Ohhhhhhh, I have sooooo been a busy bee!

Well!!!  Here I am again, your faithful, if sporadic, crafty friend!  I have lost my camera, today, so no pics from me.... but I have been making things... I have been very inspired by the Sew Mama Sew Blog, they are so good about coming up with lovely ideas for making handmade things for gifts for people you really, really love, and who really, really love you!  So far I've printed gift tags and stationary, little Christmas Houses, and sewn a meal planner to put on the fridge and a calling card case for some calling cards I printed out..... so sweet.

Sooooo, I've drafted a pattern for a skirt for my Prairie Princess, and I've made her a wool coat for Christmas.  I'm making a doll and clothes for the Barefoot Contessa from this Dover Book on Dollmaking at left.  It has patterns for the doll herself, underthings, petticoats, a cape, a suit, lots of dresses, skirts, nightgown, etc... really everything a lady could need, including a wedding gown!  There are several books from Dover I like for dollmaking.  There's one for making Godey Dolls that I find particularly fetching, it's more detailed than the dolls I have made, but I've got some experience now, so perhaps I'll take it on later! 

I'm making really good progress making socks.  I only have one more to start, one for Mini Me, but everyone else has a pair waiting for Christmas morning, Halelujah!  I've done most of the Christmas shopping for the children, but as for the rest of the family.... not so much.  This Sunday is the first of Advent and then is St. Nicholas Day, so it's more feasting for us, soon!  The plan is to make foods that have something good hidden within... cranberry jelly filled buns, omelets, a stuffed pork roast, etc... to remind us of St. Nicholas doing good works in secret.  Also, brandied mini tartlets and peanut brittle for dessert from my Everyday Food subscription.  I get tired of our standard fare and love to receive new inspiration often!

Speaking of food, I made and delivered Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls to the neighbors.  Some were surprised... like one neighbor I terrified (it seems she didn't hear the loud "Hello!" I called as her son ushered me in)!  One was belligerent (What do you want!?) till she finally figured out that I brought her a gift with no strings attached!  Another couple of neighbors invited us in for short visits, which was nice!  I think it was a hit!  I have some pretty ribbon candy already wrapped and set aside for Christmas gifts for all of them.  They're getting some Christmas cheer whether they like it or not!!! 

Don't tell my daughters, but I plan to make us all matching skirts to wear for Christmas the rest of the winter in a non typical pink... I got some really nice suiting for $3 a yard.  I think they'll be sweet. What else???  Well, after I find my camera I'll post pics and tell you all about the rest of my housewifely endeavors!  Happy St. Nicholas Day!!!

Outside

Well, we have a closing date, finally, which gives my life some focus finally!  May 3rd we have a scheduled closing and we move in two weeks... woo hoo!  My FIL mentioned to my husband that he'd like some exterior pics of the house so I got right on it.  We went to the house yesterday and measured rooms so I could plan furniture layouts, and walked the property, and I took some shots of the house and grounds!

Yellow, I love yellow houses!  I'm already seeing the garden!

The "front four" and the long, long driveway, which I have plans to flank with flowering trees, probably fruit trees and arbor day foundation freebies.  Picture: chicken tractors, fiber animals, a milk cow and her calf, and maybe even pigs!

Daddy and five little people.  OK, one is getting awfully big to be called little.  The woods are beyond the road which is the boundary of our property.   

This property is just ideal.  There are neighbors, which is good, but the property really seems private and secluded in many ways, and oh, so beautiful! There is a creek, which in the photo is swollen due to lots of rain, and a fishing hole just a bit down the road.  I can envision puddle playing and a willow tree and paper boat races.  We even met some neighbors, which was just ideal!  Sometimes it's hard to meet your neighbors in the country, OK, sometimes it's hard to get to know your neighbors anywhere nowadays!

I want to pause here to say that I do not deserve this wonderful blessing!  I am so thankful for grace, so needy of mercy, and so very, very undeserving of this!  I have to get a little overt here!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  OK, that says it all I think!  (Have you noticed how many exclamation marks I use?  That's just how I speak... I exclaim!)

