Well a light bulb went on one day, in part due to Ana White.  There is a great website, that is filled with woodworking projects.  Each project comes complete with a shopping list, a cut list and the step by step instructions for making the given project.  I’ve been in awe of what people are doing, and have wanted to join in the fun (see another “hobby” with equipment/tools/supplies…I can’t stop).  I started with a very basic shelf with the purpose of giving Christopher a place for his computer equipment and homeschooling supplies.  Those items were slowly creeping away from the corner of our bedroom, into the walk areas…due to no fault of Christopher…stuff has a mind of it’s own.

I found a very basic, sturdy, manly shelf, and set off to the hardware store for supplies.  I brought the cutlist and had the guy at the store cut the pieces, so I really came home with a kit.  Easy.  I slapped it together, lightly sanded, painted and popped it in the corner.  All the stuff has a place, it looks clean and organized.  I loved it.

Next room, the mud/laundry/pantry/recycling/catchall room.  It shouldn’t be the catchall room, because being a mud/laundry/pantry/recycling room seems like more than enough for one small room.  But because it was so disorganized and over extended, the other stuff just found a sneaky little spot to hang out.  Not now.  I moved EVERYTHING out of the room, save the Washer and Dryer and Utility sink…I even pulled the cabinets away from the wall.  Then I assessed.  I determined that I liked the counter top from the cabinet, and if I put it back , without the cabinet, I could put the hampers under it, giving us much more floor space.  I then built shelves above the counter top.  The upper cabinets went back in, but over the utility sink, since shelves took over their original spot.  This is a work in progress because I have plans to paint the entire room, and all the new shelves.  I added a shelf above the window, and the pantry closet door.  I just keep finding more places to put shelves.  This will allow me to keep all the gardening supplies in there, since the garden is right outside the mudroom door.  It will give me a place to wash up veggies, instead of my kitchen sink.  I’ll share pictures when the painting is finished.  I’m thinking some lime green in there somewhere…I need to check with my color consultant, the amazing Jessica.  She is a painter/interior decorator, so if you need anyone for such things, let me know.  Her work is amazing!

I did all this during the past 2-3 weeks, but today…

I added 44 feet of shelf space to my craft room!  One whole wall is shelves and I can’t be more excited.  I am going to add another 8 feet when I get to the store, because I found that spacing worked out to give me a couple more shelves than I expected.  This is also a work in progress, because I still need to prime and paint the shelves, along with the room.

A note about the painting.  I find that one part of feeling good in the space is cleanliness/orderliness, but a very huge part is that it is visually pleasing.  Yes, you can slap up industrial metal shelves (which in some applications would look very cool) or you could build shelves of wood, and use baskets for organization.  I find that more calming, so that is the endgame in the craft room.

I guess that was a lot of teasing, since there are no pictures to share, at this time.  But maybe it can still inspire you to take this “inside time of year” and spruce things up, so this Spring when the planting and brooding begin, you will feel good about how the house looks, and be able to find all the tools you need for your outside projects.

Oh, and Jessica told me, “People are always telling me how clean my house is.  The key, is when I move into a new place, I immediately figure out storage.  Once you have proper storage it’s easy to keep a space clean.  But if there is no place for it, then it will become clutter…maybe clutter in the living room one day, and the dining room the next, but without a home of it’s own it will be clutter.”  My other friend, Hilaree, had a good point today too, “If it doesn’t have a home decide if it’s important enough to get a home, and if it’s not consider getting rid of it”.   I keep company with very wise women.

Oh, and something farmy I have to share…  a great new book.

This by far the BEST chicken book I’ve ever read.  It’s perfect.  I can’t rave enough. The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers–With information on building soil fertility, replacing purchased  feed, and working with poultry in the garden Isn’t that title great?!  The chapters on feed are worth the price, but then there is a ton more.  I find it hard to believe that anyone could be disappointed with this one.  So if you have chickens, or plan on getting them, seriously consider getting this book.  It really is brilliant.

