Guess what? We have a new biz and a new blog!

Hi all!  So, so very sorry for being away for so very long!  But I have big news!  Hubby and I have begun our new adventure into self employment!  We would happily like to introduce you all to Fiberton Acres Ranch and Manor!

It is here that I will now be posting....alas, while I may occasionally post here, I would like to encourage you all to check us out and follow over at Fiberton.

What is this new biz, you may be asking?  Well, let me tell you! Fiberton Acres is our tiny 'ranch and manor', which is busy year round creating quality goods that you will be proud to own. Our philosophy is to do good for our earth and the people on it, and have fun while doing it. That is why you'll find a mix of yarncrafting goods, as well as farmy, funky, upcycled and nerdy items. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

We have our angora rabbits, our fun little farm, our bright, Central Cali sun, and yarn crafty goods galore!

If you check out our blog, be sure to sign up to receive our email updates!

Thanks from both of us and hope to see you there!

Ash

Adventures in running a small coffee shop-

Life is interesting.  Things don't always go as planned, but how boring would it be if it did?  When we moved to our new home in Central CA, I thought that maybe I'd work, but maybe I would just run our little farm.  Well, the farm hasn't quite happened.  We are lucky to have a beautiful spot to park our little RV home, with rolling hills and wonderful weather....

But the farm piece we have finally admitted will be a little down the road.  So what to do with my time?  It just so happened that the little coffee shop in town was going through a transition and needed some help.  I thought, hey, why not try it out?

Little did I know, I would love it!  It is adorable, I get to meet lots of fun people - locals and travelers - and I get to bake as much as I want.  I have to say, it is such a huge change from what I used to do, but it is pretty rewarding to hand someone one of these homemade pop

tarts....

Or one of these muffins...

And people tell you how much they appreciate homemade pastries and food.  It is pretty nice.  

And because we are small, I can take a little extra time to get to know people and chat.  Yesterday I was excited to meet a couple women traveling through, one from Southern CA and her sister visiting from Texas, who love to knit, and we compared projects!  And now we are both connected on Ravelry. How sweet is that?  I just love making those kinds of connections.

So if you are ever traveling on Hwy 101 in Cali and see a turnoff for little San Miguel, come visit me at the Coffee Station.  I will tell you all about the little history of our tiny town and get you some yummy pastries or wake you up with some great coffee. 

Life takes you in different directions...and I am feeling pretty darn lucky right now that it keeps things fresh and interesting. Never a dull moment!

Ash

Little things that make me smile...

Thought I would share with you a few of the little things that have made me smile lately...

Fun colors on my cast iron.  I made up these little handle covers for my cast iron to protect the fingers.  And to look adorable.

Baby goats!  Two of the resident goats at the ranch had themselves some babies.  I can't wait until we have our own goats that have babies!

Exploring the area.  With a little bit of rain (and hopefully a little more this weekend) we have just a little touch of green here.  And it makes for pretty exploring in the sun.  (I am currently wearing a skirt and no shoes.  I am loving it!)

My mom and I down by a naturally occurring spring bed.

Walking with the doggy.

View from our place on a foggy morning.

Pretty views.

Ric and JB at the beach of Morro Bay.

Making fun things from things discarded.  I realized that with my hubby working at a little fabric store, they get rid of a lot of cardboard.  I have begun creating little shelves and stuff from the cardboard bolts and having so much fun with it!

And finally, seeing the cute little creations that Rocketpack Crafts come up with!  How cute are these bows?

And this working clock?

So cute!

Little fun things that have made me smile. :)  Hope they make you smile, too!

Ash

2014 and A New Manifesto...

It is finally done.  And I am pretty pleased with it.  Here is my 2014 Manifesto.  As you may know if you have followed my blog, several years ago I found a post by a fellow blogger on their own manifesto (post with links here) and I thought it was a grand idea for making resolutions and seeing them all the time to remind myself of what I wanted to accomplish.

Last year I took a pic of the one that I printed and hung...

I feel like I did ok...I did run the half marathon, I did more gardening and made more food at home.  I sort of rode my bike more...and did grow the blog some.  We explored when we could, and while we did not buy a farm yet, we are well on our way with our move to Central CA.

This year, I feel like I have great goals and resolutions.  Things I can really work toward and are important to me.  Or reminders to slow down and check out something new. 

If you want to make your own, I did this all on google draw.  I had a lot of fun checking out all their fun fonts and playing with the design.  Nothing super fancy, but fun nonetheless!

What are your goals for 2014?

Happy New(ish) Year!

Ash

Crafty Market Fun...

Just before the holidays, Ric, Kaitlin and I set out to sell our crafty wares at a couple of the local fairs and markets here in the area.  First we set out to the Saturday Farmers and Crafters Market in nearby Paso Robles.  Held every weekend, year round (unless really increment weather…like rain…haha!) this little market is very sweet and a lot of fun to be involved with.  While it was chilly, it was sunny and bright. 

