A spinning lesson learned...

 I have been absent a bit. Our daughter is getting married and there has been a lot going on! So I decided to unwind a bit today and sit down and spin some yarns people have requested and that's when it happened!

 That lazy kate on the Ashford Traveler is a wonderful thing but as I learned today has it's down fall. Not noticing until it was too late, the yarn from a spool had wrapped around the wheel bearing, really bad!

 What a dilemma I had! So off came what I was spinning and I had to hand unspin it off...

 A closer look of the mess I had made. As I was spinning the tension was getting harder and harder...

So from this day forward, each and every spool on the lazy kate will be taped down...from this day out!!!
So the wedding is this Saturday, we will be back to announce our Open House during the Columbus Day weekend, but until then, we are off to celebrate our only beautiful daughter's wedding!

A Bridal Shawl for a special bride!

 My first project on the triangle loom was making a bridal shawl for a very special bride. To say I was on a learning curve was an understatement but I managed to do okay. Included in the purchase of the loom was a tutorial DVD that was wonderful in learning this amazing way to weave with a continuous strand of weaving. There was a lot of freeze framing going on. I was under the gun because the mill was delayed in getting my fiber done which arrived with my order having been done all wrong. I am not happy with that mill right now or how they handled their error. So with just 10 days to get going I worked on this morning noon and night. It was fun and I am looking forward to working on the next one!

Handspun Alpaca

The beginning of the weaving process

A side view of the self warping

Under way!

Almost done, just a few more strands to go!

Adding the fringe...

All done!

A close up of the finished product

Off the loom and done!

New Triangle Loom!

 I have been so busy and behind on blog posts! Our daughter is getting married in just a month so there is a lot to do. I recently got a new toy!

 When it arrived it was over 7 feet tall! I was actually up on the hill tending the bees when I saw it arrive, being carried over the UPS guys shoulder.

I came down and quickly put it together and got to work getting ready to use it! If you look it makes our wood burning stove look small to the left. In the next post I will share what I made.

A Sea of Bee Balm!

 My favorite flower of summer is Bee Balm, hands down. It is so beautiful and blooms around the 4th and all throughout July. I planted a garden of it some years ago in our driveway and it has thrived.

When I was out taking these pictures I found a few species of bumblebees, this is a large one busy at work...

 and then I looked over and saw a very rare Hummingbird Moth hovering about drinking some nectar from the flowers! There were also honeybees, butterflies, hummingbirds and smaller bees partaking in the feast as well.

Such a beautiful perennial flower also known as Horse Mint, Monarda, Bergamont and  Oswega Mint . The Native Indians used it for a medicinal plant as well as teas. If you plant it, give it room to take over, it loves to spread out and share it's beauty!

How everyone is keeping cool in this heat!

 Here in Connecticut the temps have been in the 90's for days with high humidity. I walked around today and observed and helped some of our farm residents to stay cool. The bees "bearded" outside the hive...

 they even hung out under the telescoping cover to stay cool. If the bees are hot than it's hot!

 I caught the bees collecting water to help cool down the hives in this extra chicken water bowl. I have been filling it up diligently as they deplete it, which is just about daily...

 The chickens are panting and trying to stay cool. I caught these two wandering trying to find a place to get cool...

 and then I found these little ladies in the greenhouse making a mess throwing dirt on themselves to stay cool.

 The bees got a special treat today of sugar water and Honey-B-Healthy. I put these out around 1 p.m. and they were sucked down dry in 4 hours!

 The Alpacas enjoyed a spray down and enjoyed every moment of it! They kept coming back for more...

 and more and more! Even "Garth" our Suri who doesn't go for this stuff enjoyed the hose!

 The sheep, well bring on the hay and they completely forget about the heat!

 The fish in the pond are even a bit lethargic with water as warm as bath water. They just lay there floating, however we have witnessed a lot of breeding so the baby fish will be along soon.

 Even Honey Bunny got a bath and a day of beauty to cool down today. She actually enjoyed her bath sitting in the water and letting me clean her. Later she got brushed and trimmed so she can better deal with the heat.

 Autumn caught a nap from a hot day of helping with farm chores and watch duty...

but never fear Zoe was on the job while she slept staying cool. Stay cool everyone and enjoy the summer!

Making Lavender Salves

 During the heat of the summer, I can't even think of anything fiber! So, I look to my other passion, working and making herbal stuff. With just these items...

and my little double boiler, set on low simmer to heat the oils safely and evenly. If the beeswax doesn't melt down completely it will become clumpy.

Here is the finished product, so simple and so wonderful! It makes such a soft salve, a great gift and will be available in our farmstand.

We're in the "Red" with our queens!

 This year is the color red for the marking of the queens. Our new split has successfully raised their queen and she has been marked and is doing well.

She has begun laying at a rapid pace and I am very happy with her progress. If you look really close into the cells you can see the eggs that have been layed and in a few days they will cap them. Our over wintered hive (hive #1)is growing rapidly and making honey. Hive #2 is our new split and hive #3 is our new package which is doing very well and they have settled in and the queen is laying away. Today we made a new split from the Nature Center hive which will be hive #4. That hive will be encouraged to produce pollen and has been placed on a pollen collector. So all and all the bees are fairing well and we are on our way to a great bee season!

Wild Edibles, Yum!!!

 Wow this is our 300th post! So what a better way to celebrate than to  share some wild edibles! One of my favorite teas is Sassafras Tea. The best way is to harvest the roots of the small sprouts, clean, dry and then boil in hot water, steep, strain and add coconut sugar to sweeten.

 The next is Garlic Mustard Pesto that my friend Scott turned me onto last year. It grows wild and is free! It's an invasive species so why not pick a bunch for your lunch!
 In the picture to the right, is what it looks like in the first year of growth. The flavor is really in the second year of growth...

 This is what it looks like in the second year, taller and the tops are seed pods. When you harvest this don't put it in a compost, discard or burn, we have enough growing.

 Often it will have white tiny flowers and will smell of garlic and slight mustard all at the same time!

 So pick as much as you want to make. It can be frozen and used at another date after processing.

 Wash it and strain it. Pick the leaves off the stems, however you can include some stems, there is flavor there too!

I put the leaves into a food processor, added some garlic, Parmesan cheese, sea salt and fresh ground pepper and there you got it, Garlic Mustard Pesto harvested from the weeds growing wild in my yard! it is good to freeze, serve to friends who stop by on crackers or over pasta! Yum!

A Rabbit Grooming adventure!

 So last week we had record setting temperatures and I was looking at "Honey Bunny" and realizing she was not doing well with the heat. Her coat was so dense and thick. I asked her breeder if I could clip her and got the okay. I had also looked up on-line and it was suggested to give her a bath...

 so I did! At first she acted out in full terror, but with some comforting strokes and words, the warm water and the feeling of relief from the heat she calmed down and seemed to enjoy it.

There she is! Finally getting a chance to see her beautiful eyes was a treat. Once she was dried I cool blew her coat out...

 and proceeded to clip her in full terror that I would make a mistake and cut her. I watched countless videos on "how-to" on-line. I am pleased to say all went well, she can see and is now short and comfortable for the summer!

 Honestly she looks better but this was while in the process of clipping. She is such a busy girl, moving here and there, checking out this and that.

I did net some nice fiber from her and look forward to spinning it soon!

We're on our way!

It has begun! We added the super onto our hive last week and they have already begun making harvesting honey! We should have some honey in a month or two! Some of the frames are blank with foundation so we will have comb honey as well! What a perfect Spring we are having with tons of pollen and nectar flow!