Down on the homestead - May 29 - June 4th

**homesteadmamma** · 05-29-2005, 10:49 AM

Good morning everyone. I woke up to clouds again with the threat of rain. Although I love rain, at this point I am getting tired of it.

Today I need to plant raspberry and blackberry canes, potato seeds and grape vines that we got last night, all free.

This afternoon I'm working on dd's quilt.

Tonight I'm cleaning the post office.

Thats it for my day. I'm still not feeling 100%. Have a great Sunday everyone.

**Heather** · 05-29-2005, 11:48 AM

CJ, I hope you are feeling better real soon, this has hung on for you.

Well, I knew I outdid myself yesterday, I am VERY tired this morning and my throat is sore.

Doug, Delaney and Kody are going over to Doug's Mom this afternoon while Dylan stays home with me as he's not feeling good either. Hopefully this is the end of it and with nicer weather coming he'll get healthy...he's had a cough for 3 months!!

I'm going to be doing some laundry and a bit of tidying but that's about it.

Have a wonderful day ladies!!

**PrairieRose** · 05-29-2005, 12:03 PM

Cj, Heather, I hope you guys are feeling better very soon

Gripey and I are staying home today. He's out working in the garden while I'm playing here. I've done the run through pick and put in the house and am doing laundry now (h.m. liquid laundry soap). I'm kinda tired from a stressful and busy week, so I may have a nap later on in the day. We're babysitting dd#1's dog today so that's always fun....

She's a boxer and our poodle likes to boss her around....

We have to watch them pretty closely b/c the boxer could eat my poodle in 2 bites. Anyway, we're not doing much else but hanging out here today.
Hope you all have a great day at your homesteads.

Oh, one more thing....Gripey bought this self watering tomato planter....it's red and came with red plastic to cover the dirt with and just cut a hole out for the plant. Well, he watered it when he planted it about 6 weeks ago and not a drop since! That plant is bigger than any of our other plants (put in the ground) and already has blooms! Man I hope it bears fruit earlier than mid July which is normal for us. But how cool that it hasn't needed anymore water? He ordered it out of one of the gardening magazines.

**dmvezina** · 05-29-2005, 12:24 PM

Good afternoon. We woke up to the sun again, but right now it's thundering. right before that it was pouring. I think the sun will come out again! I hope!! lol

~Chriss, what kind of lotions do you make? Ryan is doing really well so far, thank you!! And by the way, the Yankees lost really really bad!! I was very disappointed!!!! lol

~Michele, I'm sure you'll be ok while dh is gone. We'll be here for you if you need us!! Thank you for your well wishes about Ryan!

~Rhonda, thank you, Ryan is doing really well so far!! (knocking on wood, lol) I hope you enjoy the weekend!

~Heather, thank you for the prayers. He did pretty good at school on Friday. Hopefully, it continues!! Good job on the garden!!! I cant' wait to get ours started!!

~homesteadmama, I know what you mean about the garden!! We haven't been able to get ours going because of the weather. So, we finally have nice weather & I went and bought compost this morning. Just as I was getting home it start raining!! I'ts thundering now. Doesn't it just figure?? lol Yes, I certainly need to find some ME time! I know I do. I'm trying to "reconfigure" my daily/weekly routines so that I can do that!!

Ok, it feels good to catch up on everyone's "life"!! LOL
Today I would like to:
change the sheets
dust
vacuum
mop the floors
empty the small trashcans
windex the tv screens & mirrors
scoop the cat box
declutter the magazines & newspapers

Breakfast was, well, I'm not sure as dh cooked. I think he made eggs, english muffins & fried bologna

Lunch will be tuna sandwiches, & apples

Dinner is fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, lemon ice tea & chocolate chip cake

I hope everyone has a great day!!!

**DaisyLady** · 05-29-2005, 01:29 PM

Dawn, your dinner tonight sounds lovely! A real Sunday summer menu.

CJ and Heather, praying you are both feeling better soon.

It is sort of sunny but overcast here today and very, very humid. We have thunder storms in the forecast for this afternoon.

I went to church on my own this morning. We had a baptism. It was really a very loving service. My dear friend though, wasn't having as good a day. Her young son is causing her some grief and she is at the end of her rope. Fortunately, the love from the service spilled over and we were able to get her some help. When it works, it really works!

The rest of the day will be a quiet one. I plan to do some knitting, and some spinning. I have a roast of beef to put in the crockpot. We'll eat later tonight since DH is finished work at 6 pm. That way we can all eat together.

My dear uncle is going to stop by later. He lives a couple of hours away from us and doesn't often get up this way. He raises chickens, ducks, turkeys and rabbits. He has promised to bring me some duck eggs

Looking forward to seeing him and the eggs

Have a blessed and joyful day!

**forestdale** · 05-29-2005, 04:16 PM

Morning homesteaders.

I have a busy but great day ahead (it's now 6am, Monday). DH will be up soon and we'll have breakfast and watch the news. I have 2 loads of washing to do which I'll start after breakfast. I also need to tidy the bedroom and clean our bathroom. Hopefully I'll have all that finished by 8.30am when DH leaves for work. When he goes, and before I wake up DS, I'll vacuum the floors and wash them. DS leaves for work at 10am which is my appointment with Martha Stewart.

