Some Spin Some Knit

Some knitting. Some knitting makes it out the door before I get to take a picture. Sometimes I go out the door to take pictures but it's toooo cold. Today, instead of the roof of the duckhouse as the back drop, I moved back inside to do some shots.



Oh the joy of hand carders! I love the tissues it produces.



I like the pretty colors the tissues produce.



Plied with the dark brown Viking wool. Colorful bits wool waste from the mill.



And finally spun up the very short, brittle fence wool [which is different than the light fluffy clean Gorse wool mind you] with a bit of Seasilk for color. Spun and BCoDed it using rocks collected the last trip to the beach in a tin, hot water from the kettle and a bit of hand soap. Green, smells really nice.

No Lambs Today

There was more blue than white in the sky and no snow on the ground out front so layers were layered, knits were put on and boot strings tightened. Speaking of which, I have learned how to properly tie my shoes. A balanced knot that does not loosen up with round shoelaces. Boots don't get loose on long walks, always annoying to have to take off the gloves to tie them when it is cold.



Word has it the fields are full of lambs, tis the time of the year. I thought a short walk up our favorite stream to the fields was called for. The upper valley, it is where the morning sun hides. A fresh breeze rushed off the far ridge adding that sparkle to the scene and gave the red kites something to play in.



We exited the woods into a field in time to watch a sheep dog working the flock in the adjacent field. Watched the shepherd signaling the dog. Watched the sheep flock thru wide gates into the feeding area. Giggled as more than one would be walking along and just walk right into another sheep. Whoops, didn't see you there, pardon, so sorry.



Alas, no lambs sighted in the flock we visited but lots of interesting things to see. It was a very fine walk.

65mph

That is what you need to run, to walk on water.



65 would get rid of the clouds hiding the sun. Try as it could, was no chance against the dark grey clouds promising overnight snow.



Woke up to that morning snow stuff, but it wasn't snowing, just very sporadic bursts that end thirty seconds later. The back road and the road up to the sheep on the corner it was.



Sprouting left and right despite the white cold stuff.



Looks to be what you'd suspected, Peri! "Mommy get the flower for me please, the thistles will 'get me''. Ok! Camera, got it. A few minutes later, So?? Where is the flower, we read on wikipedia we could really eat it!

Angels Singing All Around My Door

I mused to a friend why certain songs always came to mind while walking about the valley. Turns out this is the location, well, actual one is about 15 miles down the road, where the songs were written. Made perfect sense. Sitting atop the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales, how could one not be inspired. Every direction offers another spectacular view, something that draws you closer inviting exploration and contemplation.


Kiddo's shrub. Definitely slows one down while walking thru the thistles. Large bunches of it grow near the treelines bordering on sheep fields. Makes me smile to find windblown bits of fluff on them (which are happily added to the back pockets bum warmer).


There are a notable number of unusable fields. Just too rocky to offer sure footing to man or sheep.


Not much in the way of blue sky today but no rain either so out we went. To Kiddo and I, the days just don't feel complete now without a walk. What I'd though would be a one hour excursion turned in to a 3.5 hour hike. Once off the road, thru the gate and feet hit the trail, all that is behind you is a world away.


It is startling, the difference in effort twixt the UK, US and moreso Italy is doing in regards to reducing their carbon footprint. The awareness here, I see, is more than just talk. Conservation is part of the daily life. You look around you a bit differently after finding the land you are in was once 90% covered by ancient forests.


I had the pleasure of meeting artist Sue Clow. She recycles in a most beautiful way. I gasped when I saw her wool rugs. So lovely! You couldn't imagine putting your feet on them yet at the same time you want to do nothing more than take off your shoes and enjoy the soft wooly warmth. She will be teaching a rug making class at the Wonderwool Wales festival in April.


On we continued, after exploring along the river, up thru fields so we could check out a lane we noted on our last walk up there. Around a bend we found another stile, another field, another long fence covered in fluff. I think tomorrow will be a stay in and play with fluff day if I can swing it. The kids are all out for mid-term break so they'll be busy doing kidstuff hopefully so I can do fluff stuff!


As the sun dipped below the valley ridge we thought it time to head home. No way we wanted to be galavanting thru the woods in the dark. We meeeehed our goodbyes to our wooly friends and headed back for a perfectly tempered potato, leek soup with basmati rice and crumbled aged sharp cheddar.


Looks like a butterfly, doesn't it.

Gathering

On the Fence

Great big fluffy clouds and blue sky with big beams of sunshine beaming down beckoned to us. We MUST go OUT! We thought to revisit the trails up the hill and go right instead of left. Then I remembered the neighbor who is giving us Welsh lessons mentioned a river up that way so I went over to get precise directions to it. After a discussion of walkways and how to get to the entry point the quickest the conversation veered to the fact that he'll be building an ancient Celt style boat to go down the rivers here with his brother. We will be invited over to see the building of it - bent wood frame covered by cow skin. They are oval shaped, open top and low, much more stable than the modern canoe and definitely not constricting kayak-wise. Lightweight and watertight they are carried on the back when ported on land. I asked if people still use them or did they have one before. I was told no, they 'saw it on the telly' and thought it would be fun to make. Adventures await!

Another glance out the window as I was heading out the door, suddenly I had a guide for our walk. Half an hour later we set out to see the river. We learned the proper [and extremely cool] way to walk up and over the stiles rather than straddle the fence and swing a leg over. We went up past the last entry point we used and used a public access walking route which took us thru somebody's garden. And what lovely gardens they are! Up the river we went. The higher we went up the more snow and ice we saw. Icicles hanging on low branches over the mini falls, caches of ice in the form of firey clear diamonds nestled in open treasure trunks. Creeky swings low slung over the edge of a farm's sideyard.

Suddenly I look up as we come to another stile, I stop. I squint and walk up to the fence. I turn to Kiddo a bit behind me and ask her if THAT IS WHAT I THINK IT IS!!!! And it was. Wool On the Fence. Wool On the Fence *insert happy dance here* Wool On the Fence! Finally! Before us, what so many had mentioned.. ooh here in Wales we have wool on all the fences! As it turns out, we just had to know which footpaths passed the right fences. One took us into a field, there was a flock of sheep to the side. I was enjoying the scenery and stuffing highly compressed balls of wool that were coaxed off of fences by Kiddo. I am happy to announce I found the perfect HikingColdButt cure. Looks silly as can be as you stuff wool back there but keeps you nice and warm. We were shown the entry point for a six mile park of walks that were built by one of the local barons. The paths are marked with colored shale. Can't wait to explore!

Home again, wool came out of the pockets, coffee made and soup for dinner put on then I sat down to meet the fence wool. Kiddo said ooh, it's recycling!! I pondered that for a moment then said no, we get the wool before any cycling starts. No machines involved. Sheep is fluffy, brushes against the fence or nettles or brambles and the wool pulls. We gather it, spin it, create with it in a very non machiney way. No, not recycling, Kiddo, it's PREcycling. I picked out a couple balls of the cleanest looking stuff, fluffed, floofed and spun a single in the grease. Amazing the twist that it can take when fine and a touch thicker, much less needed. The lanolin makes the fibers behave beautifully. Two plied on itself I knit up a small cabled swatch then washed it to see that magical bloom. Photos of that tomorrow along with photos from tomorrow's return to the fleecy fences. We'll make our way back to the river again. I'd love to shoot the ice crystals before they melt. Snow is forecasted, who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Final words of wisdom from a native ~ There is no bad weather, only bad clothes.