DIY love

 If we were ducks this would have been a great week but we are people so it was a dull and semi uneventful week.
  The biggest highlight to my week was the other evening the oven part of our stove did this crazy explosion of  flashing light and noises that sounded like a mad scientist's lab experiment gone wrong,really really wrong.it ended with a loud POP that put me in this crazy zone where you find your self in stop motion time.So my world paused and I was thinking..."Do I need to call 911? Do I need to run for it? What the heck?" No flames.no flying metal as the oven exploded,it was over and all was safe.I must say I have never been so grateful that Chance was home,for the first time in my life I was not too sure of what to do.I have a healthy respect for all things electrical and so does Chance,that stuff can kill you,we'd rather leave it to the professionals.
  We waited until the next day to open the oven to have a look.The element was fried and the part that plugs into the back of the oven was MELTED,craziness....See why we would rather leave electricity to the pros? So we need to replace the element with hope and prayers the oven still works.That is on the to do list for this morning.Cross your fingers for us,replacing a stove is NOT something to be doing right now.But if it is dead the stove top still works so we will be fine until payday next week.
  While rained in I have been keeping myself busy sewing.I have started an A-line skirt ,I just need to pick up a zipper for it and I can finish it.The calendar says summer is coming so I am trying to fill in some gaps in my small summer wardrobe.
  Some of you may know I have a passion for vintage stuff.Two of my biggest passions are textiles and aprons.I have a big stack of both. And although it may sound goofy I do wear the aprons ,even the red Hostess apron made from netting (looks like a Tutu ) for Christmas. It's a hoot and I love it.So here I am rained in and needing a project to keep my brain from going numb and I was surfing the web and found this pattern on line. It uses a vintage dress as the base of the apron(vintage textile,apron and sewing rolled into one! Whoop Whoop! )  and looked easy enough so I am giving it a go.We had a vintage dress in the Halloween box that did not fit anyone and most likely never would be used for dress up so I am using it for my apron.When I finish I will post pictures.
  This morning I found myself wide awake at 5 AM with no book to read and the rest of the household sleeping I checked in with some of the blogs I like.I found through One Pearl Button a link to a tutorial that is now on my To Make List, it is the Eco Travel Lid.I linked over to the tutorial and it is super easy to make. I will need the lining fabric so when I go for my skirt zipper I'll pick some up then.( I also found one more Super Secret Project I am working on for Chance and I's Anniversary.It's a surprise for him.) When I saw the Eco Lid I thought "Why didn't I think of that? " easy, can be made from recycled materials and re-usable perfect!
  Obviously I am on a DIY kick while I am waiting out the rain.This week I also found this blog posting at Homegrown Evolution 's blog. Now their posting is about projects and ideas that became disasters.I can appreciate this posting,not enough Blogger's admit to their flubs and it is unfair to my thinking.Crap happens folks,learn from it and you will grow. What grabbed my attention was the link for a book they are intending to read written by Mark Frauenfelder,the editor-in-chief of Make magazine.I was hoping it was this other book I saw,did not write down and can now not find,the title seemed close but it wasn't the book I am searching for.Frauenfelder's book is about his adventures in all kinds of homesteading DIY type projects and all of his ups an downs with them.(there's the connection to Homegrown's blog entry.) Now I have not read this book but would like to at least look it over all because of one of the reviews on Amazon's page for the book.The review is a snarky rag from someone who does not seem to understand why people make things for themselves.The last few sentences in the review mentions the amount of monies spent on DIY projects and how they are only for people with endless free time and money.Sure I can see that but it does not have to be that way. The rest of the reviews and the introduction to the book are in total conflict with the first review and since we have done many of the projects listed I am ever so curious to see for myself what's up with this book.Is it good information? Or is it just another person trying to make a buck off of information that is easy and most of the time free to find? Maybe he's yet another person to jump on the trend bandwagon,I don't know we shall see.Has anyone read this book? Let me know if you have.
  Homesteading and DIY are so interconnected that finding the line of difference is difficult to do.One can not just go out and buy most of what is needed when you homestead,you have to make it yourself .There can be a lot of power in that, freedom of choices,pleasure,satisfaction and the power called knowledge.
 I am going to spit in the wind here.I phrase it that way because boy have I tried to dangle carrots in front of my readers before and no one bites but I am stubborn and maybe this time I'll get someone to bite! Tell me your who,what,where,how and why's of why you DIY.
With that I close by saying, Just DIY it!
  Rois

