Category Archive: Life
After lunch, we went after straw. It makes a huge difference in how easy or difficult the garden is to plant in the spring. We use organic straw and the co-op has had a difficult time getting it this year. The farmers are tilling it back into the soil for water retention.
Since it was raining so hard, we just unloaded it and shoved it down the stairs. On a better weather day, we can distribute it.Storm warning
We are being threatened with a storm tonight and a major storm Saturday where we could lose power for 2-4 days. I don’t think that will happen, but if I disappear, it will be because we don’t have internet.
Surface clearing adventure
Even after removing the spinning items, the surfaces in this room were still hidden. Today, I decided, was the day to fix that. Surfaces here are magnetic and it seems as fast as they get cleared, they attract something else.
As you know things get worse before they get better and they did indeed. It was a good thing I had a chiropractic appointment about this time as I was feeling overwhelmed.
The appointment was an hour away, so we met up with Jen for a lunch at a vegan Thai place. The only thing they have for lunch is a buffet. I’d rather have simple food with out a lot of sauce, but the food was good. Then it was the long drive back in heavy rain with very slow traffic.
This surface was cleared and the card table was eliminated.
This surface was nearly cleared, at least enough to put the spinning wheel and a few knitting supplies where I can easily use them.
And I moved the bookcase, which meant dumping everything out, sorting and putting it back in an orderly manner. I tossed a few books, eliminated several catalogs. I don’t know what happened, but it seems as if things multiplied as I was putting them away. That could be because some of the books were on the table that I eliminated. The bookcase is full once again.
Now I need to make up some of this wool and spin some more wool before I add anymore anything to this room. All the sock yarn that was in here has been relocated to the closet. And the very best thing is that I found the sheep registrations that have been missing for more than a year.
d
d
s
This spinning area is perfect!
I really needed a spinning area as the fleece and spun fibers are creeping across too many surfaces and this closet hasn’t been used for much.
DH showed me how to put up the shelves that I purchased yesterday and can you believe, I lost no time in getting them up for the spinning area. I still need to purchase a board for the right side so items don’t spill off the shelves, but I can do that soon.
They are already filled. Doesn’t this make the most perfect spinning area for what I want at my fingertips? Yes, there are many more fleeces, but they are not taking over my bedroom like these items were. I am so pleased to get this done. Thank you, Lisa, for the idea. Now I need another closet like this for the knitting supplies that have no home. And now that the table these were on is mostly cleaned off, I have room to spin again.
After exercise this morning, I picked, seeded and lay peppers on the dehydrator shelves. My hands and nose are still burning tonight. Perhaps I should have worn gloves and a mask.
A table runner, flies, and shopping
A table runner is the next project. This one will take a bit more time because I’m doing it between several non-quilting chores.
I have it cut out and have a dozen of each of these sewn together.
The fruit flies were so horrific this morning after all the canning, etc. that I bombed part of the house. I hate doing this, but I also hate those flies in everything. How did our grandmothers manage this and they not only had fruit flies, they had horse and every other type of fly to deal with in the summer. The directions tell you to leave the house for 4 hours. So what should I do while not in the house, why go shopping, of course, and I did.
I have a 2 young citrus trees to bring in for the winter, so needed to keep them up off the floor. These were half price, so they came home with us.
And I was so inspired by my daughter’s shelving this weekend, that I decided I needed some shelves to hold my spinning supplies and some of my knitting supplies. So 4 of these shelves (36″) also came home with me. Lowe’s had only 2 on the shelf, so I asked for more. They had them in the inventory, but can you believe, it took over an hour for them to locate them – high next to the ceiling – and then to find the lift thing and someone to bring it over and go up in it to bring those shelves down. And look what I found OCTOBER 12, while I was waiting!
So much of the Christmas supplies are out. We haven’t even had Halloween yet!
How to “waste” a good sunny day
To “waste” a good sunny day, I started by walking my steps. After breakfast, I put the frozen bananas in bags and into the freezer and then finished peeling and freezing the rest of the bananas. Yea!, now all 160# of bananas are frozen.
Then I went to the gym for an hour of activity. Made lunch and went next door to put as much of the garage contents as possible into my car to take to Goodwill. I raced off for a doctor’s appointment and when I got settled into a room, the doctor looked at my chart and said, “Your vitamin D is high, but right at the top limit, so we should wait to recheck it during the winter” Then he said “why are you here?” And I said, “that’s a very good question. I’m here because your office called and set this appointment.” So he decided I need a cholesterol count and fasting sugar count just to keep things current. I agreed to do that, but since it has to be on an empty stomach, I can choose to do it on a rainy day.
Now to “waste” more good sunny day, I went to Goodwill to give them all these treasures, many of which were Christmas items. They had a nice long line of cars there and by the time, my car was unloaded, I was in afternoon traffic.
The sheep and dogs are fed and put in their night quarters and maybe I can spend some time in the sewing room this evening I’d like to start a table runner. Oh, and through all of this, I did reach my step goal for today, so perhaps it wasn’t a total “waste”.
Road trip to Portland, then back to bananas
Our road trip started with threatening skies overhead. We went to visit
our daughter and grandson in the Portland area. He will be a teenager this coming month. It is amazing how much the younger generation knows about computers. I have asked him to learn how to make a website so he can put one up for the sheep and fleeces I hope to have for sale in the spring.
We had a lovely visit and had 2 special events that evening. First, we went to the church and watched slides from a trip a gentleman had recently made to Israel. I had never noticed before how much rubble there is in the area from prior buildings. He said that they try to put back the pieces that were original rather than use new materials. His slides reminded me a lot of the trip we took to Turkey a few years ago.
Then we went home and DH really wanted to watch African Queen which we all enjoyed.
DH didn’t feel so well today so we skipped the art museum and I drove home in pouring rain.
I peeled and sliced 100# of bananas when after we arrived home. They are now in the freezer. I will do the last 40# tomorrow. It is wonderful to have them all ready frozen when we get the urge to blend them and add berries for a treat. No it’s not “just like ice cream”, but it is a wonderful healthy substitute.
And this is the amount of knitting that I did on the trip. That’s correct. Only a sock cast on. So that means I have a project for the rest of the month. But it is really hard to knit and drive and I didn’t feel like knitting through the movie, so didn’t. I hope some of you understand. And I did not take a computer either. It really was “get away from it all”. The animals were excited to see us again as well.
Monster case and more yarn
These monster bags were really fun to make and went quickly. The zippers were easy to put in as well. This free pattern is from United Notions called Lil’ Monster Pencil Case. I think they are a bit big for pencil cases, but there are certainly many other uses for them. (Double click on red to get to the site).
Enough sock yarn for 9 more pair of socks arrived in my mail box. I love getting these packages. But I have enough now for the winter, so no more ordering.
Cleaning outside the new house, inside the barn
Today was cleaning day #1. I had the house and decks pressure sprayed. The house needs primer and two coats of paint, the deck foundations are fine, but the boards will have to be replaced. The fellows also helped me by moving the furniture out of the house and into the garage. Now the garage is quite full again, but the leftovers are all in one place. I have to call and see how much of it Goodwill is willing to take. The rest will probably end up as land fill.
And cleaning the barn – well, here are some photos which I took after some of the work has been done.
And this is looking much better than it did. By evening it was more organized, but it will be weeks before we have the barn looking like a horse barn again.
If machines were inanimate, then they would do what they are programmed to do. Both my embroidery machine and my quilting machine know – they absolutely know – the second I walk away from them. And just like toddlers or pets, that is the moment they choose to act up.