Cabin Crafted

Category: Exercise

  • Olio – May 31, 2026

    Olio: a miscellaneous collection of things

    The month is drawing to a close. It has been a good month, with a trip to see youngest son and family, a month long spinning challenge, a very heavy work day with local grandson making headway on cleaning up parts of the property, walks and wildlife, seeing more production from the pullets, some social time, some living history, and not enough gardening.

    We often see snakes, turtles, or today, a lizard on the paved trail. The morning was cool enough that it was warming on the dark pavement, and yet delightful for a brisk walk.

    We saw our first fawn of the season this week, crossing our gravel road into the woods. Tiny little one that quickly tucked itself between Mom’s back legs as we were approaching.

    Yesterday on my way to an annual spring spin in at a friend’s house, I saw another with it’s Mom in route, then yet another on our gravel road on my way home. The spin in is always enjoyable, the weather was a delight and the potluck ended up mostly salads, many Mediterrean in flavor. A good friend who I see only at this event and at an Arts and Fiber retreat once a year as she and her husband live a state away, gifted me a tiny spindle made by my favorite spindle maker, Ed Jenkins. Most of my spindles are on the smaller size, but this one is really tiny. Seen next to a US quarter for reference. Much to my surprise, it spins for an amazingly long time once a little fiber is added.

    For the spinning challenge, all done on Jenkin’s spindles, I spun 165 g of wool. Other spinning was done during the month on other types of spindles, some at living history groups at the museum, some on my own at home as I work toward enough to finish the other 3/4 of the blanket in progress. So in total, I probably spun about half a pound of wool this month. And I started lessons for one of my friends and fellow living history re-enactors. This month, I won’t participate in the challenge and there are no scheduled groups other than the weekly session with the local spinning group. I will likely meet up with my friend again for another lesson for her.

    The garden is growing, the raised beds are doing well and have been weeded a couple of times, but I never did get the rest of the garden set for corn and pumpkins, nor have I gotten the blueberry bed weeded. We did get almost a week of rain toward the end of the month.

    The pullets, I think are now all laying. The most I have gotten on any one day was today and there were 7 eggs (9 pullets). The Marans that I didn’t think had started, have given me 4 eggs in the past couple days and two of them today, so I know they are both laying. As I don’t know for sure what color the Mystic Onyx breed lays. The web says light brown and there are 3 Buff Orpingtons that also lay light brown. I did get 3 light brown eggs in the mix today, so at least 3 of the 5 light brown layers are providing.

    As they get the hang of production, we sometimes get an oddball one. This one on the left when cracked open, had 3+ yolks. The one on the right is a normal sized pullet egg.

    I have gotten doubles before, especially when they are young and soon after starting to lay again after molt, but three is a record for here.

    After our walk, a few quick stops, we managed to get the yard mowed, partly edged, and the fence around the young oak planted on our pup’s grave reinforced. It is now time to let the day fade, spin a little more, or maybe knit a few rows, and look forward to a new month beginning tomorrow with new adventures.

  • Strong as a bull

    The grandson (19 years old) drove over this morning and for the next 1.75 hours, we worked. I had brought the trailer down from the barn to the garden area and tried to get a headstart before he arrived by starting to back the long screws out of the rotting garden box. That box was 17′ long and 4′ wide. Many of the screws just stripped instead of backing out. To also expedite our destruction, I drove the tractor down from the barn and shifted the broken rubble from the destroyed chicken tractor that has sat under one of the apple trees with several years of grass growing up through it.

    The wooden box was behind the black bed with the tomatoes in it. Once he arrived, he took the sledge hammer to it and broke the long sides off of the short sides and our day began. The short sides were loaded in the trailer, the long one brought over to the house where they could be cut in thirds with the circular saw, then they also were loaded. The trailer was then relocated closer to the rubble pile and we “Tetris” fit about a dozen cedar posts we had cut from young trees on the farm and stripped of branched to make up the base for the chicken tractor when we realized it could be breached and 9 chicks killed. The base was raised off the ground on large rocks, the cedar posts anchored together, a thick layer of soil on top, then the chicken tractor lifted on top and all spaces of potential access filled with large rocks. This worked for a while, then a strong windstorm toppled it and as the chicken tractor was made primarily of reclaimed wood, it was destroyed. The rocks were removed, the cedar posts stacked under the tree, and the plan to try to remove the hardware cloth. The task overwhelmed me each time I decided to tackle it and the grass started growing up through the mesh. It made mowing that area quite difficult and though it got weed whacked occassionally, it was an unsightly mess.

