When was the last time you explored a library?

I Do not have a printer. I do not bother with it since I go to the library and sign in on their computers(free- no charge for use but limited to 180 minutes a day). From home I email myself links to things I wish to have printed out such as templates for sewing projects like this one Stella shared. I save time but also money. It cost a nickel to print out one sheet in B&W. I then take them to their copy lobby and enlarge them to the proper size needed as the site states. A quarter for color copies and a nickel for B&W copies in the lobby. I did a search on the Martha Stewart site for "templates". That word brought hundreds of various patterns using her engine search. Lots of cool little things such as a cloth doll kinda like magic cabin has, Baby kimono shirts, felt slippers, and baby mary janes too! I have most of my handmade holiday gifts just from her site. The projects are easy and the patterns are free. Thanks to Stella, I have completed my list just from her mentioning the woolly animals pattern- which is also on the to make list- just hope this machine cooperates until the new year.

Of course the children LOVE going to the library. They have a huge area for the children's library located on the 2nd floor. They have a very large glass enclosed story room complete with night sky (little lights on the ceiling for the star covered sky) . Lil' man has never stayed still for story time when I have taken him in the past. Here, "guitar guy" librarian has him mesmerized.He calls it music class. Actually, I am entertained by how great it is. He sings a song, play's his guitar, then reads a story. Then sings a song again with the kids. This is a get up and interact story time. Not your boring sit cross legged, fold your hands and be be silent type. It caters to how children at this young age behave. They need movement and need interaction or forget about keeping their attention. They even have a "story tree" set in the back central area. If you stand under the tree and whisper, the people not close around you can still hear what you say. The kids love it there. I love it there. And I highly encourage everyone out there to check out more then just a few libraries around you. It is amazing the resources they provide. If they do not get utilized, they are discontinued. Why spend money on the stuff if no one uses it. There is an amazing world open to you by just stepping through the doors. This particular one is 25 minutes from us and we pass 2 different ones along the way. It is out of our county but is open to anyone in the state of Ohio for checking items out.
I am sharing this with you because this is where I have drowned myself in knowledge since I became pregnant with Panda. I went searching for books on Home birth which opened the world of natural living to me. Of course I always had the urge for the back to the land life but that was it. I did not have a clue where to start.This is where I picked up my very first gardening book along with my first how to care for dairy goats and backyard poultry. I could go on & on with the many wonders this library has opened to me but I will just leave you with my encouragement. It is an amazing high tech loaded experience & information adventure. The best part is, it's free.(o.k I am not counting taxes here folks!)

Sweet dreams
~Tammie

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My first sewing machine, The goat walk & a hike.

The captain may have the look of toughness to him but he is a real softie when it comes to me. One example is how I acquired my first new sewing machine. It was the Winter I was pregnant with Panda which was the year 1998. The captain, after many beers hanging with the guys, stopped off on his way to pick me up and bought me a sewing machine. (tsk tsk-he was chastised for his driving under the influence & I drove us home.)This is the one the sales lady at Wally world recommended. Very basic. No special add ons. No chimes or whistles. But it worked great for my home sewing and it was NEW! Here it is the winter of 2006 & a new one is a must very soon. There are a few little glitches but at the moment, the big one is the thread dial. I cannot fix the dial myself which is the thread tension dial (all the way to the left). To have it repaired would cost 1/3 of a new machine. So I am hoping The captain will go for another one of those guys nights, drink his beer and have me drive him to the local Sears for my second, new, sewing machine.






~ Today was a day filled with walks. After dropping Panda off at her bus stop this morning, the younger 2 children & I decided to go for a walk. Not just any walk. But a walk up & down the road with The girls.
Frog rode in her wagon while the girls were on leash's. Lil' man held Cleopatra's leash while I held Chia's. They munched on all the green pine clusters they could reach along the way. Of course as soon as we got to the dead end, they practically dragged us back to their pen. Chia is very strong despite her misleading flabby waist line. She really looks fat to me. Her stomach still bulges on the sides and sway side to side when she runs down the hill. So the walk was good for her and will need to become more regular for them both.
After locking the girls in their pen yard, we loaded the wagon into the car & drove to our most favorite State Park. Which still remains a secret to secure the safety of our Blackberry patch.
We went in search of pine cones and herbs for the fire starters I previously mentioned. I hoped for small pine cones but could only find the long and slender kind. I was able to harvest a nice bunch of lavender plus a small clutch of rosemary & thyme. I need to let them dry out, but hopefully they make a nice addition to the winter fires.
~ I do apologize for such horrid pictures lately. We have a Nikon cool pix 2200 which is about 2 years old. The lens cover has come off leaving the glass exposed constantly. It is very temperamental on opening/lengthening too. I have to hold it at an angle just to get it to work when it does get in the mood. It has seen better days. When asked by my in laws what we would like for the holidays( despite my "nothing, just a nice day", they squeezed out of the captain our need for a new digital. Fingers crossed, my pictures will be better after the holidays.
I am off to flip through my Pine tree seed catalog, (their site is a bit quirky on downloading if it even opens.) which arrived a few days back. I know its early but that just gives me more time to dream & perfect the the outcome. Any one know a good source/variety for Mustard seeds?
~Sweet dreams
Tammie

