Crafting resolutions

Yeah, I know it's a little late for a New Year's Resolutions post, but I just joined Pinterest and that means that I am overflowing with sewing inspiration. So here are some goals for this year.

1. Learn to do the Full Bust Adjustment for commercial patterns. Since all patterns are designed for a B cup, it is essential for me to adjust the bust for tops to fit right! I think this would fix all the problems I've been having with my hand-sewn tops.

2. Sew some summer dresses.

3. Sew some potholders/cast iron skillet holders.

4. Do more quilting. I am already becoming more enthusiastic due to the clear gridded rulers my Grandma gave me and the purchase of a cutting board and rotary cutter.

5. Learn the home-brew process so I can really be a self-donative assistant to my husband in his brew hobby.

6. Make that damn soap finally.

7. Learn how to can vegetables. This works in partnership with that learn-how-the-hell-to-garden resolution I mentioned before. Need pressure canning equipment.

8. Become more efficient with housework and budgeting. Learn to actuall STICK to the budget.

9. Learn to wear dresses/skirts in the winter. I've been wearing pants all this winter, but I miss my pretty skirts. I think this venture may involve tights and boots plus sewing in more wintry materials like wool, corduroy, or at least dark colored cottons.

10. Start projects and books and then FINISH them.

Sewing set-up

Finally got my little corner settled:

I even made that curtain yesterday from some fabric in my stash just to prove to myself that my hands can still sew! This is good because I see another beautiful baby quilt on the horizon!

Update: Just made it back from Hobby Lobby, Hancock Fabric and Michaels.

Breaking Sod

Today I learned that breaking sod is back-breaking, time-consuming, strangely satisfying labor. The idea for this adventure was born this morning when I stepped outside and it felt like spring. It's been in the mid 70s today and delightfully breezy. I just had to get my hands dirty, even though I'm planning on doing some kind of "lasagna gardening" which I read about in a book with the most alluring title: Low Maintenance Vegetable Gardening. The whole point of lasagna gardening is that you prepare your garden right over the grass without ever having to break sod. So I'm a masochist who enjoys pain. Whatevs.

Tools of choice

At first the idea was just to remove the sod in an outline so I could map out the size of beds I want. So I created two outlines, but just kept working at it.

At the end of two-ish hours of labor I have one cleared bed and another partially cleared. I did all this while my husband was taking a nap, but I was not without company. She enjoys watching me sweep, so why wouldn't she enjoy watching me hoe?

I now have two red, hurting hands due to my dire glovelessness and two dirty feet.

I would say that breaking sod like this wasn't totally wasted labor. I found out that the soil in the area already supports vegetable life. I dug up several carrots, a potato(?) and a what-the-heck-is-that. I wonder how long it's been since the former garden has been tended.

I also took some time out to play Old Joe Clark. It's not perfect, and the camera is aimed at nothing but my denim thigh, but it's music.

Now I'm enjoying an ice cold beer and my very first gardening blister of hopefully many more to come! I would like to thank Martin Luther King Jr. for making this glorious day off work possible.

The past couple of days I've been thinking feverishly about how I'm going to convert the wooden playset into a chicken coop. All of my knowledge of chickens at this point is entirely theoretical and anecdotal. As is my knowledge of carpentry. Here is a picture of the thing I took a week ago:

Having forgotten that I'd already taken a picture of the playset, I went out this morning to take another one only to find this:

The previous owners (who happen to be some second cousins of mine) mentioned (last month!) that they had an ad on Craigslist to sell it and that someone might come by in a few days to pick it up. Guess they finally did...like a ninja. Well, my predicament about how to convert the structure into a chicken coop has been entirely eliminated, and possibly some kid in this world has been made extremely happy. I do not yet have any solution for a chicken coop design, but I have a book entitled Chicken Coops coming in at the library in a couple days. I also have Barnheart and Made From Scratch checked out, which means that I have hope and the reminder that it's okay to make mistakes in this backyard barnyard business.

Here is a picture of the area I hope to turn into a little garden.

It gets sun about 8 hours a day and is conveniently fenced off. I don't expect my first garden to be really big so this should be quite enough space. The previous owners used to keep their dogs in here, so it seems to have been plenty fertilized judging by the height and verdant hue of the grass last week before we cut it. I'm sure I'll still manage to kill lots of plants this summer, though. Like I said with chickens, my knowledge of gardening is entirely theoretical and anecdotal at this point. I haven't run low on perseverance, so I should be alright.

And lastly, this pigeon is confused:

Someone tell him he's got to fly about 30 miles North to get to San Antonio!

Outdoor Aspirations

When my husband and I were looking for a house, I always thought I would absolutely have to have at least two acres. As we looked at shitty house after shitty house, I had to re-evaluate what exactly I meant to do with those two acres. I used to think I wanted to raise a few sheep for wool, but it became increasingly apparent that this is not a very sensible occupation for a resident of Medina County, Texas in which people are forced to battle the mid-winter balminess with nothing more than short sleeves and sandals. The answer seemed to come down to: mow it pointlessly while I try to figure out what to do with two acres that have nary a little hoof or baby foot to run over them. So we downsized our requirements to: enough land to support a smallish garden and a chicken coop. And perhaps a dairy goat depending upon how quickly we can find a decent price lawn mower.

