Homesteaders or farmers?

When I talk about our home, I call it a homestead but sometimes I call it a farm too.

But what is the right definition or maybe there isn’t a right definition?

Looking in the dictionary I found:

Farm

1. Land cultivated for agricultural production.  2. A.   Land used for breeding and raising of domestic animals.    B. an area of water used for breeding and raising of a particular type of aquatic animals.

Yes, we are farmers! We have land for agricultural production but….

Homestead

1. A family’s house, esp. a farmhouse, with adjacent buildings and land. (think on” the little house on the prairie” series)   2.  A tract of land granted, as under the homestead Act, to a settler who cleared, cultivated and lived on it.

We have also a family house with buildings for our livestock, we cultivate the land. I think the difference can be found elsewhere….

A farm,  generates money by raising and selling livestock and/or produce of the land. Like the definition it’s about production. A farmer has a different goal then the homesteader. A farmer will have a income of it’s land and make profit.

A homestead is a place were a person or a family cultivates the land and try  to become more self sufficient. On a homestead they try to live on the land by growing and raising their own food. Though they maybe will sell some products of their land, it’s not the most important goal they have.  They like to use what they can on their land to make it more sustainable.

We have our home not only for to generate income for we do have another income, but we try to live of the land, by growing our own food, and use what we have. Trying to save money, by doing things by ourselves without the need of buying. That is what we want, what we love to do.

So maybe we are homesteader or maybe you could call us something else, or maybe we are just some foolsJ

sewing room

A while ago I decide that I would have other curtains in my sewing room. The old ones didn’t really have the right colour and shape. I made them 5 years ago for the living room but after a year I get some really heavy velour curtains that I used instead. I thought a lot about it, and yesterday I get a idea! I could use the velour curtains in the sewing room and use the old living room curtains in the living room again.

In the evening I started to take away the old curtains and change them. I turned out so nice! I love it! But the room itself needed a little clean up to, after all sewing’s of the last weeks. That is what I did today. A lot of  patterns, bits of fabric, books etc. etc. I was a bit lazy so I put everything in my fabric box and have to assort them later. But the room itself was on the end of the day ready for some pictures!

On the second picture you can see a bit of a painting. I got it after my grandfather when he died. It was a wedding gift they get.

Christmas Dinner on Toftaholm herrgård

It is a windy day today, it’s not raining, but now en then you see a little rain splashes on the window. But I’m sitting inside for the fire, soon it will be dark and can we light our candles and oil lamps. I’m listening to a great Celtic harp player, Patrick Ball. Very peaceful and beautiful!

The last weeks I have been very busy with sewing a new dress for the Christmas dinner. We were invited to eat there together with everyone who danced or played music there in the past summer season.

Toftaholm is a very old manor that dates from the 14^th century. The first time we can read about it, it’s in 1387 when it was only a little farmer-village. In 1470 a man with the name “Gustav Ollofsson (Stenbock)” did buy the 8 farmhouses to build the manor there. 1475 was the manor house ready and called “Toftaholm”. Now you can only visit the ruin after this building. The current wood house was build in 1871.

 Sander s new kilt and vest, sporran and belt

 my new dress

It was a great evening, pretty company and the new owners were very charming. Lots of traditional Swedish Christmas food. 7 courses! Lots of fish, meat, both cold and hot dishes, very delicious desserts.

and a picture of my corset

corset making part II

some  pictures of my corset sewing

It's almost done now, yesterday I fit it the first time, and it fit's perfect!

 Iron the seams flat, I'm heating the iron on the stove

and a little movie, I'm sewing in the sewing room, unfortunately it's a little dark, but it shows a bit how I'm working on the corset.

FRESH VEGETABLES –HOME GROWN-

The last few summer day’s are gone, and the autumn with the cold and windy day’s has arrived. We’ve got some rain in the last week but the well is still dry…. Lucky to us have we a nice neighbour were we can go and get some water from his well. His house stands about a 500m from us and lays closer to the lake. He has a 1/2m water left in his well. So every day we load our wheelbarrow with empty jerry cans, go to the neighbour, fill them all and go homewards again. It is a little more work but the animals need water, a lot of water, only our big work pony needs about a 30L each day!

For the vegetable garden wasn’t it that bad that is was dry, the beans need a dry period at the end of the season. We got a big harvest this year! A lots of kidney beans and French beans, 180kg potatoes, lots of parsnips and carrots, sweet corn, tomatoes, lots of tomatoes!, onions, cabbage, beetroot, leek, zucchini, peas,………This was the first year I had a poly-tunnel, and the tomatoes grows so fine in it. Now the last tomatoes are still waiting to be made into a green tomato chutney. I think I have had over a 15kg!

We had broccoli for the first time this year, and they went big. The first we eat was about a 500gr, but the second was almost 1kg! They really taste different then the ones you buy in the store. I loved it very well, and try it again next year.

