More Paperback Trees, Crafting with my Grandson, and Day 16 of the Jesse Tree

Advent is a time of preparing.  Most of the morning was spent giving half the house a good (almost) spring cleaning.  Then off to the library. 

The paperback Christmas Tree competition put on by the library is always so fun.  I like to participate mostly to see if I can "start" and "finish" the project.  Everyone is so talented.  Here are some of the entries.  (I do often wonder if, as we fold the pages, if anyone begins to  read the book they are folding and want to finish it... despite only being a partial book. smile)

After school today my grandson and I got together to make ornaments.  It is still too cold for him to go skateboarding so crafts it is!

The first one is the melted snowman... not that that is ever going to happen anytime soon in real life but we made an attempt in our creativity. 

We filled an ornament a 1/4 of the way with fake snow. (this was not an easy concept for him, as melted snow is water he says) He wanted to know if this was real but warm snow?

Blurry snowman parts...

Oops we realized we forgot his scarf!

He is showing his ornament but more than that, he is proudly displaying his missing tooth!

In the scarf goes!

Next up a fun one but seriously cautious craft so we don't make a mess. We prepared to make an acrylic pour Christmas ornament. 

We mixed up 50% floetrol (a paint additive)

30% acrylic paint (one color per cup)

20% water 

mix each one thoroughly. 

We put each clear ornament turned over on a popsicle stick into a piece of Styrofoam to hold them in place while we poured paint slowing over each one, one color after another. 

Now we let them dry for 24 -48 hours , read a book and play hide and seek.  Then spray with an enamel seal in a day or so. 

Crocheted a few scrunchies before dinner .

After dinner I realized I need to make today's Jesse Tree Ornament.

December 16 - Jesse: 1 Samuel 16:1-13 Symbol: sheep & shepherd's staff 

"He then asked Jesse, 'Are these all the sons you have?' Jesse replied, 'There is still one left, the youngest; he is looking after the sheep.' Samuel then said to Jesse, 'Send for him, for we shall not sit down to eat until he arrives.' "

Time to felt up some of my wool.

peace 

Garden, Ravioli Soup,Biscuits, Beginning Felting - a Pumpkin.

Each day begins with the animals.  Dog, cats, chicks, chickens, and lambs come first. There is something so grounding being with the animals first thing in the morning.  We make sure they are fed, watered and loved.

Today is a Monday. I water Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  It is dry and arid where we live.  We are doing our best to plant and GROW trees. We have lost many due to draught or hail storms.  This year we are doing well... honey crisp apple trees, 3 aspen, elm, willow, and this year I added two Chicago hardy fig. I contacted the Colorado Extension office and asked if they will be okay in the winter.  Here's the answer:

Here's the response to your question:
Thank you for your inquiry. Chicago Hardy Figs are compatible with Zone 5. If they have been properly planted in the ground (not in containers), are in a suitable area, and are well established, they should winter over with the correct mulching, winter watering, and protection from extreme conditions. If they are in containers they should be brought in to the greenhouse.

I am going for it. They are not in containers. Leaving them outside and mulching the heck out of the area and snug it in for the fall for winter.

We are on well water. Know that I am very grateful for the water we have but … it is full of sodium and bicarbonate.  You can actually see it some areas on the soil... it looks like a patch of snow in the dirt. But water we must... Here's how everything is doing.

I need to replant the lettuce.  A cat got in the greenhouse and used it as a litter box. 

From the greenhouse today, looks like I will be making relish. I already have 24 jars of pickles.

I did pick up a few things for dinner too. 

Breakfast... veggie biscuit sandwich.  I found a recipe HERE that I had tried before with great success.  So, I gave it another go.  They turned out great and I used a glass to cut the dough . Next time I will you a wide-mouth ring to get larger biscuits. (my sister gave me that idea).

Breakfast was onion, tomato and goat cheese biscuit. 

I saved six for the week and froze the rest.  It made two dozen. 

House chores were done. My goal daily is to be done by noon , today was 12:30pm. 

Time to have fun.

Craft time - felting a pumpkin. My youngest grandson said he wanted me to make Halloween/Fall things not so "pookie" aka spooky.   So this week I am challenging myself to craft not so spooky and gory crafts.

I had an audience at the front door. He tapped as I  felted.

I added a little yarn vines.  I have a bunch of roving that I can't wait to try and make more. 

We went for a walk this evening to see if we could tell where the coyotes were hanging out and getting into the field behind our house. I think we found it. But on the way there , trucks hauling corn have been leaving big dirt clods on the road... I twisted my ankle on one leg and went flying.... tore my pants at the knee on the other leg , landing hard...skinned my knee and hands. No big deal. I kinda laughed because I haven't fallen like that since I was a kid.  Norman, the dog, was by my side nudging me to get up and get on home. 

Dinner was from the garden... a big salad...

Plenty of vegetables from ravioli soup.  I used the recipe from HERE .

Added garlic toast. 

Time to clean up and get ready for tomorrow. 

peace

Wooly Wednesday, What is Dude up to, All Veggie Wednesday Dinner and more!

Wooly Wednesday … I worked on my first wool scene by felting. Hmm not sure if I have totally figured it out yet. 

A little mountain scene.

Hmmm did I over felt it? I will wash it by hand see if it calmed down. ugh

My mom needs newborn caps to go with the layette sets she is making. So, I got to work making hats. 

We are having turkey egg omelets for dinner. They are the speckled eggs. 

My sister gifted me this wee container plant. Seeing her container garden this past weekend inspired me to plant a few containers. 

I hope they do well.  Excited to plant more in small cups. 

Dude has been working in the greenhouse. He says he doesn't have to pay to go to the gym to get a steam room effect. 

A few carrots left and then we will plant again ...yum!

The spring mix continues to take off. The more we trim the more it grows. 

Beets are full of joy and yummy goodness. 

Tomatoes!

Our first year growing celery. Go, go, grow!

Pickles, okay cucs and zucchini beginning to grow after the third time being hailed out! (yes, we only planted this much so we didn't jinx ourselves with more hail - smile)

I picked a few beets for dinner. 

Dude also got started on splitting wood for the winter. I made him stop and come in from the 98* heat. I will help tomorrow... I like doing this. 

Of course, he had help today. 

The guinea hen got off her eggs for a bit. I prayed she was not abandoning them. 

Twenty minutes later she wearily came back to continue sitting on them. Poor thing, I only raised four not 21!  Hopefully they will hatch soon. 

Her family is always close by keeping an eye out for predators. 

Dinner from the garden. We used the whole beet for dinner , tops and all. 

Spinach and onions for the omelets. 

Sautéed beet tops with onions, garlic in olive oil with salt and pepper.  At the end drizzled balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. 

Then we cracked our turkey eggs. They are large and the membrane inside was thick. Turkeys only lay eggs 4 months out of the year and our little visitor is going to town giving us eggs in exchange for free room and board. 

Cooked them up, topped with our spinach plus onions and tomatoes and cheese.

The turkey eggs turned out super fluffy with a mild taste. 

I cooked up a bunch of edamame noodles(they have 24 grams of protein) and topped with the sautéed beet tops - the lemon juice really helped. The beet tops were strong before that. 

Roasted beets with the last of the broccoli and onion. Added olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Roast 400* for 25 minutes. 

Dude ate and like everything except the edamame noodles... yay, we didn't grow those. 

I am finishing the hat during tv time(movies from the library), start another  and I did get more fabric cut out today. Yippee for days off work.

peace