Discovering the Pleasures of Handmade Life

Need a super fun, super easy and especially delightful Homestead read? Then you need Made From Scratch by Jenna Woginrich.

Jenna talks about her experiences of Beekeeping (quite humorous) to Mountain Music (I'm inspired!). It's a great book to keep around the house for an easy reference.

Find her book here at Powells Books.

Make your own super cheap and easy dish scrubbie

Here is a super simple and super cheap way to make a dish scrubbie:

Buy no less than 1/4 yard of nylon tulle/netting from your cheapest fabric store - nothing fancy here.

Cut about 6 inches of embroidery floss and set aside.

From one end cut a square - doesn't have to be pretty, just lop off the end of the yardage where it looks about squarish. Lay this square on a flat surface.

Take the remaining yardage and ball it up in your fist.

Tuck that ball of netting into the center of the square netting. Fold up each corner of the square holding it closed with your fingers but don't let go of the "ball" (it's easier than it sounds). Twist the square like you would a tire swing.

Now, this is the tricky part, tie the floss around the tulle end that is in your fingers, not letting go 'cause then you'll have a mess of tulle to ball up again. Knot the floss 4 or 5 times and trim the ends.

Ta-Da! A dish scrubbie that only cost about a quarter (on sale, I hope!) For a larger scrubbie buy more yardage, etc.

Flipping the Switch on Technology

In my quest for a more efficient life I have been scouring any related books and then I came upon "Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology" by Eric Brende....and what an amazing read! This book was not only entertaining and an easy read it was mind blowing. If you have any interest in becoming self-sufficient and, are maybe even struggling to find your way with God, this is a great book to inspire. This is by no means a religious or christian book but Brende's experience and first-hand accounts of an often misunderstood society is an eye-opener. As readers, we can take ideas from the book and put them into our everyday lives without completely turning our days upside down. We should all open our minds to new (or in this case quite old ideas become new) ideas for the sake of our future.

"Eric Brende conceives a real-life experiment: to see if, in fact, all our cell phones, wide-screen TVs, and SUVs have made life easier and better - or wheather life would be prefereable without them.....What is the least we need to achieve the most?" Now, if only I can convince my husband......

The ISBN number for the book is 0060570040. I found mine at Powell's Books. Click here to go directly to an available book.

The first harvest of the season

At last! A harvest from our homestead. We've been here 2 and a half years but this is the first year we've had a vegetable garden and our cherry tree is doing amazing!

You can also see my latest creation - a cherry picking apron. I made this out of a vintage handtowel that I loved and some left over fabric remnants. It worked wonderfully! With four long deep pockets I was able to fit alot of cherries in my apron before having to climb back down the ladder. There is nothing worse about harvesting when you're up on a teatering ladder trying to hold onto a bowl full of cherries. Cheers!

(Oh, and our eggs for the day from our Rhode Island Reds).