A Bit of Bling

Winter has arrived for real just in time for Thanksgiving.  Snow followed by rain followed by more snow has left a heavy, crunchy, sloppy several inches of white.  I'm trying to convince myself that it looks festive.  At least it certainly does make one thankful for having a warm dry house to retreat into following chores.

Andy finished picking the last load of corn yesterday and it fought him all the way.  Snow and mud made the tractor and equipment want to slide sideways on the hill and the frozen cornstalks kept getting jammed in the picking rolls and wouldn't feed through as they should.  To say he's glad to be done is an understatement particularly with the wet, clingy snow weighing everything down today.

The only ones truly happy with the weather are the dogs.  Holly's friends Angel and Brandy came over today for a playdate.  Brandy is older and more sedate but Angel and Holly were only too glad to roll around in the snow and pretend to kill each other and run, run, run in the pasture.

Of course if you burn off a lot of energy you have to get treats from Julie so you have strength to carry on.

 

"One for you and one for you and one for you."

 

And now for something completely different....

We're always trying to think of some new items to add to the various products we offer for sale from the flock.  Since we have Cotswold yarn on the shelf and I dyed quite a bit for the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival I thought maybe we should have some shawl pins.  They are useful, they can be quite lovely whether simple or elaborate and they could appeal to someone who isn't even "into" fiber since they can be given as a gift.  I had an idea and started looking around on the internet for components.  I found a lady (thank you, Etsy) who makes glass beads and I ordered some that I liked.  I had hoped to have them all done for the Festival but only got two finished and one of them sold that weekend.  With Christmas on the Farm coming up at Stone Edge Fibers (amythefibergoddess's farm) on December 7 I was motivated to get them done.

I really like jewelry although I rarely wear it.  It's usually not practical and sometimes not safe to wear things that dangle.  The sheep try to eat earrings when I bend down to say hello, rings and bracelets and dangerous around machinery, pins tend to get caught on anything I reach over....farm work and jewelry don't really fit well together.  However, making the pins is as much fun for me as wearing them would be.  Each bead is different and putting them together with the wire and findings I use was quite satisfying.

The beads are glass and each weighs about an ounce, so not too heavy or out of proportion except for perhaps very delicate shawls.  I asked about the strength of the beads - I mean there's glass and then there's glass.  The maker said she tested one by dropping it on the garage floor and it survived so I hope these would live through an occasional "slither off the chair onto the floor" moment.

I'll be eager to see how they are received at the event at Amy's. 

Oh, and Andy made the display stand for me after I described what I needed.  That Andy ;-)