VIFPMCW challenge.

HA! What a mouthful eh? I didn't make up the name,  but I'm excited to do it. Only I need to finish up some other projects still. (whom, whomp) 
My only issue is I'll have to figure out how this will fit into my capsule wardrobe. (If I ever get to it. Sometimes I'll all about ideas and I fall on the follow through. I need help with that.) 

The acronym stands for 'Vintage Inspired Four Piece Mini Capsule Wardrobe challenge.' You can see it here!

This challenge is a 4 piece vintage-esqe (1950's) wardrobe. It would be a great travel set for a warm location. I suppose you could make a winter version if you wanted to, but I'm probably not going to do that. I might make a long skirt and a blouse that could transition into fall and maybe early winter with me, but might not make it through deep winter. 

Now the fun part! Let's brainstorm what I might make. 

I like these for the shirts.Both of these shirt patterns are from evadress.com. She makes wonderful reproductions of vintage patterns. So, you know they are authentic!  Plus, they are beautiful.

The shirt on the left I have always loved and I've wanted to make it for awhile. The one on the left I like view 1 but I don't think it would work for my body. So, I would go with view 3.




Now for bottoms.
I'm just going to make a circle skirt with buttons on the back like in the picture on the left here. Maybe tea length or thereabouts.

I'd love to make some shorts like the ones that I have and love to death.

Finding a good shorts pattern is sometimes hard to do. 

  I really like the shorts in this pattern set. Because they are high waisted. And since I'm already high waisted they would be on my natural waist. Thus, making me look slimmer. (And who doesn't like that?)
Yet, I really am starting to think about the pants as an option for later. and after looking at this blog post. I'm thinking about making the top as well. So, I could even use this as the whole set and then make another shirt or even one of the ones above. And a skirt.

While looking for a skirt pattern I found this little beauty! The whole thing would be perfect with the above mentioned shorts. If I buy all these patterns I'll be busy for a long time. (Not that I really need more to do yet) I'm still working on a quilt, a 1880's pioneer costume, my viking costume, and some little things I'm not ready to reveal yet. :) 

Well, I think that's all the brain storming I can deal with at the moment. Just thinking about making new clothes and bringing more into the house after I've decluttered my closet so well just makes me want to go toss out some things that aren't in my capsule wardrobe right now. 

Maybe I should go do that...

I'd love to hear your thoughts on which pattern would work well for a 4 piece vintage wardrobe. I want to make 2 of them in one fabric and 2 in a coordinating, possibly solid, fabric. So that they can be mixed and matched. I don't know which ones I would do yet so I can't go figuring out fabric that I already have down in my stash. My new mantra is *I will not go to the sewing store* 

Disconnected from the real world

"The average American has lost touch with what food actually is. Most people think that food comes out of a box and sadly it usually does for a large percentage of Americans in today’s world."       original article.

I agree with this statement so much. A lot of people that I know and even people that live in the rural areas, live out of boxes and cans from the super market. I rarely by processed food, but I admit that I do buy the occasional thing. I'm trying to wean us off of it. It isn't healthy for our bodies and it is way more expensive to buy a tiny amount of chemically laden food than it is to produce it myself.

My garden is in full swing and I will soon have some fresh broccoli to use in our kitchen. Beans and watermelons are going in the ground this week and cucumbers are following shortly after.
I planted my permanent gardens on the west side of the house and they seem to be doing quite well there. Asparagus, rhubarb and horseradish were planted although the horseradish has yet to sprout. I have a lot of squash and melons to plant soon. And lots of space for tomatoes and peppers. I am eager to see how these things help us in our goal to not buy so much from the grocery stores any more.

Moving on to meat we have chickens and rabbits right now. We have just added a couple of ducks as a trial run this year. Chickens have been attacked by a fox recently and I did loose a few but I am hoping they bounce back from the scare pretty easily and maybe next year produce some more chicks for us. Something that does bother me though is when people don't understand and ask me ignorant questions because our culture is so used to getting everything that we need at a store, not outside where God intended it to be.

I hate when people ask me how I can kill the cute little bunnies or the chickens. Umm, cause I like to eat? and I want to know that the food I'm putting in my body doesn't have GMOs or chemicals that I choose not to eat in them. I'm going to start asking people this in response, "How can you be so disconnected from your food that you buy it on little plastic trays in a bleached environment covered in plastic?" I know that not everyone can slaughter their own food, and while I don't understand that, there are other options available to get access to GMO free, chemical free, healthy food for your family.

