dreaming out loud, sewing

If I were a rich girl…

I was able to spend yesterday afternoon at a “Sewing Celebration” hosted by Bernina Northwest. Oh boy, do I wish I had a disposable $10K! Part party, part class, this was a chance for the curious to test drive the Bernina 830. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if this sewing machine could also knit or scramble eggs; we used decorative stitches, did some machine embroidery, and came home with something the instructor called a “jewelery clutch” (Heaven knows what I’ll do with it, not really be the jewelery or the clutch type). The machine has a touch screen, it …

Seasons

Impatience

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On the way in from lunch the other day, I peeked under the row cover to check on the seeds I planted a few weeks back. Cliff Mass wrote recently that so far our spring (ok, our March) has been cooler than average, and it shows. No sign yet of the peas or of the carrots and spinach under the row cover. It’s a bit too soon for the onion seeds in the sun room to have visibly germinated, but that didn’t stop me from peeking there, either. Come on, Spring! Grow, Green Things, Grow!

homesteading, Introspection

Why I Do It

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Three cheers for all the urban homesteading bloggers more dedicated to the lifestyle than I. I’m so very grateful for their posts about their challenges: the bugs, the rats, the lice on the goats, the chickens with infected feet. I might sigh over fresh eggs or get starry eyed over fresh goat milk, but then I find pictures like this one and I’m suddenly a lot less romantic about backyard livestock. I just don’t think I’m cut out for the go-to veterinary stuff that goes with having lots of animals. Heck, I can’t even clean out the trap full of …

Caitlyn, quilts

A Quilt for Caitlyn

A long while back, on a trip to Pacific Fabrics for something entirely different, I found bundles of pre-cut squares from Hoffman Fabrics. On a whim, I asked Caitlyn to pick a bundle. We took home pink, of course. I didn’t have a pattern in mind, so this may be one of my more “organic” quilts. I started with those pre-cut squares, was deliberate with the contrast, and added borders until it felt “done”. Special thanks go to Lianna for her more experienced eye for contrast and her magic ability to find the perfect border fabric. While Caitlyn was out …

homesteading, in the kitchen, Seasons

The Circle of Potatoes

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Today, I used up the last of our stored potatoes, turning them into soup for tonight’s dinner. They weren’t much good for anything else, all shrivelly and going soft and putting out seriously desperate roots. Soup was good, though. I’m thinking I’ll drape the potato box with heavy black cloth next year, on the theory that the opening and closing of the pantry door, not to mention turning on the pantry light, for the last six months has provided enough stimulus for the potatoes to think they should start getting ready to make more potatoes. Perhaps a colder environment would …