A Sense of Accomplishment

Since I last posted my to do list, I've been a woman on a mission.  Some of my accomplishments I paid to have done, but many I, or Dh and I, have accomplished.  I've marked through the items completed so far.

Replace the hinges on our bathroom door
Add gutters to the house
Pressure wash house (Before adding the gutters)
Level and patch "foundation" (lack of gutters has cause erosion to affect the "foundation")
Re-frame crawl space door (it will be framed with 4x4)
Build deep (4 inch) crawl space door with shelves added for storage under the house).
Level entry area of crawl space
Add gravel to entry area of crawl space (mower and tiller will then be stored under there)
Paint the "Foundation"
Measure, purchase and hang a new storm door for the front door.
Rebuild at least one deck (We have three,  but I am not crazy enough to think I can do all of them.  Well.......)
Another trip to the Landfill
Re- Paint  Einsteins room.
Pick up concrete blocks from my mom (Who wants them gone) and make yet another concrete raised bed (Yay).
Pick up vinyl fencing from my mom and install it, decoratively, among my black berry bushes


We hired a company to hang the gutters.  I would rather have it done right.  I was very pleased with the end result.  In addition to hanging the gutters, we also paid them to fix the "foundation" wall in the back.  It was leaning out a lot and needed to be put back in place before it fell on my blueberry bushes.  Not only did they fix the wall, pouring a new footer and everything, but they re-framed the crawlspace door for me and hung the door as well.  He does recommend a thicker plywood door, so we will get that.

Funny thing is, lists get added to, and this one was no exception.  In addition to the above items I've marked thru, I've also

Cleaned the yard (pick up trash etc)
Sprayed and pruned the fruit trees
Pruned blackberry bushes.
Turned under and mulched both blueberry beds.
Moved the compost barrel to a spot in the garden, and have started over with another compost mix
Moved the bird feeder so it is more visible from our bedroom windows.
Repaired and refinished a bird feeder destined for the landfill.  TAADAA!

Painted a wall in the gym in need of a fresh coat (using the color and paints we already had on hand)
Hung a curtain rod (and subsequently a curtain I had) on the window of my laundry room door.
Hung a rack to keep brooms, mops, etc hung up and off the floor of my little laundry room
Patched nail holes in the laundry room (cause I plan to paint soon)
Swept all decks
Started Marigold seeds


While much has been accomplished, the list never seems to reach a conclusion.  When it comes to being a homeowner, and in this case, a homesteader, the list is really ongoing.  That list will continue to grow even as I continue to check things off.  I love it.

So what things are on your spring list?  Has the spring cleaning bug bit you yet?

What to do, what to do?

Now comes the time of year where things start to get a little nuts.  I don't know what it is about this time of year.  Maybe its the knowledge that spring is just around the corner, but I start to get....ideas.  Yes I start to make plans for projects.  Probably more projects than I can accomplish and yet still I add more.  I wrote down my project list for the next 2 months and, well, it's longer than I thought.  Take a gander:

Replace the hinges on our bathroom door
Add gutters to the house
Pressure wash house (Before adding the gutters)
Level and patch "foundation" (lack of gutters has cause erosion to affect the "foundation")
Re-frame crawl space door (it will be framed with 4x4)
Build a deep (4 inch) crawl space doors with shelves added for storage under the house).
Level entry area of crawl space
Add gravel to entry area of crawl space (mower and tiller will then be stored under there)
Paint the "Foundation"
Measure, purchase and hang a new storm door for the front door.
Rebuild at least one deck (We have three,  but I am not crazy enough to think I can do all of them.  Well.......)
Another trip to the Landfill
Re- Paint  Einsteins room.
Pick up concrete blocks from my mom (Who wants them gone) and make yet another concrete raised bed (Yay).
Pick up vinyl fencing from my mom and install it, decoratively, among my black berry bushes


Now some of these will be quick and some...not so much.  Some I can do alone, and others I will need help from DH.  I will do what I can, when I can.  It goes without saying Etsy is being left alone right now.  The return on this investment in our property far outweighs what I will make from my store right now.

If you are a little confused about how a crawl space can be a storage shed (my goal), we live in a Mobile home and our "Crawl space" is high enough where one can walk in hunched over.  You can't see the door in this picture.  It is in between the 6 blueberry bushes there against the house.  It will be perfect for storing outdoor/garden items.  This will free up space in our actual shed for more important things, and make the items used most frequently in the garden, more accessible.

Like wise, our "foundation" is not really foundational, but rather a permanent structure type of "skirting" that  permanently attaches the home to the land.  It's much better than skirting, however.

A lot of these things require gutters added to the house first, so that is first on our list.  These items have been a long time coming.  Not sure what will be accomplished, and Dh will be there to help on the weekends.  These items are not just for sprucing up the home.  The idea of having more storage space without having to buy another storage shed is awesome!  The idea of mitigating the damage brought on by bad drainage is another fabulous idea.  Right now we don't know if we will retire here or eventually move.  That's still up in the air.  It doesn't hurt,either way, to invest in our home to help it maintain its value.

By the way if anyone has some tips or tricks to help in this endeavor, shout out!  What things are on your to do list?  Has the bug bit you yet?

All the best laid plans

Hello!  How ya doin?  How's your family?  Glad you dropped in.

Things are normal here.  I did get to the grocery store.  Remember all those wonderful organization tips I gave in my last post?  Yea...well, I got some of them done.  I got my pantry organized, my fridge wiped out/organized, and a list made up.  I wasn't able to get my freezer defrosted or bread made.  Rubic had the flu so we spent about three hours at the..ahem Quick care center Thursday morning finding out that he had the flu and getting him a doctors excuse for work.  That set me back some.  Still the things I was able to do, made it pretty simple to bring home a months worth of groceries and get them put away.  I was then able to get some bread made for sandwiches and pizza crust made for dinner (thank you bread machine).  So all in all a good trip and planning helped.

I did have a bit of a set back which had nothing to do with my grocery shopping trip.  Back the end of December I started some tomato seeds for this years gardening season.  The plan being I would start the season off with larger plants and hopefully have them produce more before getting taken down by our rather hot summers.  Well, they sprouted and were thriving.  We've had some warmer than normal weather and so I have been taking them outside to get some good sunlight.  I don't have great windows for sunlight in my house.  Things were going swimmingly until, while taking them out for their morning sun bathing, I tripped.  Yep!  I tripped.  Seedlings went flying, across the room to land on the floor.  I lost about half of them immediately and about half again since then. The ones still living are not very happy.  THWARTED AGAIN!

Last on my list; this weekend marks a year since I started my weight loss journey.  My goal for the year was at least 52 pounds lost.  I figured that would be a pound a week.  Alas I fell short by three pounds.  My total is 49 pounds lost.  You know what?  I'll take it.  So I didn't make my goal.  I lost.  I helped care for my dad.  I lost my dad.  I started a new venture in my Etsy shop.  The holidays came just like they do every year, but these were a little tougher.  "Life" Happened.  There were many other intrusions that kept me from obtaining the goal I set for myself.  Funny how life happens.  Life happening is not an excuse we use to not workout as some would have us believe.  It's just a fact.  You adapt.  All the best laid plans you know.  The difference between now and then when it comes to life's intrusions was the fact that I didn't stop or give up.  Each  day was a new start and I made the most of those days.  I accepted the consequences of my actions and moved on.  That's why whatever you chose to do to lose weight, needs to be something easily adapted to YOUR LIFE.

All our lives are different and what we need to accomplish our goals is also different.  We're individuals after all.  Adaptability is the key.  To find that silver lining in mistakes you might have made and learn from them, grow from them, not to repeat them. To take lemons life hands you and make lemonade from it so to speak.

