Cute, Cute, Cute

Click the link to see Angela fishing in a kids' contest.

http://thechetekalert.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=22581063&event=703982&CategoryID=3137

~Mom & Becky

Vermont at Long Last

I've finally arrived!!! After a seemingly endless bus ride aboard the "Megabus" - a double decker bus that goes frequently from Minneapolis to Chicago - I made it to the city of Chicago itself. Breakfast at some Pseudo-French place was delicious after seemingly endless hours of riding with cramped legs (the dude in front of me had his chair all the way back). I walked around to try to see some places my friend Martin (who's been to Chicago several times) suggested I see. The Sears Tower was pretty much right next to where my bus unloaded, so i got to see it, along with many of the city's over-friendly pigeons at 6:30 in the morning. I then took a subway a short distance and visited the John Hancock Observatory (although it won't be for long . . . some Englishman just bought it and will inevitably rename it) but didn't go to the 94th floor - it cost money and took more time than I wanted to spend. I visited the Holy Name Cathedral with its exquisite stained glass windows, but it was under renovation so I wasn't able to go in. After seeing most of the Chicago Tribune building, which as stones imbedded in it from all over the world, I stumbled upon a large group of people gathering at the river. I soon learned that I had showed up on the day when they died the river green. I think most of the city must have been on the banks of the river and, with copious quantities of beer flowing before 10 AM, a crew of 2 or 3 boats began to dump a red die into the river, which actually turned it a florescent green (as opposed to the dull, dirty green it already was). On my hurried way back to the Subway system (it was getting about that time that I should be making my way towards the Midway Airport) I stumbled upon some gorgeous government buildings (I think) and the new Trump Tower. I made it to the airport well ahead of time, through security, and then waited while reading/napping/people-watching. I waited longer than my 2 flights combined, for I had to make another stop in Detroit with a 2 hour layover. The Detroit Airport has a strange underground tunnel to get to the B and C gates. There are lights flashing to a bass-heavy, wild music. Amusing but bewildering to a tired traveler. All in all I had a wonderful time in Chicago and would love to go back - - although as my plane flew over Chicago in parting, I got to see an overview of the rest of the city, the part I had not (and the part most people don't) visited. It looked dirty, crowded - quite unlike the pristine buildings I had just lugged a suitcase around all day; a testament to the dirty deeds Chicago is notoriously built and thrives on. It was dark as I landed in Burlington, but I look forward to exploring tomorrow after a good night's sleep.

Love- Katie

It must be Spring!

Pre-garden update - the Brassicaceae have been planted.
Kohlrabi basking in the sun while cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli look on...
(The ancho and big bertha peppers, egg plant, pok choi, and iceberg lettuce are still undercover. Basil is being sown as we speak.)

Onion Shooters

It was gorgeous out today, especially compared to the past week. The little neighbor kids were out playing on their swing set all afternoon, which I think has really been the first time this year - that's when I can tell that it is really almost Spring. (When they get their garden hose going in their little pool, that's when its almost Summer - those kids absolutely love water, more than anything.) They did stop playing long enough to stare at Travis when he scooted by on his new/old scooter...
Travis, scooting around the neighborhood

One more sign that its getting Springish...
The first carrots of the year (some of which were obviously planted a little too close together)

~Becky

I'm Back on the Beam

I recently went to Champagne, Illinois to compete in an intramural gymnastics meet. I was a lot of fun, but a lot of driving (16 - 17 hours). Our lone boy to compete, Brian, placed on floor and vault. We were all very excited for him since it was his first ever meet (he taught himself gymnastics in his barn at home and thus has had very little training). We also had a couple of girls place on floor, bars, and in the all-around. I, myself, didn't place, but I was satisfied with my routines (I did all but the floor). Stay tuned for my next gymnastics adventures on the 28th of March in Iowa.

Western Minnesota

Trav and I went out to see his family this weekend. I always love the drive to go see his grandma. Its so scenic, and I got lots of good knitting done! There are fields and fields of windmills now, and they are working on hooking up the huge power lines to transport the energy. It was really windy out, so its crazy to think of how much energy they were creating as we drove by. We could even see the windmills from our bedroom window at his grandma's. Its hard to capture just how impressive they look, but Trav was game to stop for me - I was too chicken to walk right up to one though, maybe another trip.


