2019 Is almost over.

The year is almost over and with the holidays around the courner I thought I would set aside some time to actually write a post on what we have accomplished this year. I have noticed on the blog that some photos that were uploaded on other posts are now gone, which is frustrating. I am not sure why these photos have disappeared over time. Those photos may have been on older phones and no longer exist. Or perhaps they are photos I have deleted from my google account not realizing they would disappear on word press as well.

This year we have been working hard to renovate our house from the master bed room, hall way , spare room and dinning room. We started out really strong in January finishing the master bedroom in 2 months , however we had to slow down over the year as we could not physically keep up with that amount of work daily.

The master bed room suite is the only room that is completely finished. There are various things from each project that still need to be completed.

The other side of the master suite

dinning room

The river table counter top for the built in book shelf in the dinning room.

The spare room

This room still needs three rows of wood flooring. We also need to patch all the holes with mud and sand prior to painting. Our plan is to start on this room when we do the kitchen as it is expensive to buy boxes of flooring.

My husband and I were able to spend two weeks with each other where we took my moms ashes up north, celebrated 10 years of marriage at the family cabin, and the second week my sister came to visit this year in the summer time.

I have been making yarn and various crochet projects.

The shawl from the “creatures great and small fiber”

I finally found a project for the light pink yarn. I originally wanted to use it for a 3/4 sleeve pull over however the gauge never came out right.

I was able to find a pattern that worked well for this yarn and I am very proud of how it turned out.

I also challenged my self to make gloves with two separate patterns to match my little red ridding hood infinity scarf. I have learned a lot from making these gloves. First and foremost I should not have made the fingers so long. Secondly, I should have kept track of how many stitches I was doing so that I could replicate what I have made.

The good thing is that I was able to use up almost all of the spare yarn I had from this project.

Some baby cowboy boots and a baby blanket for a coworker. I also learned how to use puff pain to make these booties grip the floor.

I am still working on making Brian a scarf for hunting season. I have the main portion completed however the scarfs total width and length came up short. I had to buy more fiber and started spinning more yarn to be able to complete it. At this time , I have 2/3 new skiens from the new fiber I bought. The total project will have 6 skeins total of yarn that is a merino tusha silk blend.

The picture below are the first 3 skeins that made the main portion of the scarf.

My wonderful husband ordered me a yarn swift and ball winder because he was tired of seeing me struggle with knotted yarn. I may have gone overboard with caking up all of my homemade yarns.

Brian and I took a trip with the Orchard View Muskegon Travelers for a small day trip which included visiting a light house ,Cherry Point Farms, and Fox Barn in Shelby, Michigan. I highly recommend the Orchard View Muskegon Travelers.

In other renovation news, as I am scrolling through all the pictures from this year, we were able to make progress on the craft/practice room in the basement.

We also found a place in Twin Lake to fix our Fireplace and we have been using it consistently since the cold weather has set in.

2018

The year went by quickly from June to December and it has had a lot of difficult times this year. The two worst months were in March when my husbands grandfather died, and then in December when my mother unexpectedly died. I am hoping that now we are in 2019 that it will bring a better year. I know change is apart of life, but these losses have left me reeling and reevaluating a lot of things.

At the cabin up north for Grandpas memorial

from left to right me , Brian, Eric, father in law (Mike) , and Denny. June 2018

From left to right , step dad, me, my mom, my sister, and my brother at my wedding in 2009.

From June to December we have been primarily focused on little projects around the house and I finally paid off my school loans which was a huge achievement that we accomplished in 2.5 years.

Starting in 2019 we have been making tremendous strides with renovating our home. It has taken a lot of time, energy, and of course money to complete each project. I have come to hate mud-ing and sanding. I also hate painting ceilings the most. I have to admit the room is even better than I had originally imagined it to be. I can hardly wait to move in to the finished side and start working on the other side of the room. We hope to have the master bedroom and hall way complete by the end of February 2019.

8 months of photos….

I can not believe that my last post was around December of 2017. I guess I have been so busy that I literally haven’t had the time to update the blog. I have a lot of photos below that will be organized into sections with descriptions. The past eight months have been a series of house projects, events, and just everyday life. Some of the projects took months to finish and others were completed in a day. Ill try to group the photos into categories as best as possible.

