The Garden: Part IV

Did I mention yet that my garden is now planted?! No, good! Well it is. I've got

• Blue potatoes
• Garlic
• Beets
• Carrots
• Red Onions
• Spinach
• Bok Choy
• Mild peppers
• Corn
• Beans
• Tomatoes

Once the corn comes up and the beans get bigger I'll be planting squash and of course as the others get close to ripening I'll plant more so I can keep a continues harvest of my favorites throughout the seasons. I still have a partial fence but the critters seem to be leaving my plants alone. Could be the dangling chimes I hung from a branch I planted or my wee kitty who has been seen bunny-ing (as apposed to mousing) near my garden. Either way I'm not complaining.

CRAFTING:

I'm going to generalize at this point. I'm still working on my shrug. At the rate things are going I might have it finished at the end of summer. :3 I'm also sewing my NOLA skirt ... by hand it would seem. Using the back stitch and french seams it's taking forever but in the end I'm hoping it'll be pretty stable. I may end up using the machine as I feel it's more secure. Perhaps I should just make smaller stitches. I did come across a neat trick. Wax your thread. Keeps it from tangling as easily and allows it to glide smoother through your fabric.

NOLA skirt

Then on Wednesday my sister brought her children and took me strawberry picking. Fun stuff and I now have enough strawberries to make some jam. On top of my Strawberry Balsamic jam I'll be making Strawberry in Pinot Noir. It's going to be yum! I just need to remember when I'm at my sisters to hijack her stock pot.

The Garden: Part III

So after spending days working about 4hrs each day and seeing little to no results on my digging the garden up by hand I decided to hijack my sisters tiller. I took it over to mother's yesterday and in 2hrs I got 75% of the land turned. Crazy! Of course when I left I couldn't grip anything and this morning my forearms are sore.

I went through 2 wee tanks of donkey fuel (that's what I call gasoline and oil mixes) which I of course had to spill some on my hands. The whole time it was sprinkling on me and the sun was beating down. Mother nature just couldn't decide on which she wanted to do. I was fine with it though. I lost my over-sized man dress shirt and got some sun on my paleness.

I noticed while working last night that my left knee was hurting. I kept working and when we got off at 9 I joined Jen and David for some ice cream while the rain came down hard, then rode Saoirse home. So I plum forgot to check. This morning eating breakfast I sit on the couch and I'm like 'ow'. When I pulled up my pant leg it was a nasty sight. The skin is shredded and there's this nasty black bruise. I can't for the life of me figure out when or how I even got this. I did squat down a lot picking up rocks from the bed but not on my knees until I had to take the blades off the rototiller. I got a large rock stuck! I think I would have felt if one of those rock had flown back and hit me.

After work today I'm going back out and finishing the last third of the garden and putting up the fence. Depending on the time from there I'll mix in some seasoned horse manure and further prepare for top soil and planting. Though I feel late in this venture I still have to wait out those frost dates. My potatoes are impatient like me. They have stems growing already. I might just put some soil in a largish pot and cover in straw till I'm able to plant them. Of course I'm debating how I'm wanting to grow these little blue buggers; with a straw covering, buried, or a little of both.

I'm hoping to keep it clean this winter so I don't have nearly as much work next year.

CRAFTING:

I'm still working on that shawl pattern. I had to stop for a short time as I thought I left my pattern notes in Daniel's truck (they were actually hiding from me in my notebook) and I need DPN (double pointed needles) to work the sleeves in the round so I don't have an ugly seam.

I'm also working on charcoal silhouettes for my sister's three children that she will then be framing in white and making a copy of my horse charcoal 'Communications' for another lady.

I still have costume pieces to finish. I keep putting them on the back burner to all my paid projects so it's taking forever. I might just have to take them all with me and hand sew them during Rendezvous.

LIFE:

I'm definitely keeping busy. I've even got a job interview tomorrow. Which if I get it will cut back on my time a great deal. Both a good and bad thing!

Gardening Day 2

Okay so I got into my garden again on Tuesday. I got out  there at about 11am, didn't stop for a break until 2:30pm and finally quit for the day at about 5pm to feed the horse and take care of some of those chores. It still doesn't look like I made a dent! I edged everything first with the help of my little nephew.

My sister brought the rug rats over at the same time I showed up and ended up staying till 2pm. I think she got in a nap from the chair she was sitting in the whole time watching me sweat. Evelyn was sleeping since before they showed up until they left and Mallory was collecting flowers and worms! So cute! I need to get my paws on the photo of me showing little Ryan how to use the hoe!

Anyways, all that labor in the scorching sunshine and not much to show for it. I didn't even get so far as a third of the garden loosened up to even begin tilling. Then yesterday was all cold and rainy and this frost last night and only getting up to 54 degrees today. Oui! I'm feeling like I'll never get this garden done in time to plant.

Homemaking:

I decided a while ago to be as frugal as possible. Making my own lip balm, yogurt, and such. I succeeded so far though I'm not sure how much I've saved. So far I am avoiding making my own pasta as I remember doing this in school and it was a pain in the bum. I did make some greek yogurt the other day. It was good, delicious when I added some of my blackberry peach jam. The only problem I found with it was the consistency was like plain yogurt rather than greek style. I'm going to try again with some changes, maybe let it sit longer or put them in the oven on super low.

Crafting:

I've done some knitting. I even have an art trade that's almost done ... on the other person's part, mine's done. I'm getting two hair sticks of my own design (I sent him the schematics ... okay sketch and he worked from that) and he wanted a pair of my bomber gauntlets.

