Yarn Addict

Okay so I became a yarn addict... This isnt even half of what I have, and I dont have much yet...

I have a hat on needles for mama, this is a sport weight wool/bamboo blend and the needles are a 16" size 10 circular.

This is Tad's roving, this is unspun wool fiber, that has been washed, combed and carded. He is using a drop spindle to make it into yarn, more photos to follow.

And here is my first hat! I made this in 6 days, in a few minutes each day. I had some trouble with accidently flipping my work. I ended up having sort of, stripes, in my work. It has some dropped stitches but overall came out well. I taught myself to knit! Sort of... most of the credit is to my husband who taught me to knit, which I didnt pay attention to and had to learn again on knitting help. Now I have sock yarn, and have ordered some small needles to start a project with that! more to follow...

Update in school

Just an update on whats going on for the school front. Anyone who knows my homeschool style, knows that science is eclectic in our home. This is mostly led by Tad, he has a lot of interest in science and is very adept at electricity. The last few months have been a lot of studies in electricity. He uses his snap circuit kit and teaches this to Nathalie. There is a book and a disc and its basically a year long study that he is using to teach all of us. We enjoy it thoroughly. He also mends any cords I cut, and makes new power cords for me by mixing and matching cords. Here he is taking apart a broken crock pot to see how it works inside, afterwards Nathalie was subjected to the information.

Tad is a science geek and he is proud of this. We have heaps of science books on nature and electricity, chemistry and anatomy and physiology. He loves all of them and he reads obsessivly to use or tells us about it.

This is a piece of our french. I ordered Professor Toto for Nathalie, Rosetta Stone is a little boring for her. Tad uses RS and loves it as do I. We use all of these books on the floor, and a heap more not pictured. My amazon.com cart is full for next pay day, books, cds, nintendo game (tho my children rarely use the DS) and flash cards. We are enjoying it and they are learning quickly. We used to have muzzy and my children spoke well together, it was child french, just basic 2-4 yr old speak. It wasnt perfect, but they understood each other and I was near fluent myself as a teen. We feel like we can regain this, we will just have to stick to it. They have added in some french spelling along with their english, and their handwriting is now all in french. It doesnt matter what words they are writing, as long as their cursive improves daily so we saved some time by eliminating english handwriting. Next year we will switch back I am sure, I do not wish to neglect any other studies but we must make time for the french.

We are still playing instruments, Tad is soaring in guitar, I dont think he can move faster if he tried. He is going through the books 3 x faster than the teacher expected and he enjoys it so much. Nathalie has moved to using her 4th finger in violin and this is quite a stretch, but she has her timing down and her note reading is spectacular and amazing to me. It was never that simple for me, she sees it as a scale, I saw each note as something to be memorized. She can see in her mind where on that scale it belongs, thus what note it is and what string to hold down.

I am very proud of them, they are working hard and staying cheerful despite the deployment. Today on their outside time (it is warm) they took out trash bags and policed up a huge part of our 6 acres. We get blown bits of trash through the winter which shows when the snow melts, the yard is much improved! Each child gets an allowance of $ 3 a wk, and they definately earn it but today I gave them each an extra dollar for showing initiative without being asked. This is common of both of them, but yard policing isnt fun and it wasnt even today's chore so I was proud.