This year Brian and I celebrated 12 years together and 9 years of marriage!! It has gone by so quickly, and I wish time would slow down. He started teaching me how to fish and bought me a vest, rod and reel. We ended up needing to put the reel on a medium weight rod because the fish were getting away. I look forward to sharing this hobby with him.  We have also been working on the house and completing various projects.

I officially had my first flat tire when going back to work. When I called my wonderful husband he must have misunderstood as he assumed I had changed a tire before. Thankfully the chevy came with all the equipment necessary.

I would not recommend buying a tumbler for composting. The one that I attempted to use for a few years did not work. It was either to dry or too wet, and it was very hard to turn once it was full. I decided to break down and make some composter’s and it has been alot easier!! We made it out of cedar to deter insects, and the slats make it easy to turn the compost at different heights.

We also decided to add a ramp and patio area to the back of our home. Since, our families are getting older and it makes it easier to get into our house.

I took an old broken wheel barrow from the 70s or 80s and turned it into a flower bed 🙂 It was a nice easy two day project.

Ive been on a DIY kick here and there. I have been making my own dish tabs for the dish washer, and my own cold sugar wax. I would like to get into making my own soap when I can find the time.

Yarn and Crafts

I have tubs of yarn and I have been trying to use up as much as possible and decided to attempt my first large afgahn. The project took months to complete, but I was able to use up 2 skeins of super saver white acrylic yarn, 1 large super saver blue yarn, multiple skins of light blue yarn and grey.

This belt was made out of my home spun yarn dyed in an orange /red and purple dye 🙂

I have been spinning a lot of yarn over the past few months including a 2 lace weight and a 3 weight yarn to make two specific projects. The weight 2 yarn is pink and will become a 3/4 sleeve pull over sweater from blue print crochet book. The 3 weight yarn is a combination of dark green and a variegated jewel tone yarn that is becoming the “Esmeralda wrap”. Yes, the emphases  project that started me down the road of spinning yarn!! I attempted to hand paint yarn again and I finally had success with three distinct colors with minimal color bleeding utilizing a plastic wrap method. I would like to change that method to a more green solution in the future.

FOOD

I have been cooking and baking here and there. I have experimented with different nuts, chips , and candies in my cookies. Everything from almond / cherry chip, to red velvet blossoms with peppermint patties!

I apologize I used to have photos of the food however the post has lost a lot of them. 

Peanut butter blossoms w peppermint patties

Peanut butter blossoms with hugs kisses

Red velvet pancakes w butter milk icing (can you tell I was on a red velvet kick) ?!

Almond / strawberry stuffed french toast bake

Pulled pork sandwiches with sweet potato stacks and salad

Semi homemade Canoli

Brownies with cookies on top , green onions wrapped in cream cheese/ham

Blue berry french toast bake (thank goodness for Betty Crocker)

malted raspberry chocolate chip with almonds

Brown Betty

Apple Turnovers

Ham sliders

Grandpa Moore:

This year has had its ups and downs from Brian needing surgery for a deviated septum and a massive infection, to his Grandpa Moore’s sudden passing. This is the first time in my life as an adult that I have had someone close to me pass away. I miss him so much and there are days when I catch a glimpse of someone driving or walking by that look similar, and for a moment I think he isn’t gone. The whole family got together this summer to have a memorial at Grandpa’s cabin where he spent a lot of time at “Poor mans acres” hunting/fishing and enjoying the outdoors. I will have to get the picture with the entire family and add it here.

Looking for Grandpas tent…. unfortunately we did not find it.

Cupcakes for Hannah and Kayla

Hannah a coworker recently had her wedding and in celebration I make chocolate chip cookie cupcakes 🙂

I also had a Field work II student this year for 12 weeks and for her last day I made Cherry Chip cupcakes with a light whipped frosting.

My awesome student who also got married in August 🙂

Finally my little fur children…. throughout this year I have captured some pretty hilarious moments. We also expanded our little pack with the addition of a Pomeranian husky.

Hershall Dippy Moore

He has too sides Eeyore/ piglet and happy 😉

Gizmo Princess Moore

My little sassy and independent child. We have started taking her to the groomer because she will not allow me to groom around her eyes. Her hair started causing problems with increased gunk and reddness. We love the groomer we go to in Grant, Michigan “Dirty dog pet salon” with Miss Jackie!

Lilly Ann Moore

Her personality has yet to fully develop, but she enjoys biting, pouncing, hopping, howling and causing mischief.

