I wonder I am the only person longing for silence, solitude and simplicity who is attracted to the idea of a cottage industry? Probably not. Undoubtedly it’s a great deal of work, creating everything for your business right in your little cottage. At its best, a romantic dream. And yet, I came across a simple cottage industry on the road out to the Machair, the common land on Iona. Iona Pebbles < www.ionapebbles.co.uk/ > sells lambs wool, jewelry and art prints and cards.
The owner, Val MacCormick, raises the sheep, which you can see right outside the window of her shop that is attached to her house. When the lambs are a year-and-a half, she gathers their sheared wool and sends it to a mill in southern England that dyes and spins for small farms such as hers. “That’s why it is so soft,” she told me. She sells skeins, as well as caps and hand warmers (and instructions) that she has knit during the winter. This lovely woman also wanders the beach for stones and Iona marble that she makes into jewelry. Also for sale are cards and prints produced, as her web site tells us, “either, from Val’s own original artworks, or from her husband Gordon’s photography.”
A cottage industry for sure, as well as the atmosphere, which comes from her generous heart. On my next visit to Iona I’m going to pack fewer clothes so I’ll have more room in my suitcase for this delicious gift of the lambs.
The owner, Val MacCormick, raises the sheep, which you can see right outside the window of her shop that is attached to her house. When the lambs are a year-and-a half, she gathers their sheared wool and sends it to a mill in southern England that dyes and spins for small farms such as hers. “That’s why it is so soft,” she told me. She sells skeins, as well as caps and hand warmers (and instructions) that she has knit during the winter. This lovely woman also wanders the beach for stones and Iona marble that she makes into jewelry. Also for sale are cards and prints produced, as her web site tells us, “either, from Val’s own original artworks, or from her husband Gordon’s photography.”
A cottage industry for sure, as well as the atmosphere, which comes from her generous heart. On my next visit to Iona I’m going to pack fewer clothes so I’ll have more room in my suitcase for this delicious gift of the lambs.