After how many years? The bray harp finally has brays. My tools finally have a toolbox. I am processing and spinning wool. I grew line flax this year and am surprised to claim success through the whole process of retting (water rotting), breaking and scutching (knocking the pith/ stalk out of the bast fibers), hackling/ combing the fibers into silky ponytails ready for spinning, and also collecting the seeds--one pound yielded four pounds . . . it's no wonder peasants starved and froze, or that linens became heirloom objects . . . I'll just do a separate post about the linen flax.
In addition to fiber processing I seem to find no end of interesting projects to distract me from dishes and laundry and the medical routine of our kids. The first half of the woodworking bench top is complete. I will need to return to the lumber store for more wood as some of my pieces went missing in the course of other projects (hubby and I built a fence around the yard).
We were given apples so I canned 13 pints of apple butter. I also made dandelion jelly first thing in the Spring. I finally found a recipe and tried almond croissants. I confess that I'm so out of shape, I was sore the next day from working the dough . . . but they were worth it!
I am crossing an item off my bucket list: a dollhouse. I never played with dolls but have always been fascinated by miniatures and longed to experience the process of making a dollhouse. We found a "Dura-Craft FH 505 Farmhouse" this Summer. The elderly gentleman I bought it from said his wife bought it for him when he retired because "she thought he needed something to do." It was mostly built, but needed to be gutted so it could be wired--expect a separate post about this project.
I have another project I will post about as soon as things are finalized; but, at the risk of being mysterious, I can't post yet.
My most recent project is tied to my fiber art. I have discovered the rabbit hole of the Circular Sock Machine (CSM). If your husband is kind enough to buy you wool, and you want more wool, you need to find a way to use said wool. To be fair, I have made (am still making) an honest attempt at knitting with needles--double point, two-at-a-time, magic loop--a pair of socks. They may never be finished, or by the time they are my daughter's granddaughter will have to wear them. Oh, the CSM! Someday, I hope I will own one, shiny and new from Earlbacher Gearheart. In the meantime, of course, I am trying to build my own to see if it's possible to make a functioning machine with inexpensive materials I can manipulate with the tools I have on-hand. Expect this to become a separate post, also. If anyone actually reads my blog, and has a CSM hanging about the house/basement/ attic/ barn/ shed and you want it to go to a loving home where it will be used, please send it to me!
Our little ones have their own projects going. Ashlynn is three years old now and loves to paint. Andrew is almost two and his thing is music. He has discovered the harmonica, and last night after my failed attempt at playing it he said, simply, "nope," and ran off with it honking out notes as he went.
