Family and Fun

This is Kathy Oliver of Holly Spring Homespun, located in Powhatan, Virginia. She taught me to spin with a drop spindle! In less than an hour she had me making yarn - what fun. I was also able to learn how to ply my yarn. Spinning is a skill I've tried to learn on my own, but there were just some things I wasn't getting. Kathy made it clear and I'm on my way. I still need to practice, practice, practice, as with any new skill. But it's fun and addicting, and I've been able to spin some each day since.





















This is the spinning room at Kathy's shop, which is a well stocked and cozy fiber shop catering to knitters, crocheters and spinners. Holly Spring Homespun was easy to find and easy to get to - no city traffic to deal with!















Most of my visits to my family (brother and cousin) in Virginia's Tidewater region are short, due to the distance and the fact that I don't usually have a lot of time. But I've decided that each time I go, I'm going to see a new historical site. I missed out on so much of that when I was growing up in the area. And also, many more have been developed and/or opened to the public since I was a child. This visit found us at two plantation sites along the south side of the James River: Chippoakes Plantation















and Bacon's Castle, where my cousin's father lived as a teenager (his family were caretakers here). Nell and Frank (my cousin and her husband) are a wealth of information about the local area. And of course, since my Uncle Andrew grew up in the area of the plantations, they're privy to lots of inside information and ancedotes that made it even more fun to visit.