While making a sweet potato and apple puree for Aidan's lunches I found lots of sprouted seedlings. So once I finished and cleaned up I planted them all! Then figured I should plant my cucumbers, butternut squash and cat mint. I planted a tini tiny garlic clove by the sycamore tree in back. I still need to plant the sunflower seeds I collected last year and the herbs.


Update on the oily hair! My blend of oils and no shampooing appears to be working! My hair is less greasy by far! Plus it's healing the rope burns on my ankles!

Gala seedlings

Sweet tater & apple

Bar seating

Grand adventure 

New rug

Will I ever finish this!

Cinquefoil not strawberry 

Bar seat damage

Wee Aidan has been a bit fusy the last few days. Not sleeping well, noming his hands, not wanting to drink, spitting up and lots of crying for grammy & auntie. Daddy had to go pick him up yesterday he was so distraught. He's having a better day today. Besides waking up early & spitting up he's eating well & has been sleeping for the past 2 hrs.

While he sleeps I've been working on my patterns. Fixing errors, adding embellishments & in general preparing them for sale. To do this I am required to reknit all of them! Well not really but I am! Some of my patterns are more notes then pattern.....& some I forget what was common to me when I was kniting them for sale! Shame on me!

So this bonnet was a game in yarn chicken. Truthfully I failed! The band I would liked to have thicker & I would like a scalloped edging. Still looks cute with all that! The pattern is ready for typing and may get posted in the next few days. Keep a look out if you like it!

The red hats are coming along nicely. I've modified my cable beanie pattern slightly to make them a touch larger, since Aidan's head seemed to grow out of his within the week! I definitely enjoy knitting up these quick little hats! I just wish I could see all the wee bairns wearing them!

I've also been selected to be a test knitter for Knit a Bit of Whimsy. I'm almost ready to start this pattern as well. The yarn I've selected is a bit larger then what she used so I might knit up 2. One in Bernat Roving with a contrasting yarn of James C. Brett Rustic. Like I used for the Balaclava. [Still don't know if I want to sell this pattern or just make a youtube follow along video] The second cowl I think I'll use Lion Brand Tweed Stripes. It's the correct wpi but might prove to cluttered. We'll see. I can always frog it!

I did some crazy baking these last few days. Chocolate chip cookies for my mate and as a gift for some alpaca fur! Then the crazy part...I made macarons! Whipped that meringue by hand!

The macarons were actually easier than I was thinking going into it. The hardest part was hand whipping the meringue. After all that work though, the damn things stuck and I had to cut them from the cookie sheet....I almost scraped the whole lot! Luckily I persevered! They taste great and got lots of complements! So I have a few things I'll change about my recipe but not much. These will definitely be on Iron Shot Cafe's menu!!!

Well it's finally time to retire my beloved shirt.

So I made nursing pads out of it!

Finally finished the dream catcher. Thoughts?

Finished painting Aidan's room, got his baskets hung, his drawers on (still need to add the handles & do some touch up) and got the custom curtain rod up!

Now besides touch up I need to get some curtains made and finish his dream catcher!

Baby room update!

I can't wait to finish this project. All I need is a nice thick chunk of cedar to then carve out room for the cap. Add a hook for my gear which I also haven't finished making. Man I'm slow!

Table cover is all done. Again I must thank my mysterious coworker for giving us the scraps of linen. All that's needed now is for it to settle.

Got some gifts wrapped. Made some good coffee freshly ground with my trusty, antique burr. Now sipping my press with the guard puppy wondering why I'm taking her photo! LOL!

Gifts for an Irish lady!

Morning Press....just look at that crema!

Sipping my press with the puppy dog

Blessings from us to you!

Blessings to all, all around the Earth!

In my attempt to organize my studio I've decided I need to clean out some projects.

From previous posts you see that I've finally gotten some mending out of the way and here I'm getting some finished projects out. They are for sale on my facebook page Jewett's Faire Shoppe. I'm also trying to knock out my WIPs .... this is gonna take forever!

