Spring is here!

Well the year is certainly moving right along and here we are in November once again!

This coming week we are shearing and for the first time in 14 years it is going to be raining. This  does become a logistical nightmare but luckily I booked the shearer to come over two days so I don't have to put boys in together who don't like each other and am able to put them far enough away from the girls in the shed so we don't get too frisky if you know what I mean!

These last few weeks I seem to have been on Betty my tractor quite a lot lately doing slashing and mowing and it is a bit like painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge, when you finish it seems you have to go right back to the beginning and start all over again.  The only ones who seems to think this is fun is Willy and Olive.  Willy is my friendly wagtail who has adopted me and who is my constant companion around the farm (I don't feed him, we just seem to connect) and he loves loud machinery.  Wherever I am on the tractor or mower or indeed just walking around the farm he is always just one post ahead of me singing and bouncing away.  The other day I was in the olive grove slashing and I couldn't see him.  The next thing he comes flying across the road, flaps around in front of the tractor for a bit and then flew off back to where he came from.  The reason I believe was that the neighbours were making silage and they had really big tractors and he just wanted to say that whilst I was here he was really having so much fun with the big tractors that he had to be somewhere else. At least it was nice of him to tell me. I smiled and wished him a happy day.

Olive, our oldest alpaca, probably about 25,  also loves it when I mow the driveway next to her paddock as she loves to eat the fresh grass clippings.  Me being the softy that I am I make sure I cut one way that throws as much grass into her paddock first and then I go back over it the proper way.  Her big eyes just make me melt.

Here is Willy on the fence post earlier this week.

You really can't beat living a life with animals.  One day I will introduce you to my two dogs; Paddington and Archie.  They are indeed a couple of characters and totally BFF.

How are my yurts going I hear you ask......
So with everything going on in the world, alpacas don't talk politics, so we won't go there, the banks have said we can't have anymore money this year to keep building our yurts; my home.  So currently 3 yurts stand at frame stage and no more. What to do? Well work harder is the obvious answer so you might like to check out our website for all that is happening over summer and of course there will be more coming out via our own Nickelby Design range.

So as I look out my studio door to yet another dark and blustery Saturday afternoon in November (go figure!) I do wonder what is to become of us all.  With the latest happenings in America, Brexit and everything here it can be a little frightening so I just take a leaf out of the alpaca's book and just take each day as it comes and live in the moment.  I encourage you all to do the same and be kind to your friends and neighbours and embrace and celebrate their differences.

I will finish up now and promise to share with you how the shearing goes next week and show you some before and after shots.  They do look funny after shearing.

Take care

Yurts come to Darnum

My business has been operating for over eight years now and many of you would know that I managed to build the shop and studio but as yet building a house had eluded me.

Over the years I had designed many houses for my location at the end of the farm, both on paper and in my head and the one I had settled on about 4 years ago was going to have everything that opened and shut and was just lovely.  Unfortunately so was the price tag - yikes!

What is a girl to do? Well I suppose I could have made it a bit smaller (it was rather large) but then I thought every time I tripped over something I would think, if only I could have built the house that I really wanted.  Any of you who have popped your head into my studio will know I am not the tidiest person around!  So I decided I had to design something completely different.  So I did!

On a day when I  really couldn't be bothered doing anything of any significance I did what many of us do and played on the internet.  Somehow I came across yurts and my imagination started to go where it had never gone before.  Maybe I could live in a round house!  Many of you may know but many may not as I am often asked "what's a yurt?"  Yurts are best known as the houses used by Mongolians and they are usually made of felt.  I was pretty sure, whilst I knew I could make the walls with alpaca, our local shire would not allow me to live in a felted house.  More the pity as it would have been cheaper and I do have access to lots of alpaca fleece.  So I found a company in Goulburn in New South Wales and I sent up my plans I had drawn using a dinner plate and two bread and butter plates as my templates to their draftsman of choice who helped me put straight lines around my scribbles.

