Bit of luck yesterday – I went down to the Tip with loads of cardboard, polystyrene (aaaargh – horrible stuff!) and wrapping from the utility room revamp. “We’ve got something for you!” Lee greeted me. “Some alpaca, in fact.”
Curious, I trotted over to the covered skip, thinking most likely I’d find a bit of raw fleece from an older animal that someone had meant to use for toy stuffing, perhaps. But no – two big bags of absolutely gorgeous-quality, squishy-soft, white, crimpy, supremely spinnable fluff, labelled “weanling”… the sort of stuff I’d have to hand over at least £30-£40 a bag for, if I were inclined to actually buy any. I love spinning (and wearing) alpaca, but don’t usually feel I can justify spending that much on my hobby – maybe £4 for a little bag once in a while. I spun up a quick sample skein last night and enjoyed it hugely; it almost spins itself. There was also a bag of washed Jacob’s fleece, which I shall give to my neighbour, as I already have 4 bags of it. I have to ask – who throws these things away? There’s no sign of moths or mice or anything else that would make me reject it. It may have belonged to someone who isn’t spinning or felting any more, for whatever reason, but how come they couldn’t find anyone to give it to, rather than just dumping it? Not that it matters; luckily the gents were alert & it’s made its way into my stash now. Into the very top, the next-project bit of it, as it happens.
What a lovely find! I’m a very happy bunny. Thanks, gents…
And I’m hardly even going to mention the pheasant – poor little fellow threw himself in front of a car (not ours, I hasten to add) on a country road at the weekend whilst we were helping with the move. We drove one way; the road was clear. We offloaded & drove back again 10 minutes later; there he was, dead as a dodo. He was on a bend & anything much shorter than a human would have been hugely at risk of being squished themselves, trying to drag him away – so who could resist? A large pot of delicious stock & several tasty salads later, I’m very grateful to him…
Just over a week ago, we picked up some Freecycled Portland fleece. Portlands are small, intelligent, friendly ancestral Downland sheep and their creamy-white fleece is supposed to be very good for “beginner” spinners. So when our moderator Josie mentioned that a friend had just taken on some neglected Portlands, on Portland itself, and needed to rehome their newly-shorn fleece fast, as she had nowhere to store it, I felt that it was worth a 10-extra-mile trip over to the Island to pick it up, as I was going down to Dorchester for a WSD Guild meeting anyway. So off we hurtled, met up with Su and her other half, and relieved them of – well, I’m not sure how many, quite a few anyway – damp fleeces.
I’ve had a really busy couple of weeks; last week’s excellent camping trip to West Dorset was followed in short order by a trip up to Surrey to camp in my brother’s garden for his daughter’s 30th birthday party. During this time, the fleeces were drying out gradually on old trellises and other loose garden bits, thanks to DH moving them from lawn to garage and back again, depending on the weather conditions. Now they are mostly dry, I shall bag two up for Josie, awaiting her safe return from hospital; I’ve wrapped two more up to send to an e-friend who expressed an interest in free fleece, and have a mere – oh, ten or thereabouts – left to deal with…
So – how to “scour” fleece en masse? Here’s my way, two at a time, as they’re small sheep: warn the family the bathroom’s off limits for a while (we do have a shower room too) then soak for a good long time in a deep, hot bath, with a little sandalwood essence. Get yourself out, dry off, add some shampoo to the water and put the fleece in gently, pushing it down until it’s all underwater. Leave overnight, then pull the plug out & let it drain. Fill the bath again with cool water, move the fleece around very gently so that it doesn’t felt, then drain again, and repeat until the water runs away clean. One last rinse with a cupful of vinegar added, then drain and squeeze gently until the water stops running. Stuff damp fleece into pillowcases, then spin (only spin, no rinse!) in your washing machine, and lay out on some kind of grid to dry.
A lot of dirt came out of the two I washed overnight, but what didn’t come out were the burdock burrs. I thought I was going to lose a lot of fleece along with them as they were completely entangled, but once the fleece was wet, they pulled out quite cleanly & easily. There’s a fair bit of the dreaded VM (Vegetable Matter) still in there, but most of that should come out when I card it. There’s also still quite a bit of lanolin, so it should be nice & easy to spin, then I can wash it again before dyeing.
