Sunday morning...

Some good things...

Cottage cheese. And not the low-fat stuff. That's not real.

Van Morrison. He's just good.

Spinning wool from my own sheep, right outside the door of my studio.

Fresh eggs from my hens.

Raw goat milk.

A good farm truck.

Cat Stevens.

Fleetwood Mac.

OLD VW bugs. And VW buses. They smell good too.

A warm house when it's cold outside. Wood stoves are good.

Knowing you're loved.

Allmon Brothers.

CCR.

Good hay. Happy sheep.

Big huge pregnant goats.

Carlos Santana.

Things I've made with my own hands.

Marshall Tucker. There is no bad Marshall Tucker.

Hot tea with honey.

Chickens running free around the yard. In winter. Not spring or summer. That's not good. They get into the garden and make a mess. Chickens running free in the garden are not good.

Nice warm wool socks.

Down comforters.

Running water.

A clean house.

Real food.

And most of all, God's love and mercy.

Knitting along. And some good cookbooks.

Still knitting on this shawl. I knit while I'm sitting with Mrs. T on Friday and Sunday. And whenever I can anywhere else. I wanted to see how long it was taking me to knit across a row. So I set my stopwatch on my phone. Ugh! It took me 20 minutes to go across one row! I think there are about 320 stitches right now. That's a long time to just be knitting 1 row. I might be knitting this shawl the rest of the winter. Have you ever timed yourself knitting before? Don't do it!

I bought a nice grass fed tenderloin a few months ago from Main St. Meats in Chattanooga. I have never cooked one before. So got out my cookbooks to find a recipe. I really love The Pioneer Woman's cookbook. I have made several of her recipes so far. And found one for tenderloin! So I made that last night. It looked just like her pictures too, when I was cutting it. The cutting board was all bloody, from the very rare tenderloin. She said that's how men and wolves like their meat.

So while I was looking, I got these 2 books out. I love them. I really like a cookbook with stories and good pictures. These 2 are really good. Cooking With Shelburn Farms by Melissa Pasamen. And Fields of Plenty by Michael Ableman. That last name might be wrong, I can't read my own writing. Both really good books with stories.

Good food for a cold day.

 Well, today, we are supposed to have a BIG snow storm! Schools have been closed. Ga. is already declared a state of emergency. It's really supposed to be awful dangerous to be out in it.

But there is NOTHING happening out there! Nothing at all. It's not even really cold.

And this is Wednesday, my day with mom. We were thinking we'd not be able to get out today, because of the snow and all. But as of right now, I think we'll be going out.

But if you are snowbound, unlike us, here is the best recipe for a day like this. This is from the latest edition of Taproot, my favorite magazine. I have already made this twice. We love it. I hope you can see the directions here. If you click on the picture, you can see it. You have to try it at least once. It's so good. And is even better the next few days. Because it makes a lot.

I keep forgetting to talk about my weight loss. I've been afraid to weigh myself lately, because I feel like I've gained about 15 pounds. I really haven't changed anything in the way I've been eating. Just the same foods. But it's been cold and not getting out and being more mobile is a problem for me. And I hate exercising.

So I got on the scale last week and I weighed 206. So I have gained 5 pounds since before Christmas. And I only had one tiny teeny little slice of my mom's home made pumpkin pie, without the crust. Maybe 4 bites. I feel like I might have lost a few pounds since I weighed. I've been at Mrs. T's for the past several days. When I'm there, I sit a lot, knitting or reading with her. Like the whole day. She cannot be left alone for more than a few minutes, so we can't do a whole lot while there.

I can't wait for spring, so I can get out and garden again! I am really excited about planting a garden full of plants to dye with. I'm reading a book about plants to dye for. It's called a Garden To Dye For. So fun! I really want to learn to dye my wool with natural plant based dyes. So lots of planning going on in my head right now.

I hope you all are warm and safe where ever you are. Happy hump day!

More cleaned studio.

 I have been working over here in my studio as much as I can. I've had to go to Mrs. T's the past few days because one of the caregivers has been sick. So I get to fill in for her. So not much time to work here. But it's getting slowly cleaned up and organized.

Do you ever find an unfinished project you started years ago and wonder what the heck it is? I have found a few so far.

This is my sewing shelves. I found this 3-drawer storage container at Walmart last week. I put all my thread and needles and s]little things like that in there. And most all my material and patterns and quilts I need to get finished.

                                                      I also got all my hoops hung on the wall.

This is where a lot of my material has been. I got it all cleaned out. I put this purple shelf under the table and have all my needle felting stuff on it. And I have this 3 drawer thing to put stuff in too.

