Tomatoes are home.

   The tomatoes are all potted up, think I'm going to give a couple to my mom and sister as I have too many for myself. I used the compost out of my compost bin, the stuff is a lovely black but not as black as my corner compost heap thats mainly leaf mold. You really can't beat leaf mold but it does take a lot longer to break down.

   Not much done yesterday and I'll probably not get much done today apart from bottle the winter warmer ale. The winter warmer ale has fermented really quickly, I could of bottled it yesterday. I'm going to put it all into bottles now the weathers warming up, the barrel is hard to keep cool and ales need to be served at cellar temps. Doing 40 bottles is apita though, will probably take be a couple of hours to sort it all out.

  Just ordered a wooden ruler off ebay so I have a second beater, if it works. I might need to buy some heavier wood and make my own beaters. I did get some knitting done on the pipe pouch, couple more rows and it will be done. Not sure if I want to do holes and a Icord for the pouch or go with a button loop, would need to buy some buttons for that.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

Chilly is back

   Brrr felt very cold this morning when I woke up, it wasn't really its just that the last few weeks have been pretty warmish and I'm no longer used to the cold. House was down to 50f which is nothing compared the the 40f it was hitting a while back. Its also foggy out, very foggy. Its not so bad on the low fields but up on the top field visibility is down to about 20 feet.

  Got a fair amount to get done today, the mild which has been fermenting for 14 days looks like its ready for bottles. It should clear fast once its primed, might even be drinkable 1 week from this weekend. Then theres the rest of the chores,chores, chores. I hate  chores.

  Still knitting the moss/seed stitch scarf, not sure if I'll be able to get much done on it today. I will try and steal a little time for a few rows here and there. I really want to get it finished for the weekend.

 Have a great day, take care folks.

Vertical Limits?

  Trying to weave mohair using a heddle is hard work, sort of like dragging a comb through hair after someones stuck bubblegum in it. I gave up after a few rows but did use what was there to try out a small vertical row. Seems I might of figured it out after all and was right yesterday.
   I need to go through my odd yarns and see what colours I have, I don't think I have anything that would do well as a tartan colour apart from the mohair and thats no good with the heddle. I do have pink, yellow and I think white double knit, also some blue, purple and reddish crinkly double knit. I'll have a play later.

  Going to brew up some mild today, I got a different type this time to try out. Hope its as good as the last lot. I'm not a mild drinker usually but was very impressed with the last lot I brewed. I've fallen behind with my brewing lately, only have a few bottles of bitter left and the mild will take around three weeks before its drinkable.

  Looks like its going to snow within the next 24 hours, a lot heavier than the small amount we got on Tuesday. I'll ring the local calor gas place today to see if they sell paraffin, if not I'll have to order it online or try and talk my sister into picking me some up. I have enough for now but if my main heating system were to break I'd soon run out, can't have that.

  I didn't order the fleece, I'll do that today. I also want to order an Afro comb for weaving, think it will be helpful on smaller pieces but bigger than a fork.

  That's enough of my rambling, have a great day and take care.

Last backpack update for awhile, again.

  Ya, ya, ya I know I said there wouldn't be anymore backpack updates but this will be the last one until its finished, I think. Decided to buy buckles for adjusting the straps so want to wait until they arrive before I start knitting the straps. I've pretty much finished the Icords and will block the front and back today and sew it together when its dry.

  I ordered a top whorl drop spindle with 4 * 50g of fleece tops at the weekend and a book on hand spinning. I think there will be lots of posts on my learning as I go along. I also want to get into dyeing but that can wait until I can spin yarn.

  Started 5 gal, 40 pints, 25l, of bitter yesterday. That should be ready in about a week, judging from the original gravity I think this will be a stronger batch than I normally do. I've stopped using spray malt and just use 100% dextrose, the last batch of bitter was fine and the lager I did was fantastic, one of my best brews so far.

  I'll get a post up this week showing one of my older finished projects, think I've promised that before but this time I really mean it, honest.