The Mobile Home Woman | Our journey from urban homesteading to rural homesteading at Windhaven farm…

Playing Hooky…

Posted on April 23, 2010 by MobymomApril 23, 2010

Yeah, yeah… I had to finish it! I think I need a 12 step program for crafting. I just love making stuff. Honestly. I actually got up early this morning and planned to run a CD of photos to a client and then dash over to the craft store and see about getting a little needlework scroll frame. I had my trusty 40% coupon in hand and had searched all over the internet and had found frame for way too much money. I got a simple laptop one that started out at $14 an ended up about $8. Not too shabby. And of course, when I got home, I started to hook that little sampler rug. Thank goodness it wasn’t like some 50″ by 28″ rug or something! I would be hooking for a week.

Nah… I have a bunch of stuff to do this weekend, some moby stuff, some work stuff, and some fun stuff. I just couldn’t be sitting around hooking little primitive rugs! I do think I’m going to enjoy this though… and I just adore the little sunflower, it’s so cute. I think it deserves a little pillow or something… wall hanging? I’m not quite sure yet, but it will be finished into some cute for sure. Sunflowers are some of my favorite images! And lilacs of course.

And the best thing? (Aside from Luna approving) I had some left over strips to start my own wool stash!!! How cool!

Of course, while I was there, I had to look around some. I got a little bit of brown and black leather cord for stringing up a few bead necklaces, and a little piece of doggy print fabric that will suit one of our projects for tomorrow. I love looking in the descount aisle and seeing that is there. I got a cute little wire and bead wreath in spring colors for $3.99. Looks just like my fall color one, but with greens and creams and yellow. It’s just perfect for the moby door.

But the very best find had to be these crazy light up knitting needles!!! How crazy! Called the Knit Lite and they say ” Knit Anywhere… even in the dark! Honest! They were originally $10 and marked down to 99 cents!!! Oh my gosh, I think I have to go back and get a couple more because they are the FUNNIEST things… the girls and I were laughing our butts off, playing with them. They look like weird little light sabers! And they actually have a battery in them so they would last and last and you can change the battery for years of fun!

They look like little magic wands or something, they are just so silly. And actually? I think they would work. For knitting. The light is pretty bright! They are fun to torture the kitties with, and of course befuddle the dog. Part of the reason I think I’ll go and get a couple more is that Jessy learned this light painting technique with her camera and these would be SO useful for them!
paintwithlight
This is a random picture I found, but you can get the idea. These needles would be fantastic for it! Easy to wave around and make a long exposure light painting.

Jessy has made some really cool shots using little flash lights and glow sticks, but I think these needles will be REALLY neat. Can’t wait to try them out!

As you can see… pretty bright. I might have to whip these bad boys out on a band trip late some night coming home. It would be fun to see the guys expressions! HAHA… they will tease me for sure and of course, I’ll be laughing as well because they are just so silly.

Well, unless it rains tomorrow, I think we’re back to some yard work and a little kitchen fun!!!! Stay tuned for more wacky moby gal fun!

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Hooking Wool Rugs

Posted on April 22, 2010 by MobymomApril 22, 2010

Well, yesterday, while I was working hard in the yard, just about the last few minutes of my work, I himed when I should have hawed and pulled a wing muscle in my back! OUCH! Getting old is just no fun sometimes. Well, I finished up and didn’t think a whole lot of it, until later in the evening when everything stiffed up on me! A hot shower and some motrin did the trick and in the morning I was feeling a little more chipper. So when the mail came and in it was the wool rag rug kit I ordered off of Ebay, to say the least, I was eager for something to do that didn’t include digging and weeding for a bit!

I just love some of these primative looking wool rag rugs that I’ve seen throughout the years. And though I have done my share of latch hooking, the wool strip rag rugs were also so, well different to me and more intriquing. But looking around online and such, the kits were always SO expensive, like $50 to $100 just to get the basics started. But I found this little starter kit with a pattern on burlap with a hooking tool, and instructions and all the cut strips you need to make a little 8″ x 8″ sampler of sorts. It was reasonable, $25 and I thought it would be a good way to give it a try without gearing up and spending a small fortune.

Well, the instructions were not bad, but they were just lacking a bit in detailed information to really get going. I didn’t have a hoop or frame to keep it tight on, and I considered just waiting until tomorrow when I could get to a craft store and pick one up. I have a few in my stash in the storage unit but it just seems a little easier to grab a basic one at the craft store. (Storage units can swallow you WHOLE! Not to mention drag you kicking and screaming down memory lane and when you’re all done, you have to bring home a whole wagon load of stuff, wasted $5 in gas and a whole afternoon! HA HA)

I had a little picture frame and I gave that a try, trying to stretch it over and staple to the wood, but my stapler did not have the guts to get it into the wood well, and so that was kind of a struggle. Since the piece is not huge, I just resorted to doing it without and it didn’t take too long to get the hang of it. I will admit, I dialed up YouTube.com and did watch a few videos online! I tell you, Youtube and the gang of helpful strangers that are passionate about their crafts and hobbies… they all deserve some special spot in heaven! It’s delightful to watch first hand, instantly how to turn a nice corner or how to keep your stitches nice and even!