    We filled the trailer to the top with rotting wood, hardware cloth, and the metal top panels, lashed it down tight and drove it to the “convenience center,” where the dumpsters and dump trailers are placed for us to take our garbage, trash, and recyclables. We managed to get it done before the temperature got unbearable. It eventually reached 89 f today.

    The teen was well paid, fed lunch, and sent home. Daughter texted later and said I had worn the teen out. Wore his grandmom out as well.

    We waited until after dinner, when the thermometer dropped to 85 to go take our walk. Tommorrow is a repeat as far as the weather, but no heavy work is planned. The area where the box was removed and to the left of it still needs cleaning up to plant the three sisters mounds, hoping to get popcorn, some dried beans, gourds and pie pumpkins out of that otherwide unused part of the garden. And the area where the rubble was removed needs to be raked to make sure we didn’t leave any boards with staples, nails, or screws that might puncture a foot or mower tire. It will cool back down in a few days and those tasks can be tackled.

  • How does your garden grow

    Yesterday was a perfect day and the last Living History class group of the spring. They were a delightful group of about 50 second graders, well behaved, engaged, and even had some great questions. Summer time is hot to wear all of the frontier woman’s clothing, but I do miss doing the groups during the summer. Fall will bring fourth and sixth graders, and more of the surrounding counties are taking advantage of the offering of history as it applies to their SOL objectives.

    Today the temperature begins an uptick to a few days of mid summer type weather with it reaching near or achieving 90 f before it returns to normal spingtime. It seemed like a good day to take the next step in garden planting for the season. After our usual Saturday morning breakfast out, Farmer’s Market purchases, and walk along the Huckleberry Trail, a pointed hoe and packets of seeds were carried out to the garden. The green beans were planted, the peppers staked, and a box that wasn’t in the vegetable plan this year, planted with mixed sunflowers and tithonia, and the adjacent area with Sweet Annie and Calendula. Since they were newly planted and no rain forcast for a few days, the sprinkler is on it now.

    The blueberries need weeding, some paths week whacked and the three sister’s garden started. I also want some flax seed for the row of the flower box that isn’t planted yet.

    The box with the flower seed in it is deteriorating and will removed at the end of the season, probably replaced with another metal box next spring. The very long one to the left of the peppers, peas, and newly planted beans if rotted so badly that it has become dangerous and local grandson is going to come over and help me cut it up, remove it from the garden and haul it to the dump. Under one of the apple trees is the remnant of a small chicken tractor that blew over about 4 or 5 years ago and he is also going to help finish deconstructing that to haul away so that mowing near the apple trees and chicken coop and pen is easier. Sure is nice having older teens/young adults that are willing to work for tuition money (or to just help grandmom out, but will be paid.)

  • Virginia Springtime

    We again have had a series of near early summer type weather, but hang on, it is Virginia in the springtime. Yesterday 78 and warm at night. Today 81 and 39 at night. Thursday 43 and 28 at night. Then we have several days of typical spring weather followed by a couple days of deep freeze with nights in the teens. If you don’t like the weather, stick around for 24 hours, it will flip flop.

    The Forsythia is beginning to bloom, if it freezes, we will lose the pretty yellow blooms but no harm done. The plum is in full white bloom and a freeze will mean no plums this early summer. I may take a sheet out to cover it Thursday and next week when it is again cold and hope to salvage some fruit.

    The pullets have finally figured out the outdoors and going back in by themselves at night. I only had one night of catching all ten and one night of catching one. Yesterday, the cover of the tunnel was refastened. The end needs some work, but it should only take me an hour or so to finish the work and another few minutes to secure some areas that don’t quite reach the soil line, then they will be given access to more space.

    On our daily walk, we saw two woodchucks, aka ground hogs, aka whistle pigs that have burrows on the edge of the trail. Both were out sunning, of course darting back into the burrow as we approached.

