The Blacksmith

He is back at it! Forging, that is. Mr. W has a brand new shop, awaiting insulation (yay!). Till then, he is still forging Garden Trowels and other Good Things in his old Blacksmith Shop (my future She Shed, Potting Shed, etc.. yay for me too!).

Here is a little glimpse at what it takes to make a garden trowel from a railroad spike.

 
Only the best finished products are kept. That is a “scrapper” you see on the lower right.

finished trowel.. a keeper!

These are, without a doubt, the sturdiest trowels ever.. with a nice “feel” in the hand. Made to last a lifetime..  they make awesome and meaningful gifts for almost any occasion. Railroad Spike Trowels are always available in the Flat Creek Forge Etsy shop (with free shipping!).

A Wine Barrel Chair

Not just any old chair. This is my favorite chair! And I’ve planned to blog about it since Spring! Where has this year gone?

Fabricated by a good friend of the Blacksmith’s -- from a wine barrel at a local winery. Coopers Oak Winery, to be exact.

You might see our Banjo girl peeking thru.. above.

also notice the cute socks (dressed up for Winter).

Looky, a specially designed wine glass holder built in the chair… very handy ;)

A custom laser personalization with (squee! my favorite!) hummingbirds!

yep, that’s me….

It is a beautiful piece of furniture, AND so comfy! It is also a permanent fixture in the shouse. Great for Chillaxin’ time.

Additionally, to go with the chair, there is a handmade wine glass and wine bottle holder (aka portable wine rack) and two lovely etched Coopers Oak wine glasses. There was a bottle Sawmill Sweet wine from Coopers Oak (who knew our favorite winery had such a wine?!) I did have pics for the portable wine rack also.. but alas, I cannot find them right now.

Indeed, I am one lucky gal.

The backstory: the Blacksmith’s talented woodworker friend makes some gorgeous furniture and other lovelies from wine barrels. If you’re interested, and happen to live in our neck of the woods, shoot us a note and we’ll get back to you. The craftsmanship is remarkable… Something to last for generations!

A big shout-out and THANK YOU to the talented craftsman, Mr. JM.

Cheers!

Beauty-full Wool

Popping in for a quick blog post to announce the opening of my sister’s Etsy shop! She has some gorgeous and happy sheep in many varieties. Currently, you can find some beautiful roving and washed wool fleeces in her shop.

I blogged about her farm and critters on a Father’s Day visit a couple years ago. You can see some of her happy sheep on that post.

She has Blue Faced Leicester, Border Leicester, Shetland, Cheviot crosses and purebred, Angora goats, and a few Angora rabbits. She knits, spins her own fleeces and sells washed fleeces. She also does some beautiful Scherenschnitte (papercutting). Not to brag, but I have been the lucky recipient of some of those lovely knitted items and scherenschnitte through the years (maybe she will add some of those items in the future to the shop!).

So, if you or anyone that you know is in the market for some lovely and unique roving and washed wool fleeces.. check out Little Flower Farm on Etsy!

Silver Border Leicester Roving from Little Flower Farm

Be sure to give her blog a look, and meet the new cutie -- Rudy!
Little Flower Farm blog

Cheers to all… Back soon.. I hope!

we’re baaack!

Well, that was a long, unplanned blogging hiatus. I’ve missed blogging, as well as my visits to my bloggie buddies!

Speaking of blogging buddies, a HUGE THANKS to my friend Patti for this beautiful tote, made with an antique hanky and custom embroidered. That girl is seriously talented!

I had so many things I was going to blog, once I finally got back on the blogging wagon.. but for today I’ll just add this slow-motion hummingbird video I took yesterday through our old screen window at the kitchen sink. I have to say these little guys and gals are one of my most favorite parts of Summer. I heart them, completely!

Till next time (which I hope is not so doggone long)..