And now looking out at the half acre that I now own, compared to my little apartment balcony, I am starting to feel overwhelmed at what I want to do with this vast estate. And wait...how does one plan/plant a garden in the first place? My library of homesteading books suddenly seem daunting instead of hopeful...they are inspiring...me to procrastinate. They're mostly buried in one of the five or six cardboard boxes marked "books". And since the South Texas planting season pretty much starts in February, I realize that I have a lot to do. One assurace I have is that our house is bordered on three sides by hay fields complete with working farmers, and a little ways down the road is a cabbage and vegetable farm. The soil seems prosperous.

Besides gardening aspiration, I'm also beset by chicky aspiration. I can play Cluck Old Hen backwards and forwards, the tune is utterly unforgettable. But what I still need are, well, chickens. And a chicken coop. My backyard contains a weathered wooden playhouse that has room for a sandbox underneath. I was thinking it may be possible to just add sides to playhouse and raise it up on blocks (I realize this is way easier written than done), and create a more fortified roof. We may be able to use the "floor" of the playhouse as a storage space? Or maybe the chickens would want to roost in the top part? I haven't got this idea worked out yet.

I am in dire need of a fig tree, but still need to a) figure out which variety of fig it was that I enjoyed so much, b) figure out the right location of the tree, and c) figure out whether I have to have more than one tree for the darn thing to even produce fruit.

I would also really like to set up a clothesline in the back yard. This can be used in TX all year long. My dad and brothers know how to weld, so this problem may resolve itself.

Oliver also has his own aspirations. Our property has a decent sized shed with an enclosed and air conditioned room in the back which has been appropriated, obviously, as the "man room". Oliver wants to eventually add plumbing and a sink to this room so he can brew beer in there. He already does the boiling part of the brewing process outdoors on a turkey burner hooked up to a propane tank. He would just need easy access to a sink to complete the "brew room". He also has plans to constantly have several homebrews on tap via a kegerator we don't yet possess, and a special wine chiller for aging beer. He already has a dedicated deep freezer with temperature controls for fermenting the beer at correct temperatures. I think he's well on his was to the ideal set up.

He also wants to create some kind of fire-pit outside in the backyard which I fully support.

There is also a list of indoor aspriations that maybe I'll mention another time...I swear I will NEVER have an excuse to sit and watch TV again.

Luckily my copy of Barnheart from the library is coming in Monday or Tuesday. I sure was first on the waiting list for that little gem.

2011 Firsts

First articles of clothing sewn from pattern.

First time being on Youtube

First fully memorized banjo song

First time in Louisiana

First time riding in a streetcar

First time attending Christmas Mass as part of the Church (catechumin, baby!)

First fig ever eaten

First batch of delicious, delicious jam
First time trying goat milk (it was good, but I still have a mental block due to the word "goat")

First baby quilt 

First doilies

First postcard ever received from Asia

First time reading more non-fiction books than fiction

First half square triangles

First dahlias

First time knitting cables in a hat
First time trying creamy, rich raw milk from Miller Farms in LaCoste, TX

And most importantly,

First MONTH owning a home! Thank you, December! Thank you 2011! 

I got lots of plans, you better believe it. I even got my first chicken...it's ceramic. I will definitely write more and include pictures soon when I have internet again.

Looking forward to see what 2012 brings!

A further but essentially non-related note:
Saint's Name Generator says my saint of the year is St. Therese de Lisieux which is freaky weird because I was thinking of making her my patron saint when I get confirmed in April, and in fact I checked out a book a couple days ago called Shirt of Flame: A Year With St. Therese of Lisieux. Reason #432 why I'm not an atheist.

Taking Care of Pennies

A few years ago the phrase "take care of the ounces and the pounds will take care of themselves" was drilled into my head as a reminder to keep backpacking weight down. Last week I checked out a book called the Tightwad Gazette (vol 1.) which lists all kinds of inventive ways to save money. All I can think of is a re-phrase of the above saying, "take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves."

I always find myself spending money on little things. Eating out, fast food, baubles, craft supplies, fancy type groceries which we end up throwing away. It's usually a couple dollars here, a couple dollars there. Those "oh, it's just a dollar" purchases add up. I just read an account of a woman who washes and reuses aluminum foil. Seriously. She claims that two boxes lasted her several years. Same with Ziploc bags. I think saving money must be all about questioning assumptions and looking at things through a lens of history.

Take, for example, toilet paper. I can hardly imagine giving up toilet paper, but it really is a recent invention which means that it must be nonessential for survival. I know such a suggestion may be shocking to modern people, but why not cut up some cloths and stick them in a basket behind the toilet and just use those. After you use one you would just put it in a designated hamper not to be used again until it's been washed with hot water. Some people are already doing this...I can't help but reflect that when camping I've been known to carry around a pee rag (bandana) that I wipe with whenever I pee. I wonder how much money it would save to institute such a system at home.


I just might be crazy enough to do it. And maybe the Ziploc bag washing thing too.