Growing boy

Tad has grown so much this year, he can comfortably wear my long sleeves and we are 1/2 size apart in shoes now. I bought some new boots and 1 pr is very girly, but the others are not and I expect to find him in them. This shirt is my first, successful, wool dye attempt. This is a dark navy and I didnt have any spotting or streaking. I made the dye lot in a large chicken stock pot and simmered/soaked this for a couple of hours, let it sit overnight and then reused the dye bath for a lighter blue. It came out so nicely! This is a cotton lined washable wool shirt. I use cream colored (because I bought a 50 yd bale of organic cotton knit to use, well forever! For lining, basic shirts, etc.) cotton t shirt inner, and then the wool outer. This makes a wonderful Ks winter shirt, he wears plain white t shirts and the wool can be used more than 1 day. He grew out of his orange wool, and he really does need 3 of these per winter so I made this one. I cut it out then dyed it to not waste, in case I messed up so didnt dye fabric, nor did I make up the shirt first. Again, I would dye just the fabric amt or the finished shirt now that I know how because I didnt cut out cuffs. I forgot, and we like shirts with cuffs for longer wear, and nice hems. He loves the shirt, and we bought slate, dark brown, and dark green dye for next years shirts since we can now dye. He did help.

Another clue that he is growing, his long johns fit me. I cant wear them length wise, but size wise they fit! Tad likes to wear long johns all winter, so he can wear his outer pants more than 1 day. I prefer this as well for laundry reasons, and he needed all new long johns this year. This is the last pr I made because I couldnt keep up with him having only 5 pr. He needed 6 because we hang dry our laundry, not an amazing picture just look how long! These are a cotton lycra, both kids love this for long johns. They have wool ones, and wool ones with cotton lining for zero and lower temps but these are everyday regular cold wear. The cotton lycra can be fitted and not wrinkle under pants, but because they are so stretchy they do not feel tight. The pants take about 15 min to make, and cost me around 2$. The shirt, cost more, but ll bean is the only place I can find comparable shirts and they are 4x what I spend to make him this shirt. I could sew cheaper, or maybe shop cheaper at sales or goodwill. But I wouldnt be able to dress them in the high quality wools and cottons that I love so instead I seek sales and use coupons and we dye to get extra colors. It would be pricey to buy wool in all colors, but greige (undyed wool) is cheaper than buying colors or the product already made.

Happy Late Valentimes

I love that she still calls this holiday "Valentimes." She spells it in her cards correctly, and loves to make cards for every occasion. Tad hates to make cards, he doesnt like art unless it includes a weapon or tool and a piece of wood or metal. She kindly signs his name, she doesnt even require him to put an X anymore. They made a "Valentimes day celebration for mama" and these pictures are of their work.







The carved a huge heart for me from the wet, melty snow. It was a huge ball (pictures to follow) that was their superhero pedestal the day before. They used bits of sticks to abbreviate "mama we love you" and it wasnt quite easy to understand the meaning until it was explained. Nathalie made her own private little heart that she wanted to save forever in the freezer. We decided against it!

I ain't sayin'

But I am jus' sayin'...the door froze shut! The back door that is, something about I dont know, 18" of snow drifted up along it? Could be. So I leave you with this warming photo of my work place heat. This is the downstairs fire which has kept me warm today as I sewed.

And then we have an update on the earlier drifts, they have grown! They are SO beautiful but the kids stepped in them...

Just another angle.

These are the steps coming from the sidewalk, we dont use the steps much in the winter. We go around by driveway as these steps become treacherous.

The tractor has taken on a bit more, and promises to start right up if I need him to clear the drive which I did last storm. I think Frank said the tractor is a her, wonder if thats why "she" wont start sometimes?

Here we have some pictures of the kids, only in this location. They spent about 2 hours out, but I was tired by this time and ready to go in. I had been in the barn for quite a bit and was chilled as my boots had been covered with snow for too long. This is a wet snow, great to build with but clings to the boots.

Nathalie tenses for the snow thats about to hit her, we did avoid faces though as they were the exposed areas. It is quite chilly, so their face skin doesnt need to be covered in snow for 2 hrs. The balaclava's help a great deal.

Smashing a snow ball on Tad, though I dont think he bothered noticing.

Running just in case he may want retribution, once again he isnt paying any attention to her.

Who is he... I mean, wait what? Is he THREATENING ME???

