I have been dyeing from dawn to dusk for the past few days in preparation for two events coming up over the next 2 weeks.  The first event is a new one for me, and for the organisers, Karelia House near Aberfeldy.  I met Shirley, who started up Karelia House, at the Perth knitting show a couple of years ago.  We got chatting, and one thing led to another, and she asked to stock Ripples Crafts yarn, which of course I was pleased to have her do.  We talked vaguely about me having a trunk show at Karelia House, but somehow we never got things organised.  Well, finally it is going to happen.  Karelia House is having a whole week of woolly events next week beginning with a visit by Debbie Bliss on Monday and I will be there on Thursday and Friday of next week with my range of yarns.  Please come if you're in the area.  Karelia also have wonderful food on offer and don't only concentrate on yarn crafts but on all kinds of craft, so there will be a lot to see.

Then I'm only home a couple of days before I set off for Woolfest.  This year the stand will be double the size it was last year, so the problems with overcrowding and not being able to get close enough to the yarn for a good squish should be avoided.  I'll have yarn, swifts, shawl pins, stitch markers and patterns, so again, do come.  Woolfest was one of the first "serious" woolly shows that I did, and I have to confess I think it is still my favourite - but then I enjoy them all so it is very difficult to be definitive about that!

But this afternoon Stevan persuaded me out of the dyeshed and out for a walk.  We have had very little rain in Assynt over the past few weeks, and the ground is terribly dry.  Really too dry for this time of year.  The grass should be starting to green up after winter, but instead it is looking very burned and dry, and the poor sheep are struggling to find tender green shoots.



However the wild garlic appears not to be suffering from the drought.



It was in full bloom (and smell!) close to the waterfall which is usually a noisy mass of tumbling water, but now is just a trickle of its former self.



From above the waterfall we watched a buzzard hover over some morsel or other:



And admired the sea of shilasdair in front of the house:



I love seeing our house from this vantage point because it shows how much our hedge which we planted many years ago is steadily coming on.  We were told we'd never manage to grow a hedge because of the salty winds we endure, but I hope to think that one day we will have a good hedge:



The patch of ground the dogs are running on is usually impossible to walk over because it is so boggy, but not at the moment!