Our Mountain Community

A few years back,

a member of our little mountain community

passed away

leaving an elderly widow ~L.

That fall, one of the neighbors

suggested we get her wood in for her.

(We asked her first.)

We did and have done so each year since.

Anything L. produces in the kitchen

is amazing, and she always

makes a supply of goodies...

so we won't run short on energy of course.

This year she had to be gone,

but we went and got it all done for her anyways.

There is another neighbor

who is 'slowing down' a little

and lives right across from L,

so we just walked on over and

started in splitting and stacking his pile too.

I think he had tears in his eyes~

(I'm sure it was just some sawdust.)

Afterwards, the majority of us

went to one of the neighbors house

where there was a big pot of chili

and pans of homemade cornbread waiting.

We don't bother each other regularly,

but we do watch out for each other.

We have a couple gatherings a year 

at which we all chip in.

It works out great - 

no one person is put on the spot.

If anybody needs something,

we can round up a crew with little effort.

There are so many places where 

the folks don't even know who lives

right next door.

I am so thankful for these

neighbors & friends.

PS: This was before the cold snap; had to get pictures from a neighbor:)

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

*~*~*My Design Tomato Trellis - Tutorial*~*~*

Well, I don't know how right on it I was,

but I did get most of my tomato trellis made.

Being very human,

I mis-calculated and ended up one stick short.

So tomorrow,

I will go get one more 1X2.

Requirements: 8 or 9 1X2s (at least 8:)

and 4-6 hinges
wood screws (about 1 inch)

You will end up with:

8 each = 5ft. 1X2s

4 each = 1ft. 1X2s

4 each = 2ft. 1X2s

4 each = 17inch 1X2 or scrap strip

4 each = 21inch 1X2 or scrap strip

Here's what I did.

I started by getting some boards cut to the right lengths.

This is not all of them,

just a sampling:)

<--------- i="">

You could seal your boards

before you assemble the project.

I will wait until

it is all put together,

because, I like to seal up

those screw holes.

After doing this the difficult way,

I drew a line 5 feet long then

on the top and bottom board,

I marked the center and lined the mark up

with the line so that there were no

'weird' angles, and it was square.

Working with finer pieces of wood like this,

it's very important to pre-drill your holes.

At the corners, it is also important to put 2 screws

so that the piece is sturdy and 

does not rock.

I then used some scrap pieces I had

left over from another project to add rungs.

These were only about 1X1s so I only used

one screw on them.

You will need to repeat this 3 more times

so that you have 4 pieces like this. (ladders)

Once you have all of your 'ladder' pieces,

flip them so they are rung side down

and the long 5 ft pieces are on top.

I will be using 3 hinges but only had 2 on hand.

Place hinges appropriately.

(top, middle, and bottom)

Screw them in place making sure

that they fold up as they are laying this way.

-otherwise the rungs will be in the way-

Then you can stand them up.

They should be pretty sturdy.

This is only 2 of the 4 sides.

As I said earlier,

I was 1 board short.

I will just use jute to tie

two of these sections together

in order to use them.

At these deminsions,

5 feet tall

1 foot across at top,

and 2 feet across at bottom,

it is sound

and should not tip over.

If needed, I can use

tent stakes as tie downs

-if the tomatoes get that big.-

I plan on prunning them 

if they get over 5 feet tall

so that their energy

will go into making fruit

rather than leaves.

If the plant needs more support,

I can use jute to string

across from one side to the other.

I didn't want so much wood

that it blocked the light.

The reason I am making them

with only two sections

is that they fold flat

for winter time storage.

Those round metal ones

drive me crazy.  They are never

strong enough, and 

always seem to be in the way.

By using scraps for the 

middle supports,

I ended up with some

3 foot drops.

I am hoping to make

something similar

but 3 feet tall for

my cucumbers.

The other thing I took into

consideration was

access to the tomatoes.

Maybe I'm a little lazy,

but I like to be able to

get to those ripe ones

without having to do too 

much digging.

Our seed order arrived yesterday.

Now we just have to have

patience for a couple more months.

Having a project helps point my

focus somewhere other than

just the growing part of gardening

as it snows outside!

You don't need a lot of room

to grow some of your own food.  

You could even set this over a potted plant.

