Sorry for the lack of posting lately. But, you know how the saying goes, “Life comes at you fast.” And, boy! Can it ever, so I’ll backtrack a bit to get caught up.
As October was coming to a close, I spent the 30th with a good friend of mine who is teaching me to quilt. Actually, we started my quilt a year ago. Friday’s task was to pin the quilt top, batting and backing together. The quilt is a flannel rail fence pattern to fit my daughter’s full sized bed; something warm and snuggly for cold winter nights. I have no doubt it will also end up keeping her warm at football games and livestock shows this coming winter. Its funny how kids think their parents are so nutty with their likes and dislikes and new projects, but in reality they secretly appreciate the love and caring that goes into such projects.
My project was a little ambitious for a first-timer and it’s taken me almost a full year to complete my very first quilt. But, we did it!!! And, wanting some instant gratification – or almost instant – I sent the quilt off today to a quilter that my neighbor uses. It should be back by Christmas. In a few weeks my daughter will have something homemade to keep her toasty at night. I’m excited and hooked – on quilting. The next one is already started.
I don’t think, though, I’ll be an art quilter because I love the thought of taking something old and used and making it into something useful. Like the homesteaders of old used feed bags and flour sacks to keep their family warm. It’s just one more homesteading skill I’m learning.
Years ago I decided made a list actually, of the homesteading skills I’d like to learn. Each season I choose one to work on. Quilting was something I’ve been wanting to learn and I spent most of the summer on my project. There are so many aspects to homesteading, whether it’s suburban or country, that to try and learn everything at once would be overwhelming and a bit discouraging. Breaking it up by seasons has helped me make steady progress with the learning curve. I like to save home type project – sewing, knitting, and cooking, for the colder months when we spend a lot more time in doors. Building, gardening and animal skills are undertaken in the warmer months when much of our time is spent outside.
During my little hiatus this past week, I also received the cheese making kit I sent away for. We’ve had such a great time making homemade pizza dough for our Friday Movie Nights that I thought it would be fun to make our own cheese (and, something on my skills list). This will have to wait though because we have been madly getting ready for Brianne’s next sheep show. We leave on Wednesday.
After all the years I raised and showed sheep you’d think I could do this in my sleep, but no. There is so much to think about, not only getting animals ready, but getting ready to leave the farm for several days. Dogs, chickens and rabbits have to be cared for, veggies and fruit trees have to be watered, and I need to find people to do it. It’s not easy finding someone who is comfortable around strange dogs or farm animals for that matter, no matter how small they are. Some of my neighbors are afraid of the banties. But, I am lucky enough to have one neighbor and his kids, who love to come over and play with the chickens and especially collect eggs.
Halloween night turned crisp and cool, just the way it should be. I tried a new chicken and dumpling recipe that was a hit with everyone. Definitely a keeper. We had few trick-or-treaters, most people stay clear of our little street because it doesn’t have sidewalks or streetlights, but that’s what makes it unique and fun to live here. Even though we are considered part of the city we are so much different than the rest of it, we have the feeling of not being in the city at all.
I won’t bore you with the three days I was under the weather. But, I’m glad it didn’t turn out to be the flu. By Friday I was back to my old self and just in time too. Friday was the day of the library book sale. I live for small events like these. I don’t know why – maybe it’s mingling with people who like to collect books as much as I do, maybe it’s the bargain prices or maybe it standing outside on a cool autumn night anxiously waiting for the doors to open like a child waits for Christmas day, rushing to your favorite section hoping with anticipation that treasures, only known to us will be stacked on the tables waiting to be rescued, taken home, read and loved.
We book sale junkies are an interesting lot. We stand in line for almost an hour chatting about events of the day, issues of the town, what kinds of books we are looking for; we run into old friends and see people that we only come across at the book sales. We greet like long lost friends and for a few hours that night we are friends, comrades in literary pursuits. We compare notes on our latest finds or the hunt for certain books. But, when the doors open we are singularly minded in our race to reach our coveted section. It’s like a Harrods’s after Christmas sale.
I make my way through the crowd to the gardening and home section (thankfully these are together). I eagerly look through the stack of books; some I already own, conquests of previous book sales, I’m looking for new titles, new skills or just new additions to my growing collection. I strike pay dirt with books on farm devices, cabin building, root cellaring, sheep and ducks. I quickly put my treasures in my bag and move on to the nature section where I find titles by Emerson and Thoreau and a misplaced book of poetry by Keats. In the classics section I find more books of Thoreau. My last stop is movies and CD’s, but with CD’s priced at $3.00 each I let them go in favor of the books I’ve found. The movies section brings success in the form of period movies I’ve been looking for, but are no longer available.
Once I’ve made it through all the tables I find a quiet place to meet up with friends and we go through our finds like kids sorting through Halloween candy. We compare notes and trade titles or show off our favorite find. We hand over books we found for someone else in the group. It’s nice to have many pairs of eyes looking for you.
After the sort we make a last run through the tables. Many booksellers attend and grab up all they can. They sort them and then return the titles they can’t sell. In these I find a great book on fly fishing (next spring’s skill of choice) and an old Boy Scout handbook, written back when Scouting was all about survival skills.
We leave at 8:30pm, literarily sated and with enough words to keep us going long past winter. A good night of fun, with friends and new found treasures.
This past week has had its ups and downs. It’s been hectic, I’ve been sick and recovered in time to have a fun evening. These are the times that make me appreciate my life and the simplicity I’m striving to achieve all the more.
