Prairie Handmade

Big Boy

2012-02-15T18:27:00.000-08:00

Quick post to show how Barney has grown. He has lost most of the dark coloring and is developing the long coat. His teeth are hurting sometimes as the adult ones make their way in, but overall, he's a happy playful little guy. We are both eager for warmer days and lots of long walks together.

Cinnamon Rolls - First Attempt

2012-02-01T12:25:00.000-08:00

Learning to make homemade bread has been great, but it has also been a slippery slope. Why not try pizza dough? (Terrific and thick!). How about cinnamon rolls?

Today I took the next leap and explored making my own sweet bread rolls. Where was Barney during all of this? He's such a big boy now that I can leave him with the big dogs, sleeping happily in the sun, and I can move around the house with much more ease.

The cinnamon rolls start like bread. I warmed yeast and mixed flour with a few ingredients just like bread dough. I added more sugar than usual though, which makes sense for a sweet treat. After an hour long rise time, I rolled the dough out into a rectangle. Then I added chopped walnuts plus a sweet sticky concoction that I prepared in a sauce pan. It started getting messy.

Next I rolled the dough up into a log with the sweet part in the center. Flour was everywhere, and sweet stuff was trickling out the ends. Fun ! Finally when I had a nice log roll, I used a knife to cut it into slices. These slices were placed on a cookie sheet and left to rise for about 15 minutes. Here is what they looked like at this point:

All that was left to do was the baking - 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I watched carefully so that I didn't burn the bottoms. Once done, I tried adding a topping of heated maple syrup and cinnamon, but it just rolled off so I'll skip that next time. Why add more calores LOL.

Here is the final view:

Next time I think I'll add in some whole wheat flour, and look around for a thicker topping to add to some of them. Readers - let me know if you have a good recipe for a topping !

Barney the Chihuahua : Update

2012-01-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

December is a blur as all the holiday activities blended with the potty training routines for our new puppy. The good news is we all survived, had some fun, and Barney has learned that if he barks and runs to the door, I'll smile and go outside with him. This evening after dinner we went out about 5 times - in a row. Who is trained now?

Here are some recent shots of the little guy. He turned 4 months old last week and his coat is changing texture and color, so I wanted to document how he looks today.

Bread Making

2011-12-13T14:11:00.000-08:00

Colder weather finds me looking for ways to fire up the oven more frequently. Today I made a loaf of bread, experimenting with adding almond extract and poppy seeds. The results were delicious, and the house not only warmed up, but also had a lovely smell all afternoon.

Here are a progression of pictures, showing the dough and the loaf as they rose, and finally the baked results.

Holiday Lights

2011-12-11T16:45:00.001-08:00

I put out some solar powered butterfly lights today. I thought they would add a wonderful bit of sparkle to my resting flower bed. The dried zinnia stems make great holders. I hope it snows before a big wind comes along and wrecks my arrangement. I'll take a picture of that if we get a nice snow.

Happy Holidays !

Barney continues to grow and learn. Here's his sweet face...

Sleeping Puppy

2011-12-03T20:22:00.001-08:00

We have had Barney, the chihuahua, for two weeks now. He is really a good puppy ! We sleep through the night, which seems good with an 11 week old pup. Crate training, and getting the dobermans used to him is also going well. I have to go outside for potty breaks, in the cold, more than I'd prefer, but Barney is really catching on to the family routines nicely so I should not complain.

Here's Barney in one of his beds. I finally found something that fit him nicely, and he has taken to it perfectly.

As you can see, he likes fleece blankets and rubber chew toys. That yellow thing is supposed to be a stick. I put food down the middle and he just loves to dig it out. Here's one more puppy picture, taken by a friend.

awwww.. Cute Puppy !!

2011-11-22T15:01:00.001-08:00

As promised, here is Barney's first little film. He is sitting next to me right now, all tuckered out from a big day. He discovered shoe laces, hard plastic crates, the world outside the patio area, and that big black dobermans like to play with him !

I discovered that it isn't so easy to hang laundry on the line with a little fur ball running around my feet. I guess we all need to do some adapting !

Enjoy the film !

Barney Eats

2011-11-21T16:28:00.001-08:00

My blog will probably have a few pictures of Barney for awhile. Today he ate from his brand new thrift store ceramic food bowl. Yum !

Plus, he went to the vet for his very first visit. Barney was deemed perfectly healthy, then got his first round of puppy shots. He weighed in at 2.4 pounds ! The ride in the car went well. He's such a brave little guy. Now he is enjoying a wonderful nap as he sits in the chair next to me.

I also shot a few short movies of him that I hope to post soon. I'll bet Barney never expected to have so much media coverage !

A New Dog !

2011-11-19T03:36:00.001-08:00

Quite suddenly I find my heart and arms full of a little bundle of puppiness. This is Barney !

He is a sweet little boy, just 8 weeks 3 days old. We will both be spending the next few weeks figuring out how to get along. It will be interesting, challenging, and all the fun I could ask for.

Snowflakes

2011-11-11T18:12:00.001-08:00

Here is a short video I made, using pictures of my crocheted snowflakes.

I hope it gets you in the holiday spirit !!

Cloudy Day Electricity

2011-11-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

One tool we use more frequently during the winter season is our gasoline fueled generator.It sits, patiently waiting, all summer long. Then, when the days are shorter and the clouds block the sun more frequently, it becomes a key part of our life at the farm.

Our electricity comes from wind and solar power, and our large battery bank holds about 2-3 days worth of saved power. This post explains a few details of our system. During the warm sunny Colorado seasons, I can use all the power I want. However, during the winter, the wind does not always blow, the sun is lower on the horizon and it is often blocked by clouds. So a bit more planning has to be done to be power smart.

Different decisions need to be made during the winter months. Heavy use activities like laundry, dish washing, and vacuuming, are done earlier in the day. That ensures that the system has time to create more power during the day to keep the batteries topped off by evening. By late afternoon we take a battery reading, and if they have not refilled sufficiently, we run the generator for awhile. It is very invigorating visiting the generator on those cold early evenings, which perhaps keeps us healthier too !

Having the generator ready to go is also reassuring from the perspective of available back up power. In the event that something might fail in our overall energy system, the generator would provide emergency power for short durations of time.

♪ Settling In for Winter ♪

2011-10-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

The days are shorter, the temperature is colder, and the garden is done for the season. Carla and Oz, our doberman dogs, enjoy sitting in the sun, dreaming about chasing bunnies and warm summer days.

Oz is red, Carla is black. They are brother and sister. The little birds right outside the window fascinate them, but bunnies are really their favorite to scout and chase.

Snow settled on Colorado this week. It didn't mess around either. Our area got about 6", while neighboring towns got up to a foot. Our oak tree had already lost its leaves, but other local limbs fell on power lines, impacting electricity and internet connections for a day.

So it is time for pumpkin bread, soup from frozen vegetables, and hot drinks. The chickens are still trying to figure out the new temperatures. They don't seem to want to lay many eggs when it is cold. Hopefully they will get back to it again once they understand the situation.

For me, I think it is time to start knitting hats and crocheting decorative snowflakes. I'll add these items to my etsy shop in the coming weeks. I hope to see you there ! Stay warm everyone.

༺ Garden Treats ༻

2011-08-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

Besides having cantaloupe everyday, we are eating, freezing and canning bounty from our garden. One favorite is salsa, which I make from garden tomatoes, onions, and hot peppers. Here are the tomatoes that will go into the next batch !

My 15 plants are just starting to produce. At the same time the tomatoes were turning orange, I had a few days of struggle with hornworms.

Each morning, as I was watering, I had to search the tomato stems for worms. These fellows can strip the leaves off the plants really fast. Luckily, they seem to be fewer in number now, so my tomato plants should thrive for the rest of the season.

The nights are getting cooler, the plants are getting crunchier, and the horn worms are moving on! Yeah for Summer Bounty!

❤ Honey Day ❤

2011-08-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

Last week we took the plunge and extracted honey from our bee hives. The bees have kept to themselves for the most part, since they came to the farm a few years ago. I grow flowers for them, and faithfully put out water for them every day. They chose this blue dog bowl as their favorite watering hole. So with much anticipation, we borrowed the necessary tools from our local bee association, and set out to see what the bees have been making in their hives.

The extraction site included buckets, a hot blade, an extraction tank with motor, towels, and a suit to visit the bees in. Here's the work area before we started.

My work included scraping the frames, spinning them in the extractor, and changing the bucket when it filled with honey. The frames have two sides of combs. Each side needed to be shaved with the hot blade to remove the wax cap over the honey filled cells. Once both sides were exposed, the frames went into the extraction tank.

The tank holds 4 frames. They rest in a big wire cage, so that when the extractor is turned on and spins, the honey drips down into the tank and comes out of the spigot.

We used a strainer to filter out any wax that make it through. The liquid gold was so beautiful as it poured out !! The last step was to put honey into smaller containers. Here's a picture of the final product.

The effort was really worth it. The honey tastes fantastic. I'll use it in my granola recipe and we will enjoy it in all kinds of other foods and recipes. Thanks honey bees !

༺ Zinnea & Violin ༻

2011-08-09T17:19:00.001-07:00

As the long hot days of summer continue, I'm active with gardening as well as learning to play the violin. It isn't unusual to have a daily salad this time of year full of goodness such as fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots. The cantaloupe and watermelon are getting ripe too ! In addition to the vegetables, I also planted some flowers. The bees enjoy them and so do I ! Here is a picture of some zinnea flowers that I grew from seeds I saved last year.

Later in the day when it is too hot to be outside anymore, I turn to the violin. I get music ideas from a few online violin tutors I follow. Recently I heard about a song called "The Lover's Waltz".

I decided to try playing it after hearing how lovely it was. YouTube is a great resource, and here is one version of this piece that is a good one to follow along with. The melody gets stuck in your head, so listen at your own risk !!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer season.

♪ Large Moth ♪

2011-07-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

This time of year I'm usually watching for rattlesnakes, so it was a pleasant surprise to see this large moth instead. It was trying to stay in the shade during the hot part of the day, finding a nice spot under our deck to rest.

The moth probably measured between 4 to 5 inches long. It was a large one ! I saw it from inside at first, and for a second thought it was a bat hanging on the screen.

By morning it was long gone. I enjoyed seeing something unusual and interesting.

༺ Lightening Damages Turbine ༻

2011-06-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here on the farm we generate electricity for ourselves using solar panels and wind power. Recently our wind generator suffered a near hit from lightening, which required lowering the turbine and troubleshooting the issue.

