This has been a week of collecting fleeces and doing demos at a farm open day. Both things over lapped a bit.
I often get calls from various by contacts when they have fleece to sell. This year it started early because it was so warm farmers sheered early. Some of the fleeces are not such good quality because of this, a bit shorter mostly. Which can make them more difficult to spin. So far I have picked up Ryeland, Black ,Welsh Mountain, Shetland and a few unidentified bags of white fleece. That can some times be a problem when deciding what to do with them but they look fairly good quality and they should dye well so I am pleased. That won't be the end I'm sure. I can't open my shed door with out all these bin bags of dirty fleece falling out. There is lots of washing to do this summer.
The farm open day was a bit disappointing as so few people turned up. It is such a lot of work to stage these events and I feel very sorry for the organisers when they don't go so well. I don't mean it was a total falier, the people who did come had a great time especially the children. My friends and I had a lovely day spinning. We did not sell any thing, but neither did any of the other stalls, well not much any way. I did buy some fancy dog biscuits for my lurcher Mia. She liked them which was just as well as they were expensive for dog food. The over lap came when I was given two bags of BWM fleece buy the farmer which was very nice of him but as I have so much already I gave it to my fellow spinners. It is sad to think it is not worth him trying to sell it, the wool board is not interested in coloured fleece.
We were opposite a stall advertising Medical Assistance Dogs. So interesting they way they can sniff out different things from fluid samples, cancer cells, diabetes, lots of different illnesses that can be hard to detect in a lab. They only work in laboratory's not on people, although I think I would prefer a dog to some people I have met in hospitals. A worthy charity to support if you are looking for one.