    It is the season where a few flowers from the yard can be brought in to adorn the table. Now there are daffodils and forsythia. The bearded iris and daylilies are showing and the autumn joy is showing green. It needs to warm up a bit more before the wildflower, zinnea, marigold, and bachelor button seed can be sown.

  • The Blog

    Blogs are developed for several reasons. Mine is basically a journal. I have tried paper journalling, however, writing is much slower than I think or type, so the blog evolved. If my thought are deeper than I wish to share, there is a private typed journal that occassionally I use.

    This week has been full of life. After our Anniversary dinner last weekend, we have had a busy but usual week. With the chick teenagers now in the coop, daily trips over to check on them and carrying a plastic cup with a handful of dried mealworms as a treat. The cup is shaken from the garage to the coop and as the door is opened and the treat poured into a small dish. The idea, to train them that the noise, the yellow cup, and me mean a treat so that when they begin to free range, they will come when called with the treat cup. It is about time to let them into the run, so most of a bale of hay has been spread in the run, areas of the fence that either had a broken wire or not tight to the ground were reinforced, and the battery operated pop door reset for times, but still wedged shut. We have two days of winter wet starting tonight with rain, turning to snow tomorrow into Monday night, so the door will remain closed for a couple more days. I don’t want to have to be out there in snow and cold to encourage any of them that don’t find their way back inside the coop as night falls. They are looking like small chickens now, less awkward.

    The two black ones are Mystic Onyx breed, one I had never seen before. They are a cross of Silkies and meat birds, medium sized, gentle nature, black legs, beaks, combs, and feathers. One of these has feathered feet and a head tuft more like a Silkie.

    We had several beautiful days this week where we could take our daily walk outdoors on the rails to trails trail. The mid section still hasn’t reopened from bridge repair, but is supposed to reopen in the next couple of weeks. Getting outdoors encourages a longer walk than when we walk indoors in the mall. We have managed a couple of 3 mile walks this week. When the weather warms a bit more and the spring flowers are showing more, we will extend the walk to the Hahn Garden on campus.

    With the nice day today, we made it back to our routine with breakfast followed by the local Saturday Farmer’s Market for the first time in several weeks. Being able to get some fresh greens, radishes, bread, and a small roast is wonderful.

    The new spindle has been the spindle of choice this week. It is Koa wood, hubby selected as a reminder of our trip last November to Kaua’i.

    I love the smaller spindles, this one is a bit larger than 3 of mine, but still small enough for travel and tucking in my daily bag, but large enough to hold more spun fiber.

    The hydroponic garden has 6 young herb plants sprouted. Soon they will be large enough to begin to enjoy some fresh herbs in cooking and salads. Our favorite garden center reopens next weekend and seeds needed for this year ‘s garden can be purchased. There are some left over seeds from last year, but not enough peas or beans, and after the raccoons got all of the sweet corn, I will go back to planting popcorn instead. The brightly colored popcorn can be used for fall decorating and popping and the raccoons don’t seem to like it as well. Last year I tried to cover the unplanted areas with pumpkins and failed. I don’t want to deal with the weed load this year, so a plan needs to be developed. Maybe gourds that can be used also for fall decorating and shared with daughter. If that fails, the line trimmer will have to be used more frequently as the garden fencing hasn’t been moved.

    Spring can’t come soon enough, we are tired of the cold and the ridiculously high energy bills.

  • Cha-cha-changes

    This past weekend we had the opportunity to drive 275+ miles north and east in the state to visit one of our son’s and his family. Never have I traveled across the state and seen snow/ice everywhere. Twice we again drove through snow falling and traffic throwing salty, muddy splatter up on the windshield and rear window making visibility difficult.

    Our son’s family’s apartment is across the street from the hotel where we stay and with temperatures in the teens and up to 60 mph wind gusts outdoor walking was brutal. Then on Saturday we went to a play in the city about 10 blocks from where we could get off the Metro and it was bitter and windy . Sunday was still only in the teens and windy but not quite as brutal. The snow showers we experienced on the way there had stopped and the sky cleared on Sunday. We got home to find another 4 inches had fallen here and there were some deep spots in the path that had been plowed out on Thursday night.

    The plowed driveway that finally allowed us to drive to the garage and get back out.