Six months later three yurts arrived down by truck and they are currently now being put up by my wonderful builder Craig and his team and they are going to be joined together by two "pods" that I put into the design. (no plates used for the pods, they are rectangles!)

So my house of 3 yurts and 2 pods has started and is gaining lots of attention from friends and locals, not to mention the alpacas in the surrounding paddocks. Craig and his team are coping well with the designs and the 4 engineering reports that were required, but that is another story for another day and I now think they are feeling quite pleased with themselves.  However we are yet to get to the roof frames and putting up the cupolas (the glass tops that sit on top of the roofs).  Think I will stay away that day.

Probably one of the hardest parts has been thinking in the round.  Put two French doors side by side and they don't both look at the same view, there is about a 45urt degree difference, so the view you wanted you might miss completely.  All good fun.

The next stage is to make the pods and put on the roof and wrap it up so it is water tight so I have spoken to my 3 dogs to see if they can think of any way of raising more capital but as yet they haven't come up with a plan but I am sure something will turn up.  You never know we might even sell some more alpaca clothing in our shop

Speaking of which, I went to Japan earlier in the year to study SAORI weaving and now Nickelby Designs is producing SAORI garments in our range and they are proving very popular with many special request, so the loom is working overtime.  Here is a sample of what we are producing which you might like to come and see or check out in our online shop.

Well with winter well and truly here I am trying to tell myself that I should get out of the studio and into the olive grove and start my pruning but it is just so very cold and the shop and studio are so much warmer.  If you are passing, pop in for a bowl of soup or a ploughman's platter and a glass of wine or even a coffee and cake and I will update you on the state of my yurts and pods!

Until next time

Angela

IT'S GARDEN PARTY TIME AGAIN

I can't believe another year has flown by. It is twelve months since we had our last garden party/fashion parade here at Nickelby At Darnum and we are just putting the finishing touches on the 2015 gathering which is next Sunday April 12, 1.30-4.30 here at Nickelby.
We always have a great day with music from Sue & Colin Parrish who have a huge following and are great at events like ours where people want to sit back enjoy a wine, a platter of cheese and the wonderful views.  Speaking of wine we have Kouark Wines again here this year with their lovely wines and they are always great fun to spend an afternoon with.
What I have been working hard on is a fashion parade mainly consisting of my own Nickelby Designs but we will also be showing some of the lovely garments that are starting to come into our shop.  You really do need lots of alpaca in your wardrobe and natural fibres are so much better for the environment so it is a win win for everyone.
But I digress. Our Garden Party does require you to book and pay for you tickets before the day, just helps with catering and helps with the amount of running around on the day so if you would like to come along then give me a call on 0419550301 anytime with your credit card details. The cost per person is $25 and the wine if available at "bar prices.  There will be lots of tasty local cheeses etc for you to eat so we hope you can make it.

After the garden party is over I then focus on our large Creative Yarragon Arts Fest weekend with workshops in the arts being held in Yarragon May 16th 17th but more about that later.

As it is Good Friday today I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter break and are taking extra care on the roads. 

The alpacas say "hi"

A busy November

Well it is nearly the end of November and the weather is finally hotting up. It would seem that we have gone straight from Winter to Summer and completely missed my favourite season of the year; Spring. Spring is such a wonderful time, the hint of the warmer days to come, the blossoms blooming, the grass growing and the cattle fattening. But never mind, I am very lucky to live in a beautiful part of Victoria so every day really is beautiful. Well as the title says "A Busy November". As we all start to rush towards thinking about Christmas we finally have sorted out our online shop but don't think when you look at it that these are the only products we sell. It is a huge job setting up a site and it now means that I run two shops but I can promise you there will always be more available in the bricks and mortar by way of garments than on line mainly due to the issues around the sizing of ladies clothing - really need to try it on! The other big milestone we pass each November is alpaca shearing. This year our day went off seamlessly with a band of helpers and a happy shearer which is always a good thing. We started at my farm at 7am and sheared 43 alpacas and 3 very fat sheep and then moved onto two other farms so it was a long day in the end and I am always glad when it is over, all the animals are back in their paddocks with shelter or whatever they need and I can put my feet up with a glass of wine. Little Nickelby Gatsby and Nickelby Darcy had a huge day. Not only did they get shorn, they had their brass ear tags put in their ears and they left their mums to go and live with the big boys. I am pleased to announce that they have settled in very well but do look rather funny as they are so much smaller than the others but they are holding their own. The other exciting development is that we are dying our own yarn now using 100% alpaca and having a great time playing around with colours. These are available instore and some come on line. They are great for freeform work or scrumbling as it is also know or to put trims on jumpers or to knit up a hat for next Winter.

