Family Photo Friday: Surprise Family Member!

 Today we have a different family member to highlight!

This is Gumdrop!  See how beautiful she is!  Look at her sturdy legs and beautiful markings! Also notice her lifted tail.  This meant she was excited and getting ready to run.  She was a wonderful well-loved family member for years.  Here she is learning to lead by our oldest son who was ten at the time, getting ready to take her to the fair as part of his 4-H project.

Here is the story of the genealogy of family cows on our little "farm"...a matter of 2.6 acres on Cranberry Hill.

First thing we did was build a barn.  Yes, we built the barn...mostly Dear One, but with a little help from me from time to time. I already told the story of getting the lumber from the sawmill to our house.  With the barn built, our friend and neighbor, Mr. Dexter, went to the auction barn one Monday night, looked over the cows for sale, and bought a beautiful gentle Jersey cow named Buttercup.  He took Buttercup to his barn for a few days while we got ready for her.  We had been given a milking machine by Mr. Ordway and were ready to go.  Or thought we were.  We had bought into milking twice a day, every day, unless it was the few weeks leading up to the birth of the next calf.  No vacations.  Ever.

Buttercup's bag was not ideal for milking, which is probably why the farmer sold her, but since we only had one cow, it was not so much a problem for us.  Something to think about if you plan to buy a family cow is that the udder should ideally be easily available to be milked, not have the teats more or less behind the legs.  Also, it would be great if they were more than two and a half inches long.  Still, milking can be done if you work hard enough.

 

Buttercup gave us several gallons of lovely rich milk every day.  We loved it and used it all.  Buttercup also gave us Petal, a mostly pleasant, but sometimes feisty, calf.  We had maybe one more Jersey calf, but being a bull calf, he went to the auction.  Don't ask.

Because our children were growing up, and because we wanted them to participate in 4-H where you need to have a registered animal, we got a registered Holstein named Gloria.  When you buy a cow, you always want her to be expecting.  Gloria was.  Gloria was also quite a switch from gentle Buttercup.  First thing was that she was HUGE plus she gave 6 gallons of milk a day!  It had way less butterfat than Buttercup's milk, but that was not problem.  We did not need the extra fat.  Not that we knew that at the time...

Gloria's first calf was Gumdrop.  She was so beautiful and so much fun.  Son Number 1 spent hours leading her around  the yard with a halter so she would be ready to show at the agricultural fair not too far from our home.  She was a great calf and did win at least one price at the fair.

Eventually our cow barn filled up.  We had four cows at one point.  Can you believe it?!! And both Dear One and I worked full time.  We did have Dear One's dream come true: our children learned how to do real work and every one of them could milk the cows and care for them.  We had cows for seventeen years before we let the last one go down the road due to just too many other activities to give them the care they needed.  We did miss them.  I still think fondly of them.  The one thing I do NOT think fondly of was washing the milker twice a day in the bathtub.  NOT ONE BIT!!

Wednesday Wildlife

 The squirrels in our bird feeder have incensed me over the weeks.  Today we finally see a benefit of their ministrations with our bird seed!

See this beautiful guy!  Right there less than six feet away from us as we stand at the sliding glass doors.  So beautiful.  You see how proudly he stands! Maybe nervously, too.... There are plenty of seeds for him on the surface of the "planter", thanks to the squirrels.

When I am thinking, and not carrying my phone/camera, I leave the phone on the end of the counter by the sliding door so I can pick it up without visible movement by the wildlife on the porch.  Everyone  (except the squirrels!!) is very skittish when we move on the other side of the glass.

Tuesday Troubles

 Well, not really troubles but annoyances!

The Love Knots Blanket test knit is over. 

The Baby Dungarees are almost done.

The next big project is a sweater for our daughter to hopefully use up the rest of the Hilda Yates yarn.

The number one thing to do after assembling pattern, yarn, and needles for a new project is to knit a gauge swatch.  This entails casting on quite a few stitches and knitting in the pattern you are going to use so you can measure and know if your stitch count is correct. 

 For example, if you are knitting in stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl the next row, then repeat), and if the pattern calls for a stitch gauge of  22 stitches and 28 rows in 4 inches of knitting but you get 18 stitches and 22 rows in your gauge swatch (to be smart you would have cast on 40 stitches and knit about 6 inches of fabric so you could lay the swatch out flat then get an accurate measurement--and if you were REALLY solid, you would cast off the swatch, wash it, and block it and THEN count the stitches...this way you will know what your garment will actually be like)--if your gauge did not match the pattern gauge then you know you will need to change needles until you get gauge or you garment will not fit.  In my example, the garment would be way too big.

The other thing/maybe smarter thing to do is to take the yarn you want and the needles you want,  knit up a swatch at least 6 inches tall, then measure YOUR own gauge then look at the pattern schematic and plop in your numbers to know how many stitches to cast on, etc.  That does work.

Anyway, because I am planning to use Elizabeth Zimmermann's yoke sweater in the round and Elizabeth's Percentage System, I decided to cast on enough stitches to make a hat that would match the sweater then started merrily knitting along.  The bottom of the sweater will have a hem rather than ribbing so I knit a bit less than two inches for the hem facing, purled one round, then started knitting up. The plan being that when I got up another two inches I would start introducing color work.  (Of course, I am still not solid on the color patterns I will use so...I might have been getting ahead of myself, though being prepared for the colors is such a great idea. I thought!)

