Cabin Crafted

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  • A Sewing Day

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    A few weeks ago, I made 5 cloth masks, 2 for each of us and 1 for daughter as she has been doing grocery runs for us. This morning daughter initiated a text exchange and finally a phone call asking for a mask for her daughter so she can resume Taekwondo outdoor classes. They will be limiting the number of participants, spread out 10 feet apart, and must wear a mask. We ended up on the phone to determine style and size. While on the phone, her son asked for one too and we decided daughter needed a second one. I don’t have any fun fabrics, but do have two different gray fabrics and some ribbon that could be used as ties. The afternoon was spent cutting and sewing 5 more masks so they each have two for being out in public.

    Hopefully this will help keep them safe as the state is allowing more and more activities to resume. We are still self isolating except for curbside pick up of some groceries and animal supplies. We will go through a drive through or curbside food delivery occasionally if we are out on one of the other errands.

    Daughter set out today to get the remaining plant starts for the garden for her daughter that I helped with via emailed garden plans, instructions, and support. They wanted two Jalapenos plants in what they bought, but couldn’t find any. There are a couple of other places to try, but I may end up starting the seed for her which will slow them down some, but they will still get peppers before the season ends in the fall. They sent me a picture of granddaughter’s garden with plant seed up and starts planted. I wish I could have helped more with it, but pleased that I could provide guidance and planning.

    Such a neat little garden and a great lesson for the 8 year old.

    Two nights ago, when I went out to lock up the hens, 5 of them had apparently gone under the garden gate and again wrecked havoc. They dug up 3 of the tomatoes, trampled peas, scattered the hay from the aisles. I had to call for help to get them out, did repairs in the falling dark and finished the job yesterday morning. I finally got a new battery for one of my solar fence chargers, so I will be stringing electric wire to keep the deer and fence climbers out. The charger isn’t my preferred one, but I can’t get that one open to see what battery it needs. The back is screwed on with tiny star headed screws and I don’t have a star bit that small. I put a board across the opening under the gate, but I haven’t given the hens any free range time since. I guess I will have to expand their run and only free range them when they can be supervised. Several of them will go over the gate in the garden.

    I really don’t want them in there now that the sunflowers and corn have been planted this evening in anticipation of 5 days of rain. In a week or two, the pole beans can be planted in there as well.

    The blueberries have berries, the raspberries have flowers, and there are potato sprouts showing. The garden is now fully planted except for the pole beans, a second planting of bush beans in a few weeks, and some herbs that will be tucked between the tomatoes and peppers so that we can have dilly beans and pesto. The pumpkins are started in a flat and will be planted out when they have secondary leaves and I can see where the sunflowers are. The corn block is 4.5 feet by 13.5 feet. That should be a sufficient sized block to get some corn. If the electric will stop the raccoons.

  • The Yard (Wo)Man

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    The grass was tall again, the morning beautiful, the mate still in bed, so after critter chores and breakfast, I took to the mower.

    Front northwest. It takes several hours to mow what gets done on the riding mower. You can see the delineation between the hay line and the lawn line. This was the third mowing this year and should have been done a week ago, but it is done. There is hay behind that row of trees and hay to the northeast, east, and south of the mowed area. The hens had supervised free range time while I was doing the mowing. It stirs up bugs and they have a feast. After a break, I broke out the monster Stihl line trimmer, got it re wound with new line, fresh fuel, and worked around the culverts, the transformer box, and the well head. I still need to do around the mailbox and around the lower yard hydrant so the hay men don’t hit it.

    Haying has begun in the region, but the guys that do ours either haven’t started yet or they are doing more distant fields, I haven’t seen any evidence of them being out. We are one of the last on their list so it is usually the second week in June before we see them.

    The bearded Iris were gorgeous this morning.

    Last night after dinner, I plied the two balls from my spindles. I ended up with a tangle on the lace weight and lost a couple grams of yarn, but got 109 yards, 19.7 grams of lace weight yarn from the shiny blue Merino/silk blend and 132 yards, 42.08 grams of fingering weight from the gray Shetland. Only one spindle has been started again, with the Rainbow punis that arrived in yesterday’s mail.

    There are 4 one-half ounce punis in the package, 2 each of the red, orange, yellow and green, blue, purple. I am going to spin them in rainbow sequence and then ply them in the same sequence. It should make an interesting scarf or cowl from the finished yarn.

    I guess I should get back to work and see if I can finish the lawn chores before time to prepare dinner. Different hats for different times of the day.