                                                 I decided to just put crafty things in the old pie safe.

My sewing table now, all cleaned and ready for some sewing projects to happen.

 I found a big huge folder at Goodwill for .99. It has those plastic sleeves in it. So I put all my knitting patterns in it.
                                                   

And I have needed a bookshelf over her for a long time. So this is my little reading nook.

                                          And here is all my clean fleeces. Ready to be spun!

Just some art work from my daughter Abby and grand daughters Chloe and Kansas.

Isn't this pretty? We got down to about 13 last night here. Lots of frozen ponds. This is my little frog pond.

Still a lot to do. But it already feels so much better in here. Like I can breathe again! I know there will be lots of creating in here now.

It's a start...

 This is my husband's grand mother's old pie safe. We've had it almost as long as we've been married. I refinished it years ago. It's been used for so many things during all these years. Now it's finally in my studio. I think I'll use it for either my needle felting things, or sewing things. Probably needle felting.

I don't know if you can see this, but my husband's brother Glen put his initials  here when he was very young. We could never figure out who's initials are under his.

And I decided to go ahead and hand all the black plastic crates I had, to store yarn in.

My old Coca Cola crate. I love it. These are a whole lot of ends of yarn projects. What do y'all do with all of your left overs? I think they look pretty  here. The troll is from a friend who takes old trolls and makes them new again. She takes out the old hair and puts in new hair, using wool. This guy needs something to wear. It's cold!

I found this little lamb at a thrift store. I had to bring her home with me.

And of course I have found many unfinished projects. This is something I started a long time ago, when I first started knitting. There are 4 rectangles. The brown is almost finished. I just need to sew them together, then maybe add more to make it a little bigger. It's just going to be a little throw.

So I am on the way to a clean organized studio. I feel like once it's all done, I can create beautiful things in here. I have so much wool that needs to be spun. And soon. Because in a few more months, I'm going to have 10 more sheep fleeces and 2 more alpaca. I might just send it all off to a mill. But I have heard so many stories from people who've not gotten their own wool back.

I got my Trooper back today. It sounds exactly like it did before it broke down. Exactly. And it's FULL of mold. All over the inside. It stinks! I took it by a clean up place before I went to the insurance co. He said he'd clean the outside and get the inside clean. For $40. I think he might charge a whole lot more when he actually sees how horrible it is. I got home awhile ago and started getting stuff out. And I cannot believe how nasty it's gotten just sitting for 6 months. Plus the fact there's still stuff from farmer's markets. And old hay. And just general junk. I will give him extra, just to have a clean car. I do believe I'm allergic to mold too. My eyes have not stopped watering and itching since I got in it Tuesday. I had the windows down while driving, just so I could breathe. Not good. But I am glad to have my own car again. No matter how much noise it makes.

Knitting a shawl.

I started this shawl last Friday at Mrs. T's. I have gotten this far with it. I love the colors. This is some wool yarn I got at SAFF last October in Ashville. I can't remember the breed of sheep though. From Heelside Farm in N.C. It's really thin yarn. Maybe lace weight?

I really don't know what I'm doing. I am going up from the bottom. I cast on 4 and am increasing nearly every row at both ends. When I switched to the green color, I started doing some yarn-overs. I love how this looks.

So, how do I know when It's big enough? Like when I get to around 290 stitches? I wish now I had started at the top. Can't even imagine how longs it'll take to bind off that many.

Last week, while my mom and I were out, we went to a big thrift store over in N. Chattanooga. I was looking through the books and found this. Grace Livingston Hill is one of my favorite authors. I was so excited to find this book, The Enchanted Barn! It's my favorite book of hers and I have read it many many times already. But can't find my little paperback. So when I found this, I was so happy! She is a Christian writer. Romance with a mysterious twist. All written back in the 30"s-50's. I have read nearly all of her books so far. Some I still need to read. But this one is my favorite. If you ever see any of her books, get them. Very easy to read.

I am still working on my studio. Went yesterday and got a light for my laundry nook. And put up some little shelves in between the 2x4's for put laundry things. It sure is nice to have a light in there now!

I have several of those black plastic milk crates I'm going to hang on the wall for yarn storage. I also went through several crates of non-wool yarns I've had for years. I had to wind some. And I got all the tangles out! Still SO much to do in here. But already feels so much cleaner and open now.

I'm glad I have a washer over here to use on these frozen days. My washer is on the back porch in the big house. And the water lines is running out the back through the yard, not buried. So it freezes. Looks like I can hang clothes out today though. It's beautiful outside. But freezing!