Here's our wonderful turbine, made by the Bergey company.

The storm was a fast one, but did apparently produce a lightening strike close enough to the Bergey to impact the electronics inside. Luckily, the components protected themselves just as they were designed to do. Up the 104 foot tower, the turbine suddenly started turning very very slowly. This was the sign that something was not working properly.

In order to diagnose the problem, we had to use the 30 foot gin pole to assist with the lowering of the turbine to the ground. This is always a little scary to do, but the few times we've done it there have been no problems. The process involves anchoring one of the four sets of wires to the bobcat instead of the ground anchor, then allowing the turbine to lower away from the bobcat side. The bobcat slowly moves forward until the pole comes to rest on awaiting supports which hold it just off the ground, allowing the turbine to be worked on.

Once the turbine is available to examine, we discovered there were some broken parts inside. The Bergey company was very helpful in explaining what the parts were, and very quickly shipped us some replacements (2 gas tube arresters, at $3.50 each). These little parts attach between the frame and the recifier, which converts the wild 3 phase to DC power (so I was told). I guess these parts were affected by the storm and died doing their job protecting the other components of the system. While the turbine was down, we also took the opportunity to clean it up and give the blades a new coat of black paint.

What I missed most while the turbine was down was the ability to look up and instantly see which way the wind was coming from. This knowledge helps me with deciding which windows to open in the evening to cool the house down. It gets to be vary habit forming !

To raise the turbine back up after the repairs, we pull with the bobcat on the south side, leveraging the gin pole to the ground while lifting the full tower up to position. 3 of the 4 sets of wires (north, east and west) rise up slowly to support the whole thing. My main job was to watch the wires for any problems, and keep alert for any snakes in the area. Luckily we didn't encounter any of those. After securing the south wires back to the ground, it was quite a relief to see the Bergey spinning again.

♪ The Chicks are Growing ♪

2011-06-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Our six chickens are growing up so fast ! I would call them teenagers now. They are busy exploring their world, discovering bugs and miller moths. With all that food, they are building strength to lay eggs later this year.

This group is particularly friendly. When I am out in the garden they come up to the fence and talk to me. They cluck peacefully and really seem to enjoy my company. I certainly appreciate taking a break from my weeding chores to visit with them !

We have been lucky over the years that our chickens have not been attacked by coyotes or foxes. The only time we had a problem was with a raccoon, which was odd since we had never seen a raccoon before that incident, or after. Coyotes are much more visible to us as they trot by the barn.

Let's all hope these chickens live a long and productive life !

༺ Spring is For Growing ༻

2011-06-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

This spring has been about the nicest one I can remember. The cool sunny days and ample moisture are turning all my plants so green ! My zinnia seeds are sprouting, soon to bring lots of flowers for the bees.

Another favorite flower in my garden is the gaillardia. Here is a dew drenched first bloom of the season.

Here is an update on the asparagus I planted. I watched and watched, hoping the tubers would produce something. One day I even dug up a tuber to be sure it was still there. It had roots sprouting, so I replanted and waited some more. Well, a few days ago I was weeding the area and was happy to see a few delicate asparagus ferns.

They grew really quickly ! I love the bright green color and the soft look these asparagus have.

What's growing in your garden this spring?

♪ Antelope Antics ♪

2011-06-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

Two antelope bucks have been passing by our house this week. They slowly walk around, stopping to rub their antlers on rabbit brush bushes and fence posts to mark their territory. We have been enjoying their visits, and I was able to take a few pictures this morning.

They were never close enough to get them in the same picture, but my old Sony Mavica got a few good pictures anyway. Enjoy !

♪ The Birds Are Back ♪

2011-05-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

Here's wishing you a happy, sunny springtime ! In our yard one special meadowlark has decided to adopt us. Here are a few pictures of her foraging on our property:

༺ New in the Garden ༻

2011-05-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

This year Spring has been slow in coming. Colorado has been chilly and windy. However, on the days I could get into the garden, I've planted a few seeds and these wonderful new plants: Asparagus !

These plants involve a commitment, because it takes a few years to get the bed established. I needed to dig a trench in the row, place the crowns, then cover them lightly with soil. As they grow this year I'm supposed to continue covering the young sprouts. By season's end the original roots are supposed to be about 5" below grade. So they require some pampering to get started, but if all goes as planned, in years ahead we'll have tender asparagus sprouts to enjoy each spring.

My other garden focus has been planning to get this &*%*&*# tomato plant out of the house. As you have read, we experimented with bringing a potted tomato plant in for the winter. Well, it was an experiment I probably won't repeat.

While we did get a handful of little delicious tomatoes to enjoy, we also got little bugs in the deal. The plant sits in front of a south facing window, and the little flying bugs congregate on the top of the window on warm days. I have to use a rag to capture and remove the little devils. Whew, I'll be glad to get this plant into the garden soon. I think I'll be fighting the bugs for the summer, but it was worth it to have the fresh tomatoes on cold snowy days. Next year I hope to have an outdoor greenhouse to run the experiment in !

It is nice out today, so I'll head out now to water the rows and add a few more early seeds to the beds.

❤ Blog Reader Special Discount Code ❤

2011-04-27T08:38:00.001-07:00

etsy.com is an online buying & selling spot, yet it is so much more. With all the many talented people spenting time on etsy, it is also a wonderful place to get creative ideas. For example, do you need a gift for an upcoming birthday celebration? etsy is full of birthday gift ideas on their interactive buying page.

As an etsy seller, sometimes I wonder what is selling, or what other people are listing. How can I explore those questions? Easy, I visit the Time Machine. Since sellers on etsy seem to spend time making their product's pictures enticing, look through them is a real treat. On other selling sites pictures are expensive to include, which makes etsy special because they allow sellers to use 5 pictures as part of the listing fee (20 cents). This gives buyers the ability to see products from many angles, in artistic poses, and everything in between.

I just wanted to celebrate etsy a bit this week on my blog. So if you haven't explored etsy.com yet, give it a try ! Within a few clicks you'll wonder why it took you so long to visit.

Blog Reader Special: Thanks for reading my blog. If you find something in my etsy shop that interests you, it is my pleasure to offer blog readers a 10% discount. Just enter this code BLOG10PERCENT during the checkout process and the item's price will be discounted before you make payment. This Reader Special is valid until May 29th, 2011.

♪ The Chicks are Here ♪

2011-04-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

A sure sign of Spring is the appearance of cute baby animals. Our farm is no exception!

These chicks are a variety called Barred Rock. They will be grey striped chickens when they get older, including having strikingly pretty red combs. We had one chicken like this years ago, and I remember her fondly. I'm excited we now have 6 chickens of the same type. She was a good egg layer, although sometimes she picked a spot under a wood pile to put her treasure. Maybe it was because the other chickens picked on her, who knows.

These chicks came to us very young, only 2 days old. They need to have a heat lamp over their pen so that they stay warm enough as they grow. We try to talk to them and pick them up daily, so they get used to our voices and our hands coming near. That makes gathering eggs later much more pleasant for everyone involved.

By the Fall we should start getting eggs from these chicks. If all goes well, happy chickens usually lay one egg per day. I can't wait ! It is difficult to have to buy eggs once you experience gathering them yourself.

༺ Beautiful Flower ༻

2011-03-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

This week I was pleased to see that my Christmas Cactus has decided to bloom again. It feels like a good preview of the summer flowers coming in a few months. Here is how the bud looked just as it started to open. There were originally two buds, but for some reason one fell to the table.

Now the flower is in full splendor. It looks so lush and tropical. I just did a bit of research online and found out that these plants originated from the forests of Brazil. This last shot is my favorite. That flower is so amazing, with all the layers of petals !!In time, I hope this plant continues to grow and produce more beautful flowers !

༺ Thinking About Gardening ༻

2011-03-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

As the sun warms the days, my mind is turning to thoughts of the upcoming gardening season. I reviewed my 2010 notes, remembering when I started planting, the wind and hail that took tender early crops, and the successful pumpkin vines. What will this year bring?

We are still enjoying food from last year's efforts. I cooked up the last two pumpkins yesterday, creating roasted pumpkin seeds first, then using the steamed pumpkin to make quick bread. Today I used last year's cucumbers in a pasta salad. The juice they were stored in gives the salad a nice zing. Salsa continues to be enjoyed, and the dried hot peppers bring spice to life! We recently ran out of onions and frozen carrots. Hopefully the 2011 season will allow us to put as much food by.

The garden has a new coating of compost, which gave me something invigorating to do on warm winter days. Shoveling, turning, and carrying heavy shovel fulls of compost is actually a pretty good workout! The rototiller stands ready to turn the soil, which is a sure sign that plants will soon be enjoying the garden soil.

I'm ready to get outside and put on gardening gloves. Last fall I planted some garlic bulbs, so I keep walking by the garden looking over to see if they are popping up yet. It is windy today, which warms up the air. I think I'll go take a peek at the garlic row right now !

♪ The Horse Hair and the Frog ♪

2011-03-02T15:22:00.000-08:00

The violin bow hold is something of an art. Relaxed hand. Curved thumb. Bent pinky. Arranging the hand can be a gymnastic challenge to master.

My violin educational resources include YouTube videos made by people who seems to know what they are talking about. RedDesertViolin and ProfessorV are two that I have learned a lot from so far.

The geography of where each finger is supposed to be on the bow is explained very well in RedDesertViolin's video. Not only is the instruction good, the finger positions are easy to see and understand. Making my fingers do it is another story though ! In the above picture, my index finger is too far forward, and the pinky is certainly not bent. More to improve on !!

Violin practice sessions give me a number of things to work on. I have to learn how to hold the violin and how to get my left hand fingers positioned to play notes. I also have to focus on musical elements such as tempo, volume, and how to phrase notes with the bow. Plus, I need to strengthen the muscles needed to accomplish it all. After initial soreness, it is satisfying to see the muscles improving and helping me move as I need to.

ProfessorV's version of the same bow hold instructions reinforces what I need to learn. His voice is soothing and gives me hope that my bow hand will soon be doing the correct grasp !

(The bow string is made of horse hair, and the black part at the base of the bow is called the frog)

༺ Rose, Bouquet & Violin ༻

2011-02-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

January was full of adventures here at the farm. I continued to work on my perfect goat's milk soap recipe, finally got some patterns written, and have started learning to play the violin !

