My Freezer is Full

Independence Days is back!!

2012-02-02T20:52:00.000-06:00

I was so thrilled to hear that Sharon Astyk is bringing back the Independence Days Challenge. I guess it's not your typical challenge. It's a way of looking at the things you do to see if you are ready. "Ready?" you may ask, "Ready for what?" I think it means ready for anything. It's really pretty simple, and kind of like my 12 for 12 challenge, except with more specific categories for 'prepping'.
Now don't get me wrong. I don't think that there will be a zombie apocalypse, or that the world will end in December. But, I do have a sneaking suspicion that things are going to get worse before they get better: the economy, the jobs situation, food prices, big business (and agribusiness!!) running the show, climate change and energy (peak oil if you wish) are some of my big worries. But the IDC can help us sort out how we can better be prepared to handle the roller coaster ride we're facing in the future.
Sharon has identified several categories. The idea is to track your accomplishments in each on a regular basis. Here they go:
Plant something: The key here is to try to keep on top of crop rotation and tending the garden. From February to September to try to plant something.
Harvest something: This goes along with Plant Something. But it can also include things like eggs, honey, milk.
Preserve something: This goes along with the ones above. To preserve the harvest and store for the future.
Waste not: Reducing food waste and also the production of garbage. This can include recycling, composting or feeding things to animals. This can also include rotating your food stocks to keep things fresh.
Want not: Adding to your stash of food or goods to prepare for emergencies. Building up resources.
Eat the food: Just what it sounds like. It does no good to have a freezer full of food if you don't eat it. This is also getting the most of your food , trying new recipes, being creative and using what you have. I think this also includes being frugal.
Build community food systems: Just because you're prepared, doesn't mean you have to do it alone. This category looks at what have you done to help build a more resilient local food system or helping others to have access to better food.
Skill up: This is a new category from the last time the IDC was going. This is about learning. What did you learn that will help you in the future. This could be anything from repairing a screen or faucet to construction to learning a new craft or gardening skill.
See, it's all good.

The plan is to post every Friday to report progress. Now that will keep me hopping!! Trying to do something every week in every category keeps you focused. But, when I participated before (2009 and 2010) I found that much of what I did on a regular basis fit easily into the categories without much extra work. But it definitely helps keep you on track with independence- or self sufficiency- whatever you want to call it.
It's worth a try.

Saved by being late

2012-02-01T19:55:00.001-06:00

Whew! It was a close thing. I was saved from a new obsession by being a bit too late. Let me explain: Last night while perusing Craigslist I spied an ad for a 4 harness floor loom for $50!!! Evidently, the seller had inherited it and didn't know quite what to do with it, or even if it worked. But the price! Wow! I sent off an email but, alas, I was too late- the lady said it sold almost immediately- no wonder.. Or, maybe it's a good thing. As I told V, I need another passion right now as much as I need a piercing somewhere unmentionable. I do know how to weave- I had opportunity to learn a number of years ago- but I have never had access to a loom. But, it's OK.

In fun stuff I did get today, my other gift from V arrived today. For Christmas, he had given me an IOU for a soaker hose for the garden. He actually got me two hoses and they arrived today. Now, to get the rain barrels deployed in the spring and wait for the garden. I can hardly wait to get my hands in the soil!

Otherwise, not much going on. I sold another dozen eggs today at work. J17 got a new bow for her violin. Work was depressing (lots of really depressed people and I can't fix their lives). I'm hoping to have time this weekend to work on my quilt project and maybe do a little baking. See, thinking ahead to home stuff on only a Wednesday night.

12 for 12- the first month

2012-01-31T19:47:00.001-06:00

Since it is the last day of January, I thought I'd better check in with my 12 for 12 project to see how I'm doing and what I need to focus on more next month. I've been having fun trying to think of all the things I've been able to do to help me along this month.

Create- I definitely made it here. I've been having fun creating things. From my little potholder experiment to V's Victorian shirt to the now-in-progress wall quilt I've definitely been creating this month.
Dream- Ah... yes... dreaming.... I've been doing a lot of this lately. I've been contemplating how to build a side business, put a child through college, pay off the mortgage and keep my job all at the same time. All this in addition to dreaming of new outside projects to tackle when the weather warms.
Organize- Hmm, I rearranged the sewing/guest room, I organized the pantry and sorted through my seed collection- I think that counts.
Love- Makes me smile. I've had some great moments with the family in the past month. I'm trying to let them know more regularly that I love and appreciate them.
Complete- Whew! Finished V's shirt and finished my seed and potato orders. I'm sure there are other things but they escape me at the moment.
Play- We've had several family game nights. I've also been playing in my sewing room and have had several fun adventures with the pets.
Nourish- We've been eating pretty well in the last month. This evening it was pulled pork sandwiches from the freezer. We'll be having quiche on Thursday. I made a fabulous enchilada casserole last night with homemade enchilada sauce. Mmmmm..... I've also been trying to nourish my soul a bit with some outside time in nature. And I'm SO thankful that the days are lengthening. It is almost light when I get to work and stays light for almost an hour after I get home. Yeah!!! That is great nourishment to my soul.
Nurture- Caring for the family- I14 has been out of school for a day and a half with a stomach bug. While I wasn't home today to care for him I still made sure to check on him frequently to make sure he was on the mend. I guess also included in this category would be things like taking a fresh chopped up squash out to the chickens and planting oats for the cats (cat grass). Oh, and I baked biscotti for my family.
Budget- We've been doing pretty well here. No elaborate, unnecessary purchases, we've been trying to eat out of stores more so that helps the food budget. We're still working on college finances (and probably will be for years!) I've been doing better at budgeting my time and making sure I get a good mix of productive and fun on my days off. Oh! And I SOLD my first eggs today. Previously I've given them away. And I've got two more people asking for some. Those girls better pick it up again. They've finally slowed down and I've only been getting 4-5 eggs a day. Still, better than I thought.
Learn- I still have a couple of CEUs to complete before the end of February for my license- not so much fun. In fun learning- I've been reacquainting myself with my sewing machine and learning my new serger.
Move- umm... not so great here. Oh, I still walk for 20 minutes 3 to 4 times a week but I really, really need to get moving more.
Plan/Prepare- I've been spending more time focused on making the garden more productive next year. I've been reading more about herbs and herbal medicine and have decided that this is the spring I will finally build my herb spiral.

Focus for next month- MOVE! I need to work on getting back into shape before the gardening season begins. Also, more creating is in the works. And definitely more budgeting. There will be lots of number crunching going on here.

Enough practice already

2012-01-30T17:10:00.000-06:00

Let's do the real thing!!
I finished the preliminary stage of the interlace this afternoon.

It's a bit tedious but not really difficult. Good thing I've got plenty of pins!! V caught me talking to myself as I worked through the 'overs' and 'unders' of a line to make sure I had them right.

I'll let it sit for a while and then go back to check it again for errors before I press it into place. I can see in the photos there are some tweaks I want to make. It's really hard to see the problems (a crooked line here, a not smooth curve there) when you've been at it for a few hours. After pressing, I'll stitch it down, add borders and quilt. I'm really pleased with how quickly this is going and I'm happy with how it's looking. With this morning's potholder I did the applique and quilting all in one step since it was small. This will be too big to try that, I believe.
But, wall quilt #1 is well underway. I may even sell this one.

And, don't have a heart attack- I know this is my third post today!

A little practice

2012-01-30T11:41:00.000-06:00

Since it's been a while since I've made an interlace quilt I decided I'd better have a refresher before I start on the real thing. So I've been practicing. Behold:

A new potholder. This one is a bit rough. I didn't get it quite even. Those small, tightly turned designs are always a challenge. The wall quilt I'm going to start on this afternoon has much gentler curves and many more straight runs. Thank goodness!
And now, I leave you with a scene from my living room yesterday afternoon:

All three children snuggled on the couch with books. Ah, makes a Mom's heart glad!!

Come on, you know you want to!

2012-01-30T08:44:00.001-06:00

I've got space for one more in the 2012 Handmade Pay It Forward Challenge. And I told Tom that if I get my 5 I'll re-up on his blog and take on 5 more. SO BRING IT BABY!!

And for those who have signed up... that would be Tom Stewart, That's My Cuppa Tea, Patty and meemsnyc, I will need your mailing addresses. You can email me your address to fullfreezer(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll get started making something just for you...

So, come on, one more... or 6 more. I can take it. Sign up here or on the last post and send me that address.

Handmade fun- a challenge!

2012-01-29T07:19:00.001-06:00

Susan at e-i-e-i-omg! has gotten herself into a challenge, and she has roped others into this craziness as well. Of course I ~~fell victim~~... er... volunteered. Because it sounds like fun in some twisted definition of the word. So, here goes....

I will send a handmade (by me!) gift to each of the first 5 commenters on this post. This can be something large or small, my choice. But, there is a catch... of course, you knew there would be a catch! The catch is that each recipient of my gift must also pass it on and give 5 gifts themselves... and so on and so forth for all eternity... or until people get burned out.
There is a year to get your gifts sent out, so I'll have a year to concoct something- until December 2012. Who knows what you may receive from me: pot holders, placemats, soap, biscotti, a jar of jam... there are so many possibilities.

So, anybody out there want to play along?? Let's hear it for the 2012 Handmade Pay it Forward Challenge!

Let there be light

2012-01-28T19:31:00.001-06:00

If you don't have a light table- improvise!

I was working this afternoon to trace the interlace design on the background fabric for my next project- a Celtic Knotwork quilt. The South door makes an excellent light table. Pattern taped onto the window, fabric centered and taped and then: let the tracing begin.

It should be fun! I've got everything ready to make my fabric tubes to interlace, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow to cut them. After a couple of glasses of wine with dinner, I don't think I'm up to cutting 1 inch bias strips with my rotary cutter! I would probably lose a fingertip! This particular design has three separate interlacing lines which will be in different colors. The background fabric, which you can't quite see, is white with silver metallic speckles. It looks kind of like snow. The rest will be in shades of purple, blue and pink. I can't wait to see how it comes out!! This center panel is 15x 32 inches.

In other news, we have had another visitor here at the farm for a while. I haven't seen him, although V has, but I've seen his tracks after every snow:

We've evidently got a large orange cat living under the front porch.

He must spend his days out hunting. I'm not minding an outside cat that feeds himself- we've got plenty of mice and voles! The porch is sheltered and out of the wind but it still must get pretty cold at times. I've been contemplating putting out a dish of cat food so see if I can coax him out. V thinks he belongs to one of the neighbors but the cat seems to spend his nights here so I'm not sure if he's right. I just hope kitty is careful of the highway!

And coming tomorrow... a challenge!!

I'm in the zone

2012-01-28T11:33:00.000-06:00

A new zone, that is. The USDA has released an updated hardiness map showing how the climate has shifted. We've gone up a half a zone. From 5a to 5b... although the zone line is only a few miles away we're now near 5a and not 4b which we used to be. It appears that most places have shifted. If you click here you'll get to an interactive map with a slide bar to show the differences in old and new. Pretty dramatic and scary!
Woe to those naysayers about climate change. Even the USDA has gotten on board. And this map is just represents the shift from 1990 to 2012. Eek. Maybe I'll have to revise my planting schedule... or maybe not.

A visitor

2012-01-26T20:03:00.001-06:00

Over the past few weeks, we have had an intriguing visitor. I managed to snap a photo a few weeks ago:

See him or her sitting on a branch in the tree? That is a BIG bird. But, even though we have seen this bird multiple times, we've never been able to get close enough to get a good look to see what it is and the zoom on my camera is broken :( I have usually only seen it in the late afternoon (of course, I'm often not home during the day).
But today, V was able to get a good look as it flapped over him from behind the barn when he went to let out the chickens. It appears we have an immature bald eagle hanging around the farm. Pretty cool! We're close enough to the river that we often see eagles soaring over the meadow but this one seems to be sticking around and resting/roosting in the trees. Makes me glad we put a roof over the chicken run and that we're not letting them free range.

Thanks for the positive thoughts

2012-01-24T19:03:00.001-06:00

V had his interview today. He thinks it went Okay. But who ever thinks they did well in an interview. Now begins the waiting game. He doesn't know how many people they are interviewing for the position but he's hoping he has enough diverse experience to stand out. It turns out that he even knew one of the people on the interview panel- he goes to our church. Sometimes it seems like we live in a small town. It is also interesting because several of the other people on the panel are doctors I work with regularly and who know me. I do hope that doesn't ruin his chances, LOL! But time will tell. V was warned that it would be about a month before a decision is made.
Regardless of the outcome of the interview, we need to get cracking on financial aid stuff for J17. I think I mentioned briefly that she got accepted into a private, all women's art and design school. The school was evidently impressed enough by her portfolio that they offered her a scholarship that will cover over half of tuition! But being a small, private school (less than 500 students total) in a major city, the tuition is outrageous! And that doesn't take into consideration room and board. But, it is an old school (around since the 1840's) and on the east coast where she wants to be. And still within easy reach of V's family out there. So, we'll see. We've been trying to steer her in less expensive ways- but art/design school isn't cheap- college in general isn't cheap! With me working less hours, unless V gets this job (or picks up some more freelance work) we'll be tightening belts a bit more. Another reason to focus more on food production this coming year.
Otherwise, things here are pretty boring. Not much else going on. Tomorrow K11 has band after school, tonight J17 has her violin lesson. Sometime this week I've got to bake bread since I'm responsible for the bread for church this weekend.
Oh, yeah! I actually planted something yesterday! I have some oats that we'll use for cat grass planted in a pot on the South windowsill in the kitchen. Spaz has been decimating my potted lemongrass so I figured I'd get him something more appropriate to chew on. I also brought in one of our window boxes that has been sitting outside on a stump. I think I'm going to try to plant some lettuce in it and put it under the grow lights. Maybe in a few weeks we'll be able to have a salad or two. I tried this a few years ago at the old house but didn't have the set up I've got now. Maybe I'll go plant things now before the prez speaks.

Think good thoughts

2012-01-24T12:23:00.002-06:00

Just a quick update while I'm on my lunch break. V has his job interview this afternoon at 3pm central time. Send some positive thoughts this way- especially since J17 got an accpetance letter for a small, private college she would love to attend- if we can figure out how to afford it (and that's with the college offering her a scholarship that would cover a little over half of tuition).
If V doesn't get this job- I'd better get sewing!

Dreaming away

2012-01-23T13:14:00.003-06:00

I've finally finished that shirt I was making for V and I've got a new post up at my other blog. Things are getting moving slowly on my new (hopeful) business but every little bit helps. Now I've got to pick a new project. Hmmm... a quilt or a brocade vest to add to the menswear collection.....

If I'm really going to do this thing, I still need to get an Etsy site up and also go through the paperwork to get a sales tax number and all that jazz.

Laughing at myself

2012-01-23T10:21:00.000-06:00

LOL! Sometimes, I just don't stop to think and end up laughing at myself. Let me explain the latest example.
The weather has been cold, damp and icky lately. We got snow on Friday and it has been rainy/foggy/freezing all weekend, including today. This morning, it started out just above freezing with rain. The rain has let up but the temperature has been slowly falling. So.... it being my day off, I've been puttering around the house this morning, wearing my 'inside' shoes. You know, those ones that are really, really comfortable but have essentially no tread... Yeah, those. Well, I decided that I'd better take the bowl of veggie scraps out to the chickens and let them out for the day. I head out and realize that it is much icier than it had been earlier when I let the dog out. Do I turn around to change my footwear? Of course not, I head on out to the chicken coop.
Now fast forward... chickens fed and let out, eggs collected and now safely in my coat pocket (come on- don't tell me you've never done it!) sliding my way back to the house over glare ice. Honestly, I don't think that extra tread would have made a difference- but I was definitely laughing at myself! I'm just glad I didn't slip- what a mess that would have been.

Done with orders

2012-01-22T19:15:00.002-06:00

I placed my order for seed potatoes from Seed Savers Exchange today. Amazingly enough, they have the best prices and they are local(ish) so I'm sure things will do well here. Now I'm done with my seed ordering for the year. Only two orders, one for seeds, one for potatoes. Not too bad.
Ok, I'll confess, I did buy some thyme, tarragon and rosemary seed from the hardware store when we were there yesterday but, honest.... I'm done..... really..... no more....... um... yeah........ wait until the seed racks start showing up in the stores for real. sigh..... I really do need a 12 step program. Although if the first step is to admit I have a problem and want to change I'm in trouble- I don't really want to change.

Honey Orange and Lavender Biscotti

2012-01-21T10:55:00.000-06:00

Nothing like a good cup of tea and some biscotti. Mmmm....
It turns out that I had posted this recipe before. Not even that long ago. But I'll post it again since it was kind of hidden in another post.
HONEY ORANGE LAVENDER BISCOTTI
Whisk together in a large bowl:
3 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
to this add:
3 Tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons orange zest (I used the entire zest of one orange and didn't measure)
1 Tablespoon dried lavender blossoms (Please make sure they're not sprayed!!)
In another bowl, stir together:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to blend.
Divide the dough into two or three portions and, on a lightly floured board (and with floured hands- it's sticky dough!) shape each into a log about 3 inches wide and 3/4 inch tall.
Place these on a parchment paper covered baking sheet (I use my big jelly roll pan) and bake for 25 minutes in a pre-heated 350*F oven. About half way through, rotate the pan so it bakes evenly. Remove from oven and allow to cool on racks for 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 275*F
Then, using a long, thin serrated knife, slice on a slight diagonal into 1/2 inch thick slices, like so:

Place these slices on the same parchment paper, cut side down (don't have them touching) and bake for an additional 15 minutes at 275*F.
Don't be tempted to over bake them because they will continue to crisp up as they cool. Bake them too long and they will be rock hard! (take this as a word of warning from someone who has done this)
Behold:

Finished biscotti. Allow to cool fully, preferably on a rack for air circulation.
Supposedly, these will keep for weeks. I can't see them lasting that long- at least not at my house!

