I Blame It On Mother Nature

Yeah, she's the one to blame for this deep freeze I currently find myself in.
Don't get me wrong, I love winter and I love the snow, but seriously?

Snow can live at temps above 0, just saying! Snow can even live at temps above 32 (I've seen it, don't go there). But the absolute best temps for snow to live is about 20. With bright sun. Those are the best days for things like skiing and ice fishing. Throw in a few grandkids and life doesn't get much better (except on my bike, but since January and motorcycling don't mix up here that's not a current possibility).

But, alas, since we have soooooo much cold and sooooooo few snowflakes, really, we have less than a foot, which at this point in the year is just ridiculous, I am forced to complain about the weather.

I want snow! And lots of it. Me and the Bu-Dawgh love to take long walks in the woods in the deep snow. Ok, he likes to take long runs - he thinks he's a sled dog, I just try to hang on and not get my snowshoes hung up in the branches... but I digress...

And it's even cold in here! Yeah, the woodstove is going, but it hasn't reached my frozen toes yet. And, yes, I do have my hand knit slippers on TYVM!!

On the agenda for today after work is my Wednesday night sewing group in which most of us knit. At first I was all "I'm not knitting during the sewing group, I don't have enough sewing time as it is, so I will sew". Until I ran into a project that must be completed and ready to wear tomorrow! So, tonight at my sewing group, I will knit (and drink lots of hot cocoa with (insert choice of alcohol here) in it.

Nothing much homestead-y going on. The chickens are insisting that their job of laying eggs will go on until the end of time. I'm not complaining, I'm just waiting for the bottom to drop out. It will. Just no clue when. Thinking of getting more chickens this spring. Well, of course we'll get the roasting chix, but maybe a few more laying hens. (because 12 isn't enough for a family of 2), but more like they are so cute when they are little. Turkeys too, going to get turkeys again, cause they so AREN'T cute when they're little, but they grow up to be fairly tasty, and they're stupid hilarious!

Might try to fix the ground fault outlet in my bathroom today. Stay tuned, this could get fun. Still have to figure out what to do with the sink that is currently residing in my living room. I would love it if someone would raise their hand and say, "Hey, I'll put that sink in for you" (and install the garbage disposal - which hubby decided was necessary, and completely redo the plumbing....).... Anyone? I thought not... Oh well..

So with all of that jabber now in your head, I'll leave you. Because I should probably get to work, or something like that.

And I have no idea what's going on with my avatar, it should be a picture in a ski scene....

Life is Good!

Still In A Holding Pattern

Winter is like that though, in a holding pattern, seems like it goes on forever, but it's really only 2 or 3 months that we're in a deep freeze.
My knitting is coming along although it's same old, same old. Still working on the 9 Miles of Stockinette Shrug. It is in 2 halves. 1 half is done and the other is probably 1/2 done, so I guess that makes it 3/4 done.
Also working on some Travelling Socks, or Around The World Socks. You knit 2" on a sock and then pass it on to the next person who either passes theirs on to you or passes you hers. You're all working on socks and everyone will have a pair of socks that everyone else has worked on when they're done.
Awesome way to use up the stash.

The chickens are STILL laying massive amounts of eggs. I'm giving this victory to the light I hung in the coop. You know to extend the day? I never plugged it in, but it's there. There's a light in the coop so the chickens keep laying. I know this will all come crashing down around me, but for now my 12 hens are producing an average of 9-10 eggs a day. I'll take it!

Started another sweater/sweatshirt. It's actually a heavily patterned (read "gorgeous") sweater in denim yarn. This yarn is amazing. When done it truly feels, and wears like a sweatshirt. And no babying this baby! When it needs to be washed, you throw it in the washer (and dryer, if you're so inclined) just as you would a pair of jeans. It fades a bit around the raised edges, and looks very cool.

Still working on my Wolf Song quilt pattern, which doesn't really resemble wolves so much as deer and elk in the winter, with a log cabin scene. In flannel. Combined with my fleece sheets, no more cold toes for this girl!

Tonight, vegetable beef soup on the woodstove and more knitting and quilting. And look! It has started to snow a bit outside. YAY!!!

Life is good....

Canning and Sinks

I think I'm gonna keep the $200+ version of the sink. See previous post about black sink vs white sink. Sink with all of the holes I need vs sink without holes. Deep deep sink vs shallow sink. Brand new shiny black cast iron sink vs old farmhouse, full of character, white porcelain sink. Yeah, the new, black one won. It was a close race though, the only thing that tipped it was last night, cleaning up after my Canning of the Chicken Soup escapade I was paying attention. I really really like my current sink, which is flimsy but very deep (and leaks, Badly.) I really feel that the deeper sink is what I need for what I do in my kitchen.
I wish it could be reported that I chose the more economical of the two (white porcelain, old farmhouse, with drain ridges on either side, full of character sink that is out back behind the garage) but this time, new, it had to be. The picture was pretty much what the old farmhouse type of sink looks like, although not nearly in a good of condition, it's scratched and dinged, more character right? But... it doesn't have enough holes and it's too shallow.
Was a tough race. A bit too much for a Monday, but there you have it. Efficiency was chosen over character, looks and availability. It wasn't a proud choice either, being very homestead-y, use what we have before buying new, type of person.
But enough about that.

Still working on my knitted pumpkin colored shrug. When I'm near it, I never have my camera. When I have my camera I'm not near my shrug, so you don't get to see a picture of it yet. The lace pattern is complete, now for the 9 miles of stockinette stitch. UGH!!

