Springing Forward

Life has been busy as usual.  The reception in Stillwater went well. I was very honored to be included in the show. The other artists had wonderful quilts, weaving, pottery and jewelry.

I am pleased to announce that my work will stay in the gallery after the River Room exhibit is over at the end of March! I was juried into the Guild and I will have my own space in the gallery. This means I will need to increase production, which is a good thing.  I have so much wool and so many ideas!

My wall in the show, I put up title cards and got rid of the business cards after this photo was taken.

Speaking of wool, the sheep were sheared on Mar. 9, the morning after the reception. I have to say that my shearer, Jim Peterson, just gets better every year. I don't know what I would do without him. The sheep all look good, but only a few are definitely pregnant and due in April.  The others won't be due until after May 26th. And the burdizzoed boys may still be fertile. So it will be interesting to figure out who the sire of the lambs is.  My Finn ram, Jari, was alone with the ewes for two weeks last fall, but the rest of the time the burdizzoed boys were in there too.

River Oaks Heddy, I love her blue-gray fleece! It's already washed and ready for carding.

I have to admit that I'm glad that the dark Shetland/Bluefaced Leicester cross ram lamb my still be fertile. He's a gorgeous dark chocolate BROWN! This is the first real brown fleece I've had  in a Bluefaced Leicester cross. I can't wait to get it skirted and washed. The twin gulmoget Bluefaced Leicesters crosses were a first for me too. Can't wait to see the lambs this year!

I got a Magpie drake for my ducks (he's the one with the dark cap in the photo above). They all get along fine and he's doing his drakely duties. So hopefully we will have lots of ducklings this spring. I read in Dave Holderread's book that Magpie drakes are excellent for crossing on other breeds. Their female offspring should lay plenty of large eggs.

I was fortunate to attend a millinery hat class at the Textile Center in Minneapolis the first weekend of March. What fun, all the hats were different. I made this one out of a rabbit fur felt capeline. It's lined with silk and fits me just right. I'm not really a hat wearer, but I love making them and I have to say that I actually look good in this one. I want to organize a similar class here in Mora.

The instructor is Emily Moe (wearing the hat above), she lives in Duluth. It would be a two day class.  Let me know if you're interested. Maximum of 10 students, dates to be determined.

I have added my 2013 schedule on the right of this blog. You can see I will be teaching several birdhouse classes this sping and summer. My plan is to have an installation of 40-60 birdhouses in early October. Students will be invited to dedicate their birdhouse in memory of someone special in their lives and display it in the installation.  I think it will be great to share the stories of the loved ones as well as the stories of the birds that take up residence over the summer.