Progress of Projects and Morning Rambling

(bottom two right drawers are only primed)

...still painting kitchen cupboards, and putting old knobs back on for now.  More to paint....

...I haven't had much free time to work on my knitted shawl, but it's down to the last 20 or so rows and then the fringe.

 ...weather has not been conducive to putting up outside Christmas lights - rain, rain and more rain.  It's not helping me dry my laundry either.  

...finally started a variegated blue set of pot holders for my Mom.

..the search for jobs has become a tedious headache.  Unless I want to be a truck driver or dancer, there isn't much out there right now.

...Tiger or Jasper got another mouse in the house (not sure which cat got it, but they are both getting treats.  

 ...my son's most current drawing, and soon to be for sale.

...my son took our youngest dog (Jesse) to the vet today for me.  He suffering from two puncture wounds on his paw that won't heal.  We have no idea what happened to him either.

  

Cat's Favorite Places, Health and Knitting Update

Tiger loves to hang out on my writing chair, but since I've been using it more often, he's found another location - in front of the corn/pellet burner.

I keep a clothing rack in front of my corn/pellet burner, to dry clothes, when I cannot hang them outside, or when they don't dry completely (after being outside).  Tiger loves to stay warm there.

 I'm down to the last 10 rows or so, and adding the fringe, on my knitted shawl.  

 Although I found "In Defense of Food" interesting, I am enjoying this book more.  This book explains the content and benefits of specific foods that folks should be including in their diet more.  Growing up, I can't remember being served brussel sprouts, Kale, or Swiss Chard.  We have started growing these in our garden, but there are so many other foods we should be eating too.  Watch out kids, Mom's adding more vegetables!

Tonights frugal dinner - Ham Bone Soup and homemade corn bread.  I have a few ham bones in my freezer, which come in handy for an inexpensive, but healthy dinner.  I am thankful I have one bag of soup beans left.  

My ham bone soup:  Wrap a ham bone in 2-3 layers of cheese cloth and tie with cotton string.  Place in a crock pot and fill with good water about 1/2 full.  Add a mix of soup beans that have soaked over night (I just buy the dry bean mix at the store and discard the flavoring packet).  I toss in what ever I have - frozen garden tomatoes, dehydrated green peppers, chopped onions, chopped celery and sliced carrots.  Today I added some potatoes.  I salt and pepper as needed, but the flavor is so good with the bone, I don't salt it sometimes.

I remove the bone about 3-pm, and continue cooking for another hour or so.  I typically cook on high 1 hour, then lower the heat to "low" for the rest of the time (if the beans are pre-soaked and rinsed).  I think I cook mine about 7 hours or so.  I serve it with corn bread. 

Kitchen Makeover Progress and Other Boring Stuff

Before

After - In Progress

I got the second coat of paint on 2 cupboard doors and 3 drawers.  I also got a second coat on the cupboard front itself.  When we moved in here, the cupboards did not have hardware.  We bought cheap knobs, and those will be replaced also, as income allows it.

The dishwasher hose, under the sink gave way the other day.  The clamp simply gave up, spraying water everywhere.  The back door knob is needing replaced now also.

I made 3 quarts of organic apple sauce, but was too tired to can it.  It's going to be eaten at breakfast, lunch and dinner for a fruit side.  I love making this, don't get me wrong, I just didn't have time to can it.  I love not having to recycle jars from store bought applesauce.

My son helped install new smoke alarms - all have been checked and have batteries.  He also took items to the recycling center and took the library returns in.  He also cleaned the chicken coop for me (YAY!)

All the chicken barn windows are now covered with plastic.  We just need to get the goat stalls going, and fast too.

I finished the last dishcloth for my Aunt, and working on scarves for those in need, next.

 Although we are still getting a few sunny days, some are cold and rainy.  I am still hanging my laundry outside.  This really helps on keeping our electric bill down, and it smells better anyway.

 

From the Handiwork Journal. . .

( Previously finished)

From the Handiwork Journal . . .

...finished two crocheted flower dishcloths, and one large knitted dishcloth for my Aunt.

 ...finished a small afghan.

Finishing Up ~ Surprise Mail

Found this unfinished project buried.  I pulled it out to work on a bit (hand towels).   I work on these in the evenings.


Today, I am just now putting 4 jars of relish in the canning pot, made 4 jars of hot pepper jelly earlier, put two loads of laundry on the line, watered all the gardens (lacking rain here again), weeded, harvested, and now have to get the clothes off the line.  I was hoping to finish earlier, but did not.  Here are more projects I am working on when I have the time.

Finished another pot holder set.

I'm still working on this Christmas crocheted lap blanket.

I started working on my handmade Christmas ornaments.  You'll soon see what these are for.

I'm continuing to knit washcloths for my Aunt, using a country blue cotton yarn.

Speaking of my Aunt, she sent me a surprise box of books.  I was so excited to have it delivered on a day where I needed a "pick me up."

Excerpts from a Journal Junkie

from the homesteading journal. . .

The garden is producing kohlrabi, lettuce, sugar snap peas, beets, organic red stem Swiss chard, collards, mustard greens, and radishes. The green beans, peppers, tomatoes and broccoli are just now coming in too.


The joke's on us.  The flat of cauliflower that we bought just down the road at the produce stand, was marked incorrectly.  It was not cauliflower.  It was kohlrabi.  Big bummer. 