I remember I was so intimidated by biscotti until a few years ago when I decided to try to make some. They are really easy to make and look great. I've done lots of different kinds. One of my favorites (besides this one) is one with dried cranberries, almonds and orange zest.
And, biscotti are fat free except for the fat in the eggs (or nuts if you add them). Since the only liquid in them is generally eggs, they are also a great way to use some of those 'excess' eggs in a different way. These are going so fast, maybe I'll make a different flavor today. If only I had some pistachios- chocolate and pistachios are a great combo. Oh, and dried cherries. Or really about any kind of dried fruit (It has to be dried fruit of it is too wet and they don't crisp up). For a really elegant twist, you can dip one half or one side in chocolate. Great if you are having friends over for tea.

Winter is here!

2012-01-20T15:23:00.000-06:00

This was the view out my side door this afternoon. Winter is definitely here. We're having snow, wind and temps only in the single digits. School was let out 2 hours early so all of the children are home safe and sound and I've got biscotti in the oven.
I feel like I've been busy all day but haven't accomplished much. This morning I took I14 to the orthodontist and then stopped at the grocery store on my way home. I arrived home just as the road conditions started to really deteriorate. I did some dishes, got a big pot of chili on to simmer and otherwise puttered around in the kitchen: slicing ham for sandwiches this weekend, repackaging some Italian sausage for the freezer and making some potato soup for V and I for lunch. I fed the chickens and gave them a flake of straw to scratch through in the coop since I'm not letting them out today. The dears have already provided us with 8 eggs today. I'm thinking that will be it for the day but I'll check one more time around dark to be sure. River hasn't been laying so we've got only 9 hens laying at the moment.
Otherwise, it has been a laid back day here. I had hoped to do some sewing but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe later this afternoon or this evening. With the children home it seems so much later than it is, that and the clouds/ snow is making it seem darker.
Mmm.... I'm smelling those biscotti. This is the first baking so I'll have to let them cool a bit and then slice them and do the second baking. I found a recipe for honey, orange and lavender biscotti and since I happen to have a bunch of lavender blossoms, some oranges and some honey they seemed like just the thing. I'll let you know how they turn out but they are smelling heavenly.

Musings on women who do too much

2012-01-19T21:46:00.000-06:00

It has been a trying week at work. I've been struck by the number of women coming in who have reached their limit. Why is it, that as women, we are so good at taking care of everyone and everything else but lousy at taking care of ourselves?
Oh, I know- I'm sometimes guilty as charged. BUT... I know I take on too much sometimes and make sure that many of the things I take on are things that I get pleasure out of. Sadly, there are way too many people, women especially, who do everything for everyone else but nothing fun for themselves...

Like I said... it's been a rough week. Thankfully, not rough for me personally but rough professionally.

Tuesday Tales

2012-01-17T17:54:00.002-06:00

Ok, not really many tales to tell. Yesterday was a holiday for me as well as a no-school day for the children so we once again ended up with 9 teens in our basement for the afternoon playing D&D. They were a bit loud but generally well behaved, as usual. There was laundry done and household stuff accomplished but nothing too exciting.
Today, it was back to school and work as normal. But a few tidbits...
It snowed again. The roads were pretty slick this morning but they have cleared off nicely by now. And it's COLD again. The high of the day was this morning and the temp has been slowly dropping all day. We're down to about 15F and it should get even colder overnight. Brrr... Of course, that's probably tropical for some of you true northerners but with the warm weather we've been having this winter, even though these are normal temps, it seems really cold.
V has a job interview sometime next week! Woot!! For an associate writer position with the Department of Psychiatry at the hospital. He doesn't have a firm time yet but I'll be sure to keep you posted. Cross your fingers- A 'real' job would be so much less stressful than the freelancing he's been doing. Of course, it would take him away from the house during the day but we've done that stint before.
Chickens are doing well. Since it was snowy, windy and cold V didn't let them out of the coop- not that they would have gone out into the snow anyway- the ninnies. But they got lots of squash guts and peels from the kitchen this morning and some corn later this afternoon to keep them warm overnight. And even with all this cold and snow, still 6 eggs today. I'm not complaining.
With the colder weather I've been seeing more eagles lately. It's fun to walk from the hospital to downtown. I cross the river near where there is almost always open water due to the roller dam under the bridge. There are usually Bald Eagles cruising around or sitting in the trees. I'm always amazed at how many people walk by and don't even notice them. But I think they are just magnificent! Our property is even close enough to the river (as the eagle flies) that they come circling over the meadow, catching the thermals off the highway. We've also got a HUGE hawk of some sort (haven't been able to get a good enough look to tell what kind), the usual Red Tailed hawks and a Great Horned Owl around so we've definitely got the aerial predators covered.
I'm hoping to finish the novel I'm reading tonight. I've got other things I want to read but I want to finish this one first. It's a fun sci-fi romp- nothing too heavy but it seems to be taking me forever to finish it... probably because I tend to fall asleep when I sit down to read. Oops.....
I also really need to finish the shirt I'm making for V. It has been finished except for some topstitching, button holes and hemming for a whole week and I just can't seem to find the time to finish it. I've decided that my Mondays off are to be my sewing days but yesterday was just too chaotic. And having worked Saturday, it didn't feel like a typical Monday anyway. But, since I worked Saturday I've got Friday off (as well as next Monday for my usual day off) so I've got a 4 day weekend to hopefully finish this project and start another.
Now, I've got to get dinner going- I've been avoiding things around the house while I did a big of blog hopping but J17 has her violin lesson tonight and I do need to feed her before she goes. It's burrito night tonight so it's nothing too strenuous at least.

Cranberry Orange Bread

2012-01-15T14:37:00.000-06:00

While prices have been rising at the grocery store, there was one thing on sale last week that caught my interest. Since it is after the holidays, they had cranberries on sale. Two bags for a dollar!! So, guess what? We've got cranberries!
Aside from the cranberry/apple/jello salad that K11 could eat his weight of, the other thing we really love here is cranberry orange bread. It just so happens that they were also having a sale on orange juice this week, so this afternoon I mixed up a quadruple batch of this delicious quick bread. I had all the ingredients and it tends to not last long here (I made a double batch last weekend and it lasted a day and a half!) Since J17 is hosting friends here tomorrow afternoon I thought it would be a healthier snack than some of the garbage they usually eat on game days.
I'll give you the original recipe that makes one loaf. I never bother making only one loaf because it wouldn't last as long as it takes to bake. The recipe multiplies easily and will freeze well if you can keep any around.
Stir together in a mixing bowl the following:
2 cups sifted flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda

Add to the dry ingredients and blend until just moistened:
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon grated orange peel (I LOVE my microplane!)
3/4 cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Fold in:
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cranberries (I've also done this with frozen ones)
1/2 cup chopped english walnuts (these are optional- I don't usually put that many in- it makes it hard to cut neatly)

Spoon into greased loaf pan (9x5x3 inch) and bake at 350* F for about an hour or until done. Remove from pan almost immediately after baking and let cool (if anyone in the house will wait until it cools!).

The house smells divine with the cranberry orange bread baking. I have added a little vanilla to the recipe in the past but didn't this time around. This really is one of my favorite quick breads. I like it even better than banana bread and that's saying a lot!

And the hens have been generous so far today:

The beautiful speckled one on top is from Helen, our Welsummer.

A little warmer

2012-01-14T17:49:00.003-06:00

The weather has moderated a bit. By the time I made it home from work late this afternoon (about 4:15) it was 25*F. Not too bad considering that it was 7 this morning when I left for work. Brrr...
The poor chickens, with the snowy, windy, cold weather we've been having have been cooped up for a couple of days. So, knowing that I needed to give them food and water, I let them out for a little when I got home. Oh, they were hilarious! They come boiling out of the pop door and then, BOOM, the first one hits the snow and skids to a halt. Even though we've got a roof over 2/3 of the run, with the wind, we had a small drift blow in about two feet or so from the coop. The poor things just couldn't bring themselves to walk through the drift (only a few inches deep at one end) to the open ground on the other side so they all clucked and scratched in the little area between the drift and the coop wall. Oh well, at least it got them out from underfoot while I filled the waterer and feeder. Magnus hasn't been too bad recently but I don't want to turn my back on him in an enclosed area. Well, he's been good except for the one day last week when I was wearing a hot pink shirt that evidently set him off. If I had a jacket he didn't bother me, but if I approached the run in that shirt he would hurl himself against the fence. I guess he's a fashion critic.
Anyway, the chickens were fed and watered. Six eggs today. I'm still amazed at how well they're doing through the winter- not that we've had a REAL winter until recently. I've got tomorrow and Monday to do things around the house and relax some. J17 is hosting another gamer party on Monday so it won't be quiet here.
Today at work was one of those days where I earned my pay. Whew! We had 6 discharges yesterday so we had lots of open beds when I left. They were all full this morning and most of the admissions were people I needed to see. And horribly depressed, distressed, hopeless people they were. I think my empathy and compassion reserves are depleted at the moment so it was really, really nice to get home to talk to my chickens and do relatively mindless chores.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions about chicken sitting. I've got plenty of time to come up with something. Who knows, maybe I can talk one of J17's friends to come house and animal sit for us. We could pay them and we've got great video games, a big screen TV, high speed internet and a great library. All for tending dog, cat, chickens and plants and bringing in the mail. As a teenager, I would have jumped at an opportunity like that. A chance to earn some money and exert some independence. We'll have to see who does or doesn't have a job next summer. Another option is that a friend of ours drives past on her way to and from work so it shouldn't be to hard for her to stop and collect eggs and check the food and water supplies. Of course, her schedule is pretty erratic sometimes so I'm not sure I want to rely solely on her. Roger is an option but I don't know if he'll be driving. He did get his new prosthetic leg about a week and a half ago and is learning how to walk in it so by August he should be up and nearly running! Sadly, we live quite a ways from them now and it would be about a 10 mile round trip for him. Not something for every day. Don't know yet. I'll figure out something- I always do.

Now I'm just babbling. I think I'm still decompressing from work. I've got a chicken in the oven and I think I'm going to make some wild rice pilaf to go along with it. So, I'd better get that rice going. Have a great rest of your weekend.

I need a chicken-sitter

2012-01-12T20:11:00.001-06:00

I found out that we will be going on a vacation for a week in August. Woo Hoo! A real vacation- away from home and construction and garden.
Every few years, we get together with all of V's family. Usually we go to the Outer Banks in North Carolina but this year we're doing something different. We're going NORTH! Way North- well, about as far north as some of you dear blog buddies live. We're going to Northern Minnesota (Rainy Lake area and Voyageurs National Park). This summer my MIL turns 80. She was originally from Mn (Baudette, Bemidji and then Cloquet) and wants to show her grandchildren where she grew up. So, we will, hopefully, be renting some cabins on the lake and having a fun time fishing, canoeing and battling mosquitos.
As usual when we travel, we will board the dog at our favorite local kennel. The cats we can have a friend stop in and feed every day or so. But the chickens... the chickens... Who can I trust to make sure my babies are fed and watered and have the eggs collected. I can't imagine that someone can come twice a day or more to let them out, close them up and check on them. Of course, if we ever finish the top of the run and make sure it's really, really predator proof we could probably chance leaving the pop door open overnight- it will be August and most likely hotter than the dickens so that shouldn't be a problem. But the food and water is an issue- water especially if it's really hot. And collecting eggs when it's hot. Hmm... I'll have to give this some thought and see who I can strong-arm.

It's definitely winter!

2012-01-12T17:53:00.001-06:00

We got the winter storm they were predicting. It's hard to tell how much snow we've gotten because it is fine, powdery stuff that is blowing all over the place in the 25 mph winds. I saw one estimate that we got about 5 inches. And it's still snowing... and COLD!
What a change. We went from near record highs in the lower 50's yesterday to a high of 15 today. Man, I'm not acclimated to this kind of weather. But, you know, the walk from the hospital to downtown to catch my bus this afternoon was almost pleasant. Oh, it was 14 and snowing and blowing and slippery to walk but invigorating at the same time. Finally, it seems like winter.

Sadly, V emailed me at work that we've got trouble with the chicken coop. It seems that with the fine, blowing snow we've had snow blowing in through the roof vents and onto part of the roost. NOT good. He shoved crumpled up plastic bags up into the vent holes over the roost as a temporary fix but I'm worried. He wants to plastic over the outside of three of the vents (we've got 4 roof vents (you know, the kind that are supposed to NOT have snow or rain blow into them) for the rest of the winter but I'm concerned that it won't be enough ventilation to let out moisture- especially now that we've not only got chicken moisture but will have melted snow as well. My thought was to wrap a few bits of my floating row covers over the vents and weight it down with bricks. I figure that it should be enough to stop the snow blowing in but still allow ventilation.
It's supposed to be warm again on Monday (back into the 40's but with rain). Maybe I'll see if I can get rid of some of the most wet bedding- or maybe just add in extra fresh stuff. It was pretty dark today when I got out there but it didn't look like that much snow. But still, 8 eggs today. What troopers.

And V didn't even try to let the hens out today. It was just too nasty. I know I wouldn't have wanted to be out today.

Wackiness

2012-01-11T19:41:00.000-06:00

This weather we're having is totally wacky! Today it was 54 degrees! And now tonight we've got a winter weather advisory with a storm coming. Maybe Winter will finally arrive. The temps have begun to drop and the wind is picking up. Depending on who you listen to, we will get anywhere from 1-2 to 4-6 inches. I think that it will do what it will do and there isn't anything we can do to stop it.
My seed order arrived today from Baker Creek:

Aren't they pretty?? But, they made a mistake with my order. I ordered plain, old, cheap hot hungarian wax peppers. And they sent me these:

Black Hungarians. Ooo.... more black food. These are much more unusual and pricey than the ones I ordered. They look like a black jalapeno and the plants have purple flowers. Too Cool! Maybe a replacement for Eric will be found. I'm trying to decide if I want to bother letting them know they made a mistake. Not that I really care. I've got a couple of old seeds left of HHWax peppers in the stash. I may just want to let this one slide...
And with my seed order I also got myself a treat:

Their new book! When you order it from them (rather than getting it through another retailer) not only do you get an autographed copy, you get a free subscription to The Heirloom Gardener magazine. Too much fun. Now I've got some new reading material for the winter ;-)

And lastly, for something totally silly. A photo of V from Saturday evening when he was the DM for our family D&D game:

Smoking jacket and an antique fez he picked up at a thrift store many years ago. CLASSIC!

Goodbye Rosemary and Eric

2012-01-09T20:22:00.002-06:00

Alas, poor Eric has died! Don't mourn, we're not mourning too much. Eric was our jalapeno plant that has lived in his pot with us for the last 7 years. Eric started as an experiment that just kept going. I'm not sure what happened. He just suddenly turned brown and withered. Maybe seven and a half was too much for the poor guy. But he lived a great life. Outside in the spring through fall and then inside in front of a sunny window for the winter. He sometimes provided us with hot peppers year round. Poor Eric, we will miss you. But, your pot will be cleaned out and a new pepper will take your place in the Spring. I'll have to have the children name this one as well... I was never sure how they came up with Eric.

Sadly, I am quite disappointed in Rosemary. I don't know what my problem is but I can never seem to keep rosemary alive over the winter. I can't even think how many Rosemarys I have managed to kill. They all do really well outside in their pots over the summer and seem to make the transition into the house well in the fall. But, ALWAYS they seem to kick the bucket in January or February. I just don't understand it. The plant was in a sunny South window with lots of other plants that are still doing well (the Meyer lemon is blooming up a storm) -except for the lemongrass that Spaz seems to think is his personal greenery to chew... but even it is holding it's own. But Rosemary... NEVER does rosemary survive. What am I doing wrong?? I wish I knew. I LOVE rosemary... sigh....

The last day

2012-01-08T17:56:00.000-06:00

Today is the last day of my week vacation. Tomorrow I go back to work. I got a lot accomplished during this week but I also took time to play as well. I even got a few things done that weren't on my to-do list. The only thing I didn't accomplish is organizing my seed starting stuff. But, since I've still got weeks and weeks before I can start any seeds I don't really mind. It feels great to have gotten lots of other stuff done.
What did I accomplish last week? Let's see... here are some highlights:
- Made and froze waffles for the children for school day breakfasts
- Nearly finished V's victorian shirt (done except for buttonholes and hemming)
- Took a nap!
- Reorganized my sewing area.
- Played with my new serger.
- Sorted seeds
- Placed seed order
- Sorted stacks of papers on my desk and organized that.
- Did mountains of laundry
- Cleared the refrigerator of 'jars with just a little bit that no one will eat that have been there forever'
- Organized the pantry (empty jars downstairs, full jars up)
- Read a book!
- Played games with my family
- Took a box of old children's clothing to donate
- Sorted through old video tapes
- Baked beer bread and sweet potato biscuits
- Watched a couple of movies
- Ran some errands
- Packaged some 'bean bundles' of pre-diced ham and bacon since I discovered that BOTH boys not only ate but LIKED the black eyed peas I made for New Year's that had both ham and bacon (and hot peppers and other goodness). I was slicing up a ham anyway and used the end bits for beans.
- Raked the chicken coop bedding and added some fresh.
- Helped V fix the clean out door of the coop.
- Cooked delicious, real food
- Laughed a lot
- Snuggled my honey
- Sorted and organized fabric
- Played with the cats and dog
- Lit candles
- Drank some wine
- Enjoyed the 100% complete upstairs bath!!!!
- Purchased some local, organic produce (still going strong with the mild weather we've had)
- Mourned my kale that the deer devastated
- Watched a sunset.
- Had a deep conversation with my teenage son
- Enjoyed the warm weather outside
- LIVED!

