Wool washing...

..In the spring sunshine.

Always good to take advantage of any sun that happens to come my way here on a hill in south west Wales.

This winter has been wet, wet, wet, not at all good for washing and drying fleeces, but here is the sun, apparently with us for at least a week, so I am happily doing all the prep that my hand spinning and weaving yarn requires before it gets anywhere near a wheel or loom.

I wash my fleeces in a tin bath using collected rain water and let it sit and soak for a good few hours before rinsing a few times and then pick over the wool for vegetation!

It is then set out to dry in the sun on wooden racks that my hubby has made for me. They work really well.

My chief 'egg'pert hen keeps a check on my progress whilst the others sunbathe or follow me around hoping for treats, they are very funny little hens...

Happy days

very large egg...

...from a little hen

wow, one of the biggest eggs I have ever seen, laid today

think it is from jubilee, one of our rescue hens

it weighed 100g!

I have put it next to an average size egg and one from a newbie layer...

a hen we reared from last season

will get together some pictures of our hens sometime soon

woollen rooster...

...doorstops to prop open your yuletide door

perhaps?

all made with welsh wool cloth

woven at a local woollen mill

keeping alive an industry that was once huge in wales

and produced some of the finest woven fabrics

this woollen mill does indeed produce beautiful wool cloth

check out this great woollen mill at the national wool museum of wales

tea cosies too

keep cosie
xxx

sunshine means...

...a yarn drying day

hurray for the sun

a great chance to wash hand spun yarn

and get all that sunshine loveliness into it

local jacob and beulah speckled face fleeces

make lovely yarn

and this lovely lot when dry

is ready to crochet into

 winter neck warmers and cosy cushions

and the chickens went on their merry way

happy to be out in the sun too

happy sunshine weekend folks

xxx

new chick...

...on the block

can you see our new addition?

21 days to the day

we have ourselves a newly hatched chick

mum and chick doing really well

it is truly amazing to see how our hen mothers her chick by pure instinct

chick is a delight

hatched by her mum

no interaction from us

except to keep mum fed watered and warm

and here we have a little new life

this will be henrietta

to replace our lovely hen we sadly lost to the fox

if she is a he, its henry of course!

looks like he is thinking of making a break for it already!

baby chick is sooo cool

love love love

xxx

chickens and owls...

lots of new stock in our shop right now



chicken doorstops

made from Harris Tweed

owls stuffed with lavender

and a christmas pudding tea cosie and egg cosies to match

to add a little fun to your christmas breakfast table

have a great week and look out for the new moon tonight if its clear where you are

xxx

                  

let it snow...

woke up to a very snowy scene today

all the branches on the trees

covered

in soft

cotton wool

snow


a very pretty scene

peaceful

but...

  chickens do not like the snow

as they run for cover

we had to rescue them

and cover their run

to make them feel better

then we got on with the best bit of the day...

snowman making

                                                                  

jack and finley helping too



er...2 snowmen..2 dogs and a change of hat!



mr frosty is very happy



                              and we are happy too mr frosty

                              a happy day at nellie and eve hq

                                  keep warm and snuggley

                                               xxx

new season...

firstly nellie and eve would like to say                      

a HUGE thank you

to everyone that has voted for us in the

dorset cereals fav blog

we thank you so much for your support

anyone new to our blog

we would love you to vote for us

just click on the dorset cereals logo egg cup and click vote

thank you...


here at nellie and eve hq we are getting set for the
new season ahead

battening done the hatches after the last few days of

                           
      wet and very windy weather

                                                      autumn is well and truly upon us

leaves have fallen everywhere in the garden

but i do love this time of year

the beautiful colours

the smell of wood smoke from the chimney

autumnal walks with the doggies

great news...
our lovely cockerel chuck had his first cry today

hurray we shout

although we may not be soo happy when this happens every day at 0500

  but for now we are really chuffed he has finally found his voice

looking back to the days of harvesting

our peas and potatoes

now in storage

the hard work done for the year                                                           

there is something very rewarding about growing
and harvesting your own food and being able to go to the store cupboard where once it was the
super market







need to grow heaps more next year










walks with the doggies gives me a great
excuse
to wear my new neck warmer                                                                          
warm and cosy

no bulky long scarves to wrap                                                 
round and round and round                                                                               

you get the idea...                                              

find them in our shop now

                                            

                    

     
and as the weather turns a little colder

there is nothing more lovely than a hot cup of tea

made in the pot


with a super tea cosy

to keep it all warm

...and nellie and eve have been crocheting away

making tea cosies a plenty

we wanted to say a big congratulations to a lovely cafe/bookshop in Brecon

called The Hours

they have been open for one whole month and doing really well

nellie and eve made the bunting for the big opening at the beginning of october

well done Leigh and Nicky

clocks go back tonight

so dark short days to come

but an hour lie in tomorrow

hope you enjoy it

xxx