Keep warm and safe, and I hope this inspires you.  

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

*~*~*January Projects for the Garden*~*~*

1st

If you haven't ordered your seeds,

I would strongly suggest placing your order soon.

One site I really like:

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

I have only had good luck with their seeds,

and I'll just remind you that this is me

the brown thumb talking.

2nd

Go through your seeds and see what you will

want to purchase as plants.

I have horrible luck starting tomatoes from seed

so I just plan on buying them.

If your seeds look like this,

maybe do a little tidying-up;)

Even the sunglasses for weed wacking.

3rd

If you don't already have one,

maybe find a local source of bunny poo.

Yep, you read that correctly.

It's !ultra-fabuloso! for the garden.

I called our extension service and

they hooked me up with a 4-H family

who had a gold mine of doodoo.

They were only too obliged to share.

4th

I don't know what you all do,

but I can't stand the tomato cages

that you buy in the store.

I even bought the larger, sturdier, more expensive ones,

and they were wimpy.

So I've come up with a little plan.
I will have to play with it and get some pictures
before I share:)
The suspense is brutal, I know.

Hopefully I can get on it &
get it done.

I read another blog about things they plant in January.
Our ground hasn't thawed since October.
I just have to wait for my seeds to arrive,
and clean-up my seed box before they show up.

More soon.
Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

~Tying Up Those Loose Ends.... & Some Super Glue~

I think I am ready for 2013

to be a page in the past.

The day after Christmas,

I was taking a plate from the shop fridge to the compost pile

which should have been done long ago.

Being careful not to get any of that compostable stuff on me,

I slipped on the ice, went splat & broke the plate to boot.

Not long after the slip,

I went to add a log to the fire & burnt a knuckle.

Yesterday, the all-star match between 

my paring knife and me ended with the paring knife

being named champion.

I still have my finger - it stopped at the bone.

Mr. LB grabbed the super glue he prefers
which is the liquid.  I prefer the gel.
By the way, you should keep this in your first aid kit.
It's the same thing as skin adhesive.
The glue ran down my finger and glued my wedding ring
to my finger as well as to my other fingers.
I immediately pulled my fingers apart,
and it took a little bit before I got my ring to spin,
but there will be no removing it to clean it
until my finger heals.

So, onward and upward...

The good news is that Mr. LB & I treated ourselves

to a wonderful day of skiing.

And you will be so proud of me.

I am no longer just a green circle; I am a blue square!

Not a good one, but one nonetheless.

(Mr. LB is a black diamond)

In case you don't ski, those are the levels of difficulty of the slopes.

Mr. LB was born with skis on~ my poor mother-in-law.

The other fun and yes, I do realize that I am the only one 

who would qualify this as fun, is that I have been doing 

more de-cluttering.

We have had or have been a part of 3 yard sales in the past 4-5 years,

and we will be having another this spring.

I cleaned out and am still sorting through a room full

of 'goodies' that have never really had a home.

You know...THAT room.

I also cleaned out (de-cluttered:) the refrigerator.

I know it doesn't sound like fun, but it is so nice when

I open the door, and it sparkles back at me.
Honestly, how many open jars of jelly does one fridge need?

One would think it should look like

"Sanford & Son" around here, but surprisingly,

it is the fact that I take a bag to the bargain counter

nearly every week & have the stack started

in the shop for the yard sale

that keeps it all under control.

If you have not been there yet,

there is an amazing blog in my sidebar

Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth.

Jes has a fabulous and seemingly endless

supply of both knowledge and resources on the topic

of home and home organization.

Every home has its own character, and

there are so many ways that folks make it all work.

She has a way of simplifying it and

making it beautiful all at the same time. 

I am hoping to start 2014
on a slightly more organized footing~
in order to keep it simpler and
enjoy the harmony that nature provides,
and we humans mess up.
I don't make new year resolutions,
but I do have ongoing goals.
One of my goals at the moment is
PRIORITIZE.
A few things to prioritize:
stuff vs. space
relationships (enriching vs. draining)
time vs. events/obligations
sanity vs. rushing
health vs. convenience
There are probably more.
Feel free to add your own to the list.

I am looking forward to closing the books on 2013.
So to each of you, I wish a very blessed and prosperous
2014

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches