One of my favorite things about summer is being able to go sans footwear. When the weather is warm enough, I don’t even bother putting on socks until I’m getting ready to go out. When I do go out if I’m in an area where there is soft grass or sand (the beach) to walk on I’ll likely kick off my shoes and do some grounding or earthing.
It was a blessing this year that our warm weather lingered well into fall, but now that it has turned more toward winter going barefoot is no longer an option. When my feet are cold, my whole body is cold.
A couple weeks ago I took my crocheted slippers, that I’ve been wearing for the past two years, out of the closet and began wearing them. The holes that had begun forming in the bottom of each were growing a bit bigger every day and I knew it was time for some new slippers.
Last week I came across this free pattern for slipper socks and went to my sewing room in search of fabric. I found about a yard of a plush fleece, that was left over from the sweater dress I made last year, that was enough to make both the lining and the outside of the slippers.
It took but a few hours to make these slippers socks. (Below are the results.) I am thankful to have them to keep my feet toasty warm until the warm weather returns.
I think I will go through some more of my fabric stash, as I’m certain I have enough pieces to make another pair or two.
In early October my daughter sent me this message “Hey mom, I’m trying to be a bat for Halloween, but I also like the idea of having something I can wear for more than one day and I came across this shawl. What are the odds you (or I) could make something like this by late October? Just curious. Thanks!”This was what she wanted me to create.
I chuckled thinking “No way!” (First of all I don’t knit. Second it would take me way longer than a month to make something like that.) Then I smiled thinking that she must think I am some kind of ‘super woman’. LOL!
I then went online to see what I could find that might work for her. My reply to her was “That’s not much time for a crocheted shawl. The sewing pattern shirt (linked) below could be done easily. The crocheted pattern (linked) below I could do but probably not in time. Check out the links below. ” I had found this sewing pattern and this crochet pattern.
When we talked, we decided I would sew the batwing shirt for her. It was a very simple pattern and reading the tutorial that I linked above made it even easier. Here’s how it turned out.
Hello and welcome. August is upon us and I feel like I’ve been MIA (blogging action at least) for a while. It has been longer than I like to go between posts so I’m going share a hodge-podge of things that have been keeping us busy.
Dog Tails
Ruby has been with us for nearly two months now and we are all happy she’s here. When I first introduced you to Ruby I had mentioned a few things that she needed to learn. She has proven to be a quick learner. She no longer tries to get in bed with us at night and rarely puts her paws up on our chests. She is doing well with knowing that she can shoo the chickens out of the barn or off a chair, but she does not chase them for fun. The chickens are no longer afraid of her. To them she is just part of the farm family.
When we adopted Ruby from the shelter we were told that she had not been well socialized and took a while to warm up to people. While at times this may be the case, she had no problem socializing with people and other dogs when we had a family picnic at the farm.
Ruby swimming with the family.
Ruby always eager to play fetch.
Ruby playing chase with Captain and Misty.
Ruby waiting for Kara to throw the frisbee.
It took a few weeks for Ranger and Ruby to bond. At first Ranger seemed to think of Ruby as an intruder, especially when he would be getting attention from my husband or me and she would push her way in or when she would curl up on my lap as I was kicked back in my recliner (he was used to having the choice of my lap or my husbands.) But it wasn’t just our attention that Ruby sought. She worked hard to get Ranger to be her friend.
Often modeling his behavior or initiating play sessions.
She just doesn’t understand the concept of hunting.
Nowadays Ruby and Ranger spend a lot of time ruffhousing or wrestling.
Ruffhousing
Sometimes it can look and sound like they are being mean to each other, but they are just playing and having fun. They really have become good friends.
Besides ruffhousing with Ranger, Ruby’s other activity of choice is playing fetch. A ball, a frisbee, a stick – if we throw it Ruby will fetch it and bring it back to be thrown again. She is definitely a retriever.
My husband often comes home with a sore arm from throwing the ball so many times, but Ruby’s not done, after she eats, she will go get a ball and bring it to me or my husband, wanting to resume the game that was started at the farm.
Incidentally, she has also learned not to chew up her toys. In the first several weeks she chewed up several balls and other toys. Each time she would chew a hole in something we would throw it away as we didn’t want her swallowing plastic or whatever materials the toy was made out of. We began monitoring her and telling her “no chew” or “be nice” when we saw her chewing up a toy and she has since stopped destroying her toys. We do still allow her to chew up sticks.
Making Curtains
Last week, our hottest week so far this year, was a good time for me to have an inside project to work on, so when my husband suggested we needed new curtains for the kitchen and back bathroom I decided to make some. It was also perfect timing because my sister, K.C. was in town for a day, so we had lunch together then made a trip to the fabric store. 🙂
Below are the results of this project.
Kitchen curtains are opened most of the day.
But necessary to block the morning sun.
My husband and I agree – we Love the kitchen curtains! Even when they block the sun they still brighten the room.
The pattern on the bathroom curtains is honeybees and clover. 🙂
We also like the bathroom curtains just not as much as we love the kitchen curtains.
Chickens
It’s been a while since I have blogged about the chickens and quite honestly it hasn’t been our best year of raising chickens. In the spring we lost about half our flock to a fox or family of foxes. We can only assume that there was more than one because on one day we lost seven chickens in just a couple hour time frame. They were not killed on sight they were carried off by their predator(s). On a few other occasions we lost one at a time.