This one I have called Dusk and is available on line and in store

Well that is about it for November so good luck with getting ready for Christmas and I plan to blog again before then xx

A busy November

Well it is nearly the end of November and the weather is finally hotting up. It would seem that we have gone straight from Winter to Summer and completely missed my favourite season of the year; Spring. Spring is such a wonderful time, the hint of the warmer days to come, the blossoms blooming, the grass growing and the cattle fattening. But never mind, I am very lucky to live in a beautiful part of Victoria so every day really is beautiful. Well as the title says "A Busy November". As we all start to rush towards thinking about Christmas we finally have sorted out our online shop but don't think when you look at it that these are the only products we sell. It is a huge job setting up a site and it now means that I run two shops but I can promise you there will always be more available in the bricks and mortar by way of garments than on line mainly due to the issues around the sizing of ladies clothing - really need to try it on! The other big milestone we pass each November is alpaca shearing. This year our day went off seamlessly with a band of helpers and a happy shearer which is always a good thing. We started at my farm at 7am and sheared 43 alpacas and 3 very fat sheep and then moved onto two other farms so it was a long day in the end and I am always glad when it is over, all the animals are back in their paddocks with shelter or whatever they need and I can put my feet up with a glass of wine. Little Nickelby Gatsby and Nickelby Darcy had a huge day. Not only did they get shorn, they had their brass ear tags put in their ears and they left their mums to go and live with the big boys. I am pleased to announce that they have settled in very well but do look rather funny as they are so much smaller than the others but they are holding their own. The other exciting development is that we are dying our own yarn now using 100% alpaca and having a great time playing around with colours. These are available instore and some come on line. They are great for freeform work or scrumbling as it is also know or to put trims on jumpers or to knit up a hat for next Winter.

This one I have called Dusk and is available on line and in store

Well that is about it for November so good luck with getting ready for Christmas and I plan to blog again before then xx

Happy Memories

Today was a day to remember a dear friend of Nickelby At Darnum. Two weeks ago our friend Jo Butters died in her sleep aged 63. Jo was one of the ladies who started Nickelby Nutty Knitters over 4 years ago. Nutty knitters is a group who meet here once a month to knit and crochet and originally it was to undertake free form / scrambling work, throw all learning a and patterns to the wind and just do whatever. Over the years it was really only Jo and myself who stayed true to this concept and others went back to safer territory which was fine as we all had such a lovely day it didn't really matter what we did.

However after Jo's death I made the announcement that we were all going to spend the next two nutty sessions scrumbling and putting together a piece which I would then have framed and display in the shop in honour of our founding Nutty Knitter.

Well today was the day. I wished Jo had been here to a) help me answer all their fun complaints about how they like straight lines, patterns and to know what they were doing at all times and b) to share in the laughter and fun that was had making all the pieces and discovering that it was actually fun and they were good at it.

Jo's funeral is tomorrow and we will all miss her very much but in a few months there will be a fun piece of work hanging in the shop honouring her and that will continue to keep her love of all things creative in our hearts. RIP Jo and may their be the biggest stash of yarn in heaven that you never run out.

Here is the start of our piece

Wow! What a wonderful couple of years

It has been such a long time since I did the blogging thing and it is not because I haven't been thinking about it. It is mainly because I have been caught up getting my head around the world of social media whilst still trying to run the farm, expand my own clothing and accessory range; Nickelby Designs, and for most of 2011 and 2012 travelling all over the state of Victoria speaking to women as the 2011 RIRDC Victorian Rural Woman of the Year. I clocked up over 37 engagements and they are still continuing but I have stopped counting!