All the rabbits are in the computer program.  I have gone through and made notes on each Doe’s file as to who they can and can’t be bred with, so I can tell at just a quick glance.  I cleaned all the cages in my housing structures, and moved everyone into those.  I’ll make some modifications to my friends housing for Spring.  I moved 3 does into my art studio, in the basement, and will be breeding them over the next week.  If all goes well, we will have kits delivered the week after Valentine’s Day!

I found a great use for my hot head torch.  I am a glass bead maker, and I use an oxygen/propane mix torch to melt the glass, but there are a great many people who do the same thing with a map gas torch, called a hot head.  I am in awe of those people, because map is a much cooler gas than the propane mixed with oxygen, so melting glass takes longer with that kind of torch.  Hot head users are a very patience, or tenacious bunch, for sure.  Some of them are doing some really amazing things with those torches, but I found a new use. I found it works great for cleaning rabbit housing.  All the fur that sort of wisps about and gets caught in the cage squares disappear almost immediately with the help of that torch.  I cleaned the cages, then used the torch to remove any remaining fur fluffs and debris. The cages look great, everything is clean and organized, and ready for Spring breeding to begin!

With organized pedigrees, a breeding plan, and super clean cages, the next issue to tackle was the water.  It’s cold out there.  The rabbits don’t mind, but the water freezes, in just a couple hours.  I could buy heated water bottles for $20+, but my animals are given bowls because I think it’s nicer for them to drink out of a bowl than those little licky ball end bits of a waterer.  So cost was one factor, and unpleasant drinking the other.  Then I found a post on Facebook… a friend made a heater for her chicken waterers…I modified it and it works brilliantly!  First night, all water frozen, except the one with the experimental heater.

Test heater made with a Valentine tin…

Today I went to the store, ravaged their 75% off  Christmas tin section, picked up some very cheap lights at the local “stuff” store, O’Keefe’s in Rochester, and the remaining (they only had 7, and I needed 10) at Lowe’s.  A little time, drilling, and electrical tape, and I now have heated water bowls for all the outside rabbits.

For 10 rabbit cages:

Light fixtures: $61.97

Light Bulbs: $2.83

Tins: $6.20

Not having to break water out of dishes 4 times a day: Priceless!

But really the project, for 10 heaters, cost: $71.00 plus a little bit of a roll of electrical tape and some wire that I had laying around.  $7.10 each, instead of $19.99 each for heated water bottles…Plus, in the off season I have plenty of extra lighting!

Oh, note: You need to use incandescent bulbs.  Those CFL bulbs do not throw heat, so they won’t work.

Finally, I have figured out the dilemma of feed.  Phew, yes, this is a rabbit intensive post, for sure.  Okay, in NH there are no organic rabbit feed options in bulk for a rabbitry.  If I have one little pet rabbit I could get a 5 pound bag, for a lot of money, but nothing for livestock type feeding.  I’ve been searching.  I begged a local mill in VT to start making some. Finally, I found Countryside Organics.  They are a full like organic feed company, that aren’t just organic, but they are soy free!!  Brilliant.  I hate that I feed my chickens and ducks soy, and that I in turn have soy in my meat and eggs.  The more I learn the more I hated it.  That is actually how I found Countryside Organics, I was looking for soy free options for the poultry and as a bonus found rabbit feed too.

Until now I’ve been feeding a ration of rolled oats and barley, along with alfalfa hay, and a salt/mineral lick in each cage.  It is a recipe based on an old book that dates before bagged grain mixes.  But to have the convenience of just putting feed in feeders, having it rationed for optimum grown and mineral content, has been a dream of mine.

If you look at the top of the blog, there is a tab for the new buying group I’ve started. If you are interested in joining us, let me know.  There is rabbit feed, as well as chicken, turkey, cow, goat…well, there are a lot of options, as well as single grains like oats or barley, or field peas…so go check it out if you are curious.

