New Life for Old Woolens

 We've been in isolation over Christmas due to Covid exposure.  It was definitely a different celebration and the first time in forty years that Pete and I were totally alone for Christmas.  We survived and thankfully no symptoms of virus so we have a lot to be thankful for.

One of the advantages of the down time was having leisure to tackle a few projects that have been on my list for a long time.  I finished the border of a hooked rug which had been done for several months.  Binding a curvy edge presented a few potential problems but when I actually got down to brass tacks and started it, it really wasn't that hard.

I liked the color combination on this pattern and even though I'm not a huge fan of poinsettias per se, it does make a nice bright winter mat for the dining table.

When you have a passion for wool, things do accumulate and woolen sweaters is one of the things I can't stand to donate.  I saw the idea for making mittens out of felted wool sweaters several years ago and finally got around to trying them myself.  They are fleece lined and man, are they ever WARM!  They are simple to make.  Making four pairs was enough to satisfy my desire to make them but sadly not enough to use up all the felted sweaters!  I sometimes feel I'm enslaved by all the scraps my fiber projects generate.  Having raised sheep, and having washed and spun their wool I have a real appreciation for all that goes into making something out of wool and can't stand to waste any of it.  

One other scrap wool project was making ornaments.  These were fun to stitch while watching a Christmas movie.

I have a bin of wool scraps next to the sofa, ready for transformation into something new.  And it's time to get my next hooked rug started.  Winter is definitely the time to be working with all that lovely wool!

Mysteries of God (and dogs)

 It was a year ago September that we had the huge flood that changed life here on the farm.  At the height of the flood we had to move sheep and dogs to the upper story of the barn and the difficulties of getting them back down (without injury to us or them) made us realize that at our age and with our physical limitations it was time to downsize the farm population.  We found homes for the sheep and eventually, in October 2019, we took the two Great Pyrenees dogs to a wonderful sheep farm in Wisconsin and their new owner, Heidi.  End of story.  Or so we thought.

Last spring I started getting calls from Wisconsin notifying us that the dogs had begun escaping from their idyllic pastures and going roaming.  This, of course, was worrying for all of us.  Eventually, it got so bad that Heidi relinquished Badgie (the instigator of all the escapes) to a Pyrenees rescue person in northern Wisconsin.  This person (Carol) said that Badgie's best future was to become a house dog and to that end she began working with him.  

Today I received a call from Heidi.  She thought I might be interested to hear about the dogs and "the rest of the story", as Paul Harvey used to say.  I certainly was interested, especially after she started the story!

After several months of being in "house dog training" with Carol, Badgie was placed with a family who has an autistic daughter.  The child was totally nonverbal and wouldn't participate in any family activities, living very isolated.  The family had had a dog before and although the little girl hadn't related to it at all, they missed having a house dog and were open to having a BIG one.  One day this fall Carol delivered Badgie to the family and stayed to see how things would go.

At their arrival, the little girl immediately went into the backyard to get away from the new person and big new dog.  Badgie did his initial sniff-and-snoop around the new house but then went into the back yard and laid down near the little girl.  Not liking his nearness, the little girl inched away from him.  Badgie inched closer to her.  She inched away.  Badgie inched closer.  She inched away.  He inched closer.  After this happened about 5 times, instead of inching away the little girl reached out and touched him.  Apparently, that one touch was all it took for a bond to form between the two and since that time, they have been inseparable.  That in itself is remarkable but there were even bigger changes as a result of the bond.  The little girl has started talking and as long as Badger is with her, she will talk to people.  No dog, no talking.  She will also participate in family activities like watching movies together, as long as Badgie is with her.  

God's paths are certainly convoluted!  Pete and I drove down to Missouri to pick up the dogs as puppies.  They spent a couple years here in Illinois but then it was clearly time for them to go to southern Wisconsin.  They spent 6 months there before it was clearly time for Badger to find a new home.  Several more months with Carol in northern Wisconsin and then FINALLY, like a key fitting a lock, Badger's purpose in life as a therapy dog for this autistic little girl was realized.  The two of them belong together and I am amazed at what God did to bring them together at the right time.  The Great Flood of September 2019 was truly a watershed moment in God's plan.  To us it had seemed like a failure of our plans but we couldn't see what God was doing.

As for Bilbo, he continued happily as sole guardian dog for Heidi and her sheep and didn't miss Badgie at all.  This fall, however, he too began Houdini-like escapes and once again, Carol has stepped in to retrain him (she was thrilled to get Badgie's brother!) as a potential house dog/therapy dog.  We wonder what God will do with Bilbo.

