Tangled

I pulled out my knitting the other day to continue working on my latest sock project.  It came to a standstill because of a tangle.  This is not an ordinary little tangle, no it is a monster tangle in a 100gram skien.

This is after two days of  unwinding, weaving, rolling and getting frustrated.

The worst part of this is that I have a ball winder!  My tiny brain just refuses to use it for sock wool because I figure sock wool never tangles.  Why?  Stubborn I guess.  Next time I'll know better.... yeah that is what I said the last time.

Homemaking Book

In an effort to become a little bit more organized for the upcoming year, I have decided to for go the usual planning calendar that I normally buy (and only use for the first four months of the year) and make myself a homemaking book.

My homemaking book is personalized for the things that I want to keep track of. I took an old binder which I recovered with some leftover fabric and sewed a small pocket in the front to hold my fountain pen.


It was very simple to sew the cover:

1. Open the binder and place face up on the wrong side of the fabric

2. Using a pen trace the outline onto the fabric

3. Using a ruler make the outline bigger by 1 cm

4. Cut out the fabric

5. Place the binder face up on a new section of the fabric and trace out the each section of the cover (without the spine) plus an extra 3 cm to use as a hem (must cut 2 fabric flap sections)

6. Using a ruler make the outline bigger by 1 cm (other than the 3cm hem)

7. Cut out the fabric

8. Get out the sewing machine

10. Zigzag stitch the hem portion of the inside flap and zigzag the middle section of the larger fabric cover at the spine

11. Turn over the 3cm hem with wrong sides together and sew

12. **Pin all pieces wrong sides together and sew with a 1 cm seam allowance

13. Turn inside out and iron

14. Place binder inside the cover

** If you want to add a pocket on the front cover you must do it now before sewing all the pieces together.

Here you can see the inside flap and how the binder cover slips in.

I purchased heavier paper to put in my homemaking book because I write mainly with a fountain pen and I need thicker paper so I doesn't bleed through. I then proceded to section my book with purchased cardboard tabs and made up my own pages with vintage images and fonts.

Though it seems like a lot, some sections only have one or two pages or combine page. Sections in my book include:

Calendar
To Do List (now and someday)
Shopping List
Weekly Menu
Diet and Exercise
Housework schedule (still needs to be worked on)
Correspondence

Future blog posts

Gift giving ideas
Books to read
List of books read
Movies to see
Beauty and Fashion idea
Vegetable garden journal
Flower garden journal
Party planner

Photos of some of my pages:

The great thing about a homemaking book is that everything is one place and easy to find. Plus I can add and reorganize

sections as I see fit and not what a commercial calendar/personal organizer thinks I need to keep track of.

Kitchen Duty

Another storm warning was announced for our area today. Heavy snowfall and winds. It was a good day to stay put at home again. I seem to have stayed home most of the time over the holidays, but I'm not complaining!

I started out the day making some laundry detergent as I had run out yesterday. Then on to making breakfast... egg mcmuffins (without the 'mc' as Daughter would say) for the family.

I dug out the Christmas turkey carcass from the freezer and made some stock for this evening's soup dinner. I found the secret for making a good stock is to first roast the bones/carcass along with some veggies (onion, carrots and celery) in the oven at 450º until nice and brown. This makes for a much more flavourful soup.

Just look at how nice and brown the stock turns out when roasted first

The latest issue of Mother Earth News magazine had a great article (one of many) on baking easy artisan bread. Husband urged me to give it a try as it makes a huge batch of dough which is kept in the fridge for up to two weeks. One just hacks off enough to make a loaf, let it rise for a bit and throw it in the oven. Simple! The recipe can be found on Mother's website here.

Simple to bake and tastes great! We went through two loaves with dinner.

We roasted the first of our lamb the other day and it was fantastic! I made the roast in the oven with a honey glaze that really added to the flavour. The roast was very small, but just enough for us (we really don't need to eat tons of meat anyway).