I know, I hear you say, whow, you should have been blogging about all those wonderful events like the time I met the ladies who were hit by devastating floods in Charlton and we shared a wonderful day or the time I spoke in South Gippsland to the business group and of course of the wonderful experience of being the Australia Day Ambassador for the Baw Baw Shire in 2012 and again in 2013.  But hey, I am slack and these days, quite disorganised!
So life has settled down a little bit more, I picked my first harvest from my olive trees this year and everything is brewing nicely so I have my fingers crossed that it turns out to be yummy as I already know it will be healthy.

On the alpaca front we have 40 something animals on the farm and I also currently have 14 steers which I purchased late last year to eat the grass and of course we have one of the driest Summers so we didn't have much grass anyway so I was left just shaking my head and saying "why?".  I also have my uncles 4 horses and 3 fat sheep on the farm who came early last year for 3 months and who are all still here. Families!  If you follow Nickelby At Darnum on Facebook you can read about the antics that this menagerie undertake each day.

As my own range of alpaca garments and accessories comes to life under the banner of Nickelby Designs I have decided that the blog will not only share life on the farm but also my successes and not so successes in the world of textiles as there are so many lovers out there of all things natural and hand made Australian product it just might be of interest to some.

The other scary piece of work I am working on at the moment is getting the online shop up and running!!!!!!!!!! It is such a lot of technical work that my poor IT guy has to tell me what to do in small bite size pieces so I can remember it all, but I am enjoying doing the work with his guidance and not just paying someone to do it.  The next step is to "talk" to the bank about all those fees they charge for the privilege of using their merchant facilities.

Well another beautiful cold winter's day is drawing to close here at Nickelby At Darnum and the alpacas are looking to be let out of their day paddock and the 3 fat sheep have escaped from their area again so I have some talking to do with Geraldine - thankfully she has a collar so I can drag her back to where she and her "babies" Jase and Joee belong.

Until next time stay safe and smile every day.  I read the other day that those who knit are happier people so get knitting!!

Best Wishes

Angela

Babies Babies everywhere

Hi

I feel very bad as it has been such a long time since my last blog and I have had many visitors tick me off for this and quite rightly so.

Such a lot has happened since I last wrote but to jump ahead to this week we are welcoming new cria's into the Nickelby family.

So far Miam has given birth to the very handsome Hans, Gracie has had a lovely little girl, Miss Potter and today Bronte, 17 days overdue, gave birth to Harrison. We still wait for Juliet who was due last week and then we have another four to go between now and April. So if you were planning a visit now would be the time.

I also have some exciting news. Today it was announced that I am one of five finalists in the Rural Business Women's Award for 2011 which is very exciting. I am enjoying my 15 minutes of fame.

We have an event coming up March 19th here at Nickelby which is a twilight soiree with fashion parade of the new Nickelby Design range which I plan to release that evening as well as other local textile artists. $20 per ticket which covers finger food and drinks are at bar prices. You will be able to check out details on my website under the events section.

I am also in the process of talking to our local council about enclosing my outside cafe and starting to offer light lunches so keep your fingers crossed on that front as our views etc are the perfect place to enjoy a quiet glass of local wine.

Well until next time and I promise it won't be as long next time,

take care

What a busy time

Hi
Well it has been awhile (again) between posts but believe me we haven't been sitting still here at Nickelby At Darnum.
As many of you know I am chair of our local tourism association; West Gippsland Gourmet Country Tourism and a couple of months ago another member and I decided that since our shire won't open an Official Visitor Information Centre then we should!!!
It is now open with a paid staff member and hopefully soon a lovely group of local volunteers to support the running as the shire are still not coming to the party. It has been a very busy time but totally worthwhile.