Christmas treats 2017

This years treats were a success, despite being sick during my vacation. Each bag typically had sugar cookies, linzer cookies, kringlias, Pfeffernuesse (german cookie), peanut butter dog treats, almond biscotti, white citrus truffles, and cherry hot chocolate mix.

Linzer cookies and Kringlas

Regular and whole wheat sugar cookies

Cherry hot chocolate mix

Citrus white chocolate truffles

This was our first Christmas with the new living room. It turned out spectacular!

Whole wheat sugar cookies from Cooking light holiday recipes special edition , While I did not care for these cookies, many of my family members love them. I did end up making a batch of my regular sugar cookies so I could decorate with royal icing. I loved using all of my reindeer cookie cutters.

Zesty citrus white truffles from “truffles” by Dede Wilson These turned out phenomenal, despite having to work quickly as the centers did not harden up as much as we would have liked.

The Almond biscotti from my cookie book turned out better than last year. I decided to try the new recipe which does not call for corn meal as in Annie’s eats. They turned out more soft than last years. I think I will keep making this recipe for the years to come.

We made two worldly bites from the cookie book: Pfeffernuesse (German cookie) it is a spicy bite sized cookie with brown sugar, spices, and molasses; and Norwegian Kringla which reminds me a of a short bread cookie.

This time I will feature the Norwegian Kringla cookie recipe

Norwegian Kringla pg 322 from worldly bites in the cookie book

prep 40, bake 8 min , oven 350 degrees , makes about 48 cookies

Ingredients:

3 3/4 C AP flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 1/4 C sugar

1/2 C milk

1/4 C dairy sour cream

1 T butter melted

1/4 t anise extract or 1/2 t vanilla

1 egg white (optional )

1 T water (optional)

raw sugar

1: Pre heat oven 350 F, lightly grease cook sheet, In a medium bowl stir together flour baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside

2: In a large bowl stir together egg yolks, sugar, milk, sour cream, butter and extract until combined. Using wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until combined ( will be stiff and sticky)

3: on a well floured surface droop 1 rounded T of dough and roll into 5″ long rope. On prepared cookie sheet shape rope into a ring, crossing it over itself about 1 ” from ends. Repeat with remaining dough, place rings 2″ apart. If desired make an egg wash with egg white and water. Brush over rings and sprinkle with raw sugar.

4: Bake 8″ or until light golden, transfer to cooling rack and let cool.

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In crafting news: I spun up, dyed and crocheted the merino wool into the “Little Reds Infinity scarf” from “crochet ever after”, this has taken me six months to complete however it was a great learning experience.

I have also taken the plunge and am slowly starting to learn how to knit, I do not think I will ever be very good at knitting however at least I can at least say I tried.

Squeaking wheel and new fiber

My Kromski has been squeaking a lot this last week and it turns out to be coming from the bar that goes across the treadles, we have tried applying wax with a paper towel however it only works for a few minutes. I have researched and found that other people have had the same problem, and have had to take the treadles off and re lubricate the bar with wax. It appears I will have to take it apart, which scares me to death as I dont want to destroy my spinning wheel. I am still waiting to hear back from Kromski as I have sent them a video and pictures to demonstrate the issues I am having with my wheel.

In the meantime, while we attempted to figure out the main problem and various options I decided to dye all the skiens of yarn I had made, and started crocheting with my home made yarn.

Purple lace weight single from my dyed mini rovings

 

Green and Tan Skein

Teal and cream skein

Redish orange and purple ( I personally think this last Skein turned out the best spinning and dying wise)

 

The company Paradise Fibers that I bought my spinning wheel through does points and I had enough points to buy more fiber, including;  Merino, Corrideal, and Sari Silk!

I am so excited and thrilled with these new fibers. I am waffling on what I should do with the fiber. First and foremost I need my wheel to not squeak when I spin. I also could spin my little roaving’s as practice to try and get a better handle on making the correct gauge. I was thinking of attempting the following weights Fingering, Lace, and or DK. I was debating on spinning for a specific project however the last project I wanted to spin for needed over 2000 yards and I didn’t quite have enough which was frustrating. I guess all I can do is try to spin a specific gauge and if I have enough then that will be the icing on the cake.

