Tea Cup Pincushion - Quick and Easy

 I was going to hot glue the cup to the saucer, but decided not to in case I wanted to use the saucer for pins without the cup in the way. The blue pin holder is magnetic and works like a charm.

I need to get some straw needles and now they have a special place to live.




I put a lot of hot glue around the inside of the cup about a third of the way down. Put the pin cushion in the cup and held it down for a little bit.

Hot gluing the buttons was tricky







I cut off the extra material. Maybe not so neat, but it works.









I didn't want to take the time to sew and gather up the edge of the material. So, I used up some old pins and pulled the edges to the bottom and pinned.








I used an old tomato pincushion I got at a garage sale instead of having to buy a styrofoam ball. There are four layers of material because it is thin. And I used a piece of batting. Buttons for needle houses.

November Thankful Quote

(Well, it is really a bit of a poem)

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home;

A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there,

Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere.

~ John Howard Payne - Home, Sweet Home

I am very grateful for home.

Today's riddle: My tail is long, my coat is brown. I like the country, I like the town. I can live in a house or live in a shed and I come out to play when you are in bed. What am I?

Answer to yesterdays riddle: Teapot

Peek at the Past

(November 15, 2009)

[1 egg today]

~:>

Smiles

Tea Cup Pincushion... almost

November Quote

"In Ireland, you go to someone's house, and she asks you if you want a cup of tea. You say no, thank you, you're really just fine. She asks if you're sure. You say of course you're sure, really, you don't need a thing. Except they pronounce it ting. You don't need a ting.

Well, she says then I was going to get myself some anyway, so it would be no trouble. Ah, you say, well, if you were going to get yourself some, I wouldn't mind a spot of tea, at that, so long as it's no trouble and I can give you a hand in the kitchen. Then you go through the whole thing all over again until you both end up in the kitchen drinking tea and chatting.

In America, someone asks you if you want a cup of tea, you say no, and then you don't get any damned tea.

I liked the Irish way better."

- C. E. Murphy (Urban Shaman)

I'm grateful for tea!
Thanks indeed!

I used to love to sing and act out the teapot song when I was little.

Didn't know I'd become a tea drinker.

I like the Irish way better too. I enjoy drinking tea every day and missed it a lot when I had to give it up for a time. I must admit to using Kristine's teapot because I have broken all of my big teapots and even broke one of Kristine's little teapots. I need to put new teapot on my Christmas list.

The photo above is my Tea Cup Pincushion in the making:

My favorite tea cup has developed cracks in the glaze on the inside of the cup around the bottom and sides. I'm afraid to use it anymore because every time I pour hot water in the cup I'm afraid it will shatter. I had that happen once to a coffee mug.

So, I decided to turn my tea cup into a tea cup pin cushion. Only, I want to reserve the pincushion part for needles and use the saucer area for pins.

My plan is to hot glue buttons around the middle of the pincushion and use the button eyes as garages to park my needles. Then hopefully I'll remember which needles are parked in which color button. Sounds like a plan. Hope it works.

I'll try to remember to get some photos of how I put this pincushion together. I'm using an old tomato pincushion for the middle. There are videos on youtube about how to make a pincushion. I'm using some of their ideas and some of my own.

The answer to yesterday's riddle: In order to get everything across the river safely.

The farmer leaves the fox and the corn and rows the chicken across the river, (the fox and corn are safe left together.) He leaves the chicken on the riverbank and rows back across and picks up the fox.


He rows the fox across the river, leaves the fox, picks up the chicken and together they go back across the river. And since he can't have the chicken and the corn together, he leaves the chicken and brings the corn across the river and leaves it with the fox.


Then he heads back across the river to retrieve the chicken and makes one more trip that unites them all.

(I like logic puzzles. That's a lot of rowing. There is a lot to be said for cages.)  