As everyone has seemed to become climatised with this wet weather more and more visitors are coming to Nickelby At Darnum and it has been great to see some familiar faces again.

Next week I am off to "Fibres Geelong" and I am participating in a week long felting workshop which I am really looking foward to. Mum is looking after the shop so you are sure to leave Nickelby At Darnum after having a few laughs next week.

Gardivalia our festival of gardens is about to kick off next week and Nickelby is again participating. October 16th and 17th we are doing a cupcake afternoon tea with the alpacas and you have to wear your favourite gardening hat!!! $10pp and we would appreciate bookings but check out our website to see all the details.

Also for those who love a shopping outing, Nickelby At Darnum is holding a Christmas shopping night on Wednesday December 8th 5.00-9.00. Come along and have a glass of bubbly, start or finish your Christmas shopping.

We will have our wonderful alpaca accessory range available, our body products, hampers and all sorts of wonderful things. The best part about shopping at Nickelby is that there is plenty of parking, no traffic, no crowds and you can have a break and enjoy the wonderful views and the lovely alpacas. Why not get the friends together and make an evening of relaxing retail therapy.

Well that is about it for now, the alpacas are looking quite fluffy with all their fleece and I think a bit sick of the rain. Most have had their toe nails cut but some just said "no" so they have to wait for shearing in November. Pip and Humphrey are all grown up and we are looking foward to our next drop which is due to start New Year's Eve.

I shall post again when I return from my week of creativity and share with you my successes and I am sure disasters but as long as you can laugh at yourself then nothing really matters.

Live every day as if it is your last and give someone you love a big kiss!

Until next time

Ange

Winter is here at Nickelby At Darnum

Hi
It has been awhile since my last posting basically because it has been really busy. I won't bore everyone with all the details but to say that we have launched our own hats made by me and from Nickelby fleece which is exciting and are practically running out the door. We make to order and red is a speciality so orders of course are taken.

We had some bad news over the last couple of months with the death of two of our little boys. Nickelby Benjamin and Nickelby Henry Higgins only made it through a couple of days/weeks with us but they were of course beautiful so touched us all and we miss them. Nickelby Pip and Nickelby Humphrey are growing up very quickly and Pip thinks he is a bit of a ladies man which is quite funny.

We are about to start planting the olives (again!) and I hope this will be the last of the plantings as it drives me crazy, not to mention the strain on the back.

For those of you who wonder if I will ever have a house to live in I am pleased to say that it is getting closer and I have the planning permit and the builder is just getting everything together for the building permit to go in. I am off planting more trees in the paddocks and the garden so I figure by the time the house is in place everything should be in place. Ha Ha!!

I am busy organising a black tie dinner at the moment which we are holding at Lardner Park in our new exhibition centre. It should be a great night as we have Li Cunxin (Mao's Last Dancer) as our guest speaker and the band "Essential" which is a 6 piece playing and the tickets are only $125 pp so I am madly promoting it at the moment. It is Friday August 13th so give us a call and get some friends together and come along!

I am just looking out the door and it is just on 4pm which in the winter time is play time for baby alpacas and Pip and Humphrey are playing chasy in the paddock with the calves next door watching in amazement. You can't beat the country.

Shall update again shortly as it is injection time and toe nail cutting time so there are sure to be many stories come from those days. Stay warm and hope to see you at Nickelby soon.

The arrival of Nickelby Pip

It has been a busy couple of weeks here at Nickelby At Darnum with visitors getting out and about in West Gippsland after a long summer.
We are busy gearing up for our Palate of Passions event, "A Taste of Alpaca" on March 21st and this long weekend I have been busy working out at Lardner Park at our Harvest of Gippsland event which was a great day. In its 8th year it is now all under cover so if you missed it this year then put the first Sunday in March in your diary and come along. Ross Wilson was great!

