My Favourite Time of Year

Fall is certainly my favourite time of year. There are no bugs. The day temperatures are moderate. The nights are cool for sleeping. The night sky is clear. The June cria are old enough to stop worrying about them. The start of the school year seems to put everything back on a schedule. Harvest vegetables are plentiful.


Here are some fall pictures of around Eau Claire and Bonfield, Ontario that I took on a drive this past weekend.





Another great thing about fall....people start thinking about wearing warm alpaca and knitting again!


I find handspinners, handweavers and handknitters to be an incredibly social and sharing group. Once a year, I try to have a "Friends on the Farm with Fibre" event. I invite lots of fellow fibre artists. Sometimes the date works out, and my house is jammed with friends and spinning wheels, fibre and yarn for the day. This year, the date I picked had a few conflicts with other events, but still we had about 14 fibre friends come for the day. While it rained outside, we had a relaxing day of spinning and knitting and friendship.


I am a member of the Country Roads Artisan group that celebrates its 30th Anniversary this year. Prior to our Fall Studio tour, we hosted a celebration at the shopping mall in North Bay. We displayed our wares, did demonstrations of our craft, shared cake and coffee and information with the public. The city mayor, and both our provincial and federal members of Parliament came to congratulate us. I always love to spin in public. People are so interested in this craft and in awe of the process. I get to meet a lot of very nice and interesting people while doing the demonstration. I found it especially satisfying spinning so relaxedly, watching others run about in our usual fast-paced, "gotta-get-the-errands-done" mode. Spinning brings me inner calm.


Our Country Roads Fall Tour was the last weekend in September. You can find more information about this tour and our group at our website http://www.countryroadstour.com/.
If you are planning to be in the area at any time, check out the information and hours of operation for the studios.

Below is an example of fellow member John Stephens' work from his studio At Wit's End Glass.

John's work is really unique. Many of the pieces feature birds or other wildlife. As well as 2D pieces, he also creates 3D works that incorporate other items such as rock, lichens, driftwood, etc.

Here are some of my recent handpainted sock yarns...

And I leave you with a fall shot of my farm....

and, of course, a recent picture of Lily for those who have followed the story of her hard little start.

For my Canadian friends, Happy Thanksgiving!