If I have a digger on my property, I make the most of it.  Basically, if it can be dug, it will be dug.

So today, having phoned our local quarry, I went to inspect sand.  The surface of our indoor riding arena is not as helpful as it might be and it has been possibly nearly 20 years since it was last resurfaced.  We dig it up fairly regularly but the time has come because, like the Sahara, it moves grain by grain out of the school if it can.

I had phoned the quarry earlier to enquire about what sand surfaces were available and was told about the Builders Sand and the Unicorn Sand.  Washed Dust was also offered as a suitable riding surface but I wanted to see it before I ordered tonnes of the stuff. I quite liked the idea of the Unicorn Sand myself.

I drove over to the quarry to examine the samples and was very saddened to find that it was not Unicorn Sand but Uniform Sand.  You can imagine my disappointment though I am not sure what I expected to see – glitter or something magical going on.  Sort of Harry Potter sand maybe.

So, I bought 18 tonnes of the stuff without glitter or magic to be delivered first thing tomorrow by lorry.

I went on into town to put more sheeple in the field.  Look, it’s now crammed.

I also noticed Shetland Handweavers (home of my real unicorn rug) had one of their beautiful rugs on display ready for Wool Week.

So that was me today.  A distinct lack of unicorns in my book.

No one is speaking to these three.

They did it again.  Lilja and Sóley.

When I went in for my breakfast, after feeding the sheeple and putting them out into their daytime field, I looked over to check everyone was in the right field.  These days it is second nature to me.

I remember thinking to myself that it was “interesting” that Hetja allowed Lilja and Sóley to wander so far from her and how nice that she obviously trusted Lilja with her youngest daughter but they were all in their rightful field, together.

My usual breakfast and then I went back out only to find that now Lilja and Sóley were standing the other side of the fence in my neighbour’s field again.  Oh, fer crying out loud.

Displeased, I rallied the troops (my daughters, Daisy and Flossie), my digger driver who happened to arrive to start work on a ditch, plus two friends who were coming to ride out.

So, now armed with wire cutters and pliers, headcollars and carrots we marched out to the now-getting-rather-repetitive scene.

I caught Hetja and everyone else walked up and down the fence to see where and how they had got over.

No sign of anything.  Did they fly? My wonderful digger driver found a place in the wire fence where it had been joined together and then carefully dismantled the wire fence so we could lead Lilja over and Sóley followed.

Once over the fence, it was quickly repaired and we walked Hetja, Lilja and Sóley over to Clothie, my five acre field over the hill.  Yes, there is less food there and no, I don’t honestly care if they all starve.  For the moment, they can rot in hell!  Twice, yes twice they have done this fence flying and I am seriously dischuffed with the lot of ’em.

Meh!

It was a bit windy this afternoon when I went to check up on Brá (pronounced “brow” not bra!)  She is not helpful when the wind blows.

She is still living with her two friends, Harvey and Kolka.  All is good.

And, yes, I think Brá is looking a little more trim.  Just a little.  The struggle is real and I understand that.  You can’t rush these things.

I was allowed to give her a mean little carrot but when I said I wanted to clean her eyes, Brá was off.

And I never got near her again.

So I occupied my time by talking to the bootiful and luscious Harvey.

I told Brá that she could enjoy her ten-feet-away-day and I was not going to run round after her.  I didn’t really try hard.  She had that look.

Tomorrow I will bring a headcollar and all the kit needed to clean Brá’s eyes plus some ointment which will knock any gooby-eye infection quickly on the head.

To be fair, Brá is not a fan of my big camera and I am not a fan of putting it on the ground so that I can talk to her.  Big hairy feet and all that!

Anyway, taking photos of hoofy Harvey is far more gratifying.  He really is very dishy! 😍 ❤️ 😍

Taking off from where I left off yesterday……

The Maxwell Loom

Here’s Christina again – “The Maxwell loom was custom built after World War 2 by George Maxwell for the Swiss born textile designer Marianne Straub OBE who designed fabrics for London Transport and also British European Airways.

The Maxwell loom was a bit of a restoration project for me and Allan and needed a fair bit of repair work when we bought it. We loved restoring it and bringing this part of British textile history back to life and along the way we added a few more refinements.

It was also fitted with a custom built sectional warp beam and has a full weaving width of 55″. We also added a treadle gate with locks and a beater lock. Also extra large fabric protector to stop rug shuttles from falling off the front and I added several steel counterweights to the tie up system which are needed for this particular type of rug weaving. The beater also has a steel weight fitted to it. I also use the spare warp beam to seperately tighten the warp threads that weave the pattern. It was originally built as a 16 shaft and 16 treadle loom, but the addition of the Shaft Switching Device gives it the equivalent horsepower of 96 shafts. (the Varpa loom has the equivalent design potential of 108 shafts.)”

And this is my Unicorn Rug!

Christina had kindly left the tip of the unicorn’s horn for me to complete so, with her expert and careful instruction, I finished it.  The magic was complete!

And then we had fabulous chocolate cake and coffee.

Here are some of Elizabeth’s rugs that you can find for sale on her Etsy page.

Russian Folk Art floor rug
175 cm x 100 cm

Blossom floor rug
142 cm x 100 cm

Art Deco Floor Rug
143 cm x 97 cm

If you enjoyed this little crash course into rug weaving, Christina is available all year round to teach one-to-one, tailored to the individual'(s) interests and times to suit.

As there are 2 looms, Christina can teach 2 people (bring a friend!) and refreshments are provided. Courses can run from just a day to even a block of a few days spread over time to allow somebody to finish a rug.

Contact Christina Smith on 01595 810357 or via Shetland Handweavers Facebook page.

I can highly recommend.

My friend, Christina Smith from Shetland Hand Weaving, is hand weaving me a beautiful rug so I went to see how it was getting on and to experience the traditional craft of hand weaving.  She lives very nearby and I spent a superb morning watching, learning and becoming very interested.

(Christine is really writing this – I just adpated it for the blog)

“This one had a little sheep rug on a Finnish Varpapuu countermarch loom, built from Finnish birch wood. It has a weaving width of 61”. The loom is fitted it with a custom built sectional warp beam and then built the Shaft Switching Device (The rug weaving technique of Shaft Switching was invented by the late Peter Collingwood OBE) to fit this particular loom.

Shaft Switching Devices are not available to buy in the UK so any rug weaver wishing to explore the technique has to essentially build their own and custom fit it to their own loom’s exact dimension.

That is why the device on the Varpapuu loom looks so different and works slightly differently to the device which I built for the George Maxwell Old English Countermarch loom that has your Unicorn rug on. “

This is Christina’s beautiful view. over Seli Voe.

The rugs can be used on both sides and 100% cotton warp (hand dyed in case of small sheep rug) with locally spun Jamiesons Shetland Wool Yarn.

So I sat myself down on the loom bench, received very good and comprehensive instruction, instantly forgot most of it because I have the brain of a hen, and off I wove.. (or whatever the correct terminology is).

It was excellent fun and most interesting. I learned a lot and off we moved to the next room where the mother of all looms was situated ……

More tomorrow and you will get to see my Unicorn Rug!  Yes, you did hear right – MY UNICORN RUG. I WILL HAVE A UNICORN RUG!

Just sayin’

Here are links to Christina’s shop – Shetland Handweavers and Etsy Page.  She also gives tuition and runs courses – more details tomorrow.