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Tag. I'm it...

I have been tagged by Phelan the Homesteading Neophyte, to tell 5 untold truths. I have tried to think of what I should reveal about myself without altering my wonderful image. I thought about this while I added a gate to the back of the animal pen. I thought of this as I restructured the opening by the goat cabin. I thought of this as I washed the dishes. I just cant think of anything to interesting. I am rather boring now that i have children.

**************1. To go to sleep, I rub my feet together at night unconsciously. I never realized I did this until my husband asked me to stop. It was preventing him from getting to sleep..

2. Not only did my last name change when I married The Captain, I changed my middle name too. ~It use to be "Jo".

3. I have a ladybug tattoo on my derriere (my only tattoo) that I got when I lived in Pompano beach Florida with my much older then me boyfriend (13 years older to be exact).

4. Which brings me to the I always had a thing for older guys and guys with blue eyes. They had to have at least the blue eyes. Strange how I married a brown eyed guy who is 2 1/2 months younger then me.

5. I very much dislike short hair on woman.Period. I smile with great admiration when I see any older woman with long tresses. To me, long hair is sacred to a woman. I can't stand to see woman cut their hair as a supposed sign of power in the business world and as a "easy to care" method when they have children. That's what a ponytail or bun is for.
I never do these things because as you already know and have seen, I like to gab (write) but have never been tagged. (But since I was tagged by Phelan, I thought I would participate & postpone my normal days post.) I am told it is something to do with the fact my maternal side is Irish (2 generations from the American arrival) and my paternal side is Cherokee Indian/ Irish. What a combo ay!?
So I tag who ever may be reading this
& feel like participating.
****************************I am off to try my hand at fixing my sewing machine. It has not been working very well this past month. I believe it has something to do with the tension dial wire. My children like to mess with my machine when I am not looking so the wire has been pulled tight. The top thread in the stitch is not loose enough and the thread is not flowing. Hard to explain but I have a new machine on my please may I have list. Right next to the new digital camera that needs to replace my falling apart temperamental one I have now.
Later~
Tammie

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been so busy...

It been awhile since my last posting but my computer was down and being repaired from a malfunction in the memory card. Add in all this great 60 F degree weather and I have not had the time to play much on here.
So Panda had her "Cinderella Ball" at school. She looked so beautiful in her dress, which happened to also have the brand name Cinderella! I am a bargain junkie so of course the dress was only $25 (US) at Burlington coat factory. I found the exact dress in the mall for $89 and a consignment for $99. Her tiara was bought for her first Ball in Kindergarten and cost $8 at the Flower Factory. She wears it every year to the Father/daughter dance at school. Of course the dresses go to a second hand store afterwards. I usually get half of what the dress sells for new. In this case, I may get what I paid for it since the main stores had such high price tags. *p.s* I just noticed this picture makes her look like she is wearing lots of makeup! She only has on natural color eyeshadow and face powder. The lighting was not that great...*



Lil' man, Frog & I went on a very nice Fall hike earlier in the week. Lil' man was so enthralled by this tree. He kept yelling "hello" up into the trunk to the "bats". It was so peaceful on the trails. The children were quiet and enjoying our walk through woods. Not to mention how nice it was I could "mommy meditate" while walking with them.

