A Crafty Easter

Happy Easter blog readers!
This year was the first year I used the plastic shrink wrap egg covers and I couldn't believe how well they worked. It took a matter of seconds to decorate my hard boiled eggs by slipping the covers over the eggs and lowering them one by one into boiling water with a spoon. It was instantaneous. I thought I was going to have trouble but it was so simple, I barely had to do anything. They look so pretty.
Anyway, Easter morning consisted of an e'gg'citing egg hunt around the house, eating a breakfast of these adorable little hard boiled eggs with hot cross buns and driving our nearly hour drive to church for Easter celebrations. For lunch we had bacon sandwiches (a tradition worth repeating!) they were so good, I had mine with mustard and alfalfa sprouts.... yum!
We all just kind of chilled out around the house, eating chocolates, running around, reading, etc. Then I made a couple salads to bring over to my cousin's place for easter dinner. I made a raw vegan bean sprout salad and a broccoli cole slaw. All the food was delicious, we had a wide assortment of salads as well as the traditional ham, smoked turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes.
After dinner we bottle fed some baby goats, I was given the honor of naming one of the goats. Two were already named Oreo and Cookie, so I veered off the food names and named the little goat "Winston" and it looked like a Winston too.
Then we searched all over the farm in a large scale outdoor egg hunt. The kids were climbing stacks of hay, onto tractors, into the wood pile, up trees and into the barns finding bags of eggs everywhere.
Then we settled down and I demonstrated how my carders and spinning wheel works. I found out that I must be more of a natural at fiber art than I thought I was.
All in all, the day was loads of fun. We brought the kids home and tucked them into bed. Paul and I watched The Passion Of the Christ. A very fitting movie for the easter season, obviously we wouldn't want the kids to watch it because it's far too brutal. It makes me cry nearly the whole way through, an awesome movie though. Paul amazingly fell asleep during the part when Jesus was carrying his cross. I don't know how anyone could fall asleep during that movie, but there you have it. It's not like Paul didn't like it or thought it was boring, he was just tired and falls asleep to every movie we watch together. I can never keep him awake.

Anyway, in the days before easter we did many different crafts with the school, with the library story group and at home. A memorable craft was a construction paper basket weaving project. The kids got coloured hard boiled eggs to put in it instead of chocolates, YES!!!! ten points to the one who thought that one up.


Also, a little project I did myself from the book, "Big Ass Book of Crafts" by Mark Montano. I highly recommend this book for enthusiastic crafters who want a new spin on paper mache or popsicle stick crafts. Behold, the popsicle stick cross! Good project for any time of year. In the book he calls for a wooden medallion for the centre but I couldn't find one. So I used a jewelry piece instead.

Meat Muffins

A delicious new recipe that I have just come across involves my very favorite tea biscuits and ground beef. It's very easy to make and it's delicious! The first time I made them, Paul called home from work and asked as he usually does, "what's for dinner?" This time I replied that we were having meat muffins he wasn't exactly enthusiastic. However, once he had a taste of them it's all he's been wanting. So needless to say, I've been making a lot of them lately.

Here's the recipe :)


Tea biscuits
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup margarine
2/3 cup cold milk

Filling
1lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup bbq sauce (I use a sauce called Roadkill BBQ sauce, use your favorite)

Stir together flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut in the margarine. Then add milk, mix together until a dough forms.
Roll into flat circles large enough to fit in the muffin tin. Press into the muffin tin forming the bottom and up the sides.

Fully cook the ground beef and remove to a bowl. Add the ketchup and bbq sauce. mix together and fill the muffin cups.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375F for 18 to 20 mins or until golden brown.

and voila! A meat muffin.

Small town Smack Down

I had never been to any sort of rodeo or bull riding competition in my life, but as they say, "when in Rome... go watch bull riding.." or something like that.
We took the whole family and none of us knew what to expect because it was everybody's first time. Some of the riders wore hockey helmets and face guards but most of them just wore cowboy hats on their heads, which was a little unnerving. I wasn't quite sure if we should have brought the kids with us just in case horrific accidents happened during these events. I wanted to say, don't worry they aren't going to get hurt but I really didn't believe that.
It was held in the local arena. Half the floor was used for the dance and drinking that came after the bull riding was over. They actually used the saying, "dance until the cows come home," after the event.
Anyway, it all started out by turning off all the lights and announcing the cowboys using strobe lights and a spotlight (one thing I wasn't expecting). There was a winner of the Calgary Stampede there which was pretty exciting. Then the bull riding started and I was terrified when the bull came out jumping all over the place with the guy riding him. It wasn't a question of if he was going to get flung off the bull, it was a question of when.
After a few of the cowboys were flung off the bulls unscathed I started not being so horrified anymore and really enjoyed it. There were, however, those scary moments when the bull started to charge at everybody and they had to run and climb up the gate to get away, but nobody got hurt.
But just as I was starting to become accustomed to the scene in front of me, they decided to do something else. Mexican poker! They set up four lawn chairs around a table in the bull riding ring (I think it's called that) and four men are selected to sit around the table. They put their hands on the table and the last one still sitting is the winner. In the mean time, they set loose a bull to run around them and charge at them. It took three bulls until they found the winner, only because the bull charged through the rest of them smashing everything in it's path. The man who won was the only one whose chair wasn't in pieces. The table was gone too and even though the bull crashed through the other guys, they seemed fine after, a little defeated but fine.
My daughter was distraught, as I was. She screamed and asked "Mommy, why? Why are they letting the mean bull do this!" But then my boy was loving it, he sat still and watched everything with a smile on his face. Paul said, "Wow, how do I sign up for next year!"
A very appropriate roll eyes and mutter something about boys and their intelligence moment.

