"Wow, your hair is getting so long!"

Whether it's a genuine compliment or just an observation, I hear several times a week that my hair is getting longer and longer.  Sometimes I tell the observer and sometimes I don't that I'm growing it out in order to donate it to charity when it is long enough.

I contemplated my ponytail the other day while running.  I considered it's impact on my life and my attitude toward goal-setting.  I thought about why and when I began the process of growing out my hair.  

It was 2 years ago when my brother suggested that he, dad, sister and I sign up to run a 5K race.  Are you kidding me?  I had never been a runner in any way.  Sure, I was in high school track, but thought I would die whenever I had to actually run.  Also, that was over 20 years ago.  Follow high school with 20 years of smoking cigarettes, and only 2 years of not smoking, and you can imagine the challenge I had ahead of me.  

Quitting smoking might have been my first real attempt at goal setting, although with the help of a drug called Chantix, I was merely along for the ride.  I didn't think of it as being a long-term change in my life at the time, but it was.   I don't know if it was truly the first time I challenged myself in that way and reached a tangible goal, but quitting smoking definitely gave me the confidence to try some other new things.  

To stave off any ex-smoker weight gain, I took a few fitness classes and felt like I was in pretty good shape when the race challenge was presented.  My husband had no doubts that I could do it.  I was completely scared.  I really wanted to prove that I could run the whole 5K without stopping. 

I began one of those "couch to 5K" programs I found on the internet.  I followed the training religiously even though it was hard and I hated it!  I remember feeling supreme dread as the day approached when I'd have to run for 10 minutes nonstop!  It's funny now thinking back to those first efforts, but as my endurance improved, so did my self-esteem, and my mood.  Slowly, over time, running started to be something I looked forward to doing.

The race was in September, and by that time my hair was just barely long enough to pull back into a tiny ponytail.  That was when I decided to grow it out and donate it.  I figured I wouldn't have to do anything but be patient and I can reach this new goal, and I'd be doing something good for someone.

As it grows longer it is becoming a symbol of change for me and a symbol of my personal growth.  I can see by the length of my ponytail how long I've been a runner.  It reminds me that not only did I run that 5K without stopping, but I have gone on to run lots of races since then including a 20K.  

I'm learning the lesson of patience and that instant gratification is not necessarily a way to feel satisfied.  While I wait for my hair, I have made some other promises to myself.  I want to be debt free by the end of the year.  What that means is that there is no using credit cards in 2011.  Period.  If I can't afford it, I save until I can.  I opened an online savings account that helps me track how close I am to the goal of a new flat screen TV.  I am 73% there!  I can already imagine how I'm going to feel when it's installed knowing that I saved for many months to buy it.  It's a strange and unexpected realization to find that waiting is comforting.

Recently, my husband decided to start running too!  Despite running being a solitary meditative thing for me, it is really nice to find yet another thing you can do together.  He leaves me in the dust, however, since his legs are so much longer than mine.  It doesn't bother me though.  I just keep pounding the pavement.  

It's not a contest.  

I will never beat him in a race.  I don't care about winning.  I already feel like a winner in my heart and plan on continuing to set goals both small and large, to stay motivated to improve myself and to help others while simplifying my life day by day.  

All I can say is that now more than at any other time in my life, I'm really enjoying the ride.

Dressing Up Chickens Part 2

Perhaps we won't have to kill the rooster after all.  

Just the thought of MAYBE having to do that has been keeping me up at night.

The "protective apron" for the hen came in the mail the other day and just as I suspected, ridiculously easy to copy.  Do I feel guilty for doing so?  Not really.  

Okay, a little.  

But still--I spent (with shipping) over $11 on the item.  I could have copied it from the little catalog photo with no problem.  What made it worth ordering one of theirs was the handy-dandy instruction sheet.  Thank goodness it explained that it's normal for the hen to walk backwards, to flop around and act generally crazy until she got used to the apron.  Without that guidance, I may have given up and decided that the hen doesn't like it or it doesn't fit her properly.  After just a few minutes, she was back to her normal self.  

Later my husband and I observed the hen and both agreed that she is actually carrying herself with more self-assuredness than ever before.  Are we imagining things?  Also, the rooster does not seem to want to mount her which is excellent and unexpected.  

This might just work!

The next day I purchased enough supplies to make 8 more which cost me a whopping $3.85.  What a bargain!  Last night I stayed up until a little after midnight and finished the homemade aprons.  They look exactly like the original one.  All I did was trace the shape, add a seam allowance, stitched around the edge but left openings for turning right side out and also for inserting the elastic pieces.  Once I turned it right side out and pinned in the elastic bits, I top-stitched around the perimeter.

Super easy.

You can see the wyandottes in the foreground are not yet wearing the apron.  Notice the bare skin showing on her lower back.  This is why.  Far back right is the "little rooster".