I think the rabbits are now perfect.  I’m excited to start breeding and for all those adorable bunnies.  The girls are, too. It’s been a few months since we had bunnies for petting and playing.

This pair kicked 2010 out the door.  Pictured with the start of pair three!  I love the new yarn…It’s so yummy!

This stripey pair was so fun to knit!  I loved seeing the next stripe appear!

The greens have done so well.  The first harvest happened tonight. I can’t wait to sprinkle them on my eggs in the morning!  The radish plants have been brilliant and I will plant them again.  The broccoli is a bit lame, really.  Not sure if it’s the variety, or if they just need longer.  I’m going to give them a few more days to see what develops, but they are a bit puny and don’t look very lush.

I clearly could have planted closer together, especially the broccoli.  I’m going to start my next tray tomorrow, so I’ll try to be less generous with the spacing.

I have a nice little bag of them in the fridge, with more to cut tomorrow.

By the way, it’s been nice to be back!  I’ve posted daily for almost an entire week.

One pair was able to be fixed with the original yarn, the others, weren’t as lucky, but I don’t mind that the soles of my feet don’t match the tops.  They are warm, cozy, and in good repair!

The sprouts are going like gangbusters.  I never plant enough seeds in the space.  I’m going to try to better with the next tray…this one is a little sparse which will make it more difficult to harvest.  By the way, this is Day 4.  Broccoli on left, radish on right.

Sorry for the blurry picture, but you get the idea…

I made the little sock blockers out of cardboard.  I traced the sock, then I measured the tracing based on her foot measurements.  Her foot is 6″ around, so I made sure the blocker was 3″ tall (1/2 the circumference of her foot), then I made sure the length was right, and then I cut out based on the measured lines.  Wet the socks, and inserted my little blockers.  They blocked perfectly and fit just as they should.

When I was making them, I tried the first one on to be sure of the size.  After asking Istra several questions about the fit, and determining that the sock was just as it should be.  Istra sat for a moment with the sock on her foot, and then said “Mama, can you make me another sock?” I guess she feared I thought my job was done with just the one.

The microgreens received a light today.  I just hung one of my photo lights, with a small CFL bulb above them.  It was amazing to see the pale yellowish new leaves turn bright green in only a couple hours.  It’s amazing how fast things change with seedlings.

The radishes are far out pacing the broccoli. I guess I did know that would happen, radishes are super fast/efficient little plants.  In the garden my dad says it’s best to plant your carrots and radishes in alternating rows.  The carrots take a dogs age to come up, but the radishes sprint to the surface making their place, and flanking the carrots so you know where they are until they find their way up.  I’m glad I planted them in halves on the tray, and not integrated.  I’ll be able to harvest at different times, so it will all be fine.

Here is the hat.  I went to pull the pattern off the internet, and it’s not available anymore. I had to paw through old pattern printouts in my craft room to find the hard copy I had.  It’s a little fiddlehead fern motif with the curls at the top.  I used some Malabrigo twist in “lovely autumn leaves in New England” colors.  Love it!

This is the same pattern I used for the hat that Istra wore home from the hospital, and probably every day there after for a few weeks. Here’s a little memory shared.

Not much cuter than a baby surrounded in knitted goodness.

The microgreens are taking off.  The book indicated the broccoli and radishes should take about the same amount of time, however the radishes are really moving much quicker than the broccoli.

Radish

Broccoli

Well, mom brought the idea up again, since Spring is piglet buying time.  I decided to research breeds and see what would be a good fit for our homestead.  Oh, and my newly established pork relationship is no the only reason.  I want them to work for me.  Yes, pigs are amazing tillers.  They root and turn over the soil while looking for bugs and other goodies underground.  You can drill holes in stumps, add corn and let the pigs rip apart and pull up what you would have to spend a great deal of energy or money to have removed.  All this is perfect for the start of pastures.  I want to make a couple pasture areas on the farm, so pigs would be a perfect addition.

