Word is we're in the "sweet spot" of the next approaching storm.  We lucked out several days ago with only 8 inches.

As you can see from the photo Lilly has plenty of beautiful angora to keep me happily spinning for quite a while...no need to venture outside.  She'll be 2 years old this March.  She's gotten so big I place her on a 16 inch pillow on my lap to prevent her from falling off.  Even with the pillow her legs still dangle from time to time.  She is such a joy!  I hesitated that day in May at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, but I am so happy we brought her home.  I've had angora rabbits before but none with the personality of Lilly.  An affectionate rabbit??  I believe she looks forward to the time we spend together and is quite content to be groomed.  I've also never had an angora that didn't end up with mats despite the best grooming. I'll talk about spinning her fiber in my next post.  Til then I'll check to see we have the shovels ready. 

I'd like to give thanks to my knitting friends for helping me knit helmet liners for our troops.  Thanks goes to Joannie and the girls in the great state of Maine that helped our library knitting group here in Pennsylvania.  To date the first batch has been sent to Citizen Sam with another batch going later in the month.  I'm so lucky to have such a good group of knitting friends.  We all agree the helmet liners were a quick and fun project to work on with the added bonus of supporting a good cause.  

The seed catalogs have arrived and once again I find myself thinking about the prospects of new growth and all its possibilities.  I'm already looking over our Master Gardener order sheets for this year's plant sale.  One of the perks of being a MG is getting a look at all the new plant material available.  Of course I don't have enough room for everything on my list.  My pen will have to cross out and dwindle the list down to something manageable.  More annuals this year and less perennials - for sure.  I'm looking for less maintenance after last year's discovery of the dreaded bull's eye rash on my June 17th wedding anniversary.  The "deer tick" ...a dirty rotten scoundrel that has given deer a bad name was the cause.  Early stage lyme disease was the result.  Something as tiny as a poppy seed can cause such havoc!  Anyway, I seem to have weathered that storm.  If anyone would like to share their tick story I'd be happy to listen.  This just gives me the opportunity to tell everyone be careful out there and check yourself for the little critters.  I know it's still January, but my thoughts are of warmer days ahead full of sunshine and new growth.  Now back to those catalogs and the most glorious coleus seeds I can find.     

Today is my first ever blog post.  There's no better time than the present.  I hope to share some of my craft projects and some info that I've learned along the way about fibers and the pleasure it's brought to my life.  Lilly is the name of my German angora bunny in the photo.  She brings me great joy and I will share more about her care and the use of her fiber in future posts.  Please feel free to comment.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.