Well, I had finished my goals for the day and had the evening free, so I dialed up Netflix to watch a couple episodes of McLeod’s Daughters (WAY addictive homesteading/ranching soap opera from Australia… highly recommended…) and in no time flat I was hooking along like a fumbling beginner but still, making some inroads! I can’t wait to get a little frame or hoop that really works better! I’m going to go and dig up some lillies from a friend’s overloaded beds tomorrow morning and will stop to get a hoop. I promise to go lightly on the old back… I’ll bring my sharpest little garden digger and a big old bucket. Still pondering where to pop these little lillies, but I’ll figure out a spot, maybe around the kitty garden.

In the meanwhile? I’m thinking that this rug hooking in my new knitting for the spring and summer! I’m kind of funny about my crafts… I’m not much of a warm weather knitter or crochet freak. That is definately winter crafting for me. I like sewing and fiber stuff for the warmer months, so this has been a fun little diversion and something that I’ve been dying to try out! Can’t wait to do up a banjo rug!

Don’t laugh, you know I will! And chickens too! Sunflowers, banjos, chickens and gardens. I feel a super unique design coming together sooooooon!

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Working on the Moby Farm…

Posted on April 21, 2010 by MobymomApril 21, 2010

My plan is to spend some serious time in the gardens a couple times a week. Really putting my back into it, so to speak and really get something accomplished. Great exercise and I want to prove to myself that I can keep everything running good and tidy. One of these days I’d like to consider a larger bit of ground and such and if I can’t keep the little moby estate nice, how could I ever do it with a larger piece of land?

It’s easy to get yourself a little overwhelmed with commitments and day to day life. Next thing you know, you’re letting little things slide. So it feels good to get out and mow, weed and water. And then stand back and admire the handiwork.

We took the afternoon and got started on a few tasks. I wanted to spend a good amount of time digging through the strawberry patch. It had gotten very weedy over the fall and early spring. I got it all weeded after a good hour or so. Once done, I planted the new strawberry plants and I hope they take. The ones from last year they are doing pretty good. I was surprised to see how many baby plants that the mothers had sent out. Hopefully these new ones will help to fill out the bed nicely.

Got some good compost and mulch around them to help cut down on the weed hopefully. I’d really like to see that bed all filled in good in the next couple months. Going to really work at keeping the weeds down this year.

Jessy’s blueberries faired not as well. One plant is doing well, but the other two are really fighting to survive. We cut back the dead wood and hopefully that will help them to devote more energy to the greenwood that is left. We got one new one to add to the bed, and hope that we can nurture that one a little more this year.

Got two more grape vines to join our little french girls along the shed. Marie and Louise also look like they didn’t fare too well, but when I clipped back some of the deadwood, I found green and little teeny buds around the root. I think like many of the ‘dead’ perennials, some of these perennial fruits need a year or two to really set in and start to flourish!

Maggie mowed the lawn for me, and it was funny because she was mowing I heard her singing at the top of her lungs quite happily. It was funny because she thought no one could hear her! She’s such a fun kid sometimes, when she’s happy, the whole world knows it, but when she’s not, well, the world knows as well! Thankfully, she’s usually fair to middlin’ as they say and happy most the time. Still got to do a little weed whacking… when you go and make a land maze of a small plot of land with beds and trees and all, it make it a little tricky to mow in a nice even way! The little electric trimmer I got last year works like a CHARM… and helps to keep things looking nice.

Jessy finished up packing orders and loaded up the car, and then came to join us. She was in charge of planting onions in one of the south side beds. It’s the first official planting in the beds… everything else is nesseled in the cold frames. But I think it’s safe to plant the first 100 sets of the candy red sweet onions we got to try out! They looked super good in the catalog, and we’ll find out if they like the new sunny spot this year. Last year our onions were planting in just a little too shady spot and just really did not flourish.

The garlic is doing well, looks pretty cool. I’m thinking about digging it up and moving it to a sunnier spot. Not sure yet where. But I’ll find a good spot. We set up the last 100 onion sets in a little basket of compost and popped them into a cold frame to hang out for a bit until I have a good spot for them.

I’m totally surprised about the spinach that survived the winter! Some tough stuff for sure. I think I’m going to harvest a few leaves for a salad sometime next week because that sounds delightful. A fresh salad, with some fresh eggs and local bacon! How great that will be.

Well, everything got a good watering in, all the new trees and plants. Everything in the cold frames is doing well. Saw a couple new little pepper seedlings trying to get going. Thanks to everyone that has been writing to me and letting me know that they had the same experiences with starting peppers from seeds. Sometimes it takes even a month for them to actually sprout!

When we were all done, we took the orders to the post office for the day and the girls got ice cream at the local Mr. Freeze and then we came back and just hung out in the nice little yard. It was a perfect end to the afternoon. Luna posed for me while I was out back looking at all the lilac bushes on our border with the neighbors behind us. They are just about to start blooming like crazy! Can’t wait… Love lilacs!

Our own three little lilacs are doing pretty good and are heavy with blooms. They are only about 3 feet tall, but they’ll do well this year, I’m sure of it. In a couple years, this place is really going to be nice. Can’t wait.

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