Houghton Mill, Some Moo cards and Spinning at Wimpole Hall

We've just got back from a pretty little old working Mill run and owned by the National Trust. It was fascinating watching the cogs and wheels turning by water power to produce wholegrain flour. We bought a bag and on the suggestion of the Miller, Barry has put a loaf of half strong grain white and half the flour from the Mill. I'll let you know what the loaf is like.....if you remind me! The other photographs were taken in the surrounding area.

I've never seen a swan on a nest before, it's such a beautiful nest and she was picking and plucking at the twigs to make it perfect....a delight to see.

I couldn't believe that the Elderfowers we starting to open, this one was so fat and fluffy, I can see that I'll be needing to get some citric acid again, ready for making some delicious Elderflower Cordial.

This Mummy and Daddy duck were being so very protective of this duckling...I guess the others had been eaten by the nasty pike that lives in the river...I did think it strange that he was an only child but then I overheard some people talking about the pike...horrid thing!

This is a collage of my Moo Cards...they are lovely little business cards, beautifully packaged and presented....I just placed them all close together on the table and stood on a chair to take this shot. I had to straighten is a bit as the perspective was a bit off...I love them and keep looking at them, taking them out of their perfectly fitting box and shuffling them. They feel nice in the hand. I am going to punch a hole in the top of them and use ribbon or wool to tie the tag to anything that I create...they please me!

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Yesterday we went to Wimpole Hall, another National Trust property. I met a darling lady there, she was so busy spinning away....she was almost lost to the world but I broke her peace and started asking her questions...she reckons I'll be getting a Spinning Wheel for Christmas...I loved the rhythm and the meditative peace that spinning appears to give to the person doing the spinning. I didn't care to much for the itchy fleece she was spinning from though. She only used the natural undyed fleeces, which appeared to be uncarded but what do I know...can you spin just from a pile of smelly wool? Anyway, you can see this lovely lady and some flower shots I took, in one collage if you click the photo below. I used my LensbabyII for most of the flower shots, the first time I've used it in months and I had forgotten how much this lens pleases me although it does look a bit pathetic stuck on the front of my DSLR camera!