Lilac oil and peaceful afternoons in Tales from the kitchen witch

Today was a day of chores. We did a dump run and tossed the trash. Its been a few months. We do about 6 a year. Some closer together then others depending on yard clean up. We have a LOT of yard clean up to do. A lot....

We moved the trailer to a new spot and i decided where it was, where my two bunny hutches are. I want to put two long gardens. Its an area about 20 feet wide. And maybe 10ish feet deep. I used to keep rabbits there. so there is tons of last year and this years bunny fertilizer. We have some beetle killed trees that are coming down. I want to use some sections of it for the base of a flower bed. I think the tree logs will look pretty. Then spread the fertilized poo out across the length of the beds. Then backfill with top soil. Likely will take some from the horse pen too. Mix it all up. Hubby says one for veggies, and i can do one of flowers. I want some perennials. Lillies, Bleeding heart. Ferns, Iris, I want it awash with color.
The hill behind is growing barley ( i planted it when the buns didnt like eating it raw! ) and we planted raspberries up there. The barley s out in this lovely seed head. Im terribly allergic, But something about the hill is so beautiful to me. Deep olive in summer and ripe wheat in fall. The hill is topped with fireweed. In late summer the blossoms are fuchsia, then come fall as the blossoms fall and its topped with its peach fuzz seed. The plant turns a fire red. The buns love eating it. I love seeing it.
So the front one will have flowers, The back one between the flowers and hill will have veggies. The back will of course be peas. Staked up with their nun hat flowers and then in late summer when the pea pods grow. So the kids can enjoy a fresh snack without asking. Rows of baby carrots. I always buy the shorties seeds. Perhaps a potato plant or two on the ends for fun! Our other bed can be converted to a broccoli and cauliflower bed. Our broccolies are already growing heads. I just need to move two bunny cages and i can start! Its too late for any more veggies. Summer here is short and blazing. Before it fades into never ending winter. We have to plant the end of may, for an August harvest. For September is fall and October is winter. But i can build the beds and plant perennial bulbs.

I made my lilac oil today. Cups of lilac blossoms in 1 cup of sunflower seed oil. I think its my new favorite. It has no scent, and leaves you not feeling super oily! I cant wait to see how the lilac blossoms turn out. I need some more jars but im out of spare change. Im not sure what to do. I may soak them in oil in cups with cling wrap on top till i can get more lidded jars. Canning jars technically. But for me, they are oil jars. My jars in the sun are such a joy right now. I have no idea if they will turn out. If i will have wasted my money on jars and time on shaking them and hoping. I have no idea if my body butters will turn out! But im enjoying the process. And isnt that what matters most? To enjoy the process…
More hands make less work. My kids helped gather mint today.

After our yard chores, I prepared for tour de fleece. Its a spinning competition that runs “along side” the french bike race tour de france. Its mostly fun, you compete with other spinners. Who can spin the most. Some groups have prizes. Two of mine have prizes. Will I win? I doubt it. It lasts 20ish days. And im not exactly a marathon sprinter here! Even though my wheel is electric. I have kids. I have 5 kids haha. One lady said she spins a lb a day. I was oh gosh. I love when i can spin 6 oz at a time!
I did however card 5 bats of angora and 1 bat of colored merino! I have 2 lbs of the merino to work through. I also set out a merino and silk bat to dry. I dyed it. I have 2 lbs of that to work through too. Ive already dyed and dried 2 bats. So ill put another one on to dye before i go to bed and allow it to do its thing! Then ill have another one ready! It starts July 6th.

So i sat in the back yard, with my kids flittering in and out for one reason or another. My 8 year old sitting with me playing with his lego set he got for his birthday last week. My 4 year old dancing by, the pink fairy with a purple crown, and a baby bunny in her purse. he 12 year old visiting to show me the stick he shaved clean of its bark. Asking if i could stain it for a walking stick. Listening to the camp robbers scream as they teach their babies to fly. They are always so noisy when they have babies. And they dont sing like a robin or chickadee. They scream like banshees. The peacocks on the next street over scream like a child hit by a log. Every few moments they go off. Screaming at one another. The pony hears the racket and calls to me. She knows im sitting in the grass. I must feed her she demands. Regardless of being put in her grass pen for hours today. She needs more grass now. Piggy.

I carded. The angora wool dosent like to stick to the carder so i spray it with gel every few passes. The smell is funny. Its a perfumy smell of hair products. I guess it beats the musky smell of a buck! haha. The gel helps the angora hold itself during carding and spinning. When i spin it. I then wind it onto a I shaped tool, and wash the wool. The I shape holds the wool, an 80 inch long loop wrapped 4 times so its only 20 some inches long. lll take a photo for you. Its called a niddy noddy. Its nifty. I wash the wool on the Niddy. Then let it dry. When i take it off, The wool is washed of its gel, and holds its shape. Its called setting the twist. Then the wool is wrapped around itself into a twisted hank. The twist on itself holds together with a tuck at the ends. And its stored that way till I use it.

Merino isnt like angora. Merino is spongy, Grippy. Wheres angora is more like silky pillow stuffing that falls apart. Merino is in love with itself. It likes to hold together. When you card it, you encourage it to open up and fluff out! But still it holds tight. Tight crimpy waves of brown and grey. Fluffed out to a soft bat which resembles quilting batting. Ill spin from that bat. I was a bit disappointed to see there is a bit of scurf. A type of dander. Which when i carded, spread it out. Because i carded chocolate angora before the merino. There is some angora in the merino. Merino is the type A personality that loves EVERYTHING. So not only did it hold onto itself. But it grabbed onto all the angora left on the carder and cleaned it right off the drum. It worked perfectly. The colors blended nicely. Its going to be a beautiful yarn.

Three of my babies went home today. Two 9 week olds and their 1 year old friend. If she decides to breed. She has two girls and a boy. :) Unrelated so they will be good breeders. She got two really good does and a fairly good buck. I generally only sell nice rabbits. I dont like putting angoras out to the world if they wont be cared for properly. And they do require upkeep. But this lady is a breeder. I have a bunny from her. Shes actually the mama of many of my bunnies. So we said goodbye to Libby, Buttercup and Butterbeer today.

This is Celestra, One of my favorite girls. Shes sweet, calm quiet. Her gentle soul is a balm to the troubled mind. Poor girl got a mosquito bite right on her nubbie nose. Its healing, But bunnies are very sensitive, so i cant put anything on it. Its healing though. She had one last year in the same place. Poor things. They are so fluffy, the mosquitoes tend to get only to their nose. She needs a shaving down to her naked skin, and then to loose a few lbs ( seriously her max weight should be 7 lbs, shes 10, OOFFTA) So i can breed her. I cant breed if shes overweight. It wont end well and i love her dearly.

I have no idea if my photos will show up! I hope they do :) They help tell the story of our day. In the end it seems like not much happened. But it was clean up and ice cream cones. Sunlight and beauty on one of the longest days of the year.
Summer blessings, For the sun dosent go down. And tomorrow is the longest day of them all. Then we descend back into darkness.