Yesterday afternoon, my knitting guild met and we decided to do a "round the world sock" thing (technical term). You start a pair of socks and knit 2 inches on each sock. Then you pass it off to the next person who does their 2" and then it gets passed on again. In the meantime another person who started a pair of socks and did their 2" thing passes it on to me. In then end, everyone has a pair of socks that everyone else has knitted on. No rules. use sock yarn scraps in any color, knit any design wether it be stockinette or lace or cables or..... no rules. I want to use beads, we'll see.
That I will post a picture of, every now and then.

Weather is getting weird, it's warm. When I was little (a looooonnnnnngggggg time ago) January meant a month of below 0 temps and the famous "January Thaw" meant a few days or a week of above zero temps. Not so much anymore. We're actually supposed to get rain and 40+ degrees by the weekend. This. Will. Cause. A. Mess!
(What happens to water when it hits a frozen surface....) Yup! Slippery, slidey ice!
But beyone that... January + Northern Michigan does not equal 40+ degrees!
I don't blame it on Global Warming, I blame it on cyclical weather patterns. We also used to get tons of snow. Like more than feet, yards! We used to have no 1st floor on the house as it was covered in snow. We used to have to tunnel out. It was great! (I love snow). Not so much anymore :-( Sadness.

So, let's see..... Homesteading. Check........ Knitting. Check........... Weather. Check!
Got it!
Tonight is another knitting club. Normally during the winter when I have to drive my truck over there (as opposed to riding my bike) I would take my wheel and spin, but I really want to get this shrug done and get my 2" sock thing done, so knitting it will be.

Oh, I also decided to get some pigs in the spring. Fence off the garden area, let them till it up really good to get rid of the ragweed and bindweed, and then my garden will be better. This summer I will plant my garden in a different area.

Have a good one!
Life is Good!!

So... yesterday I said I was gonna cut and stack more wood. And I did!!! This is unprecedented. Usually when I put it out there that I'm going to accomplish something, it doesn't happen, but YAY!!!

Also, yesterday I cooked and canned up a bunch of Chicken Soup. Awesome, all I need to do is whip up some noodles and automatic dinner!

And... I made another decision. Am I on a roll or what? I'm going to start hanging clothes out again. I used to do this all the time, actually, my kids refer to my dryer as an "ironing machine" meaning I only use it to get out wrinkles. Well all that ground to a halt about 6.5 weeks ago when I slipped on some ice (hanging laundry). Went down intact and came up with a broken rib and lots of bruises. Not Fun!
But it's time. I guess if I can tell the grandkids I can go skiing, then it's really time to be economically and more earth friendly responsible and start to hang clothes again.
Yup, it's gonna happen.

I have a new sink that is waiting to be installed. (Waiting because it is of the cast iron variety and way to heavy for me to heft around, so waiting for hubby to get tired of it sitting in the living room). It's really pretty, black, deep deep bowls and lots of holes for all of my faucets and stuff. Then hubby tells me he has an old farm sink (white porcelain) out in back of the garage. I get to thinking, hmmmmm (it's never good when I get to thinking), why not use that and return the 200$ + version?
Well, still considering it. The sink is awesome, it's white (I can live with white) and has one bowl (ok, I can live with one bowl because it's a HUGE bowl), but it's shallow. I really like me a deep sink, but this older one has sooo much character. I love to be able to put a canning kettle under the faucet and fill it up while doing something else.
I will measure it and see if it will work. I'd really like to have that 200$+ back in the savings account and this old one is really cool. Still thinking.....

Homesteaders and all of their "stuff", eh? lol

Life is Good!

Winter Homesteading

So, January already!
January is one of my favorite 12 months. Because it's easy. And pretty outside, and COLD!!
So what do you do on the homestead when it's COLD??
You cut wood. Yesterday was a blistering 12 degrees, but there was no wind and the sun was divine. (In the winter, up here, the sun is a precious commodity, so when it makes it's appearance, you want to go out and worship it, such that is possible in parka, flannel lined jeans, mittens, hats and heavy boots...)
And you might have asked before I got diverted with my sun worshipping, why wasn't the wood already cut?
Well, I'll tell you!
Winter is an easy time on the homestead. Spring planting, Summer maintenance, and Autumn Harvest, but Winter is easy. Pretty much all you have to do is survive the COLD! (And we've come up with some pretty creative ways to do that).
Back to the wood pile. Winter is easy because there's not as much to be done, so that's when we cut wood. Plus the fact that you get really warm cutting and stacking wood, so it's best done when the temps are cold. Some might argue, that's ok, that's just the way we do it.
So yesterday we took the opportunity to cut and stack 4 loads of wood. And restack the current woodpile. See, depending on time of day, whether you'll be home or not and how cold it is determines what type of wood you feed the stove. And seeing as how it the woodpile had become a total mess on the deck I took an hour or so to restack it. Slabs in one place and roundwood in another.
Today will be more of the same, get the deck stacked all back up and that chore will be done for another couple of weeks.

Chickens continue to lay between 8 and 9 eggs a day. This is likely because I took the time to run an extension cord out to the chicken house and hook up The Light (to simulate longer days). The Light doesn't work, but I guess just the threat of The Light is enough to keep them going. Currently I have close to 26 dozen eggs in my fridge. I just know that once they (the chickens) start to molt, the egg production will cease.

Still working on a shrug pattern from some orange/gold yarn that was given to me. I'm liking it more and more. It's quite coarse but the lace pattern is really easy to memorize and very pretty. I'm past the lace pattern now, now I'm doing 9 miles of stockinette stitch. No matter, when hubby wants to go somewhere, we jump in the truck and I get another couple of yards done!