    The new snow didn’t hamper that fortunately, and yesterday we started a warm up, thaw, and clearing finally after about 3 weeks of ice, snow, and temperatures never reaching 32f. Today, we reached a high of 57 f and we were able to take our daily walk outdoors, though the rails to trails path was only plowed to about half it’s width. It was wonderful to get outside in only a light jacket and enjoy the sunshine and mild temperature.

    I am still sore from my fall on the ice a week ago, but am managing daily chores and our walk as long as I don’t lift anything too heavy.

    With the more temperate week ahead, the chicks purchased in early January and now fully feathered, too large for the 45 gallon stock tank they were occupying in the basement, were moved to the empty coop. A bale and a half of pine shavings were added to it as it had been cleaned out in November when the adults were gone. A 5 gallon waterer and a 15 pound feeder were placed in before we moved the teenager chicks. They haven’t had heat on them for several days other than basement heat.

    Here they were at about 1 1/2-2 weeks old before they outgrew the smaller crate and were moved to the stock tank. Having them in the basement for almost 6 weeks, they have created an amazing amount of dust. After we moved them and removed the stock tank, I did do a surface dusting, but will go down tomorrow and do a more thorough cleaning and try to get the floor clean. This batch of birds will be the last ones I raise for eggs. It is getting too difficult to move 50 pound sacks of feed and hauling a 5 gallon water container to keep them fed and hydrated.

    After they spend a week or two in the coop to learn that it is home, they will be allowed into the covered pen on hay for another week or two, then allowed into the covered run around the garden, hopefully to keep the bug and weed load down in the garden.

    A box of supplies for the hydroponic herb garden was finally delivered today. UPS has been trying to deliver it for 2 1/2 weeks, but unable to get down our icy road. It will be nice having fresh herbs again once they germinate and get some size on them. Once spring arrives and they can go out to the half barrel on the patio, more will be sown and before next winter, the hydroponic will be started again for fall and winter use. I was too late this year getting the baskets and sponges to start it in the fall.

    I know winter isn’t over, but hopefully the artic temperatures have passed and more seasonable winter temperatures will prevail. There will be more wintry precipitation I’m sure, but inches of snow topped with ice then more snow creating 30 acres of glacier hopefully is gone. For the first time in weeks, we can see some grass peeking through the snow in the back field and gravel on the driveway. This has certainly not been typical.

  • Autumn Days

    Yesterday was almost springlike in temperature, though windy which chilled the day some. By Sunday night and into Monday morning, it is going to feel like January with forcast snow showers possible, not accumulation.

    Most of the leaves have fallen except for a few vivid reds and yellows. And the stubborn brown leaves of the oaks.

    Yesterday’s walk took us to a nearby town to walk along a creek bed then along the river it feeds for a couple of miles. The path is paved and smooth with a couple of steep long rises that take it from the path on the park side up to a tunnel that passes under the four lane main street of the town and down to the continued path along the river bank. The park walk is about two miles round trip, the one along the river is about 2.5 miles one way from one end of the trail to the other. We alternate the park way with the river bank walk when we go over and don’t walk the full 5 mile up and back of the river bank one.

    The park is more rustic and a pleasure to walk.

    Most days, we stay closer to home walking sections of a rails to trails paved path. The original terminus begins at the town library and traverses about 2 1/2 miles to where it connects up on the other side of the main highway to continue in two directions for several miles each. If you choose to go right, it eventually ends up at Brown’s Farm, several miles away,now a park for the county. If you choose to go left, it continues for another 5 miles to the recreation center of the next town. We often park along that section near the old Coal Miner’s Park, but that section is currently closed until March for repair of 3 bridges.

    Our daily walk is generally 2 1/2 to 3 miles, though hubby will sometimes do 4 when I go to my spinning group once a week. We are striving to keep mobile and flexible as we are both advanced senior citizens.

  • Nature

    When I began college nearly 60 years ago, I was unsure the direction in which to go careerwise. One of my early classes was a General Biology class with a great professor and having followed a wonderful high school biology teacher, I ended up majoring in Biology Education and adding General Science certification to my teaching license. I started my master’s degree also in science, but later changed to School Counseling. Though much of my career in education was in counseling, the interest in science never moved far from my focus.

