We keep puttering along

If spring would just get here and stay here I think I would feel better. I hate this feeling rotten for seems like no good reason. If I am gonna hurt like hell I at least want to be able to DO something to have reason. Not sure whas up with my joints and back unless I am in the middle of a big ole flare up. The usual things I do that provide some relief are just not working right now. So me thinks is a flare up. But I will get over this hump too like all the others. I had to spend most of last week inside because my knees hurt so dang bad and bad knees is just not conducive to going up and down the porch steps and walking around in an un level yard. So I just puttered with my toys in here. Mostly the sewing machine. I have been in need of an apron with a wider than normal top section for a while. A normal size apron leaves too much of my shirt exposed to spots of grease and other cooking mis-haps. So I started making one  just fer lil ole me with a wider top section and much longer ties so I can just cross them in the back and tied them in the front. After shoulder surgery on both sides most days it is impossible to tie on anything that requires me to put my arms behind my back. So this is what I came up with.

So now hopefully I can prevent stains on my clothing. Not to mention I am the worst for wiping my hands on the bottom of my tee shirts when I am in the kitchen. So this was one of my projects for late last week. I even added a large pocket to the front so I don't lose my phone when I am in the summer kitchen too. I know most older ladies, my grandmother for one , always wore an apron, even to the garden. An apron tail is good for lots of things. From totin orphan babies of some sort, gathering veggies, drying hand and a multitude of other things. And those ladies alas had pockets too. But us modern day grammies have to keep up with things like cell phones and cameras for blog photos ya know. So I, still in the tinkering mode, made a lil baggy to hang around my neck for the phone and camera if I am away from the house. And both mine will fit in this lil bag.

This was a fabric scrap that was left from upholstering a foot stool for Jason several years ago. Kind heavy fabric for this application but does provide a lil extra cushion if I happen to bump into something. That is where my creativity ended.
We did go pick up my lil greenhouse Saturday and did some other shopping. I picked up several bags of potting mix to start seeds in. That will be getting under way as soon as Rodger gets my benches bu9ilt for the greenhouse. He did manage to get it put together and put up today too. And it is anchored to the railroad ties on both sides.

This is before the cover was totally in place. It was pretty cold outside today and really hard to work with the plastic material. Once it gets warmed up we can maneuver it into better position. But this will be so much more convenient for me. A blessing not trudging up and down the hill several times per day to check on the greenhouse and water and make sure some critter is not in there eatin hearty.

You can see the plastic has a mesh like heavier material inside it. Easy to zip the door closed and you can then un-zip an area over the door and one in the back for better cross ventilation. It is pretty heavy for a portable greenhouse. I will be a happy lil camper to know I don't have to walk so much to care for another one. Now I have to round up all my trays and planters and get busy.

I got baby chicks that should arrive about Wednesday of this week. I think I will keep them in a Rubbermaid tote for a week or so out in the summer kitchen so I can check on them many times per day. It will be much easier to keep the temp steady for the first couple weeks in there than in a large building. By 2 weeks of age they should be much stronger and able to withstand a lil variance of ambient temps. I do think my 3 hens should hatch sometime this week too. They have been really good about staying on their own nest too. Having 3 girls taking up 3 of the 4 nest boxes on the bottom row of the laying box had put a kink in some of the girls laying habits.

The 3 girls in the bottom row are the ones that should be hatching anytime now. The buff in the top laying box inside the fence jumps the fence everyday to lay. She will make a big fuss when she is done so she can get out.The 2 nest boxes on the end are occupied and 1 lady is pacing. After I took this photo she decided she was not waiting anymore and scooted in beside the lil hen on the bottom row. Out of view is 2 more hens waiting on a place to lay. I just put this section of wire up haphazard to try an prevent hens from laying with the setting hens and it has worked pretty good.

It started raining shortly after Rodger got the greenhouse up so we had some home canned veggie soup for lunch and he went to find some scrap lumber to make the benches with while I did inside stuff. I know we need rain, ya know, rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey, but crap cool and damp and me are just not compatible any more. Who the hell came up the idea of "global warming"? They need to move to Ky. Well on second thought , nope they don't. We don't want their kind here.

