Sunday, February 24, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Homesteading Dream
This week has been full of things pushing me towards fulfilling my homesteading dream.
First off, on Monday, I finally learned how to knit socks. This may not seem like a huge deal to many of you but to me it is HUGE! I have been knitting on and off since about the age of seven and the thought of knitting a sock terrified me. I was always afraid that it was going to be impossibly hard and I would get super frustrated and give up with out accomplishing anything. Well thankfully the life saver of modern times, aka YouTube, saved the day. I finally learned how to turn the heel and make the gusset (the triangle thing by the heel for those who don't know). And now I have completed my first pair of socks! Amazing I know. They need some improvements but I figured for my first pair they are pretty darn good. I am wearing them as I type.
The second thing that really has me on the homesteading bandwagon is making my own onion powder. Yup, I did it. Another thing I thought near impossible that I accomplished this week. It was super easy as well! I even got to use my mortar and pestle! Oven baked the onions until they were super crunchy (low heat over a few hours) and then pounded away at them with my stone. It was great fun and really made me think of doing this for the rest of my life. Now the only thing that could have made it better if I grew the onions but there is always room for improvement.
I continue to read up on homesteading . Put a ton of books on hold at the local library. Would love to own them all but we have to save all our pennies, nickels and dimes if we want to afford a homestead in Western Washington.
This was a great week for me and realizing my dreams. I can't wait until next week when I get to try something new.
Until next time!
First off, on Monday, I finally learned how to knit socks. This may not seem like a huge deal to many of you but to me it is HUGE! I have been knitting on and off since about the age of seven and the thought of knitting a sock terrified me. I was always afraid that it was going to be impossibly hard and I would get super frustrated and give up with out accomplishing anything. Well thankfully the life saver of modern times, aka YouTube, saved the day. I finally learned how to turn the heel and make the gusset (the triangle thing by the heel for those who don't know). And now I have completed my first pair of socks! Amazing I know. They need some improvements but I figured for my first pair they are pretty darn good. I am wearing them as I type.
The second thing that really has me on the homesteading bandwagon is making my own onion powder. Yup, I did it. Another thing I thought near impossible that I accomplished this week. It was super easy as well! I even got to use my mortar and pestle! Oven baked the onions until they were super crunchy (low heat over a few hours) and then pounded away at them with my stone. It was great fun and really made me think of doing this for the rest of my life. Now the only thing that could have made it better if I grew the onions but there is always room for improvement.
I continue to read up on homesteading . Put a ton of books on hold at the local library. Would love to own them all but we have to save all our pennies, nickels and dimes if we want to afford a homestead in Western Washington.
This was a great week for me and realizing my dreams. I can't wait until next week when I get to try something new.
Until next time!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Knitting Progress
I have done it again. I have become addicted to knitting. I go in these spurts where all I want to do is knit. It all started because I went to clean out my knitting corner (currently a huge pile of yarn, needles and projects half done or "phd" underneath an end table in my living room) and make it look at least presentable and usable again. Well of course it goes without saying that once I clean something out I usually play with half the things I find, aka knitting.
This past week I have worked on a panel of a stripped blanket. It is going to be blue and green. The two panels currently are seperate and I am actually using one as a shawl as I work on the other one.
(Insert picture)
Then I found an old ball of yarn I got about a year ago (yes that is old for me, I can't collect a stash no matter how hard I try). I am knitting squares found from a coaster pattern I found and plan on making that into a quilt or pillow or something like that. It is just too cute for me to just have it is as a coaster.
(Insert Picture)
Finally I wanted a quick project for me to do start to finish and found this adorable baby blanket pattern on the purl bee (via pinterest). It is a simple seed stitch blanket with very chunky yarn and a knitted border. I am changing it up by using three strands of heavy weight yarn by Homespun (you can get it at any craft store, especially Joann's) and following the same pattern.
It is a simple pattern of
CO 51. Seed stitch until all balls are used up (with some left over for a BO).
With the homespun I am using 6 balls of yarn since they are bigger than the local homemade skeins. After that is all done I am going to use a lime green color to make a crocheted border around it. The purl bee version as I mentioned had a knitted border but I thought it would be easier to crochet it than having to worry about picking up stitches and the like.
This is my progress so far.
(Insert picture)
Of course I am also always working on dishcloths. I can never have enough of them and they are simple projects to do while sitting in front of the TV or relaxing in bed.
