Monday, December 23, 2019

Natural Dyeing with Onion Skins & Frugal Accomplishments


Hello, friends.  It's been one of those weeks with numerous challenges.  All the hours on airplanes caught up with me.  I came down with a cold, and appointments on Monday and Tuesday had to be cancelled.  On two separate days, a hawk got one of our chickens.  My check engine light came on again.  That's just a sampling, but you get the idea.  This too shall pass.  A quiche was made, which used our eggs, peppers, garlic and parsley.   I pulled lambs quarter and spaghetti squash from the freezer for a side dish, and made thousand island dressing for a salad.  I dyed a second round of fabric in onion skins, and was pleased with the results of both batches. 


With living in a handmade house, as well as Joseph's knowledge of so many things, we have a number of unusual systems on the homestead.  A while back, I decided to make a systems book, mostly for my knowledge, but eventually for future occupants, which I hope is a long way off.  I hadn't put much in the book so far, but last week, I added the procedure for draining the rainwater pipes during frigid temps.  I had previously been making sketches in the book, then realized photos would work really well, so that's what I did this time.  My goal is to steadily add to it, until all systems are included in the book.


I paid the propane bill within 10 days to get a small discount. Laundry was hung on the line.  Split pea & barley soup was made from pantry items that needed using.  Kale was harvested, and a kale salad made to bring to a family gathering on the weekend.  I also made an autumn succotash to bring, with a couple of our butternut squash.  J is still working hard on firewood, whenever he gets the chance, and has split and stacked more wood.  We decorated our tree, and the house.  I'm hoping to finish wrapping gifts, and hopefully bake cookies on Monday.  Wishing you the happiest of holidays!

5 comments:

daisy g said...

Hope you're feeling better by now.

I recently saw a video about dying using onion skins, beets and, believe it or not, bugs. Fascinating!

I was trying to decide what to add to the vegetable soup I'm planning on making today and split peas will work nicely. Thank you for the inspiration!

Enjoy your holiday!

Laurie said...

I wonder if it was the cochineal bugs they used? I expect people have tried about everything to dye with. It's a good day for soup. Enjoy!

Beckyathome said...

I think making a systems book is a brilliant idea. It will be amazing for future occupants, as you mentioned, but it also may come in handy for yourself should something every need attention and it hasn't for so long that you might have forgotten every little detail about it! Or, maybe it's just me who does that sometimes with things:).

It sounds like your week was full of little glitches--I'm sorry--even though they will pass, they are annoying while they are getting cared for.

Have a very merry Christmas.
Becky

Laurie said...

I think the systems book is a good idea too. Though Joseph knows all of it, he occasionally works out of town, and if he were to get sick or have to spend time in the hospital, I'd like to know I could keep things going around here. I definitely forget details if I haven't done something much or in a while, so notes are helpful for me. Wishing you and your clan a very merry Christmas too!

Jeannie said...

A systems book! What an awesome idea. We have some odd things also, like the well pump which required us to call the previous owners when it broke down. Thank goodness he was gracious and drove here to help us. My husband keeps all of the instruction manuals which come with the appliances. I keep paint can lids with their information. But city dwellers would never know how to clean a chimney or even recognize the tools.
Thank you for this idea.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry