A great weekend! I spent all day Saturday and Sunday as a demonstrator of crafts at the Rural Living Show in Taunton. I sold quite a bit of wool, sari silk and several pegloom rugs and lambskins. I also took orders for fleeces, courses and even an order for some dyed wool for tying fish flys! Many people were interested in ordering pegloom rugs and I hope these become a reality. I chatted to so many people and renewed aquaintance with some I had not seen for years, all in all very enjoyable. I also met the mayor and mayoress.....!

Hedgelaying is now in full swing and we have several courses in the pipeline. The first of which is hedgelaying for beginners on the 15th January. If you want to come on theis course its £35 for the day..........very good value, even if I say so myself.
The pictures are of a Blackdown Hills hedge and from a hedgelaying course held for contractors last year

Busy busy! Last weekend I attended the Hestercombe Christmas fair. What an event! Us stall holders had to be there Friday evening and all day Saturday and Sunday.....exhausting! But it was really good as I sold lots of wool, sari silk, banana silk and lambskins. I also took 5 bookings for peg loom courses. I was next to a stall called Plum duff & Stuff which sold home made Christmas puds......I can vouch for how good they are having sampled it liberally.
Yesterday I and several others of our group of women trainers GO12
were launched as part of the Women in Enterprise event in Taunton. I now have lots of enquiries about hedgelaying for beginners and hedgelaying for ladies as I am a trained and qualified hedgelaying trainer! My husband also teaches it as well as laying lots as part of his business. To book a course take a look at my website The Woolly Shepherd
I also sold three crossbred ewes today to a fellow smallholder who bought over a consignment of lambskins from his smallholder neighbour who raises all sorts of breeds of sheep and buys in others for rearing for the freezer. As a result he has a n amazing assortment of lambskins all killed and tanned in Somerset. I sell these along with those from my own lambs on line and at various markets and fairs....I am at the Rural Living Show just outside Taunton this weekend so do come along and say hello and browse through the skins they start from £45
Here are a selection!

And introducing Derek!! Here he is along with his new wife! He is about the height of my knees and very pleased with himself! He and the 3 others have all settled in well and have 2 small paddocks and a shelter for their comfort.............very pampered this as the only time my other sheep have a shelter is when lambing!
The other picture is some of my Dorset Down flock with Henry the ram ( re christened Gordon Ramsey by the family adjoining the field!) showing his raddle harness. All ewes now have blue behinds and he now has a green crayon attached so now we keep an eye out for anyone who is served a second time.
The weather here was warm and wet.....until last week when it suddenly froze, a bit of a shock but means beautiful days with wonderful autumn colours.