Bits and bobs from this month

This is Badger, we hit a great park to play in while waiting between husband's cousin's wedding and reception. We spent almost two hours playing at North Beach Park in Racine. This is an amazing park.

Mom knows everything. I hope they always think so. They found this feather in the yard. Who lost it? I don't know. Guess who I asked, my Mom.

This is the star jasmine plant I bought myself as a remembrance of my trip to LA with Beaver. He wants to go there for college (not yet!) and had the opportunity to meet some people who might be able to help and have his work reviewed. He wants to do set design/monster creation type work.

Every year I help a friend harvest her grapes and she helps me harvest my apples. I took home a big bag of green unripe ones she was not planning on using. I found a recipe for sour grape pickles. We shall see.

I made jam out of the rest of the unripe grapes, it is tarter that the ripe ones but these grapes are seriously candy sweet so that is not a terrible thing.

Mouse surprised us all with wanting to go out for Cross Country this year. We asked if he knew it involved exercise and being outside... then agreed quickly. He loves computers, and unless we force him would be on them all the time, so this was a surprise. He loved it and worked hard. He came in at the middle of the pack and his school took 3rd over-all. He is the one with the curly hair.

Triangle loom weaving project. I enjoyed it but will need a much bigger loom to make anything not for my girls.

Butterfly reading her birthday card from my sister. I have a beautiful new nephew.

He is moving so he is blurry but that is Beaver. He loves his team.

hi world it's me Julia

I took a bit of a break from blogging. At least from actually sitting down and writing out a post, I written hundreds in my head. What the quiet has taught me is I take more pictures and had something to look back at a remember exactly what I was thinking at the moment rather than what I think I was feeling from the point of view of where I am at now. So I will be fitting in more time to record my thoughts.

Finally finished the hairpin lace throw I made for my Grandpa from yarn I inherited from my Grandmother's Stash. He loves it and has shown it off to all the ladies at the senior center. They are impressed with me and with my Grandma for teaching me.

I washed a lot of wool.

Did a lot of craft fairs selling my work and my Dad's these are his work - bowls, pens, crochet hooks, wine stoppers... He is amazing.

Canned a bunch of stuff - only balanced like that for the photo, I am not completely crazy - these are tomato sauce and grape jelly.

We bought property to vacation on, Grow with and eventually move too. It is on a river flowage. I love the idea of my kids running all over this land, finding nature's hidden joys and secret places. Just being in the woods, calms and brings out the kid in my husband. It has been worth the budgeting and the frustration of the search just to see the stress and care fall from his shoulders as we explored the woods. Even if I didn't love it in it's own right - which I do - I would love it for that alone.

I took up weaving and gave some of the family handwoven placemats for Christmas. I really enjoy doing this.

I started writing a novel. I hide in a local coffee shop read while I eat their yummy breakfasts and write for a while. I have about 70 pages, hand written, so I have only just begun, but it is a bit like a date with myself as I intended to be in high school.

Lots of baking, brewing - beer, wine, and cider, I tried making sausage and cheese and plan to explore that a bit more. I've also worked more on the garden this year. We'll see, I like gardening but more in the planning and harvesting and processes aspects that in the tending it aspect.

The weekend's productions

Small onions roasted in oil. 

The skein is done, I have another 5 inches or so to go, so I hope the new skein is not too far off.

Tomato jam.  I will be using this on a roast today.  It was supposed to yield 2 pints.  I gave mom a jar already.  So that would be 4 1/4 pints yield.  

I also made a night gown for each girl out of an old chemise of my from when I worked the Renaissance Faire.  They are so excited by them, and wearing them still in bed!!  I want to turn an old dress shirt of my husband's into a nightshirt for Mouse this week. 

jelly & butter everywhere

 From left to right:  Apple butter, apple jelly, mulberry jelly, carrot jam, pineapple vinegar, mulberry butter.  The large mess to my kitchen not withstanding the weekend was very productive.  I wasn't certain it would be.  I woke Saturday to the sound of glass breaking.  Badger was up looking in the fridge for strawberries, she knocked out a 64 oz glass jar of apple juice pressed for jelly.  I was not happy, glass and juice I had worked for was everywhere.  Looking back I would not have had enough sugar anyway but we picked those apples, I washed, weighted, cut (I got blisters from cutting apples) and cooked those apples.  Oh well, now I have a lot of jelly, jam and butter.  Beaver is trying to talk me into more, maybe lemon curd or this lemon zucchini - not that he eats zucchini - I may go for it but this week my remaining sugar is for coffee and maybe waffles.

