Thanksgiving Give-away!

In honor of Thanksgiving, yummy food and olive picking season in Sicily, I'm giving away yummy olive oil. The olives used to make this specific oil were grown organically and locally (to me), and hand picked before being pressed at a co-op olive oil press. This oil is pure and has a strong flavor. I've been using this oil for a year and a half on noodles, salads, and also for cooking. It's delicious!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post about what you are thankful for and a way to contact you (emails please). A name will be chosen randomly over the weekend and posted here on Monday.


**Note: if you are here in Sicily, you can not enter. Sorry folks!**

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And some Thanksgiving cheese from DS:



Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Homestead Progress

I August I posted a bit about my homestead obsession. I have a progress report!

Things I need to learn:

Gardening (I'm working on it)
Organic pesticides and fertilization (Need book)
Composting (Need a composter)
Canning (Need a pressure canner and books and supplies)
Dehydrating (Need a dehydrator and books)
Raising chickens (Once we have land)
Raising goats (Once we have land)
Raising cows (Once we have land)
Raising ducks (Once we have land)
Sewing (I know very little)
Knitting (I know very little)
Crocheting (I know very little)
Making vinegar (My last attempt failed)
Freezing (Need a freezer)
Bread baking (I need a recipe book)

I ordered Organic Gardening Magazine so that covers gardening, organic pesticides and fertilization. I've been teaching myself to crochet. I don't think I can get further in to sewing unless we move back to the states cause the things I need are not available here and I am not up to ordering supplies. Especially when I don't know what I'm ordering.

We also got our freezer. There's not much in it right now. Mostly meats and frozen produce. I'd like to make some meals ahead of time and freeze them. Someday. :)

I also plan on borrowing a friend's dehydrator sometime soon.

So although I'm stuck here on someone elses property, I'm still making progress.

Olive picking!

Our newest diaper

I'm a bit partial to owls lately!

Thank you again Amanda! We love it.

Ribbon Garland

For DS's birthday

Bunting

... for DS's birthday

A wallet for my little man

I'm on a felt kick. I have a bunch left over from a project for DS's birthday and am making various things out of it all.


He's in love with cars so he got a little vehicle on the outside.

Felt Birthday Crown

Three different colored pieces of felt around 9"x11". The crown itself was one piece, cut into two then sewn together (sewing machine) after loosely fitting it to DS's head.

Next I made the rim of the crown. I cut a long piece of felt, folded it in half and using the sewing machine, attached it to the bottom of the crown. I threaded elastic through the rim and left it unsecured so I can adjust it later.

I then made a number 2 stencil with construction paper, pinned it to a piece of felt then cut it out. I used a quilt stitch to attach the number to another piece of felt then cut out around it leaving about a 1/4 inch showing.

Finally, using tacky glue I glued the number to the front then lazily hand sewed it on. (The glue didn't work so well.)

Gerber receiving blankets turned babywipes

Cut up the useless Gerber receiving blankets and made flannel wipes out of them.

Sorry they're a bit dingy. Some have been used and washed already.

Bubbles "Baby" Blanket

A small blanket I made with some scrap yarn.



Pattern