The sound of the violin has always a favorite of mine. It seems sweet yet powerful somehow. I had played the clarinet in my youth, so taking on a different instrument sounded like something I could do. This violin was a find from Craig's List. It is a student model, but I think it sounds lovely. Some beginner books, DVDs, and many YouTube videos later, I'm actually playing scales and songs after only a few weeks. It is fun !!

My other recent accomplishment has been getting crochet patterns written for my popular roses and bouquet wraps. I had been asked many times if I offered these patterns for sale, so once I had a few weeks to give the task some attention, I finally got them written and posted in my etsy shop's pattern section.

I made this arrangement a few years ago after finding this pretty vase at the dollar store. I thought it was such a pretty ivory color with gold accents. Roses can be put in vases like this, or in bouquet wraps, or even just given as single stem gifts.

Next I'm back to working on soap. I have a good recipe with hibiscus and lavender flowers that I just need to get poured into a log mold and cut. That's my next goal for the winter !

❤ What Makes You Smile? ❤

2010-12-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

This time of year one of my favorite things to do is to dig through my small stash of holiday decorations and wrapping materials in search of treasures. As I unwrap the breakables I am smiling and enjoying each of my little festive figures.

Each one brings back memories of special people and the happy times we spent together over the years. This Santa is ceramic but he looks like carved wood. I imagine he's bringing this pine tree in from the woods.

Here are my other Santa figures plus a cute Santa mug. We had a set of Santa mugs when I was a kid, and when I found a pair at a garage sale a few years ago I was so happy !!

Besides Santa figures I also enjoy Snowmen. My siblings and I usually made Snowmen as part of our day of play after a big snowfall. We also sledded and made snow angels. Generally we got very cold and got some exercise, but that's not the part I remember as much.

Snowmen look jolly and happy I think. They wear nifty scarves and hats, and have carrot noses. Here are my little figures, which each year remind me of all the fun snow can be.

I hope all my family and friends are enjoying their own holiday traditions this year and making lots of their own smiles.

༺ Knit Bonnet with Ear Flaps ༻

2010-11-24T17:08:00.000-08:00

What are you working on this winter? I'm trying to knit my perfect dream hat !! Here is how it is progressing so far...

This is a prototype of the hat I want to create. It has some flaws, but also some great features. Let me explain.

An age-old problem I've always had with hats is that they usually completely flatten my bangs. Any regular beanie hat annoys me that way. Either that, or they don't keep me warm, such as a hood with flappy open sides. I want a hat that can be layered under a hood or bulky scarf, yet can stand alone when it isn't too cold outside.

I found some bandanna hat patterns and bonnet hat ideas. These seemed closer to what I was thinking of, so I decided I'd try building from a basic form and create just what I wanted.

This hat works pretty well. My bangs stay nice, it keeps my ears warm, and there is room in the back for my hair. I even found a nice acrylic yarn that is actually warm and not scratchy.

I do need to fix a few things. The flaps don't lay perfectly yet, and when putting it on there is a moment of confusion as to which side is the front and which is the back. These challenges are being worked out in my next attempt to knit the perfect dream hat !!

Someday when I've created a good model I'll list these hats in my etsy shop. Hopefully someone else out there is looking for a knitted aviator ear flap hat too !!

☂ Beanie Hat ☂

2010-11-11T05:45:00.000-08:00

What to do with extra sock yarn? I'm trying a few projects, including using the yarn to knit a beanie hat. This one is knit on a size 2, 20" circular needle. I think I might try an even smaller needle next time to create a tighter weave. Knitting involves a lot of trial and error !

The pattern I'm using starts at the brim. I cast on 128 stitches, then joined in the round. After a rib pattern of K2, P2 for 5 inches, I changed to K4, P2. I'll continue this way for a total of 12 inches. Then I'll start the decreases for the crown.

I think next time I'll do a few rounds of Purl periodically to add more interest and to smooth out where the ribbing pattern changes. Every project just feeds ideas for the next, or so it seems !!

♪ I'm Expanding ♪

2010-11-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

Nope, not in the weight department. Been there, done that !

What I do mean is that my etsy shop will soon feature more types of items. Previously my focus was only on crocheted flower products. I had patterns, plus finished flowers, bouquets, arrangements, appliques, etc. As my readers have seen, over the past year I have begun dabbling with knitting and soap making. So I decided my shop should start including more items from these new craft interests.

My shop name used to be "Crochet Bouquet'. To better reflect my product expansion I have changed it to "Fiber & Suds". Just to be clear, the suds part refers to soap, not home brewed beer ! Who knows though, that might be in my future.

It will take time to add knit and soap items to the shop however. Knitting takes a great deal more time than making crocheted flowers. I haven't decided what to post exactly, but it will come to me. The soap will be of the goat's milk variety, both scented and unscented. Soap has to age before it ships, so these products will also take time to establish.

So stay tuned and thanks for keeping up with all the crafty activity coming from our Colorado farm !

❤ Goat's Milk Soap ❤

2010-10-27T17:47:00.000-07:00

Making soap is like most things, it requires the right tools and lots of upfront preparation. This week I made my very first batch of soap, and it actually worked !! Here are some of the highlights.

The first task I undertook was to research how to make milk soap. The library and on-line resources gave me lots of tips. Next I went to a few local thrift stores and loaded up on the necessary supplies. I filled two big plastic tubs with stuff, from stainless steel pots, to spatula's, measuring cups, ice cube trays, towels, thermometer, and soap molds.

LOL, my patio vegetables are still making fruit inside. Check out the flowers on the tomato plant.

My recipe was very basic: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Goat's Milk, and Lye. I made half just like that, then tried to get fancy with the other half of the batch. To that I added Clove Scent, Poppy Seeds, and Cinnamon. Here are the two batches in their molds.

I tried a few experiments with the second half, such as putting Cinnamon or Poppy Seeds at the bottom of the molds, and stirring Cinnamon into the soap once it was poured.

After 24 hrs in the molds, I froze the them for an hour which made it pretty easy to pop the soap out. Next I needed to cut the large bar, and use a vegetable peeler to soften the edges. Don't the muffin ones look cute, like little cinnamon tarts?

Finally, the soap needs to cure. Over the next few weeks I'll rotate the bars and watch as they get harder and better. Before long the Goat's Milk Soap will be ready to use. This was a fun experience !!

༻ Fall Colors ༺

2010-10-27T06:15:00.000-07:00

Fall has lasted a very long time this year, so a number of flowers are still tempting my camera. Here are a few shots from around the yard this week.

I'm not going to complain - another day with flowers is certainly a good day.

Be watching for my next posting. I have begun a new adventure: making homemade goat's milk soap !! The first batch is curing on the table beside me and in a few minutes I'll remove them from their molds and take a few pictures. Details next time !

✈ Enjoy While You Can ✈

2010-10-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

As the warm days start to slip away, I've been trying to appreciate my flowers everyday. There aren't many left, but luckily the gaillardias are still blooming. Today I got a treat when a lovely monarch butterfly came by to help me enjoy the blooms:

The honeybees were also busy on the flowers:

I'm not ready for snow !!

༻ String It Up ༺

2010-10-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

The garden produced a lot of peppers this season, so I strung them up into Ristras. First I pulled up the plants and hung them upside down in the garage for a few weeks, then indoors for another few weeks. Finally I cut them off the plants and used a needle and thread to create long lines of peppers.

I put about 5-6 dried red peppers per string, then tied a few pepper strings together into one long group. These will be pretty to look at and make handy pepper dispensers when we need them for cooking. In addition, some peppers were frozen earlier in the season, and maybe we'll chop up some of the dried ones later to make a pepper spice. Hopefully they will last through the winter and help us create some delicious meals.

♪ Don't Cry About It ♪

2010-09-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

Ever find yourself weeping while cutting up onions?

Here is a quick post to share a few simple, yet effective onion chopping tips. As I started another batch of salsa this week it occurred to me that maybe I should do some research to better prevent my garden onions from making my eyes water so much. What I found was very helpful, so I thought I'd share:

- As I cleaned the outer skins and greens from the onions I did the work in the sink with cold water running on them.

- It was recommended that the onions be cold, so I popped them in the refrigerator before I chopped them.

- For the actual chopping, I lit up my favorite scented candle right behind the cutting board. Since the onion creates a gas when cut, I read that a candle would burn the gas before it gets the chance to irritate eyes.

- I used a sharp knife, which helps reduce the creation of onion gas.

Using these techniques made a dramatic difference ! I recommend these tips !! If you have other methods, please share them in the comments.

♪ Best Friend ♪

2010-09-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

This garden season, I made a new best friend !

I can't tell you how many times I've referenced this great book as I learned about putting garden produce by. I canned salsa recently, and before that made pickles and plum jam.

The plum jam was fun to do. After visiting a garage sale we found out they had a plum tree full of ripe fruit for the taking. As is usual, the picking, cleaning and cutting was the hardest part of this process. But in the end, we froze even more fruit than we were able to turn into jam. Maybe in the depths of winter we'll make a few more jars of jam.

Here are a few more pictures of the plum jam project. I just used the plums and some sugar . Here are the exact numbers: 5 cups of chopped plums, 3 cups of sugar, and 3/4 cups of water. I cooked this mixture for about 1.5 hrs until it seemed 'gelled'. Then I poured it into the jars, and processed them in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes (I live at high altitude). Pretty easy !

Hope everyone's summer is going well too !

༺ Garden in September ༻

2010-09-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

Today's harvest looks like a little salad !

The cute little yellow fruits are actually tomatoes ! They are shaped like little light bulbs. The pods are black-eyed peas. Here is a cute sight - a cucumber with a little flower on the end:

My latest challenge is to to figure out what to do with the eggplants I'll soon have. I counted today and I have 10 healthy plants, just starting to make eggplants. If you have some ideas, please leave me comments !

This picture shows pole beans, iris, tomatoes, cauliflower, eggplant and onions. It has been a good year in the garden. The grasshoppers would probably agree !!

Now Back To Crocheting ...

2010-08-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

Seems like my posts have been about everything else but crocheting lately ! I guess that's because my life has been busy with other things this summer. But with the cooler weather trying to make a comeback here in Colorado (at night anyway), my mind is starting to move back towards my love of yarn.

One of my favorite guilty pleasures is to turn my little flowers into crochet patterns. It is exciting because I think about how other crafters will adapt the ideas into their own creations. With new yarns, or an added accent button, I imagine that my patterns will help someone crochet a flower unique and special to them.

