Fibre studio opens.

Bubbly flowed, scones were scoffed, and sandwiches were swallowed, as we held an open afternoon

to mark the completion of our Studio & Workshop. On wednesday the vinyl floor was laid, and late on thursday afternoon the mains electric was connected - we had started imagining a candle-lit opening if there had been any major power interruption to delay the connection, but there was no hiccup.
Mrs. Smallholder, two of her sisters (Hilda the Chief knitter, and Gaye) and our daughter (Kerry) worked tirelessly to make all of the sandwiches, scones and other nibbles, serving drinks and selling products, and demonstrating spinning and weaving, while I was in charge of livestock...

We were supported by good friends from the village, and the alpaca world, with some travelling from as far away as Ilfracombe in North Devon and Salisbury in Wiltshire, which was greatly appreciated.

My one reservation about events like this, is not being able to spend proper time in conversation with people without having to break off to welcome new arrivals or wish farewell to departees, and worrying that someone has decided to leave after hanging around too long for a chat. The weather was warm and sunny after heavy showers, so although the ground was soggy, it was a perfect day for November, and the numbers of feet didn't destroy the garden or paddock. I've not posted any photographs with people here, as they filled the room, and it's just the backs of heads, so you'll have to trust me - or maybe some will crop up on other blogs in due course.

I had lured the herd onto the lawn for un-grazed grass and the Eucalyptus tree to browse over, so that they were close for visitors to view - I picked some Hazel stems and wedged them in the hurdles, as they love the leaves, and soon the leaves will have turned and fallen in any case.

Today, as I had noticed Minnies rear legs showing signs of rawness due to mite itching, I gave a topical treatment of Eprinex in pig-oil courtesy of a plant sprayer. I then spread two barrow-loads of sand and small rubble in the paddock to firm-up the deteriorating gateways.

 

So it's great to finish six months of building, and start a new phase of fibre processing, product development and craft training, and hopefully we'll make progress on pasture and livestock development.