Best Hot Chocolate Ever!

I found myself this morning in the Dahli Java (by the Byrne Dairy on Main Street in Canandaigua if you're looking for it) on my way to a tailoring mission. I don't drink coffee, but knowing that Scott does hot chocolate during the cold months of the farm market, I ventured to ask if he did hot chocolate in his shop as well. To my great delight, the answer was yes. However, little did I know what a heavenly treat I was in for.

Not only does he do hot chocolate in his shop, but it's REAL hot chocolate the kind he makes right there, not the stuff you get from a box. It was steaming hot when I got it, so I let it sit in the car for about a half hour while running my errands. When I returned, it had cooled to just the right temperature, so I proceeded to consume what would be the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted! Sure beats the heck out of box cocoa. Next time I'm near there, I'll probably have to go back for more!

As for the tailoring mission, it will be something new. I've replaced countless zippers in my sewing ventures, but this will be the first time I'm replacing just the zipper slider on an otherwise fine zipper track. Doesn't appear as though it will be too difficult though, so I rather look forward to the new adventure.

The Joys of Winter

I'm sure that most people hate me for saying it, but I love winter! I finally get to relax a bit. The holidays are over, real estate is slow, and it's too cold and snowy for anything much in the line of farming which means I get to clean up all the loose ends on half finished projects. Today I have finally returned to the Clint Eastwood serape.

Clint Eastwood in Fist Full of Dollars

After digging it out a few weeks ago to find the moth eaten yarn fiasco, I'd done basically nothing with it, other than storing it in a slightly more "moth-proof" container. But today, I actually added two inches to the loom. 

I was too, shall we say, lazy to be authentic enough to weave the white yarn patterns into it, so I'm kind of cheating by weaving the green part first, then embroidering the white lines on afterward. I love crewel wool embroidery anyway, so it's double the fun. 

Thus far I've got the entire first side woven with about half the white lines embroidered. I figured I'd weave the second half before doing anymore embroidery since the weaving is the harder part and I'm always up for getting rid of the harder parts first.

The loom itself is just the old-fashioned kind, four pieces of scrap-wood nailed together, the warp strung on that and a little wooden sardine box cover that I wrap yarn around to use as a shuttle. Hand weaving at its most traditional. 

In all, I've got around 6 inches of the second side woven. Only two more feet to go! (I'm gonna be here a while.)

Iron-on transfer paper shirt

One of my cousins is a Charlie Brown nut. I think he has every line in the Christmas and Great Pumpkin specials memorized. So this year for Christmas, we wanted to give him a shirt from one of the Charlie Brown specials, but store-bought shirts can be so generic. We decided to have a bit more fun and customize one with iron-on transfer paper.

Iron-on transfer paper is one of the coolest things they ever invented in the craft department. It's so versatile; it can be used on clothes, bags, quilts; pretty much anything made of some type of fabric. It's easy to use and 100% washable. A little imagination and a half-way decent printer and the possibilities are endless.

First we searched the Internet for screen captures from Merry Christmas Charlie Brown (in particular searching for the "five good reasons" scene). After locating suitable images, we altered them in paint to add the word bubbles, then we printed the two images on a sheet of iron-on transfer paper.

The most important thing to remember with iron-on transfer paper, especially when there are words involved, is that the finished item will have a mirror image of what you see on your computer, so flip the image backwards before printing it onto the paper. (I forgot to print the image backward the first time I used this stuff, but fortunately realized the mistake before I actually ironed it on or my letters would have ended up backward!)

To transfer the image to fabric, place the fabric on a hard surface (not a cushy ironing board) and using dry heat, continuously move the iron around the sheet in circular motions for about one minute total, giving particular attention to the edges. Then you can immediately peel off the paper backing, or if you want a glossy finish, wait until it has cooled before removing the backing.

The transfer area of the fabric usually stiff at first, but after a few washings, it softens up.

Close up of images

Full shirt

A Christmas Cookie Party

Most everyone who celebrates Christmas also takes part in the simple joy of making Christmas cookies. There is something very satisfactory about rolling out a lump of cookie dough and pressing in cookie cutters of all shapes and sizes. The aroma of the baking cookies fills the kitchen as more cookies are cut and once they’re all baked to that perfect golden hue, the real fun of frosting them arrives. What can make this holiday tradition even more fun, however, is turning the event into a whole cookie-baking party.

Assuming you get along well with your extended family, invite everyone to take part in a fun night of cookie baking and decorating. Make several batches of cookie dough a few days ahead of the party and keep them in the freezer. On the day of the cookie party, pull them out a few hours before the cookie makers arrive. If you don’t have a large table, spread the cookie cutters, rolling pins and frosting containers out on several tables to ensure there is plenty for all. And if someone runs out of something, the cookie supplies can easily be passed back and forth between tables. Waxed paper taped to the tables and sprinkled with a little bit of flour will protect the tables and make a good dough-rolling surface.

Have one person in charge of the oven who can collect the cookie trays filled with cutouts and bake them. It will keep everything flowing smoothly. Also don’t limit your party to just sugar cookies. With so many people, everyone might have different tastes. Ginger snaps make excellent cutouts, especially when smeared with vanilla frosting, and there are many chocolate cookie recipes that lend themselves well to becoming Christmas cookies.

And most important of all, don’t forget to have fun! There are no rules when it comes to cookie making, they can be as traditional or as crazy as you like, and in my family we’ve found that when the cousins get together, the cookies usually end up pretty crazy. This year we created a batman cookie out of an angel whose head ended up with pointed ears in the oven. And out of the last bits of dough, we fashioned the dark mark from Harry Potter, which ended up being frosted with an appropriately eerie shade of green. (Don’t ask us what that had to do with Christmas, because we don’t know, we just know it was fun!)

This is what happens when sheep get angry...

Ok, so sheep are usually cute, cuddly, wooly, adorable little critters, but in all honesty, Ziah (my sheep) isn't one of them. Sure he's cute and adorable, but as far as cuddly, forget it. Like a small child he tends to have a large temper when he doesn't get his way. Last night was such a time.

When it came time to put him in the barn for the evening (which we do to protect him from the coyotes), he decided that he wasn't quite ready to go in. So in one quick movement, he focused all his energy on the door, and banged himself into it as hard as he could, ripping the door right off his barn, latch, hinges and all.

So, here is Ziah's handywork - This is what happens when sheep get angry.

It's going to be a fun day reattaching the door tomorrow. Somehow I don't think superglue is gonna fix it.



T-Shirt Dress

I had a bag of extra t-shirts lying around, so I had either the option to cut them up and make a rug for my bedroom floor or try out a dress idea I had. I went with the dress idea, but as often happens, I gave away the finished product before taking a picture, so you'll just have to use your imagination for this one.

Most kids have a T-shirt or two that they don't wear very often. These unused garments can be put to good use in this project. To begin this dress all you need is a simple T-shirt, a piece of material around 2 yards long and one inch wider than the desired height of skirt. Any type of light material such as calico or homespun will do nicely. Choose a well fitting T-shirt, not skin tight, but not too loose and baggy either. (As an alternative for weather changes, a long-sleeved T-shirt or a turtleneck could be used in colder months, and a tank top can be used for hotter summer months.)

The T-shirt makes up the top portion of the dress, all you will have to do is make and attach the skirt. To form the skirt, sew the two ends of the fabric together. Next you will need to make box pleats along one of the edges (don't cut the bias off the top edge, it will keep it from unraveling as you pleat it). Run a set of stitches through the edge of the skirt, about an inch from the top. Each stitch should be about an inch wide, with an inch in between each stitch. This is best done by hand. Next run a second row of stitches exactly like the first row, an inch below the first one. Do not tie off the thread ends on either row.

Pull the ends of the thread on both rows tight, creating gathers in the fabric. Pull them up until the pleated opening is the same width as the bottom of the T-shirt. Turn the skirt inside out. Turn the T-shirt upside down, but leave it right side out. Slip it inside the skirt so that the bottom of the shirt is touching the top of the skirt. Sew the skirt to the shirt.


Turn the entire project right side out. The skirt and T-shirt should now be fully connected forming a complete dress. Hem the bottom of the skirt to finish the garment.

The fabric chosen for the skirt can make this dress fit into any season depending on the pattern. Calicoes can be good for any time of the year. Floral patterns hearken to the warm, sunny days of spring and summer. Brightly colored fall leaves or pumpkin pattern fabrics would make cute autumn or Halloween dresses. And fabrics that include poinsettia flowers or evergreen trees would work well for the winter months and holidays. The possibilities are practically limitless.

Thanksgiving: A Three Day Event

I'm not sure anyone enjoys Thanksgiving as much as my family. For us it's not just a dinner, it's a three-day event. The Wednesday before thanksgiving, all the family members meet up at Gramma's (this year it was my Aunt's house, but usually it's Gramma's). First we had a quick dinner of pizza and then everyone set about slicing and dicing apples, oranges (which usually leads to somebody's hands stinging from citrus juice), grapes, and grapefruits for the big bowl of fruit salad. Then we talked, laughed, played apples-to-apples, and had a general all around good time.

Thanksgiving morning we got up early to get chores done, then came back inside to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade and get the carrots and celery ready for the veggie plate while mom made the coveted chocolate cream pie. Normally we don't know any of the bands or songs in the parade since all the music we listen to is from our parents generation (and in my case, some songs from even before my parents generation), but this year they had songs by Greenday, U2, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis and that guy who does "Who do you love," bands we actually know. Also thought the pizza dough group was awesome.

After the parade we always listen to Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" song on the radio, then we head over the to meet the family for the Thanksgiving feast. We got to our Aunt's house around 1:30. My uncle had a very cool picture slide show playing on the ipad with images from all the past holidays and get togethers; everyone was clustered together in a little corner watching it. Then came the food.

In my family, there's never a shortage because someone is always worried there won't be enough so we always make extra. We have turkey, rolls, corn, peas, squash, excellent stuffing, Gramma's applesauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed cauliflower, clam stuffing, not to mention all the pies for desert. Pretty much every kind anyone could ask, including the chocolate cream pie that we sometimes play cards for to see who wins the last piece.

After lunch all of us cousins play games. This year we started with the Nerf gun war as my little cousin has pretty much every Nerf dart gun they make, so all of us kids are upstairs ducking behind doorways and stealing ammo from one another trying not to get hit with the darts in the process. After exhausting ourselves in the battle, we went back downstairs and started the annual chess championship rounds. We had two people playing on the Chinese chess set, and two people playing chess on the ipad. Then there were rounds of stratego, or as we like to call  it "strategery."

At 4:00 we headed home to do the second set of chores, listening to Alice's Restaurant again on the the way, then we drove back down to my Aunt's, and rewarmed dinner in the microwave, followed by a piece of pie. We all sat talking, laughing and joking for a time, then all of us cousins went up to play the Nintendo (or play station, or whatever they call those things now). Since Thanksgiving is the only time I ever play, I don't drive so well with the little controllers and my car was usually seen flying off a cliff. I consistently ended up in last place every time, save for the two times I squeaked by to get second to last place.

About 9:00 everyone gathered in the living room and we started a movie. This year it was Tommy Boy. I don't think I'll ever get sick of watching that deer tear apart David Spade's car. And at long last, after the movie was over, everyone cleared out slowly and went home.

Thanksgiving doesn't end there though. For us black Friday doesn't mean shopping it means "left-overs night!" At 6:30 Friday night we all go down to my Aunt's to have "another Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat," and then we cousins once again set about for a round of game playing fun. We played two rounds rounds of clue, which included an interested dice rolling sequence where the first person rolled 1, the second person rolled 2, the third player rolled 3, and the forth player rolled 4 before the sequence spell finally broke with the fifth player. Afterward my uncle taught us all how to play Euchre, which I haven't played since I was about 7. We finally got the hang of it I think. We dealt the cards out for poker, but never got around to it, since we were all too busy eating. Then we went up to the play station once again, and once again I spent most of the evening unsuccessfully trying not to drive my car off a cliff. And like the previous night, I consistently came in last every time except for twice when I made it to second to last place.

Everybody cleared out about quarter after eleven with a box of leftovers to use as lunches the following week. Gotta love it.

Pumpkin Seed Saving

I think my cows' favorite time of year are the post Halloween weeks. Not only do they get all the moldy jack 'o lanterns, but they also get all the left-over squash, gourds and pumpkins that weren't carved or sold at the market. Before we make bovine meals out of the unused orange fruits, however, we always cut them open to save the seeds.

Seed saving is a great way to get a jump start on the following year, as it means not having to order from the seed company and wait for the seeds to arrive. Best of all, the seeds you save yourself are free. Seed saving can also produce some very odd squash and pumpkin varieties when seeds are saved from different types that were perhaps grown too closely together in a particular year. And if you save your seeds year after year, you'll always know what type of pumpkins you have.

If you want pumpkins and squash that will be true to seed, try a quick internet search to be sure that the seeds from your particular pumpkin won't revert back the mothering gene. As makes sense, take seeds from the pumpkins you want to produce. If you want big pumpkins next year, take them from big pumpkins this year, if you want smaller pumpkins next year, take them from smaller pumpkins this year. Of course growing conditions will always have a large affect on pumpkins, but it's best to at least start with what you want if hope to have a chance of finishing with what you want.

To save seeds, fill a dish with lukewarm water. Cut a pumpkin in half and start pulling out the seeds with your fingers. Only take seeds that are plump and unsprouted, avoid any thin, papery seeds. Put the seeds into the bowl of water and knead them through the liquid to wash them free of the pumpkin gook.

Lay parchment paper on a cookie tray. Using your fingers as a strainer, pull handfuls of pumpkin seeds out of the dish and spread them across the cookie tray. Leave the cookie tray in dry area and stir the seeds around every few days to ensure that they dry evenly. Once completely dry, store the seeds in a canning jar until spring planting.

As an added bonus, when you're saving seeds, you can also make a healthy snack of roasted pumpkin seeds, or wait until the seeds are dry and cover them in chocolate.

Storing Yarn

Last spring I started what has become a very long project, making Clint Eastwood's serape from Fist Full of Dollars (the greatest Western ever filmed). In order to stay with a fair amount of authenticity, I have been weaving it with yarn instead of just making a lookalike from some cheap cotton fabric. One thing that had never occurred to me was the danger the project would be in when I got busy and left it alone for several months.

I am well aware of the havoc that moths can wreak on sweaters, but I had never even thought about what they might do plain yarn itself. I was therefore quite dismayed when I picked the project back up this week and discovered a slew of moth larvae had infested one of my balls of yarn and munched holes all throughout it like a block of Swiss cheese. (I was fortunate enough to find that they had not yet begun to chew apart all the hard work I'd invested in the Serape itself.) I quickly realized something needed to be done.

While the little cedar blocks they make for sweaters are a good way to discourage moths, I decided to try something else that would allow me to kill two bird with one stone. Those little plastic zipper containers that sets of sheets come in are just perfect size for storing two or three balls of yarn. Their tight zipper closures keeps out the unwanted moths, and they provide a neat, convenient way to store yarn. Now on to finishing the serape!

Happy Celtic New Year

Ah, astrological Halloween, I love it. Today was the day the sun reached 15 degrees Scorpio, the day the ancient Celts used as Samhain, the Halloween precursor. And boy, the Celts sure knew what they were doing having Samhain as their new year festival. I agree with their way of thinking because it's as much a new year for me as it was for the Celts (considering we both share the same farming calender, I suppose that makes sense).