The company hubby works for, dropped us off our insurance plan, and put us with their basic plan.  All because hubby forgot to fill out an online survey.  We are sunk.  We lost our co-pay, and don't have prescription coverage and have a huge deductible per person.  He's sending in an appeal, but it takes 45 days.  Basically, we'd have to spend out thousands before our insurance would pay anything.  We are paying a large amount to not have anything covered that was covered before.  The ridiculous part, is that these surveys ask you questions like "would you recommend this to someone?" We are very concerned, not only for our own sake, but for the falsehoods of this company.  Hubby put out e-mails and found out there are other employees that were dropped and not notified.

We are still seeking a buyer for our buckling.  We named him "weather man bleu."  If the weather is going to be very hot, we don't see him out.  If we see him out, it should be a decent day. He's having a very difficult time with the heat.

Queen Anne's Lace is in bloom, so I canned 5 -1/2 pints for the Farmer's Market.  I'll need more for stocking up. 

Here is the recipe: Queen Anne's Lace Jelly Recipe


Note: The key to this jelly setting is to stir constantly.



Temperatures have gotten up to 105° F here and today it will be around 97°F.  We are really hurting for rain.  Watering all of the gardens (vegetable, herb, and flower) is very tedious.

It was time to mix up another 5 gallon bucket of homemade laundry detergent.  This time I was grateful to have goat's milk soap to make it with.

We made another batch of homemade ricotta goat's milk cheese.  I plan to make cookies and a spinach frittata with the leftovers.  We already made vegetable lasagna. 
 

from the crafting journal . . .

I finally finished my knitted shawl. My 10 year-old is modeling it.  I did make mistakes and was about to rip it out and start over, but she wanted it.  I'm starting another one, and will add fringe to it.  I need the practice anyway.  I love this style.  It reminds of the one Caroline wears on the Little House on the Prairie television shows.

 
from the gratitude journal . . .

Today I am thankful for:

~the water hose that hubby hooked up a few years ago
~a bypass on our water softener to make watering better
~the water hose to cool off the dogs and goats
~the water hose to make watering the chickens easier
~God's protection and promises
 


from the family journal . . .

My son is now signed up for classes at a local college this fall.  He's working towards a degree in Art.

My 18 year-old daughter was accepted to another college, but if she cannot figure out a way to pay for it without loans, she is looking into the Marines.  She intends to work towards a degree with Equine.

Mom took the younger two girls for the weekend.  We gifted her with a dozen farm fresh eggs, a jar of wild black raspberry/honey syrup and a jar of strawberry-honey jam.
 

Braided Rag Rug, Heart Wall Paper Note Cards and More Projects

We weren't really snowed in yesterday, but we did get snow.  It was perfect for sitting down in front of the wood burning stove, and to start braiding a rag rug.  

Knitting Update ~ Dishcloths

I finally did it!  After all these years of buying these knitted dishcloths, I knitted not one, but two myself. 

The first one was a basic square, and I put it up for sale in my on-line store.  The second pattern involved a diagonal garter stitch.

I do not have size 7 needles, so I made it with size 8, but it ended up 2 inches smaller than the pattern stated.  I am also concerned, because my starting point and the ending point do not look the same.  You can't really see in this photo, but to me it appeared different.


I found another pattern on-line this morning, and the woman had the same feelings about the starting and ending points.  I will try her pattern also, and make sure to keep measuring as I knit.  


I'm excited to finally do this.  I am still crocheting, tatting and making other crafts, it's just been one day at a time.

Weekend Projects Completed

Another, much prettier scarf completed (knitted).  I have another skein of yarn, the same color, for another scarf also.  For the next one, I will need to make it a bit thinner on the width, so it will be longer.

We also, thanks to extended family, completed several yard projects.  The ground over the septic is now flat again, and ready to re-seed the grass and cut down the pipe.  We also made our own cement cap for the distribution on the septic/leach bed.  The back hoe ran over it and crushed it in last year.  They run about $50.00, so making it ourselves was a smart move.  Now, it will interesting on watching the men lift it and move it, once it has completely set.  It feels good to see work get completed. 

I have also been able to pick more wild black raspberries every day now.  I will soon be baking my first pie with them.  I never did get a picture of baking the quiche with milkweed flower buds, but will try to remember next time.  

Knitting Progress

There is an advantage to being home sick (horrible allergies) in bed - endless hour of crocheting and knitting.

I don't know how my youngest daughter sweet talked me into knitting her a scarf, but she did.  This scarf has doubled it's length since I took the photo.  The first trial scarf, I did in scrap brown yarn, was taken apart and put away for another project.  I have to say that this one is turning out better and with a prettier yarn.

Now....if I could just finished the crocheted blankets, the hand towel, and ..... and .... and .... 

It's all good!

Heritage Days ~ Spontaneous Sundays

My kids were chuckling early Sunday Morning.  It's not often they find their mother at the computer watching YouTube.  However, I was.  


After throwing my "How to Knit" kit in the "get rid of" box, I made one more effort to teach myself to knit.  I found a series of "how to's" that were slow enough for me to catch on.   Here is the first one, for anyone wanting to learn to knit.  I am now teaching one of the willing, daughters to knit.