Today's riddle:

What starts with a T, ends with a T, and has T in it?
(The riddle may be too easy, but I like it) 

Peek at the Past

(November 14, 2009)

[0 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Golden Tree Tops

My Black Hen

Hickety, pickety, my black hen,

She lays eggs, for gentlemen;

Gentlemen come every day,

To see what my black hen does lay,

Sometimes nine and sometimes ten,

Hickety, pickety, my black hen.

I'm thankful we have our chickens!


The chickens are way down there under the trees.
I tried to get a photo of them yesterday afternoon.

I love the way the way the setting sun turns the tops of the trees to gold. Blue sky above... but it's dark on the forest floor. And it's hard to see the chickens under the trees scratching up leaves looking for their evening snack. But soon the oak leaves will fall and the winter sun will warm and light up the forest floor for more of the day. And I'm looking forward to those sunny, cool, crisp days when I can spend all day outside raking leaves. Well, I could be out raking now, but I have learned not to rake too early or I just have to do the job over several times. Every year I hope for a storm to come by and knock all the leaves down in one go.

The answer to yesterday's riddle: A cloud.

Today's riddle:

A farmer has to get a fox, a chicken, and a sack of corn across a river.

He has a rowboat, and it can only carry him and one other thing at a time.

If the fox and the chicken are left alone together, the fox will eat the chicken.

If the chicken and the corn are left together, the chicken will eat the corn.

How can the farmer get the fox, chicken and corn across the river?

Peek at the Past

(November 13, 2009)

[0 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Lovely Mountain Lake

November Quote

click on this photo and it will enlarge

So lovely was the loneliness

Of a wild lake, with black rock bound,

And the tall pines that tower'd around.

~ Edgar Allan Poe - The Lake

I'm thankful for:

Water, oceans, lakes and puddles.

I love this lake!

This is where our drinking water comes from.

Very quiet day today.

The answer to yesterday's riddle: A ship.

Today's riddle: I am not an airplane, but I can fly through the sky. I am not a river, but I am full of water. What am I?

Peek at the Past

(November 12, 2009)

[0 eggs today]

Lots of feathers, no eggs.

~:>

Smiles

Thank You!

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb

voting on what to have for lunch.

Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!

~ Benjamin Franklin

To all Veterans

Thank you!

Carrot Peels On The Porch

Some of the hens are starting to look well feathered again, but there are a few others that are still dropping feathers and look kinda scary. Molting is a yukky business.

Seeing the porch decorated with rain, leaves, carrot peels, and chickens makes me happy. Morgan is enjoying her kibble treats inside while the hens gobble up the peels.

The leaves are beginning to fall and soon I'll be ankle deep in leaves and will have to start raking them up. Next week? That will keep me busy for awhile.

We used to have chickens that roosted in our redwood trees when we lived in the Santa Cruz mountains. After the earthquake in '89 we caught and moved the goats, but we couldn't catch the chickens. They did quite well in the trees and were very happy. I loved Sesame Street. Miss Jim Henson.

November Quote

"My leaves are turning crimson," the giant oak tree said,

"It's almost time these children should seek their winter's bed,

But how they still cling to me and gleam with crimson hue,

They truly are more lovely than cirrus clouds of blue.

Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr. - A Song of the Woods

I love and am grateful for the seasons.

The answer to yesterday's riddle: Words that have double letters.

Today's riddle: Weight in my belly, trees on my back. Nails in my ribs, feet I do lack.

What am I?

Peek at the Past

(November 9, 2009)

[no eggs today]
Kristine brought home
a bag of organic chicken pellets today.
I'm missing the eggs.
Store bought organic eggs don't measure up
to our chicken's eggs.

~:>

Smiles

1915 San Francisco Exposition View Book

!!! Note: I think I was very lucky I didn't damage the skillet when I put it in the wood stove fire! The skillet could have warped or cracked if it got too hot. Next time I will make sure the fire is not hot enough to make the skillet red hot. Just hot enough to clean it off.