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

I hope. Sorry for the unplanned blogging hiatus. I don’t know even know where to begin, so I’ll just jump right in and see where I land…
Drought and Heat 2012: We are still suffering in our neck of the woods. Grass, crops, gardens.. all are dying. Even the trees are in danger at this point. I’ve been watering to try to save what I can. The good news is we’re now into the “cool 90’s” this week after two weeks of upper 90’s to (as much as) 107 here. Please tell me what’s going on where you are. The rains have been so spotty. I know some have received showers of blessing.
In spite of everything, we still have a few blooms and tiny bit of garden left. Amazing, I say.


Bees: We are picking up another hive of bees this week from a relative who is a beekeeper and does his own splits each year. This will be Hive #4. Yay! On one of our hottest days last week (107), I captured these honeybees soaking up the moisture at the bird bath. It was really interesting to watch! Maybe because I’m a Bee Nerd? At any point during those warmest days you could see several bees at a time cooling off here.

Do you ever have a list of “things I should have blogged, but never did?” Here’s one of my many. This handmade mosaic stepping stone was given to me by my parents on my 50th b-day (gulp) 2 years ago. I sooo love it! The gentleman who creates these is wheelchair-bound in a local nursing home (about my age), and donates the proceeds to our county’s Relay for Life.

Now, here is something that Mr. W is quite proud of. One of his newest projects. Still doesn’t seem real to us sometimes, but his dear blacksmithing friend Ed passed away suddenly a couple of months ago. Slowly but surely I think some of  Ed’s “best of the best” rust pile has somehow found its way to Flat Creek Farm :)
Just for fun, can anyone guess what this lovely crusty rusty item is?

One more random catch-up item.. and I’m outa here for now (hopefully not so long this time). Remember Goldie? Wow, she grew up! She’ll be one year old at the end of this month. Notice the post-critter-chasing tongue?

Hope everyone is doing well. I’m trying to slowly catch up on blog visits too. Where does the time go??
Till next time…

homemade

We made and used the homemade liquid laundry detergent for about a year. This time I’m going with the powdered version. It’s easier, less messy, and if I might add… cuter to display. Will this cute factor make laundry any more enjoyable? Doubt it. But it’s worth a try, huh?

I made a sheet of labels, sealed them and glittered them (yah.. you’re right.. glitter was probably a bit much but I like it). Now I’ll have cute labels at the ready when I need a quick little gift to give. Laundry soap for a gift? Why, of course!

“homemade clothes soap ~ 1 Tbsp per Load, 2 Tbsp per Extra-Grungy Load”

Here’s the recipe I used:

Powdered Laundry Detergent—

1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1 grated bar of laundry soap, such as Fels Naptha or Pink Zote
5-10 drops of essential oil (I used grapefruit essential oil, and it smells just yum)

Just mix it all up with a big spoon, deposit it all in a pretty jar.. and there ya have it. Your own lovely mix of laundry detergent, and the added bonus is it’s much cheaper than buying anything ready-made. Use 1 tablespoon for each regular load, and 2 tablespoons for extra dirty or extra large loads.

Also, I doubled the recipe and grated one bar each of Fels Naptha and Pink Zote. I found Pink Zote at a local Latin Market. Makes for a pretty mix! I also added a 2 Tbsp coffee scoop.

**Updated to Answer some Questions about HE machines. I do not have one - mine is "old school" (but yet, not the washboard in the pic.. hehe). I've done a little research just now and I see this recipe seems to be fine for HE machines also -- due to the low sudsing effect. I also read where some people use this product monthly in their HE machine, no matter what detergent is used (to clean out any remnants of detergent & be on the safe side).

Next up, baby gifts! I’ve been making these little appliquéd Onesies for little boy gifts.

So easy! I’ll direct you to a fantastic tutorial at Crap I’ve Made blog. She has definitely covered all the bases. I’ve also used some camo fabric, and I do have some rockin’ guitar fabric to try next. Soon I hope to try out some baby girl onesie ideas (I think they should include lots of ruffles).

So many homemade ideas, so little time & energy. But I’m workin’ on it!