Also, just started a shop sample also for kayewood.com called Wolf Song . The designer is an engineer and the pattern reflects her ability to over explain every step (in this case that's a good thing!)
In my version it's an elk, done in shades of winter blues and flannel. The pattern only sizes up to a Twin size, so I'll have to get creative and add some more borders for my queen size bed.

Today, after stacking more wood, maybe I'll work on my quilt, maybe I'll clean the house (probably not gonna happen) and maybe I'll upload some more items to ebay.

Life is Good!

So, it's once again spring on the farm! Baby chicks and baby kittens this year. The cows are all teenagers, so next year, we'll have babies.
Since I've increased our chicken flocks by A LOT I had to make the caged in area bigger. They have free run of the whole acreage, and love to scratch in the woods, but I like my eggs. At night, they dutifully return to the coop and I close them in. In the morning they fly out. Guess what my project is? Yup, gotta get a top put on the penned in area, so when we're gone, and in the morning pre-coffee, they are safe.
I've stopped putting heat lights on the babies during the day, but still at night it gets chilly, and sometime in the next month or so, I've got to introduce the two flocks to each other, and let everyone learn how to get along.
Have heard that putting them all together during the night and having them wake up all together works. It doesn't, there is still the "pecking" order that needs to be worked out, and right now the babies are too small to be attacked, plus they can still fit through the fencing, so they'll stay in the baby pen for now.

Hubby is starting to make noises about getting the tractor hooked up to the disc, this means that soon my garden will get tilled. YAY!! Can't really plant much until the 1st of June (or when ever the frost date is for the current year) but it still gets tilled, and tilled and tilled again. I've got some of my herbs started, tomatoes are looking awesome and peppers not so much. It's still too cold to germinate the pepper seeds, and this time of year, we don't heat the house, but even putting them into the garden as bitty little plants will give them time to grow.

Another project is to make the dog pen biggeer. I want the Bu-Dawgh to have a lot of running space, he has to be in a pen or on the line when outside because he just won't stay in the yard and he won't listen (to me). With baby deer being dropped now, I don't want him chasing. And he does love to chase!

Asparagus produced little to nothing this year, but the rhubarb (as usual) is very prolific. Found a recipe for a rhubarb crumble that I want to make, but my oven is out of commission. The element burned out of it, so I have to scare up another one soon.

On the needles is my festival project. Our Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival is end of September and this is my contest entry. I'm using a yarn I bought from the festival last year (requirement) and making the Central Park Hoodie, with my awesome Knit Picks Harmony Needles. Although I did break my own "rule" about knitting with dark yarns on dark needles in a pattern, oh well, I love the Harmony needles, so it's worth a little eye strain.

Today? After work I want to work on the chicken pen and see if I can find another element for my stove from the "Stash Of Used Pieces and Parts" that every homesteader worth their salt keeps! Hoping I don't have to buy one!

In the meantime, it's a bit chilly today, but the sun is shining and Life Is Good!

So I started my Iknitarod 2012 project. What? You've never heard of this??
Over on Ravelry (online knitting and crocheting mecca) they have a Knit-Along called the Iknitarod 2012. Now if you've watched the news at all recently, you just may be able to put this together, if not let me spell it out for you.
The Iditarod (famous dog sled race through Alaska) is happening right now. If you replace the "d" in Iditarod with a "kn" you get Iknitarod, in which a bunch of crazy knitters get together and knit while the mushers mush.
From the first "MUSH" (or whatever they yell to get the dogs going), until the Red Lantern goes out (last musher crosses the finish line) we will be rooting them on with our marathon knitting session.

But... I'm not getting much knitting done right now am I? Nope, better get at it (but I did do some last night, see?)

So, yeah, once again it's been awhile and there are so many things going on in my normally crowded life.

Works continues (barely, damn economy - don't get me started...) My daughter and I have taken over my Mom's business while she decides if she's ready to semi-retire or not. Semi retirement. Hmmmm, unusual concept, but so far it's been really good for her and great for us.
We've taken the traditional 9-5  concept of the office to a more casual "just get it done and if there's time left over..." strategy and it seems to be working great for both of us.
I can now go to my Yoga classes during the day, or the yarn shop if the yarn fumes start calling to me and work early mornings, late nights or weekends if I want. That in itself is almost like a semi-retirement!

As far as the garden, yeah there's still quite a bit of snow out there, but that's ok. Up here we save snow throughout the winter and call it "water table" in the summer. I've got some seeds started, some herbs that I use for cooking, and am looking at doing an organic garden for things like oils and tinctures for our little fledgeling business. I've even gone so far as to get the duffel bag of seeds out of the closet and go through them! Gasp!!

Normally I won't plant tomatoes or peppers... until Mid March or so, but it's hard to wait. The weather has been so nice lately (so not like February in Northern Michigan..) that the urge to get my hands in the dirt and ride my bike have been nearly overpowering. Thankfully there are fail safe preventions automatically put into place to rein me in. The snow in the garden keeps my hands inside, where they stay warm and the ice on our rode pretty much limits my bike riding, but pretty soon......

This year on the farm I will be getting more chickens (LOVE pastured birds). I used to say my chickens and turkeys were free range until a new friend (shout out to Monica) told me the difference between free range and pastured. You would think that free range would be all about the little birdies going where they want, and when they want, but not so. Free range means that they are  kept inside and have an outside space where they can go, be it grass, mud, dirt, or chicken crap. Pastured is really what you want. My birds are pastured. They spend the night inside the hen house, but in the morning I let them out to roam where ever they want, which usually means the barn this time of year. Then I play heck trying to find their nests. Every year I have to re-train them to lay their eggs in the hen house, so soon that initiation will begin.
I am also getting a couple of pigs. I love pigs, they are so funny, and smart!