Everything is finished for the year. I'm done with the market, I'm done with craft shows, the last harvests have been gotten in, and even work at my office job is slowing down. I guess these all bring mixed feelings. Since I'm burned out with exhaustion from the hustle and bustle of summer, the much needed winter rest is welcome, but I have to admit the extra summer money is nice to have. But either way, it's now time to move on to a fresh year. It's time for fall cleaning and cozy flannel sheets, time to remove the summer wind chimes from my woodland walking path, and time to tackle all the projects I've been putting off over the summer.

With my Celtic New Year fresh start, I'm going to concentrate more effort on web designing this year. I've dabbled in it a little bit with overhauling a large portion of a relative's website, and earlier this year doing from scratch the website for the farm market which I rather like (http://canandaiguafarmersmarket.com/). The first site on my list for this winter, however, will be my own. The Woodland Elf site is looking fairly shabby, but considering that I originally slapped it together several years ago in about 10 minutes without a template and without having previously known a scrap of java script, I think its simple appearance is understandable.

I've been trying to get at it and spice it for the last two years, but there seems to have always been other more important things that kept pushing it further down my to-do list. This year, however, I'm bound and determined to take the time to fix it just how I want it. Especially since I'm doing so much more than just candles and soaps now, it's definitely time for an update. I plan to start re-coding it tonight, but sadly enough I'm usually much better at doing other people's sites than taking the time to do my own, so we'll see how this turns out.

Coincidences

It's interesting how coincidences happen sometimes. I was dropping off a wreath order at the The Dalai Java this morning (if you're a coffee drinker it's next to Byrne Dairy on Main Street in Canandaigua) and about 3 seconds after I walked in, someone who frequented the farm market this summer walked in behind me. He saw me and said I might just the person who could help him, asking if I could repair an item for him. Now that is what I call a happy coincidence; being in the right place at just the right time.

I also finished the St. Mary's show this weekend. The turnout wasn't as big as we'd been hoping, but this was only the first year, and next year they're planning on more advertising. It was certainly a lot of fun though, going around and seeing all the things everyone else had made and talking with the other vendors. Turns out the woman sitting next to me was even related to someone my mother used to landscape for. Two coincidences in one day; what are the odds.

Craft Show This Weekend

Hey, this weekend I'll be at St. Mary's in Canandaigua doing a craft show both Saturday and Sunday. Stop by and check it out. I'm working on a bunch of new things that I don't generally take to market, new wreaths, Christmas ornaments and the like. I'll try to have the how-to's for a few of the projects posted over the next couple of weeks, but for now it's "balls to the wall" getting ready. I'm very excited about this weekend, but I gotta admit, I'm glad it's the last one of the year. The exhaustion has finally hit. Celtic New Year is starting to look pretty good right now!!

Pumpkin Carving

When it comes to carving pumpkins, my brother, sister and I are maniacs. We spend the entire year collecting silhouettes that will make good new patterns, and carve dozens of the fruits come Halloween. This year was a little different, however. Due to time constraints we carved relatively few. I've only carved 5 pumpkins (a huge drop from the 200+ my siblings and I used to carve in a week), and only created one new pattern this year. Even so, I rather enjoyed the new pattern so I'd thought I'd share it.

Legend of the Seeker is the only television show I watch, but I'm basically obsessed with it, so I decided to do a Legend of the Seeker pumpkin. I took the poster silhouette of the confessor, the seeker, the mord sith, and the wizard all standing together and carved the space out around them to make a suitable pumpkin pattern. I thought it was appropriate considering I'm going as the confessor for Halloween. Here's the finished product; I'm going as the one on the left. 

Kahlan, Richard, Cara, & Zedd

This was the poster I used as the pattern; it's one of the Save Our Seeker campaign posters (somebody please pick up this awesome show). I nixed the rest of the poster and just used the silhouettes of the main four characters as the pattern for the pumpkin. To carve it, just draw a circle around the people and carve out around the figures, leaving them standing in the pumpkin.   

 

The Real Halloween

Everyone instantly recognizes the familiar signs: witches on broomsticks, black cats, spiders. We wait for the costumed trick-or-treaters to come knocking at our doors requesting sweets (well, out here in the country, we wait, but they never actually come). Carved jack o' lanterns adorn every doorstep. This is Halloween, one of the most beloved Holidays in America.

For many people it is a day to step into costume and become someone else entirely. For others it is an excuse to show off their artistic talents carving squashes. And for still other it is an opportunity to perform mischievous pranks in effort to scare the living daylights out of another person. For most it is a holiday to celebrate the spirit of fun, though there are a few people here and there who condemn it as an evil holiday due to its emphasis on magic. Nothing could be further from the truth, however, as many of the more "evil" symbols associated with the holiday came centuries after the original celebrations.

Hundreds of years before Christ, the Celts ruled Europe. Like many of the ancient cultures, the Celts had holidays celebrating the changing of the seasons. Of all those holidays, the most import was the end of the year festival.

The ancient Celts recognized only two actual seasons, summer and winter. They also felt that the start of the day was at sunset rather than sunrise and consequently that the start of the new year should be during the darker months of the year. In the Celtic calendar, the end of summer, and thus the end of their year, occurred when the sun reached 15 degrees Scorpio. The festival was called Samhain, which was Gaelic for "summer's end." This date is roughly around October 31.

Samhain night was a time of remembrance of the dead, as the Celts believed that on the last day of the year, doors were opened into the Otherworld. This could also be a very scary time as the Celts feared that evil demon spirits might be able to pass freely through the open gates as well. In effort to keep evil spirits away, the Celts would dress themselves as demons and lead huge parades out into the hinterlands in hopes that any evil spirits would follow them and stay out of the villages, while the good spirits would easily be able to remember the way to their former homes. This custom eventually became the trick-or-treating we have today.

As the Celtic new year, Samhain was one of only two days that people could extinguish their hearth fires (the other day was Gamhain, now often known as May Day, which meant "winter's end.") It was considered unlucky to let the fire go out any other time of year. The druids (Celtic priests) would build huge bonfire on top of hills to give thanks for the bountiful harvests of the light half of the year and to encourage the sun to return after the dark half of the year. It was considered very good luck for people to restart their hearth fires with coals taken from the druids' bonfires. The Celts would carry the coals home in hollowed out turnips. To keep any evil spirits at bay, they would carve scary faces in the turnips, a practice which eventually evolved into our current tradition of carving pumpkins.

With the coming of Christianity, the holiday began to change. The Christians originally planed to convert everyone and leave the old ways behind, but they soon found that some of the Celtic customs could not be so easily washed out. Knowing that the Celts would never embrace the Christian faith as long as they still held so closely to their own traditions, the Christians decided to meld the Celtic beliefs with their own in a sort of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" effort to ensure that the Celts would be converted. The two most notable examples of this were the greatly revered Irish goddess Brigid, who the Christians turned into their St. Brigit, and Samhain, which the Christians turned into All Hallow's Eve.

Keeping with Celtic tradition, the Christian holiday of All Hallow's Eve was the one night of the year when the spirits of the dead could walk the earth. However, they gave this holiday the set day of October 31 to remove the pagan astrological associations. They also labeled the druids as devil worshipers to prevent them from restoring the original holiday traditions. (There is no devil in Celtic belief) In time the new holiday's name was shortened to Hallow'een (this spelling is often seen on vintage Halloween postcards), and eventually the apostrophe was removed altogether giving us the Halloween spelling we have now.

As time progressed, different generations and cultures have added their own traditions to the holiday giving us the familiar celebrations we have now. Perhaps this year as we carve our pumpkins and don our costumes, we should take time to reflect on those people so long ago who did the very same things. In doing so, we will be remembering those who have gone before us, and thus we will be celebrating the day just as they did so long ago, albeit without the fear of evil spirits.

