Covid Journal, Day 274: Homemade

More snow overnight, 28 degrees this morning. No real accumulation, maybe a half inch, but pretty.

This morning:

Cold and icy out, but supposed to warm up to the 40's so most of the snow will melt away. Leaving, I hate to say, mud. 

I love this corner of the deck. The cabinet with the door is meant to be taken to a booth, but Larry's pulled a muscle in his back so it will have to wait. I took this photo yesterday, before the new snow.

We got the greenery up over the weekend. Not as nice a job as I like to do, but done. It was cold and my hands were freezing, but I'm glad we got it done before this week's colder weather.

Yesterday was a "nesting" kind of day. I continued cleaning, working on our bedroom, and finally gettng around to cutting up a very ragged quilt into useable pieces. I believe this one is made of feedsacks, and has such pretty colors I hated to toss it out. I am hoping someone will find a use for the pieces I was able to salvage. I believe this is the "bowtie" pattern. I'd like to see this old thing continue to find use as a thing of beauty for a while longer. If any of you can use it, please let me know, and I'll mail it you free of charge. There are several pieces, some small, one quite large, probably 36"x45".

Larry made us breakfast, and the table was so pretty I had to take a photo. 

Last week I picked up a few Christmas dishes at the quarter store--where almost everything is a quarter. I don't usually have seasonal dishes, but for that price, they're cheaper than paper plates and I can donate them back instead of storing them if I want to. And they look so pretty on the table, a nice change. Right now, small changes like this make the fact that we can't go out, see friends, and shop in stores like we used to more bearable. 

I am on the loookout for a teacup for January right now, and I'm thinking a cup featuring the oak tree in some way would be perfect. Because on Solstice, the Oak King triumphs over the Holly King, as the year turns slowly back to longer days and green. It seems a long way off right now, but slowly and surely the light will return, the roots and buds will begin to stir. In the old calendar, Spring began at the beginning of February, and I believe that's more accurate than our current March date, because in February you can see bulbs coming up and some stirrings of plants beginning to send out new growth. So, an oak teacup--I'm on the hunt. My December teacup, featuring the holly for the Holly King, finally arrived yesterday, after being on the way for 3 weeks. The poor mail carriers are really overwhelmed.

I got my cranberry sauce made and jarred up yesterday. 

It's so simple--cranberries, sugar, water. Cook until the berries pop and the sauce thickens a bit, jar up and process.

I don't know why I've never done it before. Just cook the berries as you would for a meal, then jar them up and process for 15 minutes or so, depending on your altitude. If you like the jelled type, there are recipes online to do that, but I prefer whole berry sauce. I had plenty of berries left from the two big bags I bought to vacuum-pack three bags for the freezer, to use in some recipes that require fresh or frozen berries. I followed the instructions here--I try to find .edu sites for canning and preserving recipes.

And I did get those firestarters made. I posted about how to make them 5 years ago, but I'd forgotten about them. I bought a few big but rough candles at the quarter store to melt down for this. It's a great way to recycle candle ends or old candles and to use dryer lint! You can also use sawdust. 

Off to our booth today, although we probably won't do a lot of work. I can't bring in totes since Larry can't carry them and neither can I. But the booths are full, so no worries there. Sales have been amazing, and I expect things will slow down now. Have a great day, everyone.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Dryer Lint and Old Candles=?

Most people might answer that lint and old candles are trash, and they're right, to a point. But they can have a second life, offering themselves up as a sacrificial victim to fire.

Well, that's dramatic, isn't it?

Here's what I mean, really: old candles and your dryer lint can be used to make firestarters. Our state parks in West Virginia have something similar available to people who rent cabins: a cake of wax with what looks like sawdust mixed in, waiting in a basket on the mantel for quick and easy fire starting. I found out how to make a slightly different version on Facebook, and it really does work--and uses two things I would otherwise toss in the trash.

The process is simple. First, plan ahead by saving dryer lint and your old candles, or find used candles at thrift stores and yard sales. I got a bundle of about 20 candles for $1.00 last summer. Most of them weren't nice enough for using in the house, but they were perfect for this project.

1. Melt the candles in a double boiler or other pan. Remove the wicks and toss--or you can use them as I did, cutting them into short lengths to use as lighting wicks for the firestarters.

2. Use cupcake liners in a muffin tin, or use cardboard egg boxes to hold your starters. Fill the liners or the egg box compartments with dryer lint, packing it down firmly. If you want to use the wicks, place the short pieces you cut into the lint with the tip sticking up, just like a candle.

3. Carefully pour the melted wax over the lint until the liner or egg box compartment is full.

4. Let the wax firm up, then remove the cupcake liners from the muffin tin or cut apart the egg box so that each compartment becomes a single firestarter.

5. Clean up your mess! Wax is tricky to clean off utensils and pans, but try putting them in the freezer until the wax is hard, then take out and let them sit for a bit. The wax will usually peel right off.

It's that simple. I  made 24 the other day in about 15 minutes, using the egg box method. Before Christmas I made them for gifts using the small tart-size cupcake liners and putting the cakes into old blue quart jars with zinc lids.

Now I'm on the hunt for more old candles. I have plenty of starters made for the fireplace, but it will soon be firepit season, you know!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.