I hope this week is as fulfilling, not only for me, but for you all as well.

Ready to go

2012-01-07T18:06:00.002-06:00

I spent some time this afternoon sorting through and cataloging my seed collection. This year I even took the time to record the age and, if not many, how many seeds I have of a particular variety. This last bit is important. How else would I have known that I only have 3 Anaheim pepper seeds in that envelope?!
I made a list of what I/we want to plant in the garden this year and my list of wants/needs and dug through the catalogues.
I've discovered that Baker Creek has everything I want -plus a few extras that weren't on my list ;-) so I only have to order from one place. Yeah!!
I've decided that this year, I'm going to grow less variety but try to do it better. So, instead of the 12 varieties of tomato I planted last year, this year, it will only be 6: Amish Paste, Polish Linguisa, Amana Orange, Black Sea Man, Crimson Cushion (wasn't thrilled with it last year but it was a bad tomato year- I'll give it another chance) and a hybrid beefsteak. I'm growing a hybrid this year because with the garden rotation I'm back in the spot where I had terrible trouble with late blight last time I planted there (the very first gardening year here). I'm going to try to mulch the heck out of the plants this year as soon as they're planted to avoid any soil splash. But, this is the low end of the garden and always seems wet. This won't be a problem if it is a dry year but if we have another wet, wet spring like we've had the past few years I could be in trouble. I do want to eventually put in raised beds but that's not on the short list at the moment.
For peppers this year, I'll only be planting 4 hot peppers: Anaheim, Jalapeno, Bulgarian Carrot and Hot Hungarian Wax. And 3 sweet peppers: Tolli's Sweet Italian, Purple Beauty (bell) and Ozark Beauty (a red bell).
As always, there will be a couple of eggplants, cucumbers, squash and all that jazz. New for me this year in the plan are Loofa gourds, fennel and Long Island Cheese squash. I picked up a Long Island Cheese at the farmer's market last fall and V actually liked it (he's not a big squash fan) so it's definitely one to try to grow.
Some new planting areas for the spring: the west wall of the barn where I plan to grow the loofas, the west wall of the chicken coop where I want to plant climbing nasturtiums to provide some shade as that wall gets really hot in the summer, and just to the west of the chicken run. That run gets an incredible amount of hot afternoon sun since it's on the west side of the shop and I'm going to try to plant some sunflowers out of reach of hungry chicken beaks to provide some shade there as well.
So, I've got my plan started. Now I just need to map out the garden, place my order and WAIT! With the springlike weather we've been having, that last one is the hardest!!

This year, I hope to finally construct the little greenhouse that V got me for my birthday last year. It had been on the plan for last spring but the chicken coop took precedence. Little greenhouse... raised beds... then maybe a hoop house and I'll be really going.

Photos from a record day

2012-01-05T17:13:00.000-06:00

Yup, we had a record setting day here today. We reached 56 degrees this afternoon. The old record here was 54 so, while these temps aren't unheard of, they are quite unusual. It made me itch to get into the garden but I KNOW there is still lots of winter left.
But, I promised photos. I had to wait until my camera battery charged before I could take any photos. I do think my poor old camera is on it's last legs. I can't zoom more than half way or it triggers a shutdown, the view screen is getting 'foggy' at the edge and the battery isn't holding a charge. Of course, the poor thing is 5 or 6 years and has been heavily used and abused in it's lifetime. But, oh yeah, the photos:

K11 using stone tools while doing something with a stick. It was warm enough to be outside in shirt sleeves and I declared a 'mandatory outside frolic' after the children got home from school this afternoon.
V and I took advantage of the warm weather to do some work outside. In the chicken coop, V worked to make the clean out door a bit more weather tight and I raked up bedding and added new.

That's Zoey in the nest. We got 9 eggs today! Not bad from 10 hens in January!! The only one not laying at the moment is River- we haven't had a blue egg for a couple of weeks so she's evidently taking a break.
Some of the next bit is actually yesterday's work. I cheated a bit and rearranged the sewing room even though I still have button holes and hemming to do on V's shirt. But I couldn't wait to get my hands on the serger. Now, I've got a great workstation set up:

I organized my fabric stash into plastic storage tubs under the table. One box for J17's fabric, one for quilting fabrics, one for garment materials and one for miscellaneous bits that didn't fit in the other boxes. My 30 year old singer machine is set up on top of the dresser that holds my batik and hand dyed fabrics (out of sight to the right in the above photo). J17 has been using that machine to work on some projects of her own. And, as you notice, the room isn't finished yet. We ran out of drywall when we were working on it last time and haven't cleared everything out again since we got a new batch of drywall delivered. Oh well, it's insulated, wired and lighted. What more do I need?
And here is my new baby:

I was trying it out with bits of scrap fabric today, trying to learn the ins and outs. I've been working my way through the manual but have yet to watch the instructional DVD that came with it. Maybe tomorrow.
I've been working my way through my to-do list. I'm down to only two more things on my list and it's only Thursday! One thing (sob, sob, sigh) is to sort through my seeds and make a list for ordering, the other is to organize my seed starting stuff and do a general clean up of that area. My lighted shelves have become a catch all over the summer and fall and need to be cleaned off before seed starting time arrives. I know I've got plenty of time to do this but it's one more thing to get done while I've got time.

Winners and babbling

2012-01-03T18:08:00.001-06:00

Ok... it's after the new year so I thought I'd better figure out who were the winners of my giveaway. I trotted over to Random.org and had them generate a couple of numbers. So... the winning numbers were 14 and 17.
So.... That means the winners are Jenna Gayle and 2 Tramps. So, you two please email me your mailing address to fullfreezer at gmail (dot) com and I'll try to get those packages into the mail this week while I'm off.

Today was the first real day of my vacation. Oh, I was off on Sunday and yesterday but those were play days. New Year's day we didn't do much. We actually spent a lot of time looking for a folder that V has misplaced. The children have been clamoring for a family D&D game and V couldn't find his Dungeon Master's folder with all his maps and stuff in it (the lost was finally found today in the bottom of a box of books that we hadn't unpacked yet). But the search got us to tidy up and do a bit of sorting and purging of stuff we don't need yesterday and today. As rooms have been finished, we have been slowly unpacking books and such and we're finally down to only 2 boxes left and I believe those are V's collection of 'Presidential Papers' that he inherited from one of his uncles. Not anything I'd probably read but it is a complete set for what it is and most likely has some value.
Last night, instead of D&D we played a family game of 'Kingmaker'. It's a strategy board game about the War of the Roses. We stayed up late and V finally won because my royal heir was killed by the plague after I had retired to Calais with him and 700 troops. C'est la vie...

Today, I got busy on my to-do list. We all slept in after a late game night and when I rolled out of bed at nearly 9 I made a triple batch of waffles for breakfast and to freeze. I also did lots of laundry (We finally strong-armed J17 to clean her room and she had two hampers full of dirty clothes!), worked on a Victorian shirt (my next project), brought in another table for my sewing room from the shop where it has been stored and figured out how to rearrange that room so it is more user friendly.

Tomorrow, the children go back to school. I've got some errands to run and then I hope to finish the shirt I'm making for V. That finished, I'm going to rip apart the sewing room and rearrange. Also on my list for the week, reorganizing the pantry, sorting seeds and seed starting stuff, perusing seed catalogues and sorting through the piles of papers that have accumulated on my desk. My desk is upstairs and tends to be a catch-all for all kind so stuff- not all mine!

Oops, gotta go check my chicken in the oven. Have a great week...

12 for 12

2012-01-01T16:46:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year to all!

I hope this year has found everyone warm and healthy. So far for us 2012 has been WINDY! We've had 20-30 mph winds all day with even higher gusts. I was out giving the chickens some scratch grains and watching shingles blow off the barn roof. It has been slowly decomposing since we moved in but this is definitely doing a number on it. But, I'm not complaining. We've got the winds for a blizzard but not the snow! And it has been hovering just above freezing all day.

I promised a look at my goals and dreams for next year. Oh, I started off doing my usual goal list. Categories for work, home, garden and personal. But then, I saw this post by Gina that inspired me to do something a little different.
I always liked the Independence Days Challenge when it was going on, keeping regular tabs in various categories on how I'm doing. So, after a little tweaking and contemplation, I give you my version of 12 for 12.
In order to make positive change in life, I need to take action. So, I have come up with a list of 12 verbs that I want to use to transform my life in positive ways. I'm hoping to be able to incorporate each verb into my life in some way every month. I'm planning to do a monthly update to track my progress.
Here are my verbs/categories and a little explanation of each (in no particularly significant order):
Create: To use my brain and skills to make something unique. To build or construct things.
Dream: Looking to the future, realistic or not. To stretch myself in new ways. Tackling new challenges.
Organize: I'm not the most organized person in the world (I think I need some lessons from Erin!) so I hope to get my act together a bit more.
Love: enough said.
Complete: To finish something large or small... I've got lots of UFOs (UnFinished objects) around the house.
Play: to have fun- engage with the children or V or anyone else, just for pure pleasure.
Nourish: both body and soul. Probably here I'll focus mostly on food and real cooking.
Nurture: myself, others, the land- the possibilities are endless.
Budget: time, energy and finances
Learn: whether it's continuing education for work or picking up a new-to-me farm/home skill.
Move: most likely exercise related- I do really need to get in better shape.
Plan/Prepare: I couldn't decide which word I liked best but they go together. Looking to the future and being ready for what may come, good or bad is something I let slip in the last year.

So, there you have it. I'm hoping it will work for me. We'll see how it goes. I'm kind of excited by the possibilities it brings. Play along if you want.
All in all, 2011 wasn't terrible but I'm not sorry to see it go, there were way too many stressful times. 2012, I know, will have it's share of troubles, but I hope that I'm up to the challenge.

Thanks for coming along for the ride for another year!

Note to self

2011-12-31T15:53:00.000-06:00

In the future, remind V that late afternoon on New Year's Eve is not the most auspicious time to begin non-emergency plumbing repairs... because we KNOW that it never goes as smoothly as you hope.

A HAPPY 2012 TO YOU ALL!

May it be peaceful, joyous and fulfilling for everyone.

And may you never have leaking bathtub faucets.

Too tired to look back

2011-12-30T20:10:00.001-06:00

I was planning a year in review post for tonight. But I'm too tired to think back about the last year. It's been a busy, sometimes stressful year. Many great things have been accomplished and many more wait to be done Several things have been left unfinished. But now, I'm too tired to think about it. I woke up too early this morning and couldn't fall back asleep. Work has been unusually busy for this time of year and many, many people are in great distress (sadly, a sign of the times, I fear).

I work tomorrow and I've got a great activity planned for my patient groups. Not quite a traditional goal setting activity but looking at taking action to make life changes. I think I'll play along.

But, even though I'm tired, I'm so excited! After tomorrow I've got 8 days off with no definite plans. Woo Hoo! I'll be sure to do a post on my goals and dreams for the new year but I also hope to do lots of sewing, some baking and, gasp, maybe even some reading for fun!!

And, of course, I'll announce the winners of the giveaway.

150 crazy people read this?

2011-12-28T19:15:00.002-06:00

Greetings and Thanks to all my bloggy friends out there! I've been waiting to hit 150 followers. I hit 148 and just hung out for quite a while. Thanks to Mandy (Not our cat!!) and SciFiChick I made it! I have been saving a couple of things for a giveaway to celebrate. I figured I would host this either at 150 followers or 1000 posts whichever came first. Since I've got a ways to go to 1000 posts it's a good thing this is happening now since I've got springtime, garden planning things to give away... A garden planning grid and a magnetic garden to-do list.
There will be two, I tell you, TWO lucky winners of this giveaway. To enter, leave a comment on this post (by New Year's CST) sharing what your favorite garden vegetable is and a tip for helping it grow. That's it, no tricks or links or anything. And, yes, I'm open to international entries.
At the new year I'll draw two names at random from the entries.

Let the fun begin!!

Disappointment

2011-12-27T18:33:00.000-06:00

I spent some time this afternoon comforting my darling daughter. She received disappointing news in the mail. She has had her heart set on one college to attend. Even though V and I have strongly encouraged her to have plan B (and C and D if necessary), she has resisted applying anywhere else. But, today she learned that, while she was accepted into the university itself, she was not accepted into the fiercely competitive art/design program there.
After a few moments of mourning, we embarked on a quest for more programs. She is looking for an affordable (HA!!) program with a BFA in Graphic Design. We found a few possibilities this afternoon and the search will continue. At least she still has time to apply to other places. Of course, we also told her that it would be OK if she took a year off between high school and college. We'll see what happens.

On to the next project

2011-12-26T18:28:00.004-06:00

Christmas is past. We had a lovely time. On Saturday, we went down to my parent's home for Christmas dinner and a gift exchange. My sister, BIL and two nephews from Colorado were there, as was my brother and SIL from here in town. My nephew, the chef, also came down. He has recently gotten his own car so it was all very exciting for him to be able to come by himself. A grand time was had by all. My quilted pot holders were well received. (Joyce, I will get yours in the mail soon- oops)
Christmas day, we had a quiet day here at home. The children were up early- amazingly, since I can barely drag them out of bed on weekends usually! I had prepared some overnight cinnamon rolls the night before so just had to pop them into the oven while we opened gifts. Truly delightful. We didn't have an overboard gift giving. I got my serger, a new pair of slippers and a lovely pair of earrings from J17. Oh, and an IOU from V. He had intended to order some soaker hoses for me for the garden next year but time got away from him. That's OK. My serger was a HUGE gift.
V loves his jacket. He does look really sharp in it. Of course, he says his beard is too shaggy to look really sophisticated. I'll get some photos of him posing in it sometime.
Now, I'm onto new things. I do want to play with my serger but I'm kind of waiting until my week off in January so I can really spend some quality time with it. I did read through the manual yesterday. But I need a project. I had thought to maybe work on a wall quilt or two next but I'm not so sure. I found some white shirting fabric (two pieces of the same fabric that I inherited from someone) that should be enough to make a Victorian shirt for V. I've got the pattern, it's another one from Folkwear. I've even got some subtle white on white stripes that I may use for the bib of the shirt and the cuffs, just to jazz it up a little. I've also got plans in the works to make him a brocade vest. It seems that my little side venture is beginning more with menswear than anything else. Of course, lots of sites that I've seen selling Victoriana/Steampunk clothing seem to focus more on women's fashion than menswear. And, honestly, I think menswear is easier to sew... far fewer ruffles!
So, I'll cut out the shirt tomorrow. The cut and construction are pretty similar to the multitude of US Cavalry shirts I made years ago so I'm not anticipating too much trouble with it. I've got one more day of my Christmas break left, I work four days (Wed through Saturday) and then.... I've got 8 days off!! THAT should be glorious!! I've got to get myself organized for all the projects I want to get done. And, of course, I need to find time to peruse the seed catalogues. It is about that time.....

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:33:00.001-06:00

From our house to yours... have a wonderful, love filled day.

And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for:

It looks sharp!

As the sun sets

2011-12-22T16:55:00.002-06:00

The sun is setting on this, the shortest day of the year. I look forward to the return of the light as we gradually exit the dark days.
Here is hoping that next year brings health, peace, contentment and good gardening to us all.

Have a Blessed Winter Solstice!!

Almost...

2011-12-19T18:03:00.000-06:00

The end is in sight!!

It still looks pretty rough here. It isn't hanging straight, it hasn't been hemmed and none of the facings or cuffs have been stitched down. That is all hand work. But I think I'll get it done!!

Finishing up

2011-12-18T17:59:00.001-06:00

I wish I was finishing up V's jacket but I haven't had time to work on it recently :-(
I just haven't been able to find a large enough block of time to tackle the next step of padding and lapels. But, I have been finishing up all the rest of the holiday gifts.
This afternoon, V and I completed our holiday shopping. Except for some candy for stockings, I'm done, done, done with shopping. Why is it that as the children get older, the packages seem to get smaller and more expensive? ... and fewer this year, I think. But, we have managed to get what they asked for as well as a few surprises.
A couple of those surprises were what I was finishing up this afternoon. Since the children have all been getting into role playing games, we decided to get the boys each their own set of dice as a stocking stuffer. And, of course, if you have a set of dice, you need a dice bag. Any self-respecting gamer knows that. So, in seemingly no time at all (maybe half an hour tops) I whipped up a pair of drawstring bags.

Scrap fabric and I had just enough of the gold cording.
Blue for I14 :

It's from scrap flannel backed satin from J17's nightgown that she is making.
And Green for K11:

This is left over velvet from long ago when I made Christmas stockings for my nieces and nephews.
Sometimes, the scrap box is a wonderful thing.
Some of the gift wrapping is done and I'll probably finish tomorrow. And I really hope for some quality time with V's jacket. With the shopping done I should have all afternoon to work on sewing since it's my day off.
It's hard to believe that Christmas is only a week away. The weather certainly doesn't help. It was 50 today and the grass is still green. Go figure.

Oh my!

