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 Well, here we are nearing the end of 2022 already. As you may have noticed our blog is a little less full with chit chat this year. You know when "stuff happens" things not in your plans and you just have to get on with it and make it up as you go along- well we have been having some of those times.

Also now we are up and running on You Tube and Ko-Fi along with our online shops time at the computer tends to be spread over all these platforms. 

However we really want to keep this blog going for the projects and activities we would like to share with you all in more depth, whether it be on weaving, spinning and dyeing or wood turning, garden and home renovation. There really is plenty to talk about and get stuck into next year.

Meanwhile we just want say All Good Wishes for the Festive Season and Peace, Health and Happiness for the New Year. 

Thank you for reading our little blog, watching our YouTube, supporting us on ko-fi and purchasing our work. It really inspires us to create, develop and keep our "Woollen Tree" growing

The photo above is of a beautiful old Oak Tree in the field on our way to the woods opposite Hillside Cottage. It offers strength, wisdom, stability and endurance in the storms.

 I say hello and hug it as I pass by, I love to be near it and look up into its mighty canopy. 

Harvest at Hillside

Elderberries

So we near the end of September, our first year at our lovely Hillside Cottage. We have been enjoying a bumper harvest from our garden, despite the "heatwave summer" the UK has been experiencing, we really have had an abundance of fruit and vegetables to keep us well stocked. I have been making jams and chutneys.

 The joy of walking down to the veg garden to select something for our lunch has been immense. We are fortunate to have a variety of fruits- cherries, apples, plums, damsons, raspberries, blue berries, black currants and blackberries. all giving us their treasure each in turn. We have been growing all our veg and salad crops. As we take care of our garden it takes care of us. Organically, no-dig, permaculture system.

The result is tasty food, lots of flowers, insects, bees, butterflies, birds and wildlife. The only battle we seem to be having is with all the wild rabbits! they, given a chance nibble everything- even things they are not suppose to like! luckily our vegetable beds are well fenced so as they can't get in but the terrace up near the cottage and the flower pots are all easy pickings. The baby rabbits are so sweet though hopping around the clover on our lawn. Next year we will build a few more fences to protect our specimen plants on the terrace. 

I made some elderberry cordial this year, perhaps next year I will see if I can make some wine?

Damson Jam

Damson jam is so delicious, shhhh I think a few jars will make perfect Christmas presents for the family  

Craft Fair

We also attended a lovely craft fair at the nearby village of Orleton. It's great to showcase our work and sell locally.

Hand Woven Throws

 It's been a very busy year at Hillside Cottage, so much so that our blog here hasn't been able to keep up with all we would like to share with you.

 Please remember that our Woollen Tree on You Tube is available for you to view along with our

 Ko-Fi site where we plan to chat more and open a little shop on the site too. Thank you for your support.

We are looking forward to producing more work in our Woollen Tree workshops/studio once all the harvest is "safely gathered in"

Meanwhile check our Etsy and Folksy shops to purchase new stock for the new Season.

Aymestrey Village Fete

We have been living at Hillside Cottage for ten months and we feel so at home here. The village has an annual Fete and this year we have loved taking part in a wonderful day.

For such a small village it was a really well attended event, with people travelling near and far to be with us all on a beautiful sunny day.

All the usual  entertainments were set up to enjoy for kids and grown ups alike!

Classic car clubs paraded their vehicles and the farmers proudly drove their Vintage tractors around the arena. 

Competition a plenty of course, from dog shows, throw a welly, tug a war and duck races.

And of course there was a big marquee for the garden produce, home cooking and craft competitions 

Yeap! my handwoven throw won First Prize!

Woollen Tree also had a stall in the small craft marquee where we were able to sell our work. So pleased we made a roaring trade. 

We actually won three prizes in total 1st 2nd and 3rd.

Thank you for visiting our blog, 

We have been so busy lately with the house, garden and our crafts so if you would like to see and hear more about what we do please visit our other online sites.

You can click on the links from the right hand column or below.

Sue Wright Handknits- SWH and WT at Woollen Tree on Folksy

Wood and Wool Naturally Hand Crafted by WoollenTree on Etsy

 

Woollen Tree - YouTube

(3) Ko-fi.com - Your Ko-fi

 

Natural Dye - Dandelion

 

In the Orchard area at the bottom of our Hillside Cottage garden we have an abundance of dandelions! So I decided to brew a little dye pot and capture a little of Nature's colour  growing there.

I wanted to use the flowerheads only for this dye bath. I placed them in a pot of water and boiled them up on our little camping stove. It was good to sit in the orchard, enjoying the spring sunshine and watching the wild life around me, baby rabbits squeezing under the hedge nibbling the long grass, kites circling above and the garden birds singing their many songs.

 

After about an hour of extracting the dye from the dandelion heads, I strained the liquid from them and added a couple of iron nails to the pot to help lift the colour a little.

My pre mordanted wool skein, 

 Shetland fleece handspun-alum mordant 

Then I added the wool to the dye bath and gently simmered the pot for another hour until the wool had absorbed all the colour 

Hanging the skein up to dry in the tree.

The pale yellow colour achieved is gentle and almost a soft lemon.

This wool will be used in my Saori weaving, when woven with other naturally dyed yarns it will give me a way to highlight, lift and lighten a piece of cloth.

This is my first natural dyeing at our new home - Hillside cottage.

It is thrilling to be able to source my colours from my garden. 

We have been busy creating a Weaver's Garden. A place to brew my colours on the firepit surrounded by home grown dye plants.

We will show you more over on our  You tube channel

shortly.

(63) Woollen Tree - YouTube  

A Day at Wonderwool Wales

 Now we live less than one hour's drive away from this venue it was great to visit Wonderwool Wales.

So much to see and buy! 

 I really enjoyed seeing the weaving that the students from the Carmarthen School of Art had been working on.

Jacob sheep and lambs were so friendly and seemed to be loving their day out too!

I came home with my little stash of goodies. Three extra large skeins of variegated dyed wools, a very big bag of coloured tops for blending and spinning. A soft lilac organic cotton spool to add to my weaving stock colours and a collection of paper patterns as I intend to start making my handwoven cloth into garments. 

That should keep me busy for a little while.

 

Spring Time

Spring is here at Hillside Cottage. It is so exciting to discover what is growing in our new garden. We have had an abundance of beautiful snowdrops especially in the Orchard. Now followed by daffodils and primroses. The tree and hedgerow blossoms are just starting to open up their buds. 

So it is time to sow seeds in the greenhouse and prepare the vegetable garden for outdoor sowing too.

It has been great fun to watch the new born lambs in the field at the bottom of the garden. 

There is plenty to keep us busy and give us inspiration for our craft work.

On the David loom at the moment is a long warp. I first wove 8 T towels in various colour combinations in Twills and Basket Weave patterns.

Then I opened up the sett to widen the cloth so as to weave a blankie/ small throw in Saori weaving with twills and basket weave details. This is giving me a chance to delve into my yarn stash of spring colours and enjoy the freedom of weaving without a plan just choosing the threads and colours as I feel with mindful creativity.

Joyful!  

A short video of my studio today

 

Setting Up The Barn Workshop

It's been a big job and there are still things that need doing but we are thrilled to say that The Barn is now up and running as a workshop. It was great to re purpose items we discovered in our outbuildings such as a door and solid workbench with a heavy duty vice fitted.

Our first alteration to the barn was to build a divider wall at the back so as we could have a storage room and somewhere to fit a freezer. We used the lovely old wood door to give access to this "new room". When we had this in place it made it a whole lot easier to sort out and make shelves for all the wood turning equipment and tools. We painted the walls, sealed the floor and unpacked endless boxes. There are storage units for the wood and new cupboards and work surfaces.

The task was more difficult when the space you are trying to build needs a workshop to make to it!

A brand new larger bandsaw needed setting up so as we could use it to help us for the build.

Dividing Wall

Creating a Storage Room 

Finally time to enjoy some Wood Turnery at the Lathe

Our neighbours keep bees, so a few sticks and holders to start with for these delightful real bees wax candles. 

So we now both have our place to work on our creative craft once more.

We are so excited to be bringing our work to you this year from our Hillside Cottage Studios 

Wood and Wool Naturally Hand Crafted by Woollen Tree