PROCESSING WOOL: PART 2

April 20, 2014

I finally moved on to washing the raw wool. The first bag was pretty clean. I wish I knew who I bought that particular bag from because that person takes immaculate care of their sheep. The second bag was pretty awful in terms of lanolin - maybe it has to do with the type of sheep??? I have no idea. So... part one: pick through raw wool to get rid of particles like hay or poop. Part two: wash wool.  I...
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I DID IT! I MADE MAPLE SYRUP!

April 11, 2014

After 30+ years thinking about it, I finally made some maple syrup. Don't laugh but here it is. This came from a silver maple tree in the city so we get the added taste of pollution too. Haha! I boiled down nearly 2 gallons of silver maple sap and what you see above is what I ended up with (there would have been a little more but I ruined the 2nd half I boiled by getting distracted on the...
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RAW FLEECE: PART ONE

February 19, 2014

I admit it, I'm a fiber hoarder. I'm also a book hoarder, a yarn hoarder, a soap supply hoarder, a card supply hoarder and... ok, you get the point.  Problem with raw fiber is you really can't hoard it for very long or else the moths move in so... after stashing this stuff away for nearly a year I decided it was time to deal with it. Now... just in case you didn't know, this is my...
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YUM! PASTAAAAAA

November 5, 2013

I am not one to share a lot of recipes, only because I really don't know how to cook that well.  I pretend I know how to cook and my family pretends to like what I cook but I'm really not that awesome.  BUT... I do have this one meal that I cook pretty well, the entire family loves it and we eat it way too often so I thought it was the perfect meal to share :-) I got it out of the Food...
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HOMESCHOOLING WEEK THREE

September 19, 2013

I realize I am lonnnnng overdue for a blog post but I have been trying to get into the swing of homeschooling and figuring out where everything else fits in.  So far, things are going pretty well.  I don't educate my daughter from 9-3 every day like I thought I would, I'm really lucky if I can get her to sit still and focus for 3 whole hours, generally our sit down work ends after about...
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THE BEGINNING OF HOME SCHOOL

August 24, 2013

I'm about to enter into my first year of home schooling Aiyana (my 6 year old).  I feel a little bit insane for doing it, just because my educational background has not prepared me to teach.  I studied psychology, the only good that is going to do me is helping me identify when I'm having a nervous breakdown over the whole homeschooling process. LOL! I think I'm prepared.  Thanks to...
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FUN IN THE BOUNDARY WATERS

August 21, 2013

I meant to post this much earlier but I didn't get around to uploading all of my BWCA pictures to the computer until now. In early July our family took a trip up to the BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area), one of our most favorite places to visit in the U.S.  We spent 4 days canoeing, hiking, fishing, camping in addition to looking for bears and wolves.  Unfortunately we didn't...
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