The latest patterns to join my others include directions for the Pansy, a Daffodil, and the Frilly Daisy. Here is a group picture of these new flowers:

I think these flowers will make a nice addition to my other patterns. To see all the patterns I have available, come over to my etsy shop soon.

✈ Cucumbers, So Many ✈

2010-08-26T16:47:00.000-07:00

I'm swimming in cucumbers from the garden, and I only have two plants ! I eat a salad most days, and still find I have to manage the cucumber supply. Here's a recipe I've been using to make 'pickles', that I keep in the refrigerator instead of canning.

Start by gathering some jars with lids. Slice the cucumbers any way you like and put them in the jars. I fill them full, and notice that in about a week they have shrunk up. Next, combine these ingredients in a saucepan and heat until about boiling. I use this amount of liquid for 2 pint jars.

~ 2 1/2 Cups White Vinegar
~ 2 Cups Sugar
~ 2 TBs non-ionized Salt
~ 1 TBs Celery Seed Spice
~ 1 TBs Mustard Seed Spice
~ Dash Dill Spice

Once hot, carefully spoon the liquid into the jars until the cucumbers are covered. Allow the jars to cool, then put on lids and place the jars in the refrigerator.

As the jars cool down further, the liquid will thicken up. I gently turn the jars upside down and back a few times over a few days. This causes the spices to mix and stay further down in the jars over time.

After a few days, the refrigerator 'pickles' are ready to eat. I use them sparingly because of the sugar, but a few on a garden burger or in a salad add a really nice taste.

♪ Garden Notes ♪

2010-08-18T17:21:00.000-07:00

Gardening season is racing ahead and I can barely keep up ! What a strange year this has been for us in Colorado. Wet. We aren't used to that ! Today we even got a new batch of mosquitoes. They kept me swatting as I dug up some new potatoes, which made for a nice potato salad.

I got cheesecloth put on the sunflowers to see if that helps keep birds away from the seeds. I tried a t-shirt first, but that was pretty heavy and made the flower droop.

Here is my first ever batch of fried okra & hot peppers ! DH said it was good:

Here is the raw okra, along with some black-eyed-peas (which I discovered were not quite ready):

The corn is in too. I froze about 3 dozen ears last weekend. I also made some refrigerator pickles from cucumbers, since I can't keep up with eating the fresh ones:

And of course the beets are still coming in:
I have frozen some hot peppers too. The remaining peppers will be used to make salsa, once our onions and tomatoes are ready. I'm planning to can the salsa in jars, so stay tuned for my posting about that adventure !

༻ Snake Relocated ༺

2010-08-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

At our farm we separate local prairie snakes into two categories: friendly and not-friendly. Bull snakes are the type we like to see. They are fairly docile, eat mice, and some say keep the other type, rattle snakes, away. Here is a bull snake looking for mice around the house:

This week, sadly, I inadvertently relocated one of the farm's bull snakes into town.

Since my car is parked outside, I do get rabbits and mice in the engine occasionally. Well, a bull snake must have been looking around in there for a meal when I decided to go to town. I made a few stops, running errands and leaving the car in different spots, as my day progressed. Here is a picture that shows the stripped tail, a sure sign that this snake is not a rattler:

Around mid-day I was enjoying lunch, with the car windows open, at a local grocery store's parking lot. An attendant walked near me to get grocery carts. Suddenly, he started pointing to my car tire and said, "Look, there is a garter snake!"

I looked out my side window and saw the familiar grey and black stripes of a snake. It looked pretty big ! I hopped out and came around to take a look. Sure enough, it was a bull snake ! I could only imagine that he had dropped out from under my car.

A few people gathered and someone got a tree branch to see if they could pick the snake up to relocate it to a nearby field. But the snake wasn't interested in that, so it slithered to the car parked behind me, and zip, fast as could be, it went up inside a Ford Mustang. The owner was one of the people standing around, so at least he knew what was happening !!

The snake didn't come out, and since the man with the Mustang started a conversation with another person, I went on my way. Hopefully he drove to a park and sat for awhile until the bull snake found a suitable new home.

♪ Granola Recipe Favorite ♪

2010-08-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

Recently, after tiring of buying granola so often, I decided to try my hand at making it at home. I searched around on blogs for recipes and opinions, finally finding several recipes that sounded tasty. The whole process turned out to be pretty easy, so I thought I'd share my experience here. This recipe makes enough granola to fill two large freezer bags like this:

First let me say that I'm not a real kitchen person. I know the basics, but even at that, I sometimes mess up simple things. So I needed a recipe that wasn't too complicated or challenging.

Here is what I use (it is a blend of a few recipes I found):

- Liquid Mix Ingredients: 2/3 cup Honey, 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil, 1/3 cup Brown Sugar, 2 tsp each Vanilla and Almond Extract
- Dry Mix Ingredients: 1/2 cup Almonds (whole), 1 cup Coconut Flakes, 1/2 cup Sesame Seeds, 1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds, 5 Cups Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
- 2 Cups Raisins or other dried Fruits
- Cooking Spray for baking sheets

Let me tell you upfront that making granola takes an hour or two in the kitchen, plus utilization of a few bowls, pans, measuring cups/spoons and spatulas. The time starts when you start digging out everything you need, continues during preparation, cooking, cooling, and then finally there is a bit of cleanup. So don't plan to try this process if you only have a half hour to spare.

I use one very large bowl, two metal baking sheets, a manual nut chopper, and a small sauce pan. Plan on having the counter space to lay the baking sheets out on, since there is stirring to be done during and after the cooking steps. The oven needs to have two racks that are arranged pretty low in the oven. I have found that the lower rack browns the granola better.

Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees, then:
1) Combine the Dry Ingredients in the very large bowl, mix well. Chop Almonds as part of this step
2) Combine the Liquid Ingredients in the small sauce pan - all except the Vanilla and Almond Extract for now
3) Heat the Liquid Ingredients til it is all combined, then remove from heat, and stir in the Vanilla and Almond Extract
4) Pour the Liquid over the Dry Ingredients, mix well. I use two large spatulas to turn and mix
5) Spray the baking sheets, then dish on the mixture, smoothing it out to cover all the surfaces
6) Bake for 30 minutes, with these activities mixed in:
a) stir after 10 minutes
b) remove after 10 more minutes (total 20 minutes) to add the raisins
c) remove after 10 more minutes (total 3o minutes) and start the cooling process
7) Allow the granola to slowly cool down. Stir every 5-10 minutes to prevent clumping
8) Optional - I like to put the granola back in the large bowl to finish cooling, since it is easier to stir it there
9) Once cool, put the granola in your favorite container
10) I refrigerate 1/2 of it for immediate use, and put the other half in the freezer

As I mentioned earlier, my lower baking sheet tends to brown the granola better. That's probably why I mix the batches back together to even out the colors. Regardless, this recipe has worked well for my family and it has become a frequent activity at our house.

Do you have a good granola recipe? Please share in the comments section so that I can continue to improve.

❤ Sunflowers Open ❤

2010-08-07T16:39:00.001-07:00

As promised earlier, I got my sunflower pictures fixed up. Now I can show a series of pictures that illustrate how my 10 foot sunflower plants look as they bloomed this year. Their sheer size is so amazing, then on top of that grandness, big lovely flowers pop open over a course of a few days. Here is my series, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did watching these beauties:

Continued vigilance will be needed if I'm going to get the seeds before anyone else. Hopefully I'll do a post in the future about that process. If the birds get them, at least I know the seeds will be going to a good cause though.

♪ Garden Goodies ♪

2010-08-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

My sink was full this morning - check out the day's harvest !!

The turnips (I had about 8 more like that one) got frozen, as did the hot peppers. The kohlrabi was used in a stir-fry for dinner. Tip: did you know that if you get hot pepper oil in a cut or in your eye, that washing it with milk relieves the pain? Even soy milk works.

A few days ago I made some refrigerator pickled beets. I found out that you shouldn't replace the sugar with Splenda. That batch came out too acidic and I had to compost it. The other jars were made with sugar, and those are delicious !

Such a pretty color !
All the efforts in the garden are paying off this year. Despite some busy Colorado potato beetles, the produce is turning out nicely. Next I need to get ready for the corn !!

༺ Garden Pictures ༻

2010-08-04T18:11:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed our first tomato of the season this week. I grew this one in a pot on the patio, so it stayed a little warmer I think. It was sweet and delicious ! The ones in the garden are still green, but look out, when they are ready I'll have to be doing some serious kitchen time.

I also have some nice interesting plants in the garden this year, including okra, eggplants, musk melons, and this cutie - a kohlrabi ->

I should probably pick this one and try it in a salad soon.

The Colorado potato beetles have moved from the potatoes to the eggplants. What a damaging little bug these guys are ! I have to be diligent with picking them off every day, or else the plants would be stripped.

The sunflowers are getting really big, and the bees are really enjoying them. I need to work on my pictures, but soon I'll write a post showing the stages of the sunflowers as they open up. I found this fascinating to watch.

ↁ How's Gardening Going? ↁ

2010-07-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

Plants, both desired and undesired (weeds) are growing well in my garden this summer. I'm expecting to be very busy in August, and here are some pictures to explain what I'll be doing.

The sunflowers are about to bloom - I'll need to figure out how to get to the seeds before the birds harvest them all for me:

These plants are so tall that the sweet corn plants behind them look tiny ! I guess we don't grow corn like they do in Iowa, right Mark?

I also have some cucumbers and melons coming in. I enjoyed a salad with these garden items for dinner tonight: cucumbers, beets and lettuce (which actually grew in a pot indoors by a window).

Finally, since I'm all about flowers, I have to show a picture of some zinneas I grew from seeds. Notice that one of our honey bees is also a fan:

Let the freezing, canning, and eating commence !! How's your garden growing this summer?

☂ Maple Tree Update ☂

2010-06-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

Today my little sprouted maple tree was planted outside. It is a fine looking tree ! Here is how it looked about a week ago.

I picked a spot on the north side of the house for the sprout to grow. That way it won't shade the garden, which is on the south.

Given that I live in grasslands, trees need lots of attention to make sure they grow. Over many acres we only have one wild tree, an elm. So this little maple will need lots of water and care if we want it to survive.

I'm up for the challenge !

✈ Swarm of Bees ✈

2010-06-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes events happen that just take priority. That's what happened here over the weekend.

What started out sounding like a low flying airplane actually turned out to be a moving swarm of honey bees. They were flying around our house looking for a place to live. This yellow weed flower became their temporary home yesterday afternoon.