If you want to try the glaze, this is what you need to combine in saucepan:

1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
6 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder

On low heat warm the ingredients until well blended. Brush on the roast and continue glazing during the roasting period until the lamb is done. (I had quite a bit of the glaze left over, so you may want to reduce the recipe)

Later in the day we took down the Christmas tree and decorations. I ran out of laminate floor cleaner (seems to be a reoccuring theme today) so I whipped up my own which I think is far superior to the store bought brand; plus cheaper and healthier.

Laminate Floor Cleaner
1 cup vinegar
3 cups water
A few drops of essential oil (which ever scent you prefer)
Shake together in a spray bottle. Spray floor and mop up using a dry/microfibre type mop.

The other day I took my weekly trip to the landfill to deposit our small bag of garbage and I stopped into the Swap Shed. This is a shed where you can drop off or pick up items that are still useable and too good to throw away. It was really cold so I didn't stay long, but did find this really cute Eddie Bauer dress made of a wool weave. It was a fabric I have been looking for to make a decorative pillow that I have been dreaming up in my brain.

Dress soon to be upcycled into a new pillow.

I also came across this really nice fabric; by this time I was really cold so I just took it and ran. When I got home I realized it was curtain panel about 2 metres long (6 ft). It think I will have just enough to make an apron out of it.

Very pretty green fabric with blue flowers and swirls machine embroidered upon it.

Someone had also put a bunch of photo/picture frames in the shed. They were all unopened in original packaging from Ikea. So of course I grabbed those too - I think I have 18 frames in total.

This and That

It has been bitterly cold the past few days... from -16 down to -28c (3 to -18f) with a wind chill of up to -39c (-38f). Of course on the most windy day I had to get gas for the car and by the time I was finished pumping I could barely feel my fingers. I can easily stand the cold, but such a biting wind is terrible!

I should also mention that the price of gas is continueing to go down! Yeah! This summer it was at it's highest $146.9 for a litre (approx $5.56 a gallon) and today it is 76.9 cents per litre ($2.91 a gallon). The crazy thing is that there is a gas refinery where I live and yet our gas is usually higher than other areas in the province.

On these cold days what should I receive in the mail???? The first seed catalogue for Spring 2009!!! Husband has been pouring over it already and has found grapes that will grow in our climate. He is SO excited! I haven't had a chance to thumb through it yet... but I will soon.

Yesterday I went into town to pick up the last few things for Christmas and even though the shops were not really full, I couldn't wait to get home. I seem to be becoming quite the homebody. Actually, my ears have been bothering me over the past few weeks and the noise and bustle in the shops was very grating on my hearing. I just wanted to get back to some peace and quiet.

I still have one gift to finish making and to do my grocery shopping before Friday. We will be making a quick trip before Christmas to see Husband's family from the 19th to the 23rd. I want to get as much of my groceries before the 24th as I'm sure the stores will be crazy on that day.

We put up the tree last night. The kids and Husband did a good job on decorating it. The tree stands 2.5 metres (8 feet) high and luckily we built the house with a large living room!

I finished knitting and felting my slippers some time ago and they actually did shrink down from the clown size to something that fits. I have to say I'm quite happy with them, and best of all they are really warm.

I was hoping to sew a new apron for Christmas with this really cute fabric. Unfortunately, I think I have run out of time... oh well, I can still sew it up for next year. I like wearing aprons while I work around the house. They keep me clean and give me a sense of purpose.

Oh, I just looked out the window and it has started to snow again.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

There's nothing to start that Christmas like feeling than being snowed in. We are under a heavy snowfall warning and received about 30 cm (12 inches) overnight with up to another 30 cm forecast for today.

Son went out to catch the school bus this morning, only to return right away saying there is an abandoned car in the middle of the road right were the school bus stop is. I told to him to nevermind and stay home. I called the school about 10am to tell them that he would not be attending. Apparently there are so few kids in school today, that after 100 phone calls this morning, the office stopped taking names of children that would not be in class today. Daughter didn't have school today, but her shopping trip to the mall has been cancelled (I'm not even going to attempt pulling the car out of the driveway).