Tea parties.  Badger, Butterfly, Hippy-the-Bunny, and Daddy's elbow.  I think Daddy was actually eating lunch, but the girls were certain he left work to come to tea!  My parents gave Butterfly that little ceramic tea set two years ago at least.  My dad did the shopping and mom was mad, as Butterfly was too young to play with it, this is actually the first time she got too. 

Some updates.

I thought I should give some updates on project and how they turned out (so far at least.)  My wool took 4 days to completely dry and has a greasy feel still, it actually has more leaves than it did when I started!  4 days drying in the sun will do that.  So I need to wash it again.  My reading has led me to believe that I either did not have the water hot enough to begin with or allowed it to cool too much redepositing the lanolin on the wool as it cooled.  I want improve on this whole process - as even though it did not work right I enjoyed it - so I am cleaning our front porch out.  We never use it as the yard is graded just wrong enough that it floods a bit spring and fall and is too hot in the summer (and moldy) and too cold in the winter.  I am going to scrub it clean and rip up the carpeting (who thought that was a good idea?) and use it for projects like wool washing and dyeing and soap making.  I want to make a table out of and old bathroom cabinet we replaced but did not pitch and scrap wood and attach a folding mesh table area for skirting and drying.  At least the cleaning and digging out of the cabinet will have to happen this weekend. 

 Remember the one lonely jar of red currant jam?  I am holding this over my floor and it did not fall.  It tastes wonderful but is set so hard you have to warm it up for spreading.  Hoping I get more berries next year because this is awesome.

 Left to right Apple Butter, Carrot Jam, and Apple Jelly.  The Jelly has the same set too hard problem but is so pretty and tasty who cares.  The carrot jam is amazing!  Seriously, make some, I have had it by it's self, on cheddar scones (the attack of the scones continues), and on ham slices.  Go now - make some. 

 Little sewing kit I made for Butterfly.  Felted heart for needles and I found these tiny scissors to put into the kit that.

 Dress for Butterfly's birthday, I mostly followed the great inspiration at Tea Rose Home for this but added an extra ruffle and some satin ribbon. 

 This little skirt is also for her birthday, the white is an old t-shirt of my husband's and the bottom is leftover quilt fabric from my stash.

Decided not to wait any longer to show this.  I am thinking about adding an ring of ribbon around the waist band but we shall see. 

I had a little scare while knitting the sweater - the sleeve looked to short & reading the pattern I realized I missed a step, it should have been two inches longer.  Panic.  I called her in to try it on and the sleeve fits perfectly!!!  I might go back later and open the sleeve ends and add a few rows of pink, but the pattern is designed to do that anyway. 

Hope all your projects are going well. - Julia

Biting off more than I could chew - almost.

Yesterday, I woke with plans and ideas, goals and agendas.  Enough of them to fill two days at least, but often I find that not knowing you can't do something mixed with a bit (okay a lot) of stubbornness, means you end up getting it done.

Sunday I knit.  I mean I sat at the table with an audio book and knit. All day.  Except for the few minutes I took a break.  During my break I went to the garden and picked a bucket of tomatoes and a over flowing bucket of apples from our tree.  (It produced better this year - after heavy pruning -  but I need a plan for less bugs so if you know what I should do give me a yell.)  I looked up a jelly recipe by David Lebovitz and I was off.  I chopped them up tossed them into the water, cooked them and placed them in a lined colander over-night as described.  Later, I was reading while knitting and say a recipe for carrot jam.  Ignoring the time - 10pm - and the apple jelly makings already started.  I grated a kg of Carrots. 

If we back up one more day we see the rest of the problem, on Saturday I went to Beaver's award ceremony (more on that later) and then to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival.  I wandered in delight and bought 6# of Frisian wool (dirty) and a small ball of  clean carded dyed indigo wool.  I tucked the wool into my studio and shut the down.  When next I went in it smelled very strongly of sheep, very dirty sheep.  So I needed to wash that wool right away, I noticed this on Sunday.

So I bounded out of bed yesterday with plans!  make that PLANS!  Written it does not seem bad, wash wool, make apple jelly, make apple butter from leftover apple parts, make carrot jam, wash and hang old diapers on line to make into wash rags some other time, run to store and get elastic lace, and a 4H meeting. 

I started in on the wool bright and early, I set up a baby gate with a sheet over it to dry the wool on and got out two pots to wash in.  It was amazing, the day just waking up a bite of cool in the air, hot sudsy water, creamy yellow wool.  In it went.  15 minutes later I was startled to find I had white wool.  And so began the process of switching it to a new pot of water every 15 minutes until I got it as clean as I thought was likely.

In those first 15 minutes while the process was still romantic and the day was brimming with purpose, remember that I had been up for 3 hours, gotten two boys to school and been to Walmart for extra canning lids (none there) and lemons (I bought 2 and needed 4,) I start the apple jelly and realized my mistake with the lemons.  Oh well I get them when I get the lace I don't need them until the carrot jam anyway.  *notice the optimism*

Every 15 minutes I ran outside to change the water on the wool.  When inside I was stirring the jelly to keep it from boiling over or scorching and running all the apple bits through a food processor then a food mill.  None difficult tasks but together too much.  When the jelly was done I was on to apple butter - I use equal parts fruit pulp to sugar - and while I changed the wool it scorched.  I dumped it into a new pot and tasted.  It was still good so I was still in business.  By the time I got that done it was 3:20 and time to start the boy retrieval process.  Once I had them, I ran into the grocery store for more lids and lemons, no time to get the lace as we it was 4 and we had to be eating by 5 in order to make the 6 pm meeting.  I actually got up from dinner to move the last batch of wool to it last pot of fresh water, and carried the whole baby gate thing into the garage before hopping in the car with the boys for the 4H meeting.  On the way home we got the lace, and as I was too tired to think clearly, we got elastic thread, and ribbon and various other things I can use but did not plan on buying. 

It is now 8:30 and I still have to make carrot jam.  I started it so it must be done.  It does not set and does not set and does not set.  When it finally does set there is so little liquid left, I did not feel it was safe to can, so I added a cup of sugar and a cup of water and start boiling again.  It set.  It is 11:30 before I find the bed.

I have 6# of washed wool - drying the rest of the way in the driveway.
I have all the old diaper still (oops) on the line but the sun bleaching will help.
I have 5 1/2 jars of beautiful pink apple jelly.
I have 10 1/2 jars of apple butter.
I have 6 1/2 jars of carrot jam or perhaps marmalade might be a better term.
I have the lace. 

Today's plan, straighten house including mopping and vacuuming, fold laundry, find battery charger for camera, study for class and knit.  I think I'll have the girl's paint and glue then give them a long bath.  I will not make jelly!!!

Red Currant Jam?

My husband asked me what the red berries were by the porch.  I went out a looked and decided they were red currants. I did not plant them.  I consulted a gardening friend and the internet for second opinions, then harvested the berries.  I got about two cups but wanted to make jelly anyway.  Debating the idea of buying another berry to fill out the quantities I decided not to.  I followed an internet recipe that basically said to heat the berries with some water to soften them, run then through a food mill then weight out the puree and add and equal measure of sugar.  Off I went.  Here are the results.

Aren't they pretty!

Softening on the stove.

Through the mill.

One.  That's right one,  beautiful half pint jar of jam.

The end of things... or not.

Yesterday was a lab day!  Some days I can't wait to go in by that was not the case.  I was almost finished cataloging and had started making itemized lists from the catalog sheets this week only to discover that the other student who had been helping me had made a lot of mistakes.  It really was not totally her fault as she was way over her head and we had realized she was struggling but not how badly, she basically left off most of the information that was supposed to be collected.  I am hoping she wrote it on the item tags but that is for next week.  Having realized that instead of being almost done with this phase, I would have to go back and correct so much I was a bit depressed and frankly angry, as I had pointed out mistakes earlier on.  There were other things she could have done in the lab that would have been helpful and while not as interesting I expect she would have done well at them.  I was a bit cranky yesterday. 

4 and 1/2 shell 2-holed buttons, all from the same level! 

Then, I got in the lab and started to work. The mystery on the items took over and I found myself calm and studying the artifacts.  I managed to finish the LAST TWO acquisition numbers one with 740 items and the other with 475.  Happy dance! Happy dance! this phase is complete (we shall ignore that repair work that starts on Monday.)

The other thing that is almost all gone, the three types of jam Beaver and I made this fall.  Only three little jars where waiting on the shelf in the cellar for me this more.  This one is Mulberry - Blueberry, the mulberries where picked but the boys and they are like little pieces of candy in the jam.   We are having homemade calzones for dinner, the dough is rising on the counter and the whole world seems yummie.

The girls and I are off to the library to get some books recommended by the wonderful ladies in the Yarn Along.

Hope you have something yummie to eat today! - Julia