2011-12-16T20:08:00.002-06:00

It seems like it has been so long since I have seen the sun!!
It turns out that, yes, indeed, I do need to take vacation time before the end of the month or lose it. So, this afternoon, since it was a manageable day at work, and I worked really hard to get things done quickly, I left work early. Oh, My! The sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear and blue. It was such a lovely walk to downtown to catch the bus, even though the temperature was barely above freezing. Being outside when the sun was shining was so wonderful! Last weekend it was rainy and dismal and we didn't see the sun, and it is dark when I leave and dark when I get home so it was great to see the sun.
I'm going to try to take some time off afternoons next week as well, assuming that things are manageable at work. If I can leave a few hours early for a couple of days, I'll have it made. But, I will HAVE to take two days of vacation every month. Oh, the hardship! But, I do feel bad about it. The reason I have so much vacation built up is because it is so hard for us to take vacation. My co-workers and I always feel guilty taking vacation because we know the pressure it puts on everyone else. Working in a hospital, I don't have one of those jobs that will wait until I get back from vacation for it to get done. Someone always has to cover my patients when I'm not there. All four of us have trouble taking time off. We're really good at looking out for each other, but not so good about looking out for ourselves. Who knows, maybe I'll just end up taking every Monday off- two as my 90% days and two as my vacation days each month. Now THAT is a schedule I could live with- never working a full week. Hmmm.... this has possibilities. Or, I could try to leave early a few days a month. Either way, I need to use at least 14 to 15 hours of vacation a month to keep up.

Oh, and no sewing for me tonight either. V has had a stressful day with some legal stuff that has popped up (maybe I'll tell you about it someday when it's resolved). We had some wine with dinner tonight to unwind so definitely no detail work for me!! It doesn't take much for me to be not very functional... It's amazing how many times I've had to correct mis-typings now LOL!!

I work tomorrow, and after work, V and I hope to finish our holiday shopping. Sunday, J17 and I14 have to acolyte at church and the youth group hosts their annual soup and sandwich lunch before going caroling. I've got Monday off so I'm really hoping to spend some quality time with the sewing machine then. I'm excited to get V's jacket finished and get started on other things. Especially since I got a hit here for someone searching for Steampunk Art quilts. I'd better get the supply up!!

An interesting quandry

2011-12-15T19:56:00.000-06:00

I made a discovery today. One that has me wondering. Hmm, what to do... what to do...
It seems that I have maxed out my vacation accrual at work. It is kind of hard to keep track of- I have to log in and check my stats and they only have it updated through the end of October- they're just now entering the November payroll stuff for vacations. Anyway- as of Oct 31, I had 331 hours of vacation time available. I didn't take any vacation in November and I now (at 90%) accrue 14.4 hours per month. So, theoretically, of December 1, I should have 345 (approximate) hours. Well, my maximum accrual is 345 hours. Oops. I know I will have 4 hours of vacation time coming out at the end of the month, but, in order to not loose time, I think I may have to take 10 hours of vacation before the end of the month. I need to check with our secretary who does the payroll tomorrow. Hmm, this could be interesting. I HAVE to take vacation or I lose the hours. Good thing I already turned in my request for those two days in January.
No sewing for me tonight. I'm taking a break from clean-up right now. V created a huge mess today and there is dust EVERYWHERE! BUT I'm not complaining!!!!!! We have baseboards and trim in the kitchen and bath!!!!! So I can stand a little dust. Things needed dusted anyway ;-)
So, I finally get my finished room!! The kitchen is DONE!!! The bathroom still needs the trim around the window but everything else is done. WOOT!! Best present ever!!
And now for some random Thursday things.
Chickens are being amazing producers for December. We got 7 eggs today and 6 each Tuesday and Wednesday. We need to eat some eggs!! Maybe I can sell a few at work next week. Or I need to bake up a storm. Ooo, springerle uses lots of eggs. Hmm.....
We've still got a few gifts to pick up for the children but hopefully will do that Saturday when V picks me up from work. But I do need to get wrapping!!
And, of course, all the cookies I baked last weekend are gone. I guess I'm just going to have to make a few more for the holidays.
I'm still not really into the holiday spirit. It seems hard to believe that Christmas is only a few more days away. I've still got lots to do. Of course, the weather isn't helping. It was mid 50s yesterday- definitely NOT winter weather.
I may not be ready for Christmas but I can't wait for Solstice. I absolutely can not wait for the days to start getting longer again. It is so depressing to leave for work in the dark and return home in the dark. V was complaining about having to do chicken stuff since these are supposed to be MY chickens. But, there are things that need to be done in the daylight that I just can't do from work. I need to remind him to give them some treats of scratch grains when he lets them out because he seems to forget that often.
Enough babbling- I'm obviously trying to avoid cleaning up.

Maybe...

2011-12-14T21:55:00.000-06:00

Just maybe I'll be able to finish V's jacket by Christmas. I had a good two hours of uninterrupted sewing time this evening and got quite a bit done. So... the pockets are on, the main body is together and I've got the back 'reinforcement facing' in, the under-collar padded and in place and the first layer of interfacing in the lapels basted in. I'm hoping that tomorrow I can finish the lapels (flannel padding and contrast facing) and maybe move onto the sleeves. These are more complicated sleeves than I'm used to. They have an 'over' and 'under' sleeve.
This pattern, being a historical pattern, also has lots of hand work and tailoring techniques that I'm not that familiar with. But, it's going together well. No photos yet. The biggest pain is that it calls for flat feld seams- with only half inch seam allowances. Have you ever tried to flat feld a half inch seam?! Especially on slippery fabric- it's not easy. But still, I'm having fun working on this one. I can't wait to finish it and be able to move onto something new.
Today was a much calmer day. Work was much more manageable and things at home went smoothly so I had some time for myself. It was much needed.
J17 came home early from school not feeling well. There is some nastiness going around in the schools. I'm feeling better but am still just tired. I think it's a combination of being overloaded, not enough sleep and having dreary weather.

It looks like I'm going to be able to have the entire first week of January off. Woot! I work on December 31st. The second is our official holiday but should have been my usual day off. So, I get the holiday on Monday, my day off is shifted to Thursday and I've got Friday off for working the weekend. That leaves me only scheduled to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. So, I'm trying to arrange having those days off as vacation days. Taking two days of vacation will give me 8 continuous days off. I can DEFINITELY use that. The children return to school on the 4th. I've also got some extended time off over Christmas. I work this Saturday so I've got Friday the 23rd off. Monday and Tuesday are the university holidays so I've got 5 days off for Christmas. Pretty sweet. I'm hoping to have that time in January to figure out my new ~~toy~~ tool. I'm hoping also to work on a quilt and maybe a little something else. Some extended down/me time will be much appreciated.

Is it only Tuesday??

2011-12-13T19:25:00.000-06:00

It really seems like it should be much later in the week than that. Ugh. And I've still got 4 more work days to go. sigh. Things have just been so hectic and with unexpected crises throwing wrenches into my plans.
Saturday's furnace fiasco messed up my weekend plans. Sunday was a day of catching up. Yesterday work was brutally busy and then my evening plans got thrown off by a car accident right outside the house.
I was sitting on the couch while the soup was simmering- watching a bit of news on PBS when I heard squealing of brakes, crashing and thumping sounds outside. Definitely NOT the sounds that one normally hears on the highway. I looked out the door to see headlights nearly in the yard. NOT good! I grabbed my coat and ran outside to see if everyone was OK. Fortunately, everyone was able to walk away from this one but it could have been BAD, BAD, BAD.
A teenage driver wasn't paying attention when pulling out onto the highway from across the road and pulled into oncoming traffic (moving at highway speeds or faster). The other vehicle (an SUV) swerved to try to avoid the teen in the pickup. They clipped bumpers and the SUV lost control, leaving the highway and going briefly airborne before hitting a tree just outside our fence. We could tell he was airborne because the impact mark on the tree was several feet above where his vehicle was resting on the bank of the ditch. Luckily, the driver of the SUV was wearing his seatbelt and the airbags deployed. He was dazed and shaken up but eventually decided he was OK. I even got to call 911. Oooh, the excitement. We had two county sheriff patrol cars, an ambulance and a fire truck show up.
The SUV, in my non-expert opinion, is totaled. The front of the vehicle is rather V shaped (probably almost foot deep!) where it hit the tree, the passenger door barely opened, the frame looks bent and the front airbags both deployed. Still, that the driver could walk away is a testament to the safety technology in place. Truly amazing. When I first saw that SUV, I imagined the worst!
The whole ordeal ended up taking about 90 minutes of the evening that I really didn't have to spare. But both V and I felt it was important for us to be out there, helping where we could. So, I didn't really get anything accomplished.
PLUS!! I ended up leaving work a little early yesterday because I was having an allergic reaction to something (still not sure what!) and was feeling itchy and wanted some antihistamines. I've got a line on my left shoulder that looks like a scratch of some sort but is blistered and itchy. Later, I started breaking out in other places and itching all over. It's much better today but I didn't sleep well last night, even with drugs on board. I've still got absolutely no clue what I got into.
Add all of that to another really rough day at work today, and I'm exhausted. I really, really want to go sew something tonight (I never made it down there last night!) but I'm not sure I've got the energy or concentration. I hate to sew when I'm really tired- I tend to make stupid mistakes that end up taking more time than if I just left it. especially when working with brocade and velvet I don't want to mess up. So, maybe I'll turn in early tonight and see if tomorrow will be a better day.

Chickens...

2011-12-12T17:37:00.000-06:00

can be incredibly stupid! I do think I may have the dumbest flock of chickens on record... really!
I went out this evening to close up the coop. It has been a lovely day here, a bit overcast but up into the low 40s. It's still 38F at 530 pm. Not bad for mid December. So... the chickens had been enjoying the day outside. But, silly bird brains... they were enjoying it outside so much that they didn't seem to notice that it was getting dark inside. By the time I got out there, they were all huddled in a mass OUTSIDE. Because, you know- it was DARK in that coop!
To get them in, I had to turn on the light inside. Silly birds. Then, of course, I turn off the light and they're all floundering around in the dark. So, softie that I am, I got a flashlight to give them enough light to find the roost.
Yup, chickens can be dumb. They've never done this one before so I do hope it's not a new pattern. I hope they learned their lesson.

Cooking ahead for a busy week

2011-12-11T19:12:00.001-06:00

In addition to other things, I spent some time today doing some cooking ahead for the next couple of days. V announced this morning that he really wanted chicken enchiladas for dinner. So I cooked up a package of chicken thighs. Since I only needed some of the meat, I've still got some chicken and broth left over. That will be for Tuesday's chicken and rice.
I also cooked some beef bones/stock for tomorrow's vegetable soup. So, now my fridge is full of stock for a couple of meals ahead. I really need to get going on a couple of sewing projects so I'm hoping to streamline things. I work 6 days in a row this week so I've got to be organized in order to get anything done at home. The whole furnace going out and subsequent cookie baking threw off my weekend plans.
We got a small tree for the basement and decorated that this afternoon. The cats have been having fun climbing the big tree upstairs so we haven't put any ornaments on it yet. They seem less interested today than they did yesterday so maybe the novelty has worn off. Last year, they got bored with it after a bit and pretty much left it alone.
J17 has been working on my new website- although I don't have any merchandise to show or a place to host it yet. She has to do a project for her independent study computer graphics/web design class so she is using my new hopeful business. Two birds with one stone! She has designed a logo for me:

She also created a banner that will be used at the website and that is up at my new blog where I'll be posting about business and sewing projects. I can't wait to get through all this holiday stuff to have more time to focus on sewing... at least before gardening season sets in!!
Now, I've got to see how J17 is doing cutting out her next sewing project and get to work on my own!

Is it just me?

2011-12-10T17:50:00.001-06:00

Or is anyone else having issues with any pages Google related. gmail, blogger and google are taking forever to load and I keep getting messages that "the server where that page is located is not responding'. Ugh! I can't even leave a comment on my own blog!!

Brrrrr--- UPDATED

2011-12-10T08:50:00.001-06:00

It is a lovely 7*F out there this morning. And, of course, the furnace stopped working sometime overnight. Brr.. It was 60 in here when I got up at 7:15 this morning. I initially thought that maybe the system just hadn't shifted yet. We've got a programmable thermostat and I'm not sure when V has it set to kick in for the day on the weekends. But, no, it just isn't working.
I woke V and rolled him out of bed. We've tried resetting it, we replaced the batteries in the thermostat, he has done all the diagnostics he can do. We've got a 'low pressure valve fault' whatever that means.
So, we've got a call in to the local heating place. V left a message but we haven't heard back. I'm sure that this won't be a cheap visit.
I baked some muffins for breakfast to fire up the oven. I've been thinking that I need to bake some holiday cookies- maybe today is the day....
........................................

It's just noon and we've got heat. Woo Hoo!!
Originally, the repair guy thought that we would need a new induction motor (think $$$$$$) but it turned out that we didn't. Whew! It seems that somehow the condensation outflow pipe had gotten clogged and water had backed up to the valve, triggering the fault that kept the system from firing. So, no parts needed. But one thing, V found and downloaded the service manual for this furnace model so hopefully we'll be better able to trouble shoot in the future.
Now, back to cookies!!

Ooo... Shiny

2011-12-08T19:40:00.001-06:00

Beautiful, tempting things keep arriving in the mail!!

They're sitting there, in a lovely pile, trying to draw me into their pages. But, NO!! I will resist temptation. Seed catalogues are for AFTER the holidays. That's my rule. They help get me through the dark of winter. I'll start looking soon after the new year and place my orders in January or February.

But, I may sneak a peek at the Baker Creek catalogue that arrived today. THAT is the ultimate in Garden Porn!!

Isn't it pretty??

2011-12-07T17:33:00.001-06:00

V was hard at work at home today! He put up the chair rail in the kitchen!!

That's a shot of the tall cabinet by the dining room. I didn't show you the garbage can ;)

Isn't it lovely!!?? He does such nice work. Here's a close up:

I really, really loved the little leaf motif on this.
Now, I think we need a few bits of baseboard in place and the kitchen will be FINISHED!! Two rooms in one week- be still my heart!!!
Things will slow down a little in the next few weeks, he does have some contract writing to do for his employer, and, good news, his other employer (who lost her contract a while ago so no more subcontracting to him) has more work for him. Hooray!! And a writing assignment that's just up his alley. He needs to write an article on how to cut your energy bill without spending lots of money. I do think he could almost write that one in his sleep, not only from our own experience but because his other job is for an energy company and he writes about energy all the time.
Work for me was hectic and now, once again we've got a band concert this evening (I14 this time). At least this concert starts a little later so we're not quite so rushed. But still, I've gotta go feed people.

Random babbling

2011-12-06T21:10:00.001-06:00

Whew, what a day. Work was busy and I came home to tend chickens and get everyone fed before we rushed off to K11's winter band concert. The concert was a combination of the beginner and advanced elementary bands. The beginner band sounded like, well, a beginner band, with a mercifully short performance. The advanced band (K11 is in this one) sounded much better. It's amazing what a year of practice can do.
Tomorrow, we have another concert. I14 and the high school concert band will have their winter concert. Now THOSE guys can play!
I woke to snow this morning. And it stuck around all day. Not a lot of snow, maybe only an inch, but it makes things look quite seasonal. Maybe I'll finally get into a holiday mood. Of course, the snow took me by surprise this morning and I was confused. I didn't sleep well last night and was having a weird dream about the chicken coop and shop being on fire when my alarm went off (I think I'm paranoid about having that heat lamp out there on the thermal cube). Anyway, I went to let the dog out onto the deck and when I saw the snow, not being fully awake, I immediately thought it was ashes from the fire. I really need to get into the shower first thing to wake up!!
I think we may be putting up the tree on Saturday. It may actually be a several day affair because Spaz always climbs the tree so we usually give him a day without ornaments to get his jollies out. Although last year he wasn't too bad.
I ordered V's other gift today. Shhh... It's a secret...
I also ordered some serger thread. Not from the same place.
V put up the towel racks in the upstairs bath. NOW we're really living! I don't know if I can stand the strain.
Ok, I really am babbling. I only got a few hours of sleep last night between having a series of coughing fits that made it difficult to get to sleep and then waking up at 2:40 and having difficulty going back to sleep. I think I'm going to hit the hay.

Sometimes...

2011-12-05T17:04:00.001-06:00

It's the little things that mean the most!
This morning, I painted:

Later this afternoon, V installed the paper holder:

After two years of having the TP setting on the counter, it will take some getting used to. Next thing you know, we'll have towel racks... unheard of!!
Of course, the room isn't officially finished, we still don't have window or door molding up, or the base trim. But it is SOOOOO much better than when we bought the house. We went from this:

And that's even with a flash. It was a dark, wooden cave. Even the ceiling was the same dark wood color, and with only two little wall lamps to light the entire room. Ewww...
But now, behold:

Much lighter and brighter. It even seems bigger.
All in all, a good day's work.

I think today may be the first day this season that it has failed to get above freezing. Pretty amazing considering it is December. But it was cloudy and about 28 all day, with a wind that went through you so it was nice to have an inside task to do.

And, BTW, don't you just love paint color names? This color was called Turtle Dove. Who gets paid to think up these names?! I think I want that job.

Happy Christmas to me...

2011-12-04T18:08:00.001-06:00

...EARLY!!
Today, V and I took a trip to Cedar Rapids, 30 miles north, to run some errands. Our local home store, while they had a particular wood panel (that V uses for backing for bookshelves) in stock, the new shipment was a slightly darker shade and wouldn't match the rest of the wood downstairs. So, we ventured off to the sister store in CR with a scrap to see if we could do a color match. Our store was also out of several bath fixtures (towel rods, etc) that we wanted.
Of course, paneling and bathroom stuff acquired, we just had to stop at the Hancock Fabric store nearby. Our fabric store options here in town are rather limited and I refuse to shop for fabric (or anything else, for that matter) at W**mart. While we were there, we checked out a sale that I was aware of. And V got my Christmas present early:

I've been doing my research and this model got very good reviews for the price and a couple of people I've talked to who have this machine really, really like it. A bonus is that it comes with an instructional DVD so I can learn how to thread it! V says I can open it but that kind of seems like cheating. Christmas is only a few weeks away. But can I wait that long?? It's sitting there, on the table in my sewing room, just looking at me!
But, I probably won't be doing much sewing tomorrow anyway. The reason we were anxious to get all the bath bits we wanted is that V finally finished all the drywall work in the upstairs bath. The primer coat is on and I'll be doing the finish painting tomorrow. So, then we can install the towel racks and even a TP holder!! And all this after only two and a half years. It has been SOOOO, nice the past few days to be able to shower without having to go to the downstairs bath. We've got this bad habit of getting projects done to the 'We can live with this' stage and then taking a long time to finish as we work on more pressing things. I guess that's a problem when you buy a disaster of a house with so many things that need done. The upstairs bath was gutted and partially finished before we moved in but we were contemplating putting in a different window so V wasn't in a hurry to finish the drywall. With bare drywall over the shower, we really couldn't use it. But FINALLY!!!! WOOT! Maybe soon I'll have my wish of one room completely finished!! (I'm still waiting on my chair rail in the kitchen so it isn't officially finished) THAT would also be a fabulous gift!