So what do you do when snowed in? Listen to Christmas music and bake gingerbread men of course! ... and sit by the fireplace and read!

I have been reading a book that I picked up at the 'swap shed' at the landfill. A $30 book that I swear has never been read. It is extremely interesting and all about Christmas traditions - perfect for today.

The kids have taken Kaiser outside to play. I think he's having fun as the snow is way up past his belly.

Son has also been experimenting with building oil lamps made out of empty rifle shells, cotton batten and olive oil. I made him burn it outside because it had quite an acrid smell. It burned for about 10 minutes which is not bad considering how small it is.

One Down

It's amazing how quickly work around the house can stop when one householder is down.

Husband hasn't been feeling well and had a bit of a fever a few days ago. On Thursday evening we had company and when they left Husband says "Can you please drive me to the hospital". Um, what? He never even goes to the doctor! Things apparently had progressed for the worse over the evening, though he didn't look particularly ill. Luckily the emergency ward wasn't overly busy and he was in and out fairly quickly.... diagnosed with either a bladder or prostate infection. Ouch! He has been sitting and watching football, hockey and movies ever since - and he needs to take it easy for a few days. He will be seeing our family physician tomorrow and may be on antibiotics for 4 weeks.

Needless to say, I have been busy. I have been catching up on laundry, baking, knitting and beginning some sewing projects for Christmas. I found this great Burda site with free sewing patterns. I used to do lots of sewing and made most of my own clothes at one time. Sadly, I haven't sewn for many years. Funny, I don't really know why. Perhaps life just gets too busy and setting up the machine and finding room is too laborious.

On Friday I picked up our meat order. I panicked when I saw how many boxes there were! I was sure it would not all fit into our freezer... and it didn't. I was left with one turkey that just would not fit, so we had a turkey dinner on Saturday evening. It is just as well, now the kids have luncheon meat for this coming week. We stopped purchasing any prepared meats after the listeriosis outbreak a couple of months ago. Husband has been wanting to quit buying it for a long time and now we really have reason.

The snow continues to come down, though I went into town yesterday and there is very little accumulated. That's what we get building our home north and at a higher elevation than town. Actually there is a standing joke in town that we tend to get two weeks earlier winter and two weeks later spring.

Pioneer Week

This week is the Pioneer Week Challenge courtesy of Crunchy Chicken. Since I have been reading the "Little House" series over the past couple of weeks, I was gung-ho to join.

I actually began a little early because I wanted to start using the Hallowe'en pumpkins. The story behind all the pumpkin mania (as you will see if you keep reading) is that I have been unable to purchase a pumpkin for Hallowe'en over the past few years even after running to every store in town. This year I managed to purchase 3 large ones at $3.99 each! There is no way that I will be wasting almost $12.00 worth of food!

I recreated Ma Ingalls pie recipe from one of the books in which she uses green pumpkins in a pie. I made a crust and placed in it sliced pumpkin. I then added brown sugar, spices and some butter and topped it off with an upper crust. It turned out yummy, but the kids thought it was weird as it didn't look anything like a traditional pumpkin pie.

I also made a Curried Pumpkin soup. It was very tasty, but next time I will add a little less hot sauce. Here is the recipe...

Curried Pumpkin Soup Recipe
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 med onion, peeled and quartered
A few drops of hot sauce
2 Stalks celery, cut into -2-inch lengths
3 lg. Carrots, peeled and sliced -1/4 inch thick
2 tbsp. Olive oil
1 3/4 lb. pumpkin, peeled, -seeded, and cut -into 1-inch dice
3 c Low-salt chicken stock
1 Bay leaf
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. Turmeric
1 1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper

Place garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add onion and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside. Place jalapeno in food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add celery and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside. Place carrots in food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

Heat 1 tbsp. of the olive oil in a medium stockpot over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add jalapeno, celery, and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin, chicken stock, bay leaf, curry, turmeric, cayenne, 1 tsp. of the salt, and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes.

Place the cooked pumpkin and about 1/2 cups of the liquid in the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth. Stir puree back into the soup. Can be garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds.