Not much else happening here on the farm. So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

The weather is unpredictable, as am I

I guess since I don't get up every morning like most hard working folks and leave the farm to go off to my job I don't keep any kind of schedule. If I do set times for thing they are kinda vague. The time frame of usually a week, give or take and few days. I got started on the baby cocoon that I had told you about and posted pics on my last post of the finished product. Later that night, couldn't get to sleep so I started on the lil hat to match. I got it all done the same night but too late to add to the post. So here is a photo of the lil hat. I have no pattern for this either, I just started at the top with a chain of 6 stitches and linked them together and did double crochet to increase till I got the the size that would fit over my fist then started the single stitch to decrease a lil bit and finish it off. Then made the lil poofy ball for the top by wrapping the yarn many times around my fingers, tied it in the middle and clipped the loops. Then with the ends of the string used to tie it together I put those thru the top and tied it off.

So what do ya think? I like it and I think its cute. Just long as it keeps a lil boy warm and happy is all that matters. Now on to the next project. Not sure what it will be just yet tho.

I have a doc appointment tomorrow to get meds refilled and I am mailing some kefir grains out to a couple folks. One package will go to my good friend Deb in MS and the other will go to my reader and new friend Lisa in Wyoming. Had intended to get those out today and it has not been a good day. I have felt like hammered crap all weekend. So I stayed lazy and stayed in. Rodger picked up lil padded envelopes today on his way home so I will bag up the grains tomorrow and mail them on my way to the doc. These things grow something ferocious.

When I put the grains in fresh sugar/molasses water 48 hours ago the level of the grains was at the line. You can see how much they have grown in that time. So ladies when you get these grains they will grow. I am sending enough for both of you to start 2 quart jars of Kefir just in case you happen to kill one. That is how I did the first bunch I got. I usually put about 1/3 cup sugar(white, brown, just nothing artificial) along with about 1 tablespoon of un-sulfured molasses in a quart jar, add water about 4/5 the way up the jar and stir to dissolve the sugar and molasses and add the grains along with any liquid that is with them. I cover the top of my jar or jug now with a coffee filter and put the ring only on the jar to keep out "stuff". Let sit for 24 hours and taste, it should be slightly tart. After 48 will be more tart and at this point you can strain the grains out of the liquid, save the liquid, that is your good for-ya kefir water, and mix a new batch of water, sugar/ molasses and put the grains back in there to continue the process. Tonight when I made the water for my grains I used maple syrup instead of molasses. Just to change up the flavor a bit. When making kefir water you do not want to use chlorinated water. Only spring or good well water. We have well water here so I have no issue. Also if you want extra calcium in the kefir you can add a piece of clean, organic egg shell. This stuff will almost dissolve the eggshell in 48 hours. Makes the shell really brittle. And we know us girls need our calcium. If you want to make a batch of flavored kefir that is a lil fizzy after you strain out your grains you can take the jar of kefir water you have made and add some pieces of fruit to it and let it sit on the counter with a lid on for another 24 hours to ferment. I have so far made raspberry and strawberry and I used my homegrown frozen berries. It tasted great. So get creative and enjoy your new science project.

I love getting free stuff in the mail. I tinker around online and sign up for free product samples just cause I can. Today in the mail this is what I got and just for filling out a simple coupon online.

Kinda neat, eh? I can do 2 loads of dishes, 2 of laundry and have lots of coupons and travel size shampoo and toothpaste, all for free. And free is good, yes? Yes it is.

Our weather is as unpredictable as I am this month. Dang over the weekend we had probably an inch or more of snow, it melted the next day, then some rain and cold, now they are giving more snow for tomorrow and by Saturday it is pose to be in the 60's. What the heck! If it is that warm this weekend we will be outside pruning grape vines, planting trees in the orchard. I finally got the trees I had ordered a month or more ago and they are nice for the cheap price I paid for them. I desperately need to get my asparagus bed mulched to keep the weeds down so I don't have to weed so much this year. Dang I don't have time or energy for that stuff. We have 30 plus new grapevines planted near the orchard that need to have stakes so they will develop straight trunks for a couple more years. I am sure the trees in the orchard need some trimming too. And here it is March again and we don't have our grapevines here at the house pruned back yet. I need to get the building ready for baby chicks too. Not sure when they will be here but very soon I hope.

