klara stinders

The first image shows that my kitchen scraps bucket is about the same size as a 9 US quarts cooking pot.

1 bucket = 9 US quarts = 2.25 US gallons
2.25 US gallons * 6 buckets = 13.5 US gallons
=> 6 buckets it will be to make sure I reach the 10 gallon goal!

Every bucket ended up being quite full (last two buckets were from in quince season ) and I put them all in a closeby but different spot.

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Hubbie's pants with 2 small holes

Since this was a learning project for me, I decided to repair each hole with a different technique.

Hole 1 (left side on pants, right side on image): used the first technique from the first video in the description of this BB. It didn't go as smooth as in the video, but the repair is well hidden!

Hole 2 (right side on pants, left side on image): darned the hole, using 2 different cotton threads: a white one for the horizontals, a blueish greyish one for the verticals.

The second repair is more visible than the first one, but somehow I have more confidence in the strength of the darned hole. Time will tell!

A rainy evening is good time to take care of those leather boots!

I don’t know with certainty, but I have to assume the leather is cow.
(Bought them in a local shop in the Alentejo region in Portugal, and after some research, apparently these shoes are called 'botas alentajanas'. 'Alentajana' is also a Portugese cattle breed, hence my assumption). The leather shoe maintenance process as I describe it below is something I do twice a year.

How I maintain my leather shoes:

First I brush my shoes with a dry shoe brush.
Then I wipe them down with a slightly moist cloth and then let them sit for a while to dry out again.
During the brushing and wiping, I thoroughly check for any signs for need for repair. In this case, there was no need.
As for the waterproofing, I only use horse grease for now, since it's the only non-chemical leather care product I've found in Spain so far. I am very pleased with the results.
I put a little grease on a cotton cloth and massage in gently and evenly onto the leather. Just a little bit at a time. I mostly move the cloth around in a circular motion, and I try to go into all directions wherever there is leather. I pay extra attention to the stitches and spots where leather pieces are on top of each other, because I want grease everywhere!

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Winter, rosehip time!
Down at the river I found lots of rosehips, so after the first frost I went down there with a bag and a scale.
1 pound is 454 grams, I made sure I had a little more :) I washed them and let them air dry.

During the drying process, I did some research and learned about the irritating hairs inside the fruits, and I read many different options to deal with them: some remove the hairs when the rosehips are still fresh, some do it when they're fully dry, some leave the hairs in depending on what the rosehip will be used for, etc.
I decided to do the extra step and removed the hairs (as much as possible). When the fruits were dry, I crushed them with a garlic press and sifted them using a fine sieve. That didn't work at all (after 4 shakes the hairs had completely clogged up the fine holes of the sieve), so switched to a sieve with big holes. After at least half an hour of sieving (took more time than I had expected), most hairs and seeds had fallen through the sieve. I like the end product very much, and the seeds will go in the ground.

In case you didn't know there is another BB for doing leather maintenance on shoes/boots with stuff about how to renew waterproofing on boots!

Thank you for the tip, David, I have the documentation for the leather maintenance BB ready to upload soon, but for another pair of shoes
I have never conditioned the shoes I used for this BB, because I've heard that 'one shouldn't condition shoes that have the fancy waterproof layer in them'. I do not know whether that is true or not..

The stitching on my right shoe broke, another BB falling into my lap
I used the saddle stitch to repair it. First, I tried using waxed thread, but my needles kept breaking so I did a fall back to cotton thread. I need stronger needles :p

These shoes have a fancy waterproof layer somewhere hidden inside, I'm aware that I most likely punched through it with the needle, but I decided that it doesn't matter because I prefer 100% closed shoes over 100% waterproof shoes. All year around there are spiky plants and animals, and it rains about 10 times a year... Easy choices

This is the third spoon I ever made, but the first big spoon.
I used olive wood. The hardest part was where the handle meets the cup, if that description makes sense.
I don't know yet how thin I can go or how much power I can use before it would break, so that middle part is still quite thick, I find.
It will take many more spoons to find my confidence and take away more wood. Luckily my olive wood supply is kind of endless :D

Here are my 2 coat hooks made from green olive wood.
Peeled all the bark, did a bit of shaping, flattened the backing, finished with sanding paper, and done!  Lovely little project :)