Scraping the hides

A friend at Camp Taconic gave us three hides from white-tail deer that he had shot with black powder. He also let us shoot the muzzle-loader. D hit his target using a firm support at about 25 metres. The first step in preparing the hides is scraping off the meat, fat, and membrane that was left after the skinning. After scraping we nailed them to boards to stretch and dry since we couldn't get the chemicals (pool supply places were closed for Christmas). Anyway, I don't think the tanning would have worked in the cold (and we weren't about to bring the hides inside!). We couldn't even scrape them until the hides thawed.

Images of the Blizzard of 2010

In Stitches

Needlecraft by Ju, A and Mom (earlier this month). Ju's knitting is much better than Mom's, so the knitting is all hers. She knitted a doll blanket for her friend. She is starting on a scarf now. A and Ja have projects going as well which may appear in future blogs. Mom did help with the embroidery--we got instructions from a book that shows a huge variety of embroidery stitches and sewed a simple pillow as a birthday gift for one of the girls' friends. The pillow is made from old dinner napkins! I wish I had taken more and clearer photos of it as not all the details can be seen in this one. We hope to stitch more in the future.

"Tobloggan"

Tobloggan: a vehicle for reporting on Snow Days, closely related to "toboggan" which is a long sled for riding down snow hills.





We have had snow falling (with brief interludes of "snain", sleet, and "snunshine") for three days now and expect it to fall for at least one, if not two or three, more. This means: 1)NO SCHOOL! 2)Snow Shoveling contracts; 3)Snow Forts (also known as "quinzee" snow shelters--we build them in the banks of snow heaped up from shoveling the driveway); 5)Snow Men; 6)Snowballs; 7)Gallons of homemade hot chocolate; 8)Indoor blanket forts and the silly games we play inside them. Whoo hoo! Photos (top: snow forts, middles; snow fort, snow fort topped with snowmen, tree house in snow; bottom: blanket fort, the dog--"Can I go in now?") courtesy DCB.

Darning socks

Bad dog. Shep found J's sock lying on the floor. Socks on the floor are a no-no in our house, but "some" "occasionally" land up there. The floor is the realm of Shep. Anything that is on the floor belongs to Shep. He won't take food off the table, but food on the floor is his. It is in the realm of Shep. When the dog found J's sock in the realm of Shep, he began to love it. He gently caressed it with his teeth until he had a small hole in it. No one noticed, but slowly the small hole became a big hole. When J found the sock it was a sodden mess with a terrible hole in the toe. She quietly hung her head and began to sob. No one noticed at first. It was just a sock. But no. This was the cherished lady bug sock. This sock has history and is loved. The sobbing grew louder and something had to be done. So Tatay got out his trusty red sewing kit, found a darning needle, and began work. JJ supplied some wool. Now the stinky sock (stinky from dog-spit) is ready for washing and wearing.

New Front Door

A couple of years ago I picked up a discarded front door (steel). I haven't had a chance to install it until now, partly because I knew it was bigger than the old wooden one. I thought I would have to cut the header to get it to fit. But once I took the old door step off, the new door fit (just) into the old hole. So now it is installed. I kept the same jamb because it is a complex milling that seems to be structural to the house. I would have to wreck it to get it out, and then rebuild the structure. I will have to find a way to spruce it up after fifty years of screen doors have pulled hunks out of it. I still have to install the new door step (aluminium, from a garage sale). The wood underneath is severely termite damaged so I will have to replace that first.
Anyway, the new door looks a lot better than the old!

Carport shelf

I have been thinking about and planning a car port shelf to free up floor space. Well the shelf has finally arrived. It is four feet wide and nine feet long. There are two feet of shelf height, and 6'8" clearance under the shelf. Most of the structure came from discarded fence posts. The shelving came from discarded chip-board cabinets. I painted the structure grey and the exposed roofing plywood brown. I did have to buy one bracket for $1.75. It is already filled with sailboat cushions, VW bumpers, swimming pool, folding chairs, soccer balls, tent, etc.