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farm-romance_3773

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  1. Nielsen,Winifred T. says:

    That sled brings back memories of snow days spent sledding down our neighbor, the Tills, backyard slope. The entire neighborhood group of kids of all ages gathered on school snow days, Saturdays, and Sunday afternoons for hours of great fun. The hitch about the slope was that there was a good size creek at the bottom so you had to be able to steer the sled not to end up in the drink! My neighborhood friend and next door neighbor, Bobby Anderson, and I always sledded together. Usually, I would either sit behind him or lay down on top of him because he was able to steer the sled better than me!! LOL!! We were best of friends all of our childhood.

  2. Lisa Bell says:

    I have my brothers and my sleds,
    I’m going to be 51 on the 22nd.
    And yes I still go sled riding using
    our sleds. My son used them too.
    They’ve held up to some rough sled
    riding lol and lots of laughter.

  3. Elisabeth Perkins says:

    Looks like fun!!

  4. Lisa Von Saunder says:

    oh yeah the flexible flyer, what memories! We would go sledding at my best friend’s Grandmother’s place it was a double hill we called ” camel’s hump” If you built up enough speed you could do both hills in one run. Hot ovaltine and grilled cheese sandwiches afterwards .

  5. Mary Homolka says:

    Love the simple way of life and fun that we don’t always get in our busy life.

  6. Roma Horton says:

    We love pecan pie! I put pecans in almost everything for that added delishisness!

  7. Beth Watson says:

    This brings back many memories!

  8. Karen Helbig says:

    We used to use a slide with that on our own little hill! Then the silver round metal coasters! Fun with lots of snow!

  9. Rebecca looney says:

    We have a family recipe for homemade ice cream that I love. It’s a lemon custard and every time I get out the ice cream maker I just can’t get myself to try a different recipe! It has memories of many birthday celebrations for our family.

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Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Cyrie Wilson!!!

Cyrie Wilson (Pixiedustdevil, #6941) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning an Expert Level UFOs Merit Badge!

“I went through my UFO box and weeded out old projects that didn’t interest me anymore, or they had lost irreplaceable pieces. Then I pulled out my bag of chicken potholders, and some jeans that needed patched.

I took about 3 more pairs of jeans and patched/repaired them, using recycled fabric from old jeans. I’m fussy like that; I see no point in tossing clothes if they can be repaired.

Finally, my biggest job was finishing 2 sets of chicken potholders that my sister requested. She requested them a year ago. Shame on me! I finished them in time to give them to her for Thanksgiving.

I’m used to fixing my jeans, especially the corners of the back pockets. One hole even came undone after washing. So I reinforced it with all the powers of ‘overkill’ that I could muster. That solved the problem.

As for the potholders; I’ve made so many that I’m tired of making them, so my sister’s will hopefully be my last for a while. I didn’t really like the colors (I didn’t choose them), but as long as my sister was happy with them, then that’s fine.”

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  1. Lisa Bell says:

    These are adorable!

  2. Kathy Gaughran says:

    Oh how wonderful great job your sister will love them always and think of you every time she uses them.
    We always feel good when we finish a project that some one has been waiting for I have an afghan I have been working on for three years my husband hopes he will receive it this winter I hope to do so.
    Happy holidays

  3. Nielsen,Winifred T. says:

    Cyrie, this potholders are adorable! I am sure they made your sister very happy too. Congratulations on tackling your sewing room and making sense out of everything for moving forward. Isn’t it amazing how projects and bargains can pile up on you?

  4. Shirley Romig says:

    Is there a pattern for the chicken potholders

  5. Marilyn Berger says:

    I love your chicken potholders! Something our quilting guild could make if we had a pattern…Can I buy a pattern from you or would you share your source? Thanks so much!

  6. Lisa Von Saunder says:

    Love those chickens! too cute for words!

  7. Kris says:

    OMG these are the cutest pot holders I have ever seen. Wheels are already turning for next Christmas! Is the pattern available to purchase?

