Interesting problem?

An interesting email has arrived in my personal inbox this morning:  some poor soul has apparently been troubled by multiple copies of comments posted on this blog after ticking the "notify me when new comments are added" box.  This is a bit odd, since we haven't had any comments posted for months (and haven't put anything on the blog for a while). There is also an inviting link to click on in the email, which is a bit suspicious, and Blogger has put it into the Spam box - which didn't stop it being emailed to me anyway!
So, "Anonymous", if you're a real person with a genuine Google-related problem I'm really very sorry.  These things are extremely tedious, but  I think you will have to fix this yourself (by unticking the box?) or by contacting Google directly. 
If you're not a real person, you're not reading this anyway, so no point in my commenting further.
AC

Woodfest Wales/Gwyl Coed Cymru 2012

Thanks to the hospitality of the Woodturners Association we were able to attend this year's Woodfest despite no longer having a tent!  Thanks also to Rosie for the pictures:     (A.C.)

Abergele Guild Friendship Day

A good day was had by all at our Friendship Day on Saturday, May 19th.  Although several of our own members had prior commitments (you know who you are.......), we managed a respectable turnout, and were delighted to welcome many of our friends from other Guilds.  Thank you to all of them for making the effort to travel to LlanfairTH.  A special thankyou to  "Mam a mi" for bringing gorgeous dyed fibres for sale.
We all enjoyed the opportunity to spin and chat, to catch up on people's news and to pick up useful tips about fibre crafts.
Unfortunately no-one from Abergele Guild has a working digital camera at the moment, so we're waiting for Kath to send us her photographs - and here they are:

Kath's stand (well, she did take the pictures for us!)

AC demonstrating "arm knitting", as taught by Louise of Woolfish

AC

Rush baskets

A Wednesday afternoon with a difference:  Mandy Coates' rush basket workshop, postponed from an evening earlier in the year.  As usual, Mandy gave excellent tuition:  using rushes gathered from the waterways of Bedfordshire and with a baked bean tin as a template, we all came away with a little basket (although not all of us have quite finished the handle!).
Many thanks to Mandy, and to JM for the delicious flapjacks and shortbread.

Busy weaving

The raw materials, wrapped in a damp cloth to keep them flexible.

AC

Heritage spinning wheels with Val and David Bryant

Thank you very much indeed to the Bryants who gave us a fascinating illustrated talk on the history of spinning wheels last Saturday.  David Bryant makes furniture & spinning wheels, and restores vintage/antique wheels; he and Val are experts in the field having spent many years researching the subject in depth.  Val worked for many years at Styal Mill (Cheshire) and family holidays were spent quartering the country in search of historic spinning wheels.  Eventually, with the aid of a Pasold research grant, she was able to give up the day job and she and David now have a substantial database of information about wheels in the UK.  These range from humble cottage wheels to exquisitely made "boudoir" wheels for ladies (who probably didn't do much actual spinning, but liked to show off their handiwork and spinning wheels to envious friends). 
Val and David are now sought after by museums for advice about restoration and display, and have worked with the Jane Austen House (and also, see here ), the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Royal Collection.
In addition to many excellent "slides" (or whatever the digital equivalent is) they brought two beautiful antique flax spinning wheels, and Val (who has been spinning since she was very young) demonstrated both her skills and those of David, who restored the wheels to full working order. 
One of our members brought in her own antique wheel, which has been duly measured and added to the database!

(photographs to follow)

Wednesday evening, 11th. April.

Ready and waiting...

Although the evening sky was very black to the west, it didn't rain.

Hard at work

Back to our Spring and Summer timetable, and the evenings are definitely much lighter!  We had a quiet meeting on Wednesday, spinning, sorting fleece and knitting. We are looking forward to our "extra" meeting this Saturday, when the Bryants are coming to talk about historic spinning wheels.
AC