This is the guardian of my garden. She is a "junkie" made by a young man who was ten at the time (now twelve) who has been welding since the age of seven. He will be burning off some of the rust, and sealing her this year, so she can stand guard over my weeds, flowers and veggies for years to come. She silently watches as butterflies, birds, cats and, sadly, woodchucks come and go.... and sometimes sees the deer and turkeys. She watches the hawks silently, and the mother cats taking their kittens to and fro, worrying about their safety. She will be joined by other totems and works of art this year.... planning a garden loom, and likely to spend a great deal of time weeding errant black raspberry plants, "Tree of life" and bishop's goutweed from the garden. She is a treasured gift, and I am inspired to bring beauty where there is chaos, in her company! For today she watches over the potatos I planted yesterday, encouraging them to grow despite the cold and dreary day!

These are the guardians of my shop. Sadie, the queen, is black and white, and adjusted well to the interlopers. Purl, the grey longer haired kitty is flighty, and belongs to cats, not to people. She prefers to be invisible, despite her obvious beauty. Mojo is, like the athletes I remember from high school, a better athlete than intellectual. He doesn't care: he loves to protect Sadie and Purl, and loves his life!

I took the wheel outside today to photograph the alpaca I am carding and spinning today. The alpaca's name is Catwoman, and the richness of her greys, browns and silvers is only exceded by the richness of the luxurious softness of her fleece. The white fiber below hers is from the same farm, from an alpaca named Diamonds are Forever. Below that is a bag of Cormo/Romney. On all of these the crimp and the staple are beautiful for spinning, and I will be busy and happy for WEEKS.

This is Cormo/Romney, a gift from Laurie (Thank you SO much!) That I look forward to spinning, dyeing and possibly knitting for sale in the shop. It has BEAUTIFUL crimp, and the staple is lovely... When the weather is nicer I will scour it, dry it, and get ready to card.

This is fleece from an alpaca named catwoman. I will spin a pound, keep a pound.... in my possession right now is over a pound of this lovely grey, and four pounds of beautiful white... lovely to spin and card, just a wee bit more vegetable matter than I prefer, but more than compensated by the luxurious feel of this fleece!