New

Because of these, we had to get these...

 With the National Team tryouts just a few weeks away, Sid spent her modeling money to pay for half of her new gloves.  If I had been paying she was getting a nice pair of silver ones that were on sale but when she saw the black and pink, the deal was done.   They were full price but with her contribution they cost me what the silver ones would have cost and she is completely thrilled with her new Top Ten 10 oz Point Fighters!  The first night she had them, they didn't fight at karate so she slept with them.  Finally on Saturday they fought and Sid did very well with the gloves.  They are bigger, cover more surface but are light.  She reported that she was talking to them while she was fighting.  She calls the right one Pip and the left on Squeak!  She is really getting geared up for the upcoming competitions.

New colours! I have stepped up my dying. I created two variegated shades of green trying to capture the green I bought from Shirley back in February. The dying process is easy and so much fun. It is empowering to make my own colours for my projects and with the carder, the end results are beautiful.

I took the two shades of green and blended them using the carder and created one entire bat of grass for my playmats.  No more layering the colours on a white bat of wool.  This is so cool!  This is all one solid piece of wool for the base of the mat.

 The shop has been picked up by Etsy to be a featured seller in May.  This is huge!  Millions of people from around the world will hit the Etsy homepage from May 15 - 18 and will see our shop and a profile on us.  All our items will get click throughs and the potential for new sales will be maximized.  So over the next 3 weeks, I am getting a few favourite items ready for shipping and my little assistant loves to do the carding.  This picture was staged for the featured seller post showing my studio.   

 And we took this picture to fit in with the running theme that the shop is intertwined with family and community.  We really want to portray that our shop has a village feel as we try to keep our supplies local and include our families in creating quality and handmade products.  Did you notice the girls hair is braided together?

 On Friday we were invited out to meet Reece's grandparents horses.  What is new about this you ask?

 Well there is Tory, Peanut and Red who are all older residents.  And then there is Fancy and mom Pumpkin.

 Fancy is a week old foal who is the cutest little thing!

 Reece and Sid had a blast feeding the horses and petting Fancy.  It isn't everyday you get to see a brand new baby horse!

 Above, Mom rolls in the mud and Fancy isn't sure what to make of it so she leaps, and jumps and lets out the cutest little whinnies. 

 A few new performances at Choir, this one at the Lord Landsdown.  The kids were a big hit with the seniors.  Next weekend they are preforming at the Grassroots Festival.

 These girls are all becoming really good friends!

 And lastly, a new piece of art and a tough new conversation.  This picture came from a talk about the Boston bombing and the death of 8 year old Martin Richard. 

This is a picture that Martin Richards drew.  He lost his life watching his dad run the Boston Marathon.  He was only 8.

With some help, Sid created a peace sign using masking tape.  She painted around it and removed the tape to reveal this

 In honor of Martin, his family, the others injured in Boston and the thousands that lose their lives every day over violence.  We are very lucky to live in a free democratic country but still this kind of violence touches our lives.

Peace.....