Link inspired booties!

Working hard to finish this corset for the renesaunce festival! I honestly need a rump roll or paniers to help the authenticity of it, but I'm not seeing that happen without my sewing machine. Which is inconveniently packed away. I'll definitely have to get one made for Rendezvous!

Handsewn front lacings

I'm hand sewing the front lacings ... because what else would I do! I wonder if it'll fit under my bodice? O.o I gotta check that!

The corset

Homemade mead! Family recipe from old man Wayne. I cooked, then let sit for 3 days. Now I wait 3 months! When I opened the oven this morning it smelt so strong ... good but OMG strong. Go little yeasties!

I've got so many things going on ... per usual. I'm working hard at becoming self-sufficient, and boy is it hard. Working two jobs, heading to mothers to work my garden, job hunting, and most importantly (for me at least) house hunting. To say the least about selling my crafts. If I can get my farm I'll be one step closer so homesteading.

I'll have less travel time because my garden will be right outside my home. Watering will be so much easier and I can do it in the morning to reduce the chance of mold. When I get home I can weed while I unwind from social over exposure! Quick canning/fermenting/smoking ets. Though bringing everything home isn't really a big deal. (unless I'm riding the bike and I find a lot of ripe goodies)

I'll have more room for organizing.  As my garden supplies will be in the garden shed ... or the garage. Either way out of my craft room! Plants (aside from a few house plants) will be outside growing strong. I may even move my crafts to the barn. A small office as it were, not a dusty stall. In case anyone's unfamiliar with clean barns. Oh, and a full sized kitchen! Even a small kitchen will have plenty of room for a pressure caner and my cooking supplies.

I'm super excited about my lemoncello. I only started it last month, so I have 2 months to go but it's already looking good. I need to rain in my
impatience.

I mentioned yesterday that my niece loved her new dress. The effort and attention to details makes me very proud of myself. I lined the antique rose bodice with a pale pink cotton. The skirt is a dark mahogany which is pleated. There's a pocket made from scrap pieces that I hand stitched. I also hand stitched the front neck with an uneven blanket stitch. I even stitched around the arms.


Photo curtisy my sister

Chain stitch/crochet button loops

Detailed stitches

Pocket actually works

French seams and narrow hem

Side note:  Queen Anne's Lace! I thought the heart was only purple, but last evening I found one that was red. A deep red to be sure. Makes a more accurate legend. Apparently she loved making lace and one day she pricked her finger and a single drop of blood landed on the flower. Now, I know purple is the royal color but I'm sure they still bleed red.

End note:  What does a white caterpillar mean again? Bad snows? While working in my garden last night I found this little cutie hanging out with the sunflowers. I moved him to the bushes!

Random-ness ... Speedway surprizingly has good lunches!

I'M BACK! Did ANYONE miss me?!

 

I participated in the Old Northwest Territory Primitive Rendezvous, this year known as the Old North Wet! For there was never a lack of rain! Taking advantage of a most wonderful thunderstorm I did some rain dancing. I was quickly soaked and it was good fortune I was wearing a bodice as chemise become transparent when wet. The rain wasn't good for most people though. Were all the people who came early set up; flooded out! The staff had to get a pontoon to move the camps I heard. Even moved a lot of people had creeks flowing through their tents after that thunderstorm. We were fortunate that ours was dry ... ish!

 

It was just my uncle and me as my cousin and brother both worked. In fact my girlfriends couldn't come wither due to work. Makes me begin to like my job again ...

 

We made interesting new friends and caught up with old ones!

 

Wolfy! I think the only person to hit the squirrel!



Showing off his fancy duds!

