What I'm Working On

I love to spend time working on sewing projects in the evenings. It helps me wind down and relax after a long day of chasing kids. One of my favorite ways to sew is by doing hand embroidery or crewel work, so when I came across this block of the month project using red-work embroidery, I just had to join in. I enjoy quilting too, so this is the perfect combination. My fabric choices were quite limited due to my location and the fact that I left so much behind in Michigan or simply sold it off before moving. I had to go with a pastel floral palette, not something I normally like, so it will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Garden Bounty

The garden is winding down, broccoli is spent for the most part, still have some plants out there for seed. The onions are all out and stored after a week of drying in the shed. I braided several of them this year for easy storage and use, plus they just look nice:)

This is an heirloom variety that is becoming scarce, I was lucky enough to get some sets and seeds from a friend on the Homesteadingtoday board. The sets did well, but the wind kept knocking the tops over, so I finally pulled them. They are a nice size, but due to our cool, wet weather up here they were put in later than they should have been and I think they would have gotten a bit bigger if they had been able to withstand that wind. I'm happy with the results though, especially with this being the first gardening year for us up here.

The tomatoes and peppers have been turning for several weeks despite the cool weather and too much shade. The tomatoes are being tossed into the freezer for now. Once I have a good amount I will be making sauces and salsa for canning, the plants are still loaded but are turning a few at a time instead of all at once. Before anyone suggests it, I did plant a determinate variety, it's got to be the weather and location. As for the peppers, they are one of the easiest veggies to put up.

Just remove the seeds, chop up, bag, and pop into the freezer. Can't get much easier than that.

We will be making a lot of improvements to the soil and Jesse is busy taking care of some of that shade today. I've learned a lot about gardening up here and next year we will be able to really expand the gardens and step up production.

It's Not a Square!

I'm so excited! I finally managed to crochet something other than a potholder or scarf and it turned out really nice. Mind you the colors are a bit washed out in the pics, the yarn is actually a really vibrant blend of blues, purples, and teals with some white mixed in. It's a nice artisan dyed wool I've had for ages and just never found the right project for it. Well I have enough left to make around 4 more of these adult sized hats, so there are still more projects to be made from this wonderful yarn.

Now I have never been able to read a pattern, whether it be for crochet or knitting. It all just seems like Chinese to me, no matter how many times I try. Luckily there are some very talented people willing to post how-to videos on YouTube. I learn best by watching demonstrations and who knows, maybe one of these days I'll actually learn to read those patterns!

Back To Normal

Yesterday was wonderful. I got most of the laundry done, whipped my hair into a 1940's style, organized my bedroom, cleaned the bathroom top to bottom, made black bean brownies, and still had time to relax with a movie while the tots took a nice long nap. It was bliss.

This summer has been a blast and we have all enjoyed our new town and all it's quirks, but there is something to be said for the mundane. Anyone who knows us personally, knows that my oldest son is somewhat hyper. The kind of hyper that the professionals would want to medicate, but since I don't believe in drugging my children into submission we just deal with it.

Enter the school year! This is the time of year that we have set bedtimes and household routines. I get an eight hour break from yelling and trying to maintain order with the human tornado and he is thrilled to be in high school and looking forward to his Ag class every morning. Daniel is enjoying his new classes and having a blast with his football practice in the evenings. The tots are not nearly so wound up and they actually take naps. I can feel my sanity returning bit by bit, life is looking good.

The Chickens Are Safe At Last

We have always kept chickens no matter where we lived. It's important to me to provide healthy food for my family and the commercial eggs and chicken sold in supermarkets just are not the best there is. Plus I just love chickens and all their antics. Unfortunately we have had a problem with neighboring dogs chasing and killing our birds. They have a pen and coop, but it's toward the back of the property and not fully enclosed. Chickens being birds, they do fly and it's hard to keep them contained. I love my neighbors and I love my birds, so a solution was needed.

I finally came up with one on Saturday. We have a small shed in the backyard that we really don't use. I have a few boxes stored in there and we keep some compost supplies in there, but that still leaves a lot of room that could be used. This turned out to be perfect for a small chicken coop, we just divided off part of the shed for the chickens and we still have room for storage. Plus, it's closer to the house. That part will matter a lot more this winter.

How to do this on the cheap was another matter. Fortunately my husband is always finding useful items in the trash and we were able to re-purpose an old metal bed frame for the walls. Another cut section of rigid fencing for a door, two pieces of scrap lumber, and some screws, we had a coop in the shed. Total cost for this part - $0.

Then we had to figure out the run. I wanted to keep the chickens from getting out and the dogs from getting in, so it had to be covered and sturdy. After weighing the options, we went with cattle panels and poultry wire. Not the cheapest option for sure, but it will last for years and can always be re-purposed if needed.

Now if they would just start laying those eggs already.......

Almost There!

We have hot water again! We went without for several weeks while we worked on the bathroom. The one that was in the house was too small, not working properly, and started leaking after it was moved. I finally got fed up when the leak caused an electrical short and we spent a night tearing it out and fixing the effected wiring. I was hoping for an on-demand, tank-less water heater, but our century old home needs an electrical update before it can handle it. Until that day arrives, we had to go with a big tank. It's big, it's ugly, but it provides hot water and it cost a fraction of the tank-less models, so it's not all bad and I'm just happy to stop heating my house up with steam every time someone needs a bath or the dishes need done.

Now if I could just get the trim up the bathroom would be complete! Maybe I can get to that this week, then again, I do tend to put off the small things. I need to work on that:)

No Such Thing As Wasted Food

You say you got distracted and scorched the rice? Have no fear! The chickens are here! lol

Pallet Playhouse

One of my fondest memories from childhood is playing in the backyard fort. We moved around a lot when I was a kid, but I always had a fort wherever we went. It was my little home outside of home and I was constantly improving on it.

Aaron has been working on his own fort all summer, begging scraps of wood after each improvement project or dragging home stuff he finds elsewhere. The tots have watched his work and tried to join in when possible, but big brother's don't like to share. They needed their own little house to play in.

Being a 'garbage man', my husband has access to all kinds of scrap that people toss out. I asked him to find me pallets for my compost bins and he brought home 8 used pallets a few days later. After adding onto my compost bins we decided to make the tots a playhouse with the rest. Four pallets, a few pieces of scrap plywood, a piece of leftover carpet, and some random paint we had sitting around and the tots have their little playhouse. The best part of this project was the price. FREE!


It still needs a few little touches, but for the most part it's done. Since it's easy to move, I'm planning a special garden for the kids next summer, with just the right plants to surround their little cottage, something I always dreamed of when I was a kid.

Sunday Snapshots

Giant Dala horse

Spending the day in Bismark

Pudge's favorite part of the museum

Monster broccoli