  • A Super Day

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    From freeze warnings to upper 70’s. The local weather blogger and news reporter at the local paper, posted dates in history where the area went from a freeze to 80+ degrees overnight. Winter is over, the trees are green, the peppers and tomatoes have spent two nights outside, so after some morning showers and a run to the garbage drop off, I started planting and light weeding. The tomatoes and peppers are in the ground and stakes pounded in on the edges to provide support for the string that will hold them as they grow. The far end of the third box south, 8 cucumbers were planted and post set to hold their trellis. Half of the bush bean bed was planted with 72 bean seed. In a few weeks, a second planting will be made so we have fresh beans all summer and enough to make dilly beans and freeze for the winter. The edge of the 3 sisters garden got a row of mixed sunflower seed, but it is too soon to plant the corn. I am watching the local gardeners and farmers on that. The fields that will get feed corn have had their winter cover crop sprayed, a practice I hate, but when they plant their corn, I will know it is time to plant mine. The pole beans follow a couple weeks after the corn sprouts. The pumpkins will be started indoors tonight so that they are ready to be tucked in among the sunflowers and help shade the soil for the corn and pole beans. By planting two kinds of beans, I won’t be able to save seed, but I would rather have the fresh beans and the dried pintos.

    Every time I go out, I find more mint and dig more roots from that area. I hope I can stay on top of the garden and keep it as neat as it is now. The asparagus bed is not doing as well this year as the past couple of years. Son 1 asked if I had ever re dug it and thinned them and I haven’t. Early next spring, I think I will relocate it to the deep soil where the mint was (assuming I have won the mint battle), and will put a new growing box where the asparagus bed is now. The makeshift box that is around the asparagus had deteriorated to a few rotten boards with screws protruding. If I put a new box where the mint was dug, plant the asparagus there, I can put posts at the corners to tie up the ferns for the summer and still get to the other beds.

    I have been busy spinning on my spindles and wound about 70 grams of singles into ply balls. I haven’t plied it yet, maybe after dinner, but it cleared 3 of the 4 spindles. Just in time for a 2 ounce package of rainbow punis to arrive to spin.

    When I am out in the garden, the tree swallows seem to have no fear of me, they come and go from the two houses and sit on the fences so close I could practically stroke their iridescent backs. When I mow, they soar around the mower catching any insects that try to flee.

    Each evening before our freeze warnings, I cut yellow bearded Iris and filled jars and vases all over the house. Now the remaining ones will bloom in the garden and that bed looks like it needs a major overhaul when they are done. Some of the purple ones that were thinned and dumped just out of the mowed area of the yard will have to be dug and some of them brought back to the gardens. The deck destruction and reconstruction as well as all the rocks moved and the soil compacted seems to have affected them where they were planted. The yellow ones came from a neighbor several years ago, along with a red one. The red one did not come back and I was going to dig more this year, but he did a burn pile right in the middle of the area he has them planted and there will be no blooms there this year for me to figure out which cluster to dig. Maybe next spring and by then the walled garden should be ready for flowers.

    The seed and seedlings that were planted, just had a heavy rain shower to help set them in and now the sun is out again. The next few days look like warm and showers, just what is needed to get things started. Soon it will be time to harvest peas and spinach. The lettuce, radishes, and cabbages in the half barrels are beginning to develop too, so we may begin to get good home grown food soon.

    I love garden season and hope I can stay ahead of it this year.

  • How will it be?

    I am not currently active on Facebook. If you are reading this there, I will not see your comments and reactions.

    Will we ever get to meet our newest grandson? Get a hug from our sons, daughter(s), and grands? Will we ever be able to fulfill our Christmas gift trip to three of our grands? How about craft shows? History events? Fiber retreats?

    We can’t be part of the herd immunity theory, we are both in the at risk category by age and prexisting conditions. If we were to disregard this SARS-2 virus, likely we would die, not become immune. Our exposure is very limited, wearing masks when we are away from home. Only I will go into the plant nursery or the post office, leaving hubby at home or in the car. We did finally break down to do drive through food occasionally since there have been no reports of transmission by that means and the number of cases in this part of the state are fairly low.

    How will our children fair if it lingers and impacts their jobs? Though the two eldest can both work from home now, there are furloughs being suggested in their fields.

    Will schools reopen and how? At first the fear wasn’t for children to catch the virus, but rather become vectors, but now there are serious cases and deaths to children as well.

