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Yes, I do still craft things…

Ack, I thought I had already posted this. Durr. Apparently not.

So, I make stuff!

A few weeks ago, now, Mom had to have her gallbladder out. Not a huge deal, but long and sore. As an early Xmas gift to make her happy, and to make her feel better about the house for for turkey day while G’ma is visiting, I made her this.

A pair of slip covers in duck cloth, for the couch. One of the upper cushions and one for the lower cushions. She’s wanted one for *years* but they’re expensive. So I made one (and another one ready to make for her b-day). Super simple, 4.5yds of fabric.

I also recently finished a hat. Knit. Super simple. From my own handspun yarn. Merino. In an almost black maroon merino with blue flecks.

I need to make more things with my own yarn. I like it. It’s fun.

In other news… Happy Thanksgiving to my U.S. readers. Happy Thursday to my non-U.S. readers! We got up early and got things going. And now, the cranberry sauce (fresh, not jellied) is made, the green jello (with pineapple and cream cheese) is set, the turkey’s in the oven, the gravy’s stewing, and the stuffing’s in! Just rolls/biscuits, and mashed potatoes left (and slicing up homemade pickles, putting out olives, etc).

~The Gnome
Fae

Of Chickens and Injury…

Two weekends ago, we moved this.

Lifting

It is a chicken house, and this is after Dad and I started to lift it up so we could start moving it. Moving it, we decided, would be easier with wheels. It weighs… something around 1300ish pounds. Very very heavy.

So we put on wheels!

wheels!

Wheel!

Unfortunately, our first attachment wasn’t strong enough and they came off. Doh! So we tried another method and…

We’re off! Just pretend it’s a handpushed train car. The tracks are how we moved it, the plywood allowed for the 90 degree turn into the gate (and again once it was in the gate).

On the way

Once we finally had it in place, we had to get it off the wheels and extra boards and onto cinder blocks (because the dirt it’s on is soft and will likely sink with chicken scratching and water).

Almost done

And then, level it all… and… DONE!

Done

And yesterday, our new baby chickens came in! Buff Orpingtons (gold ones) and Bard Rocks (black ones)!

Chicks!

All together now… AWWWwwww!

The one sad part of this whole thing was that I was an idiot. I did this whole moving thing… in my flip flops. This was dumb, because inherently at some point something’s going to go wrong. Of course it did, and I had to lift/shove that 1300lbs more than once. Doh. Which I didn’t think about the time, but by the next day I realized what I’d done…

Pulled my plantar fascia. Ow ow ow. Acute plantar fasciitis! Ow! Taking forever to heal, which sucks (two weeks in, only somewhat better). Trying to keep it stretched enough to keep walking without tearing it further. Massaging it frequently. Trying to stay off it.

Do not want! Yay for dumb.

That’s all for now! Will try to get an update up early next week. Got quite a bit to put up. Fiber, yarn, whee!

~The Gnome
Gnome

Best Invention Ever

The ice cream maker.

Not just ’cause it makes ice cream. In fact I haven’t been using it to make ice cream…

It’s summer… and summer means fruits and veggies such as, cantaloupe!

I mentioned it before but I did it again last night. Slightly different recipe this time. My own concoction.

The first batch was Cantaloupe/Lime/Mint
1/2 Large Cantaloupe
6+ Tablespoons good lime juice
~1/4c chopped mint
1 1/4c Simple Syrup

This one was Cantaloupe/Cranberry/Lime different, but also very tasty. I’m so getting myself one of these when I have my own place. It’s awesome! And so healthy, just make simple syrup and after that everything just goes in the blender to taste and then the ice cream maker. So there’s about 3/4 of a cup of sugar in an entire batch of dessert. Not bad!

Sorbet

1/2 Large Cantaloupe
~1/2c Cranberry Juice (Cranberry, not cocktail, not with water)
~1/4c Lime
1c Simple Syrup

Nom nom

Also been making progress on weaving the scarf.