~I drove down to West Virginia Friday, with my daughters, to check out that 17 acres. well, I found that the realtor was "fluffing" up the whole ease of the low water ford. (if you look closely in the picture, you can see my Silver VUE which is parked across the river & on the road.) He even tried to tell me the water was only 3 inches deep! We had to cross over the river in his 4x4 truck and when i looked out and down through the window- well that was more then 3 inches- try about a foot of water! The fluffing did not stop there- it went along with him trying to tell me how many people were going to view the place before my planned arrival and how the last time he was up there, there was a small puddle of water in the living room- which was from all that rain they had. While we were touring the place, he brought it up again saying "the last time he was up there". Umm, yeah I thought you were showing this place to like 3 people before me?! That would make you a liar in my book. You slipped up buddy! You could tell by the way he was talking he had not been up there in a while by the little things he said about the place and its condition. Needless to say, It was not what he described. My little brother "Army" was interested in the place and asked if i would check it out for him. He is stationed in Texas, so an inspection would have to be done by me. I have advised him to keep looking.
~On another note, 3 of the trees have been cut down to date. 2 cottonwoods next the house shading a garden bed & a hardwood that was next to the magic tree which shaded another garden bed.
My yard and animal pen has patches of sawdust everywhere. The deal was you cut em down and keep the wood for heating but I will take care of the brush. I did not realize how much brush there would be from 3 trees! We have had bonfires for 3 nights now which has not made a dent in the pile.

I will try my hand at making fire starters with some of the sawdust. I packed 2 medium size buckets full of it. I have been saving & drying out spent coffee grounds to mix into them with paraffin wax (leftover from canning supplies) as a "glue". I will experiment with wicks. I have some non plastic twine from a few straw bales I saved and will see if cut up, these would work as wicks for the starters. I may have to cut up and compress some newspaper pieces for this purpose in comparison.
The purpose is not only for my bonfires but as part of a gift basket I am making for a friend. It includes homemade graham crackers and a tin of chocolate chips as an indoor s'mores family night. They are a family of 5 with the children being ages 2,5,& 8.I cannot think of a "homemade" game to put in the basket, so if anyone has some suggestions, please comment. I am not total die hard homemade gifts, but would like to be as close as possible without it giving the appearance of "cheap" or common. I want it to be an interaction with each other theme. They have a wood burning fireplace. complete with a bottom cement mantle. As a child, we would come in and sit on this to warm our backs from playing in the snow. This home has been in my paternal family since his making back in the 50's.
Well I have gabbed enough here and need to utilize the last day of beautiful weather by cleaning up the yard more.
~Tammie

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Is that an udder? & Somebody wanna buy me this land?

You know you want to see what I had mentioned in my previous entry. Well I even put an arrow to point it out in case it is not obvious. I cropped the picture for Cleo's privacy issue.

Is that not what you see? I am going to say the end of December to the first week in January if it is the begining of an udder. That would put her at being bred with Buddy. I could of swore she had been in heat since he left, but maybe having Chia here and her going into heat just made it "effect" her and she had false heats. Hey- they say they can have false pregnancy so why not a false heat?!
So on another note- I know our home will not sell for at least 1 year after being on market. I said to the Captain"hey why dont we purchase some acreage in West virginia as a weekend/vacation spot to help ease our land envy untill our place sells." He thought it was a great idea and had thrown the idea around, himself. So just for kicks I was poking around looking to see what we could get cheap as a hunting style cabin on land or empty "hunting" land. I found 17 1/2 acres for $39,500!! Very private and sometimes (bout 11 days a year) it is not accessable over the river through the low water ford.That includes an old - in need of repair- 1 story 850 square feet (6 rooms total) farmhouse seen belowIt also includes a river stream that must be crossed at the low water ford to access the land- seen below. Same person who owns this owns about 700 acres around it. Its been in the family since early 1800's.
It also has free natural gas, has electric all hooked up, and no water/plumbing in the house. There is a tap just outside and that means-no bathroom... So an outhouse and installing some plumbing is be needed here.

I of course got to dreaming of all the wonderful times (& things) that we could spend (do) together there. I have a desire to fix up a place such as this. I imagined going there on weekends to gut and redo the inside and replace the metal roof. Build an outhouse, a small barn, and fence in an area for animals. Hey, i would load my girls up and take them with me. People do it with horses (which I do not have nor have the extra money for the luxury of one). I could have the neighbor boy feed the ladies and he could keep the eggs they lay while he cares for them.
Imagine fly fishing and canoeing. Hiking and meditating. Quality time and wonderful memories to enforce our family bond together. A getaway. Maybe even a future home...
So, anyone with some extra lottery money that would like to buy me the above? LOL.
I knew there were no takers.. oh well. I spoke with the realtor and he said (of course) that he has had alot of calls on it and if I want it I better move on it now. Of course- since it would take time to come up with the money and in that time someone would take it out from under us.
Back to dreaming. It was much nicer there.....
~Tammie
* I even suggested to The Captain that we sell this place and live n that one. He could live with a friend or in his parents house during the week and come "home" on the weekends to our West Virginia home in the mountains. O.k. I think its a great idea since it would help save LOTS of money for the dream home. Maybe even have a few yurts spread out on the acres to rent out for weekend/weekday getaways. Maybe it would pay for itself and my dairy dream goes into another direction...

