Buffalo Fiber in the Mail & Daffodils

   After I purchased the big bag of buffalo fiber, I got to thinking-"what was I thinking??" Shhhh I didn't tell Larry about this one-kinda crazy I know haha.  Reminds me back when I was quilting more the girls would hide their fabric purchses from their husbands. I never hide stuff-but this purchase I did so far.

    I got the 5 pound bag because it was such a better price point-especially since they had a good mark down on it, and then another 15% off  on any order, plus free shipping. The free shipping was a big savings. I had been looking at this for a couple years now and the price was just too expensive before, and they have not offered free shipping before that I remember, so thinking they were spring cleaning their warehouse. .

  I also bought another pair of their "Boss" short socks made with buffalo yarn-I had bought a pair a year ago and I love them These socks will last the rest of my life time for sure.-perhaps even the fiber smiles.

  The first thing I did was to get this fiber out of the plastic bag, and then I grabbed old pillow cases from my craft room. Fibers need to breath-I never store any form of fibers or fabrics in plastic bags. 

   Well 5  pounds Is Allot of fiber-4 stuffed bags full haha.   The fiber is very very clean which I am very happy about, and allot of it was in wide rolls. This is supposed to be the waste fiber and more coarse. It is actually not extremely coarse.  The fibers are very very short which I had expected, but I almost think I will try carding it with another fiber to see if I can spin some of it.  I also thought it might just make a nice stuffing for little pillows too. I will also use some of this fiber in the soil too this spring as I work on the perennial areas.

  These photos came out a bit dark-sorry

  

    I got to thinking this week while waiting for this to get delivered that 5 pounds is allot of fiber-Yes it is-- fibers do make me happy though and I need happy right now.

   I have had in the back of my mine to create another framed fiber picture using wools and needle felting fibers-this will work for that project too, although that won't make much of a dent in this.

We got up into the 80's F temperature today but will crash to the low 20's tonight with wind rain t storms-typical for Missouri some years. 

   Late this afternoon I got outdoors for a bit. That sewer ditch project we had been working on before Larry's fall over the stone wall created allot of good soil. I spent hours seperating out the rocks from the soil-we needed the rocks to put on top of the sewer pipe.  This is a slow project for me fill a big bucket half full with this soil and carry it down the steps- I did a couple hours of that-but good thing I stopped at 2 hours.

  I did see a few daffodils beginning to bloom- that was a surprise  I was not able to work in these areas before winter last year after Larry's fall-so I have much to do to get these areas sorted before they grow too much I am hoping what I planted last year will return this spring

The storms have just begun while I type this--Have a good rest of your week

Spring Card Swap With Me?? Updated

     Morning, everyone, actually we are just past noon here where I live.

  I am finally feeling better and want to get back to my craft projects and writing. Just did not have the energy for any of that, but it is coming back to me Smiles.

     I am in the process of setting up papers to make a few spring cards for mailing off to friends.  If you would like to swap a Spring card with me, just send me a note from my contact link that is on my blog and include your address if I don't already have it. 

   Spring this year is March 19th   

  I forgot I lost all of my pretty spring flower photos when I got my new computer, so I found this one online.

 Good afternoon Saturday, I had fun making up my Spring cards over the last couple of days. Just finished them up. Made a little over a dozen all different this time.  Will stop by the post office next week to see how much postage I need. Made them bigger than I usually do.

Sunday: I will be mailing off the international cards on Monday, if anyone still interested I have a couple more cards left to mail out

Monday-Spring cards I had made are all ready to mail out soon-I look forward to sharing summer time cards

T Stands for This and That

Hello to the T Group with our hostess Bleubeard and Elizabeth,

     I thought I would pop in to visit at least once a month going forward. Larry is getting a bit better every week now. Looks like Medicare will probably only pay for in home physical therapy for three more weeks. Hoping they can extend that. One of the oversearer was out last week and said their goal is to get Larry walking up the steps at the end of three weeks. That would be awesome but I don't see that happening in that time frame at all. Larry tires out super fast now with his heart condtion so I really can't visualize that just yet-but will pray on it.

 

   We did get a blast of winter over this weekend, ice first and  then several inches of snow on top.(photos previous post)  We still have low temperatures but with full sun I am surprised how much has melted off over the weekend. Saturday most of the hill was melted off.

  For my drink share for T  I grabbed one of my Yellowstone water bottles-that I love-and filled with water to use in the house. Makes me happy-smiles. I also wanted to try out a decaf freeze dried coffee that I found on Amazon. If I make up a pot of coffee for me it lasts over a week sometimes-so if I just want one cup I thought this sounded perfect. This coffee has excellent deep flavor-I love it. Not at all like just a instant coffee. My coffee cup is handmade pottery.

