go down until 4:30 ...but I live in the river valley, and it goes behind the mountain at about 4pm. I had to walk fast to catch it.

going...

going...

at the very last, only the tree tops catch the light.

I've been lighting the candles indoors. It helps....

.....so does the moonlight!