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Introducing ~Mr. Echo the rooster

This is our newest addition in the rooster department. Meet Mr. Echo. He is an americauna cross- I do not know what the cross part is though...He has become the outcast from the chicken run( being the new guy & all) but has fast become buds with our dear Clyde.
Update on the chickens in the run: Only 1 hen is molting which is Dr. seuss. She is pictured here looking like she is going to "throw down" with penny the buff orpington in the upper right area. (*dirt under my nails* Lower left-here is my 2 young americaunas- nameless and my Honey)

All in all this has been a rather uneventful week. I am in the hopes that a woman (from another forum) and I trade out my 2 pennies (the buff orps) for 1 of her narraganset turkey hens. She has 2 which are 1 1/2 years old. I would purchase one and trade for the other with my "pennies". I have read they are fertile up to 5-7 years. So after this winter I would start looking for a Tom. She is in southern Ohio so I would drive to exchange. The Captain said he does not mind since it is a nice drive. We could do it on a weekend and just enjoy a short roadtrip. Now I need to either build or borrow a crate for their transporting that also fits in the back of my trusty VUE!
On another note* we are trying to determine if Cleo is pregnant by Buddy or the new Bo. You see, when we went to pick her up she already had the in front of the udder "upwards dip" flattened out. It happens about 2 months into a pregnancy of does I am told/read. I also do believe she is starting to have the beginings of an udder- but I am not the best of authority on this subject. There is this spot above the teat area losing hair and having a rough texture looser skin feel. Hmmm. I did take a snapshot but its not for publishing & hope to get a better shot of it later in the day. I could always email anyone who wanted to take a look and throw their opinion in the ring. Maybe we could do a "pool" on who's the daddy and a due date! Either way I would be fine. I had hoped for a baby from Buddy but I will be happy as long as the baby(s) AND Cleo are healthy.
I am off to purchase more straw. Gotta stuff that hayloft in the goat cabin!
Have a great day.
~Tammie

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Fall leaves & pumpkin wine making

Today was the day of a Mad Hatter Tea party at our local library. It was also an afternoon set aside just for Panda and I -together. When her tea party was over, we went for a wonderful walk along the river to see the waterfall and collect leaves for our annual Fall wreath project. What a beautiful trail it turned out to be! The leaves were everywhere and the colors! oh such wonderous colors covering the pathway like a carpet! It gave such a magical feel in the air. The crunching of fall under our feet and the earthy scent that filled our noses, was so invigorating! After Panda just had to touch the water- I really wonder sometimes about my little earth child- we rushed back to the truck and stopped off to get some hot cocoa for her and some delicious coffee for me. Next stop was back to the pumpkin farm to pick up some for more pies and a batch of wine. Now this is not a wine you can drink now like the apple. No, this my friends will have to sit in your "wine cellar" to age at least 8 months. Which makes it a perfect drink for next years Samhain! So here is the recipe I started this evening which was recomended by the local "wine making librarian" and is excerpted from "The perfect pumpkin" by Gail Damerow. The more pumpkin you use, the heavier bodied will be your wine.
-----------------------------------Happy Pumpkin Wine--------------------------

15-25 pounds raw pumpkin, grated
4 1/2 gallons water
juice of 3 large lemons
1 packet of wine yeast
Sugar or honey in one of these amounts: 7 pounds (lbs) for dry wine- 10 lbs for a normal wine- 12 lbs for a sweet wine
1. Boil the grated pumpkin in the water for 20 minutes. Cool & strain into fermenter through several layers of cheesecloth.
2. Add the sugar or honey in your desired quantities. stir in until it dissolves. Add the lemon juice.
3.Cool to 70 degrees F (21 degrees C). Add the wine yeast.
4. After fermention stops, rack the wine into a carboy and set aside until the sediment settles to the bottom and the wine clears~ about 3 months.
5.Siphon the wine into sterilized wine bottles, taking care not to stir up the sediment. Youll get a perfectly smooth drink if you leave behind a few inches of wine above the sediment. Cork the bottles and keep upright. Store in a cool, dark closet or a cellar for AT LEAST 8 months.
This will yeild 5 gallons of wine
I look forward to trying so many of our homemade wines this upcoming year. This one may sound not as yummy like mulberry or apple, but that is where you must go beyond the norm and walk the trail less used.
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1 cup of pumpkin contains 50 calories no cholesterol or fat but as much fiber as most breakfast cereals. *The leaves of pumpkin, crushed and rubbed on livestock, repel flies - according to the perfect pumpkin book.* Pumpkins are amazing and highly overlooked on their benefits to us and animals. I have found that my 2 girls (Cleo & Chia) go crazy over pumpkin! Thankfully to Mr. Local Farmer Man, My girls have half of The captains truck bed full of those treats and other squash such as many more Buttercups. I need to go clear some room in the cellar now...
Sweet dreams...
Tammie

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A pumpkin is a pumpkin ...right?

