Cloth Napkins

I have been working on some cloth napkins for the family at the Little House.  Myle had some leftover fabric from an apron project two Christmases ago, so we started with those...

1. Cotton fabric is probably your best bet.  Cut the selvedges off your fabric.  This are the stiffer edges of the fabric.  Then, fold your fabric into fourths width-wise to see how wide your napkins can be.  Usually, for me, this is 10-11", so I begin to cut squares.  These are all 10.5".  You can make your napkins bigger, but we were making these for kids, and trying to use what we had.  Also, you can make nicely rolled edges, but these seem to hold up as well, and since they aren't our "company" napkins, I don't care if they fray a little.

2. Set your machine to a wide zigzag stitch.  Zigzag around the edges of your fabric.  I find curving at the corners is easier than going all the way to each corner, turning, and trying to start again, as the machine inevitably eats them.

3.  Trim the corners.

4.  Use.  Enjoy.

Partially finished so you can see the different stages.

Before sewing.

Zigzagged.

Trimmed.

More Weeds...

...eradicated.

We spent a very happy (albeit windy and chilly) morning weeding by hoe and by hand, admiring potatoes, garlics, onions, and blueberries, reveling in the new, healthy growth.  We may have to do battle with potato beetles this year, as they seem to have found our crop already.  Even my dad, gardener extraordinaire, came out to pull his share, all by hand, particularly the tough little buggers that we like to skip and pretend we didn't see.

I wanted to take a picture for some comparisons to last year, but, surprise, surprise, our camera was out of batteries.  'Cuz I use it ALL the time, you know? Not.

The two families adjourned to the Little House, where the men did some heavy lifting with the tractor and the women spoke of cloth napkins, feeding children, and even homeschooling (not for my family, but theirs).

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Green Times

Seeing our potatoes lively and thriving (albeit with a few bug holes - go away, potato beetles.  I will squash you!) reassures me that life goes on despite economic hardship, shaky world relations, and other superfluous worries.

Dan, Myle, and fam have officially moved to the Little House, about four miles away from P.R.  Hopefully that means they will be able to provide some water for our onions, who are in the new bed to the north, which is much grassier and lumpier than the potato bed.  (That requires a truck first... Wanna donate a truck to the cause of non-wealthy [cuz we're not poor] Catholic families homesteading?)

Today we met at P.R. for some good, old-fashioned work.  Our neighbor to the south (who likes to call James a city slicker) was happy to see us and is probably shocked at how much better our potatoes look compared to last year.  The addition of a few tons of compost, a large tractor, some gypsum, and an awful lot of perseverance creates a recipe for much happier potatoes.

The garlic stems are thick and the leaves are tall.  They look better than the garlic at our home in town, where the kids attempt to dig up my garlic any time I'm not looking.  The tree onions are already setting bulblets, and some of the bulblets are trying to sprout.  I'm unclear as to how that is really supposed to work, but they do look amazing.  Again, that God is so good to provide us with some good things through the fruit of our labor (and sometimes, in spite of it), stills my worries. 

Somebody likes to honk the horn.

 Even the trees we planted last year continue to grow as true survivalists... no additional water, weeding, or protection so far.  They were watered by Dan and James for the first time today!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

All in a Day's Work

Oops... forgot to rotate.
The garlic is thriving.

Weeds...

What's your favorite brand of garden tool?

a survivor from our tree planting last year, now mulched

Fun at the Little House

Saturday Work

The gentleman should have finished their 100 bushes and trees by now.  The holes were already dug, so it was "just" laying a tree in the right hole, adding a shovel full of compost, and planting.  Add to that their work at getting four tons of compost delivered, as well as a truck-load of mulch at the Little House and Purgatory Ranch.  Myle was a workhorse too, watching kids, some not even her own, hauling water to water the orchard at the Little House, shoveling compost, and planting trees.

Needless to say, compared to their intense labors, my weeding of two rows of potatoes and watching kids is pretty puny.

Evergreen bunching onions (left) and garlic are thriving.
Looks like the onions are even forming bulblets just as they should!

Potatoes.  Awesome.

Trees we planted last year the day before Bear Cub Q's birthday.  Many are still alive.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.