What kind of projects have you been up to? I would love to hear about them.
This past week I have worked on a panel of a stripped blanket. It is going to be blue and green. The two panels currently are seperate and I am actually using one as a shawl as I work on the other one.
(Insert picture)
Then I found an old ball of yarn I got about a year ago (yes that is old for me, I can't collect a stash no matter how hard I try). I am knitting squares found from a coaster pattern I found and plan on making that into a quilt or pillow or something like that. It is just too cute for me to just have it is as a coaster.
(Insert Picture)
Finally I wanted a quick project for me to do start to finish and found this adorable baby blanket pattern on the purl bee (via pinterest). It is a simple seed stitch blanket with very chunky yarn and a knitted border. I am changing it up by using three strands of heavy weight yarn by Homespun (you can get it at any craft store, especially Joann's) and following the same pattern.
It is a simple pattern of
CO 51. Seed stitch until all balls are used up (with some left over for a BO).
With the homespun I am using 6 balls of yarn since they are bigger than the local homemade skeins. After that is all done I am going to use a lime green color to make a crocheted border around it. The purl bee version as I mentioned had a knitted border but I thought it would be easier to crochet it than having to worry about picking up stitches and the like.
This is my progress so far.
(Insert picture)
Of course I am also always working on dishcloths. I can never have enough of them and they are simple projects to do while sitting in front of the TV or relaxing in bed.
What kind of projects have you been up to? I would love to hear about them.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Adventures In Making Butter
For the holidays I got a gift card to William Sonoma. Well this past weekend M and I decided that we would go spend it on some things we need around the house. Okay in reality we didn't want to spend any money because we are trying to save it all and were going stir crazy so we went to William Sonoma (a store in which I love but just normally can't afford all the goodies in there).
So anyways, I went around that store like six times. M dragging behind me just saying pick something already. (Nothing like going around the same store 6 times to make you want to go back home and not care if you are stir crazy anymore, trust me.) I picked out some measuring cups we needed (the liquid measuring cups. I only have dry ones) and we still had a lot more on our card to use up. So I saw in the little homesteading section they had a butter making kit. I thought to myself that looks fun and put it on the register along with the measuring cups. Went to the store bought the other ingredients I needed and we headed on home.
Of course now I have psyched myself up for it. I am getting excited so the moment I get home I bust open the kit and follow the instructions. My patience just is not the best when I am really excited about something so the 30 minutes or so until the cream got to room temperature for me to start shaking away was nearly deadly.
15 minutes later of shaking vigorously. Let just say my arms ached for days. Then after I went to rinse off the butter in the ice water I realized I hadn't shook it long enough or waited long enough to let the cream warm up. So 15 minutes of one of the best arm work outs of my life and I didn't even get butter. Nope. It turned into a pile of liquid mess that ended up going down the garbage disposal.
I know the lessons now but geez. Making sure your whipping cream is very much at room temperature before you start shaking otherwise that 15 minutes will probably be closer to 30 minutes. I know I will try it again (after my arms recover) but it was an adventure to say the least. I am glad I tried it and even though I blew it I am excited to try it again.
Have you ever made butter? How did it turn out for you? I would love to find out.
So anyways, I went around that store like six times. M dragging behind me just saying pick something already. (Nothing like going around the same store 6 times to make you want to go back home and not care if you are stir crazy anymore, trust me.) I picked out some measuring cups we needed (the liquid measuring cups. I only have dry ones) and we still had a lot more on our card to use up. So I saw in the little homesteading section they had a butter making kit. I thought to myself that looks fun and put it on the register along with the measuring cups. Went to the store bought the other ingredients I needed and we headed on home.
Of course now I have psyched myself up for it. I am getting excited so the moment I get home I bust open the kit and follow the instructions. My patience just is not the best when I am really excited about something so the 30 minutes or so until the cream got to room temperature for me to start shaking away was nearly deadly.
15 minutes later of shaking vigorously. Let just say my arms ached for days. Then after I went to rinse off the butter in the ice water I realized I hadn't shook it long enough or waited long enough to let the cream warm up. So 15 minutes of one of the best arm work outs of my life and I didn't even get butter. Nope. It turned into a pile of liquid mess that ended up going down the garbage disposal.