Can you pick out the pie pumpkins from the so called carving pumpkins? no peeking below before you guess...... go ahead and cover up below the picture on your screen!


O.k are you ready? is it the right or on the left.is it the top 2 or the middle? Yes, It is the 2 behind the hollowed out pumpkin half on the left. (*both hollowed out portions and the seeded portions on the right are of carving variety*). As you can see, there is no difference in these on the meat amount. I scraped the innards of the front 2 with a grapefruit spoon. It is a carving pumpkin variety. It does seem less thick but it was much taller. They were within a 1/4 cup of each other. So what is the difference I keep asking? In a taste test of pies, using the exact same recipe & ingredients, we could not taste a difference or note any other difference in the pies.
Now the second test was pumpkin butter. The pie pumpkins seemed quicker to burn in the crock pot. Why you may ask? Well it seems the carving pumpkins hold more moisture even after baking all of them in their skin shell. I baked both pumpkins in the same oven and one of each on each shelf just so there is not an effect on placement towards the outcome. The bottom 2 hollowed out pumpkins above are exactly how they are placed in the oven set on 350 F degrees on a plain baking sheet. They cook untill they are soft. Then they are scraped very easily with a table spoon. Note that the skin seperates easier in the pie pumpkins then the carvers but is still easy to remove.
I then put the meats into a food processor & puree away! I put 3 cups of pie puree in a ziploc bag, laid it flat on the top shelf and left it to freeze over night before placing in the deep freezer.
I cannot tell a taste difference between the 2 batch's of pumpkin butter but again note- the carver has more water and if you forget to stir because you are distracted as I had with mopping floors and scrubbing the bathroom, it will be more forgivng due to its higher water content.
So the conclusion here is there really is not a notable difference in the above pumpkins for pie and there is a slight difference in the pumpkin butter- with the carver variety in the lead. So maybe they should call the carvers "butter pumpkins"!
So off with you now, to purchase those left over (& cheaper) carver pumpkins for pie and butters!
Sweet pumpkin dreams...
~Tammie

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A visit from the Zoning and nuisance investigator...

My planned post has been postponed till tommorow. Instead I bring you this post feature of my neighborly dismay special..... And the battle is on! Apparently, my neighbors on the other side of my "barnyard" think my chickens roaming on MY PROPERTY is a nuisance to them... He has a chainlink fence seperating our yards so my chickens are not in his, but scratch next to it on occasion. He too sits on over one acre and has an outbuilding blocking his view to the rest of his back yard anyway. If they somehow did get in his yard, it would be to eat the fallen apples from his tree behind said building that he does not bother to clean up & attracts all the stinging bugs. He is gone ALL day & the kicker is he has had plenty of oppurtunity to say something to me- not including the thought of walking over to my house- knocking on the door and asking me nicely to help keep the chickens away from his yard. I see him every morning when I drop Panda off at school because he too does open enrollment. I even wave and say how ya doing?! So just a little bit ago the zoning guy stopped by to say a complaint was made that my "roosters" were roaming which is against the zoning law..They must be contained in an enclosure set back 100ft from neighbor propertyy lines and 60ft from the road. I only have 2 roosters. I have 6 hens. I have 1 1/4 acres of property and have the fence line legal on the road side and that neighbors side. I told the zoning guy they were getting out because they are due for wing clipping. They hop the fence and being this time of year, the garden harvest/preserving comes first since it does not wait. I was nice, he was nice and we sat laughing. I told him I will take care of it when I have someone to help watch the children. It needs to be done when they are all in the coop since I do not have all day to chase chickens- that is unless he would like to volunteer his babysitting services for my children while I do so.
My sunshine & peace symbol coop is gone to a freecycler, so I will be looking for the most obnoxious color of paint I can find and the coop on his side will be freshly painted with it and the polka dots with another ugly color will be applied. I wish I could think of something insulting for a symbol- him being a preacher and all- just to drive it in I am ticked & do not play well with others.
I am steaming still! And to think, I actualy thought about raking my leaf covered yard and picking up the misc. that is laying around in it before winter...
~Tammie

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