Down On the Homestead 1-2/1-8

**slowtypinwoman** · 01-02-2005, 10:33 AM

GM Homesteaders!
I hope no one minds that I started this today I have a bunch of things to do and I wanted to post before I leave.
Today I need to go to Rolla and meet my g/f to exchange gifts. We didn't get to do it the other day because one of the girls had strep.
I wanted to go to the grocery store and get a few things for the week.We go back to school tomorrow and I want to have food in the house.

I have enjoyed my time at home so much. I envey all you SAHMs.
To do today:
~ walk the dogs, I have been doing this faithfully!
~ clean the bathroom
~Sweep
~ make things for lunches this week
Hope everyone has a wonderful day!
Marcia

**QuilterMom** · 01-02-2005, 10:56 AM

Good morning Marcia and all who follow!

We're having to listen to the neighbor's music again today.

We had to listen to it yesterday morning and part of the afternoon (until we went to the beach) as well.

I am soooooooooo sick of it! I did not move to the country to have to listen to noise!

We had fun at the beach yesterday. It wasn't a good beachcombing day, though I did find some sea beans and some cool pieces of driftwood. Dh and ds made sand castles while I took a long walk. The jellyfish are literally everywhere - even up in the sand dunes from hide tide!

Today dh has decided to start tearing apart one of the bathrooms. One of the suppliers he deals with at work gave him a tremendous discount on a Jacuzzi brand garden tub and it should arrive soon if it's not already at the supplier's wearhouse. Dh will be building cabients, having to knock out part of a wall and rebuild the storage closet, relocate the toilet, etc., etc. A total and complete remodel. I would have liked for the kitchen to get started first, but with supplies still in high demand and short supply we don't have all the wood and such we need.

I'm putting away Christmas stuff, decluttering as I go, and have started a complete household inventory list as I go. That's important to me after seeing so many people last fall who lost everything have to sit down for their insurance companies and make a list of all their possessions and having a hard time doing it because they didn't have a clue as to what all they owned.

Plenty to keep us busy today!

Have a great day everyone!

**homesteadmamma** · 01-02-2005, 11:10 AM

Good morning Marcia & Kim and all to follow. Its -30C here right now but absolutely beautiful outside with the snow we got yesterday. Once again though, roads are closed everywhere.

I need to make bread today. Were almost out so once I'm off here I'll be off to get it started.

I have clothes to fold as I wased yesterday rather than on Monday. I have 1 load left to do, so I'll do that as well.

This afternoon I'm quilting. I made another 3 blocks and start 5 yesterday so I'd like to get the 5 done today. Then I'll only have 21 left to do. I might also pin one of my tops so I can start quilting it.

Tonight will be a quiet night reading.

Hope everyone has a great day.

btw Kim, I'd love to see some of those shells, etc. you find on the beach. I bet they are pretty.

Marcia, have a fun day with your gf.

**kimmee** · 01-02-2005, 12:52 PM

Good Morning my fellow Homesteading Buddies!!
Today is a continuing assault on the clutter that is my home!! We kicked serious butt yesterday so I am on fire to do it again today!! I think I will fix Red Chile Burritos for dinner so I have to throw a roast in the crockpot and it will pretty much take care of itself so I can devote my entire day to this hoary netherworld we live in - I am so excited about all the challenges in the Village right now!! I feel SO motivated!!
I hope you all have a lovely day on your Homesteads - I 'm gonna go get jiggy!!

**DaisyLady** · 01-02-2005, 02:06 PM

Good afternoon all,

I had an early start this morning. DH was up for work at six and thoughtfully brought me up a cup of coffee. He forgot I don't drink coffee before church. So I took a couple of sips anyway. I didn't want him to feel bad.

We had communion today and one adult baptism. There were still a lot of people away but all the visitors made up for that.

I made tuna melts for the kids and I for lunch and then jumped on here to catch up while I am enjoying my coffee. It is freezing rain and ice pellets outside. Not a nice day at all. If this keeps up the kids might get a snow day tomorrow.

I am not anxious for that to happen as I really want to get back into routine.

This afternoon I am going to make some pudding and some yogourt as well as throw a roast into the crockpot too (great minds eh Kimmee!)
I also plan to do some knitting and brush my dogs.

I really need to switch over my calendar and add my dates and stickers (I use the More Time Mom's Family Organizer)...and I need to set up my file folders and envelopes for January. I am thinking that I might leave that for tomorrow though when I can work uninterrupted.

I keep feeling like I should be doing more housework but it seems like a new rule I made is working very well here and the housework is getting done by my children. They were given an Xbox for Christmas and the rule is that they have to do a chore before they can play it on top of the chore they have to do to use the computer. My house is so much cleaner and less cluttered

Have a blessed day my friends!

**guest2** · 01-02-2005, 05:32 PM

Hello all!

This has been a busy day around here. DH and I sat the boys down and had a long talk with them about having a spirit of excellence in everything that we do. No more slacking on their chores or they are grounded! Due to some "problems" this past week, they are all grounded for this week and agreed that the grounding was fair.

DH worked on reorganizing and cleaning some cabinets in the kitchen while I worked on our calendar getting everything switched over. Just looking at that thing scares me when I see all the commitments on paper that we have for this month alone.

We did decide on a weekend in March to go and celebrate our anniversary though and I am looking forward to that. I got some hard boiled eggs done for hubby while doing this. Other things that got done around here today:
~baked 4 loaves of bread (me)
~deep cleaned the bathrooms (Jaysn and Josh)
~built 2 cd racks (Jeff)
~vacuuming (Chris and I)
~read for 2 hours for a class I am teaching starting next week
~deep cleaning their bedroom (twins)
~laundry (everyone)
~deep cleaning the kitchen (Jaysn)
~making a menu plan for this week(me)

Praying you all have a blessed evening!

**Michele Annette** · 01-02-2005, 06:22 PM

Hello my homesteading friends!

I have been in most of the day finishing laundry and sewing. We are having terrible winds and rain. I hope we get snow again soon!

I have a slight headache and my throat is a little scratchy, so I have been taking zinc losenges. I hope it is nothing. I managed to take an hour nap this afternoon. I really needed it.

This morning DH and I helped my coworker/friend move a few boxes to her new apartment. It was DH's barter exchage for a haircut from her this week. I went along to help anyway and to see her new apartment. We will have her over for dinner sometime this week and for DH's haircut!

My Christmas presents are almost finished! I have to tell you that I am very excited to start next Christmas early this year! I am also very excited about all of our frugal and saving challenges! My change jar is almost halfway full! I am making it a positive year!!

I hope you are all having a great day!!

**kimmee** · 01-02-2005, 06:40 PM

Hey my friends - I don't know if this will help you but it sure works for me : I don't get sick and I think it is because I take liquid Flax seed oil - I put it on or in something everyday and I never get sick - I just thought it might be helpful to you guys cuz it seems like a couple of you are sick regularly - of course that is probably also due to the fact that you work outside of your home. flax seed oil is especially good on a salad but I also put it in my protein shakes and on chicken or pork or on pasta.

**guest2** · 01-02-2005, 06:42 PM

Thanks for the tip Kimmee! I may have to try this myself!

**Michele Annette** · 01-02-2005, 07:18 PM

Thanks Kimmee I will try this! I haven't been sick in over four years!!!

This is really odd for me and I have been trying to take extra care of myself, but yes I do work and see lots of people everyday. I will try flaxseed oil. I know it's really good for you anyhow, so I guess it can't hurt! Thanks Kimmee!!!

I just saw my neighbor outside scraping her car...it's freezing rain out and still very windy, so I am preparing for a power outage. We have everything we need, but I am still finishing up the last load of laundry, I am cooking dinner and making sure my flashlight is close by. I hope all of you are having a good evening.

**MarshHen** · 01-02-2005, 11:11 PM

Hello to all.

I'm afraid I didn't get much done today except cook dinner and run the dishwasher.

Woke up last night feeling queasy and didn't get much sleep for the rest of the night. Hubby fed the critters for me before church and re-checked on their water before leaving for work this afternoon. Have had beautiful, mild weather here for the last few days. Managed to take a much needed nap this afternoon and I feel some better. I have been sipping ginger ale all day since I haven't felt like eating. Hoping to feel better tomarrow since I have so much to catch up on.

(((Hugs)))

Carolyn

**DaisyLady** · 01-03-2005, 06:49 AM

Good Monday Morning all,

Well it is back to school, work, and regular activities today. It feels so good to have a routine back.

I was up at 5:30 and made Josh's lunch. The sandwich meat was still frozen last night so I took pity on him. He and Andrea are up and moving. William should be up soon too. Hubby is still in bed. He has a new schedule this week so he will be getting up at eight but he will leave for work much earlier.