My cows have made it through the winter so far, and are looking quite nice. They will look a lot nicer when stuff thaws out enough that I can get the skid steer into their paddoc, and get some, um, cow shit cleared out of there. I'll put it in a pile and then use if for next year's garden. I don't know the time table on letting cow crap compost, but I give it a year.

Going to build a dog pen this summer, tired of having to put them on a chain. I have a nice large part of the yard, away from tractor paths and garden paths and pool paths that will work nicely, and it's quite large, so they'll, I'm sure, be a lot happier.

Am still looking to re-home my boxer. She's high energy, about 4, has been spayed, is great with kids, very affectionate, and loving, will sit on you all day long if you allow it and just in general is a very nice dog. Why don't I keep her? Well, hubby really doesn't like her, and I don't have time to put the training on her that she needs to go from a good dog to a great dog. Why did I get her in the first place? I didn't. She was left behind when her owner moved and the family that took her in didn't want her anymore and was considering euthanization. She's too great of a dog for that. So with that in mind, the search continues.

We're butchering another cow this weekend as two families are almost out of meat. This cow was aquired with hopes of producing a nice line of calves but that hasn't happened, she's wild and since she hasn't done what she needs to do to keep her spot in the pasture, we're going with option B.

Knitting! Ah knitting, my passionate friend..... Being the sort of person who has to compartmentalize my life and then tear that all apart just when it seems to be working.....never mind.
Currently on the needles I have another pair of socks, a crazy brother project (more on that later), a denim sweater and will be starting my own Knit-A-Long over on my other blog Craft Gossip shortly. I figured out that I don't really knit socks just to knit socks, but I knit socks so that in spare moments during the grandkids wrestling or basketball games, or waiting for food in restaurants, or riding along in the car I have something to keep my fingers busy. That's really best for everyone.

So as the snow continues to melt a little more each day (totally weird for the snow to be melting in Feb) I see all of the remains of the yard that didn't get cleaned up last fall. It's so nice and clean under the snow and then......

Yup, there are so many, "and thens...".

Life is Good! (And thanks, J, for lighting a fire under me to get this going again ;-)

Note To Self....

Note to self.... when the temps are in the high 30's, bright sun or not, wearing gloves on the motorcycle ride to work doesn't hurt.

Note to self... wearing a white work t-shirt out to the barn and expecting fate to keep it clean is just stupid. But I did it, and it stayed clean. How's that for kicking fate in the teeth!

Note to self.... the dog's chain gets dragged through the dirt and.... When you pick it up and wind it around your leg to untangle it, you're going to get dirty. Count on it.

Note to self....Striking a match to a pile of papers to be burned does not necessarily mean that said papers will burn. Even if they've promised you they would. This may or may not have a direct connection to the amount of dew that has settled on them overnight.

Note to self....The oatmeal may or may not explode in the microwave. But it probably will. This does have a direct correlation to whether or not I've just cleaned it (the microwave, not the oatmeal - cleaning oatmeal is just stupid!).

Note to self....the cows will probably find a way to get out, likely on a day when I'm already late for work.

Note to self....Iphone's auto correct feature can turn SVSU (local-ish university) into absurd. That's not only stupid, that's absurd!

Note to self....The way this day is going I might be further ahead to order pizza and stay away from the stove.... just sayin'.....

Life is Good!

Let's Winterize The Fences, Shall We?

Hubby is going away hunting. Last year when he decided to do this, he came back damaged.  We're hoping he doesn't do that again.

It's traditional for me to undertake a big project when he leaves me alone for any length of time. The project that I wanted to do has been vetoed because he doesn't want me to run the saws while I'm alone. If you know me personally, you realize this sticks in my craw, and he's smart enough to know that if he's going to make a statement like that, he damn well better back it up with a rational rationale.

His reason this time: We can't have you hurt, because if you hurt yourself and can't work, we are sunk. (he still can't work from his last year's injury).
Ok, I know he's right, so I revised my plan. Now I'll spend my time getting the farm ready for winter, so that he doesn't have to and can help me with my project when he gets back.
Smart, eh?

Don't think for one minute I didn't see through that, but when he makes a valid argument I usually try to pay attention.
So, instead of redoing my bathroom cabinets, sink and vanity, I will fix fences and just generally winterize the farm.

Without a skid steer.

Let me say that again, in case any of you get the implications of that statement.

Without A Skid Steer! (Bobcat)

I will attempt to haul up a couple of loads of wood to the deck (without a bobcat, or a truck if the battery doesn't get replaced or the tire fixed...)

I will finally get the chicken pen enlarged and the hen house cleaned out (yuck)

I will get a few odds and ends picked up, like old fencing, fence posts, wire, get hoses drained and rolled up, a bunch of trash burned... little stuff like that. Maybe get the barn cleaned out.

And hockey watched, and knitting knitted, and a lot of bike rides if the weather cooperates.

This time of year I'm very cognizant of the fact that my riding days are coming to an end so any excuse to fire her up and take her for a ride pretty much takes precedence.

I need to get my cabbage shredded, crocks washed and put the two together to make sauerkraut. More grapes need to be turned into juice.

Hay loft needs to be rearranged to make it more suitable for winter, and the tops of the chicken pens need to be sturdied so they don't collapse under the snow load.

So much to do. So little time....

But I love fall.
And you know I love my farm.

Life Is Good!

Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival, and Finally, A Diagnosis!

So I'm sitting here at the local fiber festival. You know, all of the knitting, spinning, and weaving stuff and all of the critters that make this all possible.

Gorgeous stuff, and the yarn and fiber fumes will totally draw you in.

