October

Looking at this photo reminds me of what a glorious month we had in September. October has arrived and delivered rain by the bucket load. The Rowan trees this year have been spectacular, absolutely covered with shiny red berries for the birds to feast upon. 

Once the school holidays were over, and the roads were a little less insanely busy (living in a holiday destination means horrendous traffic for much of the summer, especially with were people travelling abroad), Mum and I took a trip over to Wildgoose Nursery This has been on my "to-visit" list since winter 2019, and it was such a lovely garden to walk around, with some beautiful plants that we'd not seen anywhere else, and glorious displays of early autumn colours. 

We walked up to the metal mines above Furnace, if you've ever been in this area you may have seen the giant water wheel on the mill building right next to the main road that links Aberystwyth to Machynlleth, but if you head further up in to the hills you can still go up to the mine buildings themselves. 

The beautiful weather has meant that most weekends have been spent out walking and then getting things done in the garden. So alas... creative projects at the loom and sewing machine have been much lacking this month, because with views like this being indoors is just not in my nature. This is in the hills above Dolgellau, on a walk where we earned our views! 300m (100ft) of vertical ascent (and descent) in a walk of around 6 miles (10km). 

We've even managed to complete our set of geocache trails exploring the mining valleys above Corris.
Thankfully, after much teeth gnashing and head scratching it would seem that the hard work in setting up the IOSS intermediary for EU sales is paying off. It has been so nice to see the names of EU customers who have been buying from Hilltop Cloud for years popping back up in the order list. Massive thanks are due to Victoria at Eden Cottage Yarns for her help and advice. If you are in the EU it would seem that parcels are arriving with no issues and no additional fees. 
I've also just sent in my application for Wonderwool Wales for next April, a few shows have restarted here in UK, but I didn't feel confident about the state of things particularly as they were based over in England that has no restrictions, so have been happy staying at home. However April 23rd-24th seems far enough in the future that it can be something I look forward to! This will probably be my only show in 2022, so if you want to top up the stash in person add the date to your diary. If you can't get to shows I am always happy to help with online purchases, if you're not sure about colour combinations or the feel/texture of a fibre then please ask.