A Weekend of Arts and Bees!

It's Monday again, and I feel like I need an extra day to recover!  Saturday was a wonderful day spent at Flanders Nature Center and Land Trust participating in their Farm Days 2015.  I didn't wander far from my booth, so the only pics I got were us kids in the cool corner!

Up first is Kim Elovirta, Herbalist and owner of Raven's Edge, LLC.  She was in the booth to my right, and the smells were heavenly!

On my left was a crochet artist who's name, I think, is Jan.  Her card is at home, so I will definitely add her name as soon as I get my hands on her card!!

Across from me was Pat and her husband of Pat's Baskets.  She not only had beautiful baskets, but her quilting was gorgeous!  They were both an absolute hoot!!

Next to Pat was Lorianne Witte, designer, weaver, and owner of La Bella Sfera.  She is also an educator at Flanders and the organizer of the Farm Days 2015.  She and her team did a wonderful job!

Lorianne's daughter was our rooster mascot for the day, and was just the cutest thing!

There was lots of looking, but most of us were upstaged by baby goats!  I mean, who can resist seeing baby goats coming into the world?!  One little girl came by just itching to learn how to rug hook, and sat down to learn how to pull loops!  I sent her off with a piece of linen and instructions for grandma on how her granddaughter can practice with supplies she has on hand.  Grandma is a quilter, so I'm sure she'll be able to set her granddaughter up!  Never know when the next future rug hooker will come along!  There was also mention of speaking at Flanders about rug hooking as well as participating in Woodbury's Colonial Days and Flanders Artisans Marketplace.  Very exciting stuff!!

Now on Friday night, the bees arrived!  With help from my neighbor, we installed my hive, put in some bee candy, and crossed our fingers.  The bees were very active and now I'm just watching them like a hawk for pollen.  Collecting pollen means their staying!  Here's a quick vid of part of the installation process.

Now it's back to the day job!  Have a great Monday everybody!!!

Flanders Farm Days 2015!!

Saturday, May 16th, I will be vending at the Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust Farm Day 2015!  It looks like a real fun event!!  Here's a few particulars!

Location:   5 Church Hill Rd, Woodbury, CT

Times:  10am to 4pm

Here's a list of the vendors and their locations.  If you're in the area, swing by and see me!!

THE NORTH BARN: Flanders Agricultural Learning Center and home to Buz Russell’s Farm & Rural Life Museum

Barefoot Books
Blacksmithing
Dale Bloxsum

Dawn Hill Designs
Macaroni Kids

Live farm animals

Percy Thomson Meadow
The Hippie Chicks

Garden ROW:  

4-H Dosey Doats Dairy Goat Club

CT Invasive Plant Board
CT Woodworking Club

Earth Tones Nursery
Livin’ Country

Pomperaug Valley Garden Club

Potato Planting Demo with Gina & Eli Gardella

Roger’s Creative Originals

Wildlife Table

Woodbee Folk Art

Studio: Visit the Van Vleck Studio & view founder Natalie Van Vleck’s original art work.

Avid Concessions LLC Italian Ice

Fiber Arts: Spinning and Weaving

Handmade Fiber items by Jan Locke

Pat’s Baskets
Raven’s Edge LLC
Raven’s Gate Primitives  

Events:

Egg basket making

Rug hooking demo
Tractor Rides all day

Corner of flanders & church hill road:
Woodbury Ambulance

THE NATALIE VAN VLECK house:
Stop by to visit the Flanders Country Kitchen to get fried dough, hot dogs, homemade macaroni and cheese, chili or fruit salad. There are also cookies donated by the Flour Garden.  

Dirt Road Primitives Garden Thyme Swap!!

So, I have a "read everyday" blog list of fave people that help my workday go a little bit faster.  (it's pretty much my blogroll on the sidebar)!  Lori at Notforgotten Farm posted about taking part in a Garden Swap on another blog, Dirt Road Primitives.   After reading a bit about the swap, I decided to give it a try!  If like to craft and garden, head on over to Rhonda's blog and check it out! 

 

This pic from Rhonda's blog caught my eye!!

Spring is finally here!

Our first daffodil of 2015!  Yard and garden clean up already started, new wools added to my Etsy shop, and my first show coming up in May! 

A dream

 http://www.mainefarmlink.org/archives/8035


This is my dream.  We pass this farm all the time when visiting family in Maine.  I always say, "wouldn't it be great to live there."

Snow Day!

So the Blizzard of 2015 is on it's last breath, and left a bit of snow!

Here's our little greenhouse in our front yard.

And the front of our house

It doesn't look like much snow, but we probably got about eighteen inches.

And here's our Winston enjoying the snow.  He did not want to come back in! (That's the stinkeye he's giving me as I call him to come back to the house)!

