Nikita came to stay last week and had to go home a little earlier than planned as she had a dental check up. Our initial plan was to travel to Bugsworth Basin with her, however, we spotted a sign for sheep dog trials at Sutton Hall Farm right by the visitor moorings at Gurnett Aqueduct and decided to go there instead. Ada & Dale had been to stay with Heather & Jason so dropped Nikita off at Macclesfield on their way home, which was a lovely way to spend our 35^th wedding anniversary.

 

We had a lovely day watching the sheep dog trials. Nikita had a go at metal detecting and found a 3d coin (that the lads had hidden). There was a lovely craft marquee where I got a good few Christmas presents and they had local beer in polypins for us to try. We picked 6kg of cherry plums & a some blackberries on the Middlewood Way and made jam with Nikita’s help. Nikita did a bit more recorder playing and mastered the lower notes and can play ‘London’s Burning’ off by heart. Plus, we had to have her pre-bed time ritual of several games of dominoes. We went blackberrying again when Heather came to pick Nikita up, this time on Dane Moss & along the tow path. That 3kg is now fermenting away quite nicely.

While we were at home we picked the rhubarb and brought it back with us. I used the leaves to mordant two hanks of Shetland wool I’d spun. I then dyed the wool with onion leaves which gave a lovely orange.

I have FINALLY knitted up my first couple of hand spun hanks of yarn, only 27 years old!!!! I knitted two huge bags which I felted in our washing machine and they shrank to less than half their original size. I’ll be using the bags for bow & stern cruising projects. I’ve just completed my 3^rd big bag and need to put it though the machine when we’re near a water tap.

Nikita is going on her first Brownie pack holiday next month, so I got out just about all my ‘old’ chunky hand spun and wound it into balls on the bow in the sun. I need to get a shift on now and get knitting.

We attended our second ‘Treacle Market’ in Macclesfield and brought some excellent local produce and this weekend we’re going to another local market in Bollington.

 

Our boat with the White Nancy on hill

The weather’s been pretty miserable these last few weeks with rain most days, but this is why the cotton spinning industry developed here due to the dampness setting the twist in the thread. We had an almighty hail storm while Nikita was here, luckily we’d just moored up. I think yesterday was the first really warm day in about 6 weeks.