I know the lessons now but geez. Making sure your whipping cream is very much at room temperature before you start shaking otherwise that 15 minutes will probably be closer to 30 minutes. I know I will try it again (after my arms recover) but it was an adventure to say the least. I am glad I tried it and even though I blew it I am excited to try it again.
Have you ever made butter? How did it turn out for you? I would love to find out.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
When Things Step Between You and Your Plans
So I am not the best at blogging. I will be the first to admit. I had the most perfect intentions of writing on this blog every week and it being my baby. As you can see that hasn't happened. Life has a way of stepping in and make even the most brilliant of plans fall through.
I have been trying still to make our apartment a home and save pennies to someday have a house to call our own. Then of course our bearded dragon needed emergency surgery and 800 some dollars later a lot of our hard work to save went down the drain in one very stressful evening. We are still saving little by little and making budgets and plans to save as much as we can. The new year for a new start.
I haven't been knitting as much as I would like but with the start of the new year I have a few new projects I am working on. Mostly blankets and dish cloths (can never have enough of either!) The blanket I am working on is a Yule time themed blanket of green and red. I am hoping it is warm and lush and finished before Easter rolls around. Then I will be in the mood for some spring time projects and cleaning house.
The organizing has taken a very steep decline because in Seattle area the sun doesn't really come out at all and by the time you get off of work to organize it is dark in almost every corner of our apartment (we rely on a lot of natural light most of the year in the majority of our apartment.) I have a plan made of down sizing our collection of items and trying to get some extra money by selling some books and things we do not need.
I have tried to re-boot the herb of the month club with a group of friends. It is a lot more work than I was imagining and I need to get into work on that more. It is a lot of fun while at the group meetings but the collecting all the information and planning meetings is definitely not easy. I am hoping it gets easier the more I do it and get comfortable with it.
In entirety life is hectic. You plan and plan but something always comes up that was outside of your planning. No matter how much you plan something somewhere will go wrong but the best you can do is plan for everything you can think of and smile through the problems and get them resolved. That is what we are still trying to do and what I will continue to do.
Until next time.
I have been trying still to make our apartment a home and save pennies to someday have a house to call our own. Then of course our bearded dragon needed emergency surgery and 800 some dollars later a lot of our hard work to save went down the drain in one very stressful evening. We are still saving little by little and making budgets and plans to save as much as we can. The new year for a new start.
I haven't been knitting as much as I would like but with the start of the new year I have a few new projects I am working on. Mostly blankets and dish cloths (can never have enough of either!) The blanket I am working on is a Yule time themed blanket of green and red. I am hoping it is warm and lush and finished before Easter rolls around. Then I will be in the mood for some spring time projects and cleaning house.
The organizing has taken a very steep decline because in Seattle area the sun doesn't really come out at all and by the time you get off of work to organize it is dark in almost every corner of our apartment (we rely on a lot of natural light most of the year in the majority of our apartment.) I have a plan made of down sizing our collection of items and trying to get some extra money by selling some books and things we do not need.
I have tried to re-boot the herb of the month club with a group of friends. It is a lot more work than I was imagining and I need to get into work on that more. It is a lot of fun while at the group meetings but the collecting all the information and planning meetings is definitely not easy. I am hoping it gets easier the more I do it and get comfortable with it.
In entirety life is hectic. You plan and plan but something always comes up that was outside of your planning. No matter how much you plan something somewhere will go wrong but the best you can do is plan for everything you can think of and smile through the problems and get them resolved. That is what we are still trying to do and what I will continue to do.
Until next time.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Living The Quiet Life
Today I am sitting at my desk dreaming. Dreaming of a quiet life out in the country someplace where I can devote my time to writing and crafting and making our house a home. Is this a possibility right now? No. I can't have a home out in the country, not right now anyways, but that doesn't mean I can't bring that simple life to me and you can't do the same.
I have been thinking a lot lately and I have been trying to make my life as simple as possible. This past summer I planted a small flower garden in the plot of land right next to my apartment. Now most of the flowers are starting to wilt and I need to do more work in it to make it ready for winter but I am looking forward to that work. To get everything ready for a beautiful spring I know I will enjoy this coming year. I have included a picture below of the little herb garden I had but now has been cut down for fall.