During the middle of the day my mother called who was looking after my shop/cafe/farm at Nickelby At Darnum to say we had a baby!!! She didn't know who it belong to and as none were due right now, neither did I! So I raced home to see and it was Mattie's baby and she had a little boy who we have called Nickelby Pip. As many of you might know all my babies have names from the arts and literature and as Mattie's first baby, who is also a boy, was called Bunty from Seven Little Australians as he was a little tough character and Bunty had a pretty rough arrival into the world, then it stood that the next in the "family" should be from the same story and so as a boy, it had to be Bunty's older brother, Pip.

This is is first day in the world and he already has his mum running around after him. See the photos of Pip and his exhausted mother I have just taken this afternoon. It looks like it will rain again this afternoon so it will be back on with the driz-a-bone coat and another night in the shed.

Stay tuned for stories of Pip as the weeks progress because there are another three babies due within the next 6-8 weeks!!!!

Summer Matings

The hot weather seems to be upon us again but the alpacas are enjoying a cool breeze so they can continue with their sunbaking.
Last week we embarked on our Summer matings with Halcyon Ripperoo who is a lovely young male who is having a wonderful time visiting Nickelby as there are 6 girls awaiting his visits!

On the textile front, a friend and I last Friday did some wonderful "fibre sandwiches" in lovely purple, pinks and copper colours which was lots of fun and I am thrilled with the results. Just now have to work out how I am going to use all these creations. I am sure they will show up in the fasion parade here in March.

I am just looking our my door and can see Nickelby Fleur sitting by herself under a tree in the shade. She is due to have her first baby on March 23rd and more and more she is just enjoying time on her own away from the others. I think she will make a wonderful mother as she is so gentle. I hope she has a little girl, I think she would be very pretty.

The boy alpacas have been up to their usual tricks this morning with Hamlet and Nev having a bit of a disagreement. However after they had both had some time out, picked up their bottom lips from their sulking, they walked off together as though nothing had happened. They really do my head in!
Well had better fly, I have some water issues with my little pump unit I use to water the trees and I think I am going to have to water the olive grove this evening since tomorrow is meant to be quite warm.

A Sad Day at Nickelby

We have had a sad morning here at Nickebly. I walked up to the back paddock to gather the "girls" together to bring them down to the shop and I couldn't work out why they weren't coming down as usual. I thought it was because I was running late and the hay contractor was on his way to collect the hay so of course this would be the morning the alpacas decided they didn't want to oblige.

Unfortunately that was not the case. Getting a little closer I could see that Emma had given birth to her baby two months early. Of course it wasn't alive but Emma of course was rather distressed. All her friends decided that they need to lie down and they all started to hum. So whilst I was racing against the clock we had to stop for a moment and all feel sad.

It is early afternoon now and Emma has said good bye to her baby, so this afternoon I have to try and dig a hole in very solid dirt to bury the baby!!

On a happier note, I did promise that I would include a photo of the girls under the sprinkler. Here is a photo of Gracie enjoying the water on our recent hot days.

Out and about with the alpacas

Well the heat is on its way and now that the shearing has been completed the alpacas are enjoying sunning themselves inbetween sitting under the sprinkler! Afternoon Delight thinks the sprinkler is hers alone and chooses often to sit right on top of the water jets much to the objections of the other girls.
Being the school holidays, we are receiving many visitors to Nickelby At Darnum and the alpacas are coping well and are staying quite polite when meeting the visitors.
Even though it is hot over the next few days it is time for us to organise our events for our Palate of Passions Festival starting mid Feb. Here at Nickelby we are having two days of lunches on Feb 20th and 21st and we are again doing "A Taste of Alpaca" on March 21st. View our website for more details.
I am also very excited today because I have managed to secure a position at Fibres Geelong in September and also the workshop that I was after. I am off to Geelong to work with Sachiko Kotaka, one of the founders of Nuno felting and I can't wait.
If you are out and about why not call in and see us and all the lovely alpaca garments we have in our shop. Alpaca is not just for Winter, we have alpaca blended with cotton and silk for some very stylish summer garments.
This is just a new blog so photos of the alpacas will be on their way and we intend to update everyone on all that is going on at Nickelby At Darnum. We are very excited about all our planned activities.