Soft Noses and Wooly Butts...

I woke up yesterday morning deciding that nothing else mattered except listening to Handsome rehearse...and finding the Leicester Longwools.

Well, I had been told the day before that they were in a pasture behind Wetherburns Tavern. "See the red building?", I was asked. "Yes", came my reply, as I apparently gazed upon the wrong red building. I then proceeded down Duke of Gloucester Street and turned in the opposite direction. How do I know this?

I later returned to our hotel room, bummed that I hadn't found the sheep. I sat down with a bottle of water and decided to look through some new postcards I had and, what do you know? There's an image of Wetherburns Tavern. "Hey! That's not the red building I was looking at!".

So after eating breakfast with Handsome and listening to an hour of rehearsal, I exited the hotel to make my way to Colonial Williamsburg and those elusive sheep. This time I knew which red building I was looking for and if the sheep were still there, I'd find them.

I walked straight to Wetherburns Tavern, and this time I turned south. Guess what I saw? You've got it...

OK, look closer...

Can you see what I see? Could it be?
Hurray!!! It's the Leicester Longwools!

Singing my own refrain of "Heaven...I'm In Heaven"
Sheep Heaven, that is.

I spent the next hour alone with these lovely animals.
Of course, I wouldn't forget to take my camera so that
I could share them with all of you!

You can click on the mosaic and it will take you to my Flickr album of my favorite shots of the Colonial Williamsburg flock of the Leicester Longwool sheep. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

You can learn more about the Leicester Longwool breed by clicking here. You can learn more about the Williamsburg flock by clicking here. Alas, I knew there would be no lambs to photograph, as they are only born in the spring of the year.

Oh, one more thing...You may have noticed my new header. When walking through Williamsburg this week, I saw a garden with TWO pomegranate trees heavily laden with ripening fruit. I always think of my mum when I see a pomegranate. We've both loved eating them since I was a kidlet. Just peel and eat. I can't imagine a better image to welcome Autumn.

In Search Of The Leicester Longwools...

I told you I'd be on a mission while in Williamsburg...to find the Leicester Longwool flock in Colonial Williamsburg (it's pronounces "Lester"). So Tuesday morning, I traveled down Richmond Road and into another century.

I started on Duke of Gloucester Street.
This is a view of the Palace Green with the Governor's Palace at the north end.
No Longwools here...
Then I was told at Prentis that the Longwools

were grazing behind Wetherburn's Tavern.
No Longwools there, either...

So, I tried to be creative and search the backstreets of Colonial Williamsburg.

I looked in paddocks and pastures and even lovely manicured lawns.
Still no Longwools...

Not in gardens...

Not down quiet and picturesque lanes...
No Leicester Longwools to be found.

What I did find was their beautiful and soft yarn. I was thrilled to find it. Half my mission for this trip complete. The woman behind the counter had told me where the Longwools should be grazing, but alas I didn't find them yesterday.

My Wednesday goal will be to find the flock. I'm going to "time travel" again in search of the elusive sheep. I'm not going back to the hotel until I find them.

Little Miss Muffet...

As we depart in the wee hours this morning for Williamsburg, Virginia, I'd like to share a sweet image from another of my antique cards.

This is Little Miss Muffet and her spider on a vintage J.P. Coats & Clark sewing card. Have fun using it or just adding it to your image collection.

Handsome has been invited to perform with the Williamsburg Consort next week. He's in for a full week of multiple rehearsals (usually three a day!), culminating in a concert on Thursday evening. We're looking forward to it, to be sure! This is our first year attending, even though he was invited last year. An emergency surgery in Boston left him unable to go, and he was so disappointed. Not this year, though!

While he's in rehearsals, I'll be walking in Colonial Williamsburg, knitting on a cardigan currently in process, and completing those granny squares I started on our trip to Wisconsin. I purposely set them aside knowing that I'd have more travel time to complete them. I also have decided what they will become, but I'll share that with you later.

Williamsburg in September is sure to be a beautiful sight, and you can be sure that I'll be taking lots of photographs to share with you. I'll be on a mission, too. A few souvenir requests from my girlfriends and a skein of yarn for me - spun from the wool of the Williamsburg flock of Leicester Longwools. You can count on hearing more about them!