Like I said... I was lucky and the skillet turned out with a lovely smooth surface and even though I just seasoned it on the top of the wood stove it did a great job of cooking an egg. I love that it will just get better and better with age.

The only makers mark on the skillet is an 8 on the handle. Kristine said the 8 had a hat. Huh? I took a look and sure enough there is a v under the 8 (on the end of the handle side not the rim side of the 8.) The skillet has seen a lot of use. The cooking surface is covered with tiny cut marks and dings, but the cooking surface is smooth. Lucky me.

It's raining and I'm not doing anything interesting today. Just stuff like cleaning the refrigerator that wouldn't really make an interesting photo. So, I looked around and spotted a box of old stuff I set out to go through this winter.

I reached in the box and pulled out this "View Book" from 1915: Official Souvenir View Book of the Panama Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco 1915"


The View Book belonged to Tom's grandmother and is in a box with a lot of other stuff I need to look through. I have a feeling the stuff is going to end up in another box and stored away out of sight.

I used to go past the Palace of Fine Arts twice a day when I was bussed to school in San Francisco in the 50's. I think it is the only part of the Exposition still standing. Hope they can save it.

It would be neat if I could come up with a way to keep booklets like this safe and yet in easy reach so we could enjoy looking at them and reading about the events. I'll work on it.


November Quote

An apple a day

Sends the doctor away

Apple in the morning

Doctor's warning

Roast apple at night

Starves the doctor outright

Eat an apple going to bed

Knock the doctor on the head

Three each day, seven days a week

Ruddy apple, ruddy cheek

~ Nursery Rhyme

I'm thankful for apples

and all good things to eat

Didn't find any apples on our tree this year.

The answer to yesterday's riddle: A kiss.

Today's riddle: In my green village there is no light, but there is brightness. There is no black, but there is blackness. There is school, but no people. There is grass, but no flowers. There are mirrors, but no reflections. There are apples, but no bananas and there are carriages, but no babies. What kind of things are allowed in my green village?

Peek at the Past

(November 9, 2009)

[no eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

How I Cleaned A Very Dirty Old Iron Skillet In My Woodstove

! Update Note: I think I was very lucky I didn't damage the skillet when I put it in the fire to clean it! It could have warped or cracked. Next time I will make sure the fire is not hot enough to make the skillet red hot. Just hot enough to clean it off.

This is a photo of an old family skillet that had been encrusted with layers of cooked on food inside and out.

It was even lumpy! Yet, it was an old family skillet I didn't want to get rid of, but at the same time I didn't want to use.

Tom took the skillet out of the wood stove to finish cooling after the fire burned down. The skillet is covered in ash. Not wood ash. The ash is from all the crud that got burned off.

Wish I had thought to take a photo of it in its before state or when it was red hot. I didn't plan to make a post about putting a skillet in the fire. Should have!

I remembered reading an iron skillet could be restored by putting it in a fire and burning off the crud. The wood stove was burning so I decided to give it a try.

I set the skillet in the wood stove on a bed of glowing wood with small flames. If I put a skillet in the fire again, I will raise it above the coals because the skillet ended up glowing red. I was a bit afraid and thought it might melt. But no, the skillet survived its bath of fire and all crud was burned away to ash.

The next day I scrubbed the skillet with steel wool and dish soap. All the ash and burned stuff came right off. I rinsed the skillet very well, dried it, and heated it on the cook top to make sure it was all the way dry.

Then I lightly oiled the skillet inside and out and put it on the top of the wood stove to cure the bottom a bit. The skillet is supposed to be oiled and put in an oven or back in the wood stove at a much lower temperature (around 300 degrees) to cure.

In the past I'm sure people didn't always have ovens and skillets must have gotten cured just by everyday use. I may try out using this skillet without curing and see how things work out.

The skillet doesn't have any marking stamped on it except an 8 on the handle. It has a smooth bottom with a smooth rounded edge. The handle is different than my other skillets.

