More Swaps

 Found two swap packages...both from Wisconsin ..on the front seat of my car this noon. (Seems my postman is very careful about keeping the packages he delivers dry.  And yes, it was raining when he drove up.)  Both had delicious Halloween treats and beautiful sock yarn.  The red yarn in the photo on the left is for me from Stacy  Jeff can wait for a pair out of the faded denim yarn in the package on the right from Marguerite   I'll share the goodies! Maybe.

I had 'help' opening boxes and I just hope we didn't get the contents mixed up.  Thank you to both swap partners!  I can't seem to post the photos on the swap sites.

What's That Up In The Sky?

What's that up in the sky?  That bright shiny thing?  Oh, the sun!  So glad to see you again.  The damp rainy weather we've been having has been hard on both Jeff and me.  My problem is degenerate disc disease and his problem is multiple back surgeries.  We creak and groan to beat the band getting in and out of the car in this weather.  And Thursday Jeff picked up a load of free pallets and spend the afternoon and evening outside in the drizzle cutting it up.  These pallets were mainly oak and other hardwoods so they are earmarked for the woodstove.  The rest was split for kindling.  Should have enough for almost a month.

 We stopped at Lowe's on the way home and got a length of braided nylon rope to make a pull toy for Fanny.  A couple of knots at both ends and a loop in the middle and she was ready to play tug-of-war...until she decided to lay down and chew it.  Then she had 2 pull toys and I had blue and white nylon curls all over the house.  She's learned to play catch with it, too.  And there still enough left to chew on (l).

While Jeff was cleaning beets and carrots yesterday I was working on a market bag for a swap.  I've done this one before in nylon ribbon yarn and really liked how it worked up but I couldn't find the ribbon yarn anywhere so I did it in cotton.  It's working up rather well, I think.  The top and the handles will be navy blue like the bottom.  It's amazing how much this bag will hold!  If I finish it today maybe I can try to finish my sheep sweater and do a couple of those cute baby hats, too, but I think the boxes of beets and carrots will come first.

Customers, Books & Knitting

It was my turn to work in the shop (Cooper Country Crafts) in Cooperstown today.  I took with me the sheep sweater that's taken up residence on my Zyphyr acrylic interchangable size 7 circular needles thinking I'd finish it...which I could have before I realized I didn't have enough buttons.   I got bored knitting then so I switched to reading. Jeff had gotten a 3-part sc-fi series called The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne thru the public library and the jacket blurbs sounded interesting so I started reading them.  Sci-Fi isn't usually my thing, but the main character is a 2100 year old druid (The Last of the Druids) who's Irish, tall with red hair and a full arm tattoo.  I'm on the 3rd book and while the premise is getting a little tired, any book that has a dog (Irish Wolfhound) who mind speaks to the Druid isn't all bad.  There were just enough customers coming in and out of the shop to keep me busy waiting on them, reading and knitting.

This is the last of the baby hats that I did for the Shop Around last weekend.  Come to find out  those 'small sales' we made there were all these hats!
The hat is a simple rolled brim cloche done on US 8's in Red Heart worsted acrylic and the flowers are done on US 4's in left over washable wool sock yarn.  I didn't have any green sock yarn so the leaves are just grosgrain ribbon.  I guess I'll have to do some more before I work again on Halloween.

It was too late to do anything when I got home today so tomorrow Jeff and I will have to finish canning the veggies from the garden (mainly beans, beets and carrots). Not something I'm actually looking forward to doing.

