Making a rag rug

How I spent my Sunday afternoon...doing some of my favorite things; reading magazines and creating!

I have such a HUGE fabric stash, I decided to try my hand at turning some of my fabric into some rag rugs for our house.

I have found several methods to make them, but since I crochet, I decided to try that method first.

Using a "P" crochet hook for this project.The only stitches involved with this are chain and single crochet. I am not a great teacher, but here is my quick tutorial for you.

I pulled some random fabrics from my stash. No rhyme or reason, just pulled some that I though there was enough of to make enough strips to make it around the rug a couple to a few times.

I cut my strips at about 1.5 inches in width. I just used two fingers as a guide for the first few snips, then "eyeballed" the rest.

I tore complete yardage pieces into a pile of strips so they would all be ready to use.

This video was quite helpful. I also enjoyed her introduction.


I did not make mine the exact 27 chain stitches as in the video above, I don't remember how many I did, but it doesn't really matter. The size is all up to you.

The corners are not as complicated or tricky as I anticipated without having an exact pattern to follow. I found that if I needed to "stretch" to get to the next strip, it was time to do 2 single croc
het stitches to increase.

These are two rugs I made from vintage bed sheets.

 
***I love your comments! Thank you for letting me know you stopped by! Please know that I read each and every comment left, though I am not always able to respond to each one, I do when I am able.***

Who needs a treadmill?

When you have a push mower and over an acre of land to mow???

Honestly it's not so bad. We got a self-propelled push mower (my choice) and it runs so well, I nearly have to run (actually a very brisk walk)! Great exercise for me, though. Felicity learned to mow this week, so having the two of us work together makes the job go quickly.

With teamwork

We're going to give it a shot.

Even though I posted a couple of weeks ago about re-homing all of the chickens and the goats. About not really being a farmer....

It seems that really is my calling. But it takes teamwork. I cannot do this alone.

I am not a "farmer". I am a mother and wife providing for her family.

Last weekend, I pulled out the seeds from last summer that never got planted because I broke my hand, and decided, since the place where the old house sat won't grow grass and turns into a mud puddle when it rains, that I would give it a shot at being a "front yard" garden.

I was skeptical. I planted a few live plants (peppers, okra, pickling cucumbers and zucchini), and some seeds (2 types of corn, 3 types of beans, yellow squash). I left the tomatoes and lots more seeds un-planted. I decided to stop where I was and see what happened. I was prepared for the worst, for nothing to happen.

Well, to my surprise yesterday, I found lots of baby seedlings that had broken through the ground!!

Here they are this morning!

So today, Felicity and I will plant the tomato plants and the rest of the seeds I have to plant.

Last weekend, the friend that bought the Seramas (trio and all the babies) said it wasn't working out. He said Seramas are too sensitive. Of course, this is after he lost all but 2 babies. Makes me so, so sad, but nothing I can do.

Yesterday, my precious babies came home! Boudreaux, Penelope and Maybelline will stay permanently. I missed them so much more than I thought I would. I love them so much!

The first thing David told me after the laying flock was picked up a few weeks ago is "I'm going to miss those chickens". I knew I would miss them, but wouldn't miss having to take care of them by myself. David pretty much takes care of them when he is home on R&R, that does give me a break.

Well, I do miss them, too!

By hatching so many all within such a short period of time as I did....that was my downfall! Lesson learned, though.

My babies are home. Later in the summer, after vacation, I will either hatch some eggs or order some pullets and we will begin again with a new laying flock.

No goats, now, though. We need to do some modifying on fencing before we get goats again. I do think, though, that I would enjoy breeding the Pygmy goats. So when the time is right, I will buy only registered babies and begin our breeding program. In time.

The children are learning to help me more around the place. Imagine that....taking away all electronics then finally getting help!

With help and teamwork, we can make Eason Acres work :-)

One Acre Self-Sufficient Homestead

This is a fantastic article that goes through the guidelines to be successful.

