Fiber Arts Friday: Raw Camel

I've mentioned my Personal Rare Fiber Dealer a few times (bear, bear, rocky mountain goat).

Well, it turns out his sister does not want to be outdone...

1/2 ounce Raw Camel

They were on a family vacation this summer and saw a few shedding camels at a preserve.  So she asked if it would be ok to bring some raw fiber home for me.

I love that my cousins are so supportive of my fiber-y obsession.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday.

Food: Making Pectin, er Jelly, er Syrup

I've been saving apple peels for the last couple of weeks.

I followed the instructions to make Pectin.  I was planning to can it, but I'm still not sure about the conversion rate between homemade liquid pectin and commercially produced powdered pectin.  So I wasn't really sure if it made more sense to can in pint-sized jars or half-pint jars.  So I decided to make Apple Jelly instead.

The 4 pounds of apple peels turned into 10.5 cups of salmon-colored pectin.

I added 7 cups of honey which is a little less than the recipe called for.  Then I boiled the mixture for nearly 3 hours and it was still very runny.

So I gave up and canned 9 1/2 pints of Apple Syrup.  I think it's a beautiful color and it's quite tasty.

Earlier in the day, I also made 5 pints of Applesauce using a different recipe than last time.  So Hubba has to decide which sauce recipe he likes better.  ;-)

I have plenty of apples left, so I should have the opportunity to try pectin or jelly again.

Fiber Arts Friday: It's Not a Toy!

It would appear that the girls had a well-crafted and executed plan.

Wednesday evening, Wonton was calling for my attention.  So I went out to see what she wanted.

Wonton and The Alpaca Dog

The door to the house does not always latch on it’s own and did not this time.  Unfortunately, I didn’t realize it until it was too late.

Wonton, who is not much for opening doors, went straight to it and kept it from latching until Noodle was able to come over and fling it open.

Noodle

The both of them went straight into my office and snatched something to play keep-away with.

They raced around the house until we cornered them in the bedroom.  It turns out that they had a ball of llama-silk roving that I had started spinning.  :-/

Fortunately what was already spun is ok.

But what’s left is now covered in dried dog saliva.

Some is definitely felted, but I think most of it is salvageable.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

The Paralympics are Starting Soon

If you happen to be in countries other than the US, I suspect there's a good chance you will be seeing some Paralympic Coverage on your local television channels.  However, if you're in the US, you will need to go to YouTube, USParalympics.org, or Paralympic.org.  Or if you have cable TV, then NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) will air one-hour highlight shows on September 4,5,6 and 11 at 7pm ET.

Finally on September 16, NBC will broadcast a 90-minute special from 2-3:30pm ET.

The London Paralympics run from August 29 - September 9.  In London, at the same venues, playing most of the same sports.

While this is more coverage than we expected and more than has ever been provided in the US before, it is still very little when compared to the Able-Bodied Olympics.

USOC Press Release

If you still don't know what I'm talking about, the Paralympics are just like the Olympics, but way more exciting.  Consider, if you will...Blind Sprinting or Long Jump, Amputee Soccer, Wheelchair Basketball or Racing, Archery without arms, Swimming without legs or arms.  If you haven't seen (or done) these things, then you have no idea what you're missing.

Certainly you have all now considered Amputee Sprinting and are perhaps now reconsidering the idea of a Disabled Athlete.  As cyclist, Greta Neimanas recently stated, "We compete to win, not for hugs."

You'll be able to see Oscar Pistorius race again and see how he performs against other amputee sprinters.

For us, we'll be watching Hubba's Training Partner compete in the 5000m, 800m, 400m and Marathon.  She already has a gold medal in Basketball from Beijing (#12, white).  Her former team mates are going for a 3-peat in Women's Wheelchair Basketball in London this year.



I hope you will take time to catch some of the events that are most interesting to you.  If you do, please let me know what you think.  Or better yet, let NBC know what you think. :-)

The opening ceremonies start in one week... 21:00 London time, Wednesday, August 29th.

Food: What Does Your Food Eat?

Have you heard this story yet?  It's a news story about a cattle grower in Kentucky who went searching for feed alternatives due to the high price of corn.

The associated text is copied here: (source KXAN.com)

Cows eating candy during the drought

Updated: Thursday, 16 Aug 2012, 6:53 AM CDT
Published : Thursday, 16 Aug 2012, 6:53 AM CDT

MAYFIELD, Ky. (CNN/WPSD) - Ranchers have struggled with skyrocketing corn prices, because the drought has made feeding their livestock very expensive. But one rancher has turned to a very sweet solution.

At Mayfield's United Livestock Commodities, owner Joseph Watson is tweaking the recipe for success.

"Just to be able to survive, we have to look for other sources of nutrition," he said.

His 1,400 cattle are no longer feeding off corn. The prices, Watson says, are too high to keep corn in stock. So earlier this year, he began to buy second-hand candy.

"It has a higher ratio of fat than actually feeding straight corn," Watson explained. "It's hard to believe it will work but we've already seen the results of it now."

Watson mixes the candy with an ethanol by-product and a mineral nutrient. He says the cows have not shown any health problems from eating the candy, and they are gaining weight as they should.

"This ration is balanced to have not too much fat in it," he said.

The packaged candy comes from various companies at a discounted rate because it is not fit for store shelves.

"Salvage is a problem for a lot of these companies and they're proud to have a place to go with it," said Watson.

The grower is sourcing candy from "various companies at a discounted rate because it is not fit for store shelves."

He "mixes the candy with an ethanol by-product and a mineral nutrient.  He says the cows have not shown any health problems from eating the candy, and they are gaining weight as they should."

This story is about how industrious the farmer is.  There does not seem to be any alarm, which really bothered me at first.  However, I suppose it's the reporter's job to not impart opinion.  But I'm a blogger, so I can share my opinion...

• If the candy is not fit for humans to eat, why is it ok to feed it to the animals that humans will eat?  Cows are designed to eat forage, not refined sugar.
• Of course the cows are gaining weight.  When we humans eat refined sugar we tend to gain weight too.

So I wonder these...

• What is the nutritive value of beef subsisting on a diet of candy, ethanol by-product and Mineral Nutrient compared to beef subsisting on a diet of hay and forage?
• What is the difference in flavor and fat content?
• How well will the cows be able to carry to term and then nurse their calves?
• Will we be treating our beef supply for Bovine Diabetes in a few generations?
• What are the human health implications for eating beef that subsisted on candy?

Did we learn nothing from Mad Cow Disease?  Cows are designed for eating forage.

Of course, I'm not a cattle grower and I do greatly appreciate that the cost of feed has increased significantly.  Our hay prices are up nearly 100% over 2 years ago.

I also do not know if this is general practice or if this is the only farmer feeding candy to his livestock.

Food: Canning Apples

The apples are ready!

If I don't get busy, I think my tree will break.

I peeled and sliced about 16 pounds of apples before I had to stop and rest my peeling hand.

7 pints of sauce and 10 1/2 pints of butter.  It sure does seem like there should be more for all of that effort.  Of course the tree is still hanging very low.  I think I can be busy with apples until the first freeze that's coming in about 2 months.  ;-)

Fiber Arts Friday: Wingspan, part 4

I think it's time for a Wingspan update.  :-)

I think it's looking pretty good.  But I feel the colorway should be called Swampy instead of Gilt.  ;-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday.