Down on the Homestead: Dec. 26 - Jan. 1

**QuilterMom** · 12-26-2004, 09:55 AM

Good morning!

We had rain all of Friday and all of yesterday. We set a 24 hour record for total rainfall! Parts of our property have standing water.

The rain has stopped for now (is forecasted to start again) and now we're having 40mph winds (tropical storm force winds). The wind blowing through our front porch is making a really eerie howling sound. I ventured out to check on the garden this morning and it's pretty much gone.

I guess the extremely low temps we had a week ago plus the torrential downpour of rain yesterday was too much for it. Just when I had stuff growing..........

I don't know what's on the agenda for today. I suppose the weather will play a big part. Dh needs to get into the garage to work on the last two storage shelving units he's building for the utility/laundry room and he needs my help on one of them. It's too cold to get out there now though and with the wind so strong we can't open the garage door. He also wants to sit down and draw out how we're going to do the kitchen so he can plan cabinet sizes and start getting started down that path. He watched several episodes of Kitchen Accomplished on Food Network yesterday plus he's watching a kitchen show on DIY right now so he's motivated!

I've been decluttering catalogs and magazines and want to get the rest of that knocked out today. I need to get several notebooks started for various things I've torn out of them (craft ideas, furniture designs I like - dh is wanting to build more, etc.).

Dh is almost finished with ds's nightstand he built. The last bit of stain didn't dry as quickly as he hoped due to the weather so he had to give it to ds unfinished yesterday. He has also been finishing up a shelf for ds that he started long ago (at our old house and he stopped working on it because of all the dirty looks he got from neighbors due to the noise from the tools!). He also started a jewelry box for me. That was a complete surprise. I really don't need one, but he wanted to make it so he did.

Have a great day everyone!

**kimmee** · 12-26-2004, 11:53 AM

Today I am going nutso on the house - this is when I always started My Spring cleaning in Scottsdale (January is spring in scottsdale and the dutch Iris start coming up!!

) so I have continued that pattern in my life in Colorado. I feel really motivated and excited about it !! I start a walking program on New Year's day - we measured the perimeter of our land yesterday and it is exactly 2.2 miles around!! perfect for my program!!
I called Kip this morning and asked him to take mom to lunch since she was depressed all day yesterday cuz "the Favorite" didn't even call her on Christmas - He is "deciding " and will call me later - I hope he does cuz Bruce and I would really like to go to the store (without) her today and stop by the town coffe shop to say "hey" to some friends...
After I get the house in shape I am going to start yard work before the snows start coming in - and I have already been drawing up some preliminary plans - so I am getting pretty excited about the spring and summer's flowers and Veggie gardens.

This is the year I make the full blown effort to show that I can generate income from our land and my hard work at home!!
oop - mom just informed me that she doesn't want to go to lunch with Kip cuz it wasn't his idea so I guess Bruce and I don't get any alone time today--

This morning she opened our bedroom door and walked in while Bruce was standing there nude, dressing, and she just stood there pointing at him - I thought he was gonna snap!!

He started talking about burying her out back

and thats when I decided to call Kip. But alas for nothing

.

You must see my mountain view this morning - th sun is lighting up the snow and they look magnificent-

I hope you all have a fabulous day on your Homesteads!!

**duckduckgoose007** · 12-26-2004, 12:37 PM

Oh Kimmee, I don't know how you stand it!!!!

You are a better man than I Gunda Din!

I give you lots of credit Kiddo for just not strangling Her!

I hope your day gets better, sending lots of

**Michele Annette** · 12-26-2004, 12:50 PM

I'm still listening to Christmas music.

Good Morning everyone!

Kim-

I am so sorry about your garden. I hope you are able to find your dream home soon!

Kimmee- I hope you are able to get some quiet time today!

We had a wonderful day. We got to talk with all of our family members on the telephone. This year all of our families, even though we are separated across the country had our big event on Christmas Eve night. So on Christmas Day we all spent our days with our immidiate families, in our PJ's! It was relaxing for everyone and I have to tell you Aaron and I started that!

I spent part of the day sewing yesterday. It felt good, as that is what I really wanted to do on Christmas. It's what I like to do the most! The turkey was delicious and we watched two movies. I did have to do dishes, but that was the only chore I did for the day. Aaron made coffee each morning, helped me get the turkey ready and he's always in charge of the mashed potatoes.

Today Aaron is working on his car, I'm sewing, doing laundry and baking today with my Christmas music. We have so many leftovers from dinner, no need to cook!

That's the best part!

I hope you all are having a lovely day!

**slowtypinwoman** · 12-26-2004, 01:55 PM

GM all,

~ Kim, sorry to hear about your garden.
~Kimmee, I don't know how you do it.
~ Michelle, I hope you have a wonderful relaxing day.

Today Micheal got up early so I could sleep in. We went up to our neighbors around 10 and loaded some wood he had cut several years before. It had just been laying there for a couple years and he offered it to us so we jumped on it. We got nearly half a cord.

Later on I need to take some meat out of the freezer and prepare it for pepper steak. I still have Mt. Laundry to climb.

I think I'll go throught the cupboards and make a list for the store tomorrow. We got paid early this month so I really need to watch my pennies. All the bills have been paid but I need to buy groceries.

Lat week I call Puina ans asked for some coupons. They sent me two, $2 off any product 4.5 lbs or larger. They also said I could call every four weeks for 2 more. That kind of made my day as we spend a small fortune on dog and cat food.

The coyote hunters have been on or near our house most of the day. They haven't gotten any yet but I hope they do. The coyotes have become so think around here. I know they have been trying to get in the chicken barn in the night. They send our dogs barking somthing fearce lately.

I hope everyone has a peaceful day.
Marcia

**mustang80** · 12-26-2004, 02:15 PM

Hey everyone! We had a great holiday despite Courtney running a fever and feeling lousy. She's got another sinus infection and was recently diagnosed with asthma and allergies. She is a walking pharmacy right now.

Today I've been trying to put away some gifts (mostly clothes), and catching up the laundry. I cleaned my room and changed the sheets, straightened the linen closet and played with Courtney. DH and I are planning to see a movie this afternoon and just relax. Leftovers for dinner will make it easy, too.

It was nice to have 3 days off in a row, I won't have that again until Memorial Day

.

**cmu** · 12-26-2004, 02:39 PM

Good Afternoon everyone.

I am folding clothes, had to vaccum the carpet and the couch this morning because the dogs got sand all over when they came in last night

.

Today I am enjoying the calming sounds of the kids fighting over there new toys...lol

Not much else going on right now.

**homesteadmamma** · 12-26-2004, 03:38 PM

Good afternoon everyone. Well Christmas is over and its times to be making goals for the new year. I always love a new year - it always has such promise, don't you think. I need to finish working on my goals and post those later.

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was quiet, relaxed and filled with lots of laughter and love. Thats what Christmas is all about. We ate until we couldn't eat anymore and those Turtles were scrumptious. I don't usually go for chocolate but Turtles always do me in. I did manage to share a few though.

Today I've been stripping floors and waxing them over at the post office so my day has been full. I just went back to put a second coat of wax on but its not quite dry so I'll wait until later tonight. People keep walking on the first coat - UGH!!!! Do they do that at home too. Even when I tell them that its a fresh coat of wax and still wet, they walk on it!!!!

Dh is feeling a bit better today. He had a really bad night on Friday with horrible pain, but its let up a bit both yesterday and today. Were praying it continues to improve.

Tonight I'll be watching movies with the family and also doing some reading. I baked brownies a bit ago, so I'm sure that will be tonight's snack.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

**matt&roxy** · 12-26-2004, 04:23 PM

Good Afternoon!!!!

Christmas was wonderful this year! Matthew and I both got everything we wanted and then some.

We went to the Titans/Broncos game and had a blast! Of course my Broncos won.........37-16......

It was freezing though, I decided at half time that I couldn't take it anymore so we came on home!