Olympics Fever!!!

It's been snow, snow, and more snow around here!  It snowed so much it filled up the cattle guard and the cows thought they'd traipse right out of their field this morning to look for forage.  My neighbor's son called and gave us a heads up, so I thought I'd just roll out of bed, wash my face, get dressed, and see what's up out there... Or what's out up there... hard to say when I've just woken up.  Aaaaaanyway, I'm not packing... I'm procrastinating because I'm trying not to think about moving when the stupid Bank of America won't hurry up and tell us if we can have that house or not!  (Ranting... anger problems, apparently).

Instead of packing, I'm planning a unit study for the Winter 2010 Olympics.  It's fun!  I've found that my kids are rather weak in Geography and so the Olympics are a wonderful opportunity to get those world maps out and start learning about countries and where they are while we watch the competition!  Also, my oldest is studying Ancient Greece right now and so we're working in the Ancient Olympics, too.  Also, Canada, snow, and, if I can manage it, engineering a snow apparatus outside, while there's still snow to push around.  I think the Little Engineer will enjoy that.

We've really been inspired by the Olympic Motto and Creed.  I guess I'll just go ahead and post them ;)

Motto:  Citius, Altius, Fortius (Swifter, Higher, Stronger)

Creed:  The most significant thing in the Olympic games is not to win, but to take part.  Just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle.  The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

Soooo, we've been setting ourselves some goals for this Olympic period, which is, as of now, 20 days.  I'm going to work on my abs... by working them out 4 times a week on our pull up bar.  Also, I'm going to try harder to work out, yoga or pilates, 4-5 days a week.  Aaaaand, I'm rereading Raising Godly Tomatoes

Finally, on my pursuit to challenge myself for this 20 days, I've decided to compete in the Ravelympics 2010, which is a competition on Ravelry, one of my favorite ever sites, where one can get almost anything a fiber freak like me needs for inspiration.

I am competing on the ClubFoot Ravelympics team in the Giant Slalom-ghan event... which means I'm going to try to crochet an afghan in 20 days... 20 days.  The rules say you can't start your project except for swatching before the Olympic flame is lit in Vancouver, and you have to finish your project before the flame is extinguished, 16 days later.  It's sort of a fun way to compete and make projects and enjoy the Olympics all at the same time!  Jeremy drove me to AC Moore yesterday to get more yarn for my brown sweater which is wet blocking right now in preparation for seaming and knitting neck ribbing and button bands.

While we were there, I spotted a sale on cheap o acrylic for an even cheaper price of 2 for $5... I thought about that and overcame my acrylic aversions when I realized the whole afghan would cost less than $30 to make and my kids will ensure that it needs to be washed repeatedly anyway, so acrylic would be a good idea.  So here's a sneak peek of the colors:

I'll be posting updates!!!  The Olympics starts in 3 days!  Are you getting swifter, higher, and stronger?

Farmer's Markets

Our first real initiation to a farmer's market couldn't have happened at a better one. San Luis Obispo's farmer's markets are kind of legendary, really they're rather more like carnivals with really fresh food. Street musicians, fresh flowers, magicians, street corner preaching, and prepared foods joined the fresh food in vying for our attention. Our local markets are less complicated, but they've got plenty to satisfy our hunger for local food and farm products.

We bought lots of yummy veggies and some berries and some ground lamb and lamb sausage... ground lamb mixed with ground beef for hamburgers is really good... I only wish we'd gotten some fresh goat cheese to stuff those burgers with a la Eat Make Read. Ooooh, also this cocktail... mmmmmm.

I even bought yarn! and some fiber covered soap from the Dream Keeper Farm in Orlean VA. They had 220 yards of hand dyed worsted wool yarn from their sheep (not handspun). Fun! For $10 a skein! Score! I bought a loverly bluey, lavendery, aquaey variegated skein for my friend's 6th baby. OK, I'm knitting a gift for said baby with said yarn. Actually, I'll probably finish knitting it tonight after I write this. More on that later! Those half gallon jars are for our milk from our cow shares... we start getting at least two gallons a week next week. And look at that cool bag I got from the Dream Keeper booth, just for free with my stuff!