And I'm finding that all of the people aren't bothering me. All of the chaos and commotion is being taken in stride, and I'm smiling and I'm relaxed! And how different is this from the woman that just 6 short months ago suffered from debilitating anxiety with depression.
Debilitating. So bad in fact that I sought out the services of a doctor who specializes in such things. Not only debilitating anxiety and the depression that goes with it, but social phobias, and an almost bi-polar approach to changes in life. (note to self - changes in life are gonna happen - deal with it!) Except I couldn't. And I seriously did NOT know what was wrong with me.

Why was I driven to such frustration that I would lash out unexpectedly and probably undeservedly to anyone close. Why couldn't I do my job and be part of the team and get along with others. Why couldn't I have close friends. What was wrong with me? And the anxiety! That's what finally drove me to seek help.

And now, after 6 months of a battery of tests and counseling, the diagnosis is in.

ADHD!

Wait, what? Isn't that what kids have?
Yeah, kids have it but adults also have it. But adults are supposed to deal with the symptoms and the world doesn't so often see this.
Except when it's bad. Except when it's so bad, that the fear of being around people or situations that I couldn't easily control could bring on a panic attack and a rousing case of anxiety that would last for days!

This was so bad that I considered quitting my job. I tried to work at home but that wasn't best for my employers and co-workers (although I'm sure they didn't want me anywhere around any more than I wanted to be).
This was so bad that at the end of the day I'd go home and hide from the world. I didn't want the world to see this "me" that I had no control over. And I tried everything. I tried giving up caffeine and dietary changes. I tried meditation and yoga. I tried medication, small amounts and large amounts, over the counter and prescriptions. I tried being by myself. And I desperately tried talking myself down. Every. Single. Day!

We had no social life because I couldn't possibly go out with another couple let alone go be in public. Now there were good days, don't get me wrong, there were days that I felt almost normal. Almost. But never quite like I thought I should.

And I always just KNEW deep down inside of me that if I could stand face to face with this demon I could beat it down. If I could put a name and/or a face to it I could win this battle.
I tried, day after day to face the world and be like everyone else, failing miserably almost every day.
But I did have one thing going for me.... I never gave up. I never quit fighting this demon and I never totally let it have me.

Well, now the demon has a name, a face and a presence and this demon is going down. Educating myself has been key in understanding the cause and effect of the whole thing on the human mind. Medication helps, but I really believe just knowing that I'm not crazy, not stupid, not lazy, not any of those labels that I've lived with my whole life has been the turning point. Just knowing that there really isn't anything wrong with me and believing it. Realizing that this scattered, unorganized way of thinking and working is wonderful in and of itself.

My mind works differently than a lot of other people. Now I get that, and you know what? It's ok!
It's ok when I feel scattered. That's just my mind pinging around inside my head and trying out all of the ideas that run through like a freight train. Just knowing this lets me be able to stop that train, get off grab hold of those ideas and make some sense of the things around me.

I am very productive at work, always have been, but have never been the kind of employee that got along with all the other employees that didn't understand my brain style. I thought this was all my fault, and was led to believe that if only I'd "open my eyes" or "think before I act" everything would run smoother, but I couldn't. And I didn't know why, or how.

I certainly don't blame my former co-workers for not understanding my style of thinking and acting, how could they when I didn't? But now I do understand it, or am getting there. Now I know my trigger points, and I know how to re-route the train before it derails into whatever object I'm heading toward. I've learned and discovered strategies to deal with different situations that just 6 months ago would have sent me home hiding.

I now understand how to better keep my ducks in the same puddle so as to be as productive as possible, while maintaining the creative pinging that keeps me going.

And I'm not done yet. I'm still learning and trying different things on. I am now so much more comfortable with people that I don't dread going out in public. I'm still fairly quiet, and still shy but I'm not afraid any more. New situations stimulate my creative senses now, rather than send me into hiding. Changes in my routine don't send me spiraling down into the black hole anymore. And that is soooo cool!

And this year was the best fiber festival ever and I truly enjoyed it. And maybe, just maybe, someone will see this post, think of someone they know and maybe suggest that they do some research.

What Happened To My Summer?

This may be forever known as The Summer That Wasn't. The winter lasted forever, then we got a few weeks of spring, a few weeks of "hotter than hell" and then fall.

As luck would have it, lack of summer, also means lack of projects that were slated to be completed during the summer, didn't get done.

Let's revisit some of the projects that were supposed to get done, shall we?

Chicken pen to be enlarged? Nope.

Back deck steps and railings? Nope.

Barn painted? Nope.

Greenhouse? Major nope! (major bummer....)

What did get done?

On the farm.... Chickens raised and butchered.

That's about it!

Spent a lot of time on my bike touring Northern Michigan, and , OH YEAH!!! The Rockies!

Some friends, hubby and I took our motorcycles out to Colorado where we spent one glorious week riding our bikes around and through the great mountains (and myself, having dropped my bike on my foot resulting in a broken bone or two, hobbled along for the ride as it were).

Totally awesome!

But then as we drove back into Michigan, real life creeped back in. There was a garden that needed to be weeded, a house and farm to be maintained and critters that required attention. That and the Mouth decided to move to Alaska, but I'm not over that yet so....

So, the garden got weeded and the foot hurt.

The critters got maintained and the foot hurt.

The house and farm were revisited and the foot hurt. And it continues to hurt, despite the fact that it has been over 2 months and it should have healed by now. Just sayin....

The tomatoes have been canned, and the grapes and cabbages are next in line, but this weekend is the Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival, so in the kitchen playing with jars and canning lids is not where I want to be.