I have one day of reprieve but tomorrow I start child minding 5 mornings a week. I guess I'll have to be a bit more creative in keeping her busy so I can get my housework and baking done. I don't teach any classes until next week so at least I can ease back into things a bit.

Today I need to:
Do laundry
Clean my kitchen
Bake bread and brownies
Clean my main floor bathroom
Switch over my envelopes to January
Finish switching over my calendars (one is done)
Meet a friend for coffee
Call another friend
Move my elliptical trainer out of storage so I can use it (it is too icy to walk outside right now)
Make dinner - Lentil Soup
Knit

Hope you all have a great day!

**QuilterMom** · 01-03-2005, 11:13 AM

Good Morning Chriss and all who follow!

Back to homeschool for us today and things went smoothly.

We have to make a library run today to return several things and I'll stop by Walgreens since it's on the way.

I need to sit down this afternoon with a couple of cookbooks from the library that are due back later this week, weed the garden, and I'd like to get some more piecing done on a quilt top.

We're still having lovely weather, although we had an unexpected (or I should say unforecasted) rain shower early this morning. We hit the beach again yesterday afternoon and I took a long walk while dh and ds played. I came upon a man trying to help a sea bird that was obviously not doing well and asked if I could call anyone or if that had already been done. He told me he'd already made calls and all the wildlife places were closed because it was the weekend (I don't understand why they don't have someone on call!). The poor bird died while I was there - it was just heartbreaking for me.

Neither of us knew what the bird was. I have looked online trying to identify it and haven't been successful. At least he had love coming his way at the end.

Have a great day everyone!

**kimmee** · 01-03-2005, 11:41 AM

Good Morning Homesteaders!!

We have a cold front moving through and it is so foggy outside you can barely see the barn. When Bruce left this morning I couldn't see him when he got to the bottom of the stairs. Its actually kindof neat if you don't have to go anywhere- kind of ominous. But it scares me that Bruce has to drive in this (hes a truckdriver) -its probably much better in Denver though.

We had the nicest family meeting yesterday - bruce was the coordinator - he was a lousy parent to his kids (he admits it) and it is so nice to see him take on the role with mine that he has , he implements alot of things that I have learned from books through the years and he thought of them on his own!! Its a good feeling to know he cares enough and actually thinks about what he will do topromote harmony in a nest of pre-adolescents

Every body established their resolutions and we created a cheering commitee to help them get them accomplished. Bruce has decided to smoke in his bar or outside from now on !!! We included mom and though she rebuked everything we asked her to do I think she has to realize that we are at least considering her a part of the family. And we dealt with Ryan on his lack of respect towards mom and had him apologize to her so that was a positive.

Kids go back to school tomorrow

and its back to the regular drill for me except that I will be adding in my walks and workout sessions. I am so excited aboutgetting back in shape!!

I was out looking at my bulb garden yesterday and I have crocus already peeking out of the ground - I think we are definately going to have an early Spring !! I started going through the chicken catalogues yesterday and I definately want some more baby ducks!! (I am down to five drakes!

) I want to get a few baby goats this year. I guess I can give up on ever getting Emilee bred - she is getting to old to be a first time mommy so I guess she will just lead a happy carefree life for the rest of her years. I still haven't sold fat butt the horse. Man I wish someone fabulous would come get her - at this point she is free once I establish that they will give her a good home.

Welp, time to get jiggy on the hostile takeover of the house!! I hope you all have an incredibly wonderful and productive day on your homesteads!!

**guest2** · 01-03-2005, 12:05 PM

Goodmorning my fellow frugal homesteaders!

It's back to our regular schedule today and I'm loving getting back into a more normal routine. This morning I got up and spent time with the Lord and so did the boys. It sure makes for a much nicer and smoother morning.

We layed out our plans for the day and the boys are now going on their schoolwork. I have the laundry going, a venison roast cooking in the crockpot, the dishwasher running and got the chemistry program reloaded back up on the computer for the boys to do later today.

This afternoon and evening I work at the library and I think my branch visit is later this week. That means I have to switch out a good portion of the library again. I'll have to start gathering boxes once more. It usually takes about 14 boxes to pack everything up and get it taken over to the main branch.

On the agenda for the rest of the day until I go to work is doing some baking, sorting through some more clothing and reading more in the book "The Fallacy Detective" and making lesson plans for that. I also hope to look up some more frugal recipes using what I have on hand here so I can keep our grocery bills down very low this month.

You all have a blessed day!!!!