This evenings dinner was a simple one (keeping in theme) of boiled potatoes covered in cabbage sauted with onions and bacon, and leftover lamb roast, and of course steamed pumpkin.

I also finished knitting the first slipper that I will be felting. I put it on and I look like I have clown feet - it is so huge! I hope it shrinks down enough when I felt it.

What it looks like now....

What it is suppose to look like.

The free pattern can be found here.

It's Getting Colder

Which has gotten me into 'nesting' mode. The last few mornings have been in the freezing range and I have had to scrape the car windshield. Our garage is not quite finished and were are parking our vehicles outside.

Last night it rained very heavily and the water actually came in through my kitchen door. Once the gutters are up that shouldn't happen any more. This morning is very sunny and if it warms up more I'll get outside and finish cleaning the windows which I began the other day.

This colder weather always makes me want to bake, read, knit and do home type things.



Both Daughter and I have started knitting again. I have completed the first my Kennewick socks. I usually name the socks I make based on which road trip they were knitted on. These were started on our trip to Kennewick, Washington.

Lately I have been seeing a lot about the "Little House" series of books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder on websites and even magazines. These were books that I never read as a child, so I borrowed "Little House in the Big Woods" from the library. What a fascinating read! Even though it is written for children, it has amazing accounts of what life was like in the 1860/70's and the things that the Ingalls family had to do to survive - from hunting and storing meat, making cheese to making their own straw hats. It was very interesting and I'm actually looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

While at the park for Canada Day celebrations I had a major allergy attack. I had been doing well until I stood under a particular Cottonwood tree and then all hell broke loose (or at least the watery eyes and nose).



Once home I made the decision to sew up some handkerchiefs with flannelette that I had bought for the purpose (and had washed) back in March. I have resisted purchasing any facial tissues for about 8 months or so, and have been making due with toilet paper when needed.

It took me all of 45 minutes to cut out and zigzag the edges of 20 handkerchiefs which are approx 20cm x 30cm (8"x12").


It got me thinking about why we use disposable facial tissues and have gotten away from hankies in the first place. According to Wikipedia, Kleenex was first introduced as a means to wipe away cold cream, but received many letters from customers using the tissues for colds and hayfever. By the 1930s, Kleenex was being marketed with the slogan “Don’t Carry a Cold in Your Pocket” and its utilization as a disposable handkerchief replacement became predominant.

Now that we are becoming more environmentally aware and have good washing machines, will the general public be able to get over the ewwww factor and start using hankies again?

For the time I spent (45 minutes) and the cost of the flannelette (which was about the price of a box of Kleenex) I have 20 hankies that I can use over and over again. Better for the environment and my wallet!

Easter is almost here and I have been dyeing eggs. This year I'm using natural dyes and have found them just as easy, (not quite) as colourful, and healthier than artificial dyes.

Here is what I did:

I gathered up my dye ingredients. I used blueberry juice, turmeric and spinach for this batch.

Eggs were placed in a pan (single layer) with enough water to cover and added one tablespoon of vinegar to the water.

I then added my dyes. I didn't use any exact measures - just enough for what I figured would be effective. I think I put in 2 tsp of turmeric.

Bring the pans to a roiling boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

Rinse the eggs and then use some vegetable oil to polish.

Final product: - as you can see the turmeric and blueberry juice worked very well. The spinach did turn the eggs a very pale green, but I think I didn't use enough in the pot.

Other frozen or fresh fruits and vegetables you could use are:

Beets

Beet juice

Skins from red or regular onions

Pomegranate juice

Grape juice

Curry powder

Mustard powder

Red cabbage

Cranberries

Grass

Instant coffee

Lemon peels

Orange peels

Blackberries

It became very warm again today, +6c! We went to the house to some cleaning up. Husband began the laminate floors and almost has Daughter's room finished.

Son spend the afternoon building the bird house kit he received for Christmas. He did a very good job putting it together. Now he just needs to paint it, and find a place outside his window for a permanent home.