We have a new addition to the critter family. When The Mouth moved to Alaska she kind of forgot to take her dog with her. So guess who got her. "her" is a 4 year old boxer, the sweetest girl ever, very affectionate, loves to give hugs and kisses, and has a loveable goofy look about her. She's not the brightest crayon in the box, but she's nice and since I didn't want her to go to just anyone, we took her.

I've got two knitting projects I'm working on. The first is an awesome side to side knit vest from a new book by Interweave called Knitting Off The Axis. I'm using Knit Picks new Wool of the Andes Tweed in a purple heathery tweed. Sooo cool!

The second is a pair of socks with Noro's Silk Garden sock yarn. These ones will be warm. The first heel got turned today, and maybe tomorrow while at the Lamb and Wool Festival, I'll be able to finish it. Maybe. Still having arm issues, so have to take it easy but as long as I go slow, the knitting will still happen.

So that's all that's been happening. Looking forward to a color tour in a few weeks on the bikes, will be awesome!

Life is Good (and as if it needed to get any better... hockey season is starting!!!!!!)

The Summer That Wasn't!

This may be forever known as The Summer That Wasn't. The winter lasted forever, then we got a few weeks of spring, a few weeks of "hotter than hell" and then fall.

As luck would have it, lack of summer, also means lack of projects that were slated to be completed during the summer, didn't get done.

Let's revisit some of the projects that were supposed to get done, shall we?

Chicken pen to be enlarged? Nope.

Back deck steps and railings? Nope.

Barn painted? Nope.

Greenhouse? Major nope! (major bummer....)

What did get done?

On the farm.... Chickens raised and butchered.

That's about it!

Spent a lot of time on my bike touring Northern Michigan, and , OH YEAH!!! The Rockies!

Some friends, hubby and I took our motorcycles out to Colorado where we spent one glorious week riding our bikes around and through the great mountains (and myself, having dropped my bike on my foot resulting in a broken bone or two, hobbled along for the ride as it were).

Totally awesome!

But then as we drove back into Michigan, real life creeped back in. There was a garden that needed to be weeded, a house and farm to be maintained and critters that required attention. That and the Mouth decided to move to Alaska, but I'm not over that yet so....

So, the garden got weeded and the foot hurt.

The critters got maintained and the foot hurt.

The house and farm were revisited and the foot hurt. And it continues to hurt, despite the fact that it has been over 2 months and it should have healed by now. Just sayin....

The tomatoes have been canned, and the grapes and cabbages are next in line, but this weekend is the Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival, so in the kitchen playing with jars and canning lids is not where I want to be.

We have a new addition to the critter family. When The Mouth moved to Alaska she kind of forgot to take her dog with her. So guess who got her. "her" is a 4 year old boxer, the sweetest girl ever, very affectionate, loves to give hugs and kisses, and has a loveable goofy look about her. She's not the brightest crayon in the box, but she's nice and since I didn't want her to go to just anyone, we took her.

I've got two knitting projects I'm working on. The first is an awesome side to side knit vest from a new book by Interweave called Knitting Off The Axis. I'm using Knit Picks new Wool of the Andes Tweed in a purple heathery tweed. Sooo cool!

The second is a pair of socks with Noro's Silk Garden sock yarn. These ones will be warm. The first heel got turned today, and maybe tomorrow while at the Lamb and Wool Festival, I'll be able to finish it. Maybe. Still having arm issues, so have to take it easy but as long as I go slow, the knitting will still happen.

So that's all that's been happening. Looking forward to a color tour in a few weeks on the bikes, will be awesome!

Life is Good (and as if it needed to get any better... hockey season is starting!!!!!!)

Helping The People of Japan

Some of them have lost everything, including family members and we have so much! So, to help raise money, myself and my peeps over at the CraftGossip blogs are having auctions where 100% of the proceeds will go to the Salvation Army to help with relief efforts. I have 6 books over there, check out all of our auctions....

Today it's all About the Tomatoes!

Tomatoes are what's on my mind today. I even have my tomato red shirt on. Don't mind the fact that it's advertising some bar in Alaska, that's ok. It's my tomato shirt. My story...sticking to it... you know the drill.

I didn't get any tomatoes planted yesterday but today I will. I'll also get some cool new varieties ordered from the seed catalogs too. I will only buy from companies who have signed the Safe Seed Pledge. No GMO crap for me, there's enough toxins in the air and water, don't need to put it on my maters.

I do need to get back out to the barn and try to wade through some of the winter overflow. You know, the stuff that gets thrown in the corner to get it out of the way, to be dealt with later? Yeah, it's later! Next two days are supposed to bring rain and mid 40 temps, we'll lose a lot of snow then.

And, since most of last night involved taking my bike over to the bike fix it guy (and resulting grease and dirt on my hands) no knitting took place last night. Tonight, however, there is a Red Wings game on, so knitting will occur!

Life is Good!

I'm Over It! Time To Start Over....

I am sooo over this cold. It had it's day (week) and then came back for round 2. No! No round 2!
Jumped out of bed (crawled, whining and crying) with renewed ambition.
Spring is right around the corner, and someone has to whip this farm into shape. This year will be the year of the farm!
Yup! This year the farm will start to pay for itself.

And my first act is to get the chickens in shape. Have to wait a bit for some of the 1.5' of snow remaining to melt, but with temps in the 40's this week, plus rain coming that will help. The chicken pen needs to be enlarged. We set the posts last fall and then someone who shall remain nameless saw fit to break his leg and ankle, sending us down a 5 month road to nothing getting done. I have to go to Home Depot, maybe today and see what kind of netting or hardware cloth I can get (cheap) to drape over the top of the chicken pen. Yesterday I hacked enough ice away from the door of the coop so that I could pen them in again. Pen them in at night, let them out during the day. At least until I get a "lid" on the pen so they can stay in there.

