At the Festival of Thrift last weekend we all met some really interesting people, but I wanted to tell you of one who particularly made my day on Sunday....

I was sitting outside our Little ArtiVan with my spinning wheel, using some blue faced leicester fleece to spin some "Humbug" yarn for use in my weaving... lots of people had stood with me to see what I was doing and many had asked how it was done....... that was until a small blond lad came up to the wheel and grabbed at the spindle whirling round......... I stopped so that he didn't catch his fingers and gently leant over to say that I couldn't spin my yarn if he stopped it..... he looked at me and then back at the spinning wheel....... I asked him to come round to my side so that I could show him how it worked.... he stood still and asked why I was pulling the yarn out....... it looks like that but in fact I'm letting it in, not pulling it out....... when I explained it he understood completely and then asked another relevant question..... this went on until we were engrossed in conversation with him leaning on my knee.. pointing at the gearing and how the giant elastic band worked around the wheel to propel the spindle round as I treadled... a bit like his bike at home.......

By this time his parents had gathered round with this brother and sister... I looked up and mentioned that they probably have a budding engineer in the family... they looked skyward and said... "Yes we know" !!... What's your name I asked... Noah************* he said very quickly... he had said it so fasts that I couldn't quite make it out... so I asked Mum..... It was 3 names all said as one which made me titter... so I introduced myself as ClareGardiner... also said very quickly...!! I gave the family my card and asked them to visit the shop where he could see my loom and climb inside it to see how it worked............ Noah was probably about 4... I didn't ask..... and he had to be dragged away! .... I can't wait for their visit!

First of all, sorry I haven't written for a few days.... It's been madness!

On Saturday we attended the evening "Do" for our friends Amy and Ben who got married... it was a fantastic event full of local friends which turned into the party of the year... fantastic!

On Sunday we had the first outing of "The Little ArtiVan" at the Festival of Thrift in Darlington......... What a sensational event... the ideas and sights were not only unlikely but hugely entertaining as well as being really clever... there was a musical Rag and Bone man... A musical wardrobe being wheeled round by two gentlemen dressed in suits... one made from cress.. still growing.. and the other in Lino... there was a human propelled vehicle which looked like it had come out of the Flintstones... (tattooed men in black underpants!!) and hundreds of stalls... It was brilliant.........

Then on Monday we had a treat out.... at the Nidderdale show... talking to lots of farmers...... taking a look at the sheep... watching the animal shows and wandering round all the stands... the livestock particularly... hadn't been before and Nigel hadn't been for over 30 years......... a treat of a day.......

And yesterday evening we took last years boys to North Walden, out of the way for tupping and we sorted out all the youngsters.... they needed a dose for worms as a couple had runny bottoms and we sorted out Jonty again... he is just a little subdued... He has had a sore eye which is now completed fixed with some cream but his little limp was still worrying him so he had another injection of antibiotics.... he is much improved this morning and bounced over for breakfast... They will get a vitamin boost later in the week........ it has improved the ewes beyond all recognition so it won't harm the babies!  
 
Tonight we are taking Vincent to his old friends as he's been keeping Dudley company and then we'll collect Mitsie and the hareem and deliver them to Dudley... he's going to be the happiest boy in town!!! and the babies are coming home to West Burton so they are close... they need a change! Thank goodness its chip night!

Nigel and I had selected all our favourite lambs to keep... well we thought we had until another in the field decided to make friends... 

Out of  nowhere a little face appeared one day at Nigel's side, it gave a little fearless nuzzle and when he looked down a little spotty face was looking back up at him! As all the lambs were spained weeks ago we have no idea who's lamb she is, but her friendliness and need for affection has saved her little life... she won't be going to market or into someone's freezer.......

I introduced myself to her last week and named her... fatal isn't it?  Freckle came up to me and showed no fear or nervousness... followed by Curly Jerbill who hasn't forgotten my top up bottles when he was such a runty triplet... perhaps Freckle is his sister.... who knows.... anyway she will be moved into the field with Melody's gang at the week end so she can make friends and settle in with all the other keepers! Next is the decision of who is big enough to breed with this year... we are a bit tentative about Melody, she is big enough but her mother had a prolapse if you remember so we might hold her back for a year?  

If anyone has any information or suggestions from their own experience in this regard, they would be gratefully received...  Thanks!

Susan and John Reay have an eye for beautiful little corners of the Yorkshire Dales. In their studio they produce local scenes by using digital manipulation to alter their original photographs. The results are pictures that give the impression of an expensive landscape watercolour, just as detailed, if not more so, and full of life and colour..

You can now see examples of their work here at Fabric of the Field in West Burton!..  

Its a glorious sunny morning... a bit of an autumn chill but who cares about that in the bright sunshine?

I've just been over to the field where all my keeper lambs are living at the moment (we have one to add later.. Freckle) ... they all ate their nuts in freshly washed troughs, with Tottie coming for her's from my hand and Melody wondering why she was getting such preferential treatment! I sat down on the log pile while they finished, a good place to perch when the dew is heavy and you want to keep a dry bum.. and was slowly surrounded by all those needing a pat and a stroke, including Jonty.