This is help??

2011-12-03T19:02:00.001-06:00

Spaz was helping me cut out V's smoking jacket this afternoon.
Acting as a weight on the fabric is one thing- but I drew the line when he started pulling out the pins.
4 different fabrics later, the jacket is cut out. Velvet for the body, black brocade for collar, cuffs and pocket trim, interfacing and flannel for extra padding in the collar and cuffs.

Paged to the ER

2011-12-03T13:00:00.000-06:00

Fortunately, it wasn't bad.
Yesterday afternoon, about 3:30, my pager went off at work. It was a text to call the emergency room. NEVER a good thing!! Our friend Sharon was in the ER and wanted me to get in touch with Roger. She had been at work and had become dizzy and short of breath- bad enough that her employer thought to get her to the hospital. Fortunately, it was nothing serious- well, not bad- serious. She was dehydrated, overstressed, overworked and not sleeping. The poor thing, she has been so stressed, taking on more and more responsibilities since Roger had his amputation.
I did manage to get hold of Roger- he already had gotten her phone message. V picked me up from work and we went to their house, brought in the mail and walked the dog since Roger doesn't have his prosthesis yet and can't walk their energetic big dog.
Sharon was released and we picked her up at the ER and took her to her car which was still at work. I did admonish her that "IT IS OK TO ASK FOR HELP!!!" I'll have to be more diligent about checking in with HER and not just Roger to see how things are going.

Today, I finally got the heat lamp hung in the chicken coop for when the temps get really frigid this winter. We've got spoiled chickens. We've already got the heated water base so their water doesn't freeze. For the heat lamp, we found a 'thermo-cube' with a built in thermostat that will turn the lamp off and on between preset temperatures so it isn't on all the time.

I'm planning to cut out V's smoking jacket this afternoon. I haven't had time to get to it yet and I wanted to prewash the fabric. Yes, even the velvet. I know that this jacket will get thrown in the wash so I want the fabric to be able to stand up to it.
J17 is working to design a logo for me. For one of her computer graphics classes she is taking, she had to design one anyway so she is using my hopeful business to kill two birds with one stone. I'll hopefully be unveiling a new blog soon for the crafty stuff. I have secured a custom domain and may ask our friend Mike if he will host it for me. I do think J17 is at least as excited about this venture as I am.

Gotta go- I've got too much on my list for the day to spend much time with blogger... as tempting as it is. I've already wasted time researching sergers. I'm thinking that maybe I'll ask Santa for one of those. Anyone have any recommendations or warnings?? I've used one before but don't own one.

A curious thing

2011-12-01T19:18:00.001-06:00

In the past two days, I have found two eggs on the floor of the coop. Yesterday late afternoon, when I went out to check (we got 7 eggs!!) there were no eggs in the end nest box (they don't like that one much- I think it's too exposed) two eggs in the middle box and 4 in farthest box (against the wall). And there, on the floor next to the wall almost in front of the next box, was an egg. Hmm... I wondered if the prime nest boxes were occupied and someone couldn't wait. Ok, no problem.
Then this evening I went out to check. None in the end again, one in the middle and three in the far box. Not too bad for the first of December. But, when I turned to check to make sure they have enough food, there on the floor, right by the feeder, was another brown egg.
Now I'm really confused. Two consecutive eggs on the floor?? Could I have a new layer who is inexperienced? I thought all the girls were laying already (although with almost everyone laying brown eggs, it's hard to tell) but I've never had everyone lay on the same day- the max I've ever gotten was 8. Or could there be something else that is making one of the girls lay on the floor? Anyone with more chicken expertise, feel free to weigh in! Until this, I haven't found any eggs on the floor since September when most everyone started laying. I think most of the girls laid their first on the floor and then figured it out.
Or, maybe, as K11 suggested, someone is just sad because of Buffy and is protesting. Um, yeah.

Oh, and it's snowing here. We're not supposed to get more than an inch and it's supposed to get back near 40 tomorrow. What weird weather we're having.

Been busy

2011-11-28T21:55:00.001-06:00

I've been busy the last few days. Plotting and planning and working to finish quilted pot holders for holiday gifts. I need to do a recount but I think I finished my last one this evening. Now, on to other giftiness for V. Yup, tomorrow evening I'll start laying out the smoking jacket. Not sure if I'll cut it out or not- I'll see how much time I've got. I don't know if I'll be able to keep it a total secret but I'll do my best.
Oh, and I've got to tell you a great fabric store story. While we were in line for the cutting table on Saturday, the woman behind us asked what we were using the velvet for. So I told her I had a historic pattern and was going to make a smoking jacket for my husband. She gave me this look of disbelief and asked "WHY?" Of course, I answered "Because I can". But what was really going through my mind was "I'm so sorry that your spouse is boring." But I've got enough tact to filter that one.

For the 'big project' I still need to register my domain name and then maybe I'll be ready to unveil the new website- I've got something in the works but it's not public yet. But, oh yeah, I've got to finish some stuff first. Smoking jacket... smoking jacket... wall quilt... table runner...

And don't panic... I do have a little experience with sewing. Not only have I been quilting for a while but I've been sewing since I was a child. I've even had the opportunity to sub-contract movie costumes in the past. I once made 30 blue wool cavalry shirts for the movie The Rough Riders. I do really love it but haven't had the time or space to really get going. Now I've finally got my own, dedicated sewing room (Ok, it's also the guest bedroom but I can clean if we have guests) so I can accomplish more. Using the dining room table for a work space is not conducive to getting anything done. Now that construction has slowed, let's see what I can do....

Dreams of Empire

2011-11-26T20:00:00.001-06:00

This morning, J17 and I ventured out to the fabric store for their big holiday weekend shopping extravaganza. Whew! I've had my fill of crowds for the year. Who would have thought that the fabric store would have been such a hotspot for shopping. Of course, maybe it's a sign of the times that more people are doing handmade holidays this year. I saw a LOT of fleece go through the cutting lines. We stood in line for probably 35 minutes to get to the cutting table. But we got some awesome deals. I went today because they had quilting cottons for $1.99. I wasn't too impressed with the selection but I got a couple for future use. And they had $.99 patterns again so J17 picked up a few. And I got fabric for a gift for V. I don't really have hope that I'll be able to get it done in time for the holidays but you never know.
We have had the pattern for years and years (probably 25!) but I've never made it:

V has wanted one of these smoking jackets for years- not because he smokes- just because it would be fun and a bit pretentious.
We selected fabric:

Red velvet and a silvery/black brocade for the lapels. The red velvet was one of only two non-sale items we purchased but since we were there in the morning, we got to use a 50% off coupon for it. The brocade was already 40% off. On top of the 50% off a single item, we had a coupon for 25% off the entire purchase price- INCLUDING SALE ITEMS!! So, the brocade was already 40% off plus an additional 25%.
We came home and I spent part of the afternoon organizing the sewing room- well, at least more than it has been, considering that the room isn't even finished!

The sewing room is also the guest bedroom. Above, J17 sits on the futon bed by the table that holds the cutting and ironing stations. The table is sitting over the corner of the bed so I don't block access to the room from the other door. Across the room is my antique library table that doubles as a sewing table. V installed light under the cabinets for better lighting. And, yes, we still have stuff in boxes! And, below, the basket you see in the corner of the photo is a market basket I made, stuffed full of patterns.

Below is the whole room from the corner/door:

Sewing table to the right, storage cabinet straight ahead, to the immediate left (barely visible), the antique dresser that holds most of my fabric. And, yes, broom corn hanging over the bed, a stash of empty shoe boxes by the craft cabinet and quilt batting up near the ceiling. Whew! It's cram packed!!
But on to the dreams of empire!! J17 and V seem to think that this is a viable idea, although I still doubt my skill to pull it off.
J17, and, to some extent, I have been fans of Steampunk- the neo-Victorian fun fashion. To that end, we have, over time, purchased numerous dress, corset, shirt and jacket patterns. I hope to open an Etsy shop, starting with wall art/quilts with a steampunk theme. And a few other things thrown in as well (Maybe some Celtic knotwork pieces). With the possibility of branching out into custom Steampunk and/or cosplay clothing. If I can market right, I may have a side job... not that I don't like my job, I'd just like something a little different on the side.
Opinions... ideas... words of warning....?? Am I totally crazy??

RIP Buffy

2011-11-25T13:29:00.001-06:00

We had our first death on the farm today. I went outside to check the sheets I had hanging on the line and, as is my usual routine, went around the corner to talk to the chickens. Much to my dismay, Buffy, our Buff Orpington hen, was lying dead by the gate.

My theory is that she tried to get at something outside the gate by sticking her head through, got her head stuck, panicked and broke her own neck. The gate is an old chain-link gate from a dog kennel that we dismantled at our old house. I hadn't bothered to put any smaller wire over it as I wasn't worried about it. Now, J17 and I covered the lower portion of the gate with chicken wire, just to be safe.
It was a sad time. We buried her over by the shrubs we planted as a wind break for the future bee hives.

We will miss Buffy. She was always friendly and gentle and such a character. And her feathers were so soft.

RIP Buffy.

Thankful to be home

2011-11-24T18:59:00.001-06:00

We had a whirlwind trip to my parents to celebrate Thanksgiving today. We left earlyish this morning, stopping in Kalona on the way (a short side trip) to pick up my nephew to give him a ride. He is working at a restaurant there (Tuscan Moon). The weather was beautiful today and the food wonderful. I brought dessert. Cranberry bars, and a 'little bit different for Iowa' pie- a wet bottom shoefly pie from a recipe from my MIL in Pennsylvania.
We took eggs for my parents and Dad had a surprise for us. Half a feedsack of cracked corn that he had ground for the chickens. Isn't he sweet. I guess they like the eggs enough to feed the chickens!!
We got home around 6:30 pm and sadly, when we drove by the mall on our way home, there was already a line of people standing at Best Buy. The store is opening at midnight... sigh... What can really be worth standing in line that long for. I value my time much more than that- no matter how good the deal. The one weekend sale I may go to is at the fabric store. On Saturday they're having quilting cottons for $1.99 a yard. Hmm, I may have to go check it out. Not that I NEED any fabric... but I always need fabric.
I've been giving some more thought to an Etsy shop. Of course, there are things that would need done first. Like an Iowa Sales Tax Permit (sigh...) and I would want to have a little inventory of things to put up. So, there isn't a rush. And I've got some ideas for wall art/quilts that I want to try that may stand out from the crowd a bit more as I fear the competition is rather fierce. I've definitely got some ideas to keep me busy this winter as well as revamping the master plan... but more on that later.

I do hope you all had a fabulous day. For those in the US, celebrated with family and friends, giving thanks- to those elsewhere, just a lovely day.

Happy Thanksgiving.
Judy

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2011-11-24T00:00:00.000-06:00

May your day be filled with joy, laughter and all good things.

This year, I am thankful for many things:
Family
Friends
Our Animals
The bounty of the earth and the energy that food provides for me.
The ups and downs of the weather- even when I complain.
My work and the opportunities I see in working less hours now.
The shelter that the world has seen fit to provide for me.
The health I have that allows me to work toward my dreams.

What are you thankful for today??

From the scrap box

2011-11-21T22:00:00.000-06:00

I had a lovely day off today. V and I went out to lunch at the Bluebird Diner in town. What a nice change of pace. We also stapled some plastic up over the clean out door of the chicken coop since there was a bit more draft coming in there than I wanted (and it's right under the roost). I collected 5 eggs today, fed and watered chickens and made some chicken stock. But mostly, I played in the scrap box working on holiday gifts.
Um... for my sister Joyce- I know you're reading... you can either stop reading here or just tell me what color combination you would like ;-) I take requests.
Two quilted and completed:

J17 says she wants some like those...
But mostly, some squares were made. Some with vintage fabrics:

And one not.

I do with I hadn't used the directional fabric for the white on white. But, it will be fine. It will look better after it's trimmed up and finished.
I discovered another box of scrap bits, I think from Mom. Some I recognize from dresses and shirts from my childhood. Too much fun.
I've been having fun going through boxes. Lots of this stuff still hasn't been unpacked since we moved and I need to get myself a bit more organized.
I'm doing some serious thinking about trying to find an outlet for selling some stuff if I can get myself going on making some stuff. I found my book on Celtic Quilts for doing celtic knot work applique on a quilt. I've only made one in the past (a table runner) that I gave as a gift (WHY didn't I keep it for myself!!??) but it was kind of fun. Maybe some more of that will be coming up. We'll see what happens this winter.
The garden is officially put to bed- I even did a preliminary tilling yesterday since I wanted to eliminate any spots for overwintering nasty bugs. I'm also rethinking some of the master plan of the future but more on that as it comes together....

Photos of the day!

2011-11-19T18:46:00.001-06:00

Whew! I'm tired!! I'll definitely sleep well tonight. We all worked very, very hard today. Today, we backfilled behind the new retaining walls. Last year, when we had the septic replaced, they left us a large pile of dirt- mostly clay from where they excavated for the new tank. The septic guy offered to spread it around for us, but we knew we had plans for that pile of dirt. And today was the day!!
I14 and I took turns with the mattock, hacking away at the clay to loosen it up.

Love the action shots!

He and I worked on filling the dump wagon attached to the lawn tractor.

V helped fill and empty the wagon at either end.

And J17 and K11 filled and smoothed behind the walls.

All in all, it went pretty quickly. We filled behind both walls in about three and a half hours total. And we've still got half a pile of dirt left! Probably a good thing since I'm sure that the fill will settle when it rains. And we've also got some filling to do again as the septic continues to settle. You'd think that after more than a year that it would be finished settling but we still need to add some more dirt over the top- again!
But, lest you think the day was all work and no play. No such thing! This morning, I went to the fabric store while V was at Kum Do since I needed some batting. Of course, I lucked out that their fabric remnants were all half price. Hmm, so I picked up a few for coordinates for my new project. I've been going through the stash. The scrap stash. And it's got some treasures!!
A number of years ago, one of my aunts passed away (Aunt E). She was a quilter and crafter and since I was the only quilter in the family, I was gifted with her fabric and scrap stash. In it were some wonderful vintage fabrics that I have never used:

They will be great for my new project:

I had so much fun making that last little pot holder, I decided to whip up a few for holiday gifts this year. I must be out of practice (I haven't done any quilting for probably at least 4 years!!). I noticed that one of my points is a little off. Grr... But not enough that I'm going to rip it out.

The Last Tomato

2011-11-17T20:02:00.001-06:00

Sigh....
They're all gone.
We ate the last garden tomato this evening. Of course, having fresh tomatoes into mid November has been an accomplishment but I'll miss them. August seems a long way away but I refuse to buy tomatoes at the store.
Now, the only thing I've got going is a little kale and chard still out in the garden. We had 20F (about -6C) this morning so I'm not sure how long the chard will last- but I'm hoping to nurse the kale along for a while. I've got some row covers but they aren't thermal ones so I'm not sure I'll bother. They would only give me a few degrees of protection.

In other news, our new therapist, the one we just hired in August, is leaving us. It was a tough decision for her. She is a world class athlete and has the opportunity for a paid sponsorship to train for the Olympics. It's a chance she couldn't pass up- and I wouldn't want her to. So, we will be back to being short staffed. I'm not sure what this means for my work hours. Management didn't allow me to reduce my hours to 90% until she was hired and trained so I'm hoping they don't try to make me go back. I'm really enjoying my every-other Monday off, and I'll appreciate it more when next spring's gardening gets going.
Of course, V said that the money would be nice if I went back to 100%. He isn't bringing in as much these days. It's a complicated story but one of the people he was writing for lost her main contract due to the bad economy so he no longer is subcontracting from her. sigh... He still has his other writing job but it doesn't bring in much. He's looking again so we'll see what happens. Although at this point, I'm more inclined to tighten our belts than go back to 100%. The difference in pay for me isn't that much- only a few hundred dollars a month. I've been wondering if there is anything I could do in my 'spare' time to bring in a little extra cash. I've been wondering about learning to make soap, or some sewing projects that I could maybe sell on Etsy- although I don't know how much that would actually bring in. If the chickens were producing more, I would have a few $ of egg money but we're only getting 4 or so eggs a day- they add up but it wouldn't be much at this point. At least we've just about finished the big, expensive house projects. But, most likely next fall, we'll be facing college tuition. Eek. We definitely are living in interesting times.

