Visitors!

It's been mighty busy here over the past couple of weeks as we've been scrambling to pull in hay bales in between bouts of thunderstorms. In the midst of all of it I've had the nicest visits. . . 

Starting with last week when Lynne Vogel, author of Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook and Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters, stopped in to meet the lambs and see the farm. Although Lynne and I keep in touch online, it's been about six years since we've actually seen each other face to face- that was when I took her color spinning workshop at SOAR in Michigan back in '03. Her color work and inventive spinning methods have been inspirational for me. So I naturally I am thrilled that she was able to manage a visit on her way home from teaching dyeing at Harrisville Mill in NH. She made several new friends while here.

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This weekend the lambs were on their best behavior for a visit from the Slater Mill Knit & Crotchet Guild from Pawtucket, RI. I met this group when I gave my slide show/talk Adventures in Yarn Farming at their May meeting, telling them to be sure to pay me a visit sometime. They took me up on my invitation with help from travel planner extraordinaire Alanna Nelson of Tactile Travel, who arranged the trip, providing the biggest tour bus I've ever seen. Pretty plush.

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Mike and I gave them the farm tour. When we stopped at the West Barn for a sheep meet & greet, Crackerjack and the ram lambs were a bit camera shy.

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But the ewe lambs happily greeted their visitors in the Carriage Barn.

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Snacking away on hay handouts, they made many new friends and kept us company while we knit, spun and sipped lemonade beside their pen in the barn. 

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At noon the group packed up and headed south for lunch and a visit to the yarn mecca – Webs.

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We were really fortunate that the rain paused long enough for everyone to view the farm and studio at this time of year when everything is lush and green. There is something mesmerizing about working with fiber in the presence of the animals who produce the fiber, our conversation punctuated by occasional "baahs" from the peanut gallery. Mike and I love sharing what we do. Many thanks to Alanna and Bernadette for making this trip happen.