Homestead Revival: Tattler Reusable Canning Lids Give-Away

Homestead Revival: Tattler Reusable Canning Lids Give-Away

Oh my goodness! I can't believe it! I just learned about these awesome lids and now they are popping up everywhere. Stopping by Homestead Revival was totally worth it today with this give away going on.
Rois

Smoked Smelt

Just when I thought I would never have another homesteading project to share due to the crappy( daily hail as thick as a snow flurry,cold temps,pouring and pounding rain.) weather we have been having Chance smoked some smelt for snacking.
 Last Friday Chance and I went in to Portland to run a couple of errands and ended up stopping at Fubon our local and biggest Asian Supermarket.I have mentioned Fubon before and if you live here in the Portland area and have never been you should go.The prices on everything is well worth our trip all the way in,ingredients that inspire and it's fun to try out new things.
  If you go,don't be afraid to ask a fellow customer questions about what you are wondering about.Chance and I have had some informative conversations standing in the aisles.This last trip we learned how to make what the Thai's call Na-va (not too sure about the spelling but that is how the word sounds.) Na-va is made from tapioca flour,dyed green and rolled into little worms for a couple of different desserts and sometimes used in the southeast Asian dessert/drink called Three Color. I was super excited about finally learning how to make these.Growing up I lived for a time with a family from southeast Asia and one of my favorite desserts I had at the Ly's house was the Na-Va with coconut milk and tapioca pearls.It was the one dish we always bought so I did not learn to make it.But I am posting about smoking smelt so I'll get back on track now....
   While at Fubon we picked up a package of frozen Smelt Fish.Normally we like our fish to be fresh but since we wanted to try smoking these little fish we thought it would be fine.The package was about 1 pound of fish and was just over $2.When we came home again Chance defrosted the fish and found this brine for them.Chance soaked the fish for the 4 hours recommended and laid them out to dry (see photo at the top.) then smoked following the recipes guidance. We were happy with the fish but we are going to change a couple of things next time.First of all they are a bit too salty for us; so next time Chance is going to replace the garlic and onion salts for powder and see if that helps.And we will keep better track of the time,a couple of the fish were too dry.The fish are fun little snacks that are kind of like fish jerky.

 We came home from Fubon with 4 bags of groceries and our lunch all for $35.We bought meat ( 5 pkgs),veggies,noodles,spices (including a five spice blend for only 88 cents! ) coconut milk and some jars of sauces.
  I have been shopping at the local Asian markets a long time and know which products I like, my tips about learning to shop international markets where you may not be able to read the labels are: Take a gamble and try something new, if you like it memorize the packaging or save it for your next trip.You will also find that packaging can have pictures of key ingredients.In many countries not everyone can read so this is the way things are marketed for the none reader.And like I said just ask someone,a clerk or customer.If you are respectful and show interest you may just open a new door in your world.

 Over the weekend we celebrated Issac's 16th Birthday.It was great to have his gang of friends here and to see their smiling faces.I am impressed with this group of kids,we have watched them grow up and they are all turning out to be a fine group of young adults.Young adults with car keys! That was new this year and sure sign time is passing.
 In the photo you can see Issac's Voodoo Guy donut from a local shop,Issac always wants donuts instead of cake for his birthday.


Other that all of that we have been indoors...way to much,thank you very little Mother Nature. I am worried about some of my seeds rotting in the ground either that or they have all washed away with the rain. The only up side to the weather is if my seeds do rot it's not too late to replant.
Yesterday Chance made his first and very successful batch of bread.He has decided if he just tries eventually he will be able to bake.
Tonight for dinner we are having the Duck Wings we bought, a nice change from the ever present chicken.And that folks is all of the news I have for now.I'd be really interested in knowing if anyone has questions for us about anything you think we may know or do or even something I mentioned just in passing you would like to know more about.So shoot me some questions...
 Rois

YouTube - Sesame Street - Snuffy's Birthday Song

YouTube - Sesame Street - Snuffy's Birthday Song

Happy Birthday to our Issac! Sunday's child is bonnie, good and gay and you sure live up to that old rhyme.

Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » small measures with ashley: eating in

Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » small measures with ashley: eating in

I love Design Sponge,I use ideas from it often and find many things that are appealing to my artistic eye. I have also just recently found Small Measure  and so far I am enjoying her blog as well.Check both of them out.

Rois

 Yesterday when I went to use my recipe notebook I realized that it was time to transfer the recipes to a new book.Many of the pages are now so stained that reading the recipes is becoming difficult.My friend Kari gave me for my birthday a brand new actual recipe book complete with dividers and little pockets,a perfect new home for my recipes.
 When I first left my mother's home I had started my recipe book,I wanted to take with me some of the recipes I grew up with and the ones that were family recipes.Like my Grandmother's pickles and my Great Grandmother's Dark Secret's.Over the years I have added my own collection of recipes and made little notes in the margins.
  On the page with the Sugar Cookie recipe I wrote "Do not double unless one million cookies are needed." I wrote that the year of Issac's first Christmas.I had doubled the recipe and invited my friend Lisa over to help me bake and frost the cookies.I had a grand scheme to make these mini works of art out of each cookie.I was young and filled with ambition.Did I think ahead about the reality of it? No.Did I think about the fact that I was nursing Issac and would have to stop to nurse the baby? No. Did I know that Issac who was normally a mellow baby would have a rare cranky day? No. The project took us all day and the note was written to remind me of my folly. Now speed the years forward and I now have not one but two boys, (well I am actually known to say I have three boys because Chance can be a bit boyish at times. )  two boys who love cookies so I now triple the recipe and hope and pray that will still be there for Christmas festivities.At the bottom of the new page with the Sugar Cookie recipe I wrote a new note about the old one because someday  one of the boys will own the book and I want them to remember our family joke about one million cookies.
  As I have been rewriting I have been taking the time to make sure each recipe has directions. I never gave this much thought before,I knew what to do and to save time and space I skipped writing the directions down.But as I said someday one of the boys will own my book and I want the book to be used.
  Besides rewriting my recipe book I have been working on writing the boys their own books.I am gathering up all of the recipes I use from all of the different books I use.Both boys fight over who gets which of my books when they leave home.I shake my heads at them,silly boys I won't be dead yet ,I'll still need those books and they would have to wait to pry them from my cold dead hands. Or maybe a dust covered shelf but you get the idea.So having a book for each of them will keep them fed until the day comes to divide the cook books up.
 All of this writing of recipes finds me in a pensive mood.The stains on the pages are reminders that time has passed rather quickly.How did I get here so fast, copying out recipes for the boys for when they leave the house? Add in the fact that Issac turns 16 in a couple of days and talks about learning to drive,finding a paid job and (gulp) collages with nursing programs.Nursing? Yeah , we are not talking about the babe at my breast nursing but Nursing as a profession,wow.And just behind Issac will be Sol. Issac and Sol ,my two young men who eat cookies by the million.
   What other news can I report? We are back to waiting out the weather.
   Hey our neighborhood Squirrel was just patting at our front window.Wanting in? I would want in by the looks of the clouds.And did our yappie little dog bark? No,even though the Squirrel was right above her head.Go figure,sleeping on the heat vent must plug her ears up.
  With the return of the pouring rain Chance and I have not been able to work on the Big Garden Project so that is on hold.Our garden though is growing fast and filling in nicely. I am seeing a few gaps in the beds which I am hoping to maybe fill with more flowers.
    I do have some sad garden news, we think the Gravenstein Apple we planted is dieing.The leaves are falling off and yet the branches still have some spring to them so we are hoping the tree will survive.We planted the tree in the same area as the plumb we cut down last year because it was dieing.I am wondering about what is wrong with the soil in that area.A few years ago the water company came through our neighborhood and put in new pipes for the sewage.It was a year after the work was done that we started to notice that the plumb tree was going.The sewer line runs along one side of the area where we are having so much tree trouble.We had thought that during the work some of the plumbs roots had been cut and that was why it was dieing but maybe not.I am thinking about calling the water company and asking them about this.
 That's about it for now,a quiet work and school week waiting out the rain yet again.
   Rois

P.S Our strawberries are turning pinkish! 