Vintage Postcards

There is something absolutely irresistible about vintage Halloween decorations. They have a charm that no other vintage holiday trimmings can match. The best example of these delightful vintage Halloween items are not even decorations, but postcards of a lost time when people used to send as many Halloween (or Hallowe'en as it was spelled at the turn of the century) cards as Christmas cards. They represent the true era of Halloween, when the holiday was about parties, and trick or treating in costumes, and just fun games of the season. There's no frightful demons, evil monsters, or psychopathic murderers, just good clean Halloween fun. Witches and black cats are often shown in a mischievous manner, but never in the evil ways horror films of today portray. The most well known Halloween postcard artist was Ellen Clapsaddle. She's also one of the most popularly collected artists today, no doubt due to the absolutely adorable images of children, jack 'o lanterns, and friendly witches. While I don't collect original cards (I would rather send the money to Heifer Project), I do love the images scanned onto the internet. Here are a few of my favorites that bring back a sense of good old fashioned Halloween, the way it should be.

Dried Flower Wreath

So when someone gave me the simple request of making a dried flower wreath for them I had no idea these would be so popular, but within 10 minutes of her picking up the finished product, I already had four more wreath orders, just from people seeing her carry it around. Amazing considering that when I first started this wreath, I though it was pretty ugly. The flowers on the partially finished wreath looked like they’d been haphazardly stuck on there. But by the time I’d completed the entire circle, the wreath had come together beautifully. I guess it just needed to be fully flowered to make a show.  

You will need:

A straw wreath hoop

15-20 dried straw flowers (Helichrysum)

Several bunches of dried statice in at least three colors

6 stems of dried baby's breath

6-7 pieces of dried coxcomb flower

6-7 pieces of dried yarrow

A ball of yarn

A roll of 22-gauge wreath wire

Most of the flowers in this wreath dry pretty well using the air-drying method.

Start the project by tying one end of the yarn to the wreath. Gather a bunch of statice about 2 inches wide (all the same color) and place it on the wreath wrapping the yarn around it to secure it. Take a few straw flowers and put them next to the statice wrapping the yarn around them. Grab another bunch of statice (different colored than the first bunch) and yarn wrap that to secure it to the wreath. Repeat with another row, staggering the straw flowers and the statice so they’re not right in line with the first ones. Next add a piece of yarrow or a piece of coxcomb.

Repeat the steps above making another two rows of flowers then adding a piece of yarrow or coxcomb (whichever one you didn’t add the first time). Continue on in this manner, adding flowers and alternating the yarrow and coxcomb combinations. Also change the position of the flowers around: if one piece of coxcomb was on the top of the wreath, put the next piece towards the interior of the wreath and so on.

Every 4-5 inches, add in a stem of baby’s breath, allowing it to flail out from the wreath in an unruly manner. It adds charm to the finished wreath.

When the hoop is entirely covered by flowers, tie off the yarn. To make a hanger, take an eight inch piece of wreath wire and slip an inch of each end under several pieces of yarn on the back side. Bend the inch back towards the long part and wrap it around itself to secure it. You can also use u-shaped wreath pins to attach the wreath wire to the wreath as an alternative to slipping it under the yarn.

This wreath will last for years if it is kept out of harsh weather. It can also be sprayed with dried flower preserver to make the flowers less fragile.

Today was definitely what I consider a good day in my world. It was my day off so I let myself sleep in, and when I woke up, it wasn't even raining. That's a welcome change, because the last several weeks it's been nothing but gloom on my days off. The sun even came of the clouds for a minute or two.

So I got my entire field of pumpkins harvested. Usually I have my brother to help me, but he's working the night shift now, so he sleeps in the daytime. This year I did all the planting, hoeing (till the rain stopped me), and harvesting myself. The perks of that, however, include getting first pick of the pumpkins. I chose three perfectly shaped ones to save for my Halloween carving.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were way more pumpkins in that tangled mess of weeds than I had expected. And as added bonus, there were a bunch of gourds I hadn't even planned on because somebody (could've been me) mislabeled the jars when we were saving seeds last year. Ever notice how the stuff you don't mean to plant always grows better than the stuff you do? Got some really cool ones cause they crossed with the pumpkins having grown in such close proximity.

After harvesting I got to spend the rest of the day cleaning my room (a long awaited project!) while listening to Guess Who records (yes vinyl) on the $5 record player my brother very kindly got for me a couple weeks ago at the Rushville community garage sale. One of the speakers doesn't work and there's a bit of a whining hum in the one that does, but hey, it's a record player, enough said.

Ok, ok, so I'll admit to be one of the typical kids who thinks that the scratching, hissing, crackling, and generally inferior quality of a record sounds warmer than digitalized media, but let's face it, some artists really do sound better on vinyl. A prime example is The Animals. They already have that echoish sound we love and records just enhance it. It sounds like they're in some deep, echoing chamber. (Oh wait, that was John Bonham in the stairwell during When the Levee Breaks)

Hmm...this post started out as farming, but what can I say, I've always been passionate about my music and sometimes things just head that direction. And when I say "my music" I of course mean the great music that would actually be considered parents' music, but which I love just as much if not more than they do (and in the case of Robert Johnson, that'd probably be considered my Grandparents or even Great-Grandparents music, but I love it anyway!)

The High Point of Autumn

I am truly a child of Autumn (never mind the fact that I was born in the spring). Autumn is really when I'm happiest. It seems like nothing can go wrong, and even when things do go wrong, it seems to be much easier to take when the lovely weather of the fall is there to smooth things over.

There's always a high point to my Autumns. Naturally Halloween is my highest point, but there's also a specific point about the nature of the season itself that I always hit at least once during the fall. Between my house and the barnyard there is a patch of trees that we call "The Fort" due to the fact that my siblings and I always played there. At the end of the the fort is one of my favorite ash trees (still the best climbing one around), which stands at a fork where the two paths that travel through the fort meet. The high point of the season is when those ash leaves turn that bright yellow, tinged by just a hint of peachy-green and fall to ground. They cover the forest floor right where the two paths of the fort meet and roll down the hill towards the cow water barrels.

There is something indescribably irresistible about running over the soft, dry dirt of the fort paths when those ash leaves are covering the ground just right. It happens every year. This year it was today. To make thing even more perfect, it was a warm day, perfect for barefoot ash leaf walking, with just the right amount of cool breeze. Talk about being one with nature; the high point of Autumn for sure. If there was one day I didn't want to have to go to work at the indoor office, it was most definitely today. Oh well, gotta pay the bills somehow until I manage become totally self-sufficient. And hey, it's quite possible that the high point will still be there tomorrow.

Ok, that's enough of my seasonal sights ranting. The car's all packed for market, it's pushing 1:00 in the morning and I gotta get up at 6:00, so I think I'll be heading to be bed now, as the full moon shines its bright silver rays through my open window. God, I love this season.

So last night at 1:30 in the morning, when everyone else is sleeping, I'm outside in the moonlight running around through the woods and the open meadows behind my house like some Medieval sorceress. I'm not in any form a werewolf (at least as far as I know), but there is something about the full moon that just makes me want to run outside under its light. Maybe it's the bit of Celtic blood in me. So last night, after making sure no one was looking, I geeked up, put on my confessor's dress and ran out into the night. With the bright light of the full moon I could see for miles and running around with those long flowing sleeves, I hit that point where I didn't have to just pretend I was in the Celtic sorcery days, I felt like I was actually there. And yes, I did have an excuse ready just in case anybody happened to catch me in the act of running around costumed up on a night other than Halloween; it was research for the fantasy story I'm writing, based in a land where the moon is always full. Sometimes you actually have to become your characters before you can write about them.