Busy, Busy Bee

Whoo! How busy I've been! I don't want to recount all the rigmarole we've been through this past week, but I thought I'd post a to do list for today:

1. Wash sheets and dry them on the line. The weather is begging for this and the sheets need a good washing desperately.

2. Wash woodwork. I've been taking down the plastic film we covered the windows with and opening windows to let in the beautiful weather.

3. Get out and sort summer togs and put away winter gear. Of course this is a multiple day job with all the people in our house, but I could get started.

4. Reboot house for dinner guests.

5. Gather night crawlers for fishing tomorrow.

6. Pack sandwiches and goodies for fishing trip

7. Have some old friends over for a fajita dinner, a bonfire, s'mores, and some card playing, hopefully!


Numbers 2 and 3 may have to be put off if we do indeed have guests, but it should be a fun, productive day!

Pleasant Work

My husband comes from a family of really hard workers. These people don't sit around and play games, they build patios together, they don't go out and buy an outfit for a baby gift, they make a crib... my husband's father is such a hard worker he pushes himself till he gets ill sometimes. I'm telling you, this has to be genetic, or something. My boys are really hard workers, too. My almost five year old today was clearing ice off the back patio, voluntarily. He was wielding this full sized shovel, jaw clenched, muscles straining, eyes determined, and not giving up. He smashed and shoveled and pushed and never complained once about the cold or the hard work. He just dug in there and did it. We actually had to tell him to go in and have lunch Right Now! He says, "I just wanted to be really helpful, Mom!" That is so endearing, because it's good evidence of an active personality and willingness to be useful. He was really, really helpful! My girls like to be helpful, too. They like to help with the baby and help with the meals and help with the kitchen, as long as they don't have to do it alone.

I think that working as a group, with people who you find pleasant, makes work pleasant. One hears or reads stories about quilting or husking bees, barn raisings, etc. in the past. Women used to just come and visit with a paring knife when the peaches needed to be put away, or ready with a thimble to help quilt, or even baby on lap and spinning wheel on the back of the donkey to sit and spin and visit. An agrarian life always has some task that needs doing at home, but that shouldn't keep us isolated. The old saying, "A man works from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done." is true of all homemakers. The work is endless, and most of us, instead of resting when we have spare time, just pick up some work we've been putting off for when we've "got a minute." Often we let that get in the way of fellowship. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut and never reach out beyond one's family when home is most of your world. Why should we not have parties for butchering the pig, or canning apple butter? Why not let many hands make light work and have a good visit, too? Why not have "Upholstery Saturday" once a month and rotate to all your good friend's houses to help with home improvement jobs. It makes work pleasant, turns a curse into a blessing, and fosters community. Working together is also very good for family relationships, as long as the work is done cheerfully. Mopping the floor can be fun if you race to get your section done first, or Mama reads aloud while you scrub. I have very pleasant memories of singing with my Grandma while we did dishes together. We sang a round about Lilies of the Valley, which just happen to be my birth flower:

White choral bells

Upon a slender stalk;

Lilies of the Valley

Deck my garden walk.

Oh, don't you wish

That you could hear them ring?

That will happen only

When the fairies sing!

I say this, but actually it's hard to ask people to "come and help." I assume it's kind of like asking them to come to a "party" and then offering to sell them jewelry. It's not exactly a party, is it? Of course, if your neighbor helps you move and you help them cut winter fuel for their furnace, it all works out in the end, like an economy of tasks. You watch my kids while I'm having a baby, I'll help you put in sod. I help you build a tree house, you help me put up pickles. I help you butcher a hog, you give me sausage, or a massage, or a makeover, or a tractor. You get it! Now, my question is: is all that taxable?