I have promised him that he will be staying with us (for his delicious coloured wool!) and will not be going either to market or to "Bainbridge"!!!  and he is content now that his limp is better to come back for some affection.... this morning his face, chest and front legs were covered in several hundred of those horrible little burrs you get from goose-grass. He must have picked them up while grazing and they get all entangled in the wool, knotting into little clusters which must pull and tug and be really quite uncomfortable.... so I started picking them off before they get embedded..... 

One by one... a laborious task which he clearly relished.... I put my hand under his chin for support so I could steer it, looking round and up and under, and it got heavier and heavier as he lulled into the task with a look of bliss...I tried to pick them off without pulling his wool...  he just stood there for what mus have been over ten minutes till they were all gone... he looked up, I patted him on the head and called him a "good boy".. and off he went for the day. He's lovely and I have a warm satisfied glow for the rest of the day!  I know... whatever turns you on!

Do you remember Rebecca Parr's brilliant idea to put Fabric of the Field on the road in a caravan...... well after being "given" an old unwanted caravan by Pete and Elaine Dobbing, we set to work with its transformation.... Karen Busby took the reins and has worked tirelessly with the help of Cheryl Feakes, Marie Ralls and myself who have chipped in..... even Rebecca's parents and Karen's husband have taken over with jobs that we couldn't quite tackle. 

We have reused what we removed, we have car booted any items that we didn't need and remodeled using what we had at home, in fact the only real purchase made was the paint. It has come together in the most beautiful way and has turned into exactly what we had envisaged.... a lovely travelling shop..... 

You can visit it for yourselves at the "Festival of Thrift" this weekend......... its our first outing...... with many more to follow...... we will keep you posted with when and where we'll be!

Mark to the rescue..... Thank you....Again! 

On my loom there is a ratchet system... all very simple until it goes wrong.... the back Warp beam has a crank handle which is made up of a very large nut welded to a metal bar with a handle on the other end.. this nut attaches with the thread on the end of a metal rod which is part of the cog that attaches to the end of the beam, so that when the handle is turned it releases the ratchet holding the beam in place thus allowing the warp to be released and wound on at the front of the loom........ that is until today..... 

The handle carried on winding, the tension on the ratchet was not released... So I took it off to check the thread, thinking that it had somehow stripped...... unlikely as the bar is in the way and acts as a stop... it wasn't that.. so I wound it back on and realised that it continued to wind pushing the bar away from the nut....... ah.. the weld between the bar and the nut had failed!  It is under constant pressure, as it holds the tension in the warp threads, and the warp I'm using is almost the full width of the loom so the tension is huge...

I phoned Nigel to see who he knew who could help as he doesn't have any welding equipment himself... as it happens he is helping a friend with some building work in his spare time and Mark has all the kit........ he'll take it over after work later an I'll be able to weave again shortly...Thank you Mark...... you're a star!

Good really as I'm coming to the last couple of cushions and the end of this warp.  I put on 12.50 meters weeks ago and have woven 14 cushions already with enough to do 2 or 3 more........ I'm due for a change and have just downloaded a weaving class to learn how to make "Rugs".... can't wait! more about that later!

The sheep in yellow jerseys has been a phenomenal success this summer... our sheep was delivered by Susan Briggs and was quickly spotted by a retired couple who came in to see if they could purchase it!!  Of course this was not possible at the time as it was part of the promotion.... they came back a couple of weeks later and asked again, so I took their details and promised to let them know after the closing date for the competition..... 

Well they turned up yesterday having got married the day before... Susan said it was ok for them to make the purchase, so I asked them to make an offer..... not knowing how much to charge for such an item.. when £50 was offered.... I said "done"...... what a splendidly unusual wedding present.... and a lovely donation to add to our Comic Relief total, which is now at over £500 with the raffling of Ade Edmondson's wildlife photography. They were both delighted an went off with it in the boot of the car.... it's going to take pride of place in their garden...... Wonderful!

A month or so ago a lovely retired gentleman came into the shop with his wife and had a look round.. we had a nice long chat and it transpired that he was an ex miner and had taken up with a new hobby.......... I said that I wouldn't really have room for what he made but he came up with a solution... 

This beautiful hand made Rocking Horse made from Jelutong wood, a type of Indonesian rubber tree, is a small version that would suit a doll collector, but gives a brilliant indication of just how skilled he is......... this one is stained, but he also paints them and can do any colour and pattern you'd like........ You're a clever bloke Ron!

We are going to put the tups Billy the Texel and Dudley the Ryeland to their ewes in about 10 days time so this evening we have given all the flock a vitamin doze to help bring them into tip top condition...... they were all dipped at the weekend to clear any skin irritants they may have had, and this combined with good grazing after spaining from their lambs and extra vitamins should get them to the best point that they could reach, and give them the best chance of being tupped first time.... There will be a natural progression for coming into season anyway, and then starting close to the third week in February we can start lambing......  We'll start with a green raddle for the first 2 weeks and then change to red..... and this year keep a good record of who and when the ewes are marked.... well that's the plan!!!