mtl008 Chapter 118 Preparing for Winter (2)
Chapter 118 Preparing for Winter (2)
The next day, it was indeed a sunny day, with the sun high in the sky and white clouds in the sky.
It was such nice weather, so she dug out her thick winter clothes.
Last year, when Zhu Erniang was still alive, she went to the reed marsh and found a lot of reed fluff and saved it up. In the autumn of the same year, she used linen to make two sets of thick reed fluff clothes for the original owner. However, they looked bulky and not very warm when worn.
The original owner's family used to live in Xiushui Village. If they were lucky, they would find some reed fluff near the village. If they couldn't find any, they could only use old cloth to fill the clothes and sew them into clothes to wear in winter.
In this era, there was cotton, which was introduced from other countries. It was difficult to grow and the yield was not high, so it was expensive and only rich people could afford it.
This year, the original owner had grown taller. Xia Qingyue tried on a set of reed velvet clothes and pants, but they were a bit short and a bit tight. When she raised her hands and bent over, she felt a tight and uncomfortable feeling on her body.
She took a look and saw that Zhu Er Niang's stitches were very dense and the workmanship was fine.
Xia Dasong and Zhu Erniang also had winter clothes, and she found them.
Zhu Erniang had two sets of clothes, one gray and one black, also made of reed velvet. She tried them on and found they were just the right size.
"This is good. If it gets a little colder, you can wear a thin long-sleeved base layer underneath. It's just right for working!"
She was very happy. These two sets of clothes were enough to last her until the snow came. It would be even colder after the snow, so she would have to wear clothes made of duck down.
Xia Dasong's clothes were too big for her to wear.
She looked at the clothes she took out and thought for a moment, "I'll use the smaller furs and add some duck down to make a nest for Heihei, and the remaining furs and add some dry straw to make warm clothes for the fruit tree.
It's so cold after the snow, I wonder if the chickens, ducks and rabbits can stand it?"
She remembered that when she had just come through, she had collected the two quilts that Xia Dasong and Zhu Erniang slept in. They were filled with reed fluff. She opened the cabinet and touched them, and they were quite soft.
When it snowed in winter and the poultry couldn't stand the cold, she could use the two quilts and the unused clothes to make a nest for them.
It is possible to burn charcoal, but for safety reasons, the charcoal fire must not be too close to the poultry, so it is still necessary to build a nest.
She took out the two sets of reed fleece clothes she was wearing and washed them, and also washed the ones she was going to use to build nests for the poultry, and hung them out to dry in the sun.
After washing, she went to the utility room to take out the accumulated duck down. It looked like a lot, but it wasn't heavy.
In order to get more duck down, she killed several ducks some time ago and ate the duck meat with Heihei.
There were three sacks of duck down, which was a bit too much, so we poured them into two large wooden basins. We first scrubbed them several times with warm water to remove dirt such as mud, sand, and stones.
Then boil a pot of soapnut water, wait until it is not so hot, pour it into the basin, and make sure the water covers the duck down. This step is the same as nitrating fur, the purpose is to remove the grease and fishy smell.
After soaking in soapnut water three times, the duck down washed out and dried was as white as snow. She picked up a handful of duck down and smelled it, and it still had a bit of duck smell.
Remembering that she had stored the camellia flowers while drying them in the summer, she went to the bamboo cabinet in the utility room and found three small cloth bags.
She took out two bags of dried camellia flowers. The duck down needed to be sterilized at high temperature, so she used two large ceramic pots to cook it as usual. She added water to the pots and threw a few handfuls of camellia flowers in.
She put the duck down into a gauze bag, tied the mouth tightly, and put it into the pot to cook. It took half an hour to cook a pot, and she added camellia twice during the process.
The cooked duck down needs to be steamed. Put a layer of dried camellia on the grate, put the duck down on it, and then cover it with a layer of dried flowers. Steam it for half an hour.
Spread the steamed duck down on a clean round dustpan and cover it with a bamboo raft. If the wind blows, it will be blown everywhere, and all the hard work of several days will be wasted.
The duck down had been exposed to the sun for two days and became fluffy, soft and clean. She smelled it and found the fishy smell was very light and could be ignored if she didn't smell it carefully.
She guessed that it was the scent of the camellia that covered most of the fishy smell.
Wrap the processed duck down in clean cotton cloth and keep it for making duck down clothes and quilts later.
The fur is still soaking, and we can proceed to the next step after it has soaked for a few days.
She then built the third wall of the poultry house, wondering as she did so how she would cap it off.
Before this problem was solved, a new problem arose: there were not enough earth bricks!
A lot of bricks were used to lay the foundation. She had no choice but to go out and carry back more clay to make bricks. First, she mixed the clay to make mud bricks, and finally burned them.
By the time they were busy firing two batches of earthen bricks, it was already mid-to-late November, and the weather was so cold that people had to wear reed fleece clothes. She estimated that the daily temperature would be as low as 10 degrees and as high as 16 degrees.
After the temperature dropped, Heihei became more sleepy than before and was not as interested in playing with the wooden plate as before.
Dogs are like this, and some animals in the mountains and forests will gradually go into hibernation, such as snakes.
She was very happy to think that there would be no troubles from snakes and insects in winter.
After the bricks are baked and the fur is soaked, take it out, wash it, put it on the stretcher and tie it up with ropes. After it dries, it will be ready.
She had a psychological effect, so she washed the fur several times and put it away when it was dry.
Then, she worked day and night to build the house, hoping to find more dry firewood before it rained or snowed.
Four days later.
The four walls of the house have been built, except for the roof.
Xia Qingyue pondered over the issue of roofing for a long time. Considering the limited capabilities and tight time, she finally chose to use bamboo to build a frame and thatch to cover the roof.
She had bamboo at home, and she chose thicker bamboo because if it was too thin, it would be moved by the wind.
After much thought, she decided to build two more layers on the top of the house on both sides of the house. When applying the clay, she left a few holes, placed the bamboo vertically on the top of the house, and passed the rope through the holes to tie the bamboo tightly and secure it.
The bamboo has been built and only the thatch is left.
She knew there was thatch on the other side of the bamboo forest, so she carried a backpack and sickle and went out.
I carried back several loads of thatch in the morning. The thatch is no longer green at this time of year, but it is covered with morning dew and has some moisture. I spread it out to let it blow in the wind, and it would be nice if there was some sun to bask in it for half a day.
The dried thatch feels very light in the hand.
"If we lay it directly on the ground, the wind will blow it all over the place, right?"
She raised her hand and scratched her head. When she was distressed, an idea flashed in her mind.
"Yes, I can tie them up like a broom and put them on the bamboo frame layer by layer!"
Covering yourself with more layers will prevent drafts, keep you warmer, look more beautiful, and save time and effort.
Having made up her mind, Xia Qingyue went outside to find some thin vines that were tough and not easy to break, and arranged the thatch neatly. She tied one handful of thatch with one vine, and then tied another handful, repeating this process over and over again.
In this way, there are more than ten bundles of straw on a vine, and the length is about four meters. It is not good if it is too short or too long, this length is just right.