After some research, my husband decided to make an attempt to keep the bees. We already have two hives, so what's a few thousand more? The picture doesn't show all the bees around the base of the plant, but let me assure you, there were lots down there !!

The bees (and the plant!) are now in a screen topped large cardboard box, in a barn for shade. A new wooden hive is being built, and soon the bees will be introduced to their new cozy home. I think we will have lots of honey this fall !!

༺ Violet Project: Fitting the Tumbler ༻

2010-05-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

This is the second installment of my series about creating a crocheted violet basket arrangement for my etsy shop. In the first post on this topic, I gave examples of past projects and started initial planning. In this post I'm ready to show how I fit a crocheted basket cover over the white tumbler.

I chose a pretty multi-colored acrylic yarn for the body of the basket, and selected a #3.00 crochet hook. The cover is made from the bottom up. The beginning of the basket is a simple chain of about 4 stitches, joined into a ring.I made about 8 single crochet stitches (sc) into this ring.

Next I started to form corners by making another round of sc stitches but adding three sc into one stitch, placing four of these around the ring to create 4 corners. I don't have a written pattern for this basket, instead I watch each row as the basket grows and make size changes as needed. After a few more rounds of sc with corners, I reduce the corners to two sc, then finally no corners at all. This starts the basket moving up the sides of the cup, and I begin slowly increasing stitches as I go.

The basket continues up the tumbler and when it gets to within one row of the top, I join the trim color and do the last round in the butter color. After that round, I switch to half double crochet stitches (hdc), and also do the next two rounds in only the back loops from the previous rounds. This causes the yarn to wrap inside the tumbler to form the top. The next picture shows the way the yarn bends backwards into the cup.

Finally, the last round is double crochet, with a decrease every 6 stitches. This causes even more tightening to hold the cover snug in place. I cut the yarn after this row and sew in the ends.

For the decorative basket trim, I use a new piece of cream yarn. It gets joined in the front loop of the hdc row around the top, at the back of the basket. I create an anchor row for the basket trim by single crocheting loosely around for one row. You can get more creative here, but this is how I made the trim shown in the picture. I do a round of hdc, then turn the work, and do a round of double crochet. Finally I do a finishing trim round of (sc, slip stitch) in each stitch.

With the basket part of the project complete, I add some paper basket fill and start gathering materials for the crocheted flowers and other accents I'll put into this arrangement.

☂ Maple Tree Sprout ☂

2010-05-18T14:13:00.001-07:00

Yup, I have sprouted a maple tree from a seed !! Isn't it cute !!

I soaked the seed in water for 2 days, then laid it under a thin layer of potting soil. I kept the pot in warmest window each day, moving it around the house like a mad scientist. Well, it paid off as you can see. The little sprout looks full of life.

I plan to move it outdoors after it gets a bit larger. Hopefully with some attention I will have another shade tree in a few years. Life is all about patience, right?

The little lemon tree sprout continues to grow too. Here is how it looks today:

Besides my indoor experiments, I have been planting flowers and vegetables outside. Colorado has had a windy, wet and cool spring (not complaining) so the season is about two weeks behind schedule though. Yesterday I put out some annuals on my south patio. The tall bed is new, and hopefully will keep out local rabbits from nibbling down my blooms.

What's growing at your place?

༺ ♥ Violet Basket Step by Step ♥ ༻

2010-05-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

Recently I sold a violet arrangement on etsy.com, and found myself ready to replace it with another. I had to decide what type to make, as I have sold a variety of kinds over time. Did I want to make a basket, or select a vase? In the process of thinking about it, I decided that I would share my basket creation progress with all of you, my wonderful blog followers.

This post will include information about how I get started with the basket project. The next blog post will include details of how I fit the basket and prepare it for flowers.

The typical first step is to look back over past violet arrangements to get ideas. Sometimes I crochet a basket, and sometimes I use a pretty tumbler or vase. Here are a few pictures of arrangements created in the past. I really like the one in the pink vase. I found this ceramic vase in the discount bin at my local grocery store - my favorite kind of discovery !After looking over past projects, I have decided to replace the arrangement with one similar to the first picture in this article. It will have a crocheted basket cover placed over a simple white bathroom tumbler. I have some green tweed yarn that is worsted weight, and some off-white cotton yarn that will work well for the basket's trim. The flowers will also be made from worsted weight yarn, in pink and purple. I'll decide later about the greenery and bead trimmings.

So I'll get started with the crocheting, and snap some pictures for my next blog post. I'll do my best to show how the basket fits on the tumbler.

Stick around, and feel free to ask questions through the comments feature of blogger.

✈ Lemon Sprout Thriving ✈

2010-04-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

In just a few short weeks, my little lemon tree sprout has really gained some growth. I transplanted it into a larger pot, am keeping the soil moist, and move it around the house so the sprout gets as much sun as possible throughout the day.

The leaves are a great light green color, and look very thick and healthy. The other seed that sprouted never made any leaves, but this one seems to be enjoying the conditions on my windowsill.

I guess I have more spring fever than I realized, going on about this little plant. There are a few things coming up in the garden, so in the future I'll take my plant updates outside.

❤ Favorite Socks So Far ❤

2010-04-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

I just finished this pair of socks and think they are my favorite so far !

The yarn is Opal, which is 75% wool and 25% Nylon. I used a garter toe, stockinette arch, and a short leg/cuff. I only wear long socks on very cold days, so this length suits me best.

The blue colors are nice, and I was even able to match the stripes on the two socks.

Next on my needle: Cotton blend socks for my DH !

♫ Lemon Tree Sprout ♫

2010-03-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

Look what I have started to grow this spring !! Does it look like a lemon tree?

Hopefully it will in a few months. I got seeds from a relative's actual lemon tree, so the seeds never saw refrigeration. I enjoyed some lemon water, then decided to see what I could do with the seeds. After the seeds soaked in water for a few days, I put them in some soil and kept it very moist. It has taken a few weeks, but look what has come up ! There is a second sprout coming up too.

Last year I experimented with growing a sweet potato. This year I'll share my adventures with a little lemon tree.

༺ Socks ༻

2010-03-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

This posting is all about sock yarns and my experiences with them. I'm just starting out knitting socks and have a healthy curiosity about all the yarns available to make them. Which yarns work best with which needle sizes? Will I be able to make thicker boot socks that hold up over time? Will shoe socks be too scratchy? How in the world will I learn to knit with size #0 needles?

If you have sock yarn experiences you'd like to share, please feel free to leave comments so that the readers will have a ton of good information to use in their journey into sock knitting.

Vanna's Choice Yarn:

Color, Weight and Material: Oatmeal, #3 Worsted Weight, 92% Acrylic 8% Rayon

Needles: Two #5 Circular Needles

Knitting Ease: Excellent, didn't split, glided easily, no knots or problems with the yarn

Laundry: Machine wash, holding up very well

Comfort: Excellent. I use this pair as 'sleeper socks' to keep my feet warm at night. They are cushy and very comfortable.

Recommendation: Use it !

Lion Brand Wool Ease Yarn:

Color, Weight and Material: Blue Heather, #3 Worsted Weight, 80% Acrylic 20% Wool

Needles: Two #2 Circular Needles

Knitting Ease: Good, had some drag to it, no knots or problems with the yarn. My fingers are sensitive to wool, so I needed to use a lot of hand lotion to keep my skin smooth.

Laundry: Machine wash, holding up very well, getting softer over time

Comfort: Excellent. Husband socks, no complaints. He wears them in work boots and reports they are comfortable.

Recommendation: Use it !

Red Heart Heart and Sole, with Aloe:

Color, Weight and Material: Mellow Stripe, #1 Super fine, 70% Wool, 30% Nylon

Needles: Two #1 Circular Needles

Knitting Ease: Pretty good. It was smooth and didn't irritate my skin. It seemed like the yarn got thinner in places. I would like to try using #0 needles in the future.

Laundry: Have not washed yet, will update after more information available

Comfort: These socks are proving to be popular. My MIL told me she wears them and enjoys them a lot.

Recommendation: Use it !

On my needle now: I plan to make another pair of socks from Red Heart. These last pair turned out a bit too large for me, so I'm going to reduce the foot measurement and try again.

✈ Bees Waking Up ✈

2010-03-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

Today I decided it was warm enough to venture into the garden to see what tasks I could get done. I had plenty of dried marigold plants to pull up, and saw long rows of moist soil to turn. While puttering around, I noticed that I was not alone. Our bees are active again, having lived through their first winter in our two backyard hives. It was a joint exploration of the garden for all of us.

Once I did some garden clean up and inspection, I wondered over to see what was happening at the bee hives. One hive has always been more active than the other, and this year it looks like the same pattern will hold true. As always, the bees were friendly, but they did seem like they were on a mission to gather some food while the sun was keeping us warm today. Here are a few pictures I took, showing the bees getting ready for a long and productive summer.

♪ Fascinating Plant ♪

2010-02-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

Check out this interesting plant !!

There are a bunch of long green arms, which end in a geometric shape that I just had to try to get a picture of. The brown dots are seeds I think. I wonder if it will get little flowers in the spring? If anyone knows what the name of this plant is, please leave a comment and let me know!

❅ Sock Knitting ❅

2010-02-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been exploring the world of knitting socks. Of course I still enjoy my flowers, but who says I can't branch out a bit?

If you are like me and during the winter need some warm socks on your feet at night, I've just created a great pair for this purpose. As I learn sock making techniques, what better way to practice than by making some big comfy "sleeping socks" ?

This fun sock was made by using the ideas in Cat Bordhi's book "New Pathways for Sock Knitters". I used the garter toe ( a fun diamond start to the sock), the Fox Glove arch expansion, the standard heel, and the cuff from the Philosopher's House Socks. Yes, I blended all my current favorite components to create a super pair of socks !!

I have also discovered Ravelry. This website will allow me to post details and pictures of my sock projects. When I get my project page set up, I'll post again to provide a link. Not only will Ravelry be a fun way to display my accomplishments, but I might also be able to help another sock maker with what I learn. I have already used the site to find out about such things as favorite sock yarns, and what needle sizes others like to use. Since the site allows searches by project type, yarn, etc., it is an easy way to poke around and see what others are doing.

Here are closeup shots of the cuff and the toe.

Since it is a short sock, I wanted a cuff that really gave me something to pull it up with. Plus, I can tuck my pajama's into it for a nice toasty warm feeling !

