Winter Hours at The Shop

Well, I guess it had to happen.
The days are getting a lot shorter and it is dark when I get up to make coffee for "The Queen". We have already had some sleet, freezing rain and a dusting of snow. The last lot of stones have been polished and are being cleaned in the tumbler and after that, it will be put away for the winter. All the chairs are either off the deck or tied down with bungee cords because one thing is certain- big winds are coming! Last weekend we had gusts to 100 Km/hr. but the generator is fixed and back on its pad and just waiting to kick in when the inevitable power outage occurs. And today, for the first time, we fired up the wood stove.
Winter is coming.

Battening Down The Hatches:

Over the winter, we'll have a few big blizzards but what we worry about most is wind. It is absolutely amazing to see what can blow away when the winds are over 100 Km./hr.! So this weekend we will be taking down the large roadside sign. But the smaller Open/Closed sign will still be there.

Winter Hours:

Because of the number of locals who are coming here for the Seawall Fibres Yarn, we will be keeping the entire gift shop open until December 24th. We will be open Thursday and Friday from 10-4 and Saturday and Sunday from 1-5. We don't intend to be away so we will also open the shop by appointment as well if we are around. Just call (902) 482-2188 and we'll do out best to accommodate you. And since anyone coming by will have braved our "cool, breezy weather", everyone will be considered a local and will receive a 10% discount on all merchandise except the odd piece which we have on consignment. It is quite possible that we will open on other days so if you drive by and see the "open" sign, come on in and say hi! You never know when you might be rewarded by a cup of hot coffee!

Keep checking the blog over the winter as I intend to tell you what's new for the spring.

We have had an amazing summer with about double the visitors to the shop. It would appear that tourism in Nova Scotia is on the upswing and we are going to spend the winter preparing for even more visitors next year. I have an industrial heater installed in the rock shop and will be out there as often as "The Queen" (and my hip) allows. As things stand now, I am scheduled to get my new hip in February so I should be well along in my rehab by the start of the tourism season next year. Thanks to everybody who came by and if you weren't able to make it, there's always next year!

Cheers!

More Spectacular Rock

Had a chance to work a pretty interesting piece today.

It looks like Stilbite invading basalt as it is very fibrous but it polished up much better than I thought. There are beautiful pinks and reds and it looks as if some of the original mineral has been replaced with silicate.
If you have any ideas, help me out!
Beautiful weather here right now- sunny and mild with light winds and low humidity. If only it would last a few months!
We just got a new shipment of fall weight yarn so I'll do a more extensive post on that when we have it all in inventory.
Cheers!

Visit from a Hard Core Knitter

One of the great things about having the shop is the interesting people you meet.
Today we met Bethany.
In previous posts I have commented on the , dare I say, fanatical mindset of knitters. The fact is most serious knitters have a "stash" of yarn that is sitting, just waiting to be knit. The really serious ones have SABLE- Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy!
But you have to be really hard core to travel from New York to vacation in Nova Scotia packing your own spinning wheel in the back seat of your vehicle.

You should know that this is just one of FIVE such wheels that Bethany owns!
Apparently she had found us via the internet and since she was coming to Digby, decided to pay us a visit. From here, she will be going to another part of Nova Scotia to see (and spin yarn) with another friend.

We just love meeting people like Bethany- people with a real passion for their craft and a real love for this beautiful province.
So Bethany, you're an old friend now. Heck, one more trip and we'll have to make you an honorary Bluenoser!
Hope to see you again soon.

P.S. We will be closed tomorrow, Friday September, 16th because I have an appointment in Halifax. Open again on Saturday.
Cheers!

Interesting Visitors- Interesting Rocks

We are experiencing beautiful fall weather here yesterday and today after a weekend that was so foggy and wet I couldn't see the nearest house!
On Sunday afternoon two of our loyal yarn customers (you know who you are!) paid us a visit with their "children". We love it when kids come in the shop-especially when they are as well-behaved as these three!

We love it when our beautiful Seawall Fibres hand dyed yarn is really appreciated. These guys wouldn't stop fondling it!
And speaking of beautiful, I am cutting a gorgeous piece of banded agate.

It's a little macrocrystalline but the colours are awesome and I should be able to get about 4 slabs and a nice specimen piece.

Vickie sees a bracelet in its future!
Don't forget our special offer. Visit the shop before the end of the year and mention the blog offer and you'll get 10% off the price of your purchase (not to be combined with other offers).
Hope to see you soon!
Cheers.

