Commuting is often tedious.

I am more often than not ungracious enough to complain about the hour or so that it takes to get to work and the similar amount of time it takes to get back. I often see the same old folks rushing along North Westwards with me and the same old folks rushing South Eastwards and we do a repeat performance in the opposite direction later in the day.  It is on the verge of being farcical. Wouldn't it be better if we could all just work nearer home?

There are upsides though. In the forty minutes or so that I spend with my car share buddy we get the office politics out of the way and sometimes we put the world to rights.  We would be a dangerous pair with power in our hands.

When I don't drive I can get on with whatever knitting or crochet project I have on the go, so the Julianna's Wrap is coming on in leaps and bounds.

On Friday when I drive alone I radio station hop and secretly enjoy the days when the traffic is really bad and I am late as I get  to listen to a snippet of Desert Island Discs on Radio 4. Now that is what radio was built for!

Sometime Son Number 2 drives himself to to the train station to continue his commute and I get to walk through the park to pick the car up.  Now, that is a pleasure in itself.  I exchange cheerful  "Good Morning"s from the early dog walkers and sometimes I bump into this rather stately character.

He must have been very hungry to let me get so close.  I think the fish were lucky on this particular morning as we had had heavy rain and the water was very murky so they were able to hide for a while.  I once saw him asleep and thought that I had discovered a new specious of long legged duck!  I did not realise that they curl their neck up to sleep!

Sometimes, I leave the car at the station and walk home again in the afternoon when I see a whole different set of people.  We have the best fed ducks for miles around, as Mums and Grandparents bring their children to feed the ducks rain or shine and there is a pair of swans.  This one is demonstrating the benefits of a long bendy neck when you have an itch in an awkward place!

What I really wanted was a lovely pose with an "S" shaped neck and I almost got it.

There is something about sheep...

... which if you think long enough, is blindingly obvious.

They poo.  Copiously.  They have neither the time, inclination, or, ability to be bothered about poo on their fleece.  And they sweat.

All this is fine. I can handle the thought, I don't even mind the smell. But the actuality had not occurred to me until I was given some fleece.

I researched on the web and I asked friends. I came to the conclusion that for every ten spinners that you ask what to do with a raw fleece you get eleven answers.  So, nothing for it but to dive in and give it a go!

This is what it looked like when I opened the black bag.

What actually fitted into the bag suddenly expanded to fill my patio!  I thought Jacob's sheep were small. This one must have been the exception.

I think I need a bigger bucket!

This was method number one - soak the fleece for a week in rain water if possible.

However,  in my enthusiasm  to get started, I  soaked  an armful of the fleece in hot water with a bit of washing up liquid for 20 minutes ( method number nine I think ).  Oh great! Loads of  dirty greasy water coming out of this! I think I am on the right lines.  OK. Gently poke the mix. Fine. Hot rinse. Fine. Cooler rinse OK. Then pick it up to hang it to dry. Oh my! Please, hands up the person who thought to tell me to take the poo out BEFORE you start! Is it a taboo subject?

It does look cleaner now though and there is loads left for other methods.

I am now waiting excitedly for the postman to deliver a set of hand carders which I have ordered from UKHandspinner.  They are in the post! 

Any excuse is a good excuse...

...to visit Bradford on Avon.

It is a lovely town with a proud history of links with the woollen industry.

Look carefully and you can see that this lady has a spindle tucked in her waistband

There are lots of little nooks and crannies to explore.  

Some beautiful cottages and some grand old buildings which have new lives as "executive" homes. I am not exactly sure how many executives you can fit into one small town, but Bradford on Avon will have it's fair share as another building development of executive homes is going on in an old mill in the centre at the moment.

There are footpaths along the river and links to the Kennet and Avon Canal and National Cycle Network.


 

 

On Sunday however, I had the perfect reason for a little trip out. Knitcave had mentioned on her blog that The Wiltshire Spinners Weavers and Dyers Guild had an exhibition and sale in the West Barn at Bradford on Avon which is a small but perfectly formed venue for textile exhibitions. 

I did not need telling twice.

There was a slight logistical problem.  Son number 2 wanted the use of the car. Well not a real problem as to be honest, I do not like the drive as I am not sure of the route and I thought a nice afternoon out by train would be rather pleasant.

I packed all that I deemed to be necessary for the day in my V&A William Morris print tote bag. I think it is a "must have" for any self respecting fibre person.   First things first, 2 crochet hooks, spare ball of wool and instructions for Juliana's Wrap tucked into one of my fabric boxes, beloved camera, money, collection from work for a colleague's birthday (all of £8), an apple, an over-ripening pear and, as instructed by son number 2, the fully charged mobile phone.

I was looking forward to a nice quiet jaunt on the train, spending a happy half hour crocheting and watching the lovely scenery go by.

It was not to be.

The little train must have started off in Cardiff - I know that because there were two of those cycle scheme bikes from Cardiff on the train. They were locked up, but I don't think they were meant to be taken out of Cardiff on holiday! The final stop would be Brighton and the train stops at every conceivable station on the way.