After I drank most of my coffee and I had more light for a nicer photo-I also grabbed apples from the refrigerator to make up an apple crisp.I made that Sunday morning with fresh blueberries

 I wanted to share my vintage postcards, stickers amd ATC from Bleubeard and Elizabeth. The cards and stickers were so thoughtful and chosen just for me  thank you so much

  With the very cold weather starting on  Friday I decided perfect to wear my new slippers-cozy and warm

  Sunday morning-surprise! The new amarylis bulb I purchased around November had bloomed but had no leaves. This looked like a very young bulb. However, when I watered my older bulb and this one today, I discovered a leaf growing and also another flower stem-what a wonderful surprise! The flowers will be red and white.

      Sunday morning's sunrise was very very bright, so did not capture a good photo to share

  Not sure anyone reading this will be nterested but I wanted to share a family owned company I love. They send out very interesting newsletters too that I have always learned something new.

    The Buffalo Wool Company   They process buffalo fibers, I love their socks-sooo warm and comfy.I try to support USA home business's when possible. I have been eyeing their buffalo fibers for soil amendment. for awhile  now. It's rather expensive but their site has a big sale going along with free shipping when you spend a certain amount. Alot of items are sold out already. I bought another pair of their ankle size socks and  I decided to buy some of this fiber to see how coarse it is and if it could be spun or not along with using it for gardening.  When I searched online about adding fiber like this to soils everything was positive about it.   Have any of you tried a fiber in your gardens?

     I want to get the big plastic tubs we have that held food for ranchers that we still have at the woods home-up here to the lake.  These are very large and perfect for growing things in.  I have organic cotton seeds coming in the mail soon that I want to grow in these tubs along with flowers. Vegetables are difficult as the chipmunks and squirrels eat everything they find. It can get very hot here in this area of Missouri in the late summer months-so I think plants will do better in these tubs.

  As I am writing this  my apple-blueberry crisp just came out of the oven

I did make a couple batches of roll out sugar cookies wheat and gluten free-turned out really delicious-good thing a froze them in small bags haha

I shared photos on my Instagram page here

Happy T

Interesating -sooo Sharing

 I saw this on Facebook

Winter Arrived Today

     We have been enjoying spring weather here, but today winter decided to blow back in.

Started with rain that turned to ice and then several inches of snow and cold with lots of wind too brrrr. The house feels really cold today with all that wind and change of weather.

  I did not even tackle walking up steps and the hill to check my mailbox today. Don't need to risk another fall.  I was going to have a friend drive me over to pick up my car today but everything was ice this morning-so we do not need to get out on the roads.  I did enough of that in my younger years in northern Illinois driving to work in winter. 

  Surprising there was actually a few boats on the lake this morning too.

I have gotten a few very thoughtful and lovely Valentine's cards in the mail this week-thank you so much for thinking of me-I love surprises in my mailbox. I also got Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T anniversary atc that I love, with special postcards-I will share hers next week  Hugs to you all.

  I only have one KC Chiefs sweatshirt that I bought a few years ago, and it was a vintage one-bummer though I was cleaning and splattered bleech on the front-what was I thinking??. I am still soooo bumbed about  that. 

   I explored Etsy and found a shop here in Missouri that is screenprintig shirts-so I bought a sweatshirt that says back to back super bowls.  I also looked for a friendship bead bracelet on Etsy in Chiefs colors-those seem to be super popular now, influenced by Taylor Swift. I found another Missouri shop that was making them at a very afforable price. 

   I probably have at least a dozen Green Bay Packers sweatshirts-some of them are at least 30 years old now or older, so I wanted one more KC Chiefs sweatshirt.to wear. This year I also found a vintage large and comfy Notre Dame college (South Bend Indiana) sweatshirt that I enjoy wearing.

   Those of you that are seniors do you enjoy still wearing your teams colors?

I think tomorrow sounds like a perfect day to make an apple crisp in cast iron-have not made one in awhile. I even have some vanilla ice cream in the freezer too.

  Happy Friday and Weekend!

Prayers for Kansas City

 

  I am thinking you have seen-heard the news by now. Just as the victory parade and celebration concluded shots were fired.   One of the local news channels had a live feed beginning at 4:30 am  The parade and events had concluded a bit before 2 in the afternoon. I had left the feed going on my computer and made us our lunch.

  Kept hearing like the feed was still airing so checked and found out about the shooting. So sad that this would happen after a fun day for families. 

  One has died, 3 still very critical and children were targtetd as well. 

Prayers for Kansas City and the families

Raw Cotton Update

   Remember the raw cotton I was gifted from a friend in North Carolina that lives near cotton fields?  She knows I like to play with fibers so she had sent me some thinking I would like the seeds. She says one can find the cotton still on the stems on the streets and highways after harveting.

