Fire, Lunch and Compost Pit

It was a gray but warmer October day - the perfect day for a fire in our little backyard. Mama was the master fire builder. Looks pretty good huh? Fires always remind me of camping, one of our favorite activities, which we don't do enough.

Lunch was a simple affair of goat cheese on Wasa crackers for the adults, cheddar cheese and crackers for Sam and apples.

Sam, who usually is all over the place during meals, focused on the fire, sat still and ate. Maybe we should have fires everyday?

I imagine Sam is thinking - "Is she taking my picture?"

The fire made a dramatic collapse after about 30 minutes.

Dan's project for the day was to dig a compost pit which we could put our compost bin on top of to increase it's capacity. We seem to always run out of room for our kitchen scraps mid winter, so this effort will hopefully solve the problem. I feel we still need another bin, but space is such an issue in our little backyard. We already have a shade garden, kitchen garden, raspberry patch, sandbox, playhouse, fire pit and tables and chairs. Oh ya, there is a bit of room left to play - thank goodness!

Before the hole was filled and covered, Sam had such fun getting in a out of it! All by himself no less - what a three year old!

Daddy and Sam together in the compost pit. I love this photo as it really captures the fun of the afternoon.

What I'm Knitting Now...

As you may have read from my SOCKS! post, I had to purchase a whole skein of yarn for the 2" of toe I was short. So, now I needed a way to use a partial skein of yarn (normally enough to make 1 sock.) What I came up with are these "almost" knee high socks. I used some green sock yarn my mother had left over (no idea what brand) and purchased the blue yarn from Blue Sky Alpacas. I'm pretty happy with them except for their length. Probably I should have checked their length one last time before I started ribbing - sigh. Sock number 2 is underway and I will increase the length; going back to increase the length of the first. I took a pattern out of Socks From the Toe Up by Wendy D. Johnson and just knit in garter skipping the lacework. They are so quick with the stripes adding all the interest. What I'm not looking forward to is weaving in all the ends - yuck.

Fall Harvest Orchard

I meant to post this in September when we visited the farm, but writing hasn't been happening too much as you can very well see. We took our niece Alex and nephew Tyler to Fall Harvest Orchard in Delano, MN for apple picking and good old farm fun! It was a gray day, but warm and good times were had by all. Oddly enough when I went through my pictures of our day there were none of us picking apples. The big hit with everyone was burying each other in the corn bin and holding the baby animals. Here's a few photos:

Nephew Tyler fully buried. Later he even let his head be covered with corn.

Everyone chipping in to cover Dan.

Sam just loved the tactile quality of the corn. Hmmm...maybe we should have a cornbox instead of a sandbox at home?

Tyler, who is allergic to cats, was so enthralled by picking up the baby goats and the different breeds and ages of chicks that he just couldn't stop himself when it came to the farm cats.


Sam did manage to pick this goat up; I did not manage to get a picture of that moment.

Dan holding the special fluffy breed of chickens they raise.

We all feed the goats oats, played tether ball, ate brats, picked gourds, took a tractor ride, picked apples thoroughly enjoying our day at the farm. I wish the weather stayed warm enough so we could have gone back, but we'll just have to wait again until next year. It was a wonderful day with my family.

Oh, I almost forgot to include the ubiquitous tractor photo. Here's Alex - isn't she lovely?

Sheep Shearing Day

On Saturday we went to Misty Meadows Icelandic farm in Minnetrista, MN to watch the sheep get sheared, the fleeces skirted, and play with wool! Here are a few photos of our day.

This woman who did the shearing was amazing. She was gentle, firm and quick. Just a few minutes was all it took her to shear off a fleece and all in one piece!

Dan with the HUGE pumpkin!

Dad and Sam at the" helm" of the tractor. Where are you going Sam? It was so great to have a warmer sunny day as Fall here in Minnesota has been cold and wet this year.

Time to go home. It was a fun day and mom bought lots of yummy fall wool to make wool felt for our Centerpiece and our Nature Table. Here are the results.


This was such a fun and EASY project. We had just learned how to felt in our Parent/Child class "Seedlings" held at Sam's school Spring Hill Waldorf School in Excelsior, MN. I might do a tutorial on it for when I make some felt for our winter displays.

SOCKS!!!

O.k., I'm a little excited. I just finished my 1st 2 pairs of socks! I've wanted to knit socks for a long time. I finally signed up for a class this last Spring at the local Community Center only to have the worst teacher, very mean spirited, so socks got put off until now. A lady at my local yarn shop helped me find a simple pattern (Plymouth Yarn Company Encore Sock 1410) and a GREAT pair of very tiny sock circular needles (of which I forget the brand name) and I started off on my own.

This pair I made for my mother from Regia superwash wool. It was a great self striping yarn. My only issue was I ran out of yarn for the last toe and had to buy another skein.

Then I became hooked and immediately went out and purchased more yarn to make a pair for myself. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn again with this pair but was unable to get more as it was a closeout product. I compromised and found blue yarn that matched from Blue Sky Alpacas to finish this pair.

Again, I promptly purchased more yarn. And this time I also purchased a knit from the toe up pattern (NatureSpeak Knits Toe-Up Joy by Jeanne C. Abel) so I will not run out of yarn again, but maybe have shorter socks!

Yarn Giveaway

Linda from Natural Suburbia is having another yarn giveaway. Leave a comment for a chance to win her beautiful yarn.