Go to the farmer's market or find a farmer that sells what you are looking for and get to know them and the process they use to bring their animals to slaughter and the feed they are on. For example, I don't have the space to raise beef cows on my property and I'm not sure that I would want to even if I did. So, I buy bison (It's better than beef, trust me) from a neighbor down the street who sells, bison, beef, pork, chickens, rabbits, ducks, geese and lamb. I only get bison and pork from him, the rest I could raise on my own farm a lot cheaper. But, if I didn't want to raise them myself the option is there. If you look around I'm sure that there is an option for healthy and fresh food near you.

Working on the Chicken Coop-part 1

Our plans for the chicken coop were derailed...because of DH's enforced overtime. (It's just part of the job, I'm not complaining, but it's a lot of work 12 hr days!)  So I ordered chicks with 6 weeks to build the coop. We started building the walls. We didn't have too much experience building buildings from scratch like this, so we had a learning curve. I learned to frame pretty well. And I can drive a nail pretty easily, assuming nobody is watching me and making me nervous.

This is the first wall in the back and the second wall in the foreground. We were working on this from pictures of coops and ideas of plans so we made it up as we went along. You can see some of our other projects in the background as well. 

This is one of the walls that we completed. I was trying to size the window. We ended up doing something completely different when we put it up. But I tried and I got it close enough so it worked. 

So a few weeks go by with just the one wall built. Then the overtime started and we actually got 3 walls framed. I didn't take a picture of the third wall, but it is here when I walled it up.
One of my

Then I put the legs on the bottom of the coop and braced them up. Moving it alone was another story all together.

Above is the bottom flipped over to put the legs on it. This used to be a loft bed that a friend made for me and since it won't fit in our house we are using the pieces of it for other projects. I painted the bottom with exterior paint, in the color that I want to pant the coop. So, sneak peek here. 

Isn't my Krunchee a cute little helper?

One of my awesome neighbors offered to help me carry the base outside so I could get the walls up. I was excited to get some more work done on it. He came over and helped me with that and then said, "What about those walls you have sitting here? You want to get those up too?" I didn't expect him to help me put all that up too while DH was working. I was ecstatic and we carried them out there and I nailed them down. We propped it up and nailed a board across the 2 sides, since that forth wall wasn't built yet. 

Then my wonderful (seriously, not sarcastic here) in-laws came to visit us. My FIN, my DH and I  worked on the coop together. We got the forth wall made, attached to the others and the roof framed. And the best part in my opinion is that we got all the windows framed in and set up. Now all that's left to do is to put the plywood on the outside and on the roof. Then I need to put the roof felt and shingles on and then paint the sides. I'm thinking about adding some little touches to make it look like a house like a window box on one of the windows.  

These are the few pictures I could get of them working while I went to go get some more nails. 

A break from the norm

I know I've been talking about rabbits pretty much non-stop. But, it's what I've got right now and I'm excited about the babies. OK, this post is NOT about rabbits...*sigh*

It's about food! (even though rabbits are food here...)

I've been looking into getting pigs and I really wish that someone would take an interest in raising pigs with me. I could really use the help around here. I'm exhausted from this week's work and I worked on Sunday-in the rain to get my space cleared out for the chicken coop and run that I am still working on. So, I know my DH would say not to start a new project, but I'm not. I'm thinking about starting a new project.

Is it wrong that I don't trust the food "system" anymore? They won't tell us what they are putting in the "food" they are selling and most of it probably isn't even food. Even the food they actually sell isn't great quality or even as tasty as what I can get on my own. Tomatoes? Yeah in the store for $2/lb, yet they are tasteless squish things that I don't know if I would even want to give to my pigs (If  I had any!!) Yet, I can grow 20 tomato plants from a GMO, organic seed for $3 and have so many pounds of wonderful, tasty tomatoes fresh off the vine at the peak of perfection. I can can them at home in the cans that have by now paid for themselves, but even if I bought new ones every year they would be $1.30 a can +.5 a tomato (approximately)x4-5 per can is $1.55 each. Plus my time of course. But, I spend less time canning than I would at the grocery store looking for good food! (you can't find it easily as they hide it!) My family needs good food to keep our bodies running in peak performance! Why have we gone to chemicals in our  water,  air and into the dirt ,which gets in the food? Can we really justify saying that we are too busy working to pay for all the junk (and YES, it is junk!) in our homes that we can't take care of our bodies? Americans are, as a rule, fat! and I'm no exception. I was fat, unhealthy and stressed. All because I worked so hard to get the money to pay the bills for something I already bought when I didn't have a job because I thought I needed it when I didn't. But, I bought more to make myself feel better for working and it just became s cycle of buying and debt that made me work more and get stressed so I didn't have time to grow food but buy it and the worst junk food at that (or fast food) and then I would go to work again and start it all over.

