Mending
Mr Chiots has a old hunting coat, it was purchased on ebay a few years ago. The outer wool shell is in very good shape, though the lining has seen better days. I’ve been spending time mending it over the past week.
Patches cover the big holes, torn seams have been sown shut and buttons have been sewn back on. With a little mending this jacket will no doubt last Mr Chiots for the rest of his hunting life. I wonder how many hunting trips this jacket has seen?
Mending isn’t a common practice any more, most clothing is of questionably quality. When you have a piece with this much history and quality, it’s certainly worth a little love and car. Woolrich doesn’t make jackets of this quality any more.
Do you have any clothes worthy of mending?
Share this:
A Baker’s Dozen
Usually I’m fairly good about keeping track of things, lens caps are a different story. I’m always taking them off of my camera and putting them in my pockets. As a result, they’re always missing.
I need to buy a baker’s dozen of these so I can at least fine one when I need it. I’m the same way with scissors, I have scissors all over the place so they’re always within easy reach when I need them. I suppose carrying a pocket knife would provide me with the same benefit, of course I’d have to buy enough for all my pockets, so maybe not.
Do you have one item that you have a hard time keeping track of? Do you keep more around than you need so you can always find them?
Share this:
Ahhhhhhhh
Yesterday was a busy day for us, we left the house early in the morning (after feeding all the animals and walking the dogs). We spent all day running here there and everywhere. Our first stop was a restaurant supply store because we needed to purchase a few supplies for our pig slaughter (which is scheduled for this weekend). Next we stopped at a trailer store and purchased a small utility trailer which we’ve been sorely needing with our small cars. We then headed up to the grain mill to stock up on animal feed, 1000 lbs of which was loaded up in the car & trailer. While there, I stopped by a small yarn shop to pick up a few skeins of yarn.
We then headed down to the hardware store to purchase a few items needed to turn our back porch into a slaughter house. When we finally arrived home late at night a quick supper was in order since Mr Chiots had a fire dept. meeting. Thankfully I was able to finally get my feet up not much after that. Dexter also wanted to help wind the yarn I purchased, but he didn’t quite understand how to do it.
We like to maximize our trips for gas and time and thus about once a month we have to spend an entire day running errands to get supplies like feed and other necessities. It makes for a long day, but it does save from having to make shorter trips more often. The gas savings are also appreciated!
Do you like to make errands weekly or do you like to save them up and get them all done at once?
Share this:
Winter Crafting
I’m pretty excited about winter to arrive. While I’m still spending every spare hour of daylight working outside, the sun sets at 4:30 so I have a good portion of time in the evenings. Usually I catch up on work and write my blog post, then I have a little extra time or reading or crafting. This winter I’m planning on making a quilt from old clothing and I’d like to crochet a wool afghan for the living room.
I haven’t crocheted in years (except for a scarf I made Mr Chiots a few years ago), so I need to brush up on my skills. I purchased Reader’s Digest COMPLETE GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK: Embroidery, Needlepoint, Knitting, Applique, Quilting, Patchwork, Macrame, Crochet, Rug-Making, Lacework, which is the book my mom owns and the one I originally taught myself to crochet from.
To get back into the swing of thing, I’m going to be making myself a scarf. Yesterday I found this scarf pattern, which should be perfect for this lovely handspun wool lavender yarn from a farm in Ohio.
The past couple evenings I’ve been practicing my stitches, in the next couple days I’ll start my scarf.
Do you have any crafty winter hobbies?
Share this:
Spoiled
The animals around here are spoiled. The chickens, ducks, guineas and pigs get fermented grains as their daily ration. They also get homemade kefir and various supplements to keep them healthy. There are all manner of vegetables grown in the garden just for feeding the animals, in fact I have a good deal of kale for the chickens this winter.
In mid July, I planted a ton of zucchini plants, mainly for feeding to the pigs. When I harvested the lot before frost, I ended up with around 60-70 lbs of them. Yesterday I set to work grating and fermenting much of what was left for the chickens and for us this winter.
Fermenting will add probiotics and make the nutrients easier to absorb. No doubt the chickens are going to be happy as clams this winter when they get their first ration.
Do you ever make homemade food for your animals?
