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Learning to Spin

combs and wool



learning to card the wool

Shell and I were lucky to be able to stay with the BNOE's Mom in Nashville while we were there for the wedding. While Shell was busy with all the Bridal parties and showers, I stayed and had fun with Carol.  Her house is just beautiful, on the side of a mountain.  You feel like you are in a tree house, when you sit on her porch and decks.  Carol has a loft in her house where she keeps two looms and her spinning wheel.  What fun is that!  I have always wanted to learn to spin yarn.  Well, I thought I did.  Man! it's harder than it looks.  I sure had fun trying though.  First you have to card the wool that you have already washed.  You have these two combs that have metal teeth. ( you could comb your kitties with it and get tons of cat fur to spin...lol)  You put a little of the wool onto one of the combs and pull it with the other comb.  Once it's been carded over and over, it's time to spin.  Well, let me tell ya!  Just getting the wheel to keep going in the right direction was a job.  Then you have to hold tight to the wool, pull it until it's really thin with one hand with out breaking it and let the spinning wheel twist it and add it to the bobbin.  You do all of this without stopping the spinning wheel.   It's really hard to keep your yarn the same thickness.  I know, it's just like anything, it takes practice, practice, practice.  I think it would take me a year of spinning the way I was going to have enough yarn to make a scarf.  It sure was fun leaning how it's done.  Thank you Carol!

She's Here!



Shell's new Mini

After driving the lonnnnnng 12 hour drive, with making a quick side trip to Lady Melanie's house in Birmingham to pick up a tote bag, that had been at Becca's house, then brought to Gene and George's house and then to Melanie's, trying to get it closer to me over the months.  Not only bringing me the tote, but she had a 50 lb bag of chicken food for " the girls" from Paw, a little red bud tree and a jar of blueberry jelly from Melanie's kitchen.  That was all on top of everything that was packed into her Mini for her week stay and all the stuff for the wedding.  Don't under estimate the room in a Mini. 

Multi Tasking

making cookies in one corner, apple pie filling at the island



6 quarts of apple pie filling




 40 sugar cookies ready to be iced

Shell asked me if I would please make my " famous" sugar cookies cut into hearts for her to decorate for the up and coming wedding of her friend that she and I were going to attend in Nashville when she drove up last week.  I still had half of the apples that we had bought at the orchard and I knew I'd better do something with them before I headed off to Nashville for four days. I decided to use them in apple pie filling.  I had made up two batches of my cookie dough and put it in the refrigerator for the day.  After dinner that night, I started rolling out the cookies.  When I got the first batch into the oven, I started coring...actually, Chuck cored them and I peeled and cut the apples.  Notice I said " started".  Had to stop and take the cookies out, put them on the rack to cool and cut out more to go into the oven.  Back to the apples!  I put the apples in two big bowls of water with lemon juice in them to keep them from turning brown until I was ready to use them.  Time to take the next batch of cookies out of the oven, roll out more and stick in the oven.  Now it was time to cook the filling to put the apples in.  Of course in the middle of that, I had to take a batch of cookies out of the oven and add more.  Ok, where was I?  Oh yeah...cooking the filling.  I added the cut up apples to the filling and  put it all in the quart jars, then put them in the hot water bath for 25 minutes.  At least that gave me enough time to finish the last batch of cookies and clean up the kitchen.  Whew!  I found out that I'm not good at " multi tasking" thing as I used to be. Don't try this at home if you are over 60 and haven't multi tasked in a very long time. You will feel like your head is spinning!

New Gravel!



Making the drive way longer

Remember all that gravel we had delivered before they built the house?  Well, most of it was gone!  With all of the delivery trucks and cement trucks, the rain and just normal comings and goings sunk the gravel into the mud.  When your tires are constantly covered with mud and you almost get stuck backing out into the drive way, it's time to get new gravel.  Chuck cleared the "backing space" in the area going to the basement and had some of the gravel dumped there.  It sure is nice having a real road from the mailbox to the house again.  Hopefully we won't have to do this again for awhile. 

Apple Butter



cooks 6 to 8 hours in the crock pot




13! jars of the best apple butter!

Apple butter is my most favorite thing that I have learned to put up in the Fall.  It's fun to go to the orchard and pick out the apples, knowing that half of them will end up being my apple butter.  I make it in the crock pot and it takes all day so the house smells sooooo good!  I have added an extra step to the recipe though.  After it cooks all day and before I put it in the jars, I put it in the blender for just a few seconds.  It makes all the difference in the world.  It doesn't look like brown, chunky apple sauce.  It actually looks like the apple butter you buy in the store...but it tastes much better!  This batch should last us until next Fall, even with sharing with family and friends.  

Civil War Period



Confederate Uniform




Southern women dress




First Confederate flag




Yankee Uniform




Northern Woman dress




U.S. Army flag

I'm learning so much about the Civil War. There are museums, historic markers and burial grounds all around here.  As much as I love the South, I have to say, the North had much nicer uniforms and period clothing for the women.  It seems that the Yankees where better equipped to fight a war also.  At least that is the conclusion that I have come to by watching the Reenactments.  This period of history interests me and I'm having fun learning all about it.