I need a plan

2011-11-16T20:17:00.001-06:00

I've got some planning to do. We will be going to my parent's next week for Thanksgiving. I'm in charge of dessert. ACK! My Mom is a fabulous cook, and while I'm pretty good, I always worry that I'll somehow disappoint her when I bring something to dinner. Absurd, I know but I'm always a bit nervous. I want to bring something (actually probably more than one something) that's yummy and easy to transport. I'm not too sure about pie. While it's traditional- it's, well, traditional.
I've been looking through some magazines. The latest edition of Vegetarian Times has a recipe for Cranberry Bars that looks fabulously yummy so it's probably a go- if only for the neon color. But I want something else as well. I saw a recipe for caramel pecan hand pies (I think in Food and Wine) but it uses over a pound of butter and I just don't know if I can do that. 4 entire sticks of butter in just the crust (12 servings). It seems a bit excessive. Especially when you add in more butter, caramel and pecans.
I've got cranberry bars but I still need to find something else. Any ideas??

Done and done...

2011-11-15T18:58:00.001-06:00

I've got a confession to make. I've been home sick for the past day and a half. My co-workers sent me home on Monday. Good thing because I was running a fever and had almost no voice. So, I bundled up at home and worked on quiet things- like sewing. I had an off and on fever all day yesterday and last night so I was still considered 'toxic' today. Of course, I was feeling a bit better, especially by this afternoon so I managed to get a few things done.
I folded laundry that had been languishing in laundry baskets and sorted socks while watching Paula Deen use lots and lots of butter. I finished my apron, hand stitching the facing in place. And I finished a little something else:

The quilt block was one I had lying around. It was a practice block for one of the children's baby quilts (I think K11's) so that tells you how old it is! So I made a potholder. Nothing fancy but I did use it already. I discovered a winter squash that had developed a soft spot so decided it needed used quickly. This lovely potholder worked wonderfully to take the pan of roasted squash out of the oven. Hoorah. Hmm, maybe I can whip up a few more quickly for holiday gifts. They wouldn't take much fabric and I'm sure I've got some great scraps in the scrap bag that would make some fun ones. Ooo... the creative wheels are turning!!
I also managed to get the broom corn stalks out of the garden. They had such massive root systems that I ended up having to use a shovel to loosen the roots. Yeesh. J17 owes me $ for gas money that she begged last week so I've decided to have her pay it back by helping me rake all the remaining plant material out of the garden. I want to get it all cleared before the snow flies to remove any homes for overwintering nasty bugs.
Tomorrow, it's back to work. Now, I've gotta go figure out what to do with a pan of roasted squash with rosemary. Hmm, I see lunch tomorrow... and the next day....

Love the end product

2011-11-14T18:05:00.001-06:00

Hated the process.
Ok, I'm almost done with my apron. I've still got to stitch down the waistband facing but it's essentially finished. I must say, I love the way it turned out... but if I ever say I'm going to make another apron from this pattern- please shoot me! It was a huge pain! The directions often seemed to make things more difficult than they had to be. But, here is the end product:

The inset ruffle on the bottom was annoying to put in (it is a bit wider than it looks in the photo- it's hanging weird).
There is a cross strap in the back to keep the straps from slipping during strenuous cooking sprees:

And a back view- it has a little ties to make a bow in the back:

But I do kind of like the bib.

It did take an extraordinary amount of bias tape. Out of three packages I've got maybe a foot left of one and two feet of another. The third was used up except for an inch! And to think that the pattern actually called for making your own. Ack!! However, with all the edges finished in bias tape it should stand up well in the wash- which is a good thing for an apron. And, personally, I think the pocket is too small...
But, I am pleased that my fabric choices worked as well as they did. Not bad for bits from the stash and scrap box.
And OK, the obligatory modeling shot:

Thanks J17 for the photography.
And thanks to Susan for the challenge. This was a great way to jumpstart my winter sewing plans.

A Sunny November Sunday

2011-11-13T17:11:00.001-06:00

It was a quiet but productive day today. Everyone slept in a bit. V and I stayed up later than usual last night watching a movie, so this morning I actually slept until 8:30!! That late is usually unheard of for me.
Sadly, I feel like I'm coming down with something, I've got a cough and was running a low fever this morning. That being the case, I begged off going to J17's orchestra concert this afternoon since I didn't want to inflict my cough or my germs on an audience.
I didn't feel too bad though, so I spent some time outside continuing to put the garden to bed for the winter. I tackled the tedious but necessary job of pulling all the dead runner bean vines off my trellis netting. I planted some scarlet runner beans this year. Actually, they were the last of old seeds I had. The first time I tried them, bunnies ate off every one. I didn't have too much seed and the weather wasn't too cooperative for them this year, but I let some dry on the vines for seed for next year. I shelled those out this afternoon as well.

They don't produce a lot of beans per pod but they are beautiful!

I really like this photo- I may have to crop it for use as a header sometime.
While I was out in the garden I also pulled and stored all the tomato cages and noticed that, amazingly enough, the marjoram I had planted out there was still alive. Good thing, because the one I had in a pot on the porch all summer died as soon as I brought it inside. So, I did a bit of a swapsie- I ditched the one in the pot and potted the one from the garden. Hopefully it makes it. I do love marjoram (or any fresh herb). I've put it in a sunnier location than I had the other one. I think it didn't get enough light. Our good windows for plants are fairly limited. But I've now got it on the kitchen counter to the side of the sink. I've got a pot of lemon thyme on the other side of the sink that is doing well so I'll cross my fingers. The window faces south so if I can keep the cats from knocking them over, I think they'll be fine.
While I was in the garden and J17 was off to a last rehearsal and then concert, V and the boys were working out back. Before we backfill behind the new retaining wall, V wanted to lay some drain pipe and also some ethernet cable. Yes, we will soon have internet access in the shop!

Above, V and K11 backfill the cable trench, below, I14 starts filling in behind the wall

V wants to eventually set up an office out in the shop- there was an office there before but it was in bad shape. He's thinking about getting a wood stove for out there sometime to heat not only the office space but also make the rest of the shop more useable in the winter months.
He also spent some time mowing the sledding trails down the hill- priorities, you know...
Afterward the poor thing was so tired, he had to hake a nap with Spaz:

Aren't they cute. Spaz definitely has a rough life.
One thing we didn't get done was the remaining wire on the chicken run top. It was warm today (around 60F) but incredibly windy and neither one of us felt like manhandling rolls of chicken wire overhead or being up on ladders in the wind.
And I haven't taken time to work on my apron either. Maybe tonight after dinner. I've got a deadline coming up.

Catching up

2011-11-12T19:01:00.001-06:00

It's been a busy few days but I've really got not much to say. Work has been hectic and I'm glad it's the weekend. Yesterday was another teenage game day here. 9 teenagers were hanging around all day (10 am to 8 pm!!) but it was loads of fun, even though I was at work for most of the day. We provided lunch and the rest of the kids brought other snacks for the day including 'heavy snacking' that they had for dinner. We really tried for not so much junk food as last time but I fear multiple bags of tortilla chips and doritos were consumed.
Today, I had some time to go to the holiday craft/farmers market in town. Amazingly enough, I bumped into the mom of two of the teens who had been at our house all day yesterday. She was one of the vendors, selling handmade soap and embroidery. The market wasn't too busy (the Hawkeye football game had just started) so we stood and chatted for probably 20 minutes. I'm thinking that here is a relationship to cultivate. She is also into real, sustainable food and evidently her husband was excited to hear that we've got chickens (they can't since they're in town and the chicken ordinance hasn't been passed) and wants to come see them. Maybe we'll have to have them out for dinner sometime. I'm kind of hoping that I can talk her into teaching me how to make soap.
This afternoon, V and I finally got the roofing panels up on the chicken run:

I carried and lifted panels into place and V fastened them:

Now just over half the run has a roof on it. The panels still let in plenty of light, especially through the two south windows into the coop, but will provide some shelter from the elements. We still want to put up some chicken wire over the top of the rest of the run to keep out predators- we have already noticed two of the big Rough-legged Hawks that overwinter here and I spotted an eagle yesterday and a great horned owl again at sunset.
I hope the chickens appreciate all this work done on their behalf.

Here they are, all roosted for the night... Except Magnus is wondering what I'm up to... coming in after dark...
Depending on the weather tomorrow, we'll try to put up the rest of the run covering. But J17 has an orchestra concert in the afternoon that we want to go to. And sometime I need to find some time to work on my apron!

Woke to snow

2011-11-09T19:10:00.002-06:00

This morning when I got up there were big clumps of cold, wet white stuff falling from the sky! It snowed pretty heavily for most of the morning and then cleared off. The snow didn't stick. Thank goodness! Even though it's November and this is Iowa, I'm still not really ready for this.
Otherwise, not much going on with me. I did stop at the fabric store while we were out and about while K11 was at band to pick up another package of bias tape. This stupid pattern takes SO much of the stuff that I knew I wasn't going to have enough. I know it will look great when it's done but, UGH, I feel like I've stitched the same few inches of fabric so many times already!!

Today I realized...

2011-11-07T20:26:00.000-06:00

Today I realized that small kitchen appliances, like the food they prepare, have seasons. Summer is the season of the food processor- making pesto, salsa and salads. Now, we are entering the season of the immersion blender. V got me one of these as a holiday gift quite a few years ago. Honestly, when I opened the package I was thinking- what on earth am I going to do with this... But I have grown to love it. This is the season of creamy, hearty soups, blended to perfection with the hand blender. Mmmm... Yesterday's lunch was a wonderful blend of sweet potato, broccoli, celery, onion and garlic in a chicken stock base. All blended together to a creamy goodness. Fall and winter is my season for thick soups. Soon we will enter the season of the stand mixer- concocting holiday goodies. Winter is also my traditional season where I rely more heavily on the crock pot. So, even appliances have their seasons.
My back was feeling a bit better today. Still not 100% but better enough that I could do several loads of laundry and get a sewing station set up in the basement. My apron was cut out and I got a start on sewing it.

Please, if I ever decide to make another apron- remind me of what a pain in the Bu** this pattern is!

It involves LOTS of bias tape edging, It looks good but it's a bit tedious. The pattern actually called for making your own bias edging. Um, no thanks, even though I have the little tool to fold it.
You can see by the kitty paws below that Spaz helped hold the pieces in place:

You can always count on cats to help with sewing- especially with the flimsy pattern pieces!!
Even though I had an eye appointment this afternoon. I still had time when I got home for some cooking. Lasagna for dinner:

And some bread...

I tried a new recipe for a whole wheat Italian loaf. It would have been much better if I hadn't forgotten to put the salt in the recipe. I was mixing it up as the children were arriving home from school and got distracted. Oops... Still, it has promise. A bit more dense than I think of for Italian bread but that's the whole wheat.
V was also busy today. He got the last big pier poured for the deck extension. Isn't he cute with his little cement truck??

He mixes it up one bag at a time in the shop so he can use his big drill with a special mixing tool attachment and hauls it in the wagon to the house so he doesn't have to carry it so far. He's saving his back as well. And, yes, he's wearing a mask to avoid breathing concrete dust. Too much nastiness in there.
He's making good progress on the back:

Both retaining walls are now in place and the piers on either side are poured. If you look at the deck on the south (right) side of the house- the extension will be at the same height wrapping around this end of the house right over the back door. We've got a big pile of dirt that will be used to backfill behind the new wall to even out the slope under the deck. Because the space between the new walls is wider than the existing sidewalk, V poured an extension last night:

So this will be a little back patio under the deck on the West side of the house. We spend a lot of time outside in the summer so this will be additional living space. There is a tree on the northwest corner that will provide shade in summer. We're doing the retaining wall and concrete footer work this fall and will tackle the deck build next spring or early summer. It's our last major project except for window replacement (but the windows will be done piecemeal over the next few years). I'm still waiting for a room to be completely finished but, hey, it's coming along. And I'm getting used to living in a construction zone!!
I hope you all had a productive start to your week as well.

Not much.

2011-11-06T22:33:00.000-06:00

Things are quiet around here- but can you believe that this is my 900th post! You poor souls have been reading me babbling 900 times. I am so amazed! When I started this I never thought anyone would ever be interested in my ho hum life. Thanks to all of you for coming along for the journey!!
I've been frustrated this weekend. My back has continued to act up and I spent a lot of time doing absolutely nothing. Grrr... and I had so much on my list for this weekend. I felt like such a waste this afternoon. I went along with V to the home improvement store to pick up some more concrete to finish the second support pier for the deck extension as well as a bit of sidewalk/patio outside the back door. I couldn't lift anything- not that he would have let me even try. Of course, J17 was quick to point out that this is my body telling me to SLOW DOWN. Ok, Ok, I get it- can we move on now!
I didn't even get laundry done this weekend. I had I14 carry the hamper downstairs for me and I sorted slowly and painfully. But, when I tried to pick up the first load to put it in the washer- I got stuck- halfway up from a squatting position I couldn't move. Not cool. I can tell by the definite knot in my muscle that it's a muscular problem- not structural, thank goodness. I'm feeling much more mobile today but have still been taking it easy. I didn't even get bread baked for K11 (well, I made beer bread but that doesn't really count).
I do have the official word that I do not have to report for jury duty tomorrow. Good. Maybe I can get some laundry done in the morning. I've got an eye appointment at 1:30 so there goes the afternoon. At least it was too windy this weekend to put the roof panels on the chicken run or I'd be doubly frustrated- although I'm getting worried that it will be snowing before we get the roof on.
Had word from Mom that my uncle passed away this morning. He was my father's last living sibling. That really hits home. I'll have to give them a call tomorrow. Mom sent the message to my work email address and I didn't check that until late today and then didn't want to bother them. She also indicated that two other family members are having health issues. When it rains it pours.
Plans for tomorrow include cutting out my apron, doing a few loads of laundry and an eye appointment. If they don't dilate my eyes I may bake bread in the afternoon. We'll see how my back is doing.

Swords don't need reloading....

2011-11-05T12:12:00.002-05:00

Be afraid, be very afraid!!

J17 and V took possession this morning of their very own katanas.

I guess now we're ready for the zombie apocalypse.

Practicing on pumpkins.

Reduced to chicken sized bits.
I just wish the focus had been better on this last one:

She is quite pleased with herself!

tidbits

2011-11-04T22:29:00.000-05:00

A few bits of information that I have gleaned today:
* As of the 5 pm preliminary info on jury duty- I don't have to report on Monday- Woo Hoo! I've got too much on my to-do list for the weekend.
* The first of the Winter markets starts tomorrow afternoon. This is the first year-round farmer's market in town. How exciting!! The markets will be the first and third Saturdays of the month through April. The holiday market- with many, many more vendors is next weekend!!
* I've managed to do something to my back and have been having back spasms all evening- to the point where I feel slightly nauseous because my low back hurts so much. I see some tiger balm and hopefully a massage from my honey in my future.
* The weather should be good for finally putting the roof panels on the chicken run tomorrow- or for working on the second retaining wall by the back door- or for doing the final clean out of the garden- none of which will be fun with a bum back.
* K11 is asking if I can bake bread this weekend- Woot! A victory of sorts- wanting homemade bread.
* I figured out how to get my apron pattern out of the two pieces of coordinating fabric I've got- not exactly easy but do-able.

Tomorrow is another day. I need to get some sleep and try to relax my back. I can't even figure out what I did- that's the most frustrating part- I didn't do anything!!

Some things...

2011-11-03T17:46:00.001-05:00

Some things you don't think about when you live your dream. I heard some news today that made me sad.
Acoustic Farms, local makers of fabulous cheeses- and arguably the best cheese curds in the world- has gone out of business- a victim of their own success. (you can listen to the interview on Iowa Public Radio HERE). The dream of being micro cheese producers was so successful that they didn't have time for life anymore so they stopped. How sad. No more creamy, Jersey cheese curds with fresh tomatoes and basil in the summer... sigh......

Curiosity

2011-11-02T19:49:00.002-05:00

I tend to be a pretty curious person. I like finding out new things, checking facts and learning.

Yesterday, Mama Pea was blogging about having pie for breakfast. I made a comment that it's more healthy for you than fast food. So, I was curious. Is that true? So I did a little checking. Here's what I found:

A sausage/egg muffin from a fast food restaurant

450 calories (252 from fat- 50% of your recommended allowance of saturated fats!)

930 mg of sodium (39% DV)

280 mg cholesterol (87% DV)

Apple pie (homemade) 1/8 of 9 inch pie

410 calories (19 gm fat- 24% DV)

327 mg sodium

0 cholesterol

Custard pie (sorry, they only had commercially made ones) 1/6 of an 8 inch pie

220 calories (12 gm fat- 12% DV)

252 mg sodium

35 mg cholesterol

So, you have it here- eating pie for breakfast is better for you than a fast food breakfast! And you could even adjust your recipe to make it even better. I sometimes make a whole wheat crust to add some extra fiber.

Other things that have sparked my questioning mind today? Why do the chickens stand around in a cold rain when they've got a warm, dry coop? Why do some people think they don't need to use turn signals?

What should I take to a work potluck tomorrow? Will I have to report for jury duty on Monday? Will we get snow tonight? Are the chickens just having an off couple of days or are they slowing down due to the dark days we are entering? (I only got four eggs yesterday, three today)

What have you questioned today??

Ah, November

2011-11-01T19:34:00.000-05:00

Where has the year gone? How can it be November already? It seems the year is flying by. But, November it is. The Dark Days of the year are upon us. Time to settle in for the long haul of the winter. Of course, today it was 73 degrees outside and absolutely gorgeous- not at all how I think of November. I even took a little walk outside.

I collected some Autumn leaves to take to work with me tomorrow. I have an activity that I do with my patients every year: Lessons from Leaves. Try it sometime.
Collect some Autumn leaves (you can also do this in the Spring or Summer with flowers)
Toss them all on the table and examine them. Really look.
Are they beautiful?
Are they all the same?
Are they perfect?
Do their imperfections in any way detract from their beauty?

Now work to apply the lessons of the leaves to yourself...
We are all bruised, battered and chewed by life. We are all different. But it is the imperfections of our lives and our differences that make life interesting. Live would be boring without imperfection and variety.
Revel in the seasons and in who you are.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T19:15:00.000-05:00

I hope you all have a safe evening.

And for those who are celebrating Samhain- have a blessed evening.

My middle child

2011-10-30T18:14:00.001-05:00

Is growing up! I14 was confirmed today at church. He is now considered a full-fledged adult member. He had a small class:

Only three of them. My parents came up for the day and my brother and SIL also joined us for the occasion.
After church, we all headed to our house, joined by CR, I14's mentor, for lunch. I kept it pretty simple, pasta with a choice of two sauces, fresh bread and tossed salad. For dessert, pumpkin pudding and ice cream. It turns out that my brother and CR know each other from having worked together on occasion (CR works on the planes that my brother uses to test fly equipment.) so there was lively conversation for much of the afternoon.
We still need to carve our pumpkins for Halloween and finalize costumes. K11 will be trick-or-treating with friends and I14 and J17 will go out briefly to the neighbors when she gets home from orchestra. Looks like tomorrow will be a fend for yourself night for food. That's OK, we've got lots of left over pasta and quiche in the fridge.
My parents brought us some corn for the chickens, gleaned from the fields. We traded them for some eggs. Mom also brought some oatmeal for the chickens. They had it in storage and moths got into it and it was quite wormy (That's why I store my extra in the freezer!). I sealed it in old coffee cans and took it directly to the coop to ration out. There was NO WAY I was bringing that buggy stuff into the house!! But I'm sure the chickens won't mind the extra protein...

Mmm... Brains....

2011-10-29T18:12:00.000-05:00

And other Saturday trivia!

J17's Dungeons and Dragons party went off well this afternoon. The brains were quite tasty! But, boy, it was loud here!! Seven teenagers having fun is quite noisy. But a grand time was had by all. They only had a few hours this afternoon since J17 is off this evening being a roving violinist at an Italian Dinner fundraiser. Most of the time they were all together this afternoon was spent creating characters and for most of the group this is their first time with an RPG.
We had lots of snacks- including some junk that I don't normally buy. And one boy brought a giant bag of pizza rolls that I cooked in the oven for them all. I made the mistake of eating a few of those and some candy corn and now I feel a bit sick. It's amazing how quickly you get 'un-used' to eating processed food and junk. But I was heartened that the first thing the kids finished was the bowl of grapes. And they are all getting together again in two weeks to continue the game. They don't have school on Nov 11 so they're planning an all day game-fest. I'm kind of glad I've got to work that day!!
I spent part of the afternoon (while the party was going on) in the kitchen. I'm still there off and on. I'm having a quiche making marathon. I had over 4 dozen eggs in the fridge so I decided to make some quiche- 6 of them! Two each of the following: Southwestern (sweet corn, chili peppers, onions and bacon), Broccoli/ cheese and sausage/ mushroom. Two we will work on for dinner tonight (and leftovers!) and the other 4 will be frozen for future use. More quick meals for the freezer. Yeah!!
Tomorrow, I14 will be confirmed. One more entertainment event to get through. Whew. But I've got everything ready but dessert. One more thing for the oven today and then I'm done.
Gotta run and check the oven. Hope you are all having a productive weekend.

Plotting and planning

2011-10-28T17:13:00.003-05:00

We woke up to a frosty 26 degrees this morning. Brrr... But I didn't have to go out in it. Since I worked last weekend at the hospital, I had today off as a comp day. We've got a busy, busy weekend ahead of us so this was a great opportunity to do some planning and prep work.

Tomorrow afternoon, J17 is having some friends over for a game afternoon (RPG, not video games) and she gave me a list of requested snacks for the party.

Peanut butter cookies were requested by one of her friends. I dug out my grandmother's recipe. Yum!
And what's a role playing game without some brain food:

Yes, we're some of THOSE people who have a brain jell-o mold.
Jell-0, evaporated milk and just the right blend of food coloring

and into the fridge it goes. I'll get some more photos tomorrow when it's unmolded and completed with gummi-worms. The perfect thing for Halloween weekend.
Then, in addition to other cleaning and party planning (I14 is being confirmed this weekend and we'll host a family lunch on Sunday) I spent some time thinking about an apron.
Susan at e-i-e-i-omg! is hosting an "Apron Sew-off"!! How much fun is that! I seem to have misplaced my apron during the kitchen remodel and had to can tomatoes this year with a towel pinned around my neck- efficient but definitely NOT stylish.
So, first I pulled out the apron patterns that we have. Not much to choose from... we've got historical:

and not:

I'm not up for a full length apron- although the pinafore looks lovely it takes 3.5 yards of fabric!
I've got a fabric in mind- one that I picked up with an apron in mind a while ago:

But I've only got 1 yard, 6 inches. I really liked the fabric and got all they had left on the bolt which wasn't much. I really love batik and hand dyed fabrics!!
But I"m thinking... The apron in the middle takes 1.5 yards. I don't have enough

But, what do you think of my pick from the scrap box to coordinate?

I've got about half a yard of the dark fabric in an odd shape - it's a charcoal gray with orange pinstripes and green viney bits. I was thinking of doing the center bodice panel, waistband and ruffle out of the dark. I think it's a plan- it may not work but- it's an apron. I can't wait to get started. I've got a November 21 deadline! What a great project to jump start me into sewing again!!

Ewww...

2011-10-26T20:01:00.000-05:00

I saw something this afternoon that struck me as wrong on so many levels. While K11 was at band this evening, we stopped at the grocery store for milk. While walking through the produce department I saw a display of apples. Crazy apples. Flavored apples. Apples that taste like tropical fruit and bubble gum. EWWWWW. What is wrong with apple flavored apples? i understand the hope to get children to eat more fruit but REALLY??? That is just wrong. And of course, there was the price. $4.99 for a package of 4 apples! No, thanks, I'll pass on those. I'll stick to the local orchard.
I did manage to get to the farmer's market this evening. I14 had to meet with his confirmation mentor before Sunday so I dropped him off and hit the last half hour of the market. The last market of the season is on Saturday morning and there were so few vendors left this evening. But, I did get some good deals, especially showing up at the end of the market at the end of the season. I spent a total of $12 and got 4 giant butternut squash, a buttercup squash, a long island cheese squash and a HUGE head of organic broccoli. Since my squash did pretty pitifully this summer I wanted to make sure I had some for the winter since I LOVE cubed, roasted squash over pasta with some parmesan. Mmmm...

Oh, No

2011-10-25T20:03:00.000-05:00

Say it ain't so. Mattel is purchasing the parent company for Thomas the Tank Engine. How sad. I do hope they keep those lovely wooden railroad toys going. How sad it would be to see those wooden toys go to be replaced by only plastic Barbiefied or Hot wheeled garbage. sigh. I know that the plastic Thomas toys are already there but the wooden ones were so great for little hands when the boys were young.

Domestic Tranquility

2011-10-24T20:08:00.000-05:00

It was a lovely day to be at home. Except for some early morning fog, the weather was beautiful.
As much as I usually pack into my days, today seemed rather laid back. Oh, I was busy but I spent most of the day doing domestic things. Laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning and a little outside stuff.
I was doing J17's laundry for her. She usually does her own but has been so busy recently that she hasn't had time. So, this morning, after they all left for school, I ventured into her room to retrieve her hamper. It was a great day for line drying but I still didn't get all of her laundry done. But, at least she has some clean stuff to wear. I even got a great big hug from her this afternoon... awwww.....
My stash of green tomatoes is quickly ripening and I made a big batch of sauce that I'll freeze. It will be so sad when the last one ripens. No fresh tomatoes for 9 months! sigh...
V was busy writing most of the day but after lunch we set out on some errands. Chicken feed was purchased as well as some re-bar and six 80 lb bags of concrete mix for the deck pier. V was really hoping to get to mixing and pouring that today but he has a deadline coming up for one of his jobs. Maybe tomorrow- it is still supposed to be warm tomorrow before the bottom falls out of the temps in the next few days.
Not really much to say. I was busy but not hectic today. It was awesome. I even took a little time to read while waiting for laundry and sauce to finish. Amazing.

The last gasp of summer

2011-10-23T19:32:00.000-05:00

It was an absolutely beautiful day today! The last of summer. I guess technically it would be Indian Summer but that isn't a very politically correct term. Much was accomplished here.
V skipped out of church this morning to work on the retaining wall by the back door. There is a chance of rain this week and we don't want mud to wash down in front of the door.
The first course of blocks was in, complete with drainage when the children and I got home.

The white tube you see is the concrete form for a support pier for the deck extension. It goes down another two feet into the soil.
He made quite a bit of progress today:

There will be one more course of blocks, then we will pour the concrete pillar and back fill. We will have another retaining wall on the other side as well. Each of those blocks weighs 85 lbs so I'm glad he was doing all the lifting!!
J17 and I worked on the chicken coop- cleaning out and replacing bedding.

Since they have only been in there for a few months I didn't take out all of the bedding since some of it wasn't too bad. I may regret that come spring. But at least it has been cleared out under the roost where it REALLY needed it.

We collected eggs while we worked and got a few more later in the afternoon. But the poor chickens... we moved the feeder since I didn't like where it had been. They were totally freaked out and afraid to enter the coop for a while. Silly bird brains. See, Abbie isn't amused:

Apple turnovers were baked for afternoon tea on the deck. Mmmm...

Frozen turnovers from Wilson's Orchard across the road. Yummy!! All handmade at the orchard kitchen, baked up fresh in my oven.
I got part of the frost killed garden pulled out. I did the peppers but the tomatoes will wait for a bit. They are at that awkward state of being dead where they are floppy and the vines are hard to break. Probably if I had cleared them while the vines were still crisp they would have been easier- or if I wait until they dry out. But today they were just too annoying and I was easily frustrated.
For dinner, I cubed and roasted one of my Speckled Hound squash.

I wasn't terribly impressed- but it wasn't a fair taste test. This was a small one that wasn't fully ripe when picked but the frost killed the vines so I didn't have a choice. All in all, it wasn't bad roasted with onion, garlic and some fresh sage tossed in at the end, sprinkled with parmesan. J17 liked it. Hopefully the bigger ones will be better.
And, finally, this day ended with a glorious sunset.

A fitting end to a beautiful day.
And tomorrow is to be equally beautiful... and I've got the day off. Mwahahaha...

Just in time for Halloween

2011-10-23T14:27:00.000-05:00

V's book!!

Ok, it was released in September, but this is the busy time for promoting it.
He's got an interview on Tuesday afternoon with another newspaper, a radio interview on Iowa Public Radio on the 31st and will also be doing a reading/signing for the Iowa City High book club after school on Halloween.
It is more history than ghost stories- of course, the publisher is History Press. He has taken some of the local stories and legends and looks at how history and story intertwine.
And I do believe that photo of the black angel on the cover is one of mine.
And, the author at his book signing last night:

Finally done!

2011-10-22T20:29:00.001-05:00

What a day! First, I had to work at the hospital today. Getting to work on football Saturdays is always an adventure, especially since today was an 11am game and the tailgaters start early. For those of you unfamiliar to the IC area, the football stadium is across the street from the hospital. Definitely someone was NOT planning ahead on that one, although the original hospital was probably a block or more away but has grown to be huge over the years. So, with traffic and pedestrians on football days it always seems to take extra time to get there. And that's even with V dropping me off a block or so away and me walking in the rest of the way. The hospital is also on security lockdown to keep rowdy fans out (mainly to keep them from using the restrooms!) Even leaving can be tricky, depending on the time.
Anyway, I made it home mid afternoon and helped the boys a bit with their outside task that V had set for them. We had some landscaping block delivered this week and the boys were digging the soil back for setting a new retaining wall beside the back door as well as the hole for the concrete footer for the deck extension.
That job done (well, mostly), we all rushed off to the mall for V's book signing. He didn't have a line of people there but had people at the table pretty steadily. My brother stopped by to get his book signed and the pastor of our church was there as well. The children and I picked out books and used the gift cards we had collected. We over-shot a bit on our estimate and I ended up having to pay $14 out of pocket. It's easy to spend $100 on books! I14 got three new novels (two in a series he's been reading- he got most books since most of the cards were his), K11 got 2 books and J17 and I each picked out one. I had a hard time picking a book- there were too many choices. I was looking at some farmstead reference books but didn't see any that thrilled me that I didn't already have. I don't need another cookbook. They didn't have any of the herbal references that are on my wish list. So, I ended up with a novel- a sci-fi/fantasy, end of the world romp with lots of magic and good vs evil stuff: Darkwar by Glen Cook. I'm needing some light winter reading so I hope this one is good. I'm still working on the book I got at the Atlanta airport (Cleopatra) on our way home from Annapolis after I finished the one I had with me (The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents).
After all the book store excitement, V, the boys and I went out to dinner- nothing fancy, just the Chili's out by the mall. Now I remember why we don't do anything like that often- not that the food wasn't good- it just wasn't GREAT. J17 drove separately since she has a birthday party for one of her friends this evening so didn't come with us.
At least I had K11 help me chase the chickens into the coop before we left so we didn't have to go out in the dark to close them in. But, I did forget to leave any lights on at home and we came home to a dark house. Oh well, no harm done.
Now, I'm tired. I've got a load of laundry going but it may stay in the washer until morning. We'll see how long I can stay awake. This working 6 days straight is draining. Good thing I've still got 2 days off- tomorrow and Monday and I only have to work three days this week. Sweet!

It's Official

2011-10-21T19:19:00.001-05:00

The 2011 growing season is over.

We had a killing frost/freeze last night.

I'm OK with it.

I'm ready to be done.

And start dreaming of Spring.......

If it's not one thing...

2011-10-20T20:25:00.001-05:00

...it's another! This week just keeps going!!
There were several things I forgot to include in the report of our week's plans. On Tuesday both J17 and I had doctors appointments for check ups. She didn't have school on either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday because, as a senior, she doesn't have to take the standardized tests that everyone else does. So, she had an appointment on Tuesday with the doctor and an eye appointment on Wednesday morning. She managed to break her glasses a bit ago and was due for a new prescription anyway. Fortunately I was able to get her in quickly when she didn't have to miss school. So this afternoon, she picked me up from work and we went to order her new glasses. Whew! I'm glad this is an expense that doesn't happen every year!! And she didn't even pick out expensive frames! Yowza!! A bit of sticker shock!!! But, she needs them. She is OK to drive without her glasses- barely- but she really needs to be able to read the road signs.
So, a few extra things on the to do list for the week.
It felt like we were pulling teeth tonight to get I14 to pick a costume idea for tomorrow. Since it is the last home football game, the band has a bit of fun. Instead of their uniforms, they march in costume for half time. Of course, it's going to be COLD! I do think he's finally decided on a doctor costume- I've got a lab coat that barely fits him but we've also got a surgical scrub gown that is large enough that he can wear a sweatshirt under so I think he's going to wear that. Add a stethoscope and he's all set... and we've got a couple of those as well. The funny thing is that, except for the lab coat that I needed for school long ago, all of those things have been scavenged from dumpsters. So it's a cheap costume. I like that.
Other than world events, there hasn't been much going on here. I'll confess, J17 and I did stop at the new Shoe Carnival store after we ordered her glasses and I got some new shoes. I desperately needed some new sneakers since my 'good' ones have holes in them and paint splotches from when I was painting the garage at our old house. Time for some new ones- especially since I am going to really try to find some time to do some 'real' exercise to try to drop some weight (doctor's orders!)

This morning while V was taking me to the bus stop we saw a shooting star. It turns out that it was more likely a part of a satellite that broke up but it was still pretty cool!! For some reason, it made me hopeful for the day.

Like I said, not much going on. Today was our open day- so J17 and I filled it. I think tomorrow evening I'm going to have to make some tomato sauce since all those tomatoes are ripening. And then I work on Saturday...

Oh, and another thing (I just keep going, don't I!!) V was interviewed last week by the local paper (Press Citizen) and that should appear on Saturday. He will have his book signing at B & N on Saturday afternoon. And today he got two calls- one from the other local paper (The Gazette) for an interview... and the one he was most excited about... he's going to be interviewed on Iowa Public Radio!! I can't remember right now when that is scheduled but it's pretty cool!! He also has another reading/book signing at City High. J17 and the teacher in charge of the book club arranged for him to come in on Halloween afternoon to the school for a special event. Now he just needs to think of a few witty things to write in people's books!!!

The only other noteworthy thing I can think of is that we have a FREEZE warning tonight. It's supposed to get down into the 20's!! But, we're ready. I've got my tomatoes ripening on the counter, the peppers are picked and V installed a new programmable thermostat for the furnace. Bring it on!!

Whew!

2011-10-19T21:44:00.000-05:00

The week is half over!
Several events down, several still to go!

I never should have told him to look like he was enjoying himself AFTER the 90 minute concert!
V and I went this evening to watch I14 and the rest of the band perform at the Bates Field Follies- their end of marching season performance/party. I'll tell you, they have WAAAY sharper marching uniforms than I ever had when I was in band!! And this is even without the hat with the sparkly plume!

Polish Linguisa Tomato

2011-10-18T19:04:00.000-05:00

Susan made a comment on my last post about my huge Polish Linguisa tomato. They are a variety that I started growing a few years ago when I was looking to try some new heirloom varieties. I must say that I have been really happy with them. They are large, "sausage shaped" paste tomatoes that make delicious sauce. They are a bit sweeter than the Amish Paste and have consistently produced better for me in the three years I've grown them. Definitely my favorite sauce tomato at this point.
Of course, they aren't all as huge as the one I showed yesterday (pictured below in the middle of the top row):

But they are reliable producers and frequently produce 'doubles':

I don't have any large ones quite ripe yet (I made some sauce on Sunday with all the ripe ones) but even with the small ones you can see how meaty they are.