We are so thankful for people who care about these dogs and are able to rehome them to wonderful homes.  It is also a lesson to us about how hard circumstances can lead to great outcomes and a reminder that we often have NO clue what acts of redemption God might be about to perform.  We are also amazed at the ability of a dog to change the brain of a child.  That too, is a testimony of God's work in orchestrating His creation to bless and serve each other.  

Summer eating from the garden

Having been more or less in lockdown for these months I have to honestly say I am heartily sick of cooking.  Or maybe I should say I'm sick of my OWN cooking.  But since Pete doesn't cook, it's my own or nothing.  The one saving grace has been all the fresh produce from the garden.  Here are a few recipes I've tried this summer that are keepers.

Fresh tomato tart.  This is from the Midwest Living website and so simple.  Made with meaty heirloom tomatoes and lots of basil fresh from the garden it is just delicious.  I like to use the less juicy Amish paste or Brad's atomic tomatoes but Cherokee Purple would knock the flavor out of the park, too.  The only tweak I might try next time I make it is to crumble some bacon in it.  We eat a pretty clean "whole-foods-plant-based diet" but when summer comes with the heirloom tomato riches I can tell you...we eat bacon with those tomatoes!  Served with fresh sweet corn, this is summer eating at its best.  

Panzanella.  I use Ina Garten's recipe from the Food Network website.  The only changes I made are leaving out the capers (none on hand) and using green peppers from the garden instead of the red and orange ones the recipe calls for.  The vinaigrette that goes with this recipe is perfect and you might just find yourself tipping the bowl for the last delicious drops.  This uses heirloom tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, peppers and onions from the garden and makes a wonderful summer supper.  Cherokee purple and Costoluto Genovese were my tomato picks for this dish.  The chunky fried bread cubes soak up the juices.  Yum.

Probably the most unusual recipe I've tried this summer is baked cucumbers.  I have never eaten a cucumber except RAW in my entire life but I read this recipe a few years back in Gladys Taber's Stillmeadow Cookbook and thought I wanted to try it once before I die.  We have some unusual white cucumbers (McNeely's White) in the garden this year and they are delicious cukes.  They are short and stout and I thought they'd be perfect for stuffing.  Cut the cukes in half and scrape the seeds from the center with a spoon.  Set them on a rack in a pan and steam them over water until just slightly tender.  Remove and stuff the centers with whatever you like - I used seasoned cornbread stuffing.  Top with cheese and bake until heated through.  Pete and I both approached them rather cautiously but were digging in with gusto after that first tentative bite.  He carefully removed the skin while eating his, I just cut it up and ate it all (kind of the same way we each approach a baked potato!).  

I also have discovered the joys of blistered green beans!  I don't think I have a photo of these but they are soooo good.  I stir-fry the fresh green beans in a large frying pan, using no oil.  They will blister and scorch slightly.  Maybe a drop or two of balsamic vinegar or soy sauce at this point but not enough to wet them too much.  Throw in some french-fried onions and stir them well with the beans and that's all there is to it.  The heat and blistering brings out great flavor in the beans.   The beans below got preserved by canning but there are plenty more where these came from!

The farm in August

August always seems a bit overwhelming here on the farm.  The garden is producing vegetables by the basket and bucket full.  The weeds that I've been keeping up with all summer have suddenly kicked into high gear and become difficult to pull out with their thick stems, while at the same time putting out a huge crop of seeds, ready to propagate themselves for the future.  The old gardener's adage, "One year's seeding makes seven years' weeding" runs through my mind as I try to get them pulled and onto the burn pile before they drop their seeds.  All of nature seems to know winter is coming and throwing its last energy into survival.  

The bees in the hive are harvesting nectar at all the blossoms around the farm and I need to check the honey levels in the supers.  I could take honey off any time now and harvest but that's another job that I tend to procrastinate at, knowing it's a big job and an even bigger mess.  Although the sense of accomplishment is enormous, too.  I may have lost a swarm in July that went to a neighbor's farm and have settled themselves into one of his old abandoned buildings.  He'd love me to come and fetch them back but I know that wouldn't be an easy task.  I told him to wait until spring - "a swarm in July isn't worth a fly" is a true adage, the hive probably not having enough time to build up enough reserves for the winter.  If they make it through the winter I will re-think trying to rehome them.

The creek water is drying up and the crawdads have dug themselves down into the mud, leaving these funny little mud chimneys all over.

Summer's bounty has been enjoyed in fresh tomato tart and baked cucumbers.

The sunflowers are tall and bright next to all the barns.

The butterflies are multiplying, too!