Sunday, November 5, 2017

Crafting on the Farm

A foggy Friday morning when I went to let the chickens out ~

I made a batch of Christmas soap that morning. I put some red swirls in my Candy Cane scented soap. I also made "Warm Cider" scented soap, and a little Balsam (Christmas Tree) scented soap.
Adam dug into the soil on the back of our property to find clay -- about 18" down. He's been running it through fine screen and water, getting out the sand and vegetable matter.


He worked by the hose/spigot a long time, cleaning the clay.
He used this tool to get the clay in suspension in the water.

What does he want to do all that work for? Clay is expensive to buy. He wants to make fiberglass molds, so he can keep making concrete yard art during the winter months when there are no leaves to use as molds. But to make the molds, he needs a "positive" -- the shape the mold goes around. That's what the clay is for. It's very smooth and glossy now that he's cleaned it.
He's backed the Jaguar out of the garage, and is cleaning out the garage. So his work area has moved to the side of the garage.
Little red mushrooms

More pumpkins. Isn't that real leaf pretty? I love its shape.
On to the next little house project! This red bird was on the farm when we moved here. He used to have two wings that spun around on a rod that went in the hole you see. But his wood rotted and he fell off his post.

Adam traced him on some wood and cut out two new birds. He sanded the edges. But we didn't have red paint, so they sat around for months, while I forgot I was supposed to finish them.
Then Adam bought some paint for his leaves, and I remembered!
Here are our two new birdies!
I used some old yellow spray paint for their beaks, a wide magic marker for all the black, and yellow buttons glued on for their eyes.
I need to find some polyurethane coating to protect them. This may take me another six months, haha! I'm a great delayer of projects.
There's still knitting and painting and such going on here. Scarves are starting to sell at the market. Adam has twisted my arm into trying to write something for the NaNoWriMo project, a "National Novel Writing Month" event in November each year. I do not write well under pressure, but I did manage a little children's story about my hen Punkin and her friendship with a mouse. I enjoy my little craft room and want to have work to do there, so I decided to hand-write the story into one of Adam's handmade books, and then I'll (try to!!) illustrate it too. (That will take FOREVER.) It will be a one-of-a-kind children's book for me to read to my grandbabies ... someday. That sounded fun to me, and even if I don't get done with all the paintings, I'll enjoy the process.
Are any of you writing for NaNoWriMo?

6 comments:

Pom Pom said...

Your birds are very cute and I love your journal page!

Granny Marigold said...

Yes, the journal page with its pumpkins and leaves is so cute!!
Hand writing and illustrating your book is so Susan Branch.
( Do you like her style? I certainly do.)

GretchenJoanna said...

Your combined creative energy as a couple astounds me.

No, I'm not writing anything in November. Writing for a deadline or on someone else's schedule -- not gonna happen! My only writing goal is: more letters to the grandchildren.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

So much going on there at your farm. It is inspiring ~ FlowerLady

Sandra @ Thistle Cove Farm said...

The soap looks wonderful! This year I found apple cider donuts and cannot begin to describe how tasty; I want more but, apparently so does everyone else. sigh

magsmcc said...

I am glad that you will be writing again. We busy ourselves with all sorts of things, but we should really write. Having said that, the two love birds are very appropriate! I am going to make some warm cider this very night- winter has come!