I love the toe technique because it starts out as just a little diamond square that gets tipped on the side. From there I start knitting in the round. I'm using two circular knitting needles to make these socks. That took some getting used to.

I just finished these socks today and already I'm planning what comes next. Should I make more bulky socks, or explore the more delicate yarns? There are a lot of yarns to pick from, and new techniques to master. Should I try self striping yarn? 100% wool? What needle size? I guess getting answers to these many questions will take time. At least my feet will stay warm while I figure it all out !

❉ Oz Enjoying a Tasty Toy ❉

2010-01-22T17:09:00.000-08:00

Life's been busy lately so I haven't had time to blog very often. Here's a picture of just one of the things happening here:

This is Oz, one of our doberman dogs. He received this bone shaped toy about an hour before this picture. It isn't bone shaped anymore. Oz and his sister Karla thoroughly enjoyed tearing the toy into little red pieces. Doesn't Oz look pleased with himself?

✈ Tips For Standout Pictures ✈

2010-01-14T05:49:00.000-08:00

One of my teammates on etsy's Create Crochet Team has written a nice blog article about the importance of presenting good pictures in your shop. Stop by the Create Crochet blog to read what Benjamin has to say.

Benjamin demonstrates nice photography skills in his shop too. Here is his Sustainable Koi:

Got to go, I have more pictures to fix !

♪ Pictures are Everything ♪

2010-01-03T14:41:00.000-08:00

I recently decided to update my etsy shop by retaking some flower pictures. Some were shot in less than ideal situations, so I knew I had room to improve them. I ran into a few problems, but overall was glad I took on this little project while I had some time.

My photo editing computer program slowed down my progress until I figured out how to re-set a few preferences. About a month ago I lost the hard drive on my computer. It was a sad day that took me off-line for what seemed like forever. Luckily I had my data backed up, so after a stint in the Mac Shack and a major software upgrade, I thought I was back in business. I re-installed Photoshop Elements, my preferred editing tool. However it had been a year since the last install, so I had to go back to the book to find out how to get everything as I wanted it. Finally I had the tools in place to update the flower pictures.

I worked at being more creative with backgrounds and accents to make my pictures pop. The roses above are sitting on my sewing box and have some greenery wrapped around them. Now I'm eyeing everything in my house to see what would look nice in a picture. These flower magnets are sitting on my marble window sill:

With just a little imagination and good tools, it wasn't hard to get some fresh pictures in my shop.

✻ Knitting in the New Year ✻

2009-12-28T15:13:00.000-08:00

Crocheting flowers will always be my number one hobby, but I am also going to take up a bit of knitting in the new year. Why the knitting itch? Hard to say, but the art of perfecting knitted socks is a challenge I'm taking on !!

To begin, I had to do some research to find out which method of sock knitting I wanted to learn. Since I am a clean slate sock maker, this was an exciting part of the journey. I found out that there are three main methods. The standard way uses multiple sticks called double pointed needles. There is also a method that uses one very long circular needle. In the end, the technique that snagged my real interest was one that uses two circular needles to create the sock. Now how was I going to learn to do this?

Santa brought me two Cat Bordhi books for Christmas, "New Pathways for Sock Knitters" and "Personal Footprints". Her instructions are written for her preferred two circular needles method, but she also gives tips for the other techniques. I've been pouring over my new books - fascinated by the art of knitting footwear.

I finished my first two baby sized socks yesterday, after much learning and stumbling. Knitting basics were something I have picked up over the years, but this experience tested my ability to teach my hands new crafting positions, and my mind new pattern reading skills. Getting used to using two circular needles was very interesting. I almost thought it was impossible, then I found Cat's teaching videos. Seeing the needles in action was very helpful indeed !!

So here is my little learning sock. I am amazed that I made this cutie !! It is knitted all in one long thread, from the cuff to the toe. Cat's method keeps everything logical and flowing. Next I'll learn how to make the sock from the toe to the cuff. Great fun to come !!

And so you know that I'm still making my crocheted flowers, here is a side project I've been doing. This are a bunch of crocheted blue columbines. These blooms are the state flower here in Colorado where I live.

What challenges are you taking on in 2010?

♥ Love The Holidays ♥

2009-12-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

My online community has not let me down this holiday season. I went looking for some great etsy.com items and I was not disappointed. Here are 4 of my favorite holiday inspired, Christmas tree related, finds. Please click each picture to be taken to the item, and spend some time looking around the fine shops of these artists. I guarantee doing so will bring you holiday cheer !!

Let's start bold. This pendant is called "Christmas Tree on The Window Ledge". So fun and creative ! The artist is Zeba, who makes "jewelry that dares you to be different".

Next, is a Christmas Tree hanging ornament, handmade by DycheDesigns. This piece is sculpted from clay, painted, then sealed with a clear spray. I like the elegant simplicity of the symbol and the message.

These sweet plush bumblebees are wearing Christmas Trees on their heads. Just for fun ! Artist BombusLane created these two from fleece, and has a number of other critters in the shop too.

These unique tree ornaments are made from actual acorn tops, with festive bells attached. I just get filled with holiday cheer thinking about them decorating a tree, a package, or even hanging in a doorway !! Artist pinkbeeb0 has certainly created something special and fun !!

I hope you have enjoyed exploring on etsy.com. Please have a peaceful, wonderful holiday season.

✈ Bird Watching ✈

2009-12-06T09:25:00.000-08:00

Birds are a special feature on our property and surrounding grasslands. We share our land with meadow larks, hawks, sparrows, burrowing owls, lark buntings, and occasionally golden and bald eagles. In the spring we also see herons migrating through. Although our lake dried up in the 2002 drought, we are planning to build a new one that birds can share with us.

With winter now set in, temperatures are cold, winds are blowing, and snow is not uncommon. Despite these conditions, a nice group of Horned Larks are outside our windows on most days.

I took a few pictures of these cute little birds this morning. The wind was blowing our fresh snow around, yet there were about 15 little birds working the ground for food.

The second picture shows the little horns these birds are named for. It was hard to get a picture of their faces since they were so busy pecking for food.

I hope you enjoy bird watching too. Leave me some comments about what kind of birds you are seeing this time of year.

Violets & Gnats

2009-11-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

My pretty violet plant is thriving on the windowsill. Unfortunately, so is the gnat population.

The pesky little flying bugs seem to like the damp soil and standing water in the violet pot. After some Googling for suggestions to help control the bugs, I implemented these two changes.

I am trying to capture and remove the larvae by placing a potato slice on the soil and keeping it wet. The gnats are supposed to like putting their next generation in the potato. So then when I pick it out and toss it, the kids are supposed to go along.
I place a small amount of Mosquito Dunks into the watering can I use to keep the plant wet. The bacillus ingredient is natural and non-poisonous, so it seemed like a good thing to try.

After using these treatments for about 3 weeks, I don't see much of a difference in the gnat population. I'll keep trying though !!

Do any of my readers have suggestions that have worked for them? Please leave a comment with the information if you can help. Thanks !!!

☆ Holiday Flowers ☆

2009-11-01T14:13:00.000-08:00

I think I've started thinking about the holidays a bit early this year. Maybe because of the two batches of snow we have received already here in Colorado. I made a few holiday flowers for my etsy shop, including these roses and a single poinsettia bloom.

I was also lucky enough to snag a treasury this morning, so I filled it with red poinsettia flowers. Here's a picture of the treasury:

Maybe all this holiday talk will bring us weeks of warm weather. That would be great !!

♪ Honey From the Bees ♪

2009-10-20T08:56:00.001-07:00

This is the end of the season for our first year of beekeeping. The bees need most of the honey they made this year to get through the winter, but a bit of it will also be enjoyed by us. Here is a frame removed yesterday that is partially filled with honey:

The wax frame expands as the bees fill the combs with honey. The bees then cap the cells with bees wax. To get the sweet liquid out, we will have to extract it. This wiki page gives good information about how that is done.

Here is another picture of the unopened honey combs, a bit closer:

I'll let you know how the honey turns out once we extract it from the honey combs !!

✈ Venus Flytrap ✈

2009-10-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

Can I grow this unusual plant on my windowsill? Time will tell I guess. Isn't it pretty, all fresh from the nursery?

I was at the store checking out what I could do about my violet's gnat population. While there, I spotted this adorable Venus Flytrap. I decided it would be fun to try to keep alive in arid Colorado.

The wiki page on Venus Flytraps tells me that this plant likes humid air and wet peat moss for soil. The pot came with an inverted clear cup, so I plan to keep that on top of the plant to make the humidity. I won't transplant the fella for awhile, but when I do I'll use peat moss and wet sand. I read on another website that the mix should be 50:50. If you get a chance, visit the wiki page and check out the cool animated pictures that show the traps closing.

Here is one of the traps on my plant close up. Some of the traps have a red tint inside. They really are facinating and I'm sure this will be a fun adventure. Leave me a comment if you have any suggestions to help.

♥ Celebrating Customers ♥

2009-10-11T12:34:00.000-07:00

As of today, my etsy shop has 196 sales. It is pretty exciting to be getting near the 200 mark! I have my wonderful customers to thank for getting me to this point. As a way of saying thanks to the customers, I'm offering a special treat to whom ever becomes the customer to tip me over the 200th mark.

Here is how it will work: these roses will be given to the first customer to purchase a mailable item that puts me over 200 sales. For example, if the 200th sale is an emailed pattern purchase, then the next mailable purchase after that will be the winner. I will cover any additional shipping costs over your original purchase.

These roses are made from wool yarn, and are my popular 10" long stems. They look great in vases by themselves, or mixed with other stems. They also make nice gift decorations. Use your imagination and leave me some comments on how else you think my rose stems can be used.

Thanks again to my customers for getting my shop to this stage of success !!!

✻ ✻ First Colorado Snow of 2009 ✻ ✻

2009-10-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

There are parts of the state that have already seen snowfall, but here along the Front Range, this is our first snow of 2009. The weather forecasters are calling for only an inch or two, so it shouldn't slow anyone down much.

I have some crocheting to do today, so it is perfect weather for me to stay inside and play with yarn. From my window I can see the flowers of the summer covered in white fluff, including some now dry wild sunflowers, and my potted marigolds.

Here are some pictures I snapped this morning of the lovely white snow on the flowers:

☆ Sunflowers ☆

2009-10-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

Today as I was crocheting some Sunflower Coasters, I thought I'd take a look around etsy to see who else made things with one of my favorite flowers. Here are my coasters:

Doing a fast etsy.com search on "sunflowers crochet" turned up a couple of real head turning creative items. Take a look !