  8. Jen Parsley-Kellenbarger says:

    Hello, I’m Jen Parsley-K…. A born and raised country girl, my mom and dad always tried to have a micro farm…you know, chickens, rabbits, gardens etc..pop hunted & fished regular..my mom handcrafted many things..of which I’m proud to say most of my clothes. Hence I LOOOVE CHICKENS & sewing. So I would love your pattern for the chicken pot holders!? Where would I find it?
    Sincerely,
    Jen the Hen, (thanks to grandpa Parsley)

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Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sherrilyn Askew!!!

Sherrilyn Askew (#1350) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Expert Level Unprocessed Kitchen Merit Badge!

“I hosted an “unprocessed” party and helped my sisters discover ways to make some of their favorite processed foods organically, specifically candy canes. Candy is as much art as science, hard candy especially. The key is in the temperature. We did one batch with beet juice and one with cranberry juice, and the color difference, as well as the flavor difference, was significant.

We had a bit of a learning curve about kitchen thermometers (meat thermometer vs. candy thermometer), and the importance of having an accurate one. One batch of candy turned out fine, but the other batch burned. Candy canes with cranberry juice tastes delicious, though.

We talked about divinity and caramels, and the problems encountered making each one (granularity) and how to prevent them.

Candy making is an art, and homemade candy with organic ingredients is the bees’ knees.”

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  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Gosh, Sherrilyn, what an interesting project with your HenHouse group. I have never tried making candy as I know it is tricky and easily turns into a pile for the trash. Your idea of using cranberry juice sounds perfect for candy canes too. I bet you all had such a fun time together. I can see how making organic candy is definitely the Bee’s Knee!

  2. Sylvia Jacobus says:

    The candy canes are truly delicious. Grand kids will be lucky to get them!! Fun to make with Sherri.

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farm-romance_1439

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  1. Karlyne says:

    This should be a magazine cover!

  2. Lisa Von Saunder says:

    finally a photo of the Grandgirls! We have all missed seeing them. And last year’s Christmas cover with Stella and Mia was so sweet. I was so disappointed that they werent on this year. love the terrarium

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Home Insulation Merit Badge, Expert Level

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 7,200 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—10,226 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane 

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

For this week’s Cleaning Up/Home Insulation Expert Level Merit Badge, I went over to my friend, Midge’s, for a little help in her DIY insulation project. Midge is a dear pal, a real bosom friend (to borrow from Anne with an E). She’s my Diana Barry, if you will. But lately, she’d been a little cranky and we thought it was due to her house being haunted. I mean, that will make a gal a bit crabby, can I get an amen?

We assumed her house was haunted due to the fact that she couldn’t keep her bedside candle lit, and doors kept slamming shut. I mean, what else could be the culprit other than the supernatural?

photo by Olybrius via Wikimedia Commons

Oh yeah. Drafty windows and poor insulation. Ahem. I knew that. I had after all, insulated my own drafty house only a couple years before. So, hey, if I can help a girlfriend out and earn an expert level badge all at once, I’m all in.

First, we narrowed down the usual suspects when it came to our haunting windows. It’s good to know, my peeps, that windows installed before the 1980s are rarely insulated properly. And if you get cold feet, like Yours Truly, nearly year ‘round, you might find it is wise to replace your windows, or at least insulate them. You know, instead of owning 11 pairs of fuzzy slippers. *casual whistling … nothing to see here, move along*

Anyway, once we discovered which windows were the worst of the worst (we’re talking a portal to Narnia in terms of sheer winter-ness), we got to work. We needed:

  • Caulk
  • Nail gun
  • Pry bar
  • Utility knife
  • Spray insulation (Made specifically for windows and doors. Don’t use a regular expanding foam; it may warp.)

First, feeling rather like the female versions of Ty Pennington and Bob Vila, we used our utility knives to score along the caulking around the window trim. I mean, you can go all Hulk on it, and just pry it off without scoring first, but Midge doesn’t recommend that (she can be a spoilsport that way).

Then, using your pry bar, begin prying up the window trim, a little tiny bit at a time. If you’re like me, you will have lost the pry bar and will need to use a butter knife. Don’t be like me.

There should be tiny nails in the corners that you will need to pry up as well. If there aren’t any, your contractor/builder was shoddy, to say the least. Carefully remove the nails, using your butter knife. I mean, your pry bar or hammer.

There should be about an inch or so of sheetrock visible once you remove the trim. Remove that, being careful in case there are any wires in there (no one needs a DIY home perm, right?).

