I’d love to try my hands at spinning some pure cotton. As a lark, a few of my gardening pals tried growing some cotton from seeds last year. When I was little, we sowed some cotton seeds at home in small pots just to see it bloom & touch it. Probably old hat for some but since I have lived in the city all my life, I thought it was amazing to see!

First time I remember hearing of or seeing a spinning wheel was when I read the book, Rumpelstiltskin. Even back then spinning straw into gold seemed an impossible feat (:-) but it was soon explained to me that was the general concept for spinning cotton into thread for clothes. Don’t believe I actually saw a real spinning wheel until we took a field trip/visit to Mount Vernon?…or was it Montpelier?…

If I find a local spinner I would seriously consider taking a class. It looks like a lot of fun but I’m sure it takes plenty of finesse & skill to make something durable out of soft clouds of fluff.

A good project for beginning spinners is to weave a coaster or placemat with your finished product. This will be durable even if your yarn is maybe not so much! I have a drop spindle I picked up at one of our local missions. Kind of fun actually.

oooohhhh, I love these mittens and cowl! The bulky yarn is so perfect for creating these warm accessories. It would be fascinating to learn and see the process from ewe to hand. Anita did a fabulous job!!

I love them as well. Any chance she’d share the pattern?

I did the MJF Organic kitchen badge 2 years ago and it really helped me get started on making those big changes in my pantry. We are lucky in my town in that our Farmer’s Market is amazing and buying local is both easy and fun. But the real change for me was making that paradigm shift is how I think about what is important for the long haul. Going local and organic meant changing years of easy habits at the grocery stores. Being more intentional and sticking to it, has been the greater challenge. Luckily, MJF has made it much, much easier because of all of the great ideas, inspiration of others and a place to keep getting that support to NOT slip back into bad habits. Thanks Mary Jane! Your efforts and enterprise have placed me on a better, sustainable pathway.

I love the way sprouts add crunch to salads. Two of my favorites are lentil sprouts and radish sprouts.

Congratulations Mary Jane. You designed a lovely Dish Cloth; it’s perfect for the Holiday season.

Congratulations Barbara! It is inspiring to hear that you are saving dollars by applying your badge knowledge to your kitchen budget! Mary Jane’s mixes are indeed quite wonderful to use! Enjoy your book searching with your savings!

I made my annual batch of homemade dog biscuits for all the 5 dogs that are part of the family Christmas celebration. They always look so fun baked up on the cooling racks and then wrapped in bags to place in the stockings hung with care on the fireplace.