Me Time

It’s one of my favorite times of the year!

I’ve been out of the game for a while. Sort of. I think they call it “unplugging”. Yeah, that’s it. I’ve been unplugged.

They say it takes around two years to recover after a divorce. If it was a damaging relationship, it can take longer. I’m coming close to two years now and I’m just trying to assess what activities I was doing because I wanted to versus what activities I was doing to keep my mind off of things that just didn’t feel right at the time.

But, I guess there are some itches that never go away…

Look at all those people huddled around the barn down there.

They’re all huddled up because today was Sheep Shearing Day at Greenbank Mill!

Much of the familiar team was there.

Deb came back to do the shearing. She’s awesome!

Laurel skirted the fleece.

She felt Deb must have sheared with a new technique this year because much of the fleece was so clean. The mill’s sheep don’t get covered because it isn’t historically accurate. So, often, the fleece gets dirty with sheep urine, waste, and, well…dirt. But, Deb said there has been more grass at the mill these days. So, she felt that might have been a factor in the cleaner fleece this year.

Wow!!

Laurel measured the fleece too.

Most of the fleeces turned out to be between eight and nine pounds!

Linda and Carol of Fiberguild did the dyeing today.

Mmmmm…my favorite color!

I loves some hand-dyed handspun!

On the herb and gifts side, Carlie and Stacie were there to take care of business.

If you’re missing Heather, she was there with her family, including her new, very sleepy, edition.

Congrats, Heather!

Speaking of new editions, there have been some other new editions around the mill as well….

Lambs!

A bit ago, the mill planned for two lambs…the other was sort of an unexpected surprise, lol! The breeds at the mill are heritage breeds, merino and Leicester longwool. The unexpected lamb is a mix of the two. While it produces a lovely wool blend, he’s not exactly historically correct. So, the mill will need to find another home for the little lamb when he’s ready.

I can’t forget that there was definitely some spinning going on today.

Ricky, one of the regular spin-in participants, dropped by with her husband.

She spun.

And educated.

It became a little infectious. I took out my Joy and started spinning. Linda took out her spindle.

Even Laurel showed off her Nerd Girl spin.

I nearly passed out when I saw this lovely spin! What a beauteous skein! It’s very consistent (Laurel’s an excellent spinner) and just look at those colors! That Nerd Girl is one talented dyer. I’m definitely a fan!

The textiles were beautiful too!