While on a date with my husband, recently, we stopped at the bookstore and found a book on pig breeds.  Leafing through I saw this adorable curly haired pig.  I read the list of attributes of the Mangalitsa Pig and was very intrigued.

• Cold hardiness
• Handling heat well
• Excellent foragers and rooters
• Outstanding meat quality
• Uniquely heritage, as a lard ig, rather than a meat pig.  The only lard breed in the US.

I have found a couple breeders and talked to them, with a couple more on the list to call.  There has been an enthusiastic response from a couple chef/foodie folks in my circle, already.  The meat from these animals are supposed to be amazing.  Darker red, rich, well marbled, flavorful.

So far the challenge seems to be the distance to the closest breeder, and the length of time to raise them and the special butchery they require.  More on all that later, as I do more research.  But none of them are a deal breaker, at this point, so the research continues!

Whether we add the Mangalitsa, or not, it does seem pigs will find their way here this Spring.

Day 1 of microgreens…

This year the focus of our family is going to be the homestead farm.  I’ve always considered what we do to be a homestead.  Small scale, just for us, and my parents.  But the fact of the matter is, it’s getting larger.  It has to, in order to do it well.  In order to breed my poultry to see improvement and not just maintenance, I need to breed more, so I have the game of numbers on my side.  This means something needs to be done with those birds that don’t make the cut for breeding stock, to be carried over to next year.  Same with the Rabbits.  I have goals with my breeding.  I want my poultry to be the best egg layers they can be.  I want my Chocolate Muscovy ducks to size up, so they are closer to their Black counterparts, who have been bred so much more, that they are almost half again the size of the Chocolate.  I want my rabbits to kindle strong, well sized litters, get to size promptly and taste delicious.  All these goals require numbers, so the traits can be pulled from their genetic pools.

Nellie is going to have a calf this Spring.  The first or second week in May.  This means we will have 2 cows on the property, and they will need space.  A 1 acre pasture, fenced with their “barnlette” on edge, is my dream…that I need to make happen this Spring.

I’ve spent 3 years building up the front yard garden.  We have worked with produce, and have figured out what we love to eat, and what grows well here.  I want this year to be a well focused year, that shows yields worthy of the work we’ve put in.

This is the year of the farm!  The still unnamed farm, and that needs to change, too.

The seed catalogs are here, and I’m pouring over them.  Circling and crossing out.  Trying to keep my goals in mind and not allow myself to be wooed by the plentiful varieties of tomatoes!  Oh, those are my downfall.  They break my heart each year.  I do so much for those fickle beings.  I start them from seed, tend them until the unpredictable Spring/Summer weather in NH proves itself to be amenable to setting the young plants out in the soil…after several days of strategic hardening off.  Then the planting, and the fencing to give them support when they grow.  The careful watering.  Then the protecting.  Pulling off caterpillars daily (gleefully feeding them to the chickens)…only to have the caterpillars get out of hand, start eating the fruit, not just the leaves, or the black end rot despite careful watering, or the shriveling leaves, and eventual fruit drop.  Oh, don’t I have a very unhealthy love hate relationship with that alluring fruit.

Not this year.  No, this year, there will be a dozen, or so (yes this number is up from zero at the end of the season, to half dozen around Christmas time…but as I was saying) a dozen or so tomato plants in my garden this year.  That’s it.  Playfully enjoying the summer breeze in a bed of basil, with their lifelong companion, the peppers nearby.  But the rest of the garden is going to be filled with plants that give as much, if not more than they receive.  Carrots, Cabbage, Cucumbers, Arugula, Kale, Garlic…along with some new to try goodies, like Kohlrabi.  This is not a complete list, but the point is the direction of my garden is changing and the focus is on the crops that don’t break my heart, year after year.