    As a result, I am ever on the lookout when on our daily walks for animals, and changes in the flora surrounding the trails. One of the interesting quirks of nature are mast years. Those are years when all the nut and oak trees produce more fruit that prior years. The reason for this is debated with several theories, but next year, there will be way more young animals in the fields and woods. This is a mast year. Walking the paths over the abundance of acorns and small nuts feels like walking on pebbles. And several of the areas are shaded by black walnut trees which drop baseball size nuts in green husks that can cause a turned ankle if not looking where your feet fall, or a knot on the head if you are under one when it falls.

    The past couple of days walks have been interesting. We saw the first copperhead snake I have seen here since we moved here almost two decades ago. It was leisurely crossing the paved trail on which we were walking. I got close enough to identify it, but not close enough to disturb it, not wanting to make a venomous snake cross with me.

    Yesterday while weeding a garden bed, I disturbed this large garden spider with hundreds of her young on her back. I moved away from where she was and weeded elsewhere.

    Today’s walk was one that was ripe with nuts. There were Buckeyes (aka Horse Chestnuts) which are toxic to humans and animals, Bitternut Hickory which are edible though very bitter when raw, if roasted they can be substitued for pecans or walnuts, and many Black Walnuts. I failed to pick up a walnut to add to my photograph. The Black Walnut that was on our property before we purchased it had fallen, though we have plenty of Bitternut Hickory trees and Oaks.

    The hickory nuts in this photo are in two stages of being shelled, the husk still on one and two still in the shell. All five nuts went back into the wild, not brought home with us.

    This is a great time of year for our daily walks. The daytime temperatures are very comfortable, the trees are turning autumn colors and dropping their leaves, fruits, and nuts, and we see more wildlife in the woods and crossing the roads and trails. Soon the geese will land in the pond on their way south, though we haven’t seen or heard any yet. We still have Hummingbirds coming to the feeders, so they are staying full. One beautiful little one got trapped in our garage yesterday and by the time we saw it, it was worn out from trying to escape, allowing me to pick it up and take it back outdoors where it gratefully flew away. The hens have already started into non laying mode, getting only about a dozen a week now from 6 hens instead of enough to share.

    Soon the autumn will chill, the garden will close up for the winter, and it will be time to plant next year’s garlic.

    Stay safe, enjoy the changing seasons if you live where you get changes.

  • It’s Been a While

    Not to anything dire, just not wanting to keep posting the same routine.

    It has been a hot, wet summer and the garden has suffered. Raccoons got every ear of corn and started on the tomatoes as they ripened. Green beans have been very prolific as were the cucumbers. The cucumber vines have now died off and were pulled from their trellis yesterday afternoon and the first planting of green beans also pulled as I had been away for 5 days and most of the ones on the plants were too large and soft to be desirable as we don’t like the “southern” way of cooking them with fat back until they are practically mush. The second planting has just begun to provide.

    We set about on Monday to get the lawn mowed after lunch. I sent DH out to get gas for a fill up, thinking there was enough to start while he was gone, but I backed the riding mower out of the garage and it sputtered to a stop. Instead of sitting idly by, the bed of flowers by the east side of the garage was a weedy mess and the grass was hanging over into it, so much bending, stooping, and sitting on a step stool that sent me into an unplanned hard landing on the grass, and all the grass and lambs quarters were pulled, a new edge dug. He began to mow while I was doing that so the line trimmer was used to go around the house and over to the vegetable garden that had lambs quarters, wild amaranth, and horse nettles as tall as me that the line trimmer couldn’t handle. This is the result of hand weeding all of it and the orchard grass growing in the paths.

    That pile is about 2.5 feet tall, what you see behind it is the same mess that is in the closed off chicken run that I can’t access until the fence is removed. I don’t know if it will compost as I had no means of chopping it up, so it is a stack of 5 to 6 feet long stalks mixed with mats of Creeping Charlie, Bermuda grass, Smart weed, and other unwanted greenery that had taken over the end of the garden not in use this summer. I’m thinking about trying to move the inner fence to cross just above the part of the garden in use and letting the chicken have at the rest. It will leave them unprotected from the hawks but that is a chance I am willing to take.

    Yesterday a very early venture over to the garden to harvest beans and tomatoes and finish weeding a small section I never got to Monday, found all of the Tithonia and Sunflowers full of sleeping wild bees.