    So much history has occurred in my lifetime: Korean conflict, Vietnam war, Cold war, space flight, moon landings, technology to improve power production. Negatives such as factory farms, climate change, pollution by smog and plastic, fracking. We have seen the arrival of HIV/AIDS, SARS, MERS, resistant bacterial infections, but this virus is frightening. It infects across all ages, affects people so differently or not at all as they asymptomatically spread it. It has brought out the worst kinds of behaviors in people who believe that safety measures are infringements on their rights. “Your rights end where my nose begins..” and I don’t want you spreading your illness to me. What has happened to respect and civility in this country.

    For now, I will stay home and spin, knit, garden, and take care of us.

  • Polar or Equatorial

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    Spring in Virginia can never make up it’s mind. Usually by mid May it has settled into predictable days and nights, but this week it is yoyoing. We had two freeze warnings for Friday and Saturday nights, yesterday, I worked in short sleeves. Today it is mid 40’s, gray, and very windy again with freeze warnings tonight and tomorrow night, but we are expecting daytime temperatures in upper 70s to lower 80s by the weekend.

    Today’s walk was winter clad, wool hoody, quilted long sleeve jacket, gloves. The wind blowing down the mountain burned my face and though after doing some steep uphill walking I could partially unzip the jacket, I never did warm up.

    I came up the hill right behind this tree with clusters of purple bell shaped flowers and still holding seed/nut hulls from the fall.

    I took a steep but slightly shorter walk, just because of the cold wind.

    Last weekend, I did a spindle exchange with another spinner from Minnesota. I got the one I was sending in the mail promptly and she mailed the one I was receiving also on Saturday. Much to my surprise and hers, it arrived in today’s mail. I’m sure she won’t see the one I sent for a couple more days.

    This one has the largest wingspan by about a half inch, but is 3 grams lighter than the next largest one. It is made of apple wood, next smaller is Osage Orange wood, the larger of the tiny ones is Purple Heart, the smallest is Olive wood.

    I have thoroughly enjoyed spinning on these tools.

  • Mother’s Day in the Gardens

    After two frigid nights, we had a beautiful day. We violated our self isolation to go through a drive through for wings and fries then over to the nursery to get a second pot of petunias for the front of the house. Then I spent some time in the back working on the rock path and planting some pots for color in the back. It has been a great day outside.

    The path isn’t done by any means but every time I work on it, it gets better, more level, less unstable.

    Part of the effort was creating a pad for the grill that was large enough and stable enough to use it. There was a messy nest in the firebox, a suspect a rodent, it was removed and a serious burn will be held in there before I consider using it. It has reached that age where the gas guts are deteriorating and this may be the last season for it.

    Some sod was removed in the walled garden. Some of the small rocks are going to be moved to the back side of the wall to reinforce it and improve the drainage, then hopefully a load of composted soil can be brought in and dumped for more flowers, herbs, and the dye garden.

    The strange weather continues until midweek when it finally warms up day and night and will rain. I guess the tomatoes and peppers will have to wait until Friday to go in the garden and some of what was planted today may have to be covered a couple more nights though we didn’t get a frost on either of the two nights it was threatened this weekend.

    Right after I finished getting all of the spoiled hay down in the paths of the garden, all but the broody hen got in the garden, they trashed what I had done, dug in the peas, destroyed the spinach, and dug in the potatoes. Some of that damage has been mitigated, but I think the chicken run is going to have to be moved so they can’t get into the garden area at all except during the winter when having them scratch around is welcomed.

  • Another hint at spring

    After the 3 beautiful days, the temperature dropped from near 80 to low 40’s and it rained. Two chilly, dreary days. Today the sun came out, the temperature recovered to the 60’s with wind and a mild night, but tomorrow and Saturday nights, we have freeze warnings. After the two days of being cooped up, I gladly got outside today. The tractor helped me push over the big round hay bale. I have spent the winter peeling as much hay off the top as I could and had to tip over to get to the layers underneath the bale. The wet, compacted layers were hauled a strip at a time over to the garden gate and put down over the cardboard, weed mat, and to thicken the layers in the other aisles.

    This will help keep the weeds down and make maintenance of the garden easier once it is planted.

    This is Ms. Broody. I spent last summer fighting her broodiness and it has already begun for this year. I am going to put a leg band on her to make sure it is the same one each time and if it is, she will not stay as part of this flock. It is frustrating to feed a hen that plucks her breast feathers out and sits but does not provide over and over all summer.

    On Monday, I received a tiny spindle that I have wanted for quite a while. The little tool spins cobwebs. The thread on the bobbin was spun on that little spindle, the thread to the right is sewing thread.

    After filling the spindle twice, it plied to 48 yards and only weighs 8.81 grams (.31 ounces).

