tomatoes in a jar

for the first time since i left my mothers house i've started canning. tomatoes. i think it went well. but really only time will tell. until then i'm still buying tomatoe sauce from the store. i only buy it in reusable jars. just another way to recycle. i did wait a little too long to start the process. and the tomatoes where hard to find. but not next year. next year i will have all the tomatoes i can handle, just out the back door. if everything goes right.

apple sauce

i never knew how good real apple sauce tasted, until i attempted to make it at home. i just got a recipe off the internet and made some adjustments to it, because i seem to like a tarter apple sauce. this is what i did,

jen"s apple sauce

3-4lbs apples

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

peal and slice apples in to medium sauce pan. add other ingredients. boil for 15 to 20 minutes or until desired doneness. i also like a chunky sauce. use a potato masher and mash. serve warm or cold its great either way. pictures to follow.

a homemade scubbie dish cloth

i love making my own dish clothes, but something is lacking now in my more sustainable dish duties. the scrubbing factor. i wanted a more powerful scrub. so i got on the net and did a little research. this is what i came up with. tulle. you can get tulle from any fabric store, and what you want is the super stiff tulle, they have a shinny, sparkly, small mesh tulle, this will work, but the courcer stuff is really what works. if you are like me and want more power from your dish cloth. use this stiff stuff.

so get your tulle. just 1/4 of a yard will do for this small square. i cut 1 inch strips back and forth, not cutting all the way to the end so that you have one continuous strip. and yes you'll have corners, but they don't matter they will just blend-in.

you will also need a 100% cotton yarn.

with your size 6 needles cast on 16 stiches with the cotton yarn.

row 1 add the tullle strip and knit together with the cotton yarn.

i like a small square for this scrubbie but you can make this as large as you like.

just keep knitting back and forth. untill desired length.

cast off and weave in ends.

nappy soaker

now that i have all the fiber i want i'm spinning yarn for a nappy soaker, for ty. it's a diaper cover. it's breathable, fast drying, and you never need to wash it. well let me explain, you lanolise it, use it for a week and then rinse, re-lanolise and let dry.

i'll let you know how it goes.

pics to follow.

home ownership

we were supposed to close on the 1st of October.


I'm sad to say that the home owner ship has been put on hold. the seller didn't get some survey done. so no house yet. the bank is saying friday by the earliest. and maybe next friday.

so let me talk a bit about all the plans i have for the new house. and of course we have 1.5 acres out back. the property is shaped like a T.

some new problem is holding up the purchase. i'm starting to wonder if it will ever happen. when the seller put up the fence he had an agreement with the neighbor that they were going to purchase a small wedge shaped piece of land. but that deal fell though but now the neighbor is saying that the wedge was given to her by the seller. it's a whole big mess. and with all the drama i'm wondering if it isn't a mistake living next to these people.


i'm going to have raised planting beds, to eliminate the need for a tiller. i never liked those noisy things anyway. they took the peacefulness that i got from gardening and destroyed it. i never thought gasoline powered machines should be a part of the same project of a small family garden. it's just too much gas, too close to my food source.



to add to the scenery behind my little garden, there is a pasture of grass grazing cow. and maybe in my yard there will be free roaming chickens. this little fact is still up in the air.

October 28

we signed the papers and everything has been a big push to get moved in to the new house. we had the walls insulated, we ordered new windows, the old ones i think i can use to make a green house for my garden, we are having a garage built. and we still haven't fully moved in yet.

the husband is working 11 hour days and still driving an hour to and from work. and he is doing this 6 days a week. so very little is getting moved. thankfully we have all the time in the world to move out of the old apartment. well maybe not all the time in the world. but there isn't any pressure to be out.

spinning

i've started playing with my fiber that i just got back from the mill. look at all those bags of fiber. i'm so excited, the yarn that i'm spinning is so nice and by no means am i a expert spinner so the yarn is still lumpy. but it's the best yarn i've spun to date. and that means at least i'm getting better.

this is an empty bobbin

this is a full bobbin, and now i'm going to make a alpaca diaper cover for ty. and he will have a nice warm, wolly butt this winter.

fiber

white/ cream roving from 2008 season sheared in april
from sid.

i've just gotten some of my 2008 fiber back from the mill. oh and it is gorgious. now i can spin my little heart out. if anyone would like some roving or yarn, please post your desire in the comments. the yarn is $6/ounce and the roving is $3/ounce, the skeins have been coming out to 3.5 ounces ruffly. the colors i have are white/ cream, brown/cream, and a dark red brown. all the colors are the natural color of the animal no dies were used, i just don't think it looks right.


i have been practicing my spinning.


i can't wait to start using it for a diaper cover i have been dieing to make. it will be great after i lanionize it. so ty will have a nice dry cozy bottom and i will have less wash to do, i think 3 pair will do.