This is where you will use your handy-dandy spray insulation. Once the foam is dry, you can use your butter knife (I mean, your utility knife) to trim any bubbles off, so it lies nice and flat against the wall.

Treat yourself to some new nails (removing the old ones carefully; this is good time to recall how up-to-date your last tetanus shot was) when you put the trim back up.

photo by Wolfgang Sauber via Wikimedia Commons

Voila! You’ll have an Expert Level Merit Badge, toasty warm feet, and banished ghosts! Not bad for an afternoon of work, don’t you agree?

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  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    This project sounds both complicated and straight forward at the same time. Your description reminds me of when I watch This Old House on PBS. All these cool repairs and projects are set up very logical. While that all makes sense, I know it is actually harder to do a big repair job than it sounds. Like what happens when the old wood frame suddenly splinters? Oh, and I just got a DPT shot booster two weeks ago so at least I am good to go when it comes to rusty nails!

  2. Lisa Von Saunder says:

    My circa 1911 farmhouse has some ” replacement ” windows, those crummy ones that are supposed to be
    insulated? the stuff between the 2 panes has now leaked and they are clouded up and have teeny tiny little insulation balls rolling around inside. needless to say they don’t work very well. I use heavy clear plastic sold on rolls at garden centers, and tape it over the worst leaking offenders with that painters tape that wont peel off paint. not pretty but gets the job done. its amazing how much air was blowing in .
    there is no insulation on this mountain top home so it get cold here, but luckily i have mostly those huge ,ugly but way efficient iron radiators so the house stays heated fairly well. But i am always cold as a rule with a subnormal temperature.

    • Karlyne says:

      Yep, Lisa those were bad years – the old wooden ones are at least worth fixing, but those modern ones are the pits! Brrrr – here’s wishing you a mild winter!

      • Lisa Von Saunder says:

        thanks Karlyne, it is 32 out and dropping fast, and way sleeting as I write this,like everything is covered in a thin sheet of ice now. hope this isn’t a harbinger to come.

        • Karlyne says:

          We just got back from The Nutcracker, and it’s 16′ out at 9:30pm. We had to drive about 20 mph and pray for nobody to slide out in front of us – ice everywhere! Good thing I made an apple pie to come home to…

  3. Karlyne says:

    I’m impressed, MBA Jane! It might be harder to do if you’re actually talking antique windows, as Winnie says, but for most people it’s those horrible aluminum 1970/80s ones that really take their toll, and I think your instructions will help immensely.

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Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Cyrie Wilson!!!

Cyrie Wilson (Pixiedustdevil, #6941) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Scrapbooking Merit Badge!

“Instead of making a scrapbook (too expensive!) I made a shadowbox collage. My father and I went to Universal Studios Hollywood and the WB studio tour. We had planned this trip for a year.

I papered over the backing of the frame with acid-free paper, and used acid-free glue and ink. I printed a few photos to wallet size, wrote a few funny stories on labels, and gathered trinkets from the trip.

After assembling the collage, I papered the back and stapled the backing to the frame with a staple gun.

It was difficult to fit so much into such a small collage. There wasn’t even a backboard on the frame, so I had to measure and cut one. Aside from that, it turned out well.”

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  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Cyrie, this collage turned out better than a scrapbook! It is a work of art with everything cleverly fitted into the frame. You are going to love having this picture on your wall for years to come.

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farm-romance-6906

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  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Do you cut down a tree from your farm at Christmas? They all look like green soldiers protecting the farm. Idaho is the home of so many beautiful evergreen varieties.

    • MaryJane says:

      Meg and Lucas went to the very site of today’s photo (a local tree farm) to bring home and decorate a tree last weekend. Yes, I walk out my door to find something, smaller and smaller every year–I let the kids do big trees.

      • Winnie Nielsen says:

        Our local Christmas trees here in Florida are mostly Southern Red Cedar. They have very light branches that can’t take much weight. Plus, they have a terrible sticker type foliage that means you have to put heavy work gloves on the do anything with the tree. Other types of local trees include a southern Pine that can be pruned at tree farms. They have that sweet pine smell but rapidly turn brown and die once they are cut so they won’t last long. I have used that tree several times when my children were small since we could go and cut one down locally. But then everyone decided that only a Frasier Fir would do and then it was three against one. If it were up to me, I would do the local pine and select one that was small enough to make into a table top tree. I’m with you, small is best!

