And yet more woolens...

Speaking of wool...



I give to you...Myrtle.

Felted full of softness and thoughtfulness...right down to her toes... 

(Contemplating life in my Etsy shop)

 

Song for Friday...new love

Whereas I've admitted to having a musical crush on

Ray LaMontagne for his gravelly, dark and passionate singing and deep song writing,

I now have to admit my new musical crush...

Paulo Nutini...cutest lad this side of Scotland

 and so much fun to watch...and only23 years old.

He's going to go far, this one.

He's like a young, white Otis Redding with a dash of Dylan and some hyperactive soul thrown in.

Enjoy, and I bet you'll be tapping your feet to this one.

Have a great weekend all!
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYfqdcXcGVw

 

Woolens...

As I mentioned, last week an old friend came visiting with her girls.

They used to lived across the road and we spent many years drinking tea,

playing with dogs and horses, mushroom hunting and her girls spending

summer days with my sisters girls when they visited.

Now those dear friends live on the mainland and we've only seen each other twice in

the past 4 years. We are all creative souls and funny enough, her oldest

has been experimenting with wet felting as well so after a trip

to the city for wool, we couldn't wait to get out in the studio to play!

I wanted to make a bigger bowl than the first one I had made a

few months ago so I started in on that process...

...while Boo started in on making me a pair of gauntlets (fingerless, long gloves)...

Wet felting is a long, labour intensive process which has many steps and

takes many hours. I was trying to pay attention to Boo as she had done

seamless gauntlets before, while making my bowl but before I knew it

she was pretty much done and I hadn't caught the whole idea 100 per cent.

They turned out so beautiful!

 The colours I chose were a deep eggplant purple, smokey grey and

coral and gold curly locks for an accent...

The inside are a gorgeous pewter blue colour..

Turning raw wool into fabric by simple means of soap, hot water and muscle is magical.

Even the younger Taisha was creating something combining wet and needle felting...

Later after dinner we attempted a second pair with whites, greys, ocean greens and blues...

Unfortunately the wool I used for the inside of these was not

Merino and therefore VERY itchy so they have already started an up cycled

life as something else.

This week it's off to the wool shop again for some Merino and

another attempt at a pair for a Christmas present.

Speaking of the wool shop... after we had drooled and shopped our little hearts

out we came out of the shop to a most magical sunset with this

incredible mist hanging over the playing field...

So let's see...gas to the city, $10.

Wool for felting, $23.

Seeing old friends...

Priceless.

 

 

 



Wordless Wednesday...

Visiting the girls...

Sunday I took the nieces and nephews to the farm where we get our milk.



I showed them the milking room



Then we found the girls out by the hen yard

            There they were just munching away...



It's so fantastic to see the look on the faces of kids when they have these

close encounters with animals.

The youngest boy wanted to know how the cows made the milk.

I pointed to the udders and explained that it just 'happens' when a cow is

going to have a baby. Just like human mom's when they have a baby.

And then there was much giggling about 'boobies' and such.

We had a look at the ducks and chickens...or should

I say they had a look at us...

This rooster was giving us the evil eye...

I miss having chickens...the clucking and the way they putter around pecking and scratching.

Maybe come springtime we'll get some more.

No sense having them now as they don't lay much in the winter and it's better to

start with young pullets of which there isn't any of around right now.

Here's the original farmhouse...

So cozy on a grey day to see the wood smoke curling up out of the chimney.

Thanks girls...see you next week!

 

 

They're back!

Every winter now for about 4 years we've had a pair of

Anna's hummingbirds come to the feeder...

This is a labour of love keeping these little things going through

our harshest months. Last year during a cold snap in January, the

female disappeared and I think she froze to death.

I'm glad the male found a new mate...if it's indeed the same male...

When the Rufus hummingbirds come back in the spring, they chase these

guys away. I'm not sure where they go but they must find

an alternate food source because they always come back

after the Rufus' leave...

Another odd thing is that even within it's own kind, the male

Anna's is always chasing the female off. Maybe he wants to see how tough

she is. So today was something to see them BOTH feeding at the same time...

So stay warm little birds and I'll keep your sugar water full and thawed 

as long as you need it... 



Song for Friday...the woolens

Old friends are visiting and we've been to the wool shop in the city.

Ideas have brewed along with pots of tea.

We've been speaking of felting, cold weather, reindeer and the Sami people.

So yesterday it was out to the studio to begin on our projects

that were slowly hatching...

More on this day later, but for now I leave with with some music we've

been listening to.

A group from Finland with strange Celtic whispers in their songs.

Have a great weekend all!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPR56PXiLqY