I can't go to the Tractor Supply Store yet, (because they have baby chix) and I can never resist those. Especially since I want to get turkeys again this year.
I'm torn between my chickens. On one hand I wanted all of one breed (did the research and figured that for eggs and meat, in this climate, buffs were best, so I bought a bunch of them last year, they would lay and give me eggs and more little birdies, but on the other hand, it looks kind of cool to have all different kinds of chickens, all shapes and colors, running around. So I'll wait a week or so to visit the Tractor Store, then probably come back with more chickens than I need.

In the knitting arena, I'm still working on a mohair cowl made from Aloft (Knit Picks). I got the yarn to try out, and Clover USA was totally cool enough to send me their new line of bamboo interchangeables from Takumi to try out. I LOVE them, but I knew I would. I'm all about wooden and bamboo needles. I have the Addi Clicks and the Denise set, but even though they "click" into place and the others "screw", I prefer the bamboo. Easier on these old, arthritic, farmer hands. They have just enough "grab" to keep the stitches in place while my stiffer than they should be hands and fingers have a chance to work the stitches. Anyway, the pattern is just a long rectangle with a herringbone stitch. Totally cool stitch pattern, but it's not one of those mindless patterns. Have to watch every stitch. But it's almost done, then a picture.

So, for today, after work, I'll get into town and do some grocery shopping, then come home and put Bu-Dawgh's trolley back up. I have a run for him, from the cabin to the barn, but last year during haying season, the trolley broke and never got put back up. That will get done today, as well as planting more tomatoes.

Going to set up my Ebay shop again too, lots and lots of stuff I can get rid of to make room for living as well as make some money to buy more yarn, I mean to get stuff paid off!

My bike is on the trailer, ready to go to the bike doctor. It needs a few fine tune ups, to survive our Ride in the Rockies this summer. If hubby doesn't go fishing tonight, we'll take that over.

Life is Good!

Outside My Window

I see snowflakes gently spitting around. There's snow on the ground and it's cold! Making ice cold. Well, ok, it's not like it's really all that cold, but you don't wanna be caught out there without a coat, some gloves and nice boots.
Also there's a plume of smoke. This morning bright and early I went out and gathered up all of the sticks left over from the last windstorm, the ones I could pick up anyway, a lot of them are already frozen in, but everything I can get cleaned up now, will be less to do in the spring. Also, there are some garden leftovers in there. Still left to do outside today is get the grill moved up by the house and get another skidder of wood.

Hubby went in to work, he'll have help there today, so maybe he can get things back on track. He sure is frustrated not being able to do much.

Outside my window there is also a plethora of roosters, too many for the hens I have, so soon I will put one of them in the oven. Can't butcher all of them as the freezers are still full from butchering the steers and also from deer season. And ice fishing season looms.
Mmmmm, nothing like blue gills through the ice, which now that I think about it, will make a nice dinner tonight.

Throughout the winter I'll butcher the roosters one at a time as I need them, until I have only 2 left, that will make a nice ratio and ensure babies in the spring.
I also have one hen who thinks shes a cat. Go figure, I'd have a strange critter. She sleeps in the window wells and up in the hay loft with the cats. She doesn't hang with the other chickens at all, but it's ok I guess, the others are content to be locked up in the hen house at night, but she sleeps out with the cats. Whatever.

Still working on my shawl, got a lot more done yesterday and will knit a bunch today too. Next will be a cowl, big enough to pull over my head for a hood. Would be awesome if I could make one out of Quiviet, but probably no go. I do, however, have some angora sport weight that will work nicely.

Ok, back at it! Gotta get the fish out of the freezer to start thawing, and go see if I can start the skid steer.

Winter Is Here

Winter in the Northwoods has finally arrived.
I'm sitting here, drinking my coffee, watching the snow fall (the same snow I'll see again in April or May) and just loving winter.
So many summer projects didn't make the cut. My big autumn project (greenhouse) didn't make the cut either but that's ok.
My arms are better so I can knit again, and with the continued pileup of the white stuff on the ground, I can make my goat paths again.

Up here some say it "snows every day". And mostly it does. Sometimes it's just a few flakes falling from the sky, and other times, look out! Today? A few flakes falling. Since we're supposed to be getting snow throughout the weekend, we should have a bit of a pile up by then.

Must get my sled running. Last winter it seized up and hubby has to fix it. He also has to tear down my bike and fix that motor too. And, he has to get all healed up from the nasty fall he took while hunting out in Wyoming (and the subsequent surgery to fix the ankle that resembled a jig saw puzzle). It will be awhile! But he'll get it done, and then I can ride.

Currently I'm knitting a shawl in the most gorgeous colorway of Aurucania you've ever seen! It's more of an autumn colorway, with the browns, greens, oranges, yellows, but it sure is pretty.

And, since it's getting a bit chilly in here, I shouuld probably get the stove going again!

More Corn Crib

We've been building a corn crib. (And when I say "we", actually this time it's hubby).

This is where we'll store the corn until we can grind it for the steers and chickens.

What's with the 76 sign in the background? Well if you've followed my blog for any time, you know that I'm a scrounger. While looking for a top for my baby chicken pen which is 6x6 we came across this at an auction. It was on a "just take it" trailer, so we did! It fits perfectly. Let's light in. Keeps rain out. And keeps critters out.