~The Gnome
Fae

Inch By Inch, Row By Row…

Gonna make this garden grow.
Gonna mulch it deep and low.
Gonna make it fertile ground…

Pullin’ weeds and pickin’ stones
We are made of dreams and bones
Need a place to call my own
‘Cause the time is close at hand…

We have two vegetable gardens this year. One at home, which has been repeatedly nommed by groundhogs, an insistent deer, bugs, and something else, but has still managed to keep growing and producing. And we have a second vegetable garden at the public gardens. The public gardens are new in this location and so are a little weedier than an established garden, but otherwise it’s been great. We’ve got lots of stuff growing and I’ve made a lot of stir fries and goulash sorts of things with the kohlrabi, chard, beets, peppers, and tomatoes.

A few nights ago, Mom and I made a batch of dill pickles (Grandma’s recipe!) and yesterday I picked this…

Harvest

Our third cantaloupe of the season (two varieties, this is the less totally awesome one), some more cukes, the first carrots we’ve picked, a TON of cherry tomatoes, and a fair bunch of “normal” tomatoes.

So for dinner I made pasta capreze. Our tomatoes, our basil, our chives. In the old days it would have been my home made cheese too.

Capreze

And for dessert… sorbet! Sorry, didn’t get a good photo of that.

Mmmm sorbet. Cantaloupe, mint, lime. Fantastalicious and refreshing. And a great use for a cantaloupe with really nice flavor but not as firm a texture as we like.

Ok, that’s it for now!

~The Gnome
Fae

Now we are six.

When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five, I was just alive.
But now I am Six, I’m as clever as clever,
So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.

Part of being an adult is being able to admit when you can’t.

I do not like this part of being an adult.

I do not like the word “can’t” very much at all. It makes me cranky and obstinate, rather like a donkey which will not go somewhere simply because you’re trying to lead him there.

But nonetheless, it is sometimes necessary, and right now, I can’t. ::sighs::

The balance has been lost. It needs to be regained, which may require a trip into Mordor, but it must be done.

So, shop updates will be a little less frequent. I will not be accepting any new commissions until the one I have, outstanding projects, agreements, and the trades that still aren’t done have been completed. At that point, things will be reevaluated, but I will also be writing my dissertation by that point, which means I will be applying for jobs and, hopefully, interviewing.

But anyway, I did get a little done.

I got these made… or rather, remade. It turned out one of the findings I had gotten was substandard and shed bits all over the place. So I remade these carnelian stitch markers. And because it took me so bloody long, I also made a pair of Leopardskin Jasper ones to go with them.

Carnelian and Leopardskin

And these leopardskin ones as a bonus for a recent large order.

Leopardskin

Also, for the shop…

Fire ripples and glows along the slowly burning wood, creating waves in the air as the heat warms your skin. The fire is burning long and low now, the colors deeper, richer, the coals glowing deceptively welcoming…

Into the Fire – 1oz – 50/50 Cashmere/Tussah Silk – Combed Top

Into the Fire

Into the Fire

Into the Fire

Into the Fire

Capturing the sheen and depth of this fiber is really hard in photographs.

I also have some silk and some merino/angora drying as we speak.

In other news… LOOM!

I actually got this loom on tuesday. But only just got it unloaded. My living room is exploding. I need to clean the bedroom so Ash can move in there. Also this guy needs some cleaning, and I put the beater bar on the wrong direction. Easily fixed.

It’s a 20″ Hammett counterbalance floor loom. 4 treadle, 4 harness. It’s quite lovely, just needs some cleaning and to be re-hung, which I think I can do. I do think that full love of it will have to wait a bit though, as I need to rehang things and get/make a ratchet advance lever for the front beam. And before that, I have other projects that need to be taken care of. No big deal. It’s pretty!

New Loom

::grins::

Ok, back to working on this paper. Stupid yeast didn’t grow last night, making today paper day instead of tomorrow.

~The Gnome
Gnome