Soper Creek

Some of you may wonder why the Shop is named Soper Creek Yarn. Every business needs a name and I spent a lot of time thinking about this, years really. At one point one of the locations that may have been an option was at the back of another shop, so "Yarn in Back" was an option. Then in doing research it was suggested not to name a Knitting shop starting with the letter 'K', it takes up a whole file drawer in any suppliers office. Then there are all the great names already taken, you know them.


Soper Creek runs through most of the property that we live on, it makes its way towards Lake Ontario meandering through the Eastern side of Bowmanville, ending at Soper Creek park.
After dealing with building permits and talking about 'Soper Creek Watershed' the light bulb turned on! Soper Creek it was!



Just a few feet from our house, is a tiny little water way the makes its way down to Soper Creek. If like in the story "Paddle to the Sea" I built a little boat and set it free in our backyard it would make its way to Lake Ontario. For the past 25 years it's been The Husbands mission to control this little waterway. We have placed railway ties on the bank, only to have them wash away during the spring flooding. We have put in culverts only to have a driving spring rain wash away all the soil around it and send it floating downstream. Water will go where ever it wants, fortunately its only made its way into the basement only once.

Last night instead of the usual pick-up truck coming home, a tractor and wagon loaded with stones filled the driveway. Those of you who have grown up on a farm in the Canadian Shield will all know the joys of spring time 'rock picking'. Every year the frost brings up a whole new crop, ready to damage any piece of expensive farm machinery. I spent many hours following a tractor and wagon loading and then unloading tons of stones.

Yesterday friends down the road gladly shared their crop with us. Last night we unloaded the wagon, lining the stream with the stones.



So today, hands hurt and there are new muscles in my back! (There are more coming later!)