The fox was pretty bold. My husband yelled to chase it off a few times. It has been at least a month now since there has been any evidence of fox in the area, so think that perhaps it has raised its young and moved on.
These chickens are some of the chicks we bought this spring. Out of the 12 chicks we started with this spring we still have six of them – two black and four white. It’s too early to tell, but we suspect one of the white ones might be a rooster since it’s comb and wattles are far more developed than the rest of them. We expect the hens to start laying in August.
Garden Stuff
The gardens continue to do well. Having everything mulched heavily with straw has worked so well. Not only has it kept weeds well under control it helps the soil retain moisture making it available for the plants.
Our squash and pumpkins were planted late but they are doing well.
They are beginning to blossom and form fruit.
Melons and cucumbers were also planted late but are blossoming and forming fruit as well. We did pick our first cucumbers this week and I plan on making pickles soon.
Look at the little watermelon. So cute!
Cabbage is looking good – I’ll be making sauerkraut this year.
We’ve started picking tomatoes. I’ll probably have enough to start canning next week.
Stuffed peppers are on the upcoming menu. We have been including garden produce in our meals each day. Perhaps I’ll share some of these dishes in future posts.
So far this is the only sunflower to blossom since the deer ate the tops off of most of the plants. It is a beauty though.
Thanks for visiting. Watch for future posts on how we are eating and preserving our harvest.
Buttonholes, collar stand, placards, interfacing, French seams, pleats and top stitching all in one project. If nothing else it was a learning experience. I took my time and read the directions carefully and tried to follow them. After two failed attempts at attaching the collar stand I found an online video tutorial to assist me. After I finally got it on I called my sister and said “I HATE COLLAR STANDS!” She laughed before offering encouraging words. “I don’t cuss often,” I told her “but in my mind I was.”
At last, it’s finished. The fit is decent and from a distance it doesn’t look too bad.
I do like the combination of fabrics.
It will be nice for working around the house or farm or perhaps even sitting around a campfire on a summer evening.
Now that you know my, um, excuses for not blogging much this year (the dog ate my blog –Blame It on the Dog) let me catch you up on some of the things that I’ve been up to in 2022.
Daily Yoga – The day after Christmas I began doing yoga. I have never done yoga before but have been told about its benefits and encouraged to try it by two of my sisters and one of my daughters. Since I was no longer experiencing as much pain form the pinched nerve, I decided that it was time to start trying to heal this condition. In order to do so I figured some type of exercise is necessary. I decided to start this 30-day yoga journey entitled breath because for the past two years I have been practicing deep breathing and encouraging others to “breathe deep” as well.
Now don’t get the wrong idea. I am nowhere near good at this. I am not graceful. I am awkward at best. I am getting better but it’s not pretty. (That is why I only do it when I am home alone.)
I have been feeling and seeing some of the benefits. I can tell that I am getting stronger and increasing my balance. I also feel good physically and I seem to have more focus after doing it. Once I finished the first 30-day program I started over again and I’m about to finish it a second time. I plan on repeating it again in March.
If you’ve ever considered learning yoga I would encourage you to do it. I would also recommend this program as a starting point.
Sewing Projects– I have completed two sewing projects. The first was this sweatshirt dress made with plush fleece. I did adjust the pattern to make it a turtleneck. This top is so comfortable and warm; I wear it quite often.
(I’m no model so this is what I do when my husband tells me to pose. LOL)
The second is this sweater. I’m not sure what the fabric would be called, but it is a soft knit with silvery threads intertwined to give it the shimmery look.
I have a third project started but it’s way different from anything I have done before. I am learning to work with interfacing and make buttonholes, so this is taking a while.
Garden Planning – We are really looking forward to spring. We have ordered and received all of our seeds for this year’s garden. I found it interesting that we did not receive tons of seed catalogues in the mail this year. (I think we received one.) I wonder if we have been removed from the mailing lists because we hadn’t ordered for several years, or are companies no longer using catalogues as a means of marketing? Maybe some of both?
After last year’s gardening disaster (too much rain) we decided we need to do something different this year. We will be adding some raised beds. We are in the planning stage, and I’ll write more about it once we begin working on them.
Bees – We lost both hives again this year and just can’t explain why. There were just a few dead bees in the bottom of both hives. The rest were just gone. This is an unexplained phenomenon referred to as colony collapse disorder. We did harvest about 30 lbs. of honey that was left in the hives so at least it wasn’t a total loss.
We have ordered three bee packages for this year. They are scheduled to arrive on April 15. The bees we are getting this year are a different breed than the ones we have had in the past, so that gives us a little more hope for their survival.
Chicks and Chickens – Sunday as I looked at the weather forecast, I realized that the weather this week would be right for tapping maple trees. With above freezing daytime temps and below freezing nighttime temps that sap should begin to flow. We are not tapping trees this year, but I reminded my husband that in past years it seemed like at the same time we tapped maple trees the chickens began to lay more eggs. Monday my husband collected 6 eggs and Tuesday five. For about the past two months we had been averaging only between two and three eggs a day. An interesting correlation between sap season and egg laying.
We are going to add about 12 chicks to our flock this year. I will share chick pictures when we get them. 🙂
New Chair – Last week we finally went shopping for a new desk chair. this is the one I selected.
While it doesn’t actually have bells and whistles, it does have lumbar support, height adjustment, arm rests that adjust up and down and forward and backward, and the seat back reclines. This makes sitting at my desk much more comfortable. It is called a gaming chair so as I like to say, “game on!”
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