Thursday, June 26, 2008

Wordle

I just learned about a new tool through Cindi's blog post. Wordle lets you input text to create a tag cloud. You also have the option to make a cloud out of a user's del.icio.us tags. The EKU Archives cloud turned out really cool.



And I really liked this one. 1 Corinthians 13 is one of my favorite chapters.


Thursday, June 19, 2008

Farming the Hard Way

Last year I finally got smart and instead of paying someone to mow pastures and then buy hay, I made arrangements to have someone cut hay on shares. Duh. Why didn't I think of that before?

Let me start by saying that mechanical things don't like me. If it takes gas and has a pull rope, it really doesn't like me. It's so bad that the tiller I just bought is electric. Don't laugh.

I do have an old Ford Jubilee tractor, but it also doesn't like me. I can't keep it running for anything, so when it was time to put that free hay in the barn, I had to get creative. My daughter and I created a sled out of a sheet of plywood and a piece of 1/2" rope and pulled it with the car. Much cheaper than a hay wagon, but it could only hold 14 bales at a time.


Monday, June 9, 2008

Local Eating Again

Kentucky Farm Bureau also has a list of farm markets including these in Madison County:

  • Acres of Land Winery
  • Baldwin Farm (How could I have forgotten them. We always get our Christmas trees there)
  • McQuerry's Family Farm Herbs-N-Heirlooms in Paint Lick
  • Warren Farm Greenhouse

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

How to Build a Window Seat

I thought I would go back to an earlier post and show how I built the dormer window seat in the loft. All the wood used for this project was scraps left over from building the house so they aren't pretty, but they are covered up and eventually I'll paint them. The pictures are pretty poor, but hopefully they illustrate what I'm trying to describe.

The first step was to cut a 2x4 to fit across the wall under the window. You can see this at the back of the photo. Place this at the desired height, level it and screw it into the studs with long deck screws. Remember you probably have 1 1/2" of 2x4 and 1/2" of drywall, so make sure there is enough screw to secure this board well and make sure to hit the stud. I would recommend a 4" screw. This seat is almost too high, because the window is so high. It's good because it gives me lots of storage space for blankets and fabric, but it needs a step to actually sit in it easily.

After that I built the front wall like a regular framed knee wall on 16" centers so that I would have studs to nail the cedar to and plenty of support to hold people. The total wall height equaled the height of the first board placed. I placed this wall 3/4" inside the loft wall because I wanted the cedar facing boards to be flush with loft wall.

Then I cut 2x4s to fit along the side walls. Line them up with the front wall and the back ledger board and screw into the wall at the studs. If the height measurements were correct these 2x4s will be level. To support the seat I also nailed a 2x2 in the center between the knee wall and the back board, but this is probably overkill and would only be needed if your seat was wider than 48".

The top is made up of three pieces of wood. First, I covered the framing with a 1x4 along the back wall. (This board is under the cubbyholes, so you can't see it.) This board was joined to the lid (which was made from a scrap of Advantech flooring) with a zipper hinge and a flat handle was attached to the lid. They probably make better handles, but this was all our local Lowes had in stock. The front of the top was finished off with a piece of cedar mitered on the front edge to provide a more leg friendly surface. I left 1/8" between the lid and the front cedar to allow the lid to open and close without rubbing.

Cedar was nailed on the front diagonally to match other cedar walls in the house and was trimmed with thin strips of cedar rounded on the router and mitered in the corners.

The original plan was to cover the entire seat with a cushion, but then I found out that the foam only comes in 24" widths. To make up the difference between the cushion width and the actual window seat width I put together a cedar cubbyhole to hold books, pencils, paper, etc. This is the one item I would redo, assuming I get another spurt of inspiration. It works, but it could be refined to look better.

Hopefully this will help someone build their own window seat. Questions are welcome and I'd love to see the end results if you build a seat.

Eating Locally

Our family is trying to reduce our carbon footprint and a big part of that is eating locally. We have a large garden, a small flock of chickens, a few goats and I'm seeing a couple cows in our future. Still there are times when we need to buy stuff.

Like coffee. The best place in the county to buy Fair Trade, Organic coffee is Berea Coffee and Tea, Kentucky's first "green" coffee shop. Their long list of coffees can be found here. While you're at their website you can also read about the process they went through to become "green."

Berea College Farms are selling locally raised beef and other meats. You select how much meat you need, how you want it cut (if you select a quarter or side) and then pick it up and pay for it in the fall when it's ready. Berea College is also trying to become sustainable by raising the food they use on campus on their farms.

There are several farmer's markets in Richmond, Berea and Irvine. The organic market in Berea is open on Tuesday and Friday evenings beside Promenade Gallery. There is another Berea market under the stadium beside the pool at Berea Community School, but I'm not sure of the days. In Richmond the market is in the Lowes parking lot on Tuesday afternoon and Saturday morning. There is a list of other markets in the state here.

I mentioned local strawberries in an earlier post, but leave a comment if you know of any other local food options.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Knitting Two Socks at One Time

After knitting two pairs of socks, I thought I'd try two at the same time, so I don't have to force myself to knit the second sock.

It took knitting for several inches before I got control of the two strands of yarn and cables and could easily pick things back up when I put down the needles. In fact I had to take out several rows because I started knitting backwards and didn't catch it until it was time to change needles. The heel didn't work exactly right, it was very awkward, but I'm past that now, just need to finish the foot and toe.

I do like the idea of having both socks done at once, but I'm getting bored with them, so I started a lace project too.

This weekend was spent fixing strawberries, working in the yard and knitting lace. We went to Marcum Farms and picked seven gallons of berries. They were great, but I noticed later in the day that another farm less than a quarter mile up the road had berries for $6 a gallon rather than $9, just in case anyone wants to pick strawberries.

Here is a quick picture of the lace stole I'm working on. It's like knitting a cloud. The lace is so light and soft. The yarn is Kid Seta by Madil Yarns from ReBelle Girls in Lexington. It is 70% kid mohair, 30% silk and it is luscious. My new camera is on the blink, so none of these pictures are very good. I apologize for that.