On the way to Nashville for the game we had a little mishap though! If anyone is familiar with driving through Nashville, you know that instead of being called Music City it should be called Construction City, there is always construction going on!!! Well, anyways, we were driving North on I-65 riding in the center lane, it was dark, and we hit a huge pothole in the road, it threw us over onto the shoulder! I do not know how we didn't get hit by the semi that was driving right beside us or the one that was right behind us, who also hit the pothole, and sent him flying the other direction. It bent our rim and had it pushed into our tire, and the air was just gushing out, Matthew beat the crud out of it and we drove to the nearest gas station and aired it up.....it made us to the game and home and we will be fixing that sometime this week!!!!!!

We got up bright and early and went to church this morning. It was a wonderful service and I am looking forward to service tonight!!!!

Matthew is outside putting the scope that he got for christmas on his 22, he must have got it on cause I can hear him shooting!!!!

Today, there is alot I need to do, but it is the Lords day, so I am gonna try to relax and just do what absolutely needs to be done. Right now the dishwasher is running and I need to straighten up the living room, but then that is it for today!!!

I hope all of you had a wonderful and blessed christmas..........

**guest2** · 12-26-2004, 04:28 PM

Hello everyone!

We are havaing a lovely day here. We all slept in and finally crawled out of bed around 9 a.m.

I think everyone needed the extra sleep. Jeff and I had coffee and just relaxed and chatted until about 11 a.m. when he and the boys decided to head into town to go to Walmart to do some shopping and return some items. The boys all got gift cards for Walmart from their Aunt and Uncle (Jeff's sister and her husband) so they were itching to spend them. I decided to stay home and make some lentil soup with the ham bone from dinner yesterday. Yummy!

I've been reading Dave Ramsey's book "Financial Peace" and trying to get motivated to put more of his ideas into practice. I want so badly to be out of debt!!!! I've also been looking at frugal recipes today trying to use what we have in the freezers up. Our freezers are packed and I don't want to lose any food to freezer burn.

Tonight we'll most likely watch some videos that we either own or we borrowed fromt he library. Last night we watched "White Christmas" (boys' choice) and "It's a Wonderful Life" (my choice). Tonight Jeff gets to pick.

Hope you all continue to have a wonderful holiday season!!!!

**mommy2many** · 12-27-2004, 09:25 AM

Hello

I skipped posting through the holiday!

This week is laundry time here! BEdding for all of us, clothes and towels! I took some time off from the laundry so it's time to catch up!

It's been snowing here on and off for a couple days so the children will probally play out in the snow for a bit today.

My husband will be cutting down some tree branches tonight that nearly fell on the house from the weight of the snow.

That's about it for here.

Have a good day

**kimmee** · 12-27-2004, 09:40 AM

Good Morning my friends!!

This is going to be a week of new starts for me - I don't like waiting til Jan 1 to make a fresh start cuz if I blow it I fill like a failure forever so I start early so I can break into it - kind of like practising for the big day!!

No more procrastinating!! I will attack every nook and cranny of this house and weed out the unwanted/unused!! This house will be completely organized and efficient by the end of January!!

No more failing on the weightloss thing - I will make time to workout and walk (I will take the dogs and sheep) everyday!!

No more letting everyone else slide - always I have just figured its easier for me to just do it and do it right. Well - its too much!! and my gardening and my sheep shearing and all of my other favorite little homesteading chores really took 30 th place behind the stupid housework and maintenance that I couldn't get away from - so now I begin delegating and standing over them until its done - a waste of my precious time at first (while I just stand there supervising) but if it works then I will way more efficient in the long run!!

I am so looking forward to spring!! baby animals, flowers, the smells of earth coming back to life!! I hope you will all have lovely days on your homesteads and remember Spring is just around the corner!!!

**guest2** · 12-27-2004, 01:36 PM

Goodmorning all!

The boys ended up spending the night at a friend's house so Jeff and I had some quiet time all to ourselves. Being the "romantics" that we are we ended up watching "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and bawling our eyes out. Then it was off to bed and trying to get some sleep in spite of 1 insecure cat who had to be in our faces and 2 other cats who are in heat and yowling like mad!

We have decided to earmark part of our income tax refund to get all 3 of the female cats who are not spayed yet done once and for all. I need my beauty sleep!

