Knitting and Reading

Knitting and reading on this beautiful, cold, rainy fall day, so I thought I'd join with Ginny on her Wed. yarn along to share what I've (we've) been reading and knitting.

 

Annie has been reading aloud to us, the Princess and the Goblin and I've been knitting a black pony for the toy barn as I listen in. We just finished it in fact, and are on to the sequel. It's a very sweet and classy fairy tale story, having been written back in 1872 by George McDonald, who's writings inspired others such as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolken and Luis Carroll. In fact, as Annie was reading, she paused to say, "his writing style reminds me a lot of C.S. Lewis' Narnia, I'll bet he borrowed some inspiration from him." I disagreed, but looked it up anyway, surprised to find her very much correct in her assumption! 

Just like Annie to pick something like that out of a person's writing style. ;-)
Anyhow, it's a sweet read aloud book that I would recommend for those who enjoy Mr. Lewis' writing style. 
 

Fake Fall

Check out Stephen and Mike's latest vid! Keep in mind this is all fake--they did it to practice the effect. Mike's feet never even touched the top of our roof! :)


Here's the breakdown on how it was done. His video was featured on a popular movie making site, which really spiked the views early on and he had a lot of people asking how he did it, so he made this follow up video to show some of the techniques used.
A couple of cooks for brothers have I, leaves me to roll my eyes and sigh...

Adventures Down South

Here are some pictures from Annie and Andrew's adventure down south. It was a really wonderful experience for them and good for us back home as well, discovering that we can still run, more or less smoothly, on two less wheels. They are equally glad for the experience and glad to be home, so it was the perfect length of stay. They enjoyed participating in some natural building projects, as well as discovering those less known facts about southern living. Some were fascinating, some were creepy and most made Annie and Andrew grateful for their U.P. home! Call them warm blooded, northern chickens, if you must. ;)

Guys talking in building language...

  Sifting clay for cob... Southern clay is gray, as opposed to our red. Interesting!

  Possum stuck in the soaking clay the next morning... Annie rescued it. ;)

  Stray hound dog with pups quickly became Annie's friends. ;)

  This one she named Annabelle.

  More southern facts nobody warned them about--tarantulas!!! ;) lol!

  The outdoor mock-up for the rocket stove.
    Rebuilding it indoors.















  Some of Annie's cooking. She went primarily to cook for the work crew.

  Foundation laying with the abundant flat rocks.







  Laying strawbale walls.

  Window and door frames.








Course, it wasn't all work--lots of fun to be had in the evenings as well!

  Good food and friends! :)

  Flying was another cool experience for those who have never seen the topsides of clouds...









  So ends a fun adventure.
They returned in the midst of the busy harvest season, happy for the experience, yet all the more grateful for our cool temps, small harmless insects and awesome, big, refreshing swimmin' hole! ;)

Popcorn, Apples & Tomatoes

Strange, I know, but popcorn, apples and tomatoes were our Sunday evening, 'round the campfire snack... Popcorn because we made it on the fire, apples because we just picked a bunch, and tomatoes because we have a lot right now and everybody's been into eating them straight off the vine--fresh and yummy!
    So, Sunday night the younger kids and I built a campfire in the back yard. I did it in the name of new experiences for Donna and Johnny.

  We had fun experimenting with making popcorn over the fire... Johnny went crazy when we started hearing lots of popping from inside our pot! ;-)

  Mike making a second batch.

  Family...

  Music, singing and barking...
  Dad doing his 'rockstar' pose. ;)

  Johnny dancing with fire on a stick (strange, I know... must have been the tomatoes/apples/popcorn combination)
  Dad and boys playing football.

  Dusk grows and everyone draws in close.

  Sparks and embers, stars and stories...

  A lovely night, left me feeling warm and cozy inside...