Growing your own Chicken Fodder

 As I mentioned in my last posting one of the areas Chance and I have been hired to work on is slated for a Chicken Garden.The owners of the house would like an area where their hens can free range and forage through a garden of plants that are good eats for chickens.I am sure that all of you chicken owners know chickens will eat just about everything they come across including the things you would rather see them leave alone.Chickens getting into the garden is one of the biggest gripes out there so it is interesting to be working on a project that is the complete opposite.
   The plants to grow is the easy part,we could plant an entire garden of veggies and the chickens would be happy.But veggies are annuals and we are working towards a mix of annuals and perennials to insure the garden will be long lasting and so there will always be something for the hens to eat.
  I did some looking around and came up with some hopeful solutions.First I located Norris from
Discount Permacultures blog entry about his Chicken Fodder class.Like I said in my last posting I took this class last spring and found it to be informative and I will be using some of the things I learned for this garden project. I also found a company called Peaceful Valley that sells a seed mix for chicken fodder.Although the seed mix is mostly grasses I think we can incorporate it in.I am definitely going to plant some Comfrey, our girls love it and will mow it down if I don't cover it with some chicken wire.Comfrey is high in protein and when the hens are not free ranging this time of year (because of the garden) I will cut some leaves and chop it up and give to the girls with their feed.  A couple of the sites I stopped by also mentioned Lambs Ears,these are a maybe because they tend to take things over.Taking over is not necessarily a bad thing since the chickens will mow it down but we shall see.I am still searching out other plants the chickens like and are beneficial to them.
 The other thing I am working on is figuring out how to rotate the chickens through this garden.Pasture rotation is a common practice on farms and ranches where livestock free range. Rotating your animals through different pastures enables the just used pasture time to re-coop.Joel Salatin, has a great system for this,first he lets his cows graze a pasture and then he lets the chickens in that area once the cows have been moved to another pasture.This allows the hens to clean up after the cows and get some good eats in their bellies.There's more science to than that but I don't want to get all science nerdy on you.I know I have seen interviews with Salatin covering this topic.
 Many chicken farmers use chicken tractors for this but the garden area is on a steep hillside so this won't work for this project.The best two choices to give the house owner are movable pens or permanently fenced areas within the garden.Either one is going to take some dedication and being able to keep a rotation schedule otherwise it's not going to last long. 
 Pasture rotation is not on most urban chicken owners radar.Like us most people just let their hens loose to free range their yards.It is easy and suits a city lot.But all of this reading and planning has me thinking about how to incorporate growing chicken fodder and the rotation of "pastures" into our city sized lot.
  We are fortunate here at our house,we live on a double city lot,we have room to do all that we are doing.Although we are doing our best to fill every nook and cranny with growing food we do have some "dead zones" .These spots are just not useful for growing and are just there.We have a side of our yard that we currently use for storing our trailer and canoe.This space is right along the fence line and on the other side of the fence are the neighbors bedrooms,perfect for storage and not much else.And we have the area where at some point our Cobb Oven will be built,it is empty for now.I am starting to think both of these spots could become city sized pasture areas planted with some chicken fodder plants.With some portable fencing we could easily bring the hens into these areas for a few days at a time.This would be good for the chickens during the growing season.From February until October are hens are mostly cooped to keep them from eating the garden.Once in awhile we let them out just before their bedtime so they can range while we watch over them but the more free ranging they can do the better.Letting the hens out in the growing months is also getting harder and harder as more and more of the yard is used for food growing.
 This may also work better for us since our back yard is terraced,like the slope at the garden project house it makes a chicken tractor obsolete.Along with the fact that the front is all garden beds now with no room to put a tractor.

So here is some food for thought.As we all dig up our yards and grow food on every square inch where does that leave the desire to let our hens free range? Free ranging makes for healthier birds; even though we all give them the left over green bits, it is not a substitute for living a more natural chicken life.By taking "unusable" areas and creating pasture areas in our yards that are planted with fodder we could close yet another gap in our gardens ecology.Just a thought,the chicken lover,gardener and science nerd in me thinks it is a great thing to ponder.

Rois