Happy Spinning 🙂

Drop spindle to spinning wheel

I do not know how I got into yarn making and spinning. I believe I wanted to make a particular wrap and it called for a specific yarn. I tried my local Joann’s and Hobby lobby however, they typically sold acrylic yarn, not wool or blend I was looking for. I found the specific yarn by doing a simple search on the internet and it was 40 dollars a skein … I just about had a heart attack… how could one skein of yarn cost 40 dollars?!!! I thought to myself I could make it for cheaper. Yes, all the people who spin and make yarn.. yes I had a rude awakening. I did not realize how much money, time, and effort went into making yarn. I first researched spinning wheels and honestly at the time I did not know if I would like it, and did not want to invest a ton of money into something I may or may not enjoy.

In the end I bought the book “Respect the Spindle” and my husband and I made my first drop spindle. I read half of Abby’s book, and watched a lot of youtube videos before I bought my first roving. I began spinning, and spinning, and spinning… I wasn’t very successful and contemplated using my drop spindle for fire wood. I eventually bought two other spindles, one medium the other one a heavier Indian Rose wood.

I bought the box kit from England and the blue fiber on my light spindle is from this kit.

I finally was able to start spinning and went from park and draft to suspended spinning with in a few weeks I believe. My favorite to spin on is my

I started spinning a lot and it was aggravating my right shoulder due to it being my dominant arm, previous car accident, and playing musical instruments with repetitive injury.

I had originally planned on waiting until 2018 to buy a spinning wheel, but decided to buy one this year due to the amount of pain I was experiencing with spinning.

I originally wanted  either a Kromski or a Lendrum complete …. I researched various wheels, watched a lot of reviews, and read a lot of blogs on how to find the right spinning wheel for me. It was stressful as a lot of the terminology was difficult to grasp. I looked into; Ashford, Lendrom, Spinolution and many others that I can not remember at this time. I ended up buying a Kromski Minstriel with the Jumbo flyer kit. I bought my Kromski Minstreil from Paradise Fibers, and received it within 1 week. I decided to save on money and buy an unfinished wheel and stain it myself (headesk). I’m always trying to save money which usually entails more work on my part. After weeks of working on this wheel with the help of my husband we completed it this week. I have never stained before and there was a steep learning curve. I also have to admit the instructions for assembling the wheel leave a lot to be desired. In the end I spent about about 4 to 5 hours spinning between this Sunday and Monday. I ended up with a nice beginner single approximately 2.1 oz of wool. I am planning on Navajo plying it and then dying it later in the week. Happy spinning 🙂

My spinning corner

Spinning wool

My first single on my Kromski 🙂

Half a year…

It has been half a year since I wrote anything on here. Sometimes I wonder if I should shut down this little blog as I have been too busy with life in general. I have been cooking and baking off and on, discovering new crafts such as a kitting board, and spinning yarn. I have also picked up my clarinet again though I highly doubt I will be playing in front of people any time soon. I still have pain in my right arm when I play my clarinet which is very discouraging.

My husband and I have been working on our house and can proudly say after years of blood, sweat, and tears we have finally finished one room in our house!!!

Below are pictures from the past six months from cooking, crafting, and renovations…

In November I made the pumpkin spiced latte cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting.

My new dresser : I am finally not living out of tubs anymore, thanks to my wonderful husband.

My husband and I’s dinner after hunting season

In December

We made our traditional treats for Christmas which took some planning. We had the most fun decorating the house and the new tree.

I took a few days off of work after the Holidays to help work on the basement. It has taken us nearly 2 years to be able to finish this basement. We finally finished 99 percent of what we wanted to accomplish in March.

St Patrick’s day cup cakes

During that week I was off, I also made a lot of meals and froze portions to make the coming months easier. The dinners only lasted three months, but it made it easier on the days we didnt feel like cooking.

Before

after

Finished

Crochet

a fall shawl

Crocheted top

I have been working on this top on and off for an entire year. At times I would become so frustrated I would have to put it aside. I am so glad to have it finished and be able to wear it.

A chunky cowel with wt 6 yarn

Crochet necklace and earings ( I still have to buy the hardwear to finish these)

Working on a knitting loom

I swore up and down that I would figure this darn thing out! My husband bought me a larger loom and a great book that really helped me understand how to cast on and complete stitches.

Spinning and Yarn

This is the first drop spindle my husband and I made. I have now gotten into spinning my own yarn and dying. I am truly enjoying this craft and can not wait to have my Kromski minstril up and running.

