NDL's LFL (Little Free Library)

We have thought for a long time that it would be great to host a Little Free Library. Fittingly, as the first LFL was built by a son for his mother, this one was too. We asked the middle son to "help build a LFL for us" and it seems that what we really meant by "help", was "will you build a LFL for us", because that is what happened. Perhaps we held a board in place, and we certainly loosely supervised from a lawn chair, but all the real work was done by a more capable, and very patient carpenter. 

When it got down to the fine details we turned the foreman job over to the shop bunny aka Mr. Bunny who saw the project to completion.

LFL #103,686 was installed in July 2020 and ready for patrons. And yes, our number reflects that we were the 103,686th library to be registered since the first one installed in Hudson, Wisconsin in 2009.

You can check the map for LFLs in your neighborhood.

In the last year we have had so many people tell us that they really appreciated being able to get books at little libraries during the pandemic while public libraries were closed, or they didn't feel comfortable going in to them, or they wanted to browse books rather than order online for pickup. That made us feel very good. 

Stop by anytime to Take a Book and Leave a Book. And if you see us out please say "hi". We love talking to strangers. 

And if you want to create your own Little Free Library all you need to know can be found at littlefreelibrary.org.

In a Peach Jam

This is what half of a a socially distanced line for peaches looks like. It wound around the parking lot in a giant U. People wore masks and were quite polite. It was weird.

This why these people were willing to wait in a long line in a big parking lot.

Beautiful Georgia peaches.

The peach truck was selling out and had to limit people to two boxes each. Just enough for our needs. We ate them fresh and made this beautiful peach ginger jam.

Canning in 2020 surely broke some kind of records as we all worked to stay busy and productive. By the end of the summer jar lids were nowhere to be found. We felt so lucky to have stocked up pre-pandemic. Still haven't seen lids back on the shelves. Guess when the peach truck comes this year we will have to sacrifice so others can have the limited canning supplies by settling for peach pie and crisp. Sigh. So hard.

Ramping Up the Pandemic Pantry

One thing we could do well, and safely, while isolating was get out in nature 

and forage our little hearts out.

In this case some generous young foragers shared their bounty of ramps aka wild leeks.

Pretty, aren't they?

We made a pesto-like concoction.

Spread it on flatbread from the freezer. Added a bit of cheese. 

And voila. Perfectly pizza from the wilds of Wisconsin and our well-stocked store of staples.

Covid Quilting

Or How 72 Chickens Kept Us Sane During the Global Pandemic. 

Based on a quilt by Quilty Love,

based on a block by Sew Inspired, 

with a few tweaks by NDL, 

this quilt was finished and delivered to some chicken loving newlyweds while it was still quilt weather. 

Another Sewsocial Isolation project brought to you by Covid 19.