Even more lambs... wonderful Wensleydale... and Tokyo pandas

Update on the twins.  Here's one of them, now a week old and both doing very well.

Now we have an orphan lamb on the premises.  Mum was a gimmer, it was raining, a difficult birth and she galloped off as soon as she was able.  Momma Bramble is getting into practice again and the lamb is doing well, if a little surprised!

Getting the Wensleydale spinning ready to go now.  Washed and aired.  Beautiful colours ranging from pure white through light grey, dark grey and chocolate brown with wonderful coppery tips to the curls. 

I'm looking forward to perhaps being more heavily involved in the Uist Wool Group who are working towards building, equipping and running a small woollen mill in Grimsay, Uist.  The proposed mill will service the needs of local livestock producers and could ultimately reflect in a diversity of types of Harris Tweed as well as a resurgence of the industry in the Uists.  I'm so looking forward to weaving the first Wensleydale Harris Tweed - it's going to be just gorgous!

And a reminder to anyone who in Harris who is thinking of applying for the training places for weaving double-widths for the mills and hattersley single widths on an independent basis.  The closing date for applications is coming up next week so you need to get the skates on if you haven't already.  This is a marvellous opportunity - particularly for those who wish to start a small business - and it's not going to happen again in the near future.  So grab it now and ring HDL at the Old Hostel in Tarbert......

And finally, to celebrate the arrival of two pandas at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, here are a couple of photos we took during our last visit to Japan.  In Yokahama  chinatown there is an area which is totally panda-orientated and we bought bread rolls with chocolate filling decorated as pandas.  Very cute, and very tasty.

Happy panda.

Sad panda.



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