The handles on my other skillets are rounded at the end and this handle comes to a point. The other difference I noticed right away is that it is a bit lighter and the metal feels a bit thinner. It is still heavy... just not as heavy as my Wagner 8 inch skillet.

Wish I knew the history of this skillet. Where and when was it made? I'll have to do a search on iron skillets with pointy handles and see if I can find any information.

I will for sure never put anything other than an iron skillet or pot in the wood stove. Having it turn red scared me... and next time I will try placing the skillet above the coals in the flames and see if that works as well as having the skillet turn red hot.

If there is a next time. I got rid of all the other old messed up skillets I had when I was doing my cleaning and clearing out. Well, anyway I got a clean skillet!

P.S.
The big shiny pot on the wood stove is full of water keeping the air moist and us from getting dry throats and bloody noses. (Our big wood stove dries out the air) It is amazing how fast water evaporates out of that pot. I found the pot when I was clearing stuff out and thought, instead of sending it to Goodwill, I'd try it out this winter on the wood stove. Might not look that great, but it works out great.

November Quote

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul.

And sings the tune

Without the words,

and never stops at all.

~ Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886

I'm thankful for Hope.

The answer to yesterday's riddle: A promise

Today's riddle:

Of no use to one, yet absolute bliss to two. The small boy gets it for nothing. The young man has to lie for it. The old man has to buy it. The baby's right, The lover's privilege, the hypocrite's mask. To the young girl faith; to the married woman hope; to the old maid charity. What am I?

Peek at the Past

(November 8, 2009)

[no eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

VW Bus To Go

Tom, Sharon and little Bella, braved the rain to take a good look at Buttercup.  My old VW Bus has been waiting out in the woods for over ten years for someone to come save her before another tree falls on her. Poor Buttercup has seen better days.

I think, Sharon, has big plans for Buttercup!

Buttercup is a camper bus and has an icebox, cupboards, tables and the back seat folds in line with the shelf and makes into a bed. Nowadays, she also has dents and scratches, needs mechanical repair, a new windshield, paint and other stuff like new tires. Buttercup was quite a cute girl in her day. We had a lot of fun.

Buttercup was my bus when the girl were growing up and used to take us everywhere. It was so neat to have cold sodas and lunch in the ice box and all kinds of packaged stuff in the cupboard ready for snacks or a picnic.

Buttercup was our home away from home when we stayed at fairgrounds when the girls had 4-H animals entered and needed to be there round the clock to feed and groom them and clean the stalls. They didn't really need to be there round the clock, but they would stay with their animals to keep them safe from people who would try to hurt or steal the animals.

I had a portable camp cooker to heat up water for tea, but instead of cooking breakfast it was a treat to buy breakfast early in the morning at the fairgrounds from people who were set up to  cook and made the best breakfasts ever. Such fun!

Ahhh..., look at the girly girls. They don't appreciate the dry leaf litter and would much rather be running around out in the rain.

There is not much of a rain storm happening, so the chickens are not having to put up with wind or cold temperatures.

And I'm very happy to see that a lot of the hens are growing out their new feathers and are not looking too bad.

Feathers! I want chickens with feathers!

November Quote

Got no check books, got no banks.

Still I'd like to express my thanks -

I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.

~ Irving Berlin - from Annie Get Your Gun

I'm thankful for being retired up here in the mountains.

Today's riddle: The cost of making only the maker knows; valueless if bought, but sometimes traded. A poor man may give one as easily as a king. When one is broken, pain and deceit are assured.

The answer to yesterday's riddle is: wheelbarrow

In the 1940's I remember my great uncles reciting rhymes to me and asking me riddles. Not much to do on a farm for a little kid. I guess they felt sorry for me. I thought it was great fun to guess the answers and I still remember a few.

Peek at the Past

(November 7, 2009)

[1 egg today]

Neat! That was my dinner.

I noticed on last year's post that
Kristine brought home the first bag of
organic chicken feed on this date 2009.
Hadn't realized it'd been a year.