As an added bonus, I have found them to be pretty resistant to blight. Two years ago when we got hit with late blight they were the last to be affected and survived with no intervention on my part. And the poor dears were still blooming out there in the frost.
So, there's my two cents worth. Definitely an heirloom variety to try if you're looking for something new.

Caught unprepared

2011-10-17T20:48:00.000-05:00

I was unprepared for frost last night. I knew it was forecast to get into the upper 30's last night but I woke to 34*F! I hadn't covered anything in the garden. I knew it was supposed to get into the mid 30's tonight and right around freezing later this week. I had planned to pick all the tomatoes this evening- which I did- but not until it was almost too late. At least it was only a light frost that just hit the tips of the plants. Even so, there were some peppers that were hit by frost that I didn't bother to pick.

Almost every horizontal surface in the kitchen is covered with tomatoes. I still left quite a few little tomatoes on there, picking the biggest ones. The Polish Linguisa paste tomatoes outdid themselves this year:

Isn't that HUGE!! I do hope enough ripen at one time to make some more sauce.
I've also got two pails of peppers that I really need to process. These I'll probably just split and freeze for stuffing. I'm going to have to rethink growing cayenne peppers next year. I always grow one plant and they produce well but I really don't use that many of them. I don't know, I'll have to think about it.
Now, it will be time to really clean out the garden and start planning for next year....

Just a standard Sunday

2011-10-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

Not much out of the ordinary here today. It was still too windy to put up the roof panels on the chicken run so they are still open to the sky. They seem to be doing fine with it- they are flourishing! We got 8 eggs today for the first time. There was obviously a new layer since I found a little egg on the floor by the waterer.
Took J17 and I14 off shopping this afternoon. I14 had grown out of his shoes (again!) and the pants he was wearing today were obviously a bit high water. So, we got him three pair of jeans and some new sneakers. J17 wanted to come along since we would be right next to the art/craft store and they are having a sale on her favorite brushes. While there, I succumbed to an impulse buy:

In their baking section, they were having a clearance of their 'fall' bakeware. I snagged these two pie plates for $4 each. They are oven, dishwasher and microwave safe and are much deeper dish than the ones I've got. And I actually only had two pie plates left due to attrition over the years. The one that looks orange is actually much more of a reddish/cinnamon color than the photo shows. We're planning to use these tomorrow night for quiche. We're trying that again since we never ended up having it last week, even though it was planned.
Which brings me to menu planning. Got that done as well. Here goes the plan for the week.
Monday- quiche. We'll eat late since J17 has orchestra so it gives me time to get it prepped. I14 wants to help- in fact, he brought up the idea of having quiche when we were looking at the pie plates in the store. So, quiche it is!
Tuesday- hamburgers and sweet potato fries. J17 has a violin lesson that she leaves for at 7 so she needs to be done eating by then.
Wednesday- Burritos. This is a quick meal solution since I14 has to be back at school no later than 630 for a band concert. It's kind of cool that they actually do a concert with the marching band.
Thursday- Chicken and rice. Amazingly, no one has anywhere to go!!
Friday- we'll do ravioli. Our local store has these amazing, frozen, portabella mushroom ravioli that are a quick meal. Friday will be totally crazy and we probably won't have I14 eating with us (gasp!!). I don't even think he will be coming home after school. The band is marching in the UI homecoming parade and they will be bussed to downtown at 4:15. Immediately after the parade, they will be fed and then have a home football game. This will be the first time the freshmen will march at halftime so I14 gets to march. After the halftime performance the band will have it's end of marching season party at school so he won't be home until late. Sadly, the poor kid has an orthodontist appointment in the morning so will be doing all this playing with freshly tightened braces. Ouch!
I don't have a plan yet for Saturday. I work all day and V has his first book signing event at the local Barnes and Noble store from 4-6. We still have some B&N gift cards from birthdays and such that haven't used yet so the children will go along and we'll get some new books. Ooo, I LOVE new books!! I don't have a card but I'll see if I can muscle in on someone's card. All combined, we've got $100 of gift cards. That will get LOTS of new books!!
So, it will be a crazy week here with lots of running around.
We did pick up some granola bars at the store this afternoon so I14 won't starve before he has to march in the parade on Friday. J17 and I also made a run to the apple orchard just down the road and got a bunch of apples. I'll have to make sure I get there again before the end of the month since they are only open through October.
I'll probably be harvesting the last of the tomatoes tomorrow evening- ripe or not- and more peppers. It has definitely cooled off and we're forecast to get into the mid 30's. That most likely means frost and I'm ready to be done in the garden so I won't be covering anything. Most of the huge tomatoes that were still out there have ripened so there really isn't much left. I do need to freeze some halved hot peppers for stuffing over the winter. Not that there is a shortage of hot peppers. Those are the one thing that did really well this year.
I've got to go. I've got lasagna in the oven so I need to make salads. Have a great week!

A few photos of the day

2011-10-15T17:04:00.001-05:00

Inside and outside, it was a lovely day.
J17 and I sorted through patterns and fabric.
I guess it was too much for her!

Below, Magnus struts his stuff.

I pulled a bunch of nettles for the chickens and also discovered a lost pattypan squash in the garden. They were clucking around- doing what chickens do.

The lovely hens featured- mostly showing their tales- from left to right: Abbie, River, Zeva and Gretchen. Helen is in the background
We are still waiting to put the roof panels on the run. It has just been too windy to put those panels up safely since we got the supports up. It was also much too windy to have a bonfire. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.
Ticket spent most of the day outside...

Now he's tired from catching voles. Or sad because I took his little pile of dead voles away from him... not sure.
And I can't believe how many leaves have fallen!

It looks like Fall is truly here!

A Beautiful Saturday

2011-10-15T11:22:00.001-05:00

It is an absolutely gorgeous day today. Cool and breezy- just like October should be. We were hoping to build a bonfire outside and cook over an open fire today but I'm worried that it may be too windy. At least we had 2.5 inches of rain in the past few days so we don't have to worry about the fire risk of the last few weeks.
It was so lovely this morning. There I was- out in the garden, picking late summer tomatoes, midmorning coffee in hand, Magnus crowing, hens clucking around, Ticket snuffling in the weeds by the barn (vole hunting)- and it hit me once again how much I really love all of this. J17 and I laugh with each other on occasion that we were born in the wrong era. Maybe it's not the era- just that we need to build the life we want, regardless of era.
I took eggs to work yesterday for the three co-workers who were there. It was fun to see how excited they were about it all. I've already got two of the three who want to work out a more regular (think $) arrangement for eggs. One of my co-workers doesn't think she has even had a fresh egg in her life and was surprised to learn that eggs are actually somewhat seasonal, since I warned her that we likely won't get as many in the dark days of winter. So, I was able to do a little 'foodie/locavore' education. She told me that she was going to serve some of the eggs (I gave her 6) for breakfast this weekend as her boyfriend is coming from Chicago for the weekend. I encouraged her to take him to the farmer's market to pick up some local bacon to go with them and told her which was my favorite producer there (We've nicknamed her 'the bacon lady' even though she sells much more than just bacon!) I'll have to check back in next week to see how it went for her.
Now, I've got to get going. I've wasted enough time here this morning.
Have a fabulous weekend!!

Ordinary Miracles

2011-10-13T22:50:00.001-05:00

The song "Ordinary Miracle" by Sarah McLachlan came up on shuffle on my ipod this afternoon and I was inspired...
Still a bit rough but you get the idea.

Hope you enjoy. Think of it as a little gift to you.

Wednesday wonders

2011-10-12T19:54:00.000-05:00

Well, not that many wonders... except that it is raining. Right about dinner time the sky opened, the lightning crashed and the thunder boomed. It really poured for a while. I'll have to check the rain gauge but we got a quite a bit of rain. Good thing, because we really needed it. Now it has settled into a gentle rain. Hopefully it will continue for a while.
I've got tomato sauce simmering on the stove and J17 is baking cookies. It's a great night for settling in. I'm doing something I rarely do and I'm watching TV. Ghost Hunters- a true indulgence!
In the more unusual events of the day, I got a summons for Jury Duty in November. Yee Ha. I'm thrilled... hear my shout of joy. Hopefully I won't have to actually report. Especially since the day I would have to report is one of my days off and I've got an eye appointment scheduled. figures.
Mmmm... J17 just brought me a cookie... mmmm.... snickerdoodles.....

Not much Tuesday

2011-10-11T19:37:00.003-05:00

Not much going on today. I was back at work and V continued to work on the chicken run. It's about ready for the roofing panels to go on. Working alone he didn't get as much done as we could have together. Oh well, the price of being a working woman. But the chickens are enjoying the bigger run even without a roof.
Dinner plans went off without a hitch. I love preparing things ahead! Dinner was prepped and on the table in half an hour. It went like this: Frozen french fries into the oven (yeah, I know... frozen french fries... at least they don't have lots of garbage in them) then I worked to shred a small red cabbage from the garden and make coleslaw. That made and in the fridge I heated up the shredded pork and added in the BBQ sauce. The sauce we love is a locally made one that is sweet and spicy and oh, so tasty. I've got an equal amount of pre-shredded pork in the freezer for another meal later.
But I've got a confession to make- I didn't get around to making tomato sauce yet. I didn't have quite as many ripe tomatoes as I had hoped. But I'll still have time to do it tomorrow night after dinner when I've got more tomatoes. So no great tragedy.
Still, not much going on... and that's OK by me. Sometimes boring is just fine. This is actually a slow week and it's welcome. I'll have to take advantage of it while I can- next week looks crazy!

Eating well in the age of busy

2011-10-10T13:49:00.001-05:00

I've had comments and questions from people, both online and IRL about how I manage to cook every night and how we manage to have sit down meals with me working outside the home and children involved in activities after school and evenings.
Let me tell you, it used to be crazy and we ended up eating not very well, especially a few years ago when V was working outside the house. Then, I got smart and realized that I needed to be more organized if we were going to eat well. There is nothing worse than coming home after a long day at work, knowing that you need to be somewhere in an hour and a half, and trying to figure out what to have for dinner. So, I started meal planning. With a bit of planning ahead, I can maintain my sanity and we can still eat well.
I started with a dry erase board on the fridge. All these years later, we still have the same board.

I usually take a few minutes on Sunday afternoon to come up with the meal plans for the week. At that point I've got a good idea of after school/evening activities and also an idea of what the weather will be like. The dry erase board also has a section for 'other notes' so I can write reminders if I need to do things like soak beans or do some make ahead preps.
Here's the plan for the week, with explanations:
Monday- the plan for dinner tonight is grilled turkey tenderloins, pasta with pesto and salad. I try to do meatless Mondays but I'm taking advantage of the last day of forecast lovely weather and we're going to grill. I've also got the day off today so I can do some make ahead prep for the rest of the week. This evening, J17 has orchestra rehearsal. She leaves at 5:15 and gets home around 7pm. I usually plan to be ready to put the meal on the table when she gets home.
Tuesday- we're having pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw and probably french fries. J17 has a violin lesson at 7:15 so she has to leave shortly after 7 to get there. I get home from work at 5 so that leaves me less than 2 hours to do chores and get everyone fed. Here is where the planning ahead comes in. I'm cooking a pork loin roast in the crockpot today (Monday) while I'm off and will pull it and add BBQ sauce. It will make a meal for Tuesday and one for the freezer for later. All I have to do is heat it up.
Wednesday- K11 has band rehearsal after school so we all get home a little after 5 but amazingly enough, no one has to go anywhere else that evening. So, we'll have our meatless meal today. I'm planning to make quiche. I managed to harvest some broccoli from the garden today that will go into the quiche along with some cheese and our own eggs. Wednesdays is also the day I do my grocery shopping. The sale ads come out on Wednesday. V picks me up from work after he drops K11 off at rehearsal and we've got an hour before rehearsal is over so it's conducive to grocery shopping. I get the ad emailed to me so I can spend time over lunch doing some planning.
Thursday will be spaghetti and salads. In another planning ahead for the week, I'll also be making up some marinara sauce today while I'm home and puttering around the kitchen. I can use some fresh tomatoes from the garden. By cooking it ahead it will be ready on Thursday evening and will just need heated up. I may or may not add in some italian sausage- we'll see how I feel on Thursday. And again- no one has anywhere to go!
Friday- The meal plan calls for beef and veggies. I'll take a beef roast out of the freezer on Thursday evening and put it the big cast iron dutch oven in the oven (it's one of those enameled ones- NOT a Le Creuset on my budget!). I'll let it cook for a while while I do other chores and then add in some root veggies and cook for a while longer. It's one of those easy meals that I can throw together while doing other things and I don't really have to think about it much. I'll probably mix up some beer bread to bake alongside it in the oven and it's a complete meal. This week we don't have plans but often on Fridays I14 has to play in the band at football games. Again, we usually eat late as he's home between 7:30 and 8. But that's ok because on a Friday night, we don't have to get to bed early to get up early.
Saturday and Sunday we plan as we go but they're not usually as busy. That also allows us some flexibility.
I'll try to remember to do another Meal Plan Monday posts in the coming weeks.

UPDATE!! This menu plan isn't set in stone. There is already a modification in the works. Wednesday night's meal will now be jambalaya. We've got quite a bit of left over turkey from this evening and a couple bits of other stuff (a left over grilled brat from Sunday night, etc). Jambalaya is my 'catch all' meal for left over bits of meat. Whatever is lying around goes in- otherwise it tends to not get used. So.... quiche is out. But, since I still want to have my meatless meal this week, we'll have cheese tortellini with marinara sauce on Thursday instead of spaghetti with meat sauce. See, it all works out. I'll just have to plan something else to use eggs!! We're getting an average of 6 per day! Hmmm, maybe we could have quiche on Friday...... I'll have to think about that.

Soaking up the sun!

2011-10-09T21:24:00.001-05:00

It was another wonderful sunny, warm day today. The perfect day for working outside. I managed to spend some time clearing out the South end of the garden. But mostly, we worked on the chicken run today. Finally! This has been a project that has been weighing on my mind recently, especially as the temporary run that I built earlier this year has been slowly disintegrating.

We had managed to get the repurpose fence posts set a while ago, and the top plate installed. So, today, we installed the fencing.

We are so fortunate that V's brother gifted him with an air compressor and nail/staple gun set when he was here for V's birthday. It made short work of stapling fencing to the posts:

J17 helped with the chicken run while the boys were occupied elsewhere with jobs of their own (outside of course!)

After we installed the chicken wire, we reinforced it with repurposed livestock panels from when we took down a bunch of fencing last fall. They made the prefect support/protection for the run.

After the fencing was installed,we worked on framing for the door. Of all the things we moved with us from our house in town, we, for some reason, brought with us, the gate from the chain link dog run that we dismantled while we were there. It made the prefect door for the chicken run! So far, the majority of the items used are repurposed.

Below is Magnus looking after his girls after we removed the old temporary fencing and they were allowed to explore the new, expanded area:

Isn't he beautiful!? He's HUGE!

Amazingly enough, with all the ruckus going on and all the possible 'threats', he was a peach today with no aggression.

Tomorrow, the children are back in school but I've got the day off. V and I are planning to put up the roof (covering about a third of the run) and netting over the top. We noticed several hawks and a big owl cruising around this evening so we're looking at putting fencing over the top of the run that isn't roofed.

I'm excited to get this task crossed off the master 'to do' list. It has been weighing on my mind for a while.

This evening, we ate dinner outside on the deck because it was so lovely. After dinner, V and I sat outside and discussed future plans and construction ideas. Sort of a question/answer and brainstorming session. Many future projects are 'in the works'. Stay tuned for future adventures!

Also on tomorrow's 'to do' list is baking muffins. I volunteered for snacks for K11's class for ITBS week and I'm to supply snacks for 26 students on Tuesday. I figure apple/oatmeal muffins and apple cider should make a great, nutritious snack.

More tomorrow on the chicken run progress.

Like Summer in Fall

2011-10-08T19:53:00.000-05:00

It was HOT today! At least hot for October. It hit the mid 80's here today. A bit too windy for working up on ladders hanging gutters so other things took precedence. But we weren't all work and no play!
With the new x-box, we have new capabilities. Networking!
K11 was upstairs

playing head to head games with I14 who was downstairs.

The headsets allow them to talk to each other. Too much fun!
Mostly, I worked on household maintenance stuff- laundry, dishes, etc. Let me tell you, with the warm, dry wind today, things dried quickly on the line. Mmmm... line dried sheets! But J17 and I did have a little fun! I had some errands to run so she came along. We stopped back at the fabric shop and she turned in her application. Hopefully they will call her. And while we were there- of course we looked around since it was the Columbus Day sale event. They had Simplicity patterns on sale for 99 cents each! What a deal since they are often $12-15. So at that price we had to pick some up. I got 4 patterns for myself and J17 picked out a few as well. The fun thing is that with the multi-sized patterns we can each use each others if we choose. I haven't purchased new clothing patterns for myself for years so I'm excited about this! I also picked out some lovely dark olive green linen for a pair of dress pants (fortunately we had a 50% off coupon since it wasn't on sale- man, fabric can be expensive!!). J17 got some soft, pale blue fabric for a nightgown that she wants to make.
Now I'm really excited to get sewing. I picked out a lovely skirt pattern that I want to use with some fabric I got last weekend. Yes, I bought fabric without having a pattern in mind- so what- I really liked it! Tell me you've never done the same thing!!
Since I got lots of the maintenance things done today, I hope to do more 'fun' productive things in the next two days. The weather is supposed to be continuing hot and clear and we've already warned the boys that tomorrow is a technology free day (no computers or x-box) since they need to get outside and enjoy the weather while it lasts.
More tomorrow....