BREAK THE CYCLE!! 

Get out of debt.
Grow some PART of your food.
Get to know a farmer and buy food from them. It doesn't take that much more time to go to the farmers market. It can also be a fun experience for you and your children!
Stop eating at horrible places like McDonalds!
Clear the clutter from your home.
You will feel better if you do just one of these things.

I am passionate about good food and everyone should have that available to them. If you live in an apartment, you can still grow something. Get a tomato plant or 2 going in a window sill or on your patio. Some is better than none at all.
God has blessed our family immeasurably. We give thanks to Him everyday for that, yet we still want more. I'll admit it, we are selfish creatures. We try not to be, but we all are.

Me wanting to raise pigs for our family is just another way that I can control what we eat. I do not do this because I am a control freak. I don't control much in this world and I'm OK with that fact.
But, I do want to be as healthy as I can be. I want my husband to be as healthy as he can be. And, if/when we have children I would like to make sure that they are as healthy as they can be as well.
Even my pets I try and make sure that they have everything that they need to be at their peak. Why would I want less for myself and my family??

Spring 2015 project 333

After doing the lucky dozen challenge I see the need for a few things in my wardrobe. It is a little harder to keep a farm/working wardrobe and nice things I can go out in and look good in too. 
I keep 2 pairs of pants for working on the homestead and a few flannel shirts. Most days I can wear something from my capsule wardrobe anyways. 

I decided to follow some of my fellow bloggers in that they don't use 33 pieces {see the Unfancy blog} (they pick a number that works for them, she uses 37.) and I am not including my accessories. But, I did list them in this post just because I want to make sure that they all match and I gave myself a limit to contain them a bit better, as I can get out of control sometimes. I applaud people who can have 33 items including accessories and shoes. I'm just not there yet! I have 40 items with clothing pieces alone here. I'll get there one day. It's still a marked improvement upon the huge walk-in closet jammed with clothes!

Lets get to the pieces. Here is what I picked for Spring 2015. 

7 dresses- raspberry sheath, mint lace, blue short, Navy button up, pink vintage, and pink polka dots

18 tops-chambray, gray tee, mint tee, pink and green plaid, pink and white stripe, purple and pink flowers, pink flowers, white sleeveless stripe, blue linen shirt, zombie love shirt, pink 'Marie Curie' shirt, Soft kitty tee, paint splotch multi-color tee, blue stripe w/ mint tee, navy button-up, long sleeve pink tee, lavender linen long sleeve shirt, and blue and white long sleeve shirt. 

Short sleeved shirts:

(I tried to put the print shirts in front.)

Long sleeved shirts:

9 bottoms-favorite jeans, khakis, mint shorts, navy shorts, navy w/white stripe skirt, navy linen skirt, pink skirt, peach skinnies, and rose skinnies.

Skirts:

Shorts:

Pants:

6 sweaters/cardigans-mint sweater, multi-colored sweater, yellow sweater, mauve sweater light mauve/pink cashmere cardigan (that I dyed!) and navy cardigan.

Pullover sweaters:

Cardigans:

Not included in my count but limited in my wardrobe are:

6 pairs of shoes-cowgirl boots(might replace these with other boots soon), black Fluevog malibrans(also need to be replaced),Grey w/white dot Chucks,Navy Chucks, Birkenstock Yara in brown(not pictured), and Blue Fluevog tie sandals.

Shoes:

7 accessories- B&W scarf, multi-colored scarf, blue and gold scarf, navy scarf i made at a mini retreat, pink clutch, purple bucket bag, tan leather backpack and multi colored crochet hat.

My hat:

Scarves:

Purses:

2 jackets/coats-olive military coat and pink slicker w/liner.

Special event small wardrobe will consist of a black dress and high heels. 

Since I plan on taking my husband out for a special dinner in April (It's his birthday!) and our first anniversary will be in June and I will still be doing this capsule wardrobe; I am including a dress or two for those events that are not included in my number and will only be worn once or twice. I debated putting the dress in the capsule wardrobe and being done with it, but the reality is that I won't wear it for any other functions. (unless, God forbid, I have to go to a funeral)