~:>

Smiles

Wow! It's My Sister! Never Thought To See The Sight!

November Quote

It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly

unless one has plenty of work to do.

~ Jerome K. Jerome

I'm grateful for rest, time-off, relaxing, fun, me-time.

Sharon, and her little dog, Bella

So sweet!

Even though she was forced by circumstances to come up here I'm still very glad she made the journey and can spend some time visiting. I tried to take some photos of Sharon and Bella outside tonight, but I don't have the camera on the right setting.

I am pathetic! :) I don't have a clue about how to change the flash setting. So, what do I do... I call for Kristine. She's magic. All she had to do is to take a photo with the camera and it flashed.  I'm posting the photo she took. Good grief... she is so good even a photo she took when she wasn't looking came out ok. Sigh.

I like how the apricot paint warmed up the entry area. And it looks ok next to the pale green in the in between room.

Today's riddle:
Two legs I have and this will confound: Only at rest do they touch the ground!
What am I?

The answer t yesterday's riddle is:
Friend

Peek at the Past

(November 6, 2009)

[no eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Cook Top Biscuits To Sooth My Soul

I made biscuits with half whole wheat and half white flour. I like the flavor the whole wheat adds, but I must admit that the white four biscuits have a finer texture. I do like fluffy biscuits.

Cooking biscuits on the cook top instead of in the oven has turned out to be a fun, fast and easy way to make biscuits.

It has been a very blah day. So (instead of eating up all the biscuits) to cheer myself up I spent most of the day watching 36 YouTube videos:
Victorian Farm

I was very glad to spend my day with the Victorian farmers. Much nicer than paying attention to my gloomy self.



Riddle for today:
I'm assumed to be a gift that's priceless, that can't be bought or sold. My value is far greater than a mountain made of gold.
What am I?

The answer to yesterday's riddle is: Your tongue.

Peek at the Past

(November 5, 2009)

[no eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Timber! The Sky Is Falling!

November Thankful Quote

I let my neighbour know beyond the hill;

And on a day we meet to walk the line

And set the wall between us as we go.

~ Robert Frost - Mending Wall

I'm grateful for good neighbors.








Kristine told me there was a great long tree limb that fell out by our front fence. I asked Morgan to sit next to the limb for size comparison. Those two limbs are really one limb that broke in two when it hit the ground. I do get a little worried when I'm under the trees and I hear creaking noises. 

Riddle for today: It lives in a house, it can move in, out, up and down, is surrounded by a white picket fence and has red earth and sky. What am I?

Answer to yesterday's riddle: the i and s in invisible.

There are at least 4 chickens in this photo.

They are pretty good at hiding in plain sight.

I feel like I'm hiding in plain sight too. Grief and stress have a similar effect on me... I eat... stress eating? Well, I'm controlling myself this time around, but I really, really, want to sit down and stuff my face. Bags of potato chips and cookies would be very welcome. I even want to scurry around in the kitchen and make a bunch of biscuits. Biscuits sound good. I think I will make them, but I won't eat them all tonight. Maybe...

Peek at the Past

(November 4, 2009)

[ no eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

 November Thankful Quote

To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.

William Blake - Auguries of Innocence

I'm grateful for my sight.

I have lost a bit in one eye, but that makes me even more thankful.

Today's riddle:

Always invisible, but never out of sight. What are they?

The answer to yesterdays riddle is: the #7 on a phone.

I love living up here on the mountain and being able to see for such long distances out across the mountain tops. Well, I can do that when I ever leave the property and get out to the side of the mountain. Otherwise, I'm surrounded by trees, which suits me just fine. I love living in the woods.

[1 egg today]

I think it is an Australorp that is laying,

but Kristine thinks it is

a Wyandotte?
~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Aunt Jean died unexpectedly this morning.
We're all a little in shock.
Hope you are at peace Jean. We'll remember you always.