Well, it's been several months now since I updated my blog. The summer seems to have flown by and through one thing and another I've just felt unable to get stuck into writing.
I've been setting up a small business from home called Croft Cottons and have opened an Etsy shop of that name.
I haven't got all the stock listed yet. It's a busy time of year! I am making things from excellent quality cotton such as wedding and baby bunting, pillowcases, cushion covers, hand made fabric covered buttons, toddler to teen clothing, purses, bags...........it's an ongoing project shall we say!
One piece of very good news is that my lace shawl took 1st prize at our local show and I also won 12 other rosettes for various things including photos, jam, pickles and the like.
I was very proud when a photo of my Soay sheep Shulah took 1st prize in the animal photograph section and my lovely cat Magda got 2nd prize in a photo of her. You may have noticed, it's not my photography I'm proud of, it's my sheep and my cats!! And that's just how it should be.

Since last posting on here I have bought two more Soays. They are wethers. One is 2 and a half and the other 1 and a half. here are a couple of photos of them. First is Bram................

And here's little dark faced Brok

And last, but by no means least my 'grey sneedled specky faced' Shetland called Beulah........

Believe it or not, that is the name given to a Shetland yow (ewe) of this colour. She has a beautiful face. Here's a closer one of her face......

My final piece of news is that I have my own piece of land now to put my sheep on. Well, technically it's not mine but I have use of it for the unforeseeable future, so it's much better. I can actually see the sheep out the bedroom window if they're grazing in the middle of the park. When I come out the front door with the food bucket they see me and all start running towards the gate. Most of them can now be hand fed, which is great if you need to get hold of one for any particular reason! Brok is always first at the gate and has now started arriving with a piece of long grass hanging out each side of his mouth. Perhaps his way of saying thanks for the ewe nuts I bring!

Well, it's gone 1.00am and I should be in bed so I'm going to sign off now. I will update you soon. Will be building a sheep shelter very soon before our winter weather sets in. You never know here in Shetland just how good or bad it will be and Soays in particular do not cope well with the wind and rain. Shetland sheep are very hardy and cope much better.

Oh, I almost forgot. I got a new arrival in the field a few weeks ago. A little lamb, which would appear to be last year's lamb, just arrived one day. No ear tags or paint marks. Nothing to tell me where she came from or who she belongs to. So she's still with me and her name is Landiah. Isn't she a little sweetheart...........

Spinning Like a Top!

Hi again.
If you are a first time visitor, welcome to my woolly blog! If you have been here before or have become a follower, welcome back! As I always say to people, you're always welcome here!
Here's my latest news.
Yesterday I visited my sister Anne. She lives about 18 miles from me. The first thing we do is sit down with a cup of tea and some McVities Digestive biscuits and proceed to put the world to rights. Actually what we do is share our grumps and gripes, then when that's over we just have a great time together.
As Monday was my birthday, Anne had bought me a present or three. See this.....

2 necklaces and a £15 gift voucher

She told me a little story about the gift voucher.
Initially she had gone to Harbro to get me a gift voucher. Harbro is a store which stocks animal feeds, medicines, equipment etc and also crofting type clothing. It's where I buy my sheep fodder and drench meds etc.
So she'd gone up to the counter and asked the girl there, "Do you have any gift vouchers?"
"Yes, sure", the girl replied. "How many would you like?"
"Oh just the one will be fine", my sister replied.
The girl disappeared into the back office for a few moments, then returned to the counter and said, "No sorry, we haven't got any just now. They should be in at the beginning of the week".
My sister could hardly stop a smile from spreading across her face.It seemed the situation had gone from "How many would you like" to "Sorry we don't have any" in a matter of seconds. But she was a tad irked as well because she knew how much I would have loved "a gift voucher for my sheep"!!
And speaking of sheep, here's a photo......

Agnah

From Anne's house I visited a new friend who kindly said she would show me how to use a drop spindle as I don't have room in my little house for a full size spinning wheel. Well, I could probably squeeze one in somewhere but that might mean getting rid of some piles of books or quilting and photography magazines..........hmmmmm...nope, the magazines have to stay!
My friend's name is Laura and she is great company. Funny, talented, very hospitable and generous. She has a little dog who was very unhappy about having to stay in his crate while I was in but he soon settled down. Laura explained that he is very full of beans and would be at the top of my head before I knew what was happening to me! And she also has 2 budgies and 5 adorable Indian Finches. Oh how I would love a couple of those but I must be content with my fleecy friends and leave the feathers to other people. We just don't have the space.
So I came home last night with a borrowed drop spindle and some Cotswold top to get me started on learning to spin with this unique little device. Here's a couple of photos I took this morning. I love to see the wood and fleece together. There's something very 'earthy and organic' about it..........

And a close up photo of the top of the spindle nestled in the Cotswold fleece.......

Now if you remember in a previous post I mentioned I had sent for two books. One to help me prepare my own sheep's fleece for spinning and one about drop spindles and spinning. So imagine my delight when, after receiving the spindle and fleece last night, I get up to this in the morning.......

So now I have no excuse. I must set aside some time each day to practice this age old art. I did have a go last night at Laura's place. That was a laugh! I found out first hand why it's called a drop spindle! Seriously, I don't actually know why it's called a drop spindle, but mine certainly dropped to the floor on numerous occasions! Am I going to master this? You bet I am, even if I end up spinning like a top!
'Til next time, keep creating and help someone else along the way.