Happy St Patricks Day

from Anise and Tansy !

This picture was taken by their wonderful shepherd April.

 They live over the strait on Vancouver Island.

Thanks April and Happy St Patricks Day from all of us at Periwinkle too.

New Boots !!

What could make a farm girl happier than shiny new boots ?

Free boots, that's what !
Just redeemed some Quality Foods points to get these. ♡ (^｡^) ♡

Shameful

That would be me..... At blogging that is......
I have to confess to falling down the rabbit hole into the Facebook vortex, (and feel free to send me a friend thingy on fb and we can connect there too), but in the meantime I'm going to try and do better HERE.
So here we are post #1 for 2013
And on the ipad so I'm going to keep it simple.

New uses for old stuff

... which I love !

I made this handy pouring add-on for a standard size mason jar.

This is how.

Then you just use the ring of the mason jar to sandwich the new piece and you get great pouring action from your mason jars ~ salad dressing comes to mind but whatever you fancy, 

I'm on a bit of a mason jar kick at the moment, here's a good tip on using a blender with your mason jars,

And finally,

Very Berry

 Did I tell you I live in a sea of berries ? SOOOO lucky

  There are berries in the garden. - Raspberries..

..

 We've had a bumper crop of raspberries this year, here are a few of them resting comfortably in  a beautiful cedar bailer made by our friend Ivan, a super talented traditional wood carver and weaver.

 And then there are the blueberries, just a few and just about ready to pick. 

We put these bushes in 2 years ago.

When we go for our walks in the forest I must admit I pass on the salmonberries....

 taste is kinda so so.

And the huckleberries ? too much trouble to pick.

BUT.... these are the prize, Rubus Ursinus, a small early variety of blackberry. 

They are the most flavourful of the local berries I think, 

and the smell ? 

one dimension the internet lacks, but take my word for it, their aroma is amazing 

and conjures up summer for me.

I've been thinking about berries so much lately so I got this book from our local library.

 It was very useful in identifying some of the local berries and I learned that there are many different berries that grow here. Once again, SO LUCKY !

Do The Math

+

=

That's all !

The Wonder Of Wool

It was shearing day a couple of weeks ago. We were lucky enough to have a fabulous weekend

 shearing sheep with Johanna around and about the Powell River area.

Here she is shearing  our ram, Womble.

And a couple more shots.

 

I just love watching the fresh fleece come off like this.

 I never get tired of it.

(and it  smells good too !)

The next step in the process is skirting the fleece, 

I lay it out on the "skirting table" we have set up, and pick out all the yukky bits.

Our friend April brought Anise's fleece over, (of the Nanoose Bay relatives)

 I thought I'd start with that, and it had already been skirted so that's all good.

Ready to wash !

Here I am putting it into our trusty fleece washing machine.

An action shot. 

Believe it or not it WILL all go in.

There, it's in !

I let that simmer for a few hours, tip it out, rinse it twice and 

voila !

This is the second fleece I washed.

 This one is Tansy's.

Now I'm hoping for some sunshine to dry it.