Jill Dyer

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since Aug 07, 2024
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Oz; Centre South
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Recent posts by Jill Dyer

Craig - Love the idea of you being a Living Legend - you get my vote Excellent photographs.
6 hours ago
Hello again - decided to be brave and share my latch-hooked on rug canvas effort.  The top is shaped to fit around the curve of the brick underneath the wood burning stove.  Material is handspun wool dyed with onion skins,  shade depending on how many skins were available at any given time.  Colour chosen to match the result when an ember falls onto wool. . . it has lasted a good 20 years, although the pile has worn down somewhat.
2 days ago
Suggestions:  hooked rug using cut lengths of wool yarn hooked into a burlap base, or specialised rug canvas.  Wool can be recycled. . . Latch hook required.  Can also be done with fabric strips.  We had these left over from WWII times. . .
Punched rug, special tool needed, burlap base. recycled wool yarn again
Yarn made from left over or recycled fabric cut into lengths and knitted or crocheted to shape; T-shirt 'yarn' rolls nicely, but may not be all cotton - best for smaller projects - it can get unwieldy.
Fabric pieced shape, backing and then quilted, no stuffing
Blanket, embellished with embroidery sewn on shapes, whatever ideas occur
Ha! the last two could be "fused".
3 days ago
First lesson in school was with a recorder - drove my folks nuts, as I paired it with a tea cosy and pretended it was bagpipes... punching well above my weight 🤣
We learned that the spaces were the notes F A C E going from bottom to top and the lines were E G B D F bottom to top again.  Below the line E was D and an imaginary line below that was "Middle" C, the starting point for the key of C.   So we have "Face"  and Every Good Boy Deserves Favour  (love a good mnemonic)    Good Luck.
5 days ago
If relish = chutney, and it would seem to qualify - I recently discovered rhubarb chutney.  Delish with cheese, cold meats, by itself. . . still working on it!
Yesterday I made a quick pickled celery - very finely sliced on the diagonal with white wine vinegar and a touch of sesame oil and sugar.  "Cured" while I assembled the rest of a salad.  
Another favourite is pickled capsicums - sometimes with added onion and cucumber.  Worcestershire sauce added to the vinegar etc.
5 days ago
Another thought from overnight - in our early days of cow keeping, we bought a youngster, who had "jumped the fence" and was pregnant. Not knowing this, it was a surprise when she developed an udder - so by then very close to delivering.  I didn't believe my eyes, so bent over for a tentative feel. . . only to be kicked.  Cattle can feel a fly landing on their skin, so my touch was just a further annoyance - so what I'm trying to say - approach with confidence, patting her side as you go to let her know that you're there.  The first thing that a calf does is butt the udder.
1 week ago
Feeding while milking recommended - also, are your hands warm?  
1 week ago
I used to cook on top of the old wood stove - two heat"settings" hot at the front and much lower at the back - "boil" and "simmer"  New stove is 'boil' all over, even the kettle has to have a trivet to raise it above the top a bit.  However, having a left over sandstone floor tile 30cm approx square on the top I can get a crisp finish for the bottom of an otherwise baked in the regular oven pizza. (Stone gets put in place before the stove gets lit). I miss the old stove, even though the new one is better and more efficient at heating.
1 week ago
Maybe consider those mostly hollow concrete building blocks* sunk into the ground, filled with soil from the excavations to put them in place then planted with the same ground cover/grass as the rest of the project.
*sometimes referred to as breeze blocks
Edit to add:  this is what I mean - no need for a close mow!  https://www.gardenista.com/posts/everything-need-know-grass-block-pavers/
2 weeks ago
A friend who grows copious quantities of beautiful garlic was recently extolling its virtues as a 'gentle' pest control solution.
Made up by crushing the garlic, soaking in water for a bit, then straining and putting the solution into a spray bottle.  Particularly useful for those little black bug critters that attacked his cherry tree.  Also good for aphids (it's a devil when they get into a broccoli head when it's ready to pick).  
Has anyone tried this method?   It's all very well relying on birds or ladybirds to do the job. . .any good for other critters?
2 weeks ago