I got a fancy tent. When we were setting up camp uncle Greg offered a rug for my floor. So couldn't pass it up. I got a woven blanket due to my skin not liking the wool, a fleece sleeping bag, and I put the wool blanket at my feet over the woven one ... and I was still cold! Oh and I had an air mattress! Woot! I then went out and got another woven blanket and a cast iron skillet! Which I can season with beeswax! I'm so trying this now that I'm home.

My fancy tent!

I took first place in archery. It wasn't too hard considering everyone was having a bad time of it. However I spent most of my time working on a bow! Two Knives helped me start with a log, split it and whittle it down to a bow! I'm still stoked about it! I can't wait to see it after he takes it home and twists the limbs for me. When he brings it to the Eastern he's gonna tell me how to finish it!

Sanding the bow

Bowyers Apprentice

Working hard!



Spring has Sprung ... or So I Thought!

It's a good thing i started planting when I did because now it's snowing again! What crazy Ohio weather!

Yesterday, with our lovely 65° temperature I took my lemon tree outside and transplanted her into a larger pot. I even added a cute decorative stone scape to the top. Lucky me this time the roots weren't bound or rotting but rather looked mighty healthy. I'm hoping for flowers this year but I'm pretty sure that wont happen until at the least next year when she's 4. I think anyways. I planted the seed in February of 2010 ... I think.


Then upcycling all my k-cups as planters I started some seeds. It turns out that off all my seed collecting last year I somehow forgot the Roma tomatoes. I mean really, how badly can I mess up! I'm going to dig through ALL my seed stores and see if I just miss placed them. In the mean time I've got a yellow heirloom (one of those gourd shaped tiny ones), a grape, and 2 vine tomatoes. That leaves 6 pots for Roma. I also started strawberries again (hopefully they do better this year), a poblano pepper, and a jalapeno plant. The jalapenos last year were deadly!

My rosemary died over the winter and after reading that it's not cold hardy I don't plan to get another one until I have a green house. The lavender seedlings did fine all winter but are now starting to show signs of stress. The crumpling leaves make me think it's lacking water but the dirt is nice and damp virtually on a constant basis. I transplanted some of the seedlings into the castoff pot of the lemon tree and the rest into an upcycled cup then moved both of them into a tiny green house I purchased for my seeds. The new soil and warmer weather I hope helps. I'm going to give half of them away this year if they perk back up.

That was all yesterday. Today, I took our largish tree outside in the 31° and wet weather ... After the rain had stopped and transplanted him into a bigger pot I'd gotten for him yesterday. The roots were starting to bind so I cut them back a bit with very nervous hands and loaded on the new dirt. I even had to go out and get more, the new pot was so big. It was really the only option I had outside of ceramic which at a size bigger than the pot the tree was already in would have been too heavy for me to have carried comfortably. As it was the dirt, tree and new pot made my numbing fingers hurt. I'd guess it to weight about 40lbs. It's got a whole bag of dirt after all.

Some bad news in my farm hunt. ... It's not going to happen for at lest another year. The banks don't seem to want to give me the loan. However, mother wants to travel and can,t manage it in the way she wants with the horse being around. So she's thrown around the idea of making me the care taker. She'll get a condo to move her stuff to and use as a home base then gallivant around the world while I happily move back into the old farm house. A few things will need some fixing, it's over 200 years old after all, but in the all it'll be perfect. I've got grand plans for it!

My sister doesn't think I'll have to worry about having to move out due to the farm selling (that's mom's goal for the farm) anytime soon so I can get my money out of a garage and chicken coop. Those are the two main things I'd build first. The coop would be the easiest as I'd just convert the old ice house. The garage would be built from the ground up. I've got 2 locations to consider for it. 1 I would need to build an access point for the septic system the other would just be at the edge of the drive.

It's probably all just wishful thinking!

I should get back to knitting more booties. They are moving pretty quickly through the store.

Buckeye Booties



The hostus blooms again!

My how my lemon seedling is growing. She's not 2yrs old.

A succulent leave I'm attempting to propagate in my wee greenhouse.