After closing that table up around 1:30pm, we drove out to our little town of San Miguel to set up for the Christmas Electric Lights Parade and Craft Faire.  It was a great showing of all the folks in town and a great opportunity to meet some of the people who reside here.  We had a lot of fun chatting with the kids that just loved Rocket Pack Crafts and showing off upcycled goods from my side, 23 point 4 degree tilt. 

The little parade held after dark was just adorable!  We had so much fun seeing all the cars in the parade lit up, Santa on the fire truck, and the mariachi dancers of all ages (the kids were too cute!  Sorry, no good pics from it, though.)

We have since decided to continue doing the Saturday Market and have now done our 4th one this last Saturday.  With gorgeous weather, Kaitlin, Ric and I have had fun talking to people and selling our goods.  We have been working on a better displays, etc, each time, and each time we are little nicer!

Hope you had a great New Years!!  Can’t wait to share the new New Year’s thoughts and ideas with you soon!

Ash

Making our little RV a Home

After we arrived, we had worked hard to make our little RV “Oliver” a home for us.  First was to find a kitchen table that would fit in our space but that we could move to clean, etc.  After much searching, we decided that we could not find something just right.  So we decided to make ourselves one.  We needed materials, so we took the pallets from our solar panel and decided to make it into a our new little table.

After disassembling the pallet, we began to create our new table…

Ric and Kaitlin working on the table…

It’s coming together!

Final touches…Ric used a torch to create burns in the wood.  Then after a little clear varnish, viola!  I just love it!  It fits perfectly and looks great!

Next was to create some slipcovers for the furniture that existed in the RV.  We put some cute fabric to use and made slip covers for the dinette and the pull-out couch.  We used the same fabric that we used on the couch for a privacy curtain at the front of the cab part of the RV.

(Privacy curtain at the back and our sorta messy little table.)

(The couch with its new cover)

(Ok, totally looks messy here, but I assure you this is pretty organized for this tiny space!  Check out my cute little slip cover to the right on the little dinettes with the little pockets.)

Added a cute little chandelier (found this on sale and made of cardboard, so it is perfect!)

It is a little messy still, but that may just be part in parcel for such a tiny space.  We always have something we are working on out.

More soon on our crafting exploits in Paso Robles and in San Miguel!

Ash

Big changes and exciting new adventures...

There are some big changes headed down the pipeline.  I have made Eugene, OR my happy little home for over 10 years now, and it has treated me rather well.  I have learned a lot, met wonderful people, loved the natural environment here and had the opportunity to work in a field I am passionate about.  But change is good, and it is time for brand new adventures.  So, my hubby, my friend, and I, along with all our animals, are downsizing dramatically to fit into our new-to-us 1986 Winnebago and traveling down to our new home in Central California to try our hand at raising some animals and farming a little.  It is scary, but also so very exciting!

I will make sure to share with you all the transformations of our little Winny (we have named it Oliver) as we get it all spiffied up and ready to live in. (Have you heard of glamping?  Because if not, look that up!  Or here, check out my pinterest board on ideas for my tiny house renovations!  Or check out this earlier post of another blogger and her adventures in glamping!)

Here are some before pics of Oliver.  (By the way, driving a 26ft RV is some experience in itself!)

So far, we have torn out the carpet and linoleum and repainted the interior all white.  Pics of that to come as soon as the paint job is completely finished.  But already there is a huge difference and it feels much more bright and even gives the illusion of a larger space.

So stay tuned for our big adventures in remodeling, traveling, and relocating!  The big move happens at the end of next month!  So much to do!

Ash

Weddings galore!

Wow....I just looked at the last time I actually blogged...it has been WAY too long!  I big reason for this was that I was helping friends and family get ready for weddings.  There were 3 weddings in a one month period, 2 of which I helped with, and one of which was my little sister!

First wedding I assisted by sewing a corset for my friend who was a bridesmaid here.  The bride and groom had a sweet wedding with a steampunk theme to it. 

I somehow missed getting a pic of the bride!  But there was an awesome photo booth, where we got a lot of fun and crazy photos taken. Like the one at the bottom left. 

The next wedding was my little sister's wedding!  Crazy to know my lil' sis is now grown up and married. It was a fun and gorgeous wedding.

I loved the colors and the dresses my sis chose for the girls.  And I must say that my hubby was pretty excited about the groomsmen's outfits, too.  But my hubby and I had to switch the shoes up at some point....(bottom right photo).  A good friend of mine performed the ceremony, my dad made the awesome arbor, and everyone pitched in on food, set up and take down.  I even had good friends helping take these wonderful pics! It was really nice.

Then this last Saturday was the last of the weddings with my one of my cousins.  They got married in Hood River, OR, and it is a very pretty part of Oregon.  And they lucked out with the weather (as did all the weddings, actually) as there was a couple days of down pours with lightning the days approaching this wedding.

It was great to see and catch up with some of the family whom I had not seen for years (way, way too long).  The ceremony was held at a vineyard and the reception was conveniently located just up the road at the bride's grandmother's house. (And grandma was so very cool! We enjoyed chatting with her about times she rode a Harley!) It was very nice.

I have more to share from our crazy summer soon.  But for now, I am just feeling excited for all the newly weds we know! (And somewhat relieved that all the weddings are done!)

Ash