Multi tasking! , getting our Christmas decorations up, Crafts( how to make ornaments) and baking....

 Our tree this year( 2010). We have to stay with a smaller tree due to our living room size and this year we found one that fits just perfect in front of our bay window.  Cortney already has her gifts for Mike and I under the tree. Now I need to get a few gifts wrapped and under there too.

 Lite up, with LED lights. We bought them last year, on sale and we're quite pleased with them, they do NOT get hot, so the worries of the tree catching fire are not a concern and they are bright, although they don't blink.

              Here are some ornaments we've made, or were given to us in an exchange but all of them are fairly simple to construct and make nice gifts or a new yearly tradition.

 Now this little angel is made of a silk white rose( her dress) then the wings we made out of wedding veil, simply cut into approx. 6=7" circle and gathered at the middle with wire. Her head is wooden, with Spanish moss for her hair and a pipe cleaner forms her halo. This is all glued with hot glue and a ribbon added to the back for easy hanging.

 Again we recycle, here is an incandescent light bulb( one that was burned out) painted with a Santa face and a bit of fur added( again hot glued) around the base of the bulb

 Orange peel, apple slices and cranberries strung on wire, make a nice handmade ornament and the smell wonderful( for the first year anyway) I suppose you could mist them with orange and clove oils to refreshen the smell each year.

 Macaroni noodle angel, this was a gift from a friend. An easy and fun project for children, simply glue the noodles together, paint( I think she just spray painted them outside on a piece of old newspaper), add a bow and maybe a bell or a halo.

 Here is a beaded angle, this is a bit more advanced but still very easy, you'll have to sort of figure out the pattern by looking at it. Once upon a time I had instructions, but who knows where they are now*wink*

Another easy child ornament, made with a Reese's Peanutbutter Cup and an metallic green pipe cleaner, twisted up into a tree form with a hanger on top(hook)

 This little angel was given to us by the same friend who made the macaroni angel. I've seen these beads in the craft store but have no idea what they are called. They are strung together with a metallic gold pipe cleaner and the golden leaves are simply hot glued on the back. The halo is fashioned from the same pipe cleaner that it is strung together  with.

 Again recycling, the kids made these on year, using old Christmas cards from the year before. Cutting and pasting them into the back of another card. Simple and easy way to spurn on creativity.

This is a bit blurred, but you can see it is a needle felted star a friend gave us last year. The wool is from their own sheep.

Shhhh!  This is one of Cortney's gifts.( I have to keep her from looking at this post*wink*) I borrowed the idea from my friend, Goodwife over at Her blog  Her purses are knitted and since I still have yet to learn knitting I improvise and crocheted this little purse for Cortney.  It actually went together pretty quick and I know she'll love it. It's made from a yarn that is 85% wool and 15% mohair, so it should last a long time. :o)

                        

I'll try to post more of our homemade ornaments, that could be done quickly and many of which are easy enough for children to make, with some supervision( especially in dealing with hot glue or spray paint)

We're still working on gourds, hoping to have a few done for pictures this week. Baking of Christmas goodies, making handmade gifts and simply enjoying the music of the season( singing along of course*wink*) while working. :o)

What we've been working on....

Breakfast at 5:30am with Mike

Plum jam, made with honey and no commercial pectin Ummmm, Ummmm

It's cold enough that Mike decided it was time to don on the Reds (long johns) and a flannel shirt. He's enjoying his new job and working out in the fresh air sure makes him sleep good, snore too! LOL!!!!

It's raining and today is laundry day, so.... we'll improvise

Wooden drying rack in front of the wood stove for drying clothes. Jeans and heavy items take a couple of days to dry the rest dry within 10-12 hours. One thing about living a simpler life, sometimes you have to air your laundry right in the kitchen*wink* 

Mike welded up some brackets last weekend and we got all the hoses drained, blown out and hung up for the winter. Another "To Do" before winter item checked off.

The raspberries I transplanted this spring did well behind the garage. I've gotten them all dressed for the winter with composted manure and straw. Praying next spring the really take off and fill in this area.

The strawberries that we transplanted didn't fair so well this summer, but those that did survive and thrive I wanted to protect, so mulched them with straw and leaves for the winter. We'll be praying that the survivors will grow and produce runners, so we can fill in the areas where the others died off.

Closest to the hoop house is our Fall garlic, over 100 cloves planted and the rest are the raised beds we build up this Spring, all dressed and ready for a long winter's rest. I left some millet for the bird over the winter( tall clump standing in the background). I still have my asparagus to cut back and dress for winter, but will hold off until we freeze again.

The garden looks lonely now. There is Kale, Chard and Spinach( the green in front of the hoop house) still in the garden, we are feeding this to the poultry and how they love it! :o)  We still need to dig some of the sun chokes and get them cut back. It seems I always have good intentions of getting all this done, so Spring clean up is lessened, then the time just seems to slip away*sigh*

Stove ash, good garden dressing as well as a good dust hole additive for the chickens and turkeys.

We haven't forgotten the Kraut, in fact it is literally days away from being ready to can. I didn't take any pictures of the skimming process, I thought maybe it might turn some of you off a bit. The skimming is a mix of a sliminess and frothing and isn't in the least bit appetizing. Mike hates the smell and is always glad for Kraut making to be completed, LOL!!!

We also butchered three of the remaining Tom turkeys on Saturday. One of these is sold and the two remaining birds will go into our freezer. Our turkey flock has been downsized for the winter and we'll be downsizing the chickens as well. With feed cost rising and our need for eggs decreasing we'll add several of the older hens to the freezer for soups and casseroles and a few younger ones for fried or baked chicken.

Our weather is supposed to take a turn for the worse by this coming weekend, with temps. only being into the low 30'sF for day time highs and the evening lows into the single digits, Brrrrrr........ Sure glad we have plenty of wood and the animals all have nice shelters and plenty of bedding, food and water. I'm betting, we'll see the stock pot filled with poultry grain mix and water with a touch of molasses and kelp added, cooking on the wood cook stove, Cortney truly spoils her birds*wink*

Starting to think of our Christmas projects and taking inventory of items needed to complete them. So far we seem to have plenty of needed items and if we do come across something, we'll first look at secondhand shops before resorting to buying new. 

I was blessed with some clothes, several very nice pairs of sweatpants( which I love in winter), some really nice sweaters and slacks as well. I think we're all set for winter, just a few last minute details and we'll be ready to hunker in for a long winters rest. I'm looking forward to slower days. :o)

Blessings to you all. :o)

Pretzel pictures, a taste of Spring and a special gift

Ta... Dah!!!! they taste as good as they look, well actually better!

Can you believe it, we hit 49F today, all the snow outside is melting!
inside we have a weee.... bit of spring to appreciate. This is a plant
Cortney received on her graduation, it began blooming just before
Christmas. When it's done I plan on re-potting it.
BTW! that table runner was one of my first quilting projects, it's hand
appliqued and hand quilted.

They don't have a smell, but they are still beautiful.
I think I told of how Mike and Cortney snuck my wedding ring out to

to have a small diamond replaced and prongs rebuild for Christmas.

Here it is and it feels great to be wearing it again! What a

great gift. The ring has held up well, it's 30 yrs old and I've only had it

redone once.

The main stone is setting up a bit higher than it originally did, but it looks

great, doesn't it?( click on photo for better view)