Nooksack Centennial Celebration

My little City of Nooksack will be celebrating it's 100th Birthday next year.  The City Council decided to have a big celebration for the event, and I was asked to chair it.  Now, I tend to take on too much, and have signs all over my house that say 'NO' as a reminder to me to slow down and think about what has been presented to me.  Well, this one was too much, and I knew I could be a positive note to this endeavor, so I accepted.

I have purchased patterns for clothing from the 1912's, and I will be dressed in period costume for the event.  I will be making a walking skirt, and a dress cover.  I will share those items in a later blog.

The celebration will be a huge party in the park on September 8 and 9th, 2012.  I'm in the process of building a Facebook account.  I will tell you more later.

Last week was a wonderful day at the Market.  I'm not there today because I have a cold and am dragging my booty big time.  Sigh.

I changed the layout of my booth, and it was amazingly effective.  Of course, you never know from one Saturday to the next what makes people buy from you.  There is my little spinner in the foreground.  By spinning there, I attract alot of attention.

It was actually a cool day, and I sold a few more hats to other vendors.

This woman bought her hat in the Spring, and suggested the vendor behind her get a hat since she was in the wind and was freezing.

It's so gratifying to walk around the market and see so many people wearing my hats!!

Isn't she just adorable in this hat?  Gotta make more.

Do you just love these Chinese Lanterns?

These are the masseuses that set up shop next to me each week.  They are such fun, and we've become great friends.

These Buskers provided some very unique and terrific music for us all to enjoy.

Now that I'm writing all of this, I'm so sorry I am not there today.  But, I don't even have enough energy to load the car, so let's get real.

I think it's time for a nap.

You just never know. . .

What the mice are up to while the cat's away.  This cat played alot today, having breakfast in
Blaine with my friend who owns Beach Basket Yarns in Birch Bay.  A few stops after, then on to the Wednesday market in Fairhaven and lunch with Jo.
I was amazed to come home to this:

I don't know why I was amazed.  You tell these two you would like something done, and they do it!  Amazing what two 25 yr. olds,  some heavy equipment, and good old Dad (Melissa's) can do in a couple of hours.

This 1940 Pontiac has been housed in a small garage at the front of the property for as long as I have memory of this place.  The last time we drove it was 16 years ago.

Look at those manuevers!  Heavy equipment and lots of patience.  Patience is something I still lack.

So here it sits in it's new home, the clean barn.  Don't ask what I am going to do with it.  I'm just the caretaker.

So, after the car was put to bed, the mice decided to remove some fencing and did some general clean up and hauling away.  WOW!!!  This means more to me than anything.  I cannot even express my gratitude to these guys for helping me in this way.  Melissa, Jacob, Jean and Mike, YOU ROCK.

Feeling Better

It's getting better all the time.  I have moments that come up and hit me like a sledgehammer, and I'll be crying like crazy, but that's to be expected I guess.  This grief thing is very, very hard.  I am an impatient person and want it to be over with now!  But I guess I have alot more pain ahead of me, so if I start crying at the gas station or the grocery store, at least everyone knows me and they will talk to me or hug me.  I don't have to be shy around here.

So on to the good life.  Yesterday was beautiful, and I picked a nice bouquet to put on my front door.  I find it to be very welcoming, don't you?

This is a coral bead plant that my cousin gave me for Easter.  It's also called the Pincushion Plant, the Greek word being Nerteria.  From South America, I'd best keep this little gem in the house if I want it to survive.  Isn't it sweet?

Here is my latest skein of yarn.  I really like it.  But, I like every skein I make.  I'm soooooooooooo modest.  I have made such wonderful contacts at the Bellingham Farmer's Market, three local stores want to carry my yarns now.  Good thing I have that little mini spinner.  It goes everywhere with me now.

I've missed blogging, and I feel like I have turned the corner.  I hope to be back, at least twice a week.  Every day would be asking too much at this time, but who knows, we shall see.
Hugs everyone.  It's good to be back.