    Tonight’s walk was off to the cow fields and then off road on our farm, to areas that can’t be mowed, that have the native fauna and flora, set high between two creeks.

    The bony white cow in the back with all the calves is neighbor’s oldest cow and she seems to be the baby sitter, every time I see her she has a brood of calves with her and only one of them is hers. The “angel” sitting on the point was given to me by a boss when she retired. Every year since, I have received a holiday card from her with news of her kids and grand kids, and of a few former co-workers. I didn’t hear from her this year and have no one to contact in the area to see if she is okay. When she retired, she gave every member of the counseling office staff an angel to remember her by, she loved angels. When we bought this property, the angel was put on the point and visiting the point is getting more difficult now that nothing grazes up on that part of the farm. The bottom photo is a wild sedum of some sort that was all over the damp area around the point.

  • My Sanity

    Let me begin by saying if you are reading this on Facebook, it is because I can share it remotely. I will not see any likes or comments you post on Facebook, only if you like or comment directly on the blog Post.

    Day 64: Of our self imposed stay at home order. On March 31 it became a state order. Because we have no home pick up of garbage and recycling, we have made trips to the “convenience center” a few times. Our wonderful natural foods store has a pdf order form you can fill out, submit via email, they call you when it is filled, you drive up, call the pick up number, and your goodies are delivered to your car by a gloved, masked employee. We have made that trip weekly for 3 weeks, allowing fresh produce, cheese, yogurt, nuts, and a few other products we use regularly. We finally braved a drive through fast food a couple of times when we were picking up the goodies (how incongruous is that, fast food and organic grocery pick up). Cabin fever sets in especially when the weather isn’t conducive to the garden, mowing, or walking the hills.

    Yesterday was our last average frost date, however, there are 3 nights in the next 5 where a frost is possible, so other than garden prep the garden is not happening for another week or so. When there is nothing to do outside, or the weather doesn’t permit much outdoors time, there are sanity saving activities indoors. The garden plan is finalized, so that nightshades don’t get planted in the same place two years in a row, or that the onions and garlic won’t go back in the same box this fall. I’m thinking of adding two more 4 X 4 boxes and a 4 x 8 box for next year. The space where the mint was removed and where the three sisters garden will go this year would hold them and keeping the paths heavily covered with spoiled hay will keep the weeds down. It isn’t difficult to clear a box with a hoe as long as the paths don’t overwhelm.

    And of course, there is my sanity basket.

    I rotate through the spindles, spinning bits of yarn, focusing my energy to creativity and slowing the process down so that it is not production, but enjoyment. I enjoy spinning on my wheels, but until a few weeks ago, had forgotten how much I enjoy the spindles. For some reason, spinning on the spindles doesn’t aggravate my arthritis as much as knitting does and the yarn is accumulating much slower than it does from the wheels. I did learn the trick to wind the singles from the spindle off on a small bobbin using my great wheel so that when the spindle is filled again, they can be plied together without tangling as they tend to do from the center pull cop using both ends to ply.

    Yesterday we had to go into town to pick up a prescription refill for hubby and drove a bit farther to the shop where we bought our Stihl line trimmer 14 or 15 years ago. They have serviced it a number of times, fulfilled a recall for the gas cap once, and I needed a part to be able to use it again this year, as well as fuel mix and line. The shop is open, but you call from your car, let them know what you need, pay over the phone if not using cash, and they bring your order out to a table in front for you to pick up. It was very seamless, except a couple our age pulled up beside the driver’s side of the car, the man wearing a mask got out and started for the door. I was waiting, wearing a mask, by the passenger side of our car for our order to come out and pointed out to the man that he needed to call inside, that their doors were not open. He returned to his car, told the woman who was driving to call in and proceeded to walk to the front of our car. As I backed up, he moved forward. I backed up, he moved toward me making conversation. I was just about to tell him to give me space when the woman called him back to his car and spoke with him and he turned around and said, “She says I need to stay back at least 6 feet, is 12 enough?” I guess she had seen me backing away as he approached. After picking up my order, the employee was trying to get his information as he was leaving a line trimmer for repair and he walked as close as he could get to the gate with the table on the other side of it and pretended like he was going to pat the female employee on the shoulders or play patty cake or something. What part of social distancing don’t people understand and realize that his actions are not taken as playful. Times have changed. It is stressful enough to go out without feeling like you have to defend yourself from fools. At least he had on a mask, so many people aren’t wearing them.