This morning I posted on Freecycle that I was looking for a working computer with Windows 98 or later since Jaysn's computer died. I figured someone might have gotten a new one for Christmas and was looking to get rid of their older model. Within 5 minutes I had a response from a lady who had a tower and a monitor that she was willing to give me.

I have an extra keyboard and mouse so we are set!!! Jaysn really needs one to do his schoolowrk on since so much of it is computer based now and it's hard with all 3 of the boys and I sharing this one computer.

I feel so blessed!

I have to work this afternoon so I have been busy getting the house in order and doing laundry this morning. Somehow "I" manage to keep up on things even though my 3 sons cannot.

I'm going to have to train them better I think!

Tonight's dinner will be fettuchinni alfredo with ham. I have some lovely ham leftover from Christmas dinner and I've been craving this dish for ages now. YUM!

You all have a blessed day!

**forestdale** · 12-27-2004, 01:54 PM

Good morning homesteaders.

I've just done my two day stint at our store. Yesterday was one of my worst days there, I had the rudest man in there who accused me of "fleecing" him of $1. He bought tea tree oil - $6.50 and aloe vera gel $9.95 and I charged him $16.45. He said my "adding machine" (computer) got it wrong and then started getting very angry saying that he didn't care about the dollar, he'd throw the f*&%ing dollar out to the street, but I was not having it. His wife heard him going off so she came back and asked what was wrong and he said: "this woman is trying to make her first million out of feecing all her customers for a dollar". I asked him if he could use a calculator, I handed it to him, I asked his wife to read out the prices of the items he just bought and it came to $16.45. What a surprise! I asked him he felt like a complete idiot and he said he didn't, so I just told him to get out of my shop and never return. He didn't even apologise!. What a jerk. Ten minutes after that the nicest man came in and we talked for about 10 minutes. He was a French man who lives in New Caledonia which is a french owned island off the coast of Australia. He's a teacher there and has a beautiful native wife and little girl, they came in too but they only spoke french. It's all a matter of balance, isn't it. One jerk is balanced out by one thoughtful, interesting person. Such is life. The rest of my day was very busy with lots of shoppers out in family groups. It's good to be home.

Kim, I'm sorry to hear about your vegetable garden. I know how much it means to you.
Chrissy, I hope the fights have died down a bit.
CJ, it's great to hear that Bob is feeling a little better.
Kimmee, good luck with your resolutions. Remember, when kids know you mean business they usually give in and do what you ask. Note, the operative word here is "usually".
Roxy, ack @ your wheel being damaged. I'm glad you and matt weren't hurt.
Debbie, sounds like a nice relaxing day for you.
mommytomany, what's your name? I hope you get through your laundry quickly.

DH did all our laundry yesterday but I have a mountain of ironing to get through. I also want to repot some plants into my new xmas pots. I have a million other things I'll do so it will be a busy day for me. At least I have no jerks here to deal with.

Life's good.

**Michele Annette** · 12-27-2004, 02:20 PM

Hi Everyone!

I hope you are all doing well today. We got about four inches of snow last night. The roads aren't good, but it looks so pretty.

I finished making my chocolates last night and made my goodie bags for coworkers last night. They loved them!

Tonight I need to bake one more batch of cookies and I need to sew. Plus, now that I'm feeling better I need to get back into my excercise routine, so I will be doing that tonight as well.

I have been thinking of some New things to do and focus on this new year. I did list my frugal resolutions list on the Homespun Frugal tips and challenges forum, but I want to focus on other things as well...like, how to better handle myself during times of stress or how to like myself more and have more self confidence in my art. I want to make more art quilts and I would love to enter an art show in the future, even if it's not this year. I want to learn to be more patient with myself and with others...these are just a few things, but I really wanted to stay clear of the "shoulds" and not confuse them with the "wants". My frugal goals are my wants too, even though I "should" pay off my CC, I really "want" to. I am only doing what I want out of life this year! Not in a selfish way, but I want to really figure some things out with myself and that is what I'm setting out to do. Okay, enough blabbing from me.

I hope you're all having a great day!