It really helped me feel more connected to the earth again, something I found I had been missing quiet badly since moving to the city and struggling with apartment life. However, this isn't the only step I have done to get that homesteading feel inside the city. I have started to buy little things to make our apartment move of a home. I brought in warm neutrals instead of the blue couches (slip covers at Target are a wonderful thing and much cheaper than most places) knitted some pillow covers and started clearing out the clutter. Our living room used to be a catch all for all my crafts and still is but I am getting better at making sure to store the projects I am not working on so that it keeps the space feeling more open and less hectic.
I have also been really trying to throw out a bunch of items that Michael and I really just don't need. I will admit it. I am a recovering Pack Rat. I will be the first to say but once you start liberating yourself from stuff you realize how much it was weighing you down. Now I am not saying you have to go completely minimalist because for most of us that is not possible but cut down on the stuff you haven't even touched in a year, or more. I know I was/still am guilty of having snippets of fabric and bits of cheap yarn from years ago that I finally threw away. If I need it, I can buy it again. No point in keeping it for the potential use I might have for it five years down the road. I faced the facts, I haven't used it in the three years that I moved out of my parents house, I am not going to need it five years from now. And if I do, then I will face that ship when it comes into dock.
Why am I sharing this? Because I know how hard it can be to see such a task in front of you. I want to live on a homestead out in the country but I can't because I can't afford land or a house, let alone to quit my job and move away. You probably can't either. However there are little things you can do to find time to adapt it into your life. To get small steps closer to your dream.
I, personally, have started doing more home projects and re-found my love for cooking. My next step is to spend a day a month making homemade bread and freezing the extras. This isn't possible for all people but think of other ways you can change your life in the small ways to find your dreams. Do you want to have a garden but live in an apartment? Buy some pots and have herbs for the winter in the kitchen. And trust me if you have never gardened before most likely they are all going to die (I have killed many a plant over my years and still do). Don't get discouraged, keep trying and do different things until you find what works for you.
Do you want to save money on food to help you save for the future? Try something which I am trying to do by making things from scratch. Not only does it help you save money but it also keeps all the gross chemicals and preservatives out of your food. It is a large grocery bill at first but you will notice how long those things last and how much money you are saving in the long run.
I love to knit. I have been trying to knit as many things for the house as possible. I have knitted tons of dishcloths and 90% of all the scarves I own. Knitting for me adds character to my home and also helps me keep busy instead of just sitting on my butt. Well okay, I sit on my butt when I knit but I think you know what I mean. It keeps me busy even on down time. It helps me relax and it makes beautiful things in the mean time.
.
These are only a few things you can do. Try picking up sewing, or quilting or even painting. Try making some of your own jewelry. Try your hand at homemade bread, or trying to eat out less and make more at home.
I would love to hear about your progress and what you do to make your life filled with that quiet joy of simple living.
I have been thinking a lot lately and I have been trying to make my life as simple as possible. This past summer I planted a small flower garden in the plot of land right next to my apartment. Now most of the flowers are starting to wilt and I need to do more work in it to make it ready for winter but I am looking forward to that work. To get everything ready for a beautiful spring I know I will enjoy this coming year. I have included a picture below of the little herb garden I had but now has been cut down for fall.
It really helped me feel more connected to the earth again, something I found I had been missing quiet badly since moving to the city and struggling with apartment life. However, this isn't the only step I have done to get that homesteading feel inside the city. I have started to buy little things to make our apartment move of a home. I brought in warm neutrals instead of the blue couches (slip covers at Target are a wonderful thing and much cheaper than most places) knitted some pillow covers and started clearing out the clutter. Our living room used to be a catch all for all my crafts and still is but I am getting better at making sure to store the projects I am not working on so that it keeps the space feeling more open and less hectic.
I have also been really trying to throw out a bunch of items that Michael and I really just don't need. I will admit it. I am a recovering Pack Rat. I will be the first to say but once you start liberating yourself from stuff you realize how much it was weighing you down. Now I am not saying you have to go completely minimalist because for most of us that is not possible but cut down on the stuff you haven't even touched in a year, or more. I know I was/still am guilty of having snippets of fabric and bits of cheap yarn from years ago that I finally threw away. If I need it, I can buy it again. No point in keeping it for the potential use I might have for it five years down the road. I faced the facts, I haven't used it in the three years that I moved out of my parents house, I am not going to need it five years from now. And if I do, then I will face that ship when it comes into dock.
Why am I sharing this? Because I know how hard it can be to see such a task in front of you. I want to live on a homestead out in the country but I can't because I can't afford land or a house, let alone to quit my job and move away. You probably can't either. However there are little things you can do to find time to adapt it into your life. To get small steps closer to your dream.