I am giving away this beautiful Rainbow Yarn, this skein holds 100 grams / 3.5 ounces and it is so beautiful and soft .... It is a handspun, hand dyed skein. Don't forget to leave me your email so I can reach you when you win. This giveaway is open to the whole world...

Dinner From the Garden

We have a small garden in our city sized yard, so it's indeed a special night when dinner is from the garden! Tonight's bounty was basil for pesto and raspberries for dessert.

My beautiful berry bowl is from my best friend Emily .

Here's our modest raspberry patch. We live in Hopkins which was known for it's many raspberry fields, but now the only raspberries growing are in our backyards.

Our beautiful basil! The smell is so heavenly.

Sam helping with the washing.

Presto Pesto!

Our cat Zooey (think J.D. Salinger) basking in the warm sun, being no help at all except making me smile!

Making a Felt Pin

I was wanting to do some stitching on some felt pins I'm making and of course Sam wanted to make a pin too. I gave him some wool felt to cut and he glued some on paper and then wanted to start on his pin.


He gave me pieces which I layered in order of size. Then it was time to sew! I used a thick green cotton floss and asked Sam where to stick the needle which he would then pull through the felt.

Interest level waned after a few more stitches, so I put the pin back on to finish.

Sam calls his pin "Tin" which he explains is a kind of monster. You gotta love boys who like to combine sewing with monsters!

Free Pocket Gnome Knitting Pattern

I found this pattern on Plain and Joyful Living blog and have been knitting them ever since. I made a few changes to the hat and head from Tonya's original pattern, but otherwise it's the same. Share the love of gnomes by making one to give today!

To get started:

Materials: 20 yards of worsted weight wool yarn for the body color 5 yards of worsted weight wool yarn for the skin color clean carded sheep's wool for stuffing yarn needle size 6 knitting needles (for worsted weight) or size appropriate for weight of yarn
You can use any size needle and yarn to create different size gnome babies!

First Leg:

Cast on 10 stitches, leaving about a 10" tail for sewing up the leg
Knit 10 rows (garter stitch).
Cut yarn leaving a 5" tail.

Second Leg:

(push first leg to bottom of needles)
Cast on 10 stitches on same needle that first leg is on this time leaving about a 15" tail.
Like first leg, knit 10 rows (garter stitch).

Body:

Now knit both legs together (all 20 stitches). This will form the body.
Knit (garter stitch) for 16 rows

Head:

Now switch to the skin color - and knit 10 rows in the stockinette stitch (this is one row garter, one row purl). Knit 10 rows. On 11th row knit every 2 stitches together giving you 10 stitches.
Next bind off all 10 stitches.

Sew up the Body:

Start with the shorter piece of yarn on the leg and thread the needle. Fold the leg in half to meet in the middle. (Wrong sides together - the smooth part of the head will be on the inside) Start with a running stitch around the bottom of the leg and pull. Then stitch up the side of the leg.
Finish by making a knot with the other yarn end that is in the middle and tuck yarn ends to the outside.

Now take the longer string at the end of the other leg and thread yarn needle. Work just like the first leg except continue stitching up the back of the gnome baby. When you reach the skin color - tie off with the other colored yarn. Turn body right side out.

Stuff body with wool. Stuff legs first. I use the end of the knitting needle or crochet hook to get the wool in firmly. Stuff up to the beginning of the head.

Now take the yarn that you used to knit up the back of the body and make a running stitch between the body color and head color to form the neck. Tie a knot.
Now tuck all the loose strings into the head and take the skin color hanging yarn and thread needle. Sew up back of the head only to the top. Cut body color loose string inside head.
Stuff head with wool.

Now use a running stitch around top of head and tie off with other yarn string. Cut hanging yarns almost to the knot.

Arms:

Cast on 8 stitches and knit 8 rows cast off.
Sew up cast off edge with a running stitch and then sew up side. Stuff Arm . Repeat for Arm 2.

Hat:

Cast on 22 stitches. Knit four rows in garter stitch (Knit every row) for three rows. Then knit in stockinette stitch (purl a row, knit a row) for 3 more rows. Continue in stockinette stitch and knit two stitches together at the beginning and end of each knit row (every other row).
Continue this until there is only one stitch left. Cut yarn long (about 20") and pull through loop.
Put yarn in yarn needle and sew up back of hat. Finish by sewing hat around the head.

Strawberry Picking

We went strawberry picking today for the first time. It all started with a tractor ride to the far fields (this was by far Sam's favorite part.)

Here's Dan in his row doing the actual picking. It's a little hard on such a tall guy to have to get down so low.

You really have to hunt for the berries amongst all the foliage as they like to hide.

Of course, there is lots of eating too which Sam excelled. But, if you didn't watch him he'd put his half eaten strawberries back and grab a fresh one!

Here I am holding the bounty of the day. We picked 30 lbs. by the end of our visit and ate who knows how much! Now, off to the kitchen for some baking and freezing of such summer goodness!

Shelling Peas

I stumbled upon a fun activity to do with my family the other day - shelling peas! We went to the farmer's market Saturday morning, as is our routine, and purchased some sugar snaps peas. The skins had gotten tough so I decided to shell them and just use the peas for some fried rice I planned to make. We usually sit in the park next to the market and eat our goodies, this week cookies and black raspberries, and our son Sam runs around. So, I started shelling the peas into the now empty raspberry container, Dan was helping me and then Sam stopped running, an amazing feat in itself, and joined us. We sat and finished the lot together munching on peas and chatting - truly a lovely 10 minutes! Next week I plan to buy more to freeze and can only hope to recapture the experience!