Re-Branding

I have re-branded.  I know, you all know me as FiberFabrications, but I have always done business as Lost River Alpacas.  Now, with the sale of the alpacas, I had to change my status at the Market from Farmer to Crafter.  This is my new logo and business card.  The Market opens tomorrow, and I am psyched.  The car is packed and ready, now I just need to decide what to wear.  In this crazy Pacific Northwest, you never know if it will rain, sleet, blow, shine, or heat up.  Sooooo, boots?  Okay, I got it.  Layers for sure.  Gotta be able to strip when it gets warm.

So the other day, Josie and I took a ride to the vet's in a VeeDub.  She was not impressed.  I've never held one this size in a car before.  We had alot of laughs.  Poor baby has ricketts, the first ever for one of my alpacas.  She will be getting Vitamin D injections and should recover well.

Here she is getting her hocks x-rayed.  Deb, our vet tech, is getting a kick out of this.  Look at Josie's face.

At this point Josie says "Okay, I'm done now."

Jumping back to Monday, this is the dumpster that we almost filled with miscellaneous metal stuff.  It should bring some decent money.

Looks like it has stopped raining.  Think I will go outside and plant.

Time for a Rest

Phew.  Last day of the Market.  The atmosphere was very similar to that in school on the last day before summer vacation.  When they rang the bell signaling the start, everyone cheered.  Then, at 3 when they rang the bell for the end, it was more cheers, hugs, goodbyes.  What a great year it has been for me.  I have three months to restore my inventory, and back I will go.

Today I had the pleasure of being next to the girls from Hopewell Farms.  They were so much fun!  What a couple of characters.  We had a really good band playing all day, so we did alot of dancing behind our tables.  (I said behind, not on)  The dancing helped us stay warm since we were outside.  I much prefer being outdoors.

Hopewell Farms was offering everything at $1 a pound as customer appreciation day.  Above is $4 worth.

Here are two of our volunteers.  They work so hard.  See the hat on the right?  I simply MUST find a pattern for that.

This girl was visiting from Hong Kong, and had just bought the hat she is wearing.  She thought she needed a picture with me.  She might come out to the farm to visit us tomorrow, but we may have snow by then.  Who knows.

Now, notice the hat I am wearing?

And notice who is wearing it now?  Like I said, they buy them right off my head.

Another one finds her hat.

So, I've been busy dying rovings in my crock pots this week.  I received about 40 pounds two weeks ago, and I can hardly wait to start spinning it.

Here are some of the rovings I dyed after the fiber was washed and carded.

I had dyed this "in the wool", meaning before it was carded, this summer.  I sent all the assorted colors to the processor and this is how it turned out.  Gorgeous!

And here is how it is spinning up.

Tomorrow it is cookie day, baking and shipping.  What a change in direction.

Market Basket

The Market seems to monopolize my time these days.  Only two more Saturdays, then a break until April.  I'm looking forward to my "hiatus" to experiment with some more felting projects and catch up on my dying and spinning.

On Friday, I called the Market manager and asked her if I could be outside.  I feel that if people are cold, they are more inclined to buy something warm, right?  So, I had a beautiful location, with my tent set up right in front of the Pavilion.  Other vendors offered me heaters, or thought I was just plain nuts.  But I did really well, kept warm, and had a terrific time.

It amazes me that there are so many fresh vegetables still available, especially since we have had such cold weather.  In this picture is Hopewell Farms, who are right down the road from me.  Well, actually, just about all of the farmers are "just down the road" from me, in County terms.

That is something that took me awhile to get used to when I moved here.  If you don't live in Bellingham, you are "out in the County".  It's like the hinterlands, or the North Pole to the City Dwellers.

This is Rabbit Fields Farm.  I just love her display and her products, although if she was really Rabbit field, she would have nothing to show at the market!!  It's quite interesting to also note that most of the farmers are women!

This is our manager, Caprice.  I had to go through a strict inspection to be qualified as a farmer here at the market.  They inspected the farm in September, and I demonstrated all that I do with the fiber, and I have "qualified".  It seems everyone is more friendly and accepting of me now.  I know they had doubts that everything I was selling was actually from my alpacas, but I showed them.

Now, last, but certainly not least, since this is the master of the household, Leroy is modeling a cria coat that I had just repaired.  He thinks this is very nice and warm, and didn't want it removed.  Sorry, Leroy, Centennial still needs it.