Sheep wool

My first two skeins of yarn

Before dying

After dying

Spinning blue fiber

Crocheted headband that I made from my spun fiber and then dyed

I will post a photo of the Kromski once it is stained and put together. In the meantime happy crafting and baking!

🙂

Birthday dinners

This year’s birthday dinners came from “Pioneer Woman food from my frontier”,
“Annie’s Eats”, and the Ice cream sundae I did a quick search of the internet to find a base recipe.

It took a lot longer and more liquid to cook the rice because I did not have a lid that would fit the skillet I was using. In the end my rice ended up being sticky, and thankfully a hit.

Brian wanted the Pineapple Chicken Quesadilla and the Taquitoes from “Annie’s Eat’s” another favorite of ours. Despite washing my hands frequently I still ended up making my eyes burn and water due to the jalapeno. What I have learned…never touch your eyes if you are going to work with jalapeno.

My husband had asked me what I wanted to make for my birthday and nothing sounded good. He eventually suggested a banana split and I eventually found the his and her burger recipe out of the “Pioneer Womans” cook book. I did wing the recipe a little bit because I didnt have any cream. In the end it was a great dinner for a Sunday and in celebration of Brian and I’s birthdays.

 

Pumpkin pecan baked brie

My husband went to three different stores just to find pastry dough, so I would not have to spend 3 hours making it from scratch. It was a blessing in disguise because come to find out I needed to make pumpkin butter from scratch.

When I saw pumpkin butter in the list of ingredients on this Pinterest recipe, I immediately was reminded of Cinnamon butter, literally cinnamon beaten into butter. Pumpkin butter, however, is not pumpkin beaten into butter.

As I was beating the butter with the pumpkin, with its gloppy yellow orange mess… I thought “is this how it is supposed to look”? I then did a quick search of pumpkin butter recipes. It has absolutely NO butter. I was irritated beyond words. So, I busied my self to make pumpkin butter from scratch with a few changes here and there. It turned out perfect and I was able to finish making the dessert.

The other road block came when opening up the brie. It had a white waxy cover that I was unsure about. Thankfully my husband removed as much as he could, as the wax appears to be in any crevice of the cheese. I tried my best to remove the bits, and prayed that it was digestible.

This recipe can be found on pinterest.

Preheat oven 400 degress

Pull out puff pastry and thaw, roll out, it should be large enough for a round of brie (8 oz). Place one quarter cup of pecans in the middle of the puff pastry, top with one quarter cup pumpkin butter, and then brei, Wrap the dough and seal edges with 1 egg/water mixture, then flip over onto a baking pan that has been sprayed, brush with remainder of egg mixture and decorate with pecans. Bake in oven 400 degrees for 25 min. It was heavenly and very filling.

Cookies, cakes and crafts

I finally finished my third and final wilton course. The course included fondant and gum paste flowers. A lot of work and effort went into these cakes. I have to admit that it would have to be a pretty special cake for me to work with fondant and gum paste again as it takes a lot of work. 

In July we tried out a few new recipes from pinterest, and my pioneer woman’s cookbook. 

My favorite is the Caprese  salad by the Pioneer woman. It took forever to cook down the balsamic vinegar, it stunk up my kitchen, and was oh so worth it. I could eat this every week with the fresh basil and delicious  ripe tomatoes yum! 

These little strawberries stuffed with whipped cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla and topped with a blueberry. Alas, you will eat one, then two, and all of a sudden half the plate is gone

I have been obsessed with pinterest and saw some projects of making cookie mix in mason jars. I think it’s a brilliant plan to make some in advance, and be able to whip up a batch quickly and with minimal effort. I did not anticipate running into any issues until I tried baking. 

I utilized a chocolate  chip recipe from Baking Illustrated, and made two jars. I tried making one jar exactly how the recipe said, however the cookies spread and fell apart when picked up. The second time I made the cookies, I creamed the butter, added eggs, and vanilla, and finally folded in the dry ingredients. This did the trick and they baked up well. I utilized an 1/8 cup to make these cookies gigantic and lasted oh 3 to 4 days 🙂 

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In craft news I have made progress on my tank, made and finished my craft bag, and started a fall wrap. 

I was getting bored with the tank and decided to find another craft to start in the wrap to keep my interest as the tank was not fun anymore.