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 :)

Thank God It Is Friday!!!

This is what I feel like after 4 hours of sleep and a cup of dark coffee before I begin writing a 3 page paper in 3 hours.

Big Man, Big Wedding

Hello All,

I know Mom and Dad might not read this, but when I was home one time we watched a little bit about the world's heaviest man. Well, he got married. Here's the link to the article about it (I think you have to copy and paste it or it is down below or something, not quite sure): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7692672.stm. Also, just to keep you guys up with the times, I got a B+ (I think) on my latest Calculus test, had an Italian oral exam today that went alright, and I have a movie thing with Derek Jones for Halloween. He is going to come fix my bike, I'm going to make brownies for him in return, and then he is staying to watch a movie - maybe some Alfred Hitchcock, as it is Halloween. Hope you all have a good one.

Love-KT

Spring Grove Gossip

Hey Liz - thanks for the e-mail from the police department. I love knowing what's going on in SG, and that was most definitely an interesting tid bit. Hope to see you this weekend. 

-KT

Bees, etc. (anything but homework)

I should be doing homework, but instead I am looking up information on honey bees. Apparently, more pollination means larger, sweeter, more regularly shaped fruit. So Mom is probably right - there probably weren't enough bees around when pollination season was and that is why our apple/plum /pear crop is the way it is.

Also (Liz, you will enjoy this) I made some yogurt the other day and I have been eating it on granola with dried currants and honey. It is SO good. I didn't sweeten it or anything. At first I thought it was too tart and goaty flavoured, but not now. Becky, you need to start making yogurt too. You don't even have to have a yogurt maker - I made mine in a cooler. And I'm nearly positive that making it with pasteurized milk will work just the same as with fresh goat milk.

Anyways, I'd best get back to at least thinking about homework - enough slacking for today. 

Love you guys -KT

Put your high heels on . . .

I went to a fantastic Sushi bar with Jessie and her roommates and their boyfriends last night. So, when you guys come and visit, bring a nice dress and heels and we can go out for sushi. You can sit at a bar and these chefs filet the fish and make the sushi right in front of you. They are paid to be good chefs and put on a show, so they are also entertaining, or at least the ones at the bar last night. This is something I think even Brad and Trav (and even Dad, if he ever came to the cities) would enjoy - it is very fascinating. I don't remember what the name of the place is, but Jessie would know, and it's on Grand Ave, so it is easy to find.