    Yesterday afternoon, after a trip to the nursery, flats of spinach and Romaine lettuce seedling, a row of Little Gems lettuce seed, and three rows of turnips were planted in one of the empty raised beds. The one the first green beans were in will be reserved to plant garlic when it cools more.

    The reason for my 5 day absence was to travel to Black Mountain, North Carolina for my favorite Art and Fiber Retreat. We meet at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly. It was rejuvenating and a bit heartbreaking. The group is a wonderful mix of ladies that spin, knit, crochet, weave, and do other paper arts. The heartbreak was to see the damage caused by Helene and know that though they have worked hard to recover, only 40% occupancy is available still as they lost a couple of buildings and had damage to many others. The motel style lodge where we stay and where meals are prepared and served by the staff was the first to be repaired and reopened. Helene took out every power pole leading up to the buildings except for 3. It took them 4 weeks to get any power back. The creek that became a river down the west side, that damaged the old gym so badly it had to be torn down is now a gully 16 feet deep and washed through the woods taking out trees and rhododendron to now look like a dry river bed.

    This is an area above the retreat that is up the mountain. All of their hiking trails in that area are impassable still and a lower priority than restoring the rest of the buildings.

    Part of the repair is placing 14 foot arches where roads were to divert the flow, instead of smaller culverts that had always handled the creeks in the past. Also where two landslides sent mud into buildings, have new reinforced walls at the top and the slides seeded as they are now open meadows.

    In addition to visiting with friends I see seldom, I finished a skein of yarn I had been spindle spinning, took a needle felting class and made two little pumpkins, and started wheel spinning 8 ounces of Coopworth and Alpaca roving purchased from a friend that raises the animals and dyes the wool before the mill processes it into roving. Also some knitting on a pair of fingerless mitts was done with the wool I purchased in Alaska in May, spun on spindles and plyed on spindles.

    Now back home, my food consumption is focusing on smaller portions and healthier choices as we always have a snack table with too much sugar and fat on it, and though I did take a walk up as far as I could go up hill above the retreat one day, I consumed too much not so healthy snacks in addition to the three meals a day they provide. Now home, I have resumed my daily walks with DH of 2-2.5 miles. It has been so humid though, it feels like you are breathing fog.

    We have a cooler week of so ahead, it should help make the walks more enjoyable. We see early Autumn in the air as the early turning leaves are coloring and some are already falling. Until I have something new, stay safe.

  • Summer Camp

    The museum where I volunteer as a spinner and occasional teacher holds a history themed week long day camp each summer. This year’s theme is cultures, representing the melting pot of cultures that dwelt in this region and the crafts they brought. Next week, I will spend one afternoon on fiber and will provide each camper with a small drop spindle to take home and a lesson on how to spin on one.

    The spindles are wooden toy wheels on a dowel with a cup hook at the top. Each in a small storage bag that will also have an ounce or so of wool for practice, and each will be given a printed instruction as a reminder when they get home with them.

    The weather is going to be hot as it has been for several weeks, but cloudy, so maybe not too uncomfortable in the Colonial outfit. I am following the bagpiper and he will certainly have on more layers than I will.

    As my favorite thing to do at the museum is working with children, drawing back on my retired educator skills, this is a perfect afternoon.

    The annual scavenger hunt has been fun this week, with easy to find object and encouraging much more spinning time for me. The wool I have been spinning was slightly sidelined as I wanted to spin the gift sample that my friend sent with the spindle she proxy shopped for me. One half was spun Monday, the other half yesterday and the two plyed last evening to create a small 46 yard skein. The pale yellow, I learned from here is caused by a bacteria in the wool in wet or humid conditions and though washing with soap stops the growth and makes the wool safe, the yellow color does not wash out. It will be added to a bag of other small skeins and they will be knit into hats when my current knitting project is complete.

    If the weather ever cools off, a couple days of weeding flower beds, dividing Iris and Day Lilies needs to be done. And a couple skeletons of Nandina that the cold killed off two winters ago, need to be dug out. Other than cucumbers and a handful of green beans, the garden is growing but not producing much right now. There will be tomatoes, a few ears of corn, peppers, and hopefully a second round of green beans later in the summer.

    Right now, we are sitting out a round of thunderstorms. We got our daily walk in prior to them setting in. It was hot and humid, but done anyway.