With all the seed joy going on, I had the urge to plant something.  I love microgreens and pick up a bag each market from the Farmacy.  I love their blends of greens.  I have wanted to plant some of my own for a while, so tonight I pulled out the adorable enamel tray Mom and Dad gave me for my birthday last June.  Filled it with about 1″ of seed starting medium from my friend over at Cavaretta Gardens.  I sprinkled Radish and Broccoli seeds on the surface of the wet medium.  Using my sifter, I sifted a fine layer of medium over the top of the seeds and sprayed gently with water.  In 4-7 days they should germinate and in 10-14 days we should have microgreens!  It’s supposed to be that easy.

We cut a simple shape from the fabric.  Then cut a circle and hair.  She stitched the hair to the face, and the face to the body.  I embroidered.  She and I used the machine to stitch the front to the back.  We stuffed her, and Eowyn stitched the body closed.  We added wings to her back, and tied a bow around her neck.  Eowyn was proud, and well she should be.  The doll is darling, creative, and fun.  Eowyn exhibited great listening skills and followed directions very well.  She also showed an aptitude for stitching.

I have no doubt there will be more doll making in her future.  She already mentioned plans for a doll that has a dress…

What did I make?

For my 2 1/2 year old…

I got this idea from Pinterest.  I made different items for matching, like the letter that begins each color, painted in that color, Handmade pompoms, Sticks with the color written out, and a design in that color on the handle.  I think this will be fun to play with her, and may be something the girls can play together.

Number fishing game, with two fishing poles.  Each pole has a strong magnet on the end, and each fish had a washer in it’s nose.  I figure this is another game that we can play with Istra, or she can play with her sister.  She could fish for the single numbers, and we could do addition with Eowyn.

I love making embroidered dolls.  This is the first I’ve made for Istra, but I do like them for milestones, like Eowyn’s first Ballet recital, and going to see the nutcracker together.  It’s super easy.  Find an image you like, copy it onto your fabric with a pen made for such a purpose, or however you like to apply the image.  Then embroider.  Once complete, lay face down on backing fabric and just stitch around the outside edge of the image, leaving a hole somewhere to turn it right side out.  You will hand stitch the hole closed.  I often find images on Google, but this one is from a pattern I bought from Weewonderfuls, that I enlarged on my copier.

I added a little something that I have not done before. A pocket on the back that houses a little chicken.  Istra loves the animals, and I thought she’d like her doll to have a chicken, and now she has a place to store it, too!

For the 5 year old:

Eowyn is in her second year of ballet.  She loves it, but does find the studio to be a little cool in the winter.  I knit up this ballet sweater, and made the button for it.  Now she’ll be cozy during her winter classes.

Eowyn has learned how to finger knit, which she’s been enjoying.  She even made a scarf for her grammy.  I thought she might also like spool knitting.  This will make an i-cord that can be used for several projects.  I decided to make my own spool knitter.  I bought a spool, ball, and pegs.  Drilled holes, glued and painted. I completely love this!  I want one too…

Seek and find.  I saw these in a store and thought they were cute, but that I could make them for next to nothing…turns out I could make them for actually nothing.  I got a sample tube from the company I purchase all my packing supplies from.  The rice was given to me for crafts from a friend who let the rice go stale, and the items inside were all found objects around my house…I splashed in some glitter I purchased for another project!  I think this seems like a good car activity…we’ll see.

Another nearly free gift.  I printed fairy puppets online from Phee McFadden, added some sticks for the puppets to be glued to, and some brads for the joints.  Eowyn loves to color and cut, so I think she’ll love this… Then she and Istra can use them in their joint gift:

Puppet Theater.  Another inexpensive gift.  A couple yards of fabric, 2 tension rods, and you have a doorway theater.  We have the perfect door, right off the living room.  They love to perform puppet shows, but the lack of a proper stage creates a little frustration from time to time.  This should do just the thing.

Well, the elf is done, and we are celebrating Christmas tomorrow, on Christmas Eve, so it’s time to go to bed.  Merry Christmas!