  • Day 3 of beautiful garden weather…

    but it is going to end tomorrow, 20 degrees f colder and 100% chance of rain. I took advantage of the day to do the fencing work on the garden. The chickens lost about half of their run around the garden. The south edge of it was about 6 or 7′ wide between the inner and outer fence and had 36″ high fencing on the garden side, plus there were gaps beneath the fence they could get under. I also realized that there were asparagus growing almost to the fence on the north side, and the chooks could reach my comfrey through the fence on the west side. That section was only about 3 feet long. I secured them in their pen and and removed the inner fence, set better posts, shifted it away from the asparagus bed and reset it only on the north and east edges of the garden, a narrow open topped tunnel about my shoulder width and 48″ fencing on both sides of the run. They have scratched nearly all the weeds out already, but because of my shifting of the inner fence to narrow their run, I have some areas in the edges of the garden that now need attention. I put a “gate” at both ends in case one of us has to go in the run.

    This morning, we drove to daughter’s house and picked up the post pounder and I set 3 T posts from our supply and used a guide rope between the outer two so that the inner two were in line (that doesn’t usually happen when I am fencing). The sturdy exterior welded wire fence was moved in the 6 or 7′ to the south edge of the area that I plant. After I move a few rocks, that area can now be mowed and the working garden is fenced.

    The tall weeds and grass are the old fence line.

    I didn’t get to the spoiled hay down today because it was recover and dinner prep time by the time I was done. After dinner, I hung the gate.

    And pulled down the solar charger so I can get a replacement battery for one of the two we own. All of the extra fencing was rolled and stored. All of the short cuts were folded up to be taken to the “convenience center” where we have to take our garbage and recycling.

    While I was doing that work, the tiny spindle I was awaiting arrived in the mail. I thought the spindle I used the most was tiny, but this one is as small as it’s name, Bee Humingbird.

    The ruler is for scale. It came in a little tin with the brown alpaca for me to spin. Tomorrow as it rains, I will spin, knit, and recover from 3 days of hard work. On Wednesday when it is dry and cool, I will move spoiled hay to cover the cardboard and weed mat. I will grab some old deck wood from the barn and terrace the upper third of the garden and get spoiled hay down on that path as well. One more day of weeding and hay moving and then it is plant and maintain. If I work a few minutes a few mornings a week into summer, the maintenance shouldn’t be too bad. My garden plan is done, the worst of the prep work is done. Now to start enjoying the fruits of that labor.

  • The Garden is Prepped

    Yesterday and today have been great days for the garden. Yesterday I took the scuffle hoe to the boxes to knock down the weeds beginning to sprout in them and I used the garden fork to clear the back aisle of weeds thinking I would plant the potatoes there. Then I moved back up to the area where the mint was and using the fork, dug everywhere a sprout of mint had emerged. I got a wheel barrow full of roots and sprouts, but I am winning.

    This morning first thing, I took the cut potato pieces out and it took me about two heartbeats to realize that the area I cleared yesterday was much too rocky and compacted for potatoes. The 4 X 8 foot bed that had the failed wren nest in it was the next option. It turned up nicely and is adjacent to the area the mint was, so there is lots of good soil beside it that I can use to make the mounds as the potatoes sprout, so they were planted. The garlic, onions, and asparagus were weeded and a couple dozen dandelions dug. After lunch, I was determined to get the rest of the garden ready to plant and to move the “gate” opening down to the wood post so I can hang a real gate on it. That meant moving a T post and I remembered that I had loaned the T post pounder to my daughter. Instead of pounding in the post, I dug it in as it doesn’t carry a load. The aisle below my comfrey plants was extended down all the way to the south fence line. Two wheelbarrow loads of weeds were dug out of the area that will be the three sisters garden and the weeds dumped in the chicken run for them to scratch into compost. I got weed mat down on the south and west edges of the garden, but I ran out of energy before I got all the spoiled hay down. There is a wheelbarrow load of small rocks that need to be relocated, but the hay will have to be another day.

    Before lunch
    After an afternoon of weeding
    Cardboard down where the potatoes couldn’t go, it has been extended to the west fence with weed mat and rocks. We definitely have some rocky soil.

    There is a bit of fence moving to be done this week, but I need to get the post pounder back. The spoiled hay needs to be put down on the cardboard and weed mat. And I need to wait out a few chilly nights this week, but next weekend may be planting time for the garden. I still need to clean up the edges some, but I feel good about what was accomplished this weekend. During the war, folks were encouraged to grow Victory gardens. This year, my expanded efforts will be a “Pandemic” garden.