Lynn Carson Harris

Howdy Doody

My mom had this little kit in with her sewing things.  I think she must have gotten it at an auction or garage sale.  To my knowledge she never knit any mittens or socks.  I do remember that she knit a lot of these sweater and hat sets.
I won't be making these cute mittens either, but I do enjoy having the kit. 

Looking at these puppets reminds me that mittens come in pairs, just like socks.  I think you can see where I am going with this... Don't be surprised if you see a few mittens as part of our "two make a pair" project. 

I have also been wanting to make one (or more) of  these mittens on the cover of the summer 2006 issue of Spin Off.

I don't know if A. would agree to make one of those as part of a pair.  Perhaps we could just each knit our own!  They could be pen pal puppets.

Does anyone else wish there were 20 more hours in each day?  I would really like to have a few extra hours while everyone else is asleep! 

edit: would the person who emailed me about the mitten kit please send me another email. I can't find the original email. I don't think I dreamed that email exchange. Thanks.

Chicks and Dolls

Our little chicks have grown fast. They are mostly feathered, so we moved them out to the barn about a week ago.  They like having the room to run and flap around and have quickly learned how to scratch in the dirt and eat grass.  They are separated from the older hens and can get out to the fenced area.

The big chickens can watch them through the fence.

In the craft room, I have made some progress on Kim's little quilt.  The embroidery is finished and the quilt is ready for quilting and binding up.

Small Amusements

Sometimes tending the chickens gets to be mundane.  Give them food, give them water, collect the eggs, shoo them out of the flower gardens, let them out in the morning, close them up at night.  Some days, however, there are fun little surprises for us.  The other day, P and I were out in the yard and stopped by the chicken barn on our way back to the house.  There were eggs in the nests and we gathered them in P's hat.  There was one egg that was much smaller than the rest. 

Another day we went in the barn and saw three hens sitting in the same nest.  There were a couple of empty nests but for some reason they all wanted to be in that one.

I am easily amused.

Thrift Books

I am still reading through the big stack of books we bought at the rummage sale last weekend.
I love the cover on this one.  The illustrator is named Esme.  How can you go wrong with a name like that?

I also picked up these two Little Golden Book classics illustrated by Eloise Wilkin.

My favorite of the Little Golden books was this one illustrated by Richard Scarry. I had never seen this one before.  1955.

Lots of Ideas

I was thrilled to learn that Calamity Kim and I are swap partners for a mini quilt swap.  I have been reading her blog and admiring her work on flickr for some time.  Since we were assigned to be swap partners, I have been looking at her things with a new eye trying to get ideas for her little quilt.
I love this book she posted.  I may just have to get one of these for myself. 
In addition to great quilts and aprons, she makes some fabulous paper dolls.
I have had several ideas of things to try for her quilt.  My most recent idea involves these dolls

which I found on the back of this book.

So far I have this:

If it doesn't work out, I have other ideas.

Garden Walk

It is hard to believe how busy we are these days.  The boys were scheduled to perform at an outdoor event with the Chelsea House Orchestra Saturday evening. We had a hail storm that afternoon and then rain.  The festival coordinators canceled the event at the last minute.  The sun came out again so we took advantage of our evening at home and the wet ground and set to work weeding our raspberry row.  With all of us working we were able to get finished fairly quickly.  We then came in and played cards.

Last night P. and I took a walk around and surveyed the garden areas. We saw little pears,

and our freshly weeded, 250 foot raspberry row along the side of the path.

We had the idea this year that we would stop mowing some of the areas that we usually mow.  Since pumpkins are supposed to grow well where there was previously lawn, we decided to plant them in these areas.  Here are some of our over 90 hills of pumpkins.  I am not sure what we will plant in these areas next year.  I would like to find something that the chickens can eat that requires relatively low labor.

We saw a little hail damage on our onions.

Not so much on the potatoes.  Maybe it is the rye... We planted our potatoes in rows within the garden plot of rye. The rye was there already and was, of course, not ready to harvest.  We left the rye and dug the rows for the potatoes.  We have carried mulch down the rows.  We have noticed that they are growing very well in this environment.  The potato beetles have not found them there.  I think that the tall rye protects them a bit. 

