Monthly Archives: November 2014
“I spy” #2
The first quilt took me 5 days to complete. There was a lot of learning involved with this new program. This one took only one and a half days. Still much learning involved as I used different features. Handiquilter instructors much be the most patient people on earth. Below is a close-up of some of the quilting.
Tomorrow is the Sew Fun informercial day
Crispy day
We had another lovely, crispy, sunny day. At 7 this morning, the temperature was up to 28 degrees. However, midday it did get to the early 40s.. My brother sent me a photo of his snow laden car in Ohio earlier today. I hope all of you in other colder parts of the country are enjoying the cold and snow and getting a chance to stay inside and create fun things .
Nothing is going very rapidly. I did get a quilt half quilted and then spent some time spinning wool.
Then I pulled out these socks to work on. Size one needles make very slow progress, but if I keep knitting a bit each day, they will get done
Nighties for the girls
It really amazes me how long little doll gowns can take. I could make a child an outfit in the same length of time. Yes, this is for a child, but for her doll. And today, I made two of them. I need to speed up the sewing between now and mid December.
While making lunch, I spied this fellow walking on ice.
Along with a good multi-vegetable soup for lunch, I tried a new zucchini muffin recipe in which I used Bob’s gluten-free flour, EnerG egg substitute, coconut oil, and coconut sugar. We really enjoyed it and used it as the shortcake with our strawberries. You can find the recipe here
Ancestors
My brother and I are working on our ancestry. He is currently in Ohio where we hit a stumbling block and is talking to people and looking at the landscape, etc. It is interesting when you think that our ancestors had no stores or phones or modern life as we live it, when they first arrived at their new locations. They had to grow all they ate. sew what they wore, and make their furniture etc. Yes, eventually a store would arrive, but only bare essentials were available. What they did have and many of us don’t, were a circle of friends that worked together. If a major event happened, like butchering and/or canning day, or harvest time, or house building, they all pitched in and worked together. Even church with a potluck was an opportunity to get together.
If a joyous event or a disaster happened, they shared it. I remember going to see my grandparents in South Dakota in a very small town. It was big news and announced in their weekly paper that we arrived at 2 AM. All news there was big news. And every Saturday evening – at least during the summer, many of the surrounding people met in the street in front of the local soda fountain for visiting. I can remember them out in the street, chatting, while the children were allowed a 10 cent ice cream cone. (I also remember asking my father for a dime for ice cream which he gave me and then asking mom, which she gave me – but I had enough sense to know better than to use both. After we got home, I was asked for the other dime back) And no one seemed particularly concerned where their child was as the children were all mingling. It seemed all business was everybody’s business.
Perhaps the lack of comradeship today is causing many of our social problems. We often don’t know our neighbors and certainly not most of their joys and sorrows. Today we would consider this nobody’s business, but our own. However, then you knew who your were and that you were needed. And you knew that whatever you did would soon be known by all your family friends and their friends. That’s so very different from texting someone. And certainly today our children aren’t needed in the same sence they were in pioneer days.
I’m on a couple lists where people are going “back to the land” and interestingly enough, this is one of the things they are finding to be so very helpful. When a big job is to be done, they schedule it and several families work together. If there are children involved, one may assigned to watch them while the others work. They enjoy a potluck meal and the work is done so much faster and more enjoyably.
It is food for thought.
Chicken freezer camp
Yes, there are a number of photos, but unless you request them, I’ll spare you . I took the 20 chickens over to a friend’s place this morning and five were traded for 5 extra roosters that he had. He wanted to keep the younger hens for layers. The others were processed and are now in the dog’s freezer. You might be interested in the fact that he pulled fully formed eggs with shells out of some of the layers and behind this egg were 4 yolks in descending size waiting to have shells and be laid.
I bought some feed for the animals and came home. We put all that away and headed off to get the last of the dog bones from the wild venison that will be available unless we find a new source. I was pleased to get it as the dogs can spend a lot of time chewing bones instead of destroying other things.
We got home about dark and put the bones in the freezer. It’s been a long cold day and we are very much enjoying the Sabbath rest.
Sewing/craft show
Mary and I attended the sewing/craft show today. This year there were a lot of fabrics, patterns, machines, and notions for sale. There was also the required embroidery designs and a bit of thread. Here is Mary shopping.
It seems that each year there are fewer vendors and fewer things in which we are interested. We each bought tweezers and that was all. I’m not sure if that is because there are fewer things of interest, higher prices, or because we have what we need. I took photos of a couple of booths just to prove that we were there this year, though we may not repeat this. Our time would have been better spent making items and using some of what we have instead of out gathering more ideas and tempting ourselves with more product.
We did see these rather nifty little beads that swell up and are very pretty in vases. They come in colors and are so pretty. They hold a good measure of water so you can actually grow some houseplants in them.
Then it was off to pick up my co-op order. If several of us order together we get better prices. Today I had ordered apples and cauliflower. DH would like some applesauce since he finished the last of what we had. Perhaps next week, I can work it in.
And the last project was capturing 20 chickens to take to a friend’s house tomorrow morning. They are spending the night in cages as it is far easier to catch them roosting than running around the yard,
Speed bumps
Speed bump #1. WIND
The skylight windows were blown off the entrance and front patio last night with all the wind we had. Here are the photos I have to share with you In this first one, I’m standing under where the windows should be.
In this photo, you can see that one of each of the left three was blown up onto the roof
And the partner of each of these three was thrown to the ground and broken.
The poor Bantams had no covering over their heads at all. Fortunately, they found refuge in the garage for the night or rest of the night.
Speed Bump #2 CRASH
That’s my computer hard drive that crashed and hopefully will be up and running again in a week.
Speed Bump #3 Quilt error
I started and got about 1 square foot of quilting done when the cord must have caught on something and the machine jumped out-of-place and I had the privilege of taking all those little stitches out.
I’m calling these speed bumps because I am very blessed. The windows that broke were all outside the living area and we remained dry and comfortable. I thought of all the people who didn’t have shelter and warmth last night and counted my blessings. The contractor came by this afternoon and we will see how long the backup is for the insurance adjuster But no matter how long, we are blessed as we DO HAVE WARM SHELTER for which I am very thankful.
For the chickens, tarps are inexpensive and they will be sheltered once again. I’m thankful they have feathers to keep them warm.
For the computer issues, I thought about how incredible it was that a mere 20 years ago, I didn’t even know how to work one. Now it seems that I am dependent on one to stay in touch with a bigger world. And the words “Knowledge increases, men run to and fro” enter my mind as I type. Again I am blessed that the repair shop is only a half hour away (when there are no trees across the roads) and that people there can help get me back in touch with all of you.
Quilt error: I am so very, very thankful that I am not making these quilts by hand. It just wouldn’t happen. I pray for the recipients while making them, hoping they will feel warm hugs when they use them.
So the day only had minor bumps. Maybe sometimes we just need to slow down and isn’t that the reason for speed bumps.
Windy and powerless
OK. I’m going to try to quickly write this between outages. I don’t know how strong the wind is currently, but it blew out 3 of our 8 skylight panels in front of the house and that’s a FIRST. We were also without power from about 9 AM until 2 PM and it flashes intermittently now. So dependent am I on all these machines that use power that I could not use today. Oh my!. It makes me realize this world is very different from the one in which I lived even 20 years ago. And the folks who don’t have a place to get out of the wind, how they must suffer! It is forecast to be very windy through the night and cold through the coming week while adding rain.
I did start a new pair of socks before the grandchildren and our daughter arrived for another Rummy cube game . We went out to eat (oh, yes, electric garage doors and property gate with which to contend) Then we came back to visit and play games. 9-year-old Bret was fascinated that one of the hens lays blue/green eggs. He wondered what a hen would be worth is she could lay striped rainbow-colored eggs.
Then tonight, while it is very cold, and I did not wear gloves, since I was going to dash out and feed the sheep. One of them decided to go the wrong way. Then the half-grown chicks couldn’t remember – or so it seemed – where the coop door was, so were running around trying to get in after the others were locked up. It took half an hour of work in the freezing cold, but all the animals were finally where they belonged for the night and I came in to warm up.
Here is the pattern and the started socks. Since I’m using size 1 needles, these will be going very slowly.
Success is so sweet