I, personally, have started doing more home projects and re-found my love for cooking. My next step is to spend a day a month making homemade bread and freezing the extras. This isn't possible for all people but think of other ways you can change your life in the small ways to find your dreams. Do you want to have a garden but live in an apartment? Buy some pots and have herbs for the winter in the kitchen. And trust me if you have never gardened before most likely they are all going to die (I have killed many a plant over my years and still do). Don't get discouraged, keep trying and do different things until you find what works for you.
Do you want to save money on food to help you save for the future? Try something which I am trying to do by making things from scratch. Not only does it help you save money but it also keeps all the gross chemicals and preservatives out of your food. It is a large grocery bill at first but you will notice how long those things last and how much money you are saving in the long run.
I love to knit. I have been trying to knit as many things for the house as possible. I have knitted tons of dishcloths and 90% of all the scarves I own. Knitting for me adds character to my home and also helps me keep busy instead of just sitting on my butt. Well okay, I sit on my butt when I knit but I think you know what I mean. It keeps me busy even on down time. It helps me relax and it makes beautiful things in the mean time.
These are only a few things you can do. Try picking up sewing, or quilting or even painting. Try making some of your own jewelry. Try your hand at homemade bread, or trying to eat out less and make more at home.
I would love to hear about your progress and what you do to make your life filled with that quiet joy of simple living.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Sometimes Days Just Get Away From You
Do you ever have that happen? Where the day just seems to fly on past you and yet you got nothing accomplished? It is one of those kind of days for me. At least I got a few errands done. And by a few I mean I waited at Joann's for nearly 90 minutes just waiting for one cut of fabric. Wedding planning! Yay (insert sarcastic smile).
I am glad to be getting some of this stuff done early but it ate up such a huge chunk of my day. But looking back I have done things today I haven't done in a very long time. I ran this morning. Boy, am I out of shape, but I did it. I made it 90% of the way without walking and I didn't stop once. Ronnie (my wonderful Basenji mix, yes that is a dog breed) loved it. She has been dreaming of more exercise too. Both of us are getting sedentary in our old age. Oh wait, neither of us are old. Gosh darn it.
I read a lot of one of the most lovely blogs I have read in a long time. The Sitting Tree. It isn't like it is the most magical blog in the world but it really speaks to my heart and the way I want to live my life. Not saying her life is perfect because lets face it no one's is but it is something Michael and I have been talking about lately.
Last night we had a fire in the fireplace and had candles lit all around. We just spent time together. I reheated up left overs and we cuddled on the couch as I knit. It was a nice quiet night and something I greatly enjoyed. I am a home body through and through and on days where the rain is in the air and the clouds dampen the sunlight makes me want to stay inside, cuddle up on the couch with a good cup of tea and knit. Of course then real life steps in and reminds me I have an appointment I have to leave for in 30 minutes and my dreams get whisked away for another day.
Enjoy life everyone and sometimes those days just do slip away before you can appreciate how great they are.
I am glad to be getting some of this stuff done early but it ate up such a huge chunk of my day. But looking back I have done things today I haven't done in a very long time. I ran this morning. Boy, am I out of shape, but I did it. I made it 90% of the way without walking and I didn't stop once. Ronnie (my wonderful Basenji mix, yes that is a dog breed) loved it. She has been dreaming of more exercise too. Both of us are getting sedentary in our old age. Oh wait, neither of us are old. Gosh darn it.
I read a lot of one of the most lovely blogs I have read in a long time. The Sitting Tree. It isn't like it is the most magical blog in the world but it really speaks to my heart and the way I want to live my life. Not saying her life is perfect because lets face it no one's is but it is something Michael and I have been talking about lately.
Last night we had a fire in the fireplace and had candles lit all around. We just spent time together. I reheated up left overs and we cuddled on the couch as I knit. It was a nice quiet night and something I greatly enjoyed. I am a home body through and through and on days where the rain is in the air and the clouds dampen the sunlight makes me want to stay inside, cuddle up on the couch with a good cup of tea and knit. Of course then real life steps in and reminds me I have an appointment I have to leave for in 30 minutes and my dreams get whisked away for another day.
Enjoy life everyone and sometimes those days just do slip away before you can appreciate how great they are.
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