Merry Christmas to All!

     After having been on the road for about 8 years, we usually did not have time to decorate our home for Christmas such as putting up a tree or setting out the nativity.  If we had, everything would have stayed decorated for about 3 months until we were back home to take it all down again.  So.  We just did not decorate for Christmas while we were working on the road. 

     But this year was different.  We are off the road.  We have time to decorate and trim the house so that we can try to feel the spirit of Christmas and be merry.  So, here is our tree.

 

 

Our Christmas village on the mantel.

 

 

Our Nativity surrounded by all our Christmas cards from friends and family.

 

 

Our simple dining room set for company.

 

 

Nothing better than to be home for Christmas.

 

 

From the Krooked Pine Farm, may you and yours have a wonderful and very, merry Christmas.

 

 

 



New Endeavors .....or Not

     When I was younger and my father's mother was still living, she taught me a very enjoyable skill.  She taught me to crochet.  Once an item is started and your fingers learn the pattern, it is a very relaxing zen like state that you can get into while your fingers produce a very useful item.  Whether it be a delicate doilie or a winter scarf or an item of clothing, crocheting is one skill I have never forgotten, no matter how long in between working with it. 
    
     I taught myself to knit but the pleasure just was not there.  I never made anything useful while knitting.  Recently, being that I have been out of work since leaving the trucking industry, I have taken crocheting back up.  I have found that now that I am older, my hands tell me about it but that I have more of an ability for creative ideas. 

     I figured out a nice pattern for a wonderful shawl that I have done twice.  One for my mother-in-law for Christmas and one for my mother.  I will soon be making another for my other mother-in-law.  ( I know, I know.  How does one have two mother-in-laws).  Very simple.  My husband was adopted at a very early age and he found his biological mother several years ago.  So I am lucky.  I have two mother-in-laws. 

     Anyway,  my husband loves them (the shawls) and said that I ought to make several more, along with the infinity scarves that I make and sell them.  Seems like a good idea.

     So, here are the shawls:

front

 

back

 

open to show detail 

    The yellow fringed shawl is $60.

I think this would be great for Easter.

 

front 

 

 back

 

 open to see detail

Candy apple fiesta shawl is $75.

This shawl is very plush and luxurious.

 

 

I have also winter infinity scarves.  These, as with the shawls above can be made custom to order in any color you would like.  All infinity scarves are $20.

 

open to show detail

doubled as a cowl

Narrow black stripe infinity scarf is $20.

 

open to show detail

doubled as a cowl.

Wide black stripe infinity scarf is $20.

 

 

Well, if you think this might be something you might be interested in, send me an email and we will work out the details. In the mean time, as I complete other items, I will post them as examples of my work.   I am not a professional, I do this for the enjoyment of it and hope that I make my grandmother proud.   As with all handmade items, there will always be slight imperfections.  But I will do the best work I can to make sure you are happy with your item.  Thank you.

 

 





Co-horts of Home

 

 

 

Since starting this blog we have had several pets that we have had for many years.  They were Punkin, Hott Dogg, and Noodlles, the three wieners.  This year, we added Ms. Pinkie D.  She is a true mini weinie,  as some would call her.  She is now full grown and is half the size of Noodles. 

 

 

We also have added a new puppy recently as you can see in the picture above.  This is Sassy, short for Sassafras.  She is half Labrador Retriever and half German Wire-hair Pointer.

 

 

 

We also have added a cat.  Ms. Tootie.  How she came by her name is quite embarrassing.  We have always been of the opinion that our pets would name themselves.  For the most part, this has been true except for Hott Dogg, as he was named when we got him.  We waited and waited for the cat to name herself when she finally did.  We noticed that when we were sitting and watching tv that she would come up onto our chest and turn around and lift her tail for us to see a certain part of her anatomy.   We finally figured out that she wanted to be called Tootie. as that is what she wanted us to see.

 

 

 

But the saddest thing that I have to report is that we lost our beloved Punkin.  She was almost fourteen and had developed Canine Alzheimer's.  She had lost a lot of weight, lost control of bodily functions, and had become very depressed.  We could tell that she was miserable.  She was always good about waiting for the perfect time to do things, such as having puppies, ( She always waited to have them when I was home to help her).  Now, she let us know it was time to leave us because we were off the road and she had a place to rest. 

The morning that we took her to the vet, she did not move very much and seemed as if to say I am ready to go.  We would pet her but she did not seem to know we were there.  We went into the room with her as we did not want her to be alone.  We wept as we watched her lay down her head.  We brought her home as we did not feel that a member of the family should be discarded like an old shoe but have a place at home where she could be close to the family that loved her.   She has her spot in front of the house near the tree line where she liked to wander.  Punkin,  we miss you baby.

 

 

RIP



Farm work (Whew!)

We have finally gotten so we can work on our land.  The tractor is up and running great.  The Blacksmith has learned to use it and we are off and running.  We had a few glitches with the tractor when we first got it, so it had to spend some time away from home for repairs.  The biggest delay was due to finding parts for it.  But that has been resolved and we are working. 

 

 

 

We have a lot of clearing to do to set up our garden and goat pastures.  We have several piles to burn and it is very slow going.  Now that it is turning fall it will be easier to move all the limbs and trees with the leaves being gone. 

 

 

 

 

These two piles are in the area that we have designated to be our garden area. 

 

 

 

This particular pile that the Blacksmith is tending is in front of the spot where we are going to build our barn.  It is a large flat area just right for it.  Behind it is a ridge that slowly drops down off the mountain that we live on, down to some railroad tracks.  Behind that is a tree farm for the local paper mill.   The open area going down the ridge was cleared by a local pulpwood company, that bought our pines that were on the ridge. 

 

While we were at it the Blacksmith had a chance to pull out his anvil and get it set up to see what he is going to need to get started using it.

 

 

 

And his forge.

 

 

 

Hopefully, we will soon have a pole shed to set this all up under so it will be protected from the elements.

 

Besides working in the yard, I have had two windfalls to come along.  First, there is a business in our town that has a huge black walnut tree that had a huge abundance of walnuts.  We stopped and asked the manager about them and before I could even finish my question, he said for me to take all I wanted.   It took two days but I got six and a half barrels of walnuts.

 

 

 

As you can see the ground was covered with them.  This was the second day of picking.

 

 

 

These four barrels were filled with walnuts the first day.

 

 

 

These in the back of the truck are two and a half more that we got the second day.  We got alot but left alot behind for someone else should they want them.  Now, I need a corn sheller to use to remove the husks.  I know that sounds weird but it works.

 

My second windfall is our neighbor has crabapple trees that are just loaded with crabapples.  Our neighbor told me to get all that we wanted as they were going to go to waste.  So far, I have two buckets of crabapples and plan to make jelly and possibly some jars of spiced crabapples. 

 

 

 

Well, that is enough for today.  Will let you see how the jelly turned out, once I get it made. 

Pressure cooker meal

Hey guys,  hope everyone is doing well.  The other day, I tried something new.  Actually, this will be my third try at this meal.  The first two times, I prepared it with pork chops.  They came out excellent.  This time, I tried it with a beef sirloin tip roast.  Here is how I did it.

The players are

 

 

Sirloin tip beef roast

one cup of water

3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

3 or 4 medium potatoes

3 or 4 carrots

1 medium onion

2 tablespoons of butter

salt

pepper

The original recipe did not call for olive oil but I added some to the butter

I also added some garlic powder with the seasoning

 

 

 

peel and chop the potatoes, carrots, and onion to rough bite sized pieces.

 

 

Add olive oil and butter to bottom of pressure cooker.  Now, make sure you are using a pressure cooker, not a pressure canner.  There is a difference.

 

 

 

While the butter and olive oil are heating up on medium high heat, season the meat with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

 

 

Sear the roast on both sides to seal in the juices.  Remove the roast to a plate for the next step.

 

 

After removing the roast to a plate, add the cup of water and 3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce to the bottom of the pressure cooker.  Stir a little to bring up the bits that are on the bottom.  Then immediately add the potatoes, carrots, and onions.

 

 

Then add the roast on top of the vegetables.

 

 

Put the pressure cooker lid on top and bring it up to pressure.

Once the weight starts to jiggle (is that a technical term?) set your timer for 15 minutes.

 

 

Once time is up, turn off the heat, reduce the pressure by cooling the cooker off under cold, running water.

 

 

 

Before you open the cooker, make sure all the pressure has been reduced.  My particular cooker has a valve on the handle that will open once it has cooled down enough.

 

 

 

 

Once the pressure is gone, you can open the cooker up and see how it turned out.

 

 

 

 

 

Not bad.

 

Hope you enjoy.  We really like using pork chops with this meal or pork tenderloin slices.  Just do the same thing above just substitute pork for beef.

 





Picture Update

In my last post, I promised some pictures from around the farm to update what is going on. 

This is our entrance to the Krooked Pine Farm.  As you can see our namesake is very visible as you come into the place.  Also, may Ol' Glory always fly above this great nation and our home.

This looking down to the new wellhouse.  It holds our well pump and pressure tank.

 

 

 

Inside of the well house and its heating system for winter.  The heater has a thermostat and tip over safety control.  It has worked great.  With the aluminum backed bubble wrap insulation it sometimes stays warmer than the house. 

 

 

This is our tractor that is coming in handy.  We have a couple more attachments to get, such as, the post hole auger so that we can start fencing our ten acres.  Then we can get our livestock, goats.  YAH!

 

 

 

 

We have a lot of sassafras growing on the farm.  These are a couple of examples.

 

 

Sassafras is a very unusual plant in that it has three different shaped leaves on the same tree.  First you have the three lobed leaf.  Kind of looks like a dinosaur's footprint. 

 

 

Then, it has a leaf that looks like a mitten with one lobe and also has another leaf that has no lobes but just a straight leaf.  You can see both in this photo.  Sassafras can be used for a couple of things.  The roots can be harvested, dried and then used to make a type of root beer.  The leaves can be harvested, dried and ground up for file that is used in Cajun food.   Nice to know that we have it on the farm.

 

Just a little pictorial to update what is going on. 

Thanks for visiting.