Rummage Sale Day

This was the weekend of the BIG rummage sale.  We look forward to it every year.  This is the kind of sale where you can go with a shopping list and usually get everything on it.  It is held in a school where they use the gym, the cafeteria, the entrance, and the halls, outdoor items are on the lawn.  D. and I got there 10 minutes before they opened and the line was all the way to the back of the school.  People know the layout of the sale from past years and when the doors open the line moves quickly as the people disperse to shop.  D was looking for a bike but could not find one large enough for him; he's tall.  He did find a nice tripod for me. 
I spent a long time in the book hall and filled a bag there.  I also found an old washboard that I will use for felting.  My favorite find was a set of seven linen dish towels.  They are embroidered with the days of the week.

They have never been used!  I will wash them, but, I don't know if I can get myself to use them.  I think I'll just use them as a reference for what to do each day.  Tomorrow is laundry day.  I should have cleaned on Friday.

edit:
This is what we should do each day of the week:

Monday - wash clothes
Tuesday - iron
Wednesday - sewing/mending
Thursday - market
Friday - dusting/cleaning
Saturday - baking
Sunday - rest/look out the window

Happy Trails

Sadly, the time for A. to move has come.  I mentioned when we started making socks together that this would be a good way for us to keep in touch when A. moves away.  A. and I are still working along on our socks. Our latest pair is a basic crew sock. A. chose this design to make for her teenage neighbor who shoveled her driveway each time it snowed last winter.  He would not take payment so she decided that warm socks for next year would make a good gift.  With the flurry of activity as school ends and summer vacation begins, my knitting time has dwindled a bit.  Knowing that this pair had to be finished before she left, I gave A. the sock in progress almost finished...

As the movers at her house packed everything in sight she finished it off in a hurry.

So, here they are, pair eight in the "two make a pair project."  Nothing spectacular in the pattern but that was not called for here.  Socks for a teenage boy shouldn't be fussy.  These say, "thank you." Thank you for being a good neighbor, for being a friend.  Thank you for going along with my knitting together idea, and for not making me feel bad for not finishing the sock.  Who knew all that could be said with "just socks."

The movers packed everything except the needles A. was knitting with so I am sending her on her way with some yarn and sock designs to work on until she unpacks her supplies.

Happy Trails to you.

Sew Handy

O.K. Call me a softy.  I saw this toy sewing machine and had to get it for P. It would have been silly to get it for myself so I say that it is for her.  We gave it to her last night and she said she did not want to go to bed; she wanted to sew.  The poor dear. I know just how she feels. 

She has a real sewing machine; one that I think will be safe for her to use.  It is hand crank powered.
This morning she got right to work.

She made a pillow with fluffy stuff inside and a smaller "bean" bag filled with rice.

Later, I found the pillow on her bed in her room, right where her head would be.

She has plans for more projects.  She wants to sew a hat, a sweater, and she says her doll needs and apron that can tie in the back. I may not have a problem with scraps building up any more.  I noticed that P knew just were to go to get the squares she used to make her pillows.

The Singer Sewhandy sews with a chain stitch.  I think I may be trying it out myself. We can try it with different threads, or sew from the back so the chains end up on the front, or maybe even try some quilting on a doll quilt with it.  Oh, the possibilities. 

Strawberries- Pie, Jam, and Shortcake

Each year when the rhubarb is ready for harvest, we wait for the strawberries.  Sure there are some in the supermarket but they have traveled a long way to get here.  They are a different kind of berry.  They are very big and look like strawberries on the outside but the inside of them is white and they taste like apple. So, we wait.  In mid June the Michigan berries arrive. 
They are here!  It is time to start filling the freezer!  Friday, we made 8 pie fillings.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
I have a system for making the pies. I line up gallon size freezer bags on the table.  Chop up 3 cups of rhubarb and 2 cups of strawberries for each bag. 
Then I mix 1 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons tapioca, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg and add to each bag.
Shake the ingredients in the bag to mix them up.  Hold the bag upright and roll up like a log and close the bag.
Stack the bags like firewood in the freezer for use all year!  When I want pie in the winter I just pull out a bag to thaw and make a crust. Dump the bag contents into the the pie, add top crust, and bake at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes.

Yesterday B made a batch of strawberry jam for the freezer.

Today, strawberry shortcake.

This is a Sally Lunn base with strawberries and whipped cream on top.

Sally Lunn
1/2 cup butter
1/3 sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk

Cream the  butter and sugar.  Add the eggs.  Combine dry ingredients. Add the milk and dry mix alternately.

Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan.
Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Time for more berries.