Now, on to Percy's new kitchen...
I know you guys are waiting to see pictures.

We did tons of baking, so note the delicious doughnuts on the island. We made plain, sugar, cream filled, and raspberry filled. We also helped make homemade Oreos, chicken wings (that were marinated), and homemade ice cream. Obviously we didn't go hungry, and Percy is enjoying her kitchen.

We were also excited to see Trav's sister this weekend and had fun playing dice and cards, watching Cash Cab - along with more knitting! (It was fun to have someone to knit with - Trav's sister is making a beautiful babyblanket following the Log Cabin design in Mason-Dixon knitting.)

And for your viewing pleasure, this is the kitchen floor (wood) and entryway.

Thanks for having us and for all of the goodies :)

~Becky

Winter Weekend on the Farm

Two pals taking a ride in the John Deere...

A super-size "wonder bra" (udder bra)

(I don't know why I get such a kick out of this thing!)
~Becky

Wash Cloths - lots and lots of wash cloths

I finally used up all of my cotton yarn stash - which originally was 5 cones and many little balls. Which makes me wonder, how many washcloths/dishcloths did I actually make in the last year? I'm definitely ready to move on and try something else for a while.
I did make some scrubbies last weekend that looked really nice, but when my mom and I tried them out over the weekend, we both decided that acrylic is just not as good as the veil-type material that her other ones are made out of. She loves those things, as do my grandma and mother-in-law, so I'm going to have to get some different stuff (not sure what the real name is for that material). Oh well, it was kind of fun experimenting.
More dishcloth pictures (kind of hard to see, I think it was too dark - of course Meow had to be in every single picture)...

Spring Fever

Onion Shooters Stage 3

Trav wanted me to post new pictures of his onions - they seem to be thriving. Some of them are still coming up! The plant stand is working out pretty well - we had a nice lettuce and spinach salad we brought to eat at Mom and Dad's last weekend.

Trav ordered seeds this week from Burpee, Jung, and Park catalogs. He got some seeds last fall from Vermont Bean and Seed and he still plans to order from Seed Savers. So, we should have plenty of plants/produce this year!

Also, Trav has decided to try "crop farming" again. This is one of the two varieties from Burpee that he ordered - they are called Ruby Queen Hybrid (SE). He plans to plant them in between our house and our neighbors, in the side yard. That should be interesting...

The Burpee catalog says that this variety is "fabulous".

(Had to throw these pictures in for KT - Mom made this pizza for us on Friday night, and it was really good! It was a little different because she made wheat thin crust pizza, because she was trying to stretch it to feed all seven of us. She made about 6 pizzas, I think. They had green peppers, Italian seasoned pork sausage, onions, and mozzarella goat cheese on them, and were cooked in cast iron, of course.)

Yum!!!

I do have some more to blog, but its going to have to wait.

While Trav's away, his Onion Shooters will...

grow like crazy!!!

Onion Seedlings - stage 2

Tray #1

Tray #2

Tray #3

Trav is helping his parents put in their new kitchen cupboards this week (after an ice fishing tournament on Sunday, of course). So now I'm stuck watering the seedlings 3 times a day :)
Here's Meow on Sunday, enjoying the sun. Tonight, she's sitting by the heater.

Crazy Ninja

I have been going to gymnastics lately (I run to practice, practice for about 1 1/2 hours, then run home again), an activity that has made me rather sore. It has also got me thinking about Mark Witmer, the super intense gymnast that I met last year. Well, he hasn't been into the gym lately, but I did find some more videos of him trying out for the G4 American Ninja. Turns out he made it to Japan. Click on his name to go to his video.

Trav is crazy about gardening...