She loved getting a running start and then crashing into the drifts along the yard. We have had a great day! As we got all of the big barn work done yesterday, we have felt good and confident that our animals are comfortable, we check on them but so far our storm preps have gone well. Needed a few changes, but this is our 3rd time doing this so other than a few small things we already knew what to do. The arctic winds have been rather strong and we had to make the bucks barn a bit better this year. We had a lot more snow in years past, but this yr has had worse wind.

Today we did school, then did cooking, projects, reading, playing-both inside and outside and I did sewing. It was very relaxed compared to our going yesterday.

In other news, my sister gave birth to twins via c-section this morning. Two boys, Kristoffer (5 lb 2 oz) and Liam (5 lb 13 oz). My sister and Liam are well, but Kristoffer has had some problems with breathing and has taken a bit of a turn and now has an IV for fluids, they are not giving him bottles. I ask that all of you who do pray, please pray for this little guy and for the pediatrician treating him.

Snow day

You only get pictures of what is right in front of the house. I went down barn to do chores this morning, wearing a long wool union suit with undershirt/under clothes, long knee socks, long wool socks, wool lined waterproof snow pants, carhart coat, wool balaclava, double layer wool hat, snow boots and gloves. I was warm, truly, but the wind was kinda rough on the way down heading north. Then it died down, and chores were truly not bad wind wise. I arrived back at the house thinking, well its much less windy than the last storm. True, blowing snow burns a bit but its better than the last one. I came in the garage, called for a camera (didnt want to re-dress later) and Tad brought it. 3 pictures into this, the wind kicked up and was quite cold! It was actually singing, the wind, around the corners of the house. I take pictures with no gloves, so you didnt get very many pictures away from the house.


I think this drift is beautiful, and wonder why does it build up this way? How does the wind do this? The house, the basement window, the wood piles, all seem to play a role in how the snow lays. This was my favorite drift, and there were many to see in the goat yard.


The snow drifted here too as if we would need to open the door, its not up against it proper. I dont know how the clear space comes but its pretty neat.

Once again, leaves the area around our (trashy) yard cooler, you can see the rocks of the landscapd bed underneath. I would have expected the snow to be drifted closer to the cooler.

Heat vent icicles. This one wont last, Nathalie likes to break them off and eat them or use them in some sort of murderous ice game, that doesnt actually injure anyone.

Just more drifts, it piles up in these peaks sometimes, and often you have a long row and running parallel are more rows.

You cant see this one well, the ground had little snow here for the most part. I could see the grass and it wasnt very drifty to walk in, but running from the back of the garden shed all the way to driveway was this long low drift with a perfect peaked top.

My poor tractor... I know he would like to be under cover. Next year we will put a carport up for him. The truck, he doesnt mind. He is tough.

Foot prints coming in, there are some foot prints of mine in the goat yard now that are deep enough to lose a toddler in. Its so flat out here, we get much larger drifts than weather.com says we should have (4.6" snow since it began last night) but also we get areas where its completely scoured away to the ground from the wicked winds.

This tiny little drift wanted to snow me in, but he lost. I didnt want any bad feelings so took a picture anyway. Poor thing I just stepped right over.

It is a lovely, beautiful day but if I were to choose one thing about it to give up, I would give up the swirly wind. Its one thing to have it blowing hard from the north, but when it seems to come from all directions then its much harder to walk and work in.

Yesterday we got everything done that was needed, including going to UPS to ship some things. I am glad I did and now dont have to get out. Bean soup is cooking, we will have fresh cornbread and I have wheat bread rising for lunch. The house is warm, fire is nice, we have all of our work done and can enjoy the day on school projects, sewing and baking. Oh and staying warm!

I'm Mailin' a letter

It was cold, can you tell? This was Sunday, the day Tad abandoned us. Nathalie makes cards, for every occasion. She spends a long time making very special, decorated cards with nice neat handwriting and good spelling. She made sure that Daddy's card was done by Sunday so that, "It will arrive in a timely manner and by that mama, I mean on or before Valentimes." Valentines Nathalie I tell her, but she wont remember though she spells it correctly.

