RUG HOOKING AND DYEING WOOL WITH WALNUT HULLS-LIL’S FIRST BIRTHDAY-APPLES IN THE CROCKPOT

26 10 2013

Hello

This morning the mountains were shrouded  with a frosty mist.  The outside water bucket was frozen, its time to plug-in the electric bucket.  What a wonderful invention, electric water buckets.  I can remember carrying into the house heavy frozen solid water buckets.  I still do that with the hens.

Rug Hooking and Dyeing Wool

Yesterday while organizing my hooking wools I found this turkey pattern that I started a long time ago.

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I have many projects like this as new things come along I put the others aside.  The old things get finished eventually.  I will finish this onE before Thanksgiving.  I have this bag of cut wool which I will dye today with black walnuts ,\IMG_1682

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It will be just the right shade of brown for the background.  I have picked up some leaves in the pasture to put on the background.  I am also starting the Gingerbread Men which I plan to have for the Crafts of Colrain.

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Lil’s First Birthday

Yesterday was Lil’s first birthday.  She got the knack of opening presents right away and loved digging into the cake.

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I can remember my Grandmother telling me that when you get older time flies and it sure does.   My Granddaughter Tea is driving now and Next year Ricky will be driving.  Where did the time go.

APPLES IN THE CROCK POT

I do love my crock pot and days like today I wish I had two of them.  Yesterday a friend dropped off a basket of her russet apples and I want to make applesauce.

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  Sadie has applesauce in her food every night.  SHe missed the carrots and apples she was able to chew before she lost some of her teeth.  The applesauce sort of makes up for that..  I love applesauce myself so we will both enjoying it.  I am just paring and coring the apples and putting some water in the crock pot,  Leaving them to cook for 4-5 hours and not adding any sugar as these apples are sweet enough.

Hazel 

Hazel is improving ever so slowly, the infection must have been deep in his little body.

I am working on getting the hens in today, They were huddled together last night .

Many thanks for reading my blog today and I hope your day was wonderful..   Carole


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Categories : ANTIQUE APPLES, DYEING WOOL, HAZEL, LIL, Rug Hooking, Uncategorized

APPLE TREES ARRIVED

25 04 2013

Hello,

IMG_0214SPRING IS HERE

The APPLE TREES Arrived

IMG_0215The two apples, the mock orange and 3 hemlock trees arrived yesterday.  I planted everything today.  I got them from Millers and they look so healthy and strong.  Thanks Patti for suggesting Millers to me

ELLIOTT

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Today was a special day for Elliott.  Marc Page came and sheared him and trimmed his feet.  He looks and feels better now.  I am hoping to find a vet that will trim his teeth.  There are vets in New Hampshire that come here and will do it but Marc feels that he shouldn’t be knocked out for this as his is quite old.  SO I will have to find someone who can give him a light sedative.  I am going to send out his wool to be put into roving for more rugs.

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Camp Wool Here I Come.  Hope you have a wonderful day and many thanks for reading my blog.     Carole


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WOOL-DYED WOOL-OLIVER-FINDING ANTIQUE APPLES

2 04 2013

Hello

Yesterday was windy and blustery with bursts of rain.  A typical March day but April has only begun.  Today its cold this morning and I hope it warms up this afternoon.  Usually the sheep are out by now but they are staying in the warmth of the barn.

WOOL

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I have been working on the white fleeces.  I have one 3/4’s done and ready to put on a screen door in the upstairs bathroom to dry.  I did dye what I was not able to send out for yarn.  Only using two colors of dye using the rainbow dye method.

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I am planning to send Marley’s wool out to be done into roving.

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Oliver Update

Ollie is not doing as well today, hopefully its a minor set-back.

APPLE TREE

I am still looking for an Antique Apple Tree.  The ones I have found so far are very expensive.   Just a little under $100.  I am still looking because that is more than I want to spend.  I might just settle for a local variety BALDWIN.  They are good apples .