Dressing Up Chickens

We have a problem in the hen house.  It's a rooster.  Although he's gorgeous and wildly entertaining, he has become a nuisance to the ladies ever since he reached his sexual maturity.  In fact, they're all adults, so what they do in the coop, out of the coop, in the front yard, in the back yard, that's their business.   It becomes my business when the hens get injured because of him.  

The rooster in question is a very large Buff Orpington.  (We have two males actually, but one of them is a bantam--very small--like a wig with legs.  He's not the problem.)  When the big guy mounts the hens, his talons, claws, whatever you call them, dig into the gals' backs and rip out feathers.  You can see bare skin showing in patches on a couple of them. We have had this issue in the past with a different rooster (who was even bigger than this one) who actually tore the flesh on their backs.  Blood in a henhouse is NOT good.  They can become cannibalistic with very little provocation.  Any little injury can invite their coopmates to pick at the wound.  It is not a healthy situation to be in.  Our solution the last time this occurred was to re-home the rooster.  We sent it to live with my parents. Tragically, it was quickly killed by a wild animal, and everyone was very sad to lose him.   

This time, we've decided to try a different option--dressing the chickens.  It is called a "protective apron" from Randall Burkey company.  I only ordered one to start with since they look absolutely easy to make.

http://www.randallburkey.com/Hen-Saver-Protective-Hen-Apron/productinfo/16120/

We will try this on the ladies to see how they heal, allow some time to let their feathers grow back in, etc.  If this doesn't work we're thinking about whether we can castrate him.  The arguments my husband and I came up with against this solution mainly focused around how big he is now and how much food he already consumes. The fear is that he'll just get bigger and hungrier without his chicken nuggets.

Once I get the Randall Burkey version of the apron, I'll try to make several more. They are a mere $8.99 each, but I'm on a budget!  I know I can whip them out cheaper than that--and probably cuter.  I'm treading on some dangerous ground here--suddenly I'm imagining some crazy designs to dress the chickens in.  We've joked oh so many times about knitting sweaters for the birds, and it's something I am absolutely likely to do. 

Wow.  If the neighbors think we're weird now, wait until they see our flock dressed up!  They won't probably realize that there is a reason for putting a jacket on a chicken, they'll just think we're nuts.  Oh well.  For all intents and purposes we are delightfully nuts and fine with it.

Makin' Sourdough Bread

A few months back, I made some Sourdough Starter.  If you aren't familiar, it's basically flour, yeast, and a little sugar or honey.  And it's ALIVE.  Some people have sourdough starter that is decades old.  When you use it, you replenish it so that you never run out and the mixture gets more and more pungent and flavorful as time goes by.  You still have to "feed" it even if you're not using it in order to keep it alive.  It's like a gooey goldfish or a delicate houseplant (neither of which I have had any luck with, so who am I kidding?)  

Since its creation, my Starter is actually doing fine, so maybe it's harder to kill than I thought.  Every couple of weekends I pull it out and add a spoonful of sugar.  That's the food.  I also leave it on the counter at room temperature overnight when I feed it.  It doesn't like to eat the sugar unless it's warm.  

So far I have had great luck using it in breads and pizza dough.  I began with the basic sourdough bread recipe from my old Better Homes & Gardens cookbook but then I've boldly branched out and added some starter to some other recipes as well.  Recently I was gifted with a Kitchen-Aid mixer (thank you Missy and Kate! You guys are awesome!) and added starter to the (white bread) recipe that they suggest.  The results were perfect and sour-licious!

Today, I decided to make some sourdough bread, basic recipe again, but forgot to add the starter!  The resulting loaves were stunted to say the least, and sort of inexplicably yellowish.  I have no idea what happened there, just that the moment I asked myself "when was I supposed to add the starter?" it was too late!

This is the Starter.

Finished loaf!

It's definitely worth the wait.  

It takes more than 10 days to make the starter because the ingredients have to ferment.  Neat, huh?

How to make sourdough starter:

1 pkg. yeast dissolved in 1/2 c. warm water (105-115 degrees)

Stir in 2 cups warm water, 2 cups all-purpose flour, and 1 tbsp. sugar or honey and mix everything until it's nice and smooth.  Cover the bowl with a cheesecloth, then leave it on the counter for 5-10 days, stirring it a few times a day.  When that's done, you can put it in a jar and store it in the fridge.  When you want to bake with it, let it get to room temperature before you use it.  For example, I will take mine out of the fridge on Friday night or early Saturday morning if I know I'll be baking on the weekend.  After you use it (most recipes call for about a cup of starter) you replenish it by adding 3/4 c. flour and 3/4 c. water and 1 tsp sugar.  Stir it up and leave it at room temp overnight.  If you end up not using it and replenishing it regularly you just need to feed with a spoonful of sugar every 10 days or so to keep it going. 

 

Bathing in Olive Oil is gross

OK, so my new favorite soap is Kiss My Face olive oil based soap.  It is the most wonderful thing if you are like me and would rather not have overpoweringly scented products.  Ever since I started making my own cleaning products, I've decided it's kind of nice when something smells like nothing at all.  So, of course I wondered whether I could use pure olive oil on my skin instead of moisturizing lotion.  

"Of course," said The Google.  

Jeri Hall famously rubbed her pregnancy belly with olive oil to avoid stretch marks, remember?  All sources agreed that a couple of spoonfuls in my bathwater would soften my skin to the nth degree.  I got my olive oil and ran the bath water, carefully adding the "couple of tablespoons" to the running water.  

The events that followed can best be described as a public service.  

 It's one of those "I tried it, so you don't have to" moments.  

Do as I say not as I regretfully did.  

The first sensation is the smell.  It was so olive-oily that it attracted the dogs.  They obviously thought I was cooking up a big tub of mama soup.  Seriously, a couple of carrots, some celery, etc. would not have seemed out of place.  I kept having to shoo them away throughout the entire (horrible) process.

Step One:  I slid into the tub.  

LITERALLY.  

Apparently "a couple of tablespoons" is waaaay too much oil.  I made a mental note to try this again only with much less oil.  (Which I did by the way, and the results were similar enough that it's not worth discussing separately.)  

I remember taking baths at grandma's house when I was little.  Always there was a capful of Avon's "Skin So Soft" added to the water.  One reason for this, grandma explained, was to eliminate the potential for a grimy bathtub ring once you let the water out.  That did hold true with the "Skin So Soft", but what about with the olive oil, you ask?  

Oh my.  

The ring that was left around the tub was utterly disgusting.  Was I that dirty?  Of course not.  What was supposed to be a relaxing, skin softening and soothing activity became a slippery, dog shoving, gross gooey mess.  When I finally did make it back out of the tub and dried off, my skin did feel nice and soft, if a bit smelly.  I am not the biggest fan of olive oil, but a friend suggested that perhaps I've never had really good quality olive oil--that could very well be true.  

Anyhoo--I looked over at the tub in shock at the remains.  I think maybe I also shaved my legs while I was in there, so you can just imagine my horror.  If you have an enemy, a good way to get back at them would be to break into their house and bathe in their tub with a lot of olive oil and leave it.

I have blocked out most of the details of the cleanup but I know that I was scrubbing the tub for over half an hour just getting the goo out.  So gross.  And, yes, as I mentioned earlier I did try it again.  Sometimes I just don't learn the first time.  I'm just not that bright, I guess.  I kept thinking I just did something wrong.  Nope.  It was just the same regardless of how much oil was used.   

Here's me--sticking to showers from now on.

Put an Egg on It!

So... we have chickens and are always looking for new ways to use eggs.  I saw this cooking show once--it was Elie Kruger's--and she made this pizza that was basically this:  Crust, olive oil, then spinach.  

You then make a well in the spinach leaves and crack an egg into it.  

Then she put pancetta on top and a little cheese.  

We're vegetarian (except for the fish lately) so I put mushrooms on top instead.  You bake it and the eggs cook perfectly along with the pizza.  If you've never eaten  fresh eggs you have no idea how delicious those soft yolks can be.  

So, after making that style of pizza for a while, 

I thought I'd try some other ways to put an egg on it! 

Peanut sauce pizza with an egg on it!

This one had peanut sauce, mushrooms, and sauerkraut.  OMG it was sooooo good.  If you've never had peanut sauce in place of regular red sauce--seriously TRY it!  It's great!  That idea comes from FONG'S PIZZA in Des Moines which is probably the very best pizza I've ever eaten and there are endless combinations of sauces and toppings.  So good.  The sauerkraut is surprisingly delicious on a pizza--try it if you've never had it.  On this one I just spread the homemade dough (of course) on my rectangular baking stone.  That was just me being "lazy".  I didn't want to bother with making it round.  

I just realized that you can see in the photo the peanut sauce oozing out.  It is seriously making my mouth water.  I remember the taste of this pizza like it was yesterday.  Too much.  Whew.  Moving on...

Here was a frozen pizza that I added artichoke hearts and red pepper flakes and of course,  eggs.  It's funny that I used to marvel at those red pepper flakes on every table in pizza parlors.  I thought "Who would eat these horrible things????"  I was mystified.  

Now, I love them!  

Eggs are not just extra good on pizza--here's a time when I made "Beans & Rice"--a vegetarian staple, so I hear.  

I put an egg on it!

I like to pretend that I'm on a cooking show...

Here's how I made Beans & Rice that one time...

