January Un Crafting

Yes, it is that time. Time to clean, purge, organize my studio.  I moved my large oak table to the windows along with two of my sewing machines instead of the middle of the room. I have natural light along with the bright new LED bulbs. Moved the saddles and tack out of my studio.I had a ton of horse, kitten and farm vet supplies taking up space. I can't move my huge piano but that is just fine, she is happy where she is. So happy I got an upright.

As I go through a ton of forgotten patterns, fabric scraps piles, notes, catalogs, forgotten tools I find I no longer want to pursue some things I had once thought to. I am also making room for my leather crafting. I am looking forward to tooling and creating in leather. But that takes room and organization.

I have found I love certain brands of thread. I have to throw out all the old half saved spools. Connecting Threads has a very nice selection of cones and spools. I have them all with in reach and can depend on them.

I still collect buttons, eyes, yarns and silks for restoration. But I no longer need the patterns as I can create my own. My studio is still an animal hospital, kitten foster home, winter dog zone when it needs to be. But now I can put that stuff way until it is needed. 

While purging the basement I found a lot of food stuff given to us by a previous neighbor along with prepper grains I bought for "just in case". It had all spoiled and "gone over" even though it was all stored well. It will become chicken food. I had hoped I would have time to grind and bake my own breads from these grains. But life got busy on the farm. And we got older and do not eat as much as a young family might. We also do not eat that kind of food. We eat more Asian vegetables and rice now. So now a large part of our basement shelving has been cleared. It is funny how you live with things you do not need. While it is a lot of work this organizing was needed for our farm. Time to out the round bale and feed the horses. We have a strong winter storm headed for the Ozarks again this Saturday. Time to split and stack more firewood. 

Melon, boots and the wood stove.

Wood Heated

Chopping and splitting logs by hand is how we used to keep warm in the winter when we first moved here to the Ozarks. 

We got splitting down but had an inefficient wood stove and not enough heat for our house. Propane heat is costly and not as good. So we picked up a used log splitter for our tractor at auction and built pallet log carrier to move logs next to our house.

Moving the split wood next to our house. We go through about 3-4 of these per winter.

Here is our pride and joy. Our Jotul woodstove that burns well and heats the entire house both stories. It is located in the basement area and the heat goes up the stairs and keeps us cozy. I can use the top as a cooker if needed. I usually have a pot of tea going.

The old timers who can no longer split their own wood, buy wood already split and have it delivered. And that might be our plan in our later years. But for now friends have helped up fell trees and chop logs. And we have taken a few down ourselves. The wood ashes go into the compost and the garden. My hens love to roll in the dust of the ash piles. We have woods all around us and are grateful for the heat they provide for us in the cold times.