I have been keeping up on my goals for 2015.

1.  Declutter:  Already made my two trips to Goodwill, each time with a car full of stuff!
2.  Finish studio remodel and second bedroom remodel: Carpet has been ordered for the upstairs and should be installed in about a week.  I'm VERY excited!
3.  Get my Etsy shop up and running:  I've been sorting through my dyed wool and have started making up packets.  My plan is to have items in my Etsy shop by this weekend.
4.  Vegetable gardens:  Seeds are here, and I'll start clearing out the greenhouse to make room for my starts.
5.  Canning/Drying/Freezing garden bounty:  While this goal is for my garden harvests, I've thought about starting some preserving using organic produce from a local grocer.  Stay tuned for updates!
6.  Learn to be a beekeeper:  I was signed up for a class this past Saturday, but we had a little "preview" of our blizzard, so it had to be rescheduled.
7.  Chickens!:  Still have to order the coop.
8.  Bring lunch to work:  I haven't been as good as I should on this goal, but I'll keep working on it!

Lastly, on the rug hooking front, I ordered a present for myself from Searsport Rug Hooking.  The top is my lap frame that I also bought at Searsport, and have been using for years. They offer the floor frame separate so that if you already have a lap frame, it just attaches right on.  I like it because it rotates as needed, and it doesn't get wobbly.

Here's a picture of my current work in progress.  All that's left is the background, which I think will be antique black.  I'm also considering offering this as a pattern drawn on linen for sale in my Etsy shop.

Well, that's all I have for today.  It's back to work for me (working from home).  Have a safe and warm day!!

Last rug of 2014, first rug of 2015, and a "worm" issue

My last rug of 2014 was a pattern that just plopped into my brain, and wouldn't let go until I drew it up, dyed the wool, and started hookin'!  It's not bound yet, but I'm thinking it will be a pillow.

I also drew up and started hooking my first rug of 2015.  I'm trying to combine my vision with a way to use up all those woolie worms!!

 And lastly, my hooking chums from our gloomy Sunday.

HAPPY 2015!

Our New Year's Eve was celebrated with friends, fooseball, and several rounds of Cards Against Humanity (the most un-PC game ever)....but great fun!  New Year's Day was just plain relaxing.  Once I got moving, I headed upstairs to the "under construction" studio and painted a computer armoire a beeyootiful green so I can use it for storage.  After that, it was off to the shower and the rest of the day on the couch, hooking a bit, stitching a bit, and lots of tv...lol!

Here's my tv watching companion.....

After having so many free hours to hook and stitch, I've really decided to push myself to get my fiber business going again.  I've let things slide since starting my current job a little over five years ago, and it's kind of made me a bit crazy.  My dream would be to be able to afford to quit the day job and transition completely over to my fiber business.  The only way to do this is to set goals that will get me moving.  Also, putting them here, for all to see, should motivate me!  This is actually something I'm "borrowing" from a blog I read religiously, http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/.  Last year, Mavis put down her goals on her blog, and updated her readers each week on where she was on reaching those goals.  Genius I say, so, here I go!!

GOALS FOR 2015

1.  Declutter:  After getting two rooms ready for a studio redo, I realized that I'm a bit of a pack rat!  So I'm going to go room by room with a goal of at least two trips to Goodwill a month until it's done.

2.  Finish studio remodel and second bedroom remodel:  this is a goal that actually needs to be done by the middle of February. (company's coming)!   My studio is right now in need of paint, new molding, and new carpet.  The second upstairs bedroom needs paint, new molding, and new carpet as well as a guest bed.  Here's a few pictures.

First bedroom being transformed into my studio.

 Painter armoire.  Love the green!

Second bedroom.  See....pack rat extraordinaire!

3.  Get my Etsy shop up and running.  I will start with some wool bundles and expand from there.

4.  Vegetable gardens.  I have already sent out the seed order, so this one is already started.  I will start all plants in the greenhouse.

5.  Canning/Drying/Freezing garden bounty.  Last year I did get a few things frozen and canned from our garden, but this year, I will do a much better job.

6.  Learn to be a beekeeper.  I am lucky enough to have a master beekeeper right next door, and he has offered to help me set up and learn how to be a beekeeper this year! (hope he doesn't mind a lot of questions)!

7.  Chickens!  I have picked out the chicken house, and will be ordering the coop and chicks for a chicken flock this year!  So excited!

8.  Bring lunch to work.  I have spent way too money and gained too much weight from eating out at lunch five days a week.  This year, I will plan meals and start bringing my lunch to work.

It's not too many goals, but I will post at least once a week about each goal and how I've worked on it.  Maybe putting it out to the universe will help!  Now that mine are done, what are your goals for 2015?