Good-bye Dear Friend

Floppy

Grieve not,
nor speak of me with tears,
but laugh and talk of me
as if I were beside you.
Twas heaven here with you,
I loved you so.


Isla Paschal Richardson

One Down.....

For those of you who know me or have followed my blog for any length of time, you know that I always seem to end up with a "collection" of projects on the go.  Probably because I get distracted by new and exciting crafts to learn and partially because I tend to think "Oh I'll just take a break and whip up this other project"  Funny...they just seem to add up not get "whipped up".

Well, after a very productive weekend which included a trip to the fibre mill, spending some time with the boys, trying my hand at felting (those pictures will be posted soon), building new feeders for the boys and actually trying to get some spinning done, I did manage to finish one of those many crafting projects.

The Lighthouse baby blanket I have been making for a dear friend who is patiently waiting for the arrival of her first grandchild.  Hopefully the perfect blanket for a new addition to a family who's heart and roots are firmly planted in Newfoundland.

I can't wait to see a picture of him all wrapped up in it!

OUR FIRST MILL ORDER

So we finally got our boys sheared and our little farmhouse is completely overrun by fleece!!  It's time to face facts...I would have to quit my job and eat meals in my spinning chair to even remotely have a chance to get all of this spun.  I put an ad on a local online advertising site and then started searching online for other ideas of what I could create with all of this gorgeous fleece.

This is just this year's 'harvest'

 

Much to our surprise, our ad started getting responses about 20 minutes after it was posted and I have a lady coming by today for a visit with the boys and to pick what colours she wants turned into roving.  Roving??  JADA Farms is going to need to find a fibre mill!  And find one we did!  We took our first load of fleece in yesterday.

I would like to thank Gail at Gateway Fibreworks for the tour she gave us yesterday.  Gail was wonderful!  While the boys' microns were being checked she showed us around the mill, explained the different things she did there and of course, as a fellow alpaca owner, had a long chat with us about these beautiful characters.  And then I was left with absolutely no choice but to spend some time with her going through her shop and discussing different felting and dyeing techniques while Andy waited outside.  Luckily for him the rain had stopped.  I walked away with a wonderful little book, "The Knitter's Companion"

I placed an order with Gail to have all of Parnell and Tyrone's fleece from last year combined and turned into roving...I can hardly wait to see it!  We also dropped off some seconds and thirds for Gail to add to her recycle co-op.  She combines her own fleece with that given to her by other alpaca farms in order to get the minimum amount needed and sends it to be turned into cozy insoles.  The insoles are then divided among the farms that donated fibre for the project.  Now that's my idea of a recycling program!!!

I will be signing up for her workshops when I take up the next load of fleece to be processed.

The really interesting part of the day was getting the boys' micron counts checked.  Unfortunately though, for Windsor, this resulted in the end of his reign as "King" of JADA Farms.  He has been downgraded to "Prince".  Why?  Because although he has superb density, staple length and amazing crimp, he is already showing a not so great micron count at the tender age of 3.  This doesn't mean he won't be getting bred...it just means that we have to find just the right girl for him.  Sorry buddy...

So who is the new royalty around here?  Believe it or not, that little black trouble maker of ours!!!

Yep, that's right...what Vincent lacks in density he more than makes up for with a beautiful staple length and an AMAZING average micron count of .....16!!!  Actually, it's too bad Windsor wasn't a female because together he and Vincent truly have it all!! 

After our drive up to the mill, which is in the middle of the Muskokas (an absolutely gorgeous piece of cottage country) we came home and I decided I better attempt to finish up a few projects.  I am happy to say that the baby blanket I have been making is just getting the last row of the ruffled edge and it will be all finished!  This leaves me with more time to play with fleece!

CAN WE HAVE OUR FLEECE BACK PLEASE???

So last weekend everyone was finally scheduled, we had a small group of four people, no new cria were making an appearance at the breeders and the weather was on our side.  Everything was a go....except all the sweat and damp in all that fleece.  So after shearing Parnell and Usairus our breeder decided that we should load up the fans in the barn, get the air circulating on our sweaty boys and try again on Sunday.

Sunday afternoon came and everything seemed to be in our favour again....everything except the shears.  We managed to get Usairus 'touched up' and get half of Tyrone done.  Have you ever seen a half sheared alpaca???  Not a pretty site, no wonder Tyrone was not authorizing the release of any photos.

Monday morning the heat and humidity started to build, right along with my concern for our boys.  Tuesday's forecast was even worse and we decided right there and then that if we didn't get the shearing done Monday after work that Andy was going to stay home Tuesday to stay with the boys, garden hose at the ready!  Luckily the call came early Monday afternoon from the breeder and we were on for finishing up that night. 

We started at about 4:30 pm, fans blowing on the boys, every barn door open for air circulation.  We turned on the shears, made a couple of adjustments and....they slipped through all that fleece like a hot knife through butter!!!  What a relief!!!

By 7:30 pm our boys were sheared and much more comfortable...

Humidity levels dropped a wee bit on Wednesday but we still had our typical summer Canadian heat.  Then this morning we woke up to a chilly 10 degrees and no humidity at all!!!  And we found our poor boys huddled in the barn looking at us as if to say...

"CAN WE HAVE OUR FLEECE BACK PLEASE??"

The Heat of Mid-Shearing....

So we started shearing Saturday...and thanks to our damp muggy weather lately, it is taking a little longer than we would like.

And thanks to issues with shears....it is now Monday and not everyone is done...

So while Parnell and Usairus are cool and comfy, Tyrone is only half finished and not authorizing any photos and the other three boys are wondering what's taking so long. 

Today the temperature is already over +20 at 8:30 am and tomorrow is supposed to feel like +39 degrees celsius with the humidity.  Every fan we own is in the barn blowing into the boys' paddock.  Our breeder, who also does our shearing, is making the shearing a priority and is working very hard at getting the issues with shears corrected so she can get back and make our boys all cool and comfortable.

Fingers crossed everyone that the fans do the trick....

GETTING MOBILE...

The newest critters at JADA Farms are nine days old today...and starting to get mobile...clumsy but mobile just the same.  They have even started to venture outside of their cardboard nursery....although just a wee bit outside.

Their eyes are pretty much completely open ...

... and they are pretty demanding of their Momma!

ooops....gotta go...dinner time for the wee ones...

May 11, 2011 HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

So over the last month or so, we have been watching our barn cat, Smokey, getting...ummm...wider.  Every day it seemed to take the poor thing longer to waddle across the yard and every day she seemed to want more in her bowl....  In fact, she has even been getting closer to our family, wanting to be around us more and more.

This is our poor girl on Mother's Day...hmmmm ??? 

May 11th started just as any other day.  Work...school....chores....all the usual.  That is until we came home and Smokey was waiting at the front door....a much thinner Smokey.  The girls and I headed to the barn, with the new Momma hot on our heels and looking very proud of herself. 

Once again there has been a birth on JADA Farms.  Now for those of you who follow our blog, you will know that last year our Smokey surprised us with a litter of four little additions.  Unfortunately, Smokey was new to our little family, was not as healthy and didn't trust us as much as today.  For this reason, she moved her kittens from their bed of hay in the barn to a small shed over by Andy's shop.  To this day, we are still guessing as to whether illness or predators were the reason the new little family did not survive. 

Last year's outcome caused us to be concerned about this new litter.  So after some discussion, May 12th was moving day!  Yes that's right, I caved and got Andy to agree to move our Smokey and her little ones into our front porch in order to give them the best possible start to their lives.  This of course was with the condition that they are not staying.

The wee ones got a fresh new clean blanket to cozy up in, a box to provide them privacy and a home where their Momma could take care of them without having to worry about predators.  It took about two minutes for Smokey to make herself at home.  Actually she did remarkably well with the whole move.  She never got upset and doesn't mind us checking on her or the babies at all.

Since the big event, the weather has once again turned chilly and damp....okay so the temperature dropped from +25 to +6 and the sun decided to disappear and be replaced with wind and rain.  Our little kittens snuggled in closer to keep out the cold.  Smokey was going to need a little more help keeping them comfy.  Luckily, we happen to have a supply of something that is extremely good for warm and cozy. 

Alpaca fleece...add keeping 2 day old kittens warm to the list of uses of this gorgeous fleece!

Thanks again Vincent...



I have been taking photos every day, watching the little ones grow...and so has Leroy, our house cat.
Leroy is the first one at the porch door when I go out to check on the kittens and would love nothing more than to gain access to our porch.  (Someone needs to explain to him that they are not staying)

Now on May 17th, eyes are beginning to open, little cries are demanding Momma's attention and three little furry bundles are becoming more and more active, crawling around exploring their box nursery.  All seem very healthy and we have started trying to find forever homes for everyone to go to in another 7 weeks.  We have been trying to come up with some temporary names....just for identification of course....they are not staying! 

Come back and watch us grow...

Officially Mom's Boy!!

It finally happened, after almost a year...Windsor, our stand-offish alpaca finally came up and nibbled a few pellets from my hand!  Of course, there were no witnesses and no camera....and of course, the next time I went to the barn with Andy, Windsor refused to do it again.  In fact, he pretty much acted like I was dreaming and it had never happened.

Well Mr. King of JADA Farms....I now have proof!!!

Actually, this has gone from being a one time thing to a habit.  Windsor now waits patiently while the feeding dishes are filled for his 5 barn mates, standing right behind me waiting for me to turn around with his portion. 

And where he used to spit and push the others out of the way, being a greedy alpaca, he know has even learned to share....once in a while...

Windsor has officially become Mom's Boy and I for one am loving every minute of it!

Finally!!!

So one hot summer's afternoon in June 2010 our six handsome boys came home....each with their own personality.

Parnell, the pushy, "HERE I AM" alpaca.  The first to come running, especially if he even remotely thinks that there may be a treat or a belly rub in it for him.

Wellington, the loving old soul who will eat from your hand but would much prefer to shower you with kisses.

Tyrone, the strong silent type who is friendly enough to  eat from your hand, but much prefers to stand back and quietly take note of all the comings and goings on the farm.  That is unless you come within two feet of the paddock with a running garden hose....then he is ALL OVER YOU!

Vincent, the smallest of our herd, who constantly proves to us that what he lacks in size he more than makes up for in curiousity.  This of course means he is usually the one who finds the burr bush first.

Usairus, the stuck up alpaca who, although he will eat out your hand under just the right circumstances, has absolutely no tolerance for you touching him.  The boy who is constantly trying to prove to the others that he, and he alone, is boss around here!  Unfortunately for Usairus, he is also the brother of Windsor, our sixth boy, who is more than ready to prove to his brother that in no way is he the boss around JADA Farms.

Yes Windsor, the gorgeous alpaca who is covered in the thickest, most gorgeous light fawn fleece and who doesn't doubt for a minute that he IS the King of JADA Farms.  Not only is he convinced of it, he is also quite prepared to prove it to anyone who even thinks of doubting it. 

Yes, there he is...Mr. I Have The Most Gorgeous Fleece...and according to look on poor Vincent's little black face, he is no doubt getting ready to push Vincent out of the way of his close-up.

We have gotten used to the fact that when it comes to Windsor, there is a "you don't touch me, I don't touch you" rule.  The only exception to this is when you are putting a halter on him to lead him somewhere.  He is more than happy to let you touch him then so that he can parade around and show off.

Then, tonight, the unspeakable happened!  I was out in the barn doing chores, filling their feed dishes when I turned around and there stood Windsor.  Before I knew it he leaned towards me and did the one thing I had almost given up hope of....WINDSOR ATE FROM MY HAND!

Figures...not a soul around with a camera....oh well, he and I both know it happened!!

AWWW MOM!!!!

HOW COME THEY GET APPLES AND WE DON'T?   NO FAIR MOM!!!!

Wait til mom's not looking...I bet we can find a way in...

Nothing Like A Good Spot of Tea....

No I am not lounging around the house drinking tea this morning....I have actually been quite busy here.  Chores are done, the bread dough is rising, house is tidy...well as tidy as it gets with three kids trailing all that mud outside behind them...I even decided to make Spring official and hang a load of laundry on the clothesline this morning.

It was during all this activity that I just happened to notice this....

One very bright green patch of grass in the middle of the front pasture.  Now you need to remember that this is the first Spring owning our boys and although the breeder had told us the benefits of alpaca manure, we have never really seen it first hand....until today.  Yes that's right, that bright green patch just happens to be the exact same spot our boys chose as their 'honey pot' last year.

This of course got my curiosity up as to the best ways to use our supply....can you imagine making tea from alpaca poop?  Well you can!  A bucket as your 'tea pot', water and alpaca poop, let steep and VOILA!!!  You have yourself a wonderful spot of tea that your garden will love!  I even found this wonderful link that better explains the process.  Better stock up on some buckets to brew some tea for Andy's veggies this year.

Well time to get back to that bread dough...

Production Is Up!!

The results of peace being restored to the coop!  Good job keeping those ladies happy Jack!!

Anyone want to guess what's for breakfast tomorrow??



Spring Cleaning and An Unexpected Visitor...

FINALLY!!  Mother nature gave us milder temperatures yesterday.  What to do?  Play outside?  No...  Clean up the yard?  No...  Oh that's right....a good Spring cleaning of the old chicken coop!  After all, now that those ladies are laying eggs on a regular basis it is especially important to keep them healthy and happy. 

Now, with the enclosure finally cleared of snow, the little chickens would finally travel further than the ramp leading from the coop.  They spent the day happily picking and scratching at the mud left behind.  Laverne, Shirley and Betty even dedicated some time to picking the ice off of the chicken wire...their version of cleaning the windows I guess??

They were all quite willing to spend the day out in the enclosure until we decided it was time to give the interior of the coop a good Spring cleaning...then the all pushed and shoved at the door fighting over who was going to get in there first to see what was going on.  Luckily I managed to get my little digital camera switched to video in time to catch Jack's fancy footwork...no wonder the ladies are so impressed with him!

They love their freshly cleaned quarters so much, they actually started laying eggs this morning instead of their usual afternoon schedule.  There is no other feeling like reaching in and finding that egg so fresh that it is actually still warm!  It's going to taste mighty yummy on that freshly baked bread sitting in the kitchen.

I have always said that unexpected things happen on a farm....problem is, some of the unexpected isn't always appreciated or wanted!  As I said in an earlier post, the boys stall has flooded this spring (very unappreciated) and our poor boys have been relocated to the center open area of our barn which seems to qualify as 'higher ground'.  We have a man-door that leads directly from their stall to a covered outdoor storage area.  We had screened off this door from the outside so that we have a door we can open for ventilation but still allows us to keep the boys safe inside the barn.  Perfect for those warm rainy days.  My thought, with these warmer temps, was to open up the door in the hopes that some air flow would help dry out their stall.  That plan was cancelled due to an unexpected and very UNWANTED visitor!

VERY UNWANTED VISITOR

I was very happy for that unexpectedly flooded stall yesterday!  If it wasn't for that flood,  all that gorgeous fleece I have been waiting all winter to get my hands on would have been just inches from our stinky little visitor!  Needless to say, we took the LONG WAY around to the barn door yesterday!  We were very happy to see that the little guy had vacated this morning.

The Unexpected Farm Life...

For those of you who know us or who have followed this blog from the start, you know that our dream was to have a small place where we could learn the ropes of farming.  A few chickens, a garden, the simple quiet lifestyle.  You probably also know that nothing ever goes EXACTLY according to our plan.  For instance, we planned on getting one cat as a pet for the kids and to keep the field mice away.  So off Andy and I went to the local Humane Society and home we came with Leroy and Levi...wait that's two....I thought we said one cat??

Since their homecoming we have also inherited a barn cat who surprised us with a litter of four kittens (who unfortunately did not make it) and who has now become part of the family.  Smokey follows the kids around outside looking for attention and is constantly trying to become an 'indoor' cat.  Not exactly what we planned.

Then there was our little garden, which somehow became two raised garden boxes and a larger garden outside the kitchen window just for the squash and zucchini.  The chickens finally just finished off the last squash from last year's harvest.

Speaking of chickens, those couple of chickens we wanted...well they came home last summer...right after the alpacas...wait alpacas...when did they become part of the plan?  OH YA..that's a different story.  Andy took me to see the three boys (Windsor, Usairus and Vincent) after he had already been to the breeders for the first time.  It took about two seconds of Vincent's nose rubbing against my cheek for me to fall in love and before we knew it, we were learning about fencing, repairing the barn and getting things ready for our boys to come home.  It wasn't long before the end of June arrived and our boys were moving in.  Imagine the surprise on the kids' faces when Windsor, Usairus, Vincent, Parnell, Wellington and Tyrone came bounding out of the trailer....wait that's six...we only went to buy three.   Once again, three beautiful boys who became our rescues were not part of the original plan...but we love them just the same.

So back to those chickens....

Last summer, we finally decided it was time to get back to our original plan and we started researching breeds, learning to care for chickens and building a coop.  After a couple weekends of building and with the coop almost completed we decided to take a trip to the local farmers' market about 10 minutes from our house....you know...to take a look.  Look, the plan was to look, JUST LOOK.  Yep you got it, an hour later we were heading back home with Wilma, Betty, Thelma and Louise.  Remember I said the coop was ALMOST finished...hmmmm 4 chickens and an unfinished coop?  Now I know that wasn't the way we planned it!

The rest of the day was a rush to get the coop itself done and get the ladies moved in.  Now to complete the enclosure so that they could spend some time outside but still be safe.  That's where Andy's sister got dragged into this.  Her plan was to come out to the farm and see the new additions to JADA Farms...no where in the plan was she supposed to spend her afternoon outside in the rain with Andy and I trying to finish the enclosure for a bunch of chickens.  But the three of us got it done, plan or no plan.  Now all we had to do was wait for the eggs...and wait we did, even after the addition of Laverne and Shirley.

Later in the summer, driven by the fact that our egg production still wasn't quite where we wanted it to be, Andy went off and purchased two more hens who were still too young but should start laying soon.  Welcome home Cagney and Lacey!  Now, I spent a lot of time at my uncle's farms when I was a kid.  He had horses, cows and chickens and the rule was always that everyone helped out with chores.  Although I do not claim to know everything about farming, I did learn a little bit on that farm.  One of those things was the difference between a rooster and a hen.  So imagine how surprised I was that very early morning, walking past the chicken coop in the dark...listening to crowing....wait crowing?  We have eight hens...where the heck is the crowing coming from??  Yes that is when I learned another lesson....a rooster does NOT look like a rooster from the time he is little. 

However, when those big red crowns start appearing and your 'hen' starts to stick his chest out and 'strut' around the coop...plan or no plan you have yourself a rooster!  Unless you are us...in which case you have TWO roosters!  That's right, we planned for two more hens and ended up with Cagney and Lacey....I mean Carl and Larry.  Two roosters + one tiny coop = FIGHTS  That was definitely not what we planned.  Now Carl has actually been renamed Jack and although he may have lost the first battle, he won the war.  As per the circle of life on a farm, Andy found poor Larry's lifeless body during early morning chores.  That's life on a farm, birth, growth and death....

It's not all bad though...you see, turns out Larry was rather nasty to the hens and now, since his death, things are a whole lot calmer around the coop.  So much so that Jack seems to be exactly what those hens needed and we are happy to say that egg production is not only picking up but actually becoming quite regular.  Good man Jack!

Guess that no matter how much you plan....there is always the uexpected when you live on a farm.

'SIMPLY' Sunday

Nothing as simple as a good snack...



A Little Help Now and Then....

I have no problem admitting I love our critters...yes, even the chickens each have their own special personalities.  I also love my crafting and creating.  Over the years I have taken on sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, cross stitching, spinning and more recently wood carving.  Are you getting an idea of what my living room looks like?? 

I card some fleece and then pick up my spindle to spin for just a bit....and before I know it an afternoon is just about gone and I have a gorgeous full spindle to show for it.  I lay my knives out on the table, grab a chunk of basswood....and .....WOW where did the evening go??  And there on my table is a cute wooden Santa and...oops a big pile of wood shavings all over the kitchen floor.  Crap now who's going to clean that up???

I'm sure all of my creative pals out there would agree....what would we do without our creating?  How would we lose ourselves and relieve the stress of a bad day?  What would happen if, for whatever reason, we could no longer create?  This brings me to an awesome little cross stitch discovery I recently made...

EASY-COUNT GUIDELINE

What is it you ask?  Well, now that my eyes have, shall we say, aged a whole lot faster than the rest of me...I admit I have been frustrated with having to strain my eyes trying to count out stitches on dark coloured aida cloth.  This frustration actually was winning the battle and my cross stitch projects were sitting untouched in the basket of goodies at the end of my couch.  That is until the day I was flipping through a current cross stitch magazine and, once I had finished checking out the projects it had to offer, put it down on the table...and there on the back cover was an advertisement for a product that would solve my problem!

R & S Designs Inc. has this wonderful red thread (Easy-count Guideline) that you thread through your aida cloth BEFORE you start your cross stitch project.  It marks out the 10 x 10 stitch guidelines that are printed on your counted cross stitch pattern.  I will admit, this step takes some time, but once you've got it all done you will have no problem at all keeping track of your stitches while completing your project...no matter how dark the cloth or how detailed the project.  It even allows you to stitch colour by colour throughout your entire project!!

Simply go to http://www.rseasycount.com/ and order yourself a spool.  It is very reasonably priced and I am amazed just how much easier and quicker my cross stitching is going.  It would, of course, go even quicker if I would actually decrease the number of projects I have in progress at any one time...

We all can use a little help now and then...

Family Day

This weekend we are enjoying a Family Day long weekend and I put down my spinning and knitting, got out the camera and decided to journal our weekend together.

The weekend started with running kids around to sleepovers...and of course whenever someone new sleeps over at our house the girls just have to take them out to meet the critters.  Logan had to show how our Wellington loves giving kisses.  "Good morning Wellington". 

After all the kids were picked up, dropped off or brought home I decided to take some time Sunday morning to spend with our boys.

Of course, pictures aren't always so easy to take with this big friendly goof around.  "Wellington, please don't kiss the camera".  We got a nicer day on Sunday and all the critters on JADA Farms were having some fun outside. 

Vincent wanted to spend some time with Smokey...unfortunately all poor Smokey wanted to do was hang out on the fence in the sunshine.

My girls and I took off for a "girls' day' and went to the local arena to take in some skating.  Well they skated...I took pictures.  My skating was put on hold due to the mouse nest that Levi found in my skate...YUCK!!

Luckily, no mouse was actually found....YUCK...just evidence of him or her...YUCK....and my skates will be fine once they are cleaned out....YUCK!!!  The girls got a good laugh out of it though and you would be amazed how many Mickey jokes two little girls can come up with.  With our skating date finished, it was time to head back to the farm and have some lunch.

With the beautiful sunny day finally melting away some of the snow, our boys actually spent the entire day outside.  Apparently, to an alpaca, last year's grass is better than no grass at all!  I am starting to feel that need for the snow to be gone so I can spend some time sitting in the paddock with our boys.  Well....time to get back to spinning and some other projects....

'SIMPLY' Sunday

Since starting our blog, I have been lucky enough to find some amazing and inspiring blogs to follow and through those blogs I have met a couple of ladies I am lucky enough to be able to call friends. 

So where did the idea of 'Simply' Sunday come from.....simple...it is my version of "Wordless Wednesday", a wonderful part of two friends' blogs that show off their photography and give me a glimpse into their little chunks of heaven.  Where did the 'Simple' come from....that's easy...our aim is to have and enjoy simplicity in our lives.

So here it is....my first posting of 'SIMPLY' Sunday

Our Levi has 'simple' down to a science !!

If you want to check out "Wordless Wednesday" just click to go to Sheffield Alpacas or Loco Life of Lindy

The Colour of Inspiration...

While attempting to simplify life, I have realized that there are so many sources of inspiration.  Unfortunately, too many of us are too busy or too scheduled to take notice.

A perfect example....how many people who live in large cities really notice colour?  I mean real colours, the blue of a lake, the different shades of green in the grass or the vibrant gold of the leaves in autumn.  Since we moved to our little chunk of "country" in October, we were surrounded by those autumn colours and every shade of green you could imagine.  It wasn't until our boys became part of our lives that I really started to notice the real details of colours. 

At first glance, our Windsor looks white, but it wasn't until we had him on the shearing table and took a close look at that gorgeous fibre that we realized that our white boy was actually light fawn.  It wasn't until I learned to spin and first saw that light fawn fleece turning into yarn that I saw that shade change yet again.

This fall, I was surrounded by inspiration every time I stepped foot out my door.  It didn't matter where you stood on the property, we were shown all the colours and shades autumn had to offer and thanks to my spinning classes....I noticed!  And all I could think of was the colours of yarn I could someday create.

Now that all those colours are gone and everything is laying under a blanket of white, where could I find inspiration???  That's easy...right here.  Since starting our blog, I have been lucky enough to 'meet' fellow spinners, fibre artists and alpaca owners....and, might I add, some of the nicest people who I now consider my friends!  These ladies have encouraged me, taught me and shared their skills with me.  Who says "SIMPLE" can't be "COLOURFUL"

So "simple" now includes the love of creating hand dyed yarn with Kool Aid...and remember that gorgeous yarn I won a few weeks back??  Well not only have I been practicing my dying but I also have been getting a little more courageous with my knitting.  I now am the proud owner of a new handknit cozy alpaca cowl.

Everyone should have a little 'colour' in their life!!!