  2. Lisa Von Saunder says:

    I have 2 kitties who treat a real tree as a big plaything. In fact this year with BB King my new now 8 month kitten, I am not doing a big tree at all. Even the ” forest ” of smaller trees I put out that have real wood with bark trunks are too much of a temptation for him. Ah well , the house looks festive anyway and the really good glass ornaments are on a reproduction German feather tree.
    Today I will go buy pine roping for the front porch of my whlte farmhouse.. And go to my “secret” 3 story high ancient holly tree to cut branches that are just overwhelmed with red berries.

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  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Do your birds take residence up in these houses in the Winter?

  2. Sharon Cooper says:

    This is so adorable. Love this bird house and the nostalgia that floods into my heart when I see this. Thanks for sharing.

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Young Cultivator Merit Badge: Icing on the Cake, Expert Level

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 7,200 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—10,226 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane 

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Icing on the Cake Expert Level Young Cultivator Merit Badge, Nora, Piper, Andy, and the Hostess with the Mostess (that’s me) all joined forces.

For the good of cake.

avocado-chocolate-cake2-0513

Yum.

Now, we had all gone through rigorous training to bring us to this day. After all, we had baked our way to success (and one or two failures) through the Beginner and Intermediate Level Badges, and so thusly, henceforth, and so on and so forth, forever and ever, amen, we were set.

(My waistline? A whole ‘nother kettle of fish.)

We had made our homemade, from-scratch cakes earlier and then we read through the badge requirements for this, our final cake badge: woe was us … we were supposed to decorate the said cakes and take photos.

Umm, hello? Those cakes had been digested in our tummies for a while now.

So, we did the next best thing, considering the holidays were upon us …

Andy, Nora, Piper, and Jane’s Gingerbread/Pretzel Houses

Supplies suggested:

  • pretzel rods/sticks (Lots and lots. As the age-old saying goes, one for the house, one for my belly.)
  • gumdrops (You can buy organic candy here. They even have kosher gummy cubs!)
  • red-hots
  • licorice ropes
  • chocolate rocks
  • coconut
  • icing for piping
  • “cement” for glue
  • graham crackers

Now, depending on whether you want to eat your creation or just stare lovingly at it all season long, you will want to choose your ingredients accordingly. Piper and I were more about the architecture of the thing and we had our own snack stash nearby, so we skipped the homemade icings and used hot glue. Shh. Don’t tell. Andy and Nora, on the other hand, were all about noshing on their houses like Hansel and Gretel, and so we made sure they got their hands on most of the good-for-you organic treats, and homemade “cement.”

“Cement” for gluing houses together:

Beat 4 egg whites with 1 t cream of tartar till stiff. Gradually add 4 cups powdered sugar (I said, gradually, Andy!) and beat five minutes. Will harden quickly, so keep a towel or plastic wrap on it when not using.

The pretzel sticks/rods are adorbs for making log cabins. Coconut can be edible snow, or can be tinted with green food coloring to make grass. You can also use half-and-half, pint-sized or half-gallon-sized, empty containers for your house frames. Paint, or decoupage, and then add your candy décor. Rock chocolates make excellent chimneys.

photo by Jeff Markham via Wikimedia Commons

We had ourselves a little Christmas village when we were done. Were they cakes necessarily? In the purest sense of the word? Cakes, per se? Okay, maybe not precisely … but what is cake but something that brings people together in the kitchen? And that we did, me and my elves. And I’d say, it was joyful and triumphant.

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  1. Lisa Von Saunder says:

    I always liked the “log cabins” built out of pretzel rods and icing, etc. There are all kinds of houses to be made, from graham crackers is an easy one. thanks for the cute story MaryJane.

  2. Winnie Nielsen says:

    I love those darling gingerbread houses! One year when I was “room Mother” for my daughter’s Kindergarten class, we used graham crackers instead of gingerbread and made the cutest and easiest houses with the classroom. We were all covered in icing!!

  3. Karlyne says:

    I think we just may have to do this…

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