Postcards from the Lake: Autumn Roadtrip

I went north on a Tuesday, expecting Rick on Friday night after riding up. The weather was pretty bad -- a couple of good long walks but they were brisk ones and all had been damp with the rain. So on Thursday, I decided to do a little road trip.

Actually, I had a spot in mind -- Stonehenge Fiber Mill which makes the beautiful 100 percent wool, Shepherd's Wool. Their color palette is unbelievable! Imagine arriving and this is the first thing I see!

The woman who owns the mill tells me that this goose (the tall one) is 32 years old and when his mate for life died, he was so bereft, they found a new friend for him.

These two pal around constantly!

I loved the interesting shape of his head. At first I thought it a tumor but she said no, that was just his species.

For the volume of wool this place turns out, it isn't very big. The whole deal is within two small buildings plus the shop.

The owner invited me to look around so first I went into the spinning area. Machines are staffed by people who feed the fiber to the machine which spins it.

The I went into the carding section! Boy -- what a lot of fleece.

There's a huge sink for cleaning too.

By the time I got there I was reasonably close to another old haunt, also called Stonehedge (but not connected).

When it was previously owned I did a number of photography cards of the gardens that they bought and sold in the store. I had to take a good look at the gardens that day, too.

It's still as picturesque as always, with pretty out-buildings.

There was some lovely lawn ornamentation...

...and a charming pond.

But of course, you know I had to try to capture a photo of the butterflies! I managed one somewhat decent one.

I was in a small shop on the way back to the lake when the phone rang. It was Rick, who had been battling strong headwinds. Although he'd hoped to ride the whole way to the lake over two days, he asked to be picked up. So I bid farewell to gardens and hit the road again. I was sorry he had to cut his ride short, but I was also happy to see him! (And it was a good thing for him, too, because the next day was cold, windy and very wet!)

Fall. It's really here.

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