  I shared that after being washed this cotton would not absorb any dye. So I bought a mordant-a fixative-and rewashed the cotton used the  mordant and soaked in the coffee-water for 24 hours. Still not much color take up at all.

  Sooo remembering tthat the cotton farmers use tons of chemicals to grow cotton, I did a research on what they might add before harvesting. Sadly I found a whole paragraph of chemicals and also one included killng the seeds that they apply before harvesting Not good at all.

    Soooo I just rinsed well, dried it and then since it was a tangled mess, grabbed a flicker-a fiber tool for cleaning-and worked to untangle. The fibers are soooo short that I just teased it all out with my fingers instead. The cotton is no longer a bright white but a softer white that I like better Those of you that followed me for awhile know I do not like white in a fiber project.

My original thought was to use this cotton for another needle felted "picture" art piece. Several years ago I did a piece with bears, that is framed and I love. Always wanted to do another piece. 

  While working with the cotton this afternoon, most of this cotton is sooo short, I got to thinking that perhaps I might make paper with this. Would mix it with a paper pulp. That could be fun.

  Any thoughts?  

  I am still without my car, I did know they were backed up when I took it in, but it is over 2 weeks ago now. My neighbor friend will give me a ride to town this week for some errands I need to do, and I will have her stop at the auto shop too. They are not returning my call which is so unike them

  Have a good week everyone

How About Those Chiefs??

   I think this was one of the most exciting super bowl games I have watched in some time. A nail biter for sure The two teams were evenly matched in my opinion, and the Chiefs were considered the underdogs in this game. There was a short time there, that I couldn't watch and worked on a puzzle at jigsaw planet. I missed the clydesdale commercial so will look for that online.

  The half time show was better than most, I thought it was a good choice since they were playing in Las Vegas, but I hope they bring a country music show for half time soon, although I enjoyed seeing Reba  singing our national anthem,  last year with Stapelton was epic and I have watched that again several times-very moving.

  The victory parade on Valentine's Day will be live online from a Kansas City station here  I enjoyed watching last year, although the team was pretty "blasted" by the time they reached the stage. smiles

I looked for a photo from the game to share and I chose this one. Mahomes with his young son Bronze, his wife and daughter were there too. 

In my opinion  Mahomes has taken the "torch" from Brady moving forward and I love coach Reid-brilliant play calling

Spring & Happy Mail & Sunrise Photos

   Hello Friends,

    We are still enjoying spring weather here, although it does drop down pretty cool at night, and we have been getting a bit of rain too-which keeps me from tackling all the leaves out there.

  I am so enjoying my new computer, mostly because I can see colors etc. Larry is improving a little each day, and then he will have a set back-sigh.  We decided he needs one of those tall toilets as he is not able to easily raise back up and get back into the wheelchair. I ordered that today. I have not heard back about my car so will call the repair shop tomorrow. I know they were backed up from the ice storm a couple weeks ago.

  A few weeks ago I entered my friend Cathy's giveaway at Acorn Hollow-and I won-happy dance!! This was fun and even more fun to win-smiles. Years ago when I first started blogging-early 2000's, I held several giveaways and entered several too-so it was a surprise for me to see Cathy with a giveaway.I may have a giveaway sometime this year too.  My box arrived in today's mail. I love every thing, the colors are all so me-a wonderful pick me up for my mental health for sure. I took a few photos to share.

   Everything was inside this lovely basket-which will be perfect to use in my craft room. I am thinking this is a handmade item too.

a little book, a flower pin, word cocoa on a wood block, vintage hanky

In the back was this package of cocoa bombs-this looks so delicious but I will gift this item to my friend that loves all things chocolate and this has gluten too -my friend will really enjoy this.

 I have never seen a wash cloth tied together like this was, to use as a little envelope for soap

A bar of artisian soap was inside

A shell

Surprise-isn't this pretty??

I love the colors-fingerless gloves

and house slippers--I love the colors on both

  I think my friend out did herself with her awesome giveaway-thank you again soooo much Cathy.

   I am still using the camera I don't care for, and figuring out how to get better photos-these were taken one day last week-early morning just before sunrise

This morning I baked up chocolate chip cookies-wheat for Larry and a gluten free version for me-they turned out really good. I found a recipe online that makes just a couple dozen which I like. The photo is gluten free and they turned out really delicious. I use butter and a little coconut oil, fair trade organic natural brown sugar-sooo good, and a fair trade organic sugar. I use Bob's Red Mill 1-1 gluten free flour- that bakes the best for me.  For Larry's I used splenda for the white sugar to cut down on the sugar for him-his turned out really good too.

Happy new week everyone