The Garden

The Garden Plot

So I went out to mothers and plotted out my garden. It's going to be 25'x~18'. Huge no! The pieces of wood mark my boundaries. The next step, which I'm working on, is to dig a 6" trench around the border and sink a fence so the wee bunnies and other small vermin don't eat my goodies. So many goodies to boot! The rain is helping in spats with this project. It's softened the ground to make digging easier but then I get too much and have to stop for fear of flooding and making everything fall back into the darn whole! Tomorrow though! If I can just get that fence in before it starts poring again I should be fine! I might steal my sister's tiller with some wishful thinking that I could get around to that tomorrow as well.

Blue potatoes, corn, tomatoes, squash just to name a few. So excited but I gotta dig fast so I can get my seeds in the ground!

Morgainѐ Continued

It would almost seem that now that I'm set to figure a new way of finishing this hood I may now understand the directions: Go figure! So to picturize my understanding ...

Lay flat to help visualize!

 The right side of your piece should be at the top. That is to say the right edge. That's what my pink yarn is for btw. To mark my 'right' edge. The live stitches should be held to your right, CO to your left. The Cabling likes to get all twisty so be sure to straighten it out. Tempted to pin this sucker to my floor!

Now that we got that sucker down we gotta start picking up sts. Looks easy enough all a sudden. Hmph! Anyway, it would seem that you want to pick up every stitch that you can find to equal out the amount the pattern wants. A little tricky, I might need to bust out another pair of needles.

As I knit along, getting more fabric, I wish I had changed to larger needles. I find myself stopping to double check my yarn to what is recommended thinking it shouldn't be so stiff with such nice yarn. Next time, if there is a next time, I might use larger needles or a not so bulky yarn. If I wanted my items to be this stiff I'd have stuck with crochet! Note to self:  knit looser!

COOKING:

Well not too long ago I got the hankering to make myself some buttermilk. I don't care to use the powder and the stuff you get in cartons really isn't buttermilk. I now have proof of that! So I got a mason jar out cleaned it and poured some heavy cream in. What comes next is one heck of a work out. I shook that jar for a good 20min. After about 15 (which btw my online source said 10-12min of shaking) I noticed the cream thickening to ... well cream. Another 2 min had it sticking. It was like a dough in my jar. I plopped it out onto a muslin cloth, Squeezed all my buttermilk out and Jarred it then rinsed my butter in ice water. Yum on both accounts. Homemade is so much better!

So I made some pancakes with my buttermilk and they just fluffed right up!

See! Fluffy!

 Daniel of course said, "Bisquick's are fluffier!" The bugger! See if I make him pancakes again!

MORE UPDATES:

I love this photo I took of my newest pixie hat.

Pixie Hat

In addition to my knitting and cooking I was inspired to make some Valentine's Day cards. Since I only have 1 lover I'm not sure who to give these all too. So I'm just going to store them until someone wants them or I get inspired. All are hand lettered and drawn plus folded and cut!

5"x5" postcard style. Great for framing.

Love the dangling crochet heart! Adds some more whimsy to the calligraphy style.

The Right to Bare Arms!



This guns rights issue seems to be another big one that will actually effect my everyday life so I'm just going to drop my opinion off in here somewhere. But from which angle? You've got people who swear by the words of men centuries dead that knew nothing of today's America ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and then you got people who think they can actually control others.

 

 

Both of these are a bit extreme even for me. Personally, I want the right to protect my damn self. I don't trust no one else to keep me safe they've done a shotty job of it so far and I don't feel that this will be any better. So let's see.

 

I own and carry my own gun around and some Jack comes around thinking he can just take what he wants from me I can protect myself. The government's opinion of this is that I should let this man do what he wants and they'll then track him down after the incident and slap his hand ... if they can even find him... if they even BELIEVE me! So tell me who do you stand with?

 

Another sitch. I'm at home with my gun safely beside my bed on a night stand because I have no small children with more curiosity then brains and another Jack beaks in to once again take what he wants from me. The government would have me hide and call them, hoping that Jack doesn't find/hear me then kill me. They have a high opinion that they can get to me in plenty of time to catch Jack before he does any harm. My opinion is to cock my shot gun within hearing range of the miscreant and loudly let him know that it's loaded and the cops know he's there and that I WILL protect mine! So tell me which would you prefer?

We can control our own destiny and sadly we more than not give that control away. We're taking that control away from our children and their children. If we let the government take our guns what's to really stop Jack from taking everything he wants? Sure they might catch him in the end but will that make everything all better. Will that mend your sense of security that was taken when he broke into your homes? Will it mend the dead he left behind? Will it bring peace to the girls/boys he's hurt? There are some sick people out there who don't give a damn about the laws. What makes people think they'll stop just because the government says he can't have a gun no more?

 

Morgainé

I' ve been working on this gorgeous hooded cowl by frenchgirlknits for sometime now. My first problem I'm loath to admit was reading the chart wrong. That fixed I got stuck on the instructions for how the cabling attaches to the rest. I asked the creator and haven't come up with any answers. So I placed it in my stash until I finished all my commissions, and the holiday madness.

Now it's the new year I'm done currently with commissions and would like to finish this project.

I NEED MY NEEDLES BACK!!!

pretty much modify every pattern I get my paws on and it will seem that the Morgainé is no exception. However, this time I'll document the journy so that the next person with my problem can hopefully find help here in!

So my journy begins...

Mobile upload! Cabling.