Not much else happening here on the farm, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Its March already

Where the heck does time go? Seems like just a few days ago I finished up canning the last of the  garden stuff. And here it is almost time to start more seeds for another crop. Or maybe its just that I have gotten older and times just seems to go by faster. Not sure, but this new year has took off to a running start. And just when I thought winter might be behind us, we get snow. It is snowing here as I write this. Big ole flakes too!! It most likely wont amount to much but we have a lil on the ground from it. It is cold out and with the snow I guess we can say March is coming in like a lion. So we can hope it goes out like a lamb. Not much gets done around here when the weather is cold and nasty. I have stayed in and puttered in the house. I did finally get started on the lil cocoon I was telling you about in earlier post. I guess you could say I cheated. I used a knitting loom. I makes really pretty stitches and a nice pattern. This is what it looks like.

 The loom has 2 rows of 18 pegs. I made the back panel of the cocoon using all 18 pegs for the correct width. Then made 2 more panels using only 9 pegs and the same length as the back. You can use a crochet hook to finish off the piece once you have the panels made. I wanted the front to be open a lil bit at the top. So here is what it looks like finished. (sorry I didn't take pics as I progressed) You know how well I remember to do that stuff.

With wrong sides together you crochet stitch the sides and bottom and up the front leaving about 1/4 open at the top center. I just put it on the floor to get a pic so I had dark contrast. I really did not follow a pattern for this. I looked online for ideas of cocoons that I liked and would not be hard to use  with a wiggling wee one and started knitting on the loom. I think I would like to have a round loom to make the lil hat to go with this cocoon. This cocoon measure about 18 inches long and 12 inches wide. Just right for a wee one. I made a "tool" to cast on the knitting loom with. I am sure you can use prettier ones but this did the job for me. It is hard to weave the yarn around those lil pegs with your fingers. This makes it much faster.

Yes I took apart an ink pen, fed the yarn thru the pen barrel and it was much easier to cast stitches on the loom. Made for faster work too. Thas called hillbilly ingenuity right there. Or skin flint for not buying the "tool". So my lil grandson will at least have his cocoon.

I checked on my vinegar start today and it had got invaded with some strange mold. So I had to toss it. I did save the mother and placed it in some apple juice for now. I am really just toying with this vinegar making idea as I have no clue what I am doing. All I know is I inoculated the first batch of apple cider with raw apple cider vinegar and that is where I got the mother to develop. That part is pretty easy. I think maybe it needs to be warmer to work better. It is warm enough in the house for us but not for making vinegar. Any who, we got the mother in juice for now till I get some apple cider.

I also strained my Kefir grains and put them in new sugar/molasses water to brew. I have Kefir grains all over. I have 1 quart jar stored in the fridge for if and when I manage to kill the ones that I am using. The jar on the left is extra grains headed for the fridge, the jar on the right is kefir with added strawberries for flavor and added nutrition. This will probably be my saving grace this summer as I usually lose all my potassium if I sweat the least lil bit. Hopefully the kefir water will add back the minerals that I lose.

This is the kefir grains that will go back in fresh water with sugar, molasses and a piece of clean egg shell (for added calcium) and allowed to ferment for a couple days. This is how much the grains have multiplied since I received them from Ivie.

I started out with grains about to the line on a quart jar and compare to above photos to know how they have multiplied. They seem to grow by leaps and bounds if you give them extra calcium such as egg shell. Fun to grow and good to the body. Me thinks me kitchen has become a science lab of sorts. Next I want to try to start sour dough starter. Don't laugh, I will do it just to see if I can.

I went to close up the chickens this evening and to gather the eggs. They are such pretty colors.

A whole range of color from white to beige to brown to light green and occasionally some that look light blue. I love getting colored eggs. I also have 2 lil hens setting on nest. They had been having problems with other hens laying in the nest box with them. So last evening I out a "fence" of sorts around the 2 nest boxes they are setting in so they can still get off the nest to eat, drink and do their business and not have other hens hopping on the nest to lay. And the others still have 4 other boxes to lay in. I should have babies in about 3 weeks.

Not much else happening here on the farm, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella