How I Spent My Day, By Harper
May. 30th, 2008 10:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kniteracyThis morning, G and I went to Surrey Quays to pick up a jacket for him, as his old one is getting a bit ratty. We were successful! Then, we headed to Canada Water station to meet my friend A, who is in London for six weeks. After that, we got on a bus and headed up to Oxleas Wood.
We tromped from the Castle up to the cafe, and then down the east side of the wood, which just happens to be right across from Woodlands Farm. There, we met Janet, who is a volunteer at the farm. B had told her all about me, so she led me to the barn where my fifty-five fleeces are stored. The sheep were just sheared last week, and the wool is 18 months growth, because the old farm manager wanted to shear the sheep before Christmas, and when he left, they decided not to shear until the late spring the way most farms do, so they skipped the Christmas shearing and sheared in May.
Inside the barn, there was a huge farm cart full of big builder's bag, all full of newly-shorn fleeces. Wow! Some of course were dirtier than others. I told them I'd like to take one fleece away today, and Janet got me a bin liner to put my fleece in. I chose one from the extra builder's bag on the floor of the barn, because it was easier to get to. I picked the one with the longest, curliest fleece I could see, G helped with the bag, and then A, G, and I got on the bus for home.
Tomorrow, I'll head to the handweaver's studio in east London first thing in the morning, where I'll pick up carders and a drop spindle, just to see how it all feels. Then,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pola_bear and possibly mokatiki will come over to enjoy(?!) the experience of washing a fleece for the first time. As some internet pages have suggested, I may soak the fleece overnight and see how much cleaner it looks in the morning.
The photos below the cut tag are of the fleeces in the barn, plus one photo of the one I brought home.
We tromped from the Castle up to the cafe, and then down the east side of the wood, which just happens to be right across from Woodlands Farm. There, we met Janet, who is a volunteer at the farm. B had told her all about me, so she led me to the barn where my fifty-five fleeces are stored. The sheep were just sheared last week, and the wool is 18 months growth, because the old farm manager wanted to shear the sheep before Christmas, and when he left, they decided not to shear until the late spring the way most farms do, so they skipped the Christmas shearing and sheared in May.
Inside the barn, there was a huge farm cart full of big builder's bag, all full of newly-shorn fleeces. Wow! Some of course were dirtier than others. I told them I'd like to take one fleece away today, and Janet got me a bin liner to put my fleece in. I chose one from the extra builder's bag on the floor of the barn, because it was easier to get to. I picked the one with the longest, curliest fleece I could see, G helped with the bag, and then A, G, and I got on the bus for home.
Tomorrow, I'll head to the handweaver's studio in east London first thing in the morning, where I'll pick up carders and a drop spindle, just to see how it all feels. Then,
pola_bear and possibly mokatiki will come over to enjoy(?!) the experience of washing a fleece for the first time. As some internet pages have suggested, I may soak the fleece overnight and see how much cleaner it looks in the morning.The photos below the cut tag are of the fleeces in the barn, plus one photo of the one I brought home.
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| Farm Cart Full O' Fleece, 1 The barn was a bit dark, so it's hard to get an idea of exactly how much is in here. There are several builder's bags, plus some smaller bin-liner-sized bags, five or six large builder's bags. Each builder's bag looks to be holding at least seven fleeces. |
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| Second Stash In addition, there was another builder's bag on the floor of the bar, which held five or six fleeces. Here is a peek inside this bag. |
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| Through the bars Through the bars, you can see another fleece, this one in a bin liner. |
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| Farm Cart Full O' Fleece, 2 Here's the farm cart from the other side; I think you can see the sheer volume a little better here. |
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| One Bag Full Here's the fleece I brought home with me this afternoon. The wool appears to be quite long and curly. |