The Mother Lode of Amethyst!

I'm finally getting around to working on some of the rock that we had collected while my buddy Ted (from Australia) was here.
Vickie found a seam of crystals about 3-4 cm thick and the slab was about 20 cm square. It looked nice from the side but it was a bit large to sell as a specimen so we decided to give it a "tap" with the 2 pound hammer. We ended up with about 3 nice pieces and I took them in the house to show "The Boss". They looked really nice with some beautiful colour but then Vickie went to pick up a piece and something amazing happened.
The piece split in half through the center exposing two beautiful crystal faces!

So I went back to the other two pieces and very carefully tapped them in the center with a chisel. Here's what we got

Close up you can see a bit of the colour although I have to say that they are even nicer in person

So now we have some beautiful specimens of Nova Scotia Amethyst sitting in the shop waiting to go to a new home!
My current load of tumbler rocks is at stage #2 and they should be finished in about a week. There are some absolutely beautiful stones in there- jasper, flame, plume and crazy lace agate- can't wait to see the results!
So come on by if you live in the area and while you are here, check out the beautiful yarn and hand knitted pieces.
Cheers!

The Third Tourist Season

Well, it's the last day of the Labour Day weekend so we are headed into our third phase of this year's tourist season. In the spring, we get a lot of people from the Maratimes doing short trips to explore their back yard.
That all changes when school gets out. Then it's mostly families from all over and a lot of people from Europe.
But after Labour Day, the kids are back at school and we start seeing more retired couples from all over.
This year has been amazing, with almost twice the visitors we had last year- our first in operation. Part of that was due to people coming in to buy the Seawall Fibres Yarn (of which we are the sole distributors) but more and more people are discovering us through this blog and the Nova Scotia printed guide (Doers and Dreamers) and web site.

So I thought I'd give you a little peek at what's in store for next year.
Thanks to our summer adventures, I have a ton (literally) of great rock to work on over the winter. Also, I've been able to work some beautiful stone that Vickie has started to "set" in various ways. Here's a sample of what's coming.

Crazy Lace Agate set with copper and leather cord

By next spring, we will have a great selection of stone jewelry to complement Vickie's amazing polymer clay pieces and Sandra's whimsical fantasies. And I promise to get Vickie back to work to restore our inventory of purses that have been so popular.
As I type, Lisa is dying more yarn in some exciting new colours. Look for it soon on the Seawall Fibres Etsy site and follow Seawall Fibres on Instagram and Facebook.
We should have a large selection of knitted goods by then as well and there will be more of Vickie's art. She is even working on kits so you can make your own leather soled slippers from our beautiful yarn.
So you will have all sorts of exciting options to Take Home a Piece of The Neck!
That being said, we still have plenty of beautiful items in the shop and the weather in the fall is beautiful and the whales are still around in abundance so if you're looking for a place to spend some time, come on out to "The Neck" and stop by and see us. Mention this blog post and get 10% off anything you buy this year. 
Hope to see you soon or, if not, next year.

Our Latest Amazing Find

One of the things that makes working with rocks so interesting is that you never know what you are going to find and what it will look like when you have finished it.
Last year, we found a small rock on the beach across from our house. I finally got around to sorting the material and decided that I would work this rock right away.
I started to grind one side and right away I saw an organic pattern. I continued to grind and polish and ended up with something pretty spectacular. The stone was now only about 1 cm thick and I had to decide if I would just grind the back down or try to cut it. I took a chance and cut it and managed to end up with two spectacular slabs.

The larger stone is about 4.7 cm x 4 cm x 0.4 cm thick.
Sorry for the quality of the shots. They are a little out of focus but in person they are extraordinarily clear and sharply defined but now the big question is- what is it?
I'm pretty sure I know.
A lot of the sedimentary rock in this area is from the carboniferous period that lasted between 360 and 300 million years ago. At that time, there was a plant that looked like a palm tree but was a conifer and had cones like the pine cones you might find today. This is a cross section of a part of one of those cones! The organic material has been replaced by silicate but you can still see a lot of structure- especially on the outside. This is one of those pieces that you want to leave rough on the outside because it is as interesting as the polished part.
Vickie is going to wire wrap one in silver and use a silver chain. The other will be done less expensively.
The person wearing it will be wearing something that started its existence over 300 million years ago
Pretty cool, huh?
I have a lot of really nice stone to work so if you are going to be in the area, stop by and see what's going on. You might even take home a piece of The Neck!