Treadle Sewing Machine and Tennessee Sorghum

One of the last blooms of the summer on my pink hydrangea.  I'd been putting coffee grounds on my hydrangeas so the blooms would be blue or purple, but I've stopped doing that since I noticed the one I put the most on didn't bloom at all this season.  Oops, live and learn they say.  Better pink than none then.

 In my last post I mentioned I'd been looking for a treadle sewing machine, and find her I did at an antique store near us.


 They are getting hard to find so I was glad to get one in pretty good condition.

She's a very basic 1926 Model 66, but I'm a basic sort of seamstress so I think we'll get along well.   

In this photo she is still very dirty and without a few necessary parts like a belt and spool pin, but she's clean now and new parts have been installed.  I really wanted to have a machine that doesn't require electricity.  This one fits the bill beautifully.  I'm still learning to treadle efficiently, but I'm really enjoying the learning.

Have you ever seen one of these? They smelled like a perfume when we first found them then slightly of an orange scent after a day or two. I'd read about them in books, but I had no idea what they were until we were out driving one day and found them in the roadway.  They are the fruit of a small tree that was popular with Native Americans and also early settlers, the Osage Orange.  Native Americans used the wood of the tree for their bows because it would bend just right.  Early settlers planted them profusely as hedges for cattle as they have long thorns that discouraged wayward cattle from leaving their homesteads.

This is our turnip greens bed and much fuller and nearly large enough to pick now.  Love them greens.  One of our favorite meals consists of turnip greens and country ham on biscuits.  Can't wait.

Yesterday Goodman and I took a 2-hour road trip to Muddy Pond, Tenn.   I wanted to get a jar of fresh sorghum, and a family there makes it the old-fashioned way which is fun to watch.  I took pictures with my cell phone, but they are not good.  I'm posting this youtube video from Tennessee Crossroads so you can get a good tour of our destination.

I've Been Dyeing to Show You

 Hello there! Until yesterday we were enjoying a wonderful fall with temperatures in the 60s or 70s by day and 50s by night.  Wonderful time of year.

 Morning glories are blooming on the chicken yard fence.  We like to keep our fence clear, but these aren't weeds; I didn't have the heart to pull them down. They're still blooming since we haven't had a frost yet.

 Our jalapeno peppers did very well in the garden this year. I saved some in jars, but we have literally stuffed ourselves with them more than once since I found the best recipe here that is amazingly similar to Cheddar Peppers @ Sonic, only better. ;)

 

 I made a batch of soap and defiantly cut a few of the bars fatter than usual. I'm just stubborn sometimes. ;)

 I prepared some off-white yarn to try dyeing with ...

 These lovely poke berries that I gathered in the pasture.

 I have wanted to do this for ages. Anyway, I used the directions in my book Harvesting Color to guide me. Here I pre-mordanted the wool in vinegar for two hours. This method as described in the book yielded better results than I'd had before. The book may be available at your local library, if not, you can request they get it. Wonderful book on natural dyes.

 Meantime, I squeezed the berries then strained them and brought the mixture to the correct temperature for the dyebath.

 As I lowered the wool in the bath it soaked up so much color I had a feeling it was going to work. The dyebath was kept at 170 degrees for two hours then I turned the heat off, covered it with a lid and let set overnight.

 Here's the finished result. The yarn is actually darker red than the pic, but my camera is defiant, too, so this is the as close to the true color shade as I could get.

 Goodman built some raised beds for my strawberry plants. I really enjoy working in raised beds as I can sit on the side and weed away without getting a backache. We filled them with regular topsoil mixed with mushroom compost. That's asparagus in the far back bed. Goodman found some asparagus plants growing along the back fenceline, and we put them in the bed. I'm pretty sure they grew from seeds of the plants I had several years ago, that were scattered by birds.

Hope you're having a wonderful fall, Y'all!
Linked with: Wildcrafting Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Good Fences




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Yay For Old And Cranky

 We were out browsing antique stores last weekend when this little wooden sewing machine case caught my eye.

 

Nope, I wasn't kidding about old or cranky. This little gem is a 1915 Model 99 hand-crank Singer. I'd actually used one similar to this one long, long ago. We were living in Germany at the time, and a friend had lent me hers for a day or so. I swooned over it the whole time I had it in my possession.

 Many years have passed since then, and I never once thought I'd see another one. It was covered in dirt and drips and splotches from who-knows-what, but I wanted this machine.  The price was very reasonable, but I hesitated thinking it'd be a waste if it didn't work. Goodman said he could probably fix whatever might be wrong so I took her home. Well, after a good cleaning and a lot of adjusting she works just fine.

 There's a small compartment on the side for accessories. All that was in there was some needles and two bobbins. Still I'm thrilled. I hope to find some more bobbins and a belt since this machine can, also be used with a treadle cabinet.

The serial number was still intact so I was able to get the date of manufacture from the Singer site.

I sewed these lil white pumpkin pincushions on it earlier. Who knew white pumpkins were so cute? o.O

 Hope y'all have a splashin' good weekend!

Linking up with May Sewing Party.