Our Kitchen

We didn't get any canning done this weekend other than my carrots.  Yesterday was the annual fish & game club's chicken BBQ...Yeah!  Good food and No Cooking!! After that we prepped veggies...I cleaned beans.. Italian flats, purple, different green and scarlet runners. This scarlet runner (l)started out as a beautiful red flower and as you can see the bean pod grew!  It has a velvety texture and the pod holds 8-10 beans.  And it's not an exceptionally long example but the average size.  We'll probably husk them, run them thru the dehydrator and dry can them to use in soups. In some areas, scarlet runners are considered ornamental but they are edible.  Jeff cleaned hot peppers for dehydrating.  He set up the smaller round dehydrator in the garage and has it full of Italian Longs.  He learned the hard way not to dehydrate hot peppers in the house. (I believe onions should not be done inside either).  We have a large soup kettle full of peppers waiting to be processed.  Some will be dehydrated and others  pressure canned with onions.  We're trying to have a variety of veggies...and meats...in our pantry. And other things... Jeff found a link on line for dry canning and he put up 10 lbs of whole wheat flour in 1/2 gal mason jars.  It's done in the oven and is used to kill 'vermits' that nest in dry flour like weevils and other bugs.  The lids seal...and click...as they cool down just like in pressure canning.  With the price of flours forecast to soar due to the bad growing season this year he thought it might be worth a try.  It's easier than pressure canning but the jars are harder to find. Agway was the only place locally that carried them.  I think we'll probably do some more.

The shop around at the Brookwood School in  Cooperstown Saturday was a disappointment.  Not too many people attended and the shop's display had only a few small sales.  Oh, well, those hats I did for it will fill up my shelf space in the shop nicely...and I won't have to take much stock with me Wednesday when I work.  Still, it would have been nice if....

Found a swap package sitting on my car's front seat today for a Coffee and Chocolate Swap  from Anne in Canada.  Jeff thinks the dark roast coffee beans are nice and my mom claimed the Godiva chocolate.  I think I may use the project bag as a purse...it's to nice not to carry around every day!

Season's Ending

 There was a forecast for frost last night so Jeff spent yesterday afternoon cleaning the garden. All the green waste went into the compost bin filling up one side.  Jeff wants to till the garden over before covering it with leaves for the winter but that won't be today.  We've got beets, beans, carrots, kohlrabi, celery and bell peppers waiting for us on the porch to process (that's the old propane stove to the side). While Jeff was busy outside,  I picked...and cleaned...and cut up enough carrots to fill 9 pints and then Jeff walked me thru processing them.  It still scares me to use the pressure canner alone. There are probably enough carrots left(center left of photo) for another pint. These bell peppers(lower) are beautiful but this season was so screwy we had to forget about the dozen or so others that were just forming. They are big and heavy...rather like the ones that go for $1.59 each at Walmart.  I think today we will be busy canning the beets and beans.  Jeff wants to try cooking the beet and carrot greens or dehydrating them to use in soup but they're so high in Vitamin K I can't even think about eating any right now...my clotting factor is messed up again and we're adjusting dosage again.  Between my clotting factor and Jeff's blood sugar we can't seem to keep our numbers in the normal range for very long.

 Last night I made beef stew using our carrots and celery and it came pretty good.  Fanny got to finish the gravy on her dry dog food this morning!

We had a beautiful fire in the new stove yesterday...and the stove radiated heat long after we stopped feeding. We didn't even put a dent in the stack of wood Jeff had brought in.  We still have to get some hard wood for this winter.

Jeff and Wally from next door took the utility trailer loaded with trash to the Town Barn yesterday.  It's 'free trash' days  (got to get something for our tax $$'s).  Probably saved us about $30...plus gas...going there instead of taking it to the dumping station in Utica.  We still have paint cans...hazardous waste...to take up there.

The shop, Cooper Country Crafts, is doing a Shop-Around at the Brookwood School in Cooperstown today. (www.thebrookwoodschool.org)  I sent a couple of sweater sets, cotton pumpkin bib & hat sets, and some baby hats...about $100 of knitting.  Judy and Sharon were going to 'man' the booth and are taking a sprinkling of merchandise from the shop.  Since the shoppers at this are locals it is really an advertising event for us.  They asked for a donation for their auction and we decided one of the woodcarver's door signs would attract the most attention.   Hope they have a good day and a fair number of shoppers find their way back to the shop! When Mr Jeff lets me out of the farm kitchen I have to get back to knitting.  I got half of a pair of socks done for him, 3/4 of a sheep sweater set and more of the baby hats for the shop waiting for me.  I guess I better get busy!

AT LAST

The new wood stove has been installed...very carefully by Jeff with Fanny at his side.  It makes quite a difference in the temperature of the house.  We've had a fire in it the last couple of nights while we watched tv.  Now we've got to get some firewood. That corner has seen a small woodstove that we got thru the JC Penney Catalogue.  That's when Dad let me do the z-brick and slate work.  That stove was followed by a pellet stove and then a propane burner.  The technology of the wood burner has changed but the effects remains the same. Nothing beats a wood fire.  We've come full circle and it seems right.  Jeff put up the outside stove pipe by himself and it's 18" above the peak of that roof.  It wasn't easy going up a ladder with over 8' of stove pipe on your shoulder but Jeff did it and it draws nicely.  He put a T (r) on the top to direct the
smoke away from the house and it works! (I think it will need screening of some kind to keep the critters out but Jeff doesn't think so.)  He's already planning to clean the outside pipe just to see how much creosote has built it in the few times we've used it.   Fanny thinks it's a great idea to have firewood in the house and keeps taking pieces to chew.

I've been working on swap packages for the knitting forums I belong to. The photo on the left is for a coffee and chocolate swap.  I made a table mat and mug rugs...the green under everything...for that one. The one on the right was for a  Halloween swap.  My partner said she collects pumpkins so I did a dishcloth with a pumpkin design knit in and a set of pumpkin stitch markers to go with the dishtowel, pumpkin scrubbie (found that at JoAnn Fabrics), pumpkin soap (from Cooper Country), packet of kleenix and tissue pumpkins.  This swap was theme limited so I didn't have to include yarn and my partner requested no candy...that made it a little difficult.  Knitters usually love to get chocolate in their swap packages. I just mailed a color specific swap limited to dollar stores that was interesting to shop for.  The Christmas swaps have just been announced and they are always fun! Who doesn't like to get packages with yarn and chocolate in them??

Wood Stove and Other Things

The special thimble for the new wood stove is finally in place.  The wall is thicker there  because of a dead air space and false wall on top of the actual wall.  And, because we decided not to go thru the roof/eves we had to clear the eves making for an extra long run of pipes.  Jeff's not satisfied with the support he build to hold up the pipes outside.  And we have to clear the peak of the room so we'll end up with a high stack that may need stabilization of some kind.  It's raining today so that will have to wait until tomorrow.    

  Fanny has been having a ball chewing on everything she can find...and running around like crazy!  Yesterday I heard her thundering around the house and when I went outside she was on lead.  She had decided not to come when called and Jeff was proving a point.  Several times during the afternoon he let her loose for a few minutes then called her to come.  If she didn't respond he put her back on the lead.  By supper time she was coming quickly when called.  Since the lead is about 35' on a trolley she has a large area to roam and finds a lot of interesting spots to check out.  After supper we all played tug of war with an old beach towel that we knotted up.  Fanny's managed to untie the big knot a couple of times!  Never saw that happen before.  (Jeff's told me of a dog he knew who could unscrew the lid on a jar of peanutbutter!)     Eventually she got tired and went to bed...mine!  Hey, at least she warms it up for me!

   This is the pumpkin sweater set...just a plain v-neck caridgan with rolled cuffs, pumpkin buttons & hat...  I made for the shop and took down Wednesday.  It got a lot of favorable comments from the customers but no takers.  Oh, well, it's a month before Halloween....  I managed to get only other 1 pumpkin hat done for Wednesday so I've got to get busy and do some more.  Got a lunch meeting at the shop on Tuesday so I can take down what I get finished then. Now I've got to start on Christmas!!