In SturmDM's shop I found this wonderful Sunflower Hat with an adorable bee perched on top. What a unique and beautiful creation !! Click the picture to go to the listing and see more pictures of this special hat.

Next I found a bright and cheerful crocheted Sunflower, which as it turns out is a listing for a crochet pattern:

RippingYarn's shop is a great discovery for me. Besides the pattern for this lovely Sunflower, this mother and daughter team has other lovely crochet and knit patterns available. I am going to enjoy looking around this shop !!

As often happens, I enjoy exploring on etsy. What are you looking for? Check etsy and you'll be amazed with what turns up !!

♪ Crochet Studio Move-in Day ♪

2009-09-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

My little studio is ready for my craft things to move back in !! Yippee !! This building has been a side project for a few years, giving me a place to do my creating. We have been putting it together when there was time, and even though the walls still need finish work, they are insulated and sheet-rocked now. I will unpack and use the studio while other projects move forward.

Here is what the building looked like before we finished the exterior:

It has 16 sides to make a circle, and inside it is 20 feet wide all around. In the center inside stands a natural wood post that supports the roof. The stucco is a clay pot color. Here is what the building looks like today:

Inside my crafting supplies have all kinds of room to spread out. Here are a few pictures that show my yarn, vases, and shipping supplies:

So I'm slowly finding all the supplies I packed away about a year ago when the wall project began. Some boxes have been packed for a few years, so it will be a treat to open them and find what treasures I socked away back then. All through the construction, my little friend Kiwi, the whippet, has been with me. Today she was enjoying being back on her blue couch, watching me go about my hobby.

Be watching my shops for more variety in my products, since I have access to more supplies to make them from. What fun !!

✈ Fudge Popsicles ✈

2009-09-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite treats is a recipe I made up in order to get some protein powder into my diet. My fudge popsicles are easy to make, and provide fairly good nutritional value. To start, I got some rocket popsicle molds like this from Amazon:

Then, I mix these ingredients in a bowl:

1 Cup Chocolate Skim Milk
1/2 Cup Water
1 Scoop Chocolate Whey Protein Powder
1/2 Box Chocolate Instant Pudding Powder

I then carefully pour the mixture into the 6 molds and cap the rockets. If I get a bit extra, I pour it into a small container to make an extra serving. Freeze the rockets, and there you have it ! Instant fudge rocket popsicles.

Your nutritional values may vary depending on the product brands you use, but in general mine breaks down like this for one popsicle:

75 Calories
0 Grams Fat
175 MG Sodium
14 Grams Carbohydrate
0 Grams Fiber
4 Grams Protein

Let me know if you make these and how you like them !!

༺ The Violet Mystery is Solved ༻

2009-09-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it wasn't much of a mystery, but now I know what color flowers my new violet plant will create.

!! PURPLE !!

Why the fuss? Those bloggers who have been following the story will remember that my violet plant was a gift from a friend. Last June I posted a picture of what the plant looked like - just a sprout with about 5 leaves. Since that time, I have given updates as the violet grew larger. Finally, at the start of September, I was pleased to discover that I will have the treat of seeing lovely purple flowers on my houseplant from now on.

✈ Milk in Your Eye ✈

2009-09-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

Recently I learned an interesting remedy for the pain of getting hot pepper oil in your eye. Milk or Soy Milk ! We have started cooking up some of the vegetables coming out of the garden. The hot pepper made the dish spicy and good. However, after the meal, a tiny speck of pepper oil made it into my husband's eye.

In pain, he asked me to do a fast internet search to find out how to relieve the pain. A number of pages mentioned milk, so he tried some soy milk to see if that would work. He said the relief was immediate after he dabbed the corner of his eye with the soy milk. So, apparently either milk or soy milk is a good remedy !! Here is a picture of our pepper plant:

My sweet potato plant is doing well in the garden. Remember how it started out on the windowsill?

This picture was taken last March. Soon it sprouted deep red leaves, and by May, the spud had a whole lot of light green leaves growing all over it. I took out the stakes, planted the sweet potato plant in the garden, and it is still growing as of September. I haven't looked for any sweet potatoes yet, but hopefully in a week or two the digging will begin.

Here is what it looks like now:

Hopefully there are nice sweet potatoes under the ground. Regardless, this was a fun experiment and I learned about a new garden plant.

Thanks From Karla

2009-09-01T09:08:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post to tell you that Karla is pretty much back to normal now, recovered from her rattlesnake bite from last week. See this previous post for the details of that day.

She runs and plays outside now, bouncing and bopping just like always. Her brother Oz is happy that she's better too, because all the extra attention she was getting just didn't seem fair to him.

Thanks those of you who sent messages and thoughts to Karla.

♥ Doberman Sculpture ♥

2009-08-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

Karla, our beautiful doberman dog, recently inspired an etsy artist to create a sculpture of her. The timing of this gesture was special, since Karla had a real health scare this week and there was at least one moment when it appeared she might be in real trouble.

The etsy artist who created this lovely piece is DustyRoseDesigns. I had previously blogged about her sculptures in this post. Later, she was reading my blog and spotted the picure of Oz and Karla sunning themselves on the patio. From this picture came the inspiration for this beautiful sculpture of Karla. Please visit DustyRoseDesigns shop for more lovely items, including this bunny, and these charming squirrels.

Karla was bit by a rattlesnake last Monday. It got her twice in the back leg as she ran by. She probably never even saw what caused the pain, as usually she barks and backs away from snakes like a pro. After a fast drive to the vet, an injection, and a prescription for antibiotics, Karla was able to come home for recovery time.

Today is about the first time she has seemed close to feeling normal again. At first she seemed to be in pain, and was cycling large quantities of water and going outside. This was hard because of the leg's swelling, but she was brave. This pattern continued for many days and nights. Slowly she started being able to put more weight on the leg, so laying down and walking got much easier. Today, 6 days after, she is doing much better.

So thanks DustyRoseDesigns, for capturing this special dog in sculpture. She means a lot to us and we are so happy to have her feeling better now.

✻ Bumblebee ✻

2009-08-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

Today I was hanging around inside and I noticed that a bumblebee kept landing on the window ledge. This seemed like a good opportunity to snap a picture or two, so off I went to get the camera. This is my favorite shot:

I like how it shows the segments on the legs, and the texture of the wings. The bee seemed to like the view, as it kept flying off but coming back for more posing. Here is another picture of the bumblebee:

This picture makes the eye look interesting and it almost looks like the bee is smiling! It was fun capturing images of this busy bee !!

♫ Hearts ♫

2009-08-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

It has probably been around for a bit, but I just noticed that craftopolis has a new tab that shows off hearts from etsy ! For those of you not familiar with these hearts and why this feature is cool, let me explain. I'll use my etsy shop as an example.

First, go to the homepage of my etsy shop. Then move down the right hand side until you see "Favorites". Click on "See Who Hearts This Shop" to see all the etsy users who have selected my shop a favorite. The list is long though, so it is difficult to see, for example, how many hearts I got on a certain day. Here is where craftopolis comes in.

Craftopolis is another website that offers personalized information to etsy shop owners. We can find out a number of things, including the details about how many hearts were obtained on a given day. Here is the page that shows my information. Now I can get a really nice visual image of the heart situation, and also when I click on a particular day, the shop icons appear so I can go explore their shops as well.

By the way, hearts are a nice way to keep track of your favorites as you look around on etsy. You can give a heart to a whole shop, and also to individual products. Some people do this to remember something really nice to get as a gift in the future. There are a lot of possibilities.

So check out craftopolis sometime, and enjoy looking around at all the interesting features this website has to offer.

♥ Sun Dogs ♥

2009-08-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

The calendar says end of summer, but don't tell that to Karla and Oz !! These happy doberman dogs love to sun themselves on our patio. Yesterday they were so content that I was able to snap a couple of good pictures of them enjoying their basking.

Karla is the black one, full of energy and curiosity. A biting fly was trying to land on her so she was alternating between keeping an eye on it and sniffing the light breeze for any sign of something interesting. Oz is the red doberman. Sometimes I think he is more like a fluffy teddy bear than a big dog, that is until he detects potential trouble. He can create quite the intimidating look when necessary !

This picture surprised me !! Karla decided to give me a shot that I didn't expect. Isn't she cute ???? Help me think of a cute caption for this picture !!

I love the warm weather too. Shorts and no coats, sunshine to warm the skin, not a worry in the world as far as snow drifts on the roads. But with the cooler nights and mornings, longer pants and fleece jackets are starting to come out of the closet again. There is something good that happens when it gets cooler though: the mosquitoes, little bugs, biting flys and pesky moths leave us alone again! So this post is dedicated to enjoying the change of seasons here in Colorado, as August turns to September and the cooler temperatures become the norm instead of the unusual.

☆ Who Let the Dogs Out? ☆

2009-08-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

Today was family day - including Kiwi (the whippet), plus Karla and Oz (the dobermans). Since we got a vehicle that can hold the whole family, a new tradition of visiting garage sales began this year. We don't usually find much to bring home, but the road trip with everyone is the best part anyway. Since the sales were slim today, I did a little clothes shopping at my favorite thrift store while my husband played with the dogs in some shade. Win-Win !!

To stay with the dog theme, I searched around on etsy and found some whippet and doberman treasures:

DogFaceGirls makes great needle felted items. Here is a cute whippet:

This sighthound is felted from wool, has hand-blown glass eyes, and a handmade beaded collar. This is really a one-of-a-kind item ! If you love this dog, click here to read all about it.

Whippets are such good dogs, in my humble opinion. We lived in a townhouse when we started investigating dog breeds. Whippets were not a breed I knew much about. What I found out was that they were clean, quiet, fun, and very sweet dogs. Kiwi is 12 years old now, and still has all those qualities.

I found another adorable whippet in the shop of DustyRoseDesigns. This artist sculpts polymer clay animals, including this Sleeping Hound:

This sculpture is white and grey, and measures 3" by 4". The features are so delicate and so pretty !!

Since we live in the country, large dogs are important to have around. Karla and Oz are brother and sister, and constantly keep us amused with their antics. They have short hair though, and do get cold in the winter months. Cozy Horse has amazing products to keep dobermans warm no matter the weather. Check out this fleece snood:

I know a few dobermans who would appreciate the warmth this snood would provide to their sensitive ears. This one has a skull and cross bones pattern, but the shop owner says there are other colors available by special order. Check out the listing for more adorable pictures of this cute dog!