Source: Mother Earth News

Even though I am already on my way with my little homestead, this sure helped me with loads of more information.

If you choose "print" the article converts to "print ready" and will print as a complete article.

Start a 1-acre Self-Sufficient Homestead

Here's some top rated books on Homesteading that you may enjoy!

 :    

Winter Coop Care

This is a great series full of information. There are 4 parts, be sure to click on the links within the posts to each next part.

Source: The Garden Coop

Winter Chicken Coop Care

We have new girls!

A local friend of mine gave us 7 hens & pullets today! Well, total of 12, but I was picking up some for yet another local friend, so we kept 7 for ourselves. Since we had the bloody massacre here in September, it is nice to have more chickens around. We were down to just one American Barred Holland pullet and two babies that we hatched from Trader Joe's "fertile eggs". We are about 99% sure they are white Leghorns. BUT it seems one is male and one is female. Way to go! (I have a trio of Seramas in the house...babies, though)

We had to do some creative rigging on the barn, since it is set up for horses (previous owner of this place) and I wanted to keep the new ones secure for a few days while they learn where their home is now.

Anyone that knows what the wind is like in the Texas panhandle knows that the plastic won't stay stapled up there like that for long.  After doing that, I changed directions and used an old "heavy duty" (and I mean HEAVY DUTY) shower curtain liner that I got for the kids bathroom, but quickly hated and removed, and stapled it around the lattice. This worked perfectly. So later this week, I will get 1.5 more pieces of the latice and two more of those shower curtain liners and create three of those panels and take down that awful looking other stuff. They will work perfectly for shelter from the wind, rain and snow.

Looks awful, but only temporary for a few days. Most importantly, the girls are secure and protected from the elements. Heat lamps keep it nice and noticeably warmer in there.

It's that time again

Canning season has begun at our little homestead.

Yesterday I made 8 half-pints of apricot jam. I found this recipe online. I used it as a guide, along side the recipe in the No sugar/low sugar Sure-Jell. I used the 1/2c. lemon juice from the online recipe in place of the 3/4c of water that the Sure-Jell calls for. I also used the online recipe tip of using 20% extra Sure Jell. I had 3.5 pounds of apricots and used 4.5 cups of sugar. It made 8 half-pints of gorgeous jam!

Then, last night, I made salsa! Two years ago I purchased a mix to make kosher dill pickles, by Mrs. Wages, at the Supercenter. Those pickles were AMAZING! So I tried the salsa mix by the same company. I haven't tried any yet, but it looks and smells yummy!

This batch I made with canned, petite diced tomatoes. This was an option on the package of mix. Six cans, 1/2c vinegar and 1 packet of mix. Fresh salsa!

Over the course of the next few days, I will be making Strawberry jam, Peach jam and Grape jam. I'm loving it!

Lemony kind of day

Ah fresh squeezed lemon juice. Beautiful! This juice is for fresh homemade lemonade. The juicer...it belonged to my mother and has been around for as long as I can remember. It is likely at least 50 years old. I love the thing!

Lemon peels. These will be made into lemon infused vinegar for household cleaning.

"King of the lemon peels"!!! Well actually, this cute little 4oz jelly car of fresh squeezed lemon juice will go into jam tomorrow.

Fresh squeezed, freshly made lemonade. Yum! How do ya like that neat glass pitcher? Under 5 bucks at everyone's favorite (or not) Supercenter. 1/2 cup of lemon juice, 1/2 cup of sugar and 7 cups of water. So easy!

This, my dear friends, will be some of the most awesome household cleaner known to women(or whomever cleans house). I just dug all of the fleshy part out and cut the peels up in half or so. Put them into a pint jelly jar and filled it to the top with vinegar. It will sit for a couple of weeks and voila! See the lemon seeds? Ima gonna see if they will grow. Likely not, but hey, can't blame a gal for trying.

Heck, I even had on a lemon yellow t-shirt. I just love this shirt! It came from one of my most favorite stores, Tractor Supply. Oh and I didn't plan all of this lemon-y goodness around my shirt....it's just what I picked to put on this morning.