Hundreds of people had had the same idea as me - well perhaps not the fibre plan - they had taken luggage, pushchairs, bikes, and picnics with them. I clambered in and stood most of the way.

 Not to worry, it is nice to see the railways in use.

The West Barn is only a short walk from the train station. The exhibition was really good. The welcome was warm.  The projects displayed were expertly created and beautifully presented and for sale at very reasonable prices.  I managed to come in at 50 pence over budget and bought a felted rose brooch and a key ring fob for my work colleague. Bargain!  I did not take photos as ALL the work was of a really high standard and it would have been unfair to single items out.  So anyone looking for a special gift to buy would be well advised to watch out for next years exhibition and sale.

My adventure went a little off kilter on the way home.  All my own fault.  I just had the whimsical idea to walk to Avonclifff and catch the train back from that stop. Not just because it was a beautiful afternoon, but  you have to wave your hand to actually stop the train at the platform and I have never done that before.

All was fine, but as son number 2 rightly pointed out later, I was much too interested in taking photos to read signposts.  I missed the turn off for Avoncliff and walked onto Limpley Stoke instead.  I ended up walking at least an extra 5 miles. 

Good job I had heeded the advice about the mobile phone!  

He was benevolent enough to pick me up and with a roll of the eyes enquire if I had at least got  lots of photos!

Indeed, I had taken a few!

The smallest things...

...can sometimes cause the most disruption.

Take one small pebble.  Not even that, more like a medium sized piece of grit. 

It would have been a grand afternoon tour. Taking in the sights of Kedleston Hall, Wirksworth, Ashbourne, Crich, Butterley Station and back to "the ancestral home".  Considering we had a small child to amuse, the plan was ambitious.  Two miles into the journey and over the first cattle grid.  Fine. Except for the continuing noise.  It sounded as though we were taking the grid with us.  Nothing obviously dangling from the chassis but an aweful noise from one of the wheels.  Oh dear! Good job we are in the AA.  There was no option we had to wait to be rescued.

In fact, we could have paid a huge sum of money to go in a child friendly amusement park, but having our picnic in a field full of sheep (poo) for 90 minutes and then watching the car being jacked up and the wheel being removed and the tiniest piece of grit removed from the brake disk, then being able to have a good look inside the van with exciting things in, proved to be a source of great fun for the youngest member of the party.  Well worth the annual fee! And the weather was fine.

Eventually, we were on our way.  Kedleston is a really grand house.

with beautiful surroundings

and happy butterflies

The house was closed for the day.  Never mind, I thought, I know, I have a book at home about Kedleston.  I really do have a book which goes into great detail about Robert Adam's design for the house and the history of the family ( Curzon? Scarsdale? ). I know, because for years it was kept in a really silly place, but I had a bit of a tidy a few months ago.  I put the book somewhere more sensible and I cannot find it.

However, I did find something that I did not know I had!

This little leaflet must have belonged to my Grandma.  I expect that she sent it over from Canada. 

How nice to remember a time when all was well in the world as long as the bleach in the bathroom had a cover on it to make it look like a poodle and the spare toilet roll had a little pink top hat covering it.

I am afraid that I will not be able to resist it.  I will just HAVE to make a top hat for the spare toilet roll. Watch this space.

Fun was had by all....

...well at least for those who turned up.

It was one of those work challenge day things.  People who normally sit behind desks, doing unpaid manual labour for fun. 

It really was a good day and everything it was supposed to be, that is, an opportunity for those who don't normally take charge to organise things, for people to meet out of a work environment and to get something done which may not otherwise have been done.

We did some work for The Avon Riding Centre for the Disabled. Hundreds of sycamore saplings in the bluebell wood came to a rather grizzly end. Apparantly, the tree is more like an unwanted weed and is very invasive. If the saplings are allowed to take over, then the bluebells which, in this wood, are the more delicate English variety and the other tree species suffer.  I fondly remember playing with sycamore seeds as a child fascinated by the way that they fly  helicopter style through the air.  I will not look on them in the same light from now on!

We then went on to building and painting a new fence round quite a large field.  The fence posts had been put in by a contractor thankfully. Our task was to put the horizontal rails in and if possible in the time get them painted.  All in all, we did well.  It was amusing how professional training permeates life.  The collections folk very interested in making tasks easier, quicker, slicker; customer services folk delivering water and sweets on the quad bike and generally dispensing a positive vibe; finance just quietly getting on and doing the job and IT a little creative with the nail hitting technique and constantly calculating the percentage of the task done.

We were generously looked after by the caretaker ,who had the tea urn on the boil for our arrival and one of the trustees who looked after us with care.   The chief exectuive gave us a little introduction onto the work that the centre does, which brings a lot of enjoyment to many lives. All in all, although we did not quite finish everything that we would have liked to do, we hope that our efforts will make a difference.

No photos, I left my camera in the car and did not have the energy to back for it, even to capture the view of the new Severn Bridge and Welsh  landscape in the distance.


In the meantime, I am getting to grips with my tapestry

and, think that I am getting the hang of my first crochet project - Juliana's scarf which is a free downlaod on Ravelry.