At the spinning wheel

"Merrily, cheerily, noisily, whirring
Swings the wheel, spins the wheel while the foot's stirring
Sprightly and lightly and airily ringing
Sounds the sweet voice of the young maiden singing."
Waller and Murphy

I was helping out at a local farm open day this afternoon when I encountered these two ladies giving a spinning demonstration. The lady on the right, wearing the checked apron, is called Esther and she inherited her wheel from her grandmother five years ago. she dyes and spins her own wool, and you can see examples in the picture. She had breast cancer last year so now she uses the wool she spins to knit a variety of garments such as shawls and kiddies clothes which she sells in aid of breast cancer charities.