So I will keep plugging along.  I'm not going back.  I am told the longer it takes for weight to come off, means it will stay off longer.  Yay!  So I will keep on keeping on.  I'll get the rest of the weight off in due time.

A thrift store date kinda day

Hubby and I went on a date!  Well sorta.  The two of us went out to paint the town beige.  We set off this morning and drove to the Ric Rac in  Dawsonville Georgia.  If you have never been there, you need to remedy that.  Anyway, there is no way we out did the time spent by my sister and I when we go to the Ric Rac, but we gave it a valiant effort.  We were there about 1.5 hours give or take.  During the course of our stay we found a set of 6 heavy duty glasses for $1.50 for all.  DH found three men's shirts in great shape.  I think two were new.  I found three shirts as well as a denim vest.  I have to say, being 48 lbs lighter has made trying on clothes FUN!!!!!  I actually found many more shirts, but settled on the three I choose.  I had to have the vest though.  It's fitted and cute as all get out.  I also came away with a white toy chest.

It's in pretty good shape.  Especially for $20!  It's all real wood.  None of that particle stuff.   I'm gonna use my paint remover gun on it and see if I can stain and varnish it.  Instead of a toy chest, it will soon be a trunk to store blankets and such in.  I will post a picture after it's done.  It will take up residence at the end of my bed where my makeshift Table stood before.  That one didn't last too long, but then it wasn't supposed to.  It also wasn't supposed to be sat on and my son didn't realize that soooo.

I found some other odds and ends, but the trunk is my main find.  We also had lunch out.  Not very frugal mind you, but a date none the less.  We don't get these days too often so it was a great time out and a great day to do it.  If you can believe it,   It's 70 degrees outside today this Jan 14th.  Welcome to Georgia.

So that's my day.  How has yours been?

Oh well, moving right along

Plans for today were to include yard work and cutting grass(for the boys).  God has other ideas in that it is raining and has been raining since last night.  I do appreciate the rain though.  So we will go with plan "B" and spend time in the kitchen.  I need(knead) to make bread.  I could probably add some other things to that list, but we will see.  I am planning on going this after noon to a friends house to pick pears to can.  That will mean another trip to the kitchen for canning the rest of my lima beans(this should be it) and then the pears.  Once the garden is wrapped up, it will be back to trying to sew some of the doll clothes I have cutout, but that is another post.  I did makesome granola for breakfast.  YUMMY!  Man that stuff is good.  I love granola anyway. 
Went to see the movie"Lawless" last night.  Good movie based on a true story about bootleggers in the 1920's.  Now I did watch the movie,but tell me I am not crazy in that instead of really watching the characters, I am looking behind them at the scenery, cabins, rooms in the cabins, kitchens, etc from the time period.  It was cool.  I did the same thing watching "Hatfields and McCoys" on the History channel.  I can't help it.  I love that kind of stuff.  Good movie though.  Want the granola recipe?  Okay, you twisted my arm...  I got this from the tightwad gazette in full disclosure.

Granola

5 cups of oats(I use 4 cups oats, 1/4 cup groundflax seed, 1/4 cup wheat germ, and 1/2 cup walnuts)
1/2 cup dry milk
1ts ground cinnamon
dash salt
3/4 cup brownsugar
1/3 cup oil( I use extravirgin olive oil)
1/3 cup honey(I use raw honey)

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.  In a sauce pan, heat the oil, brown sugar, and honey on a med low heat.  While that is heating up, take your oats(etc), dry milk, cinnamon, and dash salt and mix thouroughly in a greased cookie sheet.  Take the "syrup"and pour over your grains.  Mix as well as you can with a spoon, then put the spoon down and use your hands to incorporate it well.  Once mixed well put it in the oven for 10 min.  Take out of the oven.  If you want to put raisens in it, you do that now. Bout halfa cup.  Stir it in thenjust let the granola sit til it is cool.  Then break up.  If you don't add the raisens, then just take the granola out andlet it sit.  Don't stir it.  Let cool then break up.