Goat's Milk Soap - batch #2

This first picture has nothing to do with gardening, except that Trav decided to build his own plant stand this year, to grow his own seedlings. With a sense of urgency (because Liz just sent him a gardening book specific to Minnesota that states he should already have his onion seeds planted), he rushed to mum and dad's for wood, which they generously offered to donate to cause. Anyways, when he was getting wood, mum sent some of the goat soap that we made over Thanksgiving week, home with him. It is now fully cured and ready to use. It is unscented, because we forgot to add the scents. (I think Dad prefers unscented, anyways.) This batch holds up better than our first batch, and I think it is because Mum cured the soap upstairs in the warm and dry sewing room, instead of leaving it in the cold, and sometimes moist, basement. Who knows though, really, it just turned out better, in my humble opinion. (*Just thought I'd slip the picture in. I think they turned out pretty nice, and we will keep experimenting.)

The Plant Stand

It's still kind of a work in progress. Trav just added all of the plants he had lying around, mostly because of the lack of space we have in our house, and lack of windows. Most of the big pots are spinach and the pepper plants Trav is trying to keep as bi-annuals. Some of them died, due to Scale bugs, that we thought were aphids, and obviously don't die when you spray them with "citrus killer". (*Note Mary Meow, underneath by the heater vent.)

Here's Trav's first tray of onion seeds, he's working on at least two more trays right now, and ordered some onions through Dixon Dale.

Onion Seedlings - stage 1

Last Spring - Hope for the future

It can't stay -30 forever. Can it?

Yogurt

Sorry this took so long in coming, but here's the recipe for yogurt in a cooler.

Ingredients: 1 quart (unpasteurized) milk

      1/4 cup fresh yogurt OR 1 package of freeze-dried yogurt culture

1 - heat milk to 180 degrees F

2 - cool milk 10 110 - 115 degrees F

3 - add culture/fresh yogurt and stir gently

4 - put yogurt into a container (such as a bowl) and then surround it with other containers of boiling water in a cooler

5 - let milk sit for 10 - 12 hours, changing hot water periodically (1 - 2 times) to keep the cooler around 120 degrees F

6 - add sugar, jam, vanilla, etc. as you want . . . add unflavored gelatin if you want a thicker yogurt (1 package OR 1 Tbsp)

** save 1/4 cup plain yogurt to make your next batch 

**experiment with the amount of fresh yogurt used as the culture to get desired consistency

Enjoy making yogurt!!

Love, Katie

FIBER ARTS are so exciting... (research)

(Katie's laptop bag pre-felt. The pattern is from Interweave Knits, and this bag is made from 100% Norwegian wool from Christa's Yarn Shop in Beaches Corners.)

Katie inspired me the other day to look into classes spinning/knitting/dying. She suggested the Textile Center in the cities. They are a pretty neat resource for all things textile, but did not have exactly what I was looking for right now. You can check them out at: http://www.textilecentermn.org/.

I did do some research on other, more local resources. I need to check out the yarn shop in Decorah (http://blueheronknittery.com/). They don't have a very up-to-date website, but I am still excited to see their yarn and spinning selections. Everyone loves the co-op in Decorah, so there is no way it would be a wasted trip.

Two other websites I will add from Viroqua are Kindred Threads: http://kindredthreads.blogspot.com/ and Ewetopia fiber shop: http://ewetopiafibershop.com/. My knitting group toured Ewetopia and they have a pretty nice web page. Kindred threads has a great blog, so I actually added that as one we follow now - because there is tons of arty stuff on there. It is wonderful, so check it out.

Love,

Becky

Vermont or Bust!

I just signed up for cheesemaking classes in Vermont at the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese. You can check out it's website at the URL included on this post (I think it is). I'm going for a week in March during Spring Break and then again at the beginning of June. Then I will be a certified (according to VIAC) cheesemaker. I'm just taking the classes to fulfill the beginner's Cheesemaking Certification program. 

Go Packers!!!

Hello everyone!

I know that I have sadly neglected the blog thus far, but here I am. I was looking through pictures on my computer, and decided to post a few from the Packer game I went to. The Packers didn't make it to the playoffs this year, but better luck next year. Go Packers!!!
I did get to see the first starting game ever for Aaron Rodgers.
Also, below is a picture of Scott Wells. I also got autographs from Ruvell Martin and Ryan Pickett. We met KGB (no longer with Packers, but all time sack leader), and if we would have been 45 minutes faster, we could have gotten Donald Driver... Oh well.

Love, Becky

PS - currently working on some knitting projects, so hopefully I will have some new projects to post soon :)