I bought for 500SEK seeds this year and had some seeds left from 2015, all the seeds were ecological, and after the first of June we didn’t need to buy fresh food in the store. Except for some garlic that I didn’t have. At this time we eat already 5 months our home grown food and we have much more we can eat during the winter months. Now the growing seasons is over, I can looking back on a very well seasons. We’ve got lot of fine and healthy food.

It's raining

It's raining and we've got a new coffee pot! When we just moved in here for 4 years ago, our coffee percolator broke down, we were looking everywhere to find a new, but it is hard to find a percolator you kan use on a wood stove. Most were they only on electricity. So therefor we made our coffee in a small saucepan, boil the water and add the coffee, cook for 5 min and enjoy! This worked very well but when you get visitors, it is not that nice that you also get a lot of coffee grounds in your cup.

I love the old fashioned enamel coffeepots and cups and now I have bought one. With a percolator piece in it. It looks lovely on the stove, don't you think? 

It becomes colder again, Sander (my husband) has need for some new warm winter clothing.

I bought corduroy for it.

For the pants I used a pattern that I bought some years ago.

‘Laughing Moon’, #106 California Pants

It was the fourth pair of trousers I made. Every time they got better. But this was the first time I did al the sewing on my treadle sewing machine.

 I bought this very beautiful machine for 2 years ago but there were some pieces dried out and broken down, so I could not use it. But one friend I have, find the broken piece in a old fashioned sewing shop in Germany and send it to me. Now the machine was fixed again I give it a try and I love it! I find it far more easy to sew on this one than on the modern machines I used before.

After drawing  and cutting the pattern, I did the sewing. I bought waxed cotton (quilting) tread, this worked very well on the machine. All the seams I whip stitched by hand to prevent fraying.

Next I made a jacket, also in corduroy (also on the old sewing machine J). I never made a jacket before, nor had I pattern I could use, but I had a old shirt my husband didn’t wear anymore. That I used some basic pattern and made some changing’s. I made two darts in the back panel and curved side seams.  I think, the jacket turned out very well. Of course are there thing’s I would do different next time but I’m happy how it turned out, and my husband also J.

Next I want to made a waistcoat in the same style and I need to make at least two new shirts.

WIP. Sewing a Victorian corset. Part 1

Now the summer have almost past away and the autumn is coming again. Slowly the green color is fading in the most wonderful colors of red, brown and yellow. The day’s become shorter, even on a clear day it is dark after 8 o’clock. When you woke early  in the morning, the mist hanging over the fields with a little sunlight trough the treetops. Yes, I love, to see the changes in the nature, knowing that the winter is on his way. But we hope it will be raining soon. It’s very dry the last few months and now we have only a few inches water left in the well...... 

Sewing a Victorian corset, Part 1

Almost a year I’m thinking about making a Victorian corset, to wear on daily basis. I did a lot of resource about a differed kind of corset and about how to make one.

Last year I made a Swiss waist with boning and everything, but a real corset is maybe not so easy to make. I will try….

 the inside of the Swiss waist, here you see the boning in the front, in the side seams and even in the back are to bones on either side.

 front

 wearing my Swiss waist the first time

For a week ago I did find a free corset pattern and decide to use it some basic pattern for mine. After drawing the pattern on the paper  I made some changes so it will fit me. I cut a mock-up in a cheap fabric. Only a few seams need to change. To be continued….

the pattern

the mock-up, on the left is ready, on the right the pieces

kilt-hoses and making shoes

You know already that we have a homestead, were we grow our own food, having livestock etc. but did you know that we also playing Celtic music? My husband plays the guitar very well but he also plays the bódhran, tin whistle and the recorder, I play the Celtic harp and love to sing. In our repertoire, we have most old Scottish and Irish Ballads but also other English, Irish and Scottish folksongs. For a couple of weeks ago, we did have a gig here in the neighborhood.  It was on a little fair, you know, the whole village is coming, you can buy homemade products, food and have a good time together. Just on that fair we did play!

But in my opinion you can't play Celtic music without the right clothing. So for my husband I made a kilt last year but we didn't find the right socks to it and also some nice looking (and cheap) gillies wasn't easy to find. But just a week for the fair I found some nice kilt-hoses on the internet, in Scotland of course:), a great shop, with a lot of great stuff, there I bought the socks and I hoped the delivery would be in time. And it was! So now he did have a kilt, a sporran, a shirt, kilt-hose but shoes....... were do I get these? Looking round the WorldWideWeb I did find a tutorial for making some medieval Celtic gillies, Yes! O, no.... I do need some leather, were do I get that..... Wait a minute, don't I have some old ranch work chaps? Maybe that will do and it did! First I made a pattern out of cupboard and made some changing here and there. Cut them out of the leather and did the sewing and I made my first pair of shoes! So everything was just done in time for the gig.

It was a pity that the weather was very bad that day. It was raining almost the hole time and everything was wet. We hope on better weather for the next time!

follow us on Youtube Six Oaks Music and Homestead

hay making

Just some pictures that I made last weeks