It's been one of those weeks!!!!!

As the weather has been fine and sunny I've been able to get on with dyeing some fleece that I found in the fleece store, ready for Woolfest

I also dyed some Teeswater Tops, that I'm selling this year as something new to add to my range of fibre I have for sale

But I have spent most of the week dealing with questions from our buyer's solicitor so that we were in a position to exchange contracts on Friday, but thanks to the solicitor of the house we are buying, that didn't happen, and here is not the place to say why. But hopefully contracts will be exchanged early next week.

Tim has spent most of the week getting ready for our farm equipment sale this coming Saturday as well as listing some other items we have for sale on Ebay. Then today we wormed all the sheep and lambs, as well as ear tagging all the lambs ready to sell them all on Saturday. It will seem strange not having any livestock around the place.

Ghilli & Grommet have settled in at their new home and due to the warm weather have been sunbathing, laying on their backs with their legs out stretched, which if you are not used to looks as if they are dead!!! But Jayne has got used to them sunbathing now. Ghilli has found the stream and has been paddling and then mud bathing!!!! He really has settled in well.

We've had an emergency dash to the vets with Holly on Monday, she tore her dew claw, which is now O.K and then on Wednesday, both dogs have had the first of their inoculations, and Holly is now fitted with a D.A.G collar, it's supposed to help with the stress of the move, it takes a week to work and then lasts for 4 weeks, so I will need to get another one for her before we move, and she does seem a bit more relaxed, but that could be down to the fact that the door has been open most of the day and she and Deefa have spent a lot of the day wondering around the yard.

And finally - the dishwasher broke and it's not worth getting a new one until we move!!!!!! As I said it's been one of those weeks.

A Roller Coaster Week

The first 3 days of this week, I was working in Newcastle, at the Employment Tribunal court, on the final 3 days of a employment case, but having to hit the Lemsip hard to keep a sore throat and cold at bay, it worked, but only just. Thursday, at trip to Hawes for the Teeswater Sheep Breeders Council meeting, which always means a 150 mile round trip and a very late arrival home.
Friday was the low point of the week, Julie's funeral. It was a celebration of her life, as it should have been, but we all felt we shouldn't be doing this now, Julie's life was cut short too early and in a very brutal way.
Saturday was a trip to Stocksfield to the Tynedale WS&D's spinners gathering. This is the 3rd year I've been to this event and I enjoy it immensely. There are usually around 10 stall holders and the event is organised like clockwork, from arriving the ladies come out and help you unpack your vehicle, keep you well supplied with tea and coffee and provide an amazing lunch. The members of the guild sit with their wheels and looms etc trying out the fibre they have just bought along with any new bits of equipment they have bought. I did succumb to a knitting book the has 200 Fair Isle Patterns in it, amazing colour plates and pattern ideas. It was also good to catch up with friends I haven't seen for a while and do a little bit of spinning. Martin from P& M Woolcraft had a look at my Lendrum Spinning Wheel as the wheel is not running "true". But as far as Martin was concerned the "wobble" was nothing to worry about as it wasn't affecting the way my wheel was spinning. Sales were good as well and I got back home early evening, but the effects of the past two weeks finally caught up with me and I was in bed by 9.30 and asleep 5 minutes later.
This coming week we have some very strange questions to answer from the buyer of our house, make the final arrangements for our farm equipment sale and, keeping everything possible crossed, exchange contracts on our smallholding and the house we want to buy, at the end of the week!

Two markets in a weekend

seemed like a good idea at the time I agreed to do them earlier in the year, and in reality, should have been very easy to do so soon after Wonderwool, but what I didn't factor into the equation was 7 days work in Newcastle, starting on Tuesday, so I've not had chance to catch up with dyeing the new lot of knitting wool and bundling up the fibre, all of which arrived at the end of last week.
So I went off to Saltburn Farmer's Market with a small quantity of dyed knitting wool, 4 yarn pots, and some dyed alpaca that I found just before Wonderwool. I didn't expect to do a great deal of sales, but I had a great day, I think, that despite the sun, the cold weather over the past week made people want to knit. So I'm not complaining.
Then today I was at Robin Hoods Bay, for a Craft Market, not many sales, but it was quiet for everyone, though I did manage to get a fare amount of spinning done, something I've not been able to do for a while. But my poor wheel is in serious need of some attention, the wheel is not running true and after a conversation with Martin from P&M Woolcraft, at Wonderwool, he will have a look at my Lendrum Spinning Wheel (which is now 15 years old) when we meet up at Stocksfield next Saturday.
With being at Stocksfield next Saturday, I'm going to have to get on with packing up some of the fibre that arrived last week, but I'm not sure when as I don't finish work in Newcastle until Wednesday, then on Thursday I have a Teeswater Sheep Breeder's Assoc Council meeting, Friday, the funeral to attend of Julie, a lady from our knitting group, who was tragically murdered in Whitby a couple of weeks ago.
On a happier note, Mrs Maran my broody hen. Her eggs are due to hatch Monday/Tuesday. Let's hope they are all female chicks!