Lovely day. No sun, as usual on my day off, but I did manage to complete my last order of beeswax votives and make the first batch of grape juice for the season. Delicious concord grapes mashed into the best grape juice ever. There's really nothing in the store as good as homemade. Making Your Own Grape Juice

Overlock vs. Sewing Machine Thread

I do a lot of mending on my clothes, probably more than I should. I routinely keep mending clothes long after they've attained the status of rags. More than once my mother has said she will pay me to just buy a new shirt, but hey, you really can't replace a favorite, so I keep on mending.

In my long mending history I have used all kinds of threads and found that some work better than others. Waxed quilting thread (aside from being the greatest innovation in quilting since the needle!) is actually quite useful for mending as it never twists up like unwaxed thread. It can be a little stiff to work with when trying to mend holes, however, so it's best used on bigger rips.

Recently I stumbled onto the wonderful world of overlock thread. What really caught my attention was the fact that a spool of overlock thread cost the same as a spool of regular thread, yet was about 3 times as big as a spool of regular thread. I took one home and decided to try it.

I quickly realized that overlock thread is definitely thinner than all-purpose thread, so using it on a sewing machine would be out of the question (not to mention the fact that it would be very difficult to fit the huge spool on the machine spikes). Mending, however, is a different story.

Whereas a sewing machine only sews single threaded (at least in the case of the bobbin), when I'm mending, I always bend the thread in the middle and sew with the two layers. Therefore the thinner overlock thread is plenty thick enough when doubled up. In short, if you mend by hand and use the double thickness method, you can get three times the thread for your mending buck by using overlock thread. Just don't use it on a regular sewing machine, or you may find your project literally "bursting at the seams."

In Loving Memory...

This morning started off on a sad note as we were forced to put down our cow Valentine after he fell and badly injured himself. A good friend of 14 years, he's not just a cow to me, anymore than someone's child is just a kid to them. In my family cows are not merely livestock. The only profit we seek to gain from them is the manure they produce to fertilize the garden. They are pets as truly as any cat or dog. My animals are my life, my family, and so too was Valentine. He will be missed, but I take comfort in knowing that he has had one of the best lives of any cow on this planet and he lived a good, long life. Goodbye my sweet Valentine.

Valentine: 1996-2010 (Wednesday, September 8)

Costumes

The butternut leaves are starting to fall. It can only mean one thing, Halloween will soon be on its way. Yippie!!! So, I've started making costumes. I'm hoping to get enough ready (and enough time) to rent them out this year. So I've started by making a Peter Pan costume out of alova, my favorite material of choice. Here are the instructions if anyone wants to try it themselves.

This top and hat is easy to make can be worn with any pair of green pants.

Alova is an inexpensive material that has the look of suede or leather, particularly when brown shades are used. Though called alova skin, it is in fact synthetic and is not made of animal skin. Aside from trying to achieve a fake suede look, however, this fabric lends a rich texture to almost any costume. The best part is, this material does not fray so there is no need to finish stitch the edges. I used alova to make this Peter Pan costume.

Trace a large T-shirt (just the body, not the sleeves) onto a piece of dark green fabric and cut two pieces of the green fabric. Widen the dip of the neckline on both pieces. With the right sides together, sew the sides and top of the two body pieces together leaving holes for the sleeves and the neck.

Cut four rectangular pieces a little larger than the sleeves of the T-shirt used for measuring. These sleeves should reach the elbow of the person who will be wearing the costume. Put two of the rectangles right side together and cut one end at a diagonal. Sew the sides of the pieces together leaving both ends open then sew the sleeve pieces to the body piece. The shorter end of the sleeve goes on the bottom side of the sleeve. Do the same with the remaining two sleeve pieces. Now turn the entire shirt right side out.

On the front side of the newly made shirt, cut two inches down the center neckline. Fold the collar open, bending it to each side and secure each side of the bent collar with a stitch. Then continue cutting straight down the center for another 3-4 inches. Cut lace holes on each side of this center slice.

Cut a 1/2 inch piece of fabric and tie a knot in the end of each side. Lace this through the holes on the front of the shirt starting from the bottom and going up. Leave the ends hanging loose. Cut points around the sleeve ends and the bottom of the shirt. Use a piece of green cord as a belt.

To make the hat, cut two pieces of cloth in the shape of a half heart. Sew the two pieces together leaving the straight edge open for the wearer’s head. Turn the hat right side out and roll the edges up, securing with a few stitches. To finish, sew a feather onto one side. A plastic knife or a bow and arrow also make a nice addition to the costume. Wear this top and hat with a pair of green leggings or some other form of tight pants.

On the front side of the newly made shirt, cut two inches down the center neckline. Fold the collar open, bending it to each side and secure each side of the bent collar with a stitch. Then continue cutting straight down the center for another 3-4 inches. Cut lace holes on each side of this center slice.

Cut a 1/2 inch piece of fabric and tie a knot in the end of each side. Lace this through the holes on the front of the shirt starting from the bottom and going up. Leave the ends hanging loose. Cut points around the sleeve ends and the bottom of the shirt. Use a piece of green cord as a belt.

To make the hat, cut two pieces of cloth in the shape of a half heart. Sew the two pieces together leaving the straight edge open for the wearer’s head. Turn the hat right side out and roll the edges up, securing with a few stitches. To finish, sew a feather onto one side. A plastic knife or a bow and arrow also make a nice addition to the costume. Wear this top and hat with a pair of green leggings or some other form of tight pants.

Thrift Store Sewing Material

I'm big on recycling, no matter what it is, so one of the things I try to do when I'm sewing is use as much salvaged or recycled material as possible. When I say recycled material, I'm not referring to material that has gone through a recycling process, rather I'm referring to the vast quantities of unwanted clothing that people get rid of every day. Rather than buying new material, getting it from a thrift store is a way to recycle. Not only that, it can also be a great money saver.

At first glance, sewing material in a thrift may not be obvious, but upon closer inspection, it is revealed that everything in the thrift store is material, albeit in a preformed garment. This allows for double convenience. One can either purchase a large item of clothing with the intention of cutting it up to use as material, or the actual garment itself can be used as a starter for something else.

In my area there is both a Salvation Army and a Volunteers of America, so the selection of "material" is wonderfully large. I recently found a huge long sleeved T-shirt with a rather ridiculous picture on the front side (probably the reason it was in the thrift store in the first place!) for a new costume pattern I was trying out. While the hideous front was useless, the entire backside and the large sleeves were prime for the taking. The thick knit material would have cost a lot more in a regular fabric shop, but I was able to purchase it for only 50 cents, which was great as I didn't have to worry about wasting money if my experiment didn't work out.

Even better was the white linen tablecloth I found to make a confessor's dress for the Renaissance festival. I had been looking in the thrift store for a white dress to use as a base, but as long-sleeved dresses are rather scarce to come by in the summer, I had no such luck. It was not long, however, before I found myself in a section with sheets, blankets, and a white linen tablecloth. I ended up getting for $4 at a thrift store what would have been around $20 of linen at a regular fabric store, and as an added bonus, the edges were already finished, so I didn’t have to worry about them fraying. I already had a black tank top and leggings to wear under it, and I was able to get the sleeve trim and lacing for the costume for a $1 at JoAnn Fabrics, bringing the total cost of the dress to $5.

 

As for finding clothes that can be used as starters, a simple blue dress was the basis for my cousin's costume. The gown itself was already sewn, all I had to do was add a few ribbons to the sleeves and the front to make it look "Renaissancy."

 

 

Naturally there are many times when a visit to a traditional fabric shop is necessary, when a certain color, type, or size of material cannot be found in a thrift store. However, it is always worth the time to look in the thrift store first. As an added benefit, purchasing material from a thrift store like the Salvation Army or Volunteers of America supports the organizations that help people. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Water Conservation

Anyone who lives on a well knows the importance of water conservation. Not only from an environmental standpoint, but also from the short term point of view that if you waste water on a well, sooner or later you will run out. And when that happens you have to haul water, which can be a costly and very time-consuming venture, not to mention the time and pain spent trying to prime a pump after the well has run dry.

Here are a few tips for conserving water, which benefit country folks living on a well, as well as everyone else in the long run. Given that much of our planet's fresh water stores are locked up in glaciers, it might serve us all best to share and conserve our water.

"If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down"
This hippie slogan is probably the first and foremost best way to conserve water. While it may be common enough to flush the toilet after every use in a house that has public water, those living on a well generally have a heart attack if someone flushes the toilet too often, due to the fact that hauling water is a less than fun chore. While trying to limit the number of flushes is probably not a good idea in public restrooms, in the privacy of one's own home, implementing this idea will greatly reduce the amount of water used by many gallons.

Bathe in the Swimming Pool:
In drier areas of the world, being able to take a brief shower once a week would be a huge novelty, but in developed places of the world, people often shower daily, sometimes multiple times a day. The water loss of this practice is immense. A simple alternative is the swimming pool. Many of the same people who would take showers everyday have swimming pools in their backyards providing a large, clean water source to use as a "bathtub." One can wash in the swimming pool just as easily as the shower, especially if they are going to be swimming in it anyway. For years in my family, we have washed our hair the swimming pool during the summer months to keep the well from running dry.

Not everyone has a pool, so in lieu of that, an alternative is to try showering every few days instead of everyday, or at the very least, every other day. This is particularly relevant on a stay-at-home weekend. A simple wash up instead of a full shower can be sufficient on the off-shower days. As an added bonus, going a couple days without washing ones hair actually increases hair's heath.

Don't wash clean clothes:
Many people wash their clothes every day, no matter clean they are, or how short of a time they were worn. Washing machines not only use large amounts of water, but also large amounts energy, as do the dryers that are often used after the washing machines. Certainly there are certain items of clothing that merit everyday washing, but some items do not require daily cleaning. Pants are a perfect example. They do not absorb body odor as a shirt would, and unless they are actually dirty, they can go for several days without washing. The same is true of a sweater or any type of over shirt. If they do not smell, and they are not dirty, why waste the water? In a family with several members, this can probably save at least one load of laundry a day, and think of how many gallons of water a week. Washing sparingly also helps increase the life of clothing items as washing can be very hard on them. It also save money on laundry detergent.

Same beverage, same glass
Dishes need to be washed every day, but water can be saved by making efforts to have fewer batches of dishes. Most people drink something throughout day when they're thirsty, whether it be water, juice, pop, or tea. If you find yourself drinking the same beverage each time you get thirsty, try keeping a glass specifically for it. If you drink juice throughout the day, don't get a fresh glass each time, use the same one throughout the day. Better yet, use the same glass for two or three days before washing it. It can save water and dishwashing time (which a lot of people despise anyway).

Get a rain barrel:
Collecting water in a barrel is a great way to save water for the backyard garden. It is especially easy to do by placing a barrel beneath the outlets for the eavestroughs or rain gutters on a house to collect runoff from the roof. This water can then be saved in the barrel and later used to water the gardens by hooking up a simple garden hose.

City Dog Visits the Farm

My sister has friends visiting this weekend for Labor Day, and they brought their dog with them. Being from an area far less rural, this was Nalah's (the dog's) first trip to a farm and I think she thoroughly enjoyed it. The first thing she did was discover the wonderful joys of fresh manure. Having never experienced it before, she spent about ten minutes just rolling and thrashing about like a beached fish, coating herself in as much manure as she possibly could.
This was also her first encounter with cows, sheep, and horses. She was rather frightened by the large animals at first, but her fear soon turned to curiosity. She ran stood at the fence barking, but decided it was close enough, so she slipped inside. That was where she met the charming, wooly monster Ziah (aka Bully the Sheep). Ziah is not one to suffer intruders so he started chasing Nalah around the pasture as fast as he possibly could, running with two feet at a time.
Nalah quickly ducked back out through the fence, but decided she was having a good time annoying this strange white creature. She continued to bark at the sheep, sticking her head in through the fence every few minutes tempting the sheep to come and get her. Ziah accepted the invitation continuously ramming himself into the fence just as Nalah pulled her head to safety. The two of them must have spent a half hour bantering back and forth.
After finally getting board with that, Nalah spent the remainder of her time running circles around the huge garden, rolling in the grass, and enjoying the novelty of drinking water out a stream. She is still afraid of the cow, however.

Today I have officially given up on my pumpkin patch. It's not that I've given up on the pumpkins themselves, they're still there, it's just that I've given up on trying to rescue the patch from the weeds. When I first started it, I had the thing clean as whistle, all the weeds hoed out properly, it was great. But you know, the best laid plans of men and mice and all that...fast-forward two months later and the patch now looks more like a jungleland interior than a viable crop. I suppose it might have had something to do with the fact that work got busy which left me with only two days of being at home. For a while I squeaked along with that, but then the rain started and for some reason, the rain always seemed to fall on my two days off. So a couple weeks of rain and no hoeing and suddenly the patch is drowning. I went up there today to try and uncovered the buried treasure that was once my pumpkin patch, but found it too depressing. I knew I was never gonna get the patch back in shape in one day, the mosquitoes were driving me insane, and I had several orders to fill this week. Plus I rationalized that the pumpkins have already formed on the vines. If they can't make it on their own now, no amount of hoeing is going to save them. So I gave up. I'll still have plenty of pumpkins come fall, I'll just be picking them out of the weeds. On the bright side, the pumpkins themselves look really nice this year. Planted them in the prized manure patch; always produces a good squash crop.

Water witching

Even with all our modern technology, this folk method is often still used to find the ideal well spot.

Out in the country we have a term used to describe the process of finding a place to dig a well. The term is “water witching” and no doubt derives from the fact that to people who don’t understand it, it appears to be magical. Another term often used is dowsing. One does not need to be a witch to find water, however.

Witching for water involves the use of a stick or metal rods. In the stick method, it is often a forked stick that is used. One side of the fork is held in each hand and the “witcher” walks around until the stick points toward the ground indicating an ideal water spot. Non-forked sticks are used as well. To witch with metal rods, any simple rod will do from welding rods to a coat hanger. They are L-shaped and the witcher hold the short end of the rods, one rod in each hand. When the rods cross or spread apart (depending on the witcher), it signals water. Depth can also be determined by stomping the ground until the rods move (the number of stomps corresponds to the number of feet deep the water lies.)

While one does not have to be a witch to find water, it is true than not everyone can witch a well. My father cannot witch water despite the fact that he has seen it done many times and strongly believes in it. In general, I think that most people would probably have a hard time accurately witching water, which is why people who can witch water are often so valuable. Even with the technology we have today, many companies will still rely on a trusted witcher to find water. Many utility companies still use rods to find leaky pipes or underground lines.

There are no positive explanations for how water witching works. One theory is that moving water creates an electromagnetic force that pulls on the metal rods. This theory does little to explain the effect of the wooden stick method, however. Another theory is that water witchers are subconsciously picking up the vibrations of the water underground with ESP and thus, subconsciously move the rods with muscle movements to minor to notice. Nothing has confirmed this theory either, however.

The fact that so little is known about water witching may be due in large part to the fact that the people who test the method are skeptics from the start and people who can truly witch water just take it as fact and don’t feel the need to prove it works any more than they feel the need to prove the sky is blue. As with anything that is not easily understood, many skeptics have tried to make their case against water witching.

One of the biggest arguments against water witching is that a person can find water almost anywhere if they drill deep enough. While this true enough, the entire point of water witching id to find where the water is closest to the surface without having to drill hundreds of feet into the ground. Skeptic also claim that people are suckered into believing they have found water by watching the person before them. They claim if a person sees someone’s stick indicate water, then they will subconsciously move their stick in the same area. A final theory is that water witchers have subconsciously absorbed enough knowledge of local geography that they know where the water is. My question: as long as they can find water, isn’t that the point?

The skeptics are welcome to believe what they want, but in my area, water witching is so common that well drillers are not at all surprised when a client tells them where they should drill due to having consulted a water witcher. My grandfather who was a champion water witcher was called by many of the neighbors to witch their wells.

On my own property we have 3 wells, all witched. The initial well for the house my mother witched many years ago walking around the yard with an apple branch lying flat on her palm until it began to spin in circles. They dug about 20 feet and hit water. The other two wells are garden wells, which we tried our own little experiment on. My mother knew which field she wanted the well in, so she used welding rods to witch a spot for it (when the rest of us were not even home). Then over the next few days, she had myself and each of my siblings witch a good spot for the well in the field. We all picked the same place without having known where the previous person found it. My mother also had a visiting friend try witching it, and he ended up at the same spot we had. What was more, all five of us determined the same depth of the water to within a foot or two of each other’s depth guess. And when we finally dug, there was the water exactly where we knew it would be.

As a final observance, most of the people I know who can witch water, can’t wear a watch without having it lose time or stop altogether for no apparent reason. A few years ago, I purchased two of the exact same watch at the exact same time in an experiment. One I wore, one I kept in another room. The one I wore was dead within two months, while the one I had kept in a separate room was still going strong keeping perfect time. I began wearing it as a replacement for the other and within a week, it was dead. Even now, I have a watch that I keep by my bedside. When I purchased it, it was in perfect time, within a week it began losing time, and is now ten minutes slow. The clock on my computer is also fifteen minutes fast for no apparent reason (though when my father had it, it kept perfect time). Maybe this means there is some scientific theory behind water witching; maybe it’s the witchers themselves and not the water that has the electromagnetic force.

A country day walk

My boss is away for the weekend which leaves me in charge of all the phone calls and emails. I do tend to have what is a borderline phobia of telephones (if anyone happens to know if they have for name this, let me know); there is just something that makes me very, very nervous when I'm talking on them. Talking on them for too long actually stresses me out; it fries my nerves and leaves me exhausted, probably from having to work up the huge amount of energy it takes for me to make a call. On top of that, I have several craft orders for this coming weekend. As Sunday and Thursday are my only days off from work or market, I generally try to do most of my craft order work on those to two days. To put it simply, the phones were draining all my energy and I had a lot of work to do today, and only a short time to do it, and I was also sleep deprived from the market yesterday. Put it all together and it's the perfect lethal headache combination.

Feeling a headache coming on, I knew I had to take a break no matter what was on my to-do list, so I grabbed my apple basket and set out across the field for Gramma's house (she lives on the farm next door to ourselves). It's always very quiet there, especially when it's calm and sunny as it was today, and it's a great way to relax my aching head. Gramma has one of the best apple trees around (actually she used to have the absolute best, but the rabbits killed the tree a few years ago, much to my dismay) and they are perfect size for feeding our cows medicine so I headed for the tree to gather some "cow apples."

On my way, I passed by the grapes and sampled a few. Still a bit tart, but just beginning to hint at the sweet Concord goodness yet to come. About another week and they will be ready. I also passed by the best pear tree in the county (Gramma ended up with all the best fruit trees), which unfortunately has not been producing any fruit this year. But low and behold as I walked beneath the revered tree, there on one of the lowest branches was a single, juicy ripe, still firm pear, just starting to show pink on one side. It was perfect, so I took the pear picker (a long stick with a basket on it) and plucked it from the tree. My mouth watered just at the sight of it, but rather than eat it, I stuck it in my basket to save as a present for my brother, knowing that as much as I like pears, he likes them even more. Then I continued on to the apple tree.

After filling my basket and my belly with the little red beauties, I decided to take the long way home to ensure that my head received ample rest. Instead of going back down the driveway, I cut across the yard strolling beneath the English walnut trees that the squirrels have already fully ravaged in preparation for winter. I walked past the old well where the garter snakes lay absorbing the sun. I gently tiptoed through the pines by the second grape patch whose wine-making fruits were still green. And I crossed the second driveway to the grove by the pond where the corkscrew willow stood with all its gnarly branches.

A bit further in the woods, I found leaning against a tree, a pile of sticks that Poppy (my grandfather) had stored there at some point, for reasons unknown. Most of them seemed to be swirly branches that had fallen from the corkscrew willow at some point. I gathered an appropriately sized one to use as walking stick and made my way to the pond.

The bullfrogs all dove into the water as I wound around the pond, looking like dominos as they successively jumped away one by one. From the dock I stared across the water watching the dragonflies dart in and out of the cattails and the damselflies, their thin blue bodies looking like magic wands, hovering over the smooth glass-like surface of the pond. It was so serene I almost felt as though I could walk on water, though I decided against testing the theory due to my reluctance to get wet in the likely hood of failure.

I sat at the edge of the dock, dipping my toes in the water and suddenly a dragonfly landed on the boards beside me in what was a candidly magically moment. I love dragonflies, so I always get a thrill when they fly anywhere near me. After a moment, it ascended in the air, and I decided to was time to leave. I walked back across the field to return to my work, though not before sampling another half sour grape. My headache was gone and I felt reenergized by my little nature excursion. Not bad for a 30 minute walk. Who says relaxation can't be brief to be effective?

A trip through time

A few relatives and I attended the Sterling Renaissance Festival this month. We generally try to go every couple of years and it's usually the highlight of our summer when we do. Attending the festival is like taking a trip through time. For starters it is basically out in the middle of nowhere, so by the time you get there, you're starting to wonder just how lost you've become, and then all of a sudden there it is. You pass through the castle gateway to enter are immediately transport to Warwickshire in the 1500's.

The streets are lined with quaint little huts and more than half of the attendees are dressed in Renaissance garb. Attending in costume always makes it more fun as you truly do feel like you're in the Renaissance world, and when you're in costume the actors will often include you in their comic improvisation (as they did the year my two siblings and I attended as the Three Musketeers and one of the actors referred to us as Athos, Porthos, and Lesbos!)

There is what I will call an actual Renaissance cult, or "true rennies" as they often call themselves who do not simply attend Renaissance Festivals, they live for them. They study the era, are adamant about historical accuracy in speech, bring the festival fun home with them (even my siblings and I have turned to jousting on bicycles at home) and never attend a festival without being properly costumed. It is not necessary to be part of the Renaissance cult to enjoy the festival, however, and there are countless normal people every weekend who enjoy the fest almost as much as the cult rennies.

Perhaps the reason the festivals appeal to such a wide range of people is due to the very fact that they are not entirely historically accurate. (Let's face it, the real Renaissance Europe was not exactly fun and games.) Renaissance Festivals tend to bring out the best of the romanticized Renaissance era that we have come to know and love through novels such as The Three Musketeers or films like Everafter and Knight's Tale (which of course are favorites among the Renaissance cult). They combine all the most enjoyable elements from the medieval and renaissance times. 

The Sterling Renaissance Festival has a different theme each weekend. The weekend we went was Fantasy Costume weekend, which meant that all the geeks (myself included) were out and about dressed as their favorite fantasy characters. I went as the mother confessor from Legend of the Seeker, wearing a gown I managed to make for $5 from a tablecloth I'd purchased in a secondhand store. But by far my favorite costume of the day was the guy dressed as Mr. Tumnus from the Chronicles of Narnia. He had the furry faun legs, the horns, and a set of hooves; it was very cool. (My camera unfortunately died, so I didn't get a picture.)

The Sterling fest has fun for the entire family. The musical entertainers of the realm are always spectacular with the Empty Hats topping the list of favorites. There are musicians around every corner at the Faire, and they are all greatly talented, but there is still only one Empty Hats. They have a large following at renaissance festivals and their lively music and clever lyrics are enjoyed by all. Their song "Black Velvet Band" always gets the crowd singing along. Sharing the stages with the musicians are a variety of talent acts from Daniel Duke of Danger and his mixture of comedy and balance to Johnny Fox an authentic sword swallower.

