The Hollyhock Blog

We’re ready.

Socks and more

Here’s the left side of the store.

Shawls

Come on over today or tomorrow.  No time for more words.  Hope to see you here!

Tomorrow is my last Farmer’s Market day.  Which makes today the last day that I bake the Amish Cinnamon Bread I sell at the market.   Since the end of June, I’ve been making 4 batches and lately 5 batches of bread every Wednesday.  One would think I would have the hang of it by now.  But this happened today:

My oven

A big mess in my oven.  One of the little pans tilted in the oven while baking.  One batch of batter makes 5 little loaves, so I put 3 at an angle on the back of the shelf and 2 across the front.   The center one in the back was not angled enough and tried to roll over for a nap, I guess.  When I smelled the nasty smoke, I tipped that pan back up and let the batch finish baking / burning!  After they were out of the oven I scraped off the charred batter. 

The remains

It did scrape off nicely – mostly in one piece.  But what a stink.  Luckily I had the doors and windows open so I didn’t set off the smoke detectors – a hallmark of my cooking expertise.

Actually the loaf doesn’t look all that bad. 

The loaf that lept

It will be my sample loaf for tomorrow.  But other than that wee disaster, I’m about to jump for joy that the bread baking season is over!  

No more bags of starter goo lying on the counter!

No more bags of starter goo to feed and mush!

I’m even tossing out the little baking pans!  As of this moment, the last batch is out of the oven and I have no pans to wash!

You cannot fathom how happy I am with the end of this ritual.  I’m  not a baker.  I would rather be knitting, or weaving, or dyeing or even out scoopin’ the poo!   (happy, happy dance!)

Oh – you have to see this:

How cool is this?

Yep – my arm.  But look closer.

Way cool tattoo!

That is our Vagabond, immortalized in a tattoo!  Okay, so it is a temporary tattoo and will probably only last a few days, but how cool is that!   My neice is coming to farm tour and is going to be putting tattoos on anyone willing to wear one!  I couldn’t find a facepainter this year, so the tattoos are my replacement.  I think they are way cool!   And with the lack of artistic talent in my family, it might be a permanent replacement.

Hope to see you this weekend at Farm Tour!

I just wanted to post a quick reminder that this weekend – September 26-27 – is the Upper Midwest Alpacas Farm Tour.   We are opening our barn to the public from 10AM – 5PM both days.   We will have coloring and fiber projects for kids to do, Karen will be here spinning, there will be lots of shopping opportunities, and the alpacas will here.   Karen is bringing  jellies and honey for sale.  I’ll have all the alpaca things – from raw fiber to roving to yarn to hats, mittens, scarves and all the rest you’ve seen in progress here.  There will be lots to do and see and learn.   If you are in the area, I hope you will stop by!  You can find directions at the bottom of our Events Page. 

I’ve been feverishly finishing fingerless gloves, felting soap, and making cat toys.   Seems these are the hot items!

I’m having a difficult time broaching this subject – my experimental product is….  well… crappy…. full of it….. doo doo…..  Are you getting the theme?   Yes – I’m working on a way to use the alpaca manure that is so wonderful outside to do the delicate job of watering house plants! 

I’ve made ‘tea bags’ in 2 sizes.  And put them in bottles of water to steep.  I also tried putting loose crushed manure in the third bottle.

Steeping

They are (left to right) #1 = small bag, #2 = large bag, #3 = loose.

I started the brewing process on Monday.   Today, I took about a cup from the bottle #3 and mixed it in a half gallon of water and watered my houseplants. 

Tea bags of 'paca poo

I also made a couple tea bags for a real plant person to test.  At this point I’m trying to determine if the bags are needed, what the strength should be, will there be an odor, and will there be bugs.   I guess time will tell!  If you are interested in helping test these – let me know.

Yeah, I gave her a few hints, but check out the comments on this post and you will see my sister was up for the challenge!  And today is her birthday, so she was just in time.  She’ll just have to choose which of the wrist warmers she wants! 

Happy Birthday, Lil’ Sis!