Ghilli & Grommet move to their new home

This morning, after I'd taken Holly and Deffa for a haircut, we loaded Ghilli & Grommet into the trailer for a 5 minute drive to their new home.

 Here they are coming out of the trailer

Exploring their new paddock

They have spent most of the day at the top of their new paddock by the gate, which houses the hay rack, and from where they can see/watch all the goings on at Jayne's smallholding. Her Dad working on his car, her niece racing around on her bike, the 2 dogs chasing ball, the sheep, and the ducks swimming around their pond. Jayne described their vantage point as "Alpaca TV". They also have a stream to paddle in, if they get too warm!!! Sounds like Alpaca heaven.

Lousy weather

We really have had a lousy week with regards to the weather, it's either been raining, windy, cold and any combination of the 3, the lambs are looking really fed up with all the rain, and then today, it has been lovely and sunny, and what a difference that has made to them all, they seemed to have perked up no end.

Tim has spent most of the week sorting things out ready for the farm sale and through some of his books to
put some aside that will go to the charity shop next time we are in Whitby. I've been tryng to get on top of things in the office, a Parish Council AGM to minute, PAYE to do on line (a nightmare of a job), a Teeswater Sheep Breeders meeting agenda to produce, fibre and knitting wool to order to replace the stock I sold at Wonderwool, which has now arrived and now has to be sorted, dyed and priced up in readiness for Stocksfield (19th May), Woolfest, Fibre East and the usual local Farmer's Markets I attend, and then to top it all, a call from the Employment Tribunal to sit on a 7 day case starting on Tuesday!!!!
Deefa has finally forgiven me for leaving him at home whilst I went to Wonderwool.

I'm busy working on a lap quilt that features VW Camper vans, for use in the Bongo, he's gone to sleep nest to me snuggled under the half finished quilt!!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy bank holiday, both dogs are booked in for a hair cut and Ghilli and Grommet are being moved to their new home, my friend Jayne's smallholding in the next village, we will still own the 2 boys, but they will be guarding her sheep, geese and ducks. The field that they are in now is the one that will be used for the farm sale and so it requires a bit of work to get it ready, mainly part of the fencing has to be removed to make access to the paddock easier for the equipment we will be selling.

Every thing seems to be on track for us to exchange contacts by the end of the month and a move before I go to Woolfest in June! That is with everything crossed of course!!!!!!

Wonderwool 2012

On Thursday I left home with the Bongo and tow van on the 2 day trip down to the Royal Welsh Showground to attend Wonderwool 2012. On the Thursday night I stopped over in Chester at a Travelodge, which had a very small car park and reversing is not my strong point, without a trailer attached to a vehicle. Anyway I managed to get reversed and parked without bumping into any of the parked cars! I set off early on the Friday for the final leg along the A483. A lovely run on a better day, than in the rain. I arrived at the showground around 11 and as I was one of the first to arrive I had plenty of time and space to unload and get my stall ready for the start of the show on Saturday morning.

This is what my stall looked like on the Saturday morning, and once the doors opened it didn't stay looking this full for long and I sold all of my wool holders by Saturday lunch time, and by the end of Saturday, if the Sunday was as busy as the Saturday had been, then I was seriously worried that I wouldn't have enough stock to last the day. As it was, Sunday was much quieter partly due to the awful weather, there were flooded roads and roads blocked by fallen trees. But overall I was very, very pleased with how the weekend had gone.

I camped on site along with my friends Freylyn and Mark, who were in my old tent, and I don't think their 2 dogs were dry all weekend. We did find an amazing pub in Bluith which did good basic, but wholesome food and they knew how to keep a good pint of beer, and on the Saturday night a lot of stallholders were also sampling their fare.

I drove home on the Monday, via Birmingham, to avoid the flooding, which meant I got home mid afternoon, and with selling so much of my fibre, the van took very little time to empty, so on Tuesday morning I was on the phone to my fibre supplier replenishing my stocks of fibre and knitting wool as I've not got sufficient fibre to do Woolfest and Fibre East. I was hoping I would not have to order anymore fibre before we moved, but such is life and I shouldn't really complain!