There are dozens of shows going on from the always amusing trial and dunk, to the washer women, to the men of mud pits (who kind of look like the Geico cavemen by the end of the show). Just beware, they ask for hugs after the show. There is even usually a Shakespeare play going on at one of the stages for the so inclined, though somehow, I still seem to miss A Midsummer Night's Dream every time. Plenty of good food (don't miss the fried dough and apple dumplings for dessert) and a host of actors wandering around the grounds gives it all that Renaissance feel, though I do have admit that I found the Medieval clown with butterfly wings just a little bit creepy.

If the shows are a bit grown up for the younger festival attendees, they will certainly enjoy the rides and games. Some of them such as the throwing stars and axes will win them prizes if they hit their mark. Others such as archery allow a person a great opportunity to poke fun at themselves. I was so bad at shooting arrows, the man in charge of the area jokingly told me I had to come back when the festival closed and gather all the ones I'd shot over the roof! There is also a grove of fortunetellers ranging from tarot carders to palm readers for those curious about what the future might hold.

Lining all the streets are numerous artisans, many of whom are performing live demonstrations of their crafts. They are dressed in period costumes and only too happy answer any questions, in a Renaissance English accent of course. It's hard to give them all a thorough visit in one day, so I usually pop in and out of most them choosing 6 or 7 to really take my time in. This year those included the herb shop, the glass maker (who was giving a demonstration of how he delicately made very neat glass dragons), all of the costume vendors (I'm a total sucker period costumes), a talented fairy artist named Renae Taylor, a swordmaker, the tapestry weavers, and the leather carver, but there were ever so many more I would have camped out in as well had there been more time!

Of course the biggest draw of the Renaissance Festival is the armored joust which occurs twice a day. It takes place on the Field of Honor and often times the royal procession, led by Queen Elizabeth herself, comes to watch the knights compete. The joust is very much a performance with comical dialogue and fighting sequences. It involves both sword fighting and jousting with lances. The large draft horses they ride, though being rather historically inaccurate, are very impressive in looks for entertainment purposes. One of my neighbors who is an avid horseman had the opportunity to joust as one of the knights many years ago. He told us an amusing story about how he wanted to actually joust with the other knights, but they did not have the courage to challenge him in unscripted joust.

Before the joust, the knights vie for the crowd's attention. The side of the field my relatives and I were on loudly cheered for Sir William while the opposite side of the field gave their support to Sir Oren. Sir Oren also made an attempt to gain our side of the field by singing lyrics to "Why can't we be friends," but his efforts were futile as our half of the field continued to root for Sir William who ended up as champion of the tournament. (It makes me wonder if they change the winner every performance or if it is the same script all season) It is highly entertaining and not a performance to be missed.

All in all the Renaissance Festival makes for a fun annual outing and is well worth the hour and half drive we have to take to get there.

 The Empty Hats tearing up the Shire.

Sir Orin and Sir William charge each other with lances.

Johnny Fox swallows a sword: Don't try this at home kids.

Ah, a sure sign of late summer, I awoke this morning to the heavenly aroma of mom's tomato sauce cooking on the stove. No other scent in the world can compare (except maybe that of frying bacon). Smells like autumn is on it way!

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot

Blueberry Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Having been unable to find a blueberry muffin recipe that I really liked, I created my own. It contains less sugar and more blueberries than most and for an extra punch of tastiness, I mixed in some oatmeal and some chocolate chips. I've been eating these all week and haven't wanted to destroy the evidence yet, so I'll post the recipe. I actually sold a few plates of these at the stand this week, so apparently others find them edible as well (a rare occurrence that I'll be sure to savor). Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1 cup of rolled oats (oatmeal)

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

1 tbs of baking powder

1 1/4 cups of milk (I used raw milk, but 2% or even skim would probably work fine)

1 egg

1/3 cup canola (or similar) oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 pint blueberries

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly add the liquid ingredients to the dry, adding in blueberries and chocolate chips. Stir until blended and a batter forms.

Spoon the batter into muffin pan filling each cup 1/2 to 3/4 high. Bake at 400 degrees for around 20 min. Muffins are done when firm to the touch and tops are golden brown.

Makes 12-15 muffins

As the self proclaimed world's worst cook, I'm generally hesitant to try anything new when it comes to matters of the kitchen. My unfortunate cousin can attest to my experiments with toasted cheese as I gave him the options between extra crispy and char broiled. However, when I saw the blueberry pints being brought out across from me at the market, I caved in.

I rather have a weakness for blueberry muffins so I decided to try and learn to cook them without killing myself or anyone else in my path. Well, in this particular attempt at creating somewhat edible culinary delights, I succeeded. They really weren't bad considering the recipe I pulled off the internet had about thousand ingredients. Now, however, having made them once, I shall attempt to drastically alter the recipe to make it a bit more to my liking (which translates as simpler). If this works, I will post the recipe, if not, I will bury any evidence that I ever tried to make my own recipe...

Archive

I thought it was time to maybe separate my blog from my website so here it is, the new blog (yes, I'll probably decide it was a better idea to have it actually on the site, but until then, here it is). I hope to be a bit more diligent with this than I have been the last couple months (last posting having been in February I believe). It's been a good summer though and I've been enjoying it so much that I guess I just neglected the blog. 

No More Plastic Bags

When it comes to things like food packaging, plant fiber bags are a biodgradable alternative to traditional plastic.

Plastic is one of the least environmentally friendly things around. It takes oil to produce which means possibly destroying pristine environment in order to obtain the oil. It runs the risk of possible oil spills once the oil is obtained and needs to be transported. The process to turn the oil into the plastic often pollutes the air. And finally, once the plastic is made, it eventually ends up in landfills where it sits for thousands of years due to being non-biodegradable.

Of course there are some things with which plastic is a necessity, but there are also many things where plastic does NOT need to be used. Plastic bags are probably the biggest waste of all when it comes to the things plastic is used in, due to the fact that it is so unnecessary. Aside from all the negatives listed above regarding plastic, plastic bags are also an eyesore when they blow all over the neighborhood. To help reduce this, more and more people are fortunately turning to the fabric shopping bags, which as an added benefit, are stronger than traditional plastic bags anyway.

So getting rid of plastic shopping bags are an easy fix, but do we even need plastic bags at all? In some very rare cases (like hospitals) yes, but in most cases, absolutely not. We don’t even need plastic bags to keep food fresh. There are several companies now producing eco-friendly “plastic” bags, which are actually not plastic at all. They look and act like plastic bags to keep things fresh, but are in fact made of plant fiber and are therefore 100% biodegradable.

I recently discovered a company that uses such plant fiber (instead of plastic) to make affordable, strong, flexible, fully biodegradable bags. You honestly wouldn’t know they weren’t plastic without being told. I’d been searching for something along those lines for several years. Being committed to the environment, it always bothered me that I had to package the soaps I sell in little plastic bags to keep them fresh. So when I finally found these, I was like, yippie!! I can sell my eco-friendly soaps in eco-friendly packaging; so when someone throws the bag away, it won’t just sit in a landfill for the next several thousand years. No more plastic bags! And it’s so easy, just changing bags from plastic to plant fiber is a small action that makes a big impact on the environment.

Considering how many items in the average person’s cupboard are packaged in plastic, if more companies began changing their bags from plastic to plant fiber, it would have a HUGE impact. The Sunchips company began offering their snacks in such bags not to long ago. Unfortunately, consumers began lodging the complaint that the biodegradable bags were too noisy. Maybe it’s just me, but a little bit of extra crinkle noise seems a small price to pay for a fully biodegradable “plastic” bag. It would be tons less trash in the landfills and less oil wasted in the production of unnecessary plastic bags. When the plant fiber bags are thrown away, they just disintegrate into nothingness. Environmentally excellent!