But I suspect that lot will keep me busy until next Christmas!
… but my computer was. My “C” drive imploded last week and had to be replaced; we’d had a little warning but I hadn’t quite got round to archiving and preparing for the inevitable. So I was caught on the hop and had to get it professionally replaced & cloned. More expensive than the DIY option, but far cheaper than a new computer & well worthwhile, although I am now left with the job of sorting out all the rubbish that’s accumulated in my Inbox & Documents folder over the last 4-5 years, not to mention all the half-deleted games.
So my online shop still isn’t fully open, which is probably just as well as my bank have yet to divulge my business account number, which is fairly vital. But we have been recycling away in the background, as usual; I’ve just finished planting up my containers & hanging baskets, every one of which is reclaimed from the Tip. Even some of the plants have come from the same source, particularly the fuchsias; last spring I rescued 3 willow baskets full of fuchsias “past their best” which wasn’t surprising as there were up to 8 in each basket! Those that had survived were thinned out, given new soil and replanted in the baskets and elsewhere in the garden, and gave a fine show at the end of summer & up until the first frosts. Some are showing tiny leaves again already, though others seem to have given up the ghost. As they didn’t cost me a penny, it’s easy to see losing a few as part of life’s great cycle.
This year my baskets have been lined with “dag ends” from the Freecycled fleeces I’ve picked up. I haven’t felted them first, & probably should have, but they look amazing, especially the white ones. I gather that the fleece and its contents will nourish the plants, as well as holding moisture, rather than just holding the soil in place like traditional liners. Many of the plants are cuttings from last year’s rescued geraniums, though I have bought some new to give variety, and given some of the cuttings away, as well as growing some from seed.
Hanging baskets are wearing natural wool this year...
And our container kitchen garden is flourishing; some of the potatoes are flowering and will be on our plates before long. They haven’t been earthed-up but have been provided with woolly jumpers from yet more dag ends. There are lots of herbs, and a reclaimed water tank full of beans, which I hope will be well-fed by a whole fleece that was very badly matted; basically it had felted itself on the sheep’s back & wasn’t any use for spinning. I’ve planted out some of LIDL’s “living salads” in lovely wide terracotta pots, which the slugs don’t seem to have discovered yet, unlike my own lettuce seedlings. All is watered by rainwater captured from the kitchen roof in butts rescued from the Tip; we’d like a big rectangular storage tank there, but haven’t found one yet, and I refuse to pay £150-odd for a new one. You can see one last bag of well-rotted horse manure, waiting to feed the autumn crops as the summer ones get harvested & their containers are freed up.
Our container kitchen garden, on the driveway...
We’ve had guests this week and the weather was good, so evenings have been spent in the garden, toastimg marchmallows around the pot-bellied BBQ stove, fed by snippets of pallet and small offcuts gleaned from the Tip. This week I’m sure I’ve taken more down there than I’ve rescued, thanks to two of the boys swapping bedrooms and taking the opportunity to purge years of accumulated schoolwork, guitar strings (you can only re-use so many) deodorant bottles, odd shoes and outgrown holey jeans on the way. The jeans are in the pile for my next denim apron, but I parted with the rest without a backwards glance.
On the Freegan front, I’ve just polished off a plateful of Aubergine bake. Two lovely aubergines with minor dings were nestling in the bag of “unfit for humans” goodies I picked up at the market so they’ve gone into the oven peeled, sliced & layered with sliced onion, covered with a tin of chopped tomatos and a sprinkle of home-grown rosemary & topped with grated cheese and crumbs off the bread board. Scrumptious! There were also three bruised bananas which have made a banana custard for pudding (made with some of our own home-laid eggs) some watercress with little roots on which got popped into the pond and the chickens got the rest. And DH, now recovered from his bout of pneumonia, is happily constructing fences with palletwood, to keep the chickens off his new “Nispero” (loquat) and olive trees, bought with the money we haven’t spent on everyday things, so for the moment our recycling efforts are mostly outdoor – long may it last!
A recycled lifestyle... 