When I was halfway ready for the colors to start,  I noticed a funny thing.  Something I did NOT want to notice!  It turns out that I had a moebius on my needles, not a hat/swatch!  So annoying.  I do not know how I did it.  Every pattern in the round reminds you that you must NOT TWIST the stitches when you begin the actual knitting.  The only time you can fix a twisted stitch is at the beginning of the second row.  Even then it can be tricky.  Well, I would almost stake my life that I had it right at that point, but now....

All I can imagine is that when I began the purl round I somehow twisted the stitches.  Now I have a moebius, an infinite loop, on my needles.  This will NOT work for a hat though it might be fine as a neck warmer.  On a pretty small neck, or someone who loves snug clothing.  I do not.  

Now I will do something different for the gauge swatch.

Notice the twist right there on my knee?  You might have to follow it around clockwise to find that it really is twisted.  So annoying.  But I am NOT discouraged!!!

Munchie Monday: Easy Homemade Tater Tots

 We are getting down on fun things to eat***.  Somewhere (It turns out it was Chuck Underwood!) I found a Homemade Tater Tots recipe.  I sort of followed it.

Scrub and remove eyes from 6 small to medium potatoes.

Shred in the food processor with the larger shredding disc then put in a large bowl of cold water to rinse.

Put 2-3 Tablespoons of dehydrated onions in a bowl then pour in 3 Tablespoons of hot water.  Set aside.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Stir the potatoes around in the water to release some of the starch, then drain through a strainer.  Pick up a large handful of the shredded potatoes and squeeze as dry as possible. Put into the large bowl.  When all the potatoes are in the bowl, sprinkle on 2 Tablespoons of corn starch and mix in well.  

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes on a rimmed baking sheet.  I put a Silpat on the pan.  Turns out, I should have put on a little grease, something I am trying to avoid.  Still, it would have been a good idea...

When the cooked potatoes are pretty much cooled, or as long as you can stand to wait for the next step, sprinkle in 1 Tablespoon dried chives, more if you have fresh ones, 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Add the re-hydrated onions, including any juice in the bowl.

Mix well then use a portion scoop to make into tater tots which you will put in an air fryer basket and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.  Ours were pretty big.  Next batch I will use a smaller portion scoop so they will get crispier.  Even so, these were pretty good!

***The story on "getting low on fun things to eat" is that ten days ago I was reminded how much I had always wanted a WooLee Winder for my spinning wheel so the yarn wool wind onto the bobbin evenly and beautifully.  I found that the price had gone up terribly, BUT, when I looked for my specific spinning wheel (an Ashford Traveller) the WooLee Winder was way less that I thought it would be.  I was mentioning to Dear One that when I got the money together I was going to get it.

WELL!!!  He said, "If you won't spend another penny this month, you can get it."  WHAT?!!!  I checked to be sure he was willing, then I pushed the button!!!  Now the trick is to not spend another penny.  It has been ten days and I have not spent a bit.  It is very hard and there is another whole week to go.  I have had to unsubscribe from several places so I won't get tempting emailed ads...

The good thing is that the refrigerator and the freezer are becoming skinnier.  And so am I!  At the same time as this no-spending thing, I decided to seriously remove all fat from my diet.  This is particularly good because from Thanksgiving to the beginning of February I had gone haywire, eating up a storm of not very good food.  Well, good to the tongue and brain and maybe even heart (as in comfort food...) but NOT AT ALL GOOD for the body.  So, I am now taking off those ungodly pounds.  Yet again.  I am going to try to keep this up until my lab work gets done in April.  The money, though, I cannot commit to stay off spending that long...Not by a long shot!  Though it really is rather empowering to have had ten successful days! 

In fact, I am thinking of subscribing to Misfits Market the first of March, so the spending ban will be broken.  Has anyone done that?  How has it gone?  Thanks.

Family Photo Friday

 Here is a sweet picture that makes me smile. Aren't they adorable children!!  We were so blessed with children with lovely, kind personalities. We are only missing our youngest.  

You can see the wall of the log cabin that Dear One built.  What you cannot see just above our heads is a wonderful plaque my angel sister-in-law made for us as a baby gift when our second son was born.  It said,  "A boy is all God can use to make a man."  I have loved that sentiment for so many years.  Our boys have grown up to be wonderful men. I am so grateful.

Grammie C, from Montpelier, knit the sweaters and vest.  Isn't that the greatest!!!  Now you know another of my knitting heroes...

Wednesday Wildlife

 It is always a delight to see a bird up close and personal on the back porch.  Lately we have had a number of "ground feeders" because of the mess the squirrels made with the bird feeder.  Even though the "ground" is the back deck!

Can you help me decide what this bird is?  I was thinking a young male cardinal but I am unsure.  Whatever he is, I love his visits.

Recycling of Yarn

 Well, actually, this is an afghan that I started recycling last year...pulling out more than two/thirds of the wool and turned it into yarn cakes.  This one of the three yarns I used for the Love Knots Blanket project.  The last third of the blanket was on the couch.  

I have semi-volunteered to do another test knit, but this time I told the designer right up front that I would not be able to finish on time so she could choose to include me or not.  She emailed me back to say that the size I want to knit is possibly not going to be chosen but someone else to knit  so she might be able to use me anyway.  We shall see.  This is the yarn I will use.  REALLY trying to use it up!

This is Hilda Yates' yarn, spun and dyed by Bartlettyarns Mill in Harmony, Maine.  I have used the same yarn many times over past years but now my taste in yarn is gradually shifting to finer/lighter-weight yarn.  Of course, this means smaller needs and longer lives to the projects but the item in my lap will not be anywhere near as heavy.  I feel like a complainer/baby when I say that but it does begin to make a difference.