Lemon blossoms SMELL.SO.GOOD! I bought myself a Meyer lemon tree about a month ago. I have often been curious about Meyer lemons. I know they have a distinct shape, are much larger than typical lemons and are quite spendy.

Baby lemon!!! The tree has likely around 15 little tiny babies on it! So...on with the story about Meyer lemons. So since I was curious, I put a post on Facebook and lo and behold...got all the scoop on Meyer lemons: "Meyers Lemons are have a slightly higher sugar content (because they are a cross between an orange and a lemon), are more spherical and have thinner peels. They are a hybrid so if looking for "heirloom" - go the other route. Meyer's also get a lot taller than regular lemon trees (15' vs. 8-10'). I like Meyer's for lemonade, but not as much for baking."

So there you have it. A lemony kind of day.

Tomorrow's agenda: Apricot Jam

Come and see...

My almost garden!

Since it is not quite time, here in the Texas panhandle, to put the garden in, all of the plants I have bought so far are in pots. Not to mention, I haven't even gotten my raised beds ready yet. I used "Mel's Mix" in my pots, as that is what I will use in my raised beds. Mel's Mix is the growing medium used/created by Mel Bartholomew, writer of Square Foot Gardening. This is the method I am using to garden this year.

At harvest time, with just the plants above, we will have 7 types of fresh heirloom tomatoes, tomatillos, rhubarb, POPCORN!, 4 types of peppers, spaghetti squash and patty-pan squash. All of that is in the pots in the photos. This week, I plan to add pickling and slicing cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, watermelon, okra, cantaloupe and pumpkin...in plants.

Once the garden is in, late in May (yikes, 6 years here and I STILL cannot get used to the last frost date of Mother's Day) I will be planting seeds for lima beans, green beans, green peas, purple hull peas, black-eye peas, pinto beans, black beans, red beans, radishes, carrots, corn, mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens and gourds. WHEW! I am so excited for harvest time already!

For the first time ever, I have an herb garden, too!

Top shelf to bottom, left to right: basil, chives, sage, thyme. cilantro, lavender, spearmint, parsley, lemon verbena, rosemary and chamomile.

I still would like to get some calendula.

That old set of stairs was here when we moved here and it is a fantastic plant stand. I bought some white spray paint this weekend and will get it painted this week.

I used marigolds for natural insect repellant.

I put one marigold plant in 3 pepper plant pots and 1 tomato pot. Hopefully it will work. I will have the marigolds interspersed within the raised beds, too.

It is a cool, mostly overcast day here today. It is also supposed to storm this afternoon/evening. I thank God for the rain...but really wanted to work outside today. That means it is indoor work for me today.


Have a wonderful Monday!

Such a beauty

Since I haven't posted all week, I decided to introduce you to the *diva* of our barn.

I am beautiful

Yes, she knows she is the pretty one of the bunch in the barn.

Minnie Pearl is a bantam white Frizzled Cochin. We got her out of the "mixed bantam" batch at Tractor Supply a few weeks ago.

Isn't she a pretty thing?

Fabulous Homesteading Freebie!

One of the neatest homesteading items that I drool over almost daily is the "Homesteader" model over at Homestead Drying Racks.

They have recently changed ownership and redesigned their website and store and now have many other items available other than their hand-made laundry racks. When I say hand-made, I mean they are REALLY hand-crafted with pride and care by homesteaders.

Just released is The Homestead Community Post! It is a brand new online publication brought to you by the Harrison family over at Homestead Drying Racks.

Be sure to click on the image above or the link below to download your own free copy of this amazing e-magazine! You can even save it to your own computer to be able to go back and re-read or reference it any time you want to.

Get your copy!

***Many are having issues getting the link to load and open correctly. If you will "right-click" then save it to your computer first, you will have no issues opening it then.***

Have a wonderful weekend! I am off to read this beautiful publication.