Last week started with an agility fun match on Sunday. I only found out about it at class the Thursday night before (the fun match was at the same venue); fortunately I didn't have any conflicts so Poppy and I could go. She did really well, although she struggled with the weave poles in our first run and the teeter on our second run; interesting, since both those elements have not been problematic in class. But it's good to learn where our weak points are under adrenaline, so we can work on them. We have a new instructor for the new year; the instructor we've had up until now retired in December. I really like the new instructor, though. I wish I could afford to start Leo in a beginners' class, because he is smart, biddable, and energetic – I think he'd have fun! Of course, he has plenty of FREE fun here at home. A recent sunny morning provided better than usual lighting for photos:
After starting my new spinning project, I switched to a bigger, slower spindle (that doesn't fit in my lunchbox) so as to not over-twist my singles. Wensleydale is a much coarser fiber than I'm used to spinning, and I didn't want to end up with twine. I'm thinking I'll ply this fine single with a loose white alpaca single and knit a big, cozy wrap . . . someday.
In other spinning news, I made a cross-valley trip (over the river and through the woods!) to the Jenkins' last week. Ed is making nostepinnes now, so I got one in Hawaiian Ironwood for myself and proxy-shopped for two other spinners. I also got a new spindle, a Black Limba Dragonfly. No, I don't need more spindles; I destashed my Holly Dragonfly to make room.
After lots of rain followed by a couple days of heavy fog, we're supposed to get a week of at least partially-sunny days. If I can get the corporate tax stuff behind me today, I can look forward to riding time and outside clean-up. I did go looking for our snowdrops, but the big clumps on the bank under our flowering cherry seem to have gotten choked out by ivy and other weeds. We do have one small clump in the island bed, but the flowers haven't unfurled yet. Likewise, the daffodils in the front of the island bed have been mostly choked out by grass, but the ones by the front porch are shooting up. On the north side of our house, the sarcococca bushes are starting to bloom and perfume the air.
For the first time in I can't remember how long, we got six eggs in one day last week; the new hens are really making their presence felt. But they are also increasing our feed and bedding costs (which have gone up in price, like everything else), so I finally increased the price of our eggs to get closer to covering expenses.
All the ewes that were in with Spot seem to be working on covering their expenses; bellies are showing telltale fullness that is encouraging. Hey, it's been a number of years since I've had a lambing contest. Anyone interested in guessing dates? Numbers? Colors? Let me know in the comments, or if for some reason you can't comment, there's an email link in the column on the right. The prize would be a small handspun, handknit something.
That's it for now from . . .