Onion, garlic, celery, carrot, some of those roasted peppers that I had in the freezer (see earlier post) sauteeing in some grapeseed oil.  

Then, I added some mushrooms (of course). 

Some tomatoes...

black beans and chili type spices like cumin, cayenne, etc.  

 

I used a premade blend.  Don't judge.

After it simmered with the spices I added the rice.

I cracked two eggs on top of the mixture and put the lid on!  I'm so excited!

The eggs baste themselves in the steam.  So pretty!

 

 Sour cream on the side is delicious!  

Tonight we put an egg on this freschetta pizza---->

It was so boring.  

Supposed to be spinach, mushroom, garlic.  

First things first--add more mushrooms.

And more spinach...

 Oops I broke one of the eggs.  

Oh, well.  It just looks stupid.  It won't taste stupid.

Don't forget the extra cheese!  Now since there are more toppings than the "box" knows about I added a couple of extra minutes to the baking time.  

Go until the eggs are done, 

the cheese is golden brown, 

and before the crust burns to a crisp.  

You'll feel it.

OK, I nearly burned the crust to a crisp, but let me tell you this was one fine pizza considering the tiny bit of effort involved.   

So good.  

Put an egg on it!

Makin' Super Cute Sweaters Without a Pattern!

So for the past several weeks, I've been attempting to knit sweaters without patterns!  I decided I wanted to knit a sweater with cables, so I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 3 skeins of "Fisherman's Wool".  Little did I realize just how much yarn those skeins contained.  As you will see it was enough to knit 2 sweaters!

SWEATER #1

I started by making a swatch of course.  That is always key, since the whole rest of the process relied on careful measuring in order to produce a really fitted garment.  After the swatch with my first cable pattern selection, I basically knitted a scarf and pinned it on the form.  This became my collar and front panels--a brilliant idea if I do say so myself!

I have no idea how to reorient this photo.  Here is the first piece pinned in place.

One thing I did here was to change the direction of the cable around the back of the neck, otherwise the two front pieces would appear to be going in different directions.

Changing directions of the cable by utilizing diamond shapes.

Then I knit two side pieces at the same time with 2 balls of yarn.  That way I did not have to keep track of how many rows I did, etc.  Both sides ended up the same length without having to think too much.  As I went along, I stopped often to hold it up to the dummy.  When I reached the appropriate length, I shaped the armhole.

I got creative with the back panel, trying to add shaping to the design which is quite flattering (I think) in the final product.

Shaping the back.

The sleeves use the same cable pattern, but are short--stopping at the elbow.  I love this length on me.

Sleeve detail.

I had the most difficulty in trying to set in the sleeve.  Measuring is so crucial here.  I ended up ripping apart 2 complete sleeves and starting over.  I finally made myself a paper pattern piece that fit perfectly and had success in fitting everything together.  Don't get me wrong, I had moments when I was sure it was going to just end up being a vest!

The final product.

I am really happy with the way it turned out.  My initial plan was to have a zipped closure with a deep V-neck, but when I went to the fabric store, I was really disappointed in their zipper choices.  I had really hoped for something "cuter" with an interesting pull.  No such luck.   It's never too late, though, so if anyone knows where to find more unique zippers, let me know!

SWEATER #2

So, like I said I had a LOT of yarn left over.  I started with a wide 4x4 rib at the bottom of the sweater.  My plan here was to knit a front, a back, and I would see whether I had enough for sleeves.  I love sleeveless tops, so it didn't really matter to me.  

The final product.

As you can see from the photo, I did a lovely criss-cross bit at the bustline.  I didn't have a proper edge, so it was actually rolling inward and did not look very good.  I knew I had to take care of that somehow, and I got the idea to add the narrow cable band.  I think it looks really cute!  It definitely adds a more polished look to the neckline.  If I had planned on doing it in the first place, I would have added a slipped stitch edge to aid in sewing it on.

Once I got that far, I tried to imagine what kind of sleeves would be cute.  I didn't have much of a design in mind when I started, just kind of made it up as I went along.  I thought short sleeves with a little keyhole would be adorable!  Here's the pattern piece I made:

Sleeve Pattern.

  

I actually did this sleeve twice too!  Ugh.  The first one I made was a bit too small.  No worries, it's just knitting, not rocket science.  I took it apart and tried again.  The sleeves turned out great!

I did a single crochet around the keyhole, then I did a skinny cable band and stitched that around the bottom of the sleeve.  Voila!  Super cute sweater #2!

I will also have you know that those two took every last bit of yarn I had--I even had to take apart my gauge swatch!  Although, is it a bit weird to have 2 sweaters made from the same yarn?  Well, too bad.  I've always been a bit weird, so I am fine with it. 

All in all, I am VERY happy with my creations!  What's better than making something you actually want to wear?