I took a bit of time in the last few weeks to start going over what is really important to me. I guess since Feb 14th would have been mom’s birthday and it is the first one without her, it effected me in ways that I had not considered. Going through her house trying to decide what to keep and what is to go is part of the cause as well.
Turning Jam into Leather update – it worked really well. I did the leather in strips about 1 inch wide by 10 inches long and adding 2 layers. I waited until the 1st layer was almost done and then added the 2nd layer. This gave me the thickness that I wanted. The lovely “side effect” I guess you can call it, is that it almost turns into taffy when you eat it.
I have now started a bath of “mixed jam” leather using 22 jars of jam (peach, peach with chocolate, pear, cinnamon pear, apricot) , 1 jar of dried blueberries, 1 jar of dried kiwi and 1 jar of baking banana chips. I had to chance up how I did this one a bit as I did not want the seeds from the kiwi or blueberries. I added more water to re-hydrate the dried fruit, put it through the blender and then pressed it through a jelly bag. That way I still got the pulp but not the seeds. It is a rather ugly purple leather. I have set aside another 22 jars of jam to do next.
Goals I haven’t managed to get much off my goals list. I have made another 2 afghans, 1 of which was a barter item. A 3rd afghan is almost complete. I finally crocheted with cotton new coasters & hot plate holders. I also crocheted 8 scarves to give away.
I have spent about 16 hours working on mom’s house. Then there are the hours spent at home recycling all the old food and scrubbing all the gourds. I lost count on the number of gourds that I cleaned but I had brought home 5 green garbage bags of gourds to clean. Each one had to be soaked with a hot, wet towel for at least 12 hours before starting to scrub them.
Alpacas, the couple that lost their barn I will be helping them with the building of a new barn. At the moment most of their alpacas are being boarded at 3 different farms. Nancy, the owner said that she hopes the foundation can be in by the end of March. It has been years since I went/helped at an old fashioned barn raising.
Alpaca course I have yet to find anyone that will go with me and there is no way that I will go by myself. However I have had 3 different offers from alpaca farmers to mentor me. 🙂
Social Goals: I did have plans to meet with several people for lunch but that fell through. I have been making more plans and chatting more on the phone. I can’t wait to see my phone bill.
Me: I have been eating better and I believe part of that is due to the not spending more then $25.00 a month on food. I have reduced my coffee by half and replaced it with either green tea or herbal teas. It sounds kind of silly but I got my first hair cut in years – from long (down to the middle of my back) to short (she took a razor to the back of my head). I used money that my step-mom gave me for Christmas to buy my first really good winter boots and really good leather shoe/boots.
Garden: I have ordered and received most of the seeds that I want this year. I also went out and bought some small fencing for the front garden in hopes that it will stop the postman from walking through it and killing all my plants. Hopefully by the end of today, I will have a large tank set up as a mini indoor greenhouse to start some of the seeds. This way the cats will not be getting into them.
Oldschool's Notebook 