It's been beautiful up here this last week, all the reds, oranges, yellows and the stark greens of the pines and cedars. Beautiful. Can't walk in the woods cause it's bow season, but I can walk on my property, which is 9 acres of just about every color you can imagine!

This weekend I will likely take one day (saturday) and scour the countryside for old apple trees to make my applesauce and apple butters. Sunday we are riding! My Colorado brother will be here and hubby and I and my brother along with an undecided number of friends will take a bike trip over to the west side of the state to see the colors over there. Not that they're any different from here, but when he comes in October we like to ride around and look. This weather won't last long and from here it's all down hill.

The garden is pretty much put away for the summer, although I still have to dig the potatoes.

My two knitting projects are progressing, have 2 baby sweaters due in a month or so. Yikes!

Sometimes my arms hurt so much I can't knit, but they're going to hurt anyway, so on days when it's not too bad.....

Lots and lots of fall projects. There's a hole in the chix coop floor, have to get that fixed, finish the enlargement of the chicken pen, get another pen ready for 2 new steer calves coming to live with us in a week or so, finish up a few projects that I started and never finished due to my weird summer. Among these projects is one I like to call "steps on the back deck". It's fun to jump from the deck to the ground, and it tests my athletic ability to try to hit the big stones, but it's not good when the ground is covered in slippery stuff. Have to get the screens out of the windows, washed and put away for the winter... I don't know how people who don't farm keep busy! If I didn't have this place to tend to, I'd be so bored, I'd probably have to go buy a farm or something!

Tonight there might not be a lot of "stuff getting done" as it being Wednesday and all, I might find myself partaking of the ale down at the local watering hole!

Under 2.00 a Pound!

The steers, Salt (shown right) and Pepper(left) are both nestled snugly in my freezer, and hubby's taxidermy freezer, and my mom's freezer, and the neighbors freezer. Holy S%^&*(!!
2 Steers is a lot of little packages to try to fit even in a big chest freezer that's mostly cleaned out.

Next time hubby decides he wants to go play with his friends and it's "pick up the steers from the butcher" day, JUST SAY NO!!

Here's how I got to my "under 2 bucks a pound" figure.

500 bucks for processing, roughly 600 for grain, 200 for the calves themselves, 100 for the milk replacer, and 300 for miscellaneous expenses (fencing, salt blocks, baling twine for the hay, feeders, castration, gas for the tractors, beer, electricity for the fencers...) that figure is probably low.

I have in my possession 1280 lbs of meat. So I did a bit of simple division (yeah, ok, I used the calculator) and came up with somewhere around 1.32 a pound. Since the 300 for miscellaneous is likely quite low I rounded up.

Before you get all "but I pay 6 and 7.00 a pound in the store" on me, let me tell you, we grow our own grain and hay. All of our feed and hay is organic, and we do all the work ourselves. These little boys take 2 years to grow to butchering weight. If you had to pay for grain, hay and veterinary care as well as routine maintenance (they do like to have food and water on a daily basis) it adds up.

So that's done for the year.

Seems we got only about 5 roosters in this latest batch of chicks, cool! So we'll cook them up one at a time as we need them, through the winter. I'll keep one to hopefully have babies in the spring. That was my rationale when buying one breed, to keep the flock going so I wouldn't have to buy them every year. Hopefully that little investment will pay off. I got Buff Orphingtons, a nice size bird, definitely large enough to provide a nice dinner, good layers and hardy through the winter.

More tomatoes to do. A neighbor says he's got all he wants from his garden and the rest are mine. YAY!! Soup, sauce, salsa, or just stewed tomatoes, don't know what they will end up as yet. I was going to freeze these ones to save myself a bit of time, but the freezers appear to be a bit... um... full of steers.

Plan B - can tomatoes instead of freezing them.

My baby sweaters are coming along - got a new granddaughter due mid November and another nephew about the same time. A few months ago I started to notice that my arms were hurting quite a lot. I'm a farmer. This isn't acceptable. Went to the doctor. Went to the specialist. Did all the tests. Tendinitis, likely brought on by too much knitting. Wait! What???? Too much knitting? A knitting injury? Really???

So now I either have to live with the pain, not knit or try to remember to knit "the new way" that doesn't move my arms a lot and cause too many problems. Seems to be the only solution. The only problem with that is that it's a bit cumbersome. Kind of like trying to type with my toes (I'm guessing, really, I haven't tried it). I begged the doctor to give me some mysterious diagnosis just for the respect thing. I mean if I told people I couldn't knit because I had a knitting injury, well, lets just say I've been the recipient of the "sideways look" before. But the best she could come up with was tendinitis due to too much knitting.

Also trying to get myself back into my groove. My Dad was sick for a long time. My mom, daughter and I took care of him until he died at home, just 2 short weeks ago. While that didn't throw me quite as much as I expected, it did throw me that it didn't throw me. Go figure, that's me, give me something to over analyze and I'll go to town!

Well, now I find myself with more time on my hands. Trying to get moved back into my house (the last couple of weeks of his life, I pretty much lived over at his and my mom's house), trying to clean between the edges... stuff like that. Hubby was awesome in keeping up with laundry and dishes.. even swept the floor, it kind of scared me.

And now I have time to decorate for holidays again!

Along that line I had youngest son bring up 2 or 3 bales of hay from the barn to put on the front porch for my "autumn display". They're still in the yard. Seems like when you're blessed with a batch of extra time, there's a whole lotta stuff just waiting in the wings to fill that void. Oh well, I will get them on the porch, get my scarecrows and pumpkins (to be displayed for awhile, then canned for pies in the winter) out, and Halloween and thanksgiving decorations put up. Likely just in time to take them down for Christmas.

Life is Good, and on the farm, it's never boring!!