Spring is finally here with warmer weather, fruit trees in bloom and lush green grass waiting to be eaten.  The alpacas have been restricted to grass-less pastures all winter and now they are anxious to get the lush green grass on the other side of the fence.

Well they are all happy pacas today.  This morning we opened up the greener pastures.  The alpacas didn't waste time running into the green oasis.

Jubilo's boys were first.  It didn't take them long to realize that the gate has been opened. 

Meanwhile the girls are watching all the commotion wondering when it's their turn to get fresh grass.

We finally get down to the girls pasture to open the gate and most of them are gathered around as we fiddle with the ties to open the pasture gate.

Hurray!  We finally have grass!

And of course there are the stragglers making a mad dash.

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from Melissa asking if I would like to meet with her to see the Turkish drop spindles she makes by hand.  Melissa added her blog and Etsy store link so I could look at pictures of her work.

 Wow!  Absolutely beautiful Turkish drop spindles.  Melissa hand crafts these spindles from reclaimed and re-purposed wood that she gathers from her local neighborhood in Chatham County.  Not only are the spindles beautiful to look at but, each spindle has its own story of how it came to be giving it an added personal touch.   In addition Melissa understands the functionality of a drop spindle and has made it her motto that “Balance = Beauty”.

 This is the story of my S. Lissie drop spindle:

 The spindle is handmade from reclaimed and re-purposed Tulip wood from the Tulip poplar tree and poplar wood (not related). The Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron Tulipifera) is part of the Magnolia family and the Poplar is a Salicaceae family Tree.  The spindle weighs about 1.5 ounces, stands 8-9 inches tall, and is about 6 inches wide at the flyer arms. It was finished with a proprietary blend of beeswax from Melissa’s back yard hives and essential oils. The Tulip wood was selected, hauled, milled, worked and balanced by hand making the spindle eco friendly and lowering the carbon footprint. The long flyer arms are designed for maximum balance and spin time. The Flyer wood for this particular spindle was from a tree on Melissa’s property that had been damaged during a storm last year and was dangerously overhanging the dirt road she lives on. Melissa axed the tree down at the weakened roots and dragged it in to the yard where it was racked and then sat for several months before she milled it into lumber. The spindle shaft was turned on her lathe by hand from a piece of scrap wood that would have been discarded or burned if she had not taken it in and given it its new special purpose.  Then she crafted it into a spindle that has Balance, Beauty, and Personality.  A work of art that I will cherish for many years.

You can see more of Melissa’s work at:

http://slissie.wordpress.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/slissie

We are working on a schedule for drop spindle classes featuring the S. Lissie Turkish spindle and spinning with BTF alpaca roving.

Come wind, or rain, or hail, or snow

on the farm

it's off to work we go.

Stay tuned for updates.