Passing it on...

Nathanial took this picture the other night when Ian asked for a spinning lesson.  Ian has shown an interest in learning the 'old time crafts' that he sees me enjoying.  He's fascinated by the fact that yarn can be made by turning the wheel and holding the fiber a certain way.  His favorite new game after our lesson was to try to get the shaft of the wheel to stop at the "12:30-1:00" position by using only the treadle.  (It's trickier than it sounds)

Ian also is eager to learn to play the violin so Katelyn is working with him on that.  He keeps asking us to measure his arm to see if it's long enough to play her full size violin (Katelyn passed on her 3/4 size a couple of years ago to another young player who needed an instrument).  Since his arm isn't growing 'fast enough' (his words), she's helping him learn to read music and recognize notes that she plays.  He hardly lets a day go by without asking her for a lesson. 
Who knows, we may soon have another violinist in the family!

News from the Shop

The Unadilla Artisan Guild reopened on the 1st.  The first weekend was a bit slow, but over the past week, we've seen a lot more activity and interest.  We have several new artisans applying for space.  Customers are excited to see the quality of the crafts and are keeping us busy refilling shelves. 

Our friends, the Nelsons have opened a gift/vintage/coffee shop (called "Muse") diagonally from our shop in an old Victorian house.  We send each other customers and plan on hosting a joint "open house" the Saturday before Thanksgiving. 

It's good to be back in business and see the community support the local artisans.

SNOW!

Yesterday the weather report said that we might see some snow flurries, but due to the warmth of the ground we wouldn't have any accumulation.  In the early morning hours I heard the snowplow go by and thought "the weather report was a bit off."  This morning we awoke to about 3 inches of the fluffy white stuff.  The black lab was ecstatic!  She rolled and raced through the snow, buried her nose to 'hunt' out field mice, and rolled some more.   When Raven comes back inside from her play, she's more white than black!

One of the blessings of home schooling is being able to get out in the first 'real' snow of the season to play before it melts.  This morning Jon and Ian were out playing tic-tac-toe in the snow and spraying food-colouring designs while the other kids in the neighborhood were piling on the school bus.  Now that the fresh snow has been duly 'broken in' the boys have  come back inside, melted snow on the woodstove (had a discussion on evaporation), and are ready to hit the books.  Ah-h-h the joys of home school!