Oh and by the way, Merry Spring! Ho Ho Ho

spinning wool

First of all I would like to mention a very important fact about finding and purchasing a spinning wheel for use, don't get an antique wheel unless you are a proficient craftsperson in the art of woodworking and already have tools such as a lathe. That being said, my antique spinning wheel will be nothing but an ornament at the present moment because there are many very important parts missing that I cannot replace unless I make them. Then again, buying an antique wouldn't be so bad if it came with all the parts (most of the time they don't).
But I do enjoy my antique wheel, it's a charming piece to have in my house and it gives the living room a nice country/homespun feel that I like. On the other hand, I needed something that could spin my wool. Using the drop spindle just wasn't cutting it anymore. I was getting so impatient that I chose a stool to sit on so I was higher off the ground and thus would spin more wool at one time. It probably wasn't very good form but I was desperate and it allowed me to make 200 yards of 2 ply sport weight yarn in a matter of a few days. My arms and wrists got quite the workout but I'm not complaining. At least I'll be able to knit for hours on end when I start up again without needing to stop for tired wrists (drumming helps those knitting muscles too as I've come to realize, just a tip).
Anyway, I've desired a working spinning wheel to get those jobs done faster and easier while watching tv (such as the Stanley Cup playoffs... Go Canucks!!!). So my unbelievably understandable husband Paul decided it was time for one. He drove the whole family to Calgary and got me a Lendrum foldable (for easy transportation) spinning wheel. It's made in Canada and came with all the little bits and bobs I need. Paul also made me get a drum carder to make the process all the more enjoyable. Now I can blend fibres with ease! Bring on the wool!
Before choosing to get a spinning wheel I was quite baffled and intimidated by them. A while ago I thought that the wool actually went around the wheel as it was getting spun, then I wondered how on earth that could spin it. It just didn't make any sense and it doesn't. The driver band goes around the wheel. A lady in a museum from here explained that it was made out of a candle wick material, (mine is made out of polyurethane). Anyway, the yarn is spun just like from a drop spindle but it winds on the bobbin itself and it's a faster process. It's not as hard to figure out as I once thought. And after spinning a bobbin full of yarn, I realized why it was so desirable to have a portable spinning wheel. I want to take it with me everywhere (as crazy as that sounds). I would be happy to take it to a coffee shop with a craft group, to my Mom and Dad's house, to a park on a nice sunny day, or maybe to a pub with a pint of guinness... just kidding! but then again...... ?
I love my spinning wheel, it sure keeps my mind off the latent snow that's been throwing up on us around here. I mean come on! It's mid April, shouldn't we have spring?

A few tips for storage of my spinning wheel was to never store it in a window (having worked in museums I should know this) direct sunlight is bad for the wood, never store the spinning wheel folded under the bed (then it will never be used and we can't have that now can we?), and use vaseline or sewing machine oil to lubricate the moving parts around the bobbin etc.

Sprinter - like Spring/Winter

No blogs for a while but I guess I have just been too busy spinning wool, twirling drum sticks, reading the Lord John series by Diana Gabaldon (because I can't wait for her eighth Outlander novel to come out), and lamenting over the fact that the snow has not yet melted. I do a lot more than that too but I'm not going to bore you with household chores. I did find a small patch of grass preserved by being encased in ice which was quite exciting. At least all the snow and icicles have finally fell off the roof and I now know that the front yard in fact does possess grass.

I am all excited for when I can take the family searching for antler shed by deer and for moose poop that I can dip into polyurethane to make jewelry with. There is so much to love about Alberta!

Speaking of moose, I have been doing my hunter's training course. I plan to go bow hunting sometime in the future so I can live my childhood fantasy of skulking around a forest like Robin Hood. I should have stuck it out in archery club when I was in high school, I don't know why I ever stopped going. Maybe it was the fear of drawing the bowstring too far over my chest that would trigger a series of very painful events that I don't think needs very much explanation.

On another topic, so far I have done two balls of plyed yarn with my drop spindle. I'm getting quite impatient with it and I can't wait until my spinning wheel is repaired, which will cut my spinning time in half. I'm planning three different patterns for winter including an idea given to me from a man who recalled his mother making him mitts with unwashed wool. At first I thought, "gross, unwashed smelly wool on a finished product", but then when winter in Alberta rolled around I saw the logic in it. My hands dried, cracked, bled and stuck to my mitts like velcro. Wouldn't it have been nice to have mitts all greased up with lanolin against the skin to moisturize and covered in leather to make them waterproof? Yes! Yes it would have, so for next winter I'm going to make as many greasy mitts as possible and I don't care if it smells or not. Besides, when it gets down to minus 20 to 40 degrees Celsius, the nose doesn't smell anything anyway.

I am also going to make some awesome chunky lumberjack hats dyed in coffee and lined with rabbit fur. They are going to be for a couple of real lumberjacks so I thought the idea of using a coffee dye would be quite the novel idea seeing as the hat depicts their occupation and coffee is probably a good staple food that goes along with it.
I once saw this great knit hat with rabbit fur in a sports store, it had a Canadian label on it and I thought, "great, a hat actually made in Canada sold in a department store", but no. It was a Canadian company and the hat was made in China. It was such a disappointment.
I'm also going to make a sweater for Paul that is a blend of Llama and sheep wool.

Anyway, stay posted for more on my new developments in knitting, spinning, sewing and whatnot. Oh and speaking of sewing!!!!! Paul is planning on getting his Canadian citizenship! Okay so you may not think that has to do with sewing, but to me it does. When the time comes we'll order the Canadian tartan and fashion a gorgeous kilt out of it for the ceremony. I'm thinking about taking pictures of the whole process and making an instructables out of it. It should be good.