These etsy shops have other great items too, so be sure to visit them and look around. I hope everyone had a great family weekend and that the week ahead is lots of fun too.

༺ Violet Update ༻

2009-08-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

Another month has passed, and the violet plant has certainly grown!! I just put it in a larger pot, so now there is nothing to stop the little fella from developing flowers. I have a feeling they will be dark purple, but the true color is still a mystery !!

I first blogged about this violet in June, then gave an update in July. Click here to read those articles. I had no idea this plant would grow so many leaves this quickly !! When I finally see a flower, I will update an let you know the color.

✈ Thirsty Buzzing Bees ✈

2009-08-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

On my patio next to the flower pots, sits a blue dog water bowl. Or so I thought. Since we got bee hives this spring, it has become apparent that this bowl belongs not to my dobermans or the whippet, but to a constant collection of thirsty bees!

At first the bees were having difficulty getting out of the water when they hung from the sides to take a drink. I would walk by and see a bee struggling and all in a panic, floating in the bowl. I used dried grass to pick the bee out, but before long he was back in the water doing the frantic swim moves.

So I put a small piece of wood in the bowl to help the bees in their thirsty quest for a drink. Now, all throughout the day, the stick has bees all over it ! I had no idea that bees drank so much water.

The bees are enjoying their new home and seem to be busy making honey in the hives. It is too early to know if we will get honey this year, but if we don't, at least we have all learned to live together in harmony.

Feature This !

2009-08-06T07:24:00.000-07:00

It is always nice to be noticed, right? I had this pleasure when Bead Happily Ever After put my crocheted flowers in a story on her blog. She featured one of my arrangements, made to look like a group of violets in a tweed basket. What a nice treat !

I hope you get noticed by someone today too !

✈ Ants All Over Me ✈

2009-08-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here in prairie grasslands country, once a year the ants take to flight and do some really strange things. I just checked on wikipedia, and found out it is called the Nuptial Flight. For me, it means flying ants are swarming around the house, birds are eating them and sometimes hitting the windows in their excitement, and generally I want to stay indoors.

In trying to be more positive about this normal event, I decided to look around on etsy.com and find some examples of ants that would make me smile.

This adorable sandwich bag comes from the shop of Shale Photography. The ants don't have wings here, so I am good with this cute ant example. Stop by and see all the other items in the fun shop, including this beautiful greeting card.

I found this linoleum ant print in the shop of Bello Books:

This ant is pretty realistic looking !! Check out this shop and take a look at this other cute print of a couple of baby birds.

I'm all about finding solutions to situations, which is what lead me to this next picture:

In the shop of We & The Bean, I found the perfect antidote (in my mind anyway). Now I have to think up a way to lure a couple of ant eaters to Colorado. Take a look at this adorable owl I also found in this creative shop.

Thanks for peeking in on my blog today.

..........༺ ♥ ༻ Sale ༺ ♥ ༻..........

2009-07-30T17:45:00.001-07:00

In the summer 'dog days' I have decided to run a sale through the weekend in my crochet flower shop. Stop by to check out the deals !

Here are the details:

༻ Buy two items. I will refund 50 percent of the lower priced item
༻ Shipping charges remain the same, the sale is for item price only
༻ Contact me with any questions

I'm in the mood to crochet some flowers, so come take away the ones I have in the shop so I can get busy !!

༻ Violet Update ༺

2009-07-05T16:56:00.001-07:00

After a month growing on my window sill, the little violet has certainly grown !

I have watered it regularly from the bottom, and as you can see there are many new leaves.

My last update was about a month ago. Click here to see what it looked like then.

I will probably need to put it in a larger pot before much longer. The mystery continues however, on what color the flowers will be. Personally I am hoping for a light or dark purple flower. Stay tuned for the answer once a flower pops out.

☆ Fireworks ☆

2009-06-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some items in my etsy shop that celebrate the colors of the 4th of July holiday.

I hope you have some plans to see fireworks !!

✈ Giveaway Not to Be Missed ✈

2009-06-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

The Create Crochet Team is having a cool giveaway on their blog:

http://createcrochet.blogspot.com/

Come over, check out the featured seller's shop, then add a comment on the blog. That's all you have to do to enter for the free item. And it is a cute one ! An Amigurumi Monkey !! Voting ends Sunday night, June 28th. Check it out !!

(I'm secretly hoping to win, but go ahead and enter if you want to !! )

♪ Favorite New Tea ♪

2009-06-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

This tea is fantastic !! I was looking for a caffeine free, sweetener free beverage and found out I love this stuff !!

Typically I enjoy cold drinks which used to include way too much diet pop. I'm trying to be more healthy, so went looking for a replacement. Water is ok, but is pretty bland. I found some good flavored waters, but it gets old always having to recycle the bottles. Finally I remembered how much I love cinnamon spice iced tea. It is so easy to brew and delicious to drink cold.

I take a glass jar (about the size of a mason jar left over from my peaches) and put 4 tea bags in with water. The jar sits on a sunny table for a few hours, then I have two large servings of great iced tea. No caffeine, no sweeteners, and no bottles to recycle. Great !

What drink ideas do you have along the lines of being more healthy?

✈ Busy Bees ✈

2009-06-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

I know where the phrase 'busy bee' comes from !!!! Observing our two bee hives reminded me of the meaning really quickly. It was a warm afternoon, and the bees were out collecting pollen. Here are some pictures of the bees coming and going.

I'm pretty impressed by my camera too. I have an old digital camera, the Sony Mavica. Amazingly, it uses floppy disks for film. I was standing a good distance from the hives, yet my zoom was able to catch the wings of the bees in flight !!

༺ Violet Update ༻

2009-06-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

Isn't this little African Violet plant adorable? Recently a friend gave me this little cutie. I'm going to see how it likes living at my house. Most plants like me, so hopefully we will have a long time together.

It will be fun to watch it grown, and find out what color flowers it will produce. They might be light purple, dark purple, or pink. Maybe white? I have only had one similar plant in the past and it had dark purple flowers.

Check back over time, I'll post updates as this lovely plant develops on my windowsill.

✈ Peacock Feathers ✈

2009-05-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

Lately our peacock has been doing his spring ritual. He spends the morning trying to woo his mate. Only problem is, we don't have a female peacock !!

So poor Pete just shakes his feathers for the chickens, who couldn't care less. Pete adopted us a few years ago, just wandering into the chicken coop area unannounced. We don't know if someone abandoned him, or if he got lost. So he just lives with our chickens now, bringing us enjoyment and hopefully bringing some peace in his life.

He looks amazing all spread out, but what I find interesting is the plumage he has in the rear. When his tail feathers are up, the display in the back is lovely as well! He has long strong grey feathers that hold up the tail, then a big tuft of cotton ball feathers, framed by his wings and some lovely gold feathers. Here are two pictures of what I'm talking about:

It was a bit breezy this morning, but he was giving it his all. I was impressed !!

His tail feathers will start shedding once the spring mating season is over. We collect the most in the later summer. He looks more comfortable when he isn't having to drag around all the feathers. The colors on the feathers are really lovely.

Does anyone else have a peacock? Share your stories in the comments.

☆ Romantic Treasury ☆

2009-05-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Today I found out that one of my etsy rose bouquets was selected by Mystic Wynd for a treasury !! Exiting news !! I think this treasury is really beautifully made, with the items all complimenting each other.

Please check out Mystic Wynd's shop, as well as the other shops featured in this lovely treasury. The treasury expires May 19th, but until then you can click here to see the treasury page yourself. Enjoy !!

✻ Garden Tilling ✻

2009-05-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

Our garden is expanding this year, so a good tilling is in order. My dog, Kiwi, checked out the rototiller and gave approval for work to continue.

We are a bit late starting the plants, but with a garden expansion project, and needed work on the rototiller, this is the best we could do this year. After some more rototilling work, we will make long rows for planting. Here is a bigger picture of the rototiller:

The garden already has 4 long rows, and with the expansion it will probably have 8 to 10 rows total. After making the rows, we need to plan irrigation. Last year we used soaker hoses and that provided good water all the way down the row. Water and a good hoe are the best tools I know of in the garden ! Here is a shot of the new section of the garden.

Are you gardening this year? I hope it is a good season for everyone's plants.

♫ Sprout Update ♫

2009-05-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

Spring is an amazing time ! The extra sunlight does wonders for us people and also for plants. My sweet potato plant has really changed since my last report three weeks ago. Drum roll please......

Here is what the plant looks like today !! I'm loving the light green leaves. The roots are filling the container and the plant is starting to look like it belongs outside. I will put it in a nice spot in the garden and see what develops. I've never grown sweet potatoes before, so the adventure continues.

Does anyone have any advice on growing these in the garden? Please leave a comment and share if you know what I should expect later this summer.

♥ Found a Ring ♥

2009-05-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

Today I got a chance to make someone's day. While shopping in a local grocery store, I was having trouble pushing my cart. Annoyed at first, I tried to spin the wheels, back the cart up, anything to make it cruise properly. Looking down at the wheels to try to detect the trouble, my eye spotted something sparkly. It was a ring !

The foreign object that had bothered my cart's wheel was actually a really pretty diamond ring. On closer inspection I saw that it had one large diamond in the center, then smaller diamonds on either side. Plus, there were a bunch of little gems, more diamonds and some ruby red stones. The ring looked so out of place sitting there on the floor.

The ring looked to be in fine shape. Who had lost it? No one around me was acting unusual, or searching frantically. Did the owner of the ring give up on trying to find it? How long had it been lost?

At the customer service desk I found answers. Just a few hours earlier a woman had reported her ring missing. She left a phone number and description of the ring, which matched perfectly. So I called the number and told her answering machine the good news. The store would hold the ring in a safe place until she could come in and claim it. I felt relieved.

Have you ever found something and been lucky enough to find the owner? I feel fortunate to have made someone's day, brought a smile, and re-united the pretty ring with the person it must have meant a lot to.

☆ Giveaway - Come See ☆

2009-04-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

One of my etsy.com teams is having a wonderful giveaway ! Teams are ways for people to come together for fun and promotion of their etsy shops. These items are available for free, including a pair of my coasters.

More details about how to enter are posted on the Create Crochet Team's blog. The bath set is made by PeanutandTommy, the hand spun bamboo yarn is from HandmadeSunshine, and the $10 gift certificate is from JBCrochetDelights.

Come on over to their blog and enter to win these great items !!