FENCING

Soon it will be time to get busy with fencing in new areas for the sheep.  I want to move them up the hill more, where they can clean up brush and also there is a small patch of grass near my willow which I would like them to graze.  I am going to take about 10 feet of their  area and fence it in for more garden space but they will have  lots more area to go in.

Many thanks for reading my blog and I hope you have a wonderful day.             Carole

 

 

 


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HOOKED RUG – WOOL AND YARN – BAILING TWINE RUG

8 01 2013

HELLO,

HOOKED RUG

I have been busy with this rug.  I do love the way its coming out.  Its heavy and will be a perfect rug to step out of bed on a cold wintry morning.  I know I will make another one and already have plans to send Elliott’s  wool from 2012 and the fleece from 2013 out  to be done into roving.  This is using up a good amount of yarn!!!

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Wool and Yarn

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I have been raising sheep for many years and its hard for me to throw any of the wool away.

  Somehow when you wait a whole year for a fleece you want to use it all. Some on my friends tease me for keeping the neck wool which can be long and scratchy.  The only parts that I do throw in a mulch pile are the parts with manure on them.  And this year I learned something from a blog which I follow: http://www.permaculturecottage.wordpress.com  .  Colette told me that she puts that part of a fleece around her apple trees and she has wonderful apples.  I am getting 2 antique apple trees this year and that part of the fleece will be put around them.

The reddish – orange neck wool which I showed you on my blog a couple of days ago is now spun.   It will work so well in this rug.  A lot of the wool used would have been thrown away.  There are good uses for all scratchy wool.

Bailing Twine Rug.

I have worked on it some.  I find that because the twine is used it frays a lot and is somewhat hard to manage.  I think new bailing twine would go a lot faster.  I plan to make a cotton  rug next out of old cut up clothing.  I hope to  work on the twine  rug everyday, and hope that it will be finished by the weekend.

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I can’t make up my mind if I want a really tight weave or not so I plan to do a few more rows to see how it looks.

 

SHORTY

Shorty always has a blissful look on his face.

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This morning he was hoping that the pellet stove would magically come on.   It did not.   I usually get it going around noontime and the wood stove sometime in the afternoon.  Its a lot of work keeping up with the both stoves but surely makes the house a lot warmer

I hope you have a wonderful day and many thanks for reading my blog.               Carole

 


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Categories : ANTIQUE APPLES, RECYCLING, Rug Hooking, SHORTY, WOOL, YARN

MORE INFO ON ANTIQUE APPLES – CATS (ERNEST DODGE) – MAKING BREAD

21 09 2012

HELLO

ANTIQUE APPLES

I got my last issue of Martha Stewart Magazine in the mail yesterday and just had a chance to glance at it today.  There is a great article about a man in Maine who puts up wanted posters for old antique apple trees, he is trying to save the trees.   Check out the article I think you will enjoy  it.

ERNEST DODGE

This morning I was getting ready to feed the sheep and pack the car when I noticed some blood on the floor.  Upon investigating I found it came from Ernest Dodge.  I called my Vet but he was away so I called the Emergency Vet in Deerfield and they said bring him in right away.  So off we went.  He has kidney disease and something wrong with his eye.  He is on fluids and antibiotics and goes back to his vet a week from today.  He does have to see an eye doctor at the emergency vets this coming week.

So I am not doing the show in New York state this weekend.  Ernest need watching carefully.  In the meantime Susan who was doing the show with me had done something to her cornea and wouldn’t be able to go either.  It was not meant to be for either one of us.

 

 

 

 

 

Ernest eating and resting after his ordeal.  He has a way of wrapping people around his little paw,  Everyone loved him at the emergency vets.

MAKING BREAD

Today because I had no plans except for the show I decided to do some things that I have wanted to do but  have been  too busy, like making bread.    Last week I bought a loaf of garlic/dill homemade white bread.  It was wonderful.  Then I wondered why I would pay $4.00 for that when I have a bread machine and all the ingredients and it would probably only cost me 50 cents for the loaf.

So today we will see and I will have pictures for you tomorrow.

Hope you have a wonderful day and thank you for reading my blog

Carole


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Categories : ANTIQUE APPLES, Cats, MAKING BREAD