Tag Archives: Auntie Zaza’s Fiber Works

Cozy Cozy Snow

7 Replies

Yesterday we had a beautiful day of snow.  I didn’t have to be anywhere, our neighbor across the street who helps us had his plow blade thing on his truck, the wood stove was going- so I thoughtsnow-jan-8-2017– let it snow! It did and we have 12″ of beautiful fluffy snow.

I never think much about January until the holidays are over. So now that I realize it is 2017 I decided that yesterday was a good day to organize my thinking about the various places we as Eagle Lake Fibers are teaching through April. Each place has its uniqueness and I enjoy thinking about uniqueness (run of the mill is so dull) so here are my impressions:

Jan. 14th we are teaching natural dyeing at the Northeast Organic Farming Association Winter Conference in Worcester MA. This is the 10th year we have taught a fiber spinning related workshop there. NOFA conferences are always a breath of fresh air for me. They are full of idealistic young people full of ideas about self reliance and sustainability and – ok, I will say it,  people with some gray hair who continue to believe in it despite decades of real life. I had no gray when I started teaching there 10 years ago.   🙂   NOFAMASS.org

marigold-in-dye-pot

Marigolds and onion skins for natural dyeing at NOFA.

January 21st shows life on a different plane when I go to the Cabot Bradley  Estate in Canton MA to give an overview of the Sheep to Shawl Process and then allow people to try their hands at carding and combing wool. This is an estate that was given to the Trustees of Reservations in the 1990’s by Mrs. Bradley, of Cabot lineage which anyone anywhere near Boston recognizes was sort of royalty, who had enjoyed having farming on the estate including sheep. The Trustees are working to have more events and workshops on the estate such as one our friend Jenny Hauf of Muddy River Herbals gave last fall about herbs she grows, mine on spinning wool and many others.  It is a beautiful oasis of 90 acres and a mansion not far from Boston. Thetrustees.org     Muddyriverherbals.com

llama-at-bradley-estate-2016

Guard llama and sheep – little and to the right- at Bradley Estate Canton MA Sept 2016

Then on February 5th I am teaching a drop spindling workshop at Auntie Zaza’s Fiber Works in North Easton. Elizabeth has created such a cozy little shop and it has become a happy thriving fiber loving community.  I don’t know what I would have done without it when we moved here. auntiezaza.com

drop-spindle-and-pippi

This student will not be present at the drop spindling workshop because she is now proficient with the drop spindle

Our scary fiber tools and some not so scary will be put into use on March 5th at The Fiber Loft in Harvard MA when we teach a class on carding and combing. The Fiber Loft fills a much needed void for the sale of spinning wheels, looms, hand cards and combs in this area. I bought two spinning wheels and my little rigid heddle loom there. Harvard is a beautiful little New England town with a great General Store where you can get coffee or have lunch.     thefiberloft.com

tools fibers for Jan workshop

The drum carder which made these batts is my second favorite fiber processing tool. The combs on the left are the first.

Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School’s adult ed program Assabet After Dark has asked us to teach the Sheep to Shawl workshops we taught last fall again in the fall of 2017. Before that however we will be teaching intensive wool combing and carding classes in April. These classes teach students how to take clean, sometimes dyed, wool and get it ready to spin. assabetafterdark.com

img_1521

Rolags from blending fibers on the right using the blending board behind

These workshops start soon but for today I will enjoy watching the birds at the feeder and watching my cat Pippi watch the birds at the feeder. I will enjoy hearing children nearby sledding and screaming with fun. At least I think it is fun screaming, not screaming because our bold coyote is coming around and I sit here hearing them and doing nothing to scare it away.

Me with Boone

Me with Gulf Coast lamb Boone on Cape Cod

I bet you could spin coyote- but that doesn’t grab my interest right now. Ugh. Back to thinking about sweet little lambs!

The Smallest of Encouragements

4 Replies

I am a firm believer in appreciating and enjoying even the smallest positive things in life for many reasons, not the least of which is that they are always present if we look for them. Life has ups and it has downs and enjoying the small things is a big help in the challenging times. And fun in the up times!

I found enjoyment and encouragement in two small Spring signs in the past two days when I least expected them. On Monday I noticed that some ground against the back of our house was bare and that spring bulbs are taking advantage and coming up! Here they are and if they are difficult to see since they are short now, my next picture of the snow pile next to them will explain why I didn’t get closer to take the picture. I guess I could lie on top of the snow pile to get one but I am not that avid a photographer! I have made the first one large so the bulbs can be spotted. The next two won’t be because they might scare you if too large.

spring bulbs March 2015

Spring Bulbs in March

snowbank March 2015

Snowbank March 2015

The snow isn’t as deep everywhere as this because it has been piled here. It is all working on melting now.

The ability of living things to survive in weather extremes in nature has always fascinated me. I remember seeing 3 deer a few years ago and thinking they looked young- then realized they were probably just thin because it was near the end of winter. On the deer front, in October I was in the yard when a buck walked into it. I stood watching him from maybe 150′ away and he watched me. When he started to paw the ground like a bull I decided it might be time to quietly go inside! The other day my husband heard the chickens making a ruckus and looked out to see what was wrong. He saw a deer in the yard. Apparently they were angry at the intrusion. The deer didn’t seem to care.

The chickens keep on going despite the cold too. Of course we have tried to create the best winter environment for them by only leaving a few spots for ventilation so they won’t be in a draft, and have taken several other measures. My criteria when choosing the breed was cold hardiness and being docile. They live up to it. They keep on cranking out 3 brown eggs a day without us adding heat or extra light to fool them as some do. They are very social with humans but not deer apparently. This is an old picture and they are bigger now. Buff Orpington hens can get to 7 pounds but I don’t know how much they weigh. They are very social with humans and one always scurries to the top of this ladder when anyone approaches the run and they make happy noises. They know treats are likely involved!

Lilac

Lilac

Just as animal behavior interests me I also find human behavior interesting. When we have visitors I enjoy seeing their reactions to the chickens. Some give a cursory glance and continue the discussion in progress, some watch them with interest, and others- the majority because I would be drawn to friendships with animal lovers- talk right back to them, sometimes in chicken language, and then ask to go in the hen house and feed and hold them, all of which is easily accommodated.

Today I am off to spin at the yarn shop, Auntie Zaza’s Fiber Works, where I teach spinning and fiber preparation, and now soap making in a joint workshop she and I have where I teach soap making and she has them make  facecloths. Later I am looking forward to a talk at the Sharon Historical Society about life in the 1600’s. Of course if the speaker doesn’t bring up spinning I will. He must be doing that. I am reminded of the fact that many of the words and expressions in our language today come from our history with sheep and wool. I think I will start mentioning one in every blog post. Spinster is a fun one. At least it is for people like me for whom spinning is a fun hobby, not a survival skill. Spinsters were unmarried woman usually beyond what was then considered marriageable age, who lived with family and spun a lot of wool for the family and to bring income. Of course we link it with the other out of date term,  an “old maid,” which sounds negative but it gets me to thinking- food and shelter would be provided for me if I just… spun all day?? Hmmmm.

Okay, my other sign of spring happened yesterday when I was leaving work. I heard a redwing blackbird in a nearby marsh. Very exciting for me every year but especially this one. They traditionally come back from wherever they go in the month of March and I hope that shows that they think spring is on its way. I think I saw an Osprey last week on the Cape and they too come back now but I can’t say for sure if that is what I saw.

I am also looking forward to having my spinning group here on Saturday. I am pondering what to serve for lunch but know it will be something that uses eggs. A lot of eggs.