Now, I'm not a born worker like my husband's family, I often would rather sit and talk than get up and help work... I'm not a hard worker, I'm kind of lazy. I'm really better at delegating... (yes, I know, I should be ashamed of myself). But, when asked to help move, or help cook, or help butcher, or help cut and freeze sweet corn, I work hard, because I can work and visit, too. And, what's more, I enjoy myself! So isn't it safe to assume that when you ask people to come and help they enjoy themselves, too? I'll have to sit and think on that!

Piedmont Hunt

If you look way into the middle ground of this photo, you'll see some people on horseback. They're part of the Piedmont Hunt here in Fauquier and Loudoun Counties, and they're fox hunting. Oh, yeah, hounds, guy in red coat blowing a horn, and lots and lots of people in riding habits on beautiful horses jumping across our bucolic countryside. It's oh, so Jane Austen-ey. It's like they're wanting this to be the US version of the British countryside. That's fine with me, it's wonderful, picturesque, and they actually just chase the foxes, and try not to let the hounds kill them, since killing the fox would make it impossible to chase! This hunt was on Thanksgiving morning, and we had wanted to watch it leave from the farm down the road, but we all were just too tired to leave in the morning. To my surprise the Hunt Master (I think that's what he's called) appeared right in front of our house and blew his horn at the hounds, who were baying in the pasture behind our house. I was so excited I made my sister get out of the shower to come look, poor thing.

Holiday Preparations

We love holidays, celebrations, and feasts at our house. Since Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away, we've been getting our menu together and inviting people to eat with us. We usually invite people who are away from family to feast and give thanks with us, since this holiday is all about family for so many. My dear sister is visiting, too, which I'm really, really excited about. She's wonderful and we've been calling each other consulting about what to make, and what do to while she's here. I plan to put her to work a lot... sorry, sis.

We plan on roast turkey... (shocker), and cornbread and sausage stuffing (shocker again). We always have pumpkin pie and apple pie, and this year my sis has requested blueberry cherry pie. So lots of pie. Rosemary roasted veggies, per hubby's request, and my husband always makes a fruit jelly or chutney, this year it's a cranberry pear chutney. We got a lot of recipes this year from the Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Recipes magazine. We usually have both mashed potatos and cheesy hash brown casserole and I make giblet gravy. And we usually ask guests to bring their favorite recipe to share. We eat early, a late lunch, then play games and sing, play/watch football (Cowboys, of course) and nosh all evening. I think this year, if it's not too cold, a hike is in order. Just talking about it makes me all excited!

A Zoo, Sort Of

I'm a bit mad at myself today. I'm back from Chicago (had a LOVELY time!), but just not in the groove. Too relaxed, perhaps? I've had these really great photo opportunities recently, and I just wasn't fast enough to get good pictures! We have some sort of bird's nest outside our back door, pasted up in a corner under our eaves. At first you could see Mama Bird building her nest on top of another, older one. Not too much later you could hear little peeps coming from it, as long as you didn't step out the door. They were very obedient little birds and were completely silent when they saw danger. A little later you could look at them peeking over the edge of the nest, waiting to be fed, quietly watching us go about our business. Yesterday, they were gone, and there was a black rat snake on the ground four feet long to entertain us instead. The four baby birds were in our front yard, lined up on a tree branch, getting their flying lessons, and just in time, for those black snakes are really good climbers. I know, I looked it up online! My daughter saw the snake, and we all ran out to look at it, while I was yelling at them to, “Go back inside till I figure out what kind of snake it is!” I Googled Black Snake and found a picture that looked just like the one we saw: a shiny black snake, all kinked up, perfectly still. My kids wanted to kill it. I decided not... we've found plenty of evidence of rodents and I decided a little bit of natural predation was a good thing. Later that day, we heard five gunshots come from the neighbor's hen house. I was disturbed at the gunshots. After all, any kind of killing disturbs a woman like me. The three neighbor men had found two black snakes munching their eggs, and, well, when it comes to food, a man must protect his interests above the serpent's, naturally. One day I believe the lion will lie down with the lamb, but not yet!