I thought she was so cute in his big coat, covered with bits of hay and straw (not because its my coat while he is gone), her long stretched out nightgown (I made the neck bit too loose and this is it's 3rd winter), dirty, purple snow boots and can you see that she is wearing yellow strawberry covered leggings? She is also wearing aqua colored knee socks on top of them. Like I said, it was cold.

It is supposed to be quite cold tonight and possibly dump some snow on us. I am very strange and opposite about winter, many women get tired of the gray cold and miss spring/summer. Well, I love spring and fall but I hate summer. I get the gray, desolate, this will never end feeling by the 3rd wk of summer. So for me, as the grass is never greener (not that I mean my daughter feels that way about everything), I do NOT Miss summer. Some people genuinely love summer. My friend Nikki and my friend Amanda, thorougly enjoy summer. They miss it, because they LIKE it. I dont mean they love being overheated, but they love to garden and handle the heat better than I. I handle the cold better, because I get heat migraines. I enjoy gardening, but it must be early in the day and late in the day, in the winter, I can work day AND night! Anytime! I love that about it, and I just happen to love cold, snow, blowing wind, even white outs though my preference are sunny days when the ground is covered with deep pretty layers of snow. I dont care if its -15, if its sunny. I do tire of gray dampness sometimes, but love the cold. I will not love the summer, and will find ways to deal with that the best way I can by rising early. I dont enjoy the fact that I am trapped in the house part-time, but its been 31 years this way-I am used to it I guess.

The children and I worked hard today mucking barns and stalls, laying new straw down for clean warmth, fixed a hole in the chicken barn where a skunk was sneaking in to share their dinner (not my pet skunk-she is dead) and we hung blankets in the buck doorways. These blankets are made of 200 wt Polartec fleece, water and wind proof. These bring up the temp in their barn rooms by 20 deg on avg, which they enjoy. We cleaned water buckets and cleaned out feeders, cleaned brooding box and put in new straw, all in all did a good job preparing for any storms or bad weather. We also cleaned and filled 55 gal barrels in the basement, they are filled with water. If we have an electrical outage, I wont have an easy way to water the animals. This was my idea after Amanda and I spoke of generators, I dont have one yet so am making sure to prepare in other ways. Our well has a diaphragm-55 gal holding tank that we can cont using even if the well pump stops, and plenty of bottled water, 2 fireplaces, a kerosene heater and extra kerosene and plenty of food, but the animal's water was hard. With this plan, I can carry or truck down water in a bucket for everyone to drink 3x a day and they will be fine. I positioned the barrels out of the way, but they are near the fireplace and in a very insulated basement.

Thats all for now... sorry for so many words, for those of you who only come for the pictures.

Gun Show

Tad went to the gun show this morning with a friend, we met some new friends in 4h who started homeschooling this month. They have a boy and a girl that are nearly my children's age and Tad enjoys the company of Isaac. Tony-dad-invited him along to a gun show today.

He picked Tad up at 9, and Nathalie and I felt lost and abandoned. We stood at the window watching the truck drive away and we were both feeling pretty lost. She asked as I was asking her why do I feel so bad, and I do not know the answer. I dont feel bad if Frank and the kids, or Frank and a kid leave, Nathalie and I stay home and cook when they go to Lowes. I think we were feeling a bit lonely period.

Tad had a great time and came home full of stories, he saw and held a lot of guns and talked to many gun aficionados. He found a 30 30 for sale in the brand I want... Well initially Frank wanted it and said, its too much we should go with the Winchester but I am love with the Henry.
Tony brought a card for me to call him...

These pictures were taken by Tad while at the gun show, and I do not know what they all are but he will know and can tell Frank tomorrow. He is excited to tell him about the show. All in all a good day, and Nathalie and I got some cooking done. Will blog that tomorrow.