So before anyone thinks that we just don’t exist any more, I figured I would write up a quick little update.
While I haven’t had much time for crafts in between getting used to being a homesteader while growing a homesteader, I did get a car-seat blanket made for cousins of ours that just had their first child. I also have one slipper for myself 99% done and a scarf over half done. I also found time to experiment with making home-made fire starters.
Most mornings, and other times that the stove dies, we use a few pieces of kindling and a couple handfuls of shavings to light it off. Thus wouldn’t be such an issue if the shavings didn’t tend to go all over throughout the week. In between us dragging them around on our socks, the cat playing with them, and the dog rolling in them, it makes a mess. A while ago Joe ordered some fire-starters for us to try. Turns out they were simply a bunch of shavings packed in with melted wax. I figured that was easy enough to make, and sure enough, I was right. By melting wax in a ceramic container on top of the wood stove and pouring it over shavings packed in egg cartons, I was able to successfully make fire-starters of the same caliber of those that we had tried out. The plus side is that each cardboard egg crate creates six of these useful little buggers.
In other news, the Maine fair dates have been updated for the 2012 season and there will be a new gardening page started today, even though last year’s somehow got skipped.
(I apologize for the graininess of the photos. I can only get shots of this kid with the camera on the quickest setting. Not to mention the light from the stove and the overhead were throwing it for a loop…)