Stay safe and well folks. And, don’t pass up the chance to revel in simple pleasures.
As October was coming to a close, I spent the 30th with a good friend of mine who is teaching me to quilt. Actually, we started my quilt a year ago. Friday’s task was to pin the quilt top, batting and backing together. The quilt is a flannel rail fence pattern to fit my daughter’s full sized bed; something warm and snuggly for cold winter nights. I have no doubt it will also end up keeping her warm at football games and livestock shows this coming winter. Its funny how kids think their parents are so nutty with their likes and dislikes and new projects, but in reality they secretly appreciate the love and caring that goes into such projects.
My project was a little ambitious for a first-timer and it’s taken me almost a full year to complete my very first quilt. But, we did it!!! And, wanting some instant gratification – or almost instant – I sent the quilt off today to a quilter that my neighbor uses. It should be back by Christmas. In a few weeks my daughter will have something homemade to keep her toasty at night. I’m excited and hooked – on quilting. The next one is already started.
I don’t think, though, I’ll be an art quilter because I love the thought of taking something old and used and making it into something useful. Like the homesteaders of old used feed bags and flour sacks to keep their family warm. It’s just one more homesteading skill I’m learning.
Years ago I decided made a list actually, of the homesteading skills I’d like to learn. Each season I choose one to work on. Quilting was something I’ve been wanting to learn and I spent most of the summer on my project. There are so many aspects to homesteading, whether it’s suburban or country, that to try and learn everything at once would be overwhelming and a bit discouraging. Breaking it up by seasons has helped me make steady progress with the learning curve. I like to save home type project – sewing, knitting, and cooking, for the colder months when we spend a lot more time in doors. Building, gardening and animal skills are undertaken in the warmer months when much of our time is spent outside.
During my little hiatus this past week, I also received the cheese making kit I sent away for. We’ve had such a great time making homemade pizza dough for our Friday Movie Nights that I thought it would be fun to make our own cheese (and, something on my skills list). This will have to wait though because we have been madly getting ready for Brianne’s next sheep show. We leave on Wednesday.
After all the years I raised and showed sheep you’d think I could do this in my sleep, but no. There is so much to think about, not only getting animals ready, but getting ready to leave the farm for several days. Dogs, chickens and rabbits have to be cared for, veggies and fruit trees have to be watered, and I need to find people to do it. It’s not easy finding someone who is comfortable around strange dogs or farm animals for that matter, no matter how small they are. Some of my neighbors are afraid of the banties. But, I am lucky enough to have one neighbor and his kids, who love to come over and play with the chickens and especially collect eggs.
Halloween night turned crisp and cool, just the way it should be. I tried a new chicken and dumpling recipe that was a hit with everyone. Definitely a keeper. We had few trick-or-treaters, most people stay clear of our little street because it doesn’t have sidewalks or streetlights, but that’s what makes it unique and fun to live here. Even though we are considered part of the city we are so much different than the rest of it, we have the feeling of not being in the city at all.
I won’t bore you with the three days I was under the weather. But, I’m glad it didn’t turn out to be the flu. By Friday I was back to my old self and just in time too. Friday was the day of the library book sale. I live for small events like these. I don’t know why – maybe it’s mingling with people who like to collect books as much as I do, maybe it’s the bargain prices or maybe it standing outside on a cool autumn night anxiously waiting for the doors to open like a child waits for Christmas day, rushing to your favorite section hoping with anticipation that treasures, only known to us will be stacked on the tables waiting to be rescued, taken home, read and loved.
We book sale junkies are an interesting lot. We stand in line for almost an hour chatting about events of the day, issues of the town, what kinds of books we are looking for; we run into old friends and see people that we only come across at the book sales. We greet like long lost friends and for a few hours that night we are friends, comrades in literary pursuits. We compare notes on our latest finds or the hunt for certain books. But, when the doors open we are singularly minded in our race to reach our coveted section. It’s like a Harrods’s after Christmas sale.
I make my way through the crowd to the gardening and home section (thankfully these are together). I eagerly look through the stack of books; some I already own, conquests of previous book sales, I’m looking for new titles, new skills or just new additions to my growing collection. I strike pay dirt with books on farm devices, cabin building, root cellaring, sheep and ducks. I quickly put my treasures in my bag and move on to the nature section where I find titles by Emerson and Thoreau and a misplaced book of poetry by Keats. In the classics section I find more books of Thoreau. My last stop is movies and CD’s, but with CD’s priced at $3.00 each I let them go in favor of the books I’ve found. The movies section brings success in the form of period movies I’ve been looking for, but are no longer available.
Once I’ve made it through all the tables I find a quiet place to meet up with friends and we go through our finds like kids sorting through Halloween candy. We compare notes and trade titles or show off our favorite find. We hand over books we found for someone else in the group. It’s nice to have many pairs of eyes looking for you.
After the sort we make a last run through the tables. Many booksellers attend and grab up all they can. They sort them and then return the titles they can’t sell. In these I find a great book on fly fishing (next spring’s skill of choice) and an old Boy Scout handbook, written back when Scouting was all about survival skills.
We leave at 8:30pm, literarily sated and with enough words to keep us going long past winter. A good night of fun, with friends and new found treasures.
This past week has had its ups and downs. It’s been hectic, I’ve been sick and recovered in time to have a fun evening. These are the times that make me appreciate my life and the simplicity I’m striving to achieve all the more.
Stay safe and well folks. And, don’t pass up the chance to revel in simple pleasures.
(the picture at the top is of a river bridge we walked over on a recent apple picking trip)
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