At 11.01 I have a date to talk on the Skype internet phone with my friend Susan, 2000kms away in Townsville. We'll probably talk to an hour or so.

After that I'll check the chickens, give them clean water and collect the eggs, have a sandwich and a cup of tea and then sew all afternoon. At some time during the afternoon I'll make dinner - homemade wholemeal bread and vegetable soup. We also have some banana cake with sour lemon icing for dessert.

Let the games begin!

**Mom23boys** · 05-29-2005, 05:13 PM

CJ, I hope you feel 100% soon!

Heather, I hope you and Dylan get well soon too!

Lisa, enjoying your "playing" time. I hope your DH's tomato plant provides fruit early for you to enjoy.

Dawn, I hope you get some "me" time today. You always seem so busy.

Chriss, I hope you enjoy your visit with your uncle. Enjoy those eggs.

Rhonda, I hope you have an enjoyable talk with your friend this afternoon.

Sorry, I haven't been around much this last week. We were trying to finish up school for the year, plus running the boys to baseball in the evening is wearing me down. I just wanted to rest.

Thursday was the last day of school for the boys. I have to go until Tuesday and I am done until mid-August. I have a long list of plans that I hope to get accomplished during my "off" time.

We aren't doing much today. DH bbq'ed a brisket and he also made the potato salad. I made homemade ice cream. Dakota and Chris loved that.

We are going to build a rabbit cage today that hasn't gotten built yet. We finally got everything me need to build it. YEAH!

Richard has been with my sister since Friday. I am going to let him stay there until next Sunday. He has been building a race car. My uncle and step dad are helping him and my niece build dirt track race cars. They will be racing them. I am excited for him and nervous, but it gives him something to look forward to. It also keeps him out of trouble.

I hope you all have a wonderful evening.

**Strawberry** · 05-29-2005, 05:35 PM

Good afternoon homesteaders!

It's another very hot day and I don't have much energy to do anything. This morning my family went to church and I decided to stay home. I'm not sick but I haven't been getting any relaxing time for me and I'm starting to have a hard time coping. I made myself not do any chores; I just spent an hour outside on my porch swing enjoying the quiet. It was wonderful and now I'm feeling so refreshed and able to deal with life again. It's amazing how just a little alone time can change how I feel.

I'm hoping to get some tomatoes planted today; maybe this evening when it cools off a little. Other than that I'm just going to enjoy the day.

Tomorrow dh has an appointment with the brain injury group for an assessment. It's looking like dh has brain injury to the front and back areas. This answers a lot of questions as to his behaviour, dizziness, loss of balance, memory loss, foggy brained and extreme mood swings. Then Wednesday he starts classes on how to cope and take back control of his life. He has relied on me for everything these last few months and it's taking its toll on me. More important though is how if he can get control of his own life I think it will help his self esteem and his depression. I'm in the process of teaching him to take his own medications again. He has to sign on pain meds before he takes them but sometimes then he still forgets to take the pill so I still need to watch him. I have colour coded his morning and evening meds so he can take them on his own too. He still wants me to get them for him and I have to say no and make him do it himself. Of course that sometimes brings on a mood

Anyways, that's wants new with him. Oh yeah, he cannot return to work for at least six months and it's still to early to know if he will ever be able to return. He is a computer progammar and need 100% concentration.

Well, I'm off the find some shade and read my book. Have a wonderful Sunday!

**Mom23boys** · 05-29-2005, 05:43 PM

Tina, I am glad you were able to spend time alone just for you this morning. Happy reading!

**Strawberry** · 05-29-2005, 06:32 PM

Thanks Michelle

**homesteadmamma** · 05-29-2005, 09:15 PM

Tina, I'm glad your finally starting to see whats been going on with your dh. Although not pleasant, at least you can get back some control in your life now that he can see the brain injury people and start classes to help him learn to cope.

Michelle, have a wonderful summer holiday. I'm so glad to hear Richard is doing something he loves. WTG Richard. I can't wait to hear how they progress with their car building skills. What a great teaching tool.

Chriss, how were those duck eggs.

Heather, get some rest girl. The garden will still be there okay. Look whose talking right.

Dawn, hope you got some me time. Nice to hear your guy is doing okay.

Rhonda, don't you just love that you can talk with friends who are miles away. Gotta love it.

Lisa, nice to see you posting here again. Does gripey do all the gardening?

**QuilterMom** · 05-30-2005, 09:11 AM

We got home late yesterday afternoon from the homeschool convention. This year wasn't as good as past years - we think partly it was changes the hotel has made and maybe them not being as cooperative this year and some of it may have been the state organization falling down on their job a bit. The vendor hall was great though and the seminars I attended were really good. As a whole though, people (homeschooling families attending the convention) were very rude this year, which shocked us greatly. I was run over, hit, and bumped into by rolling carts on wheels and people themselves, experienced people trying to cut in line, etc. and only 2 people in 3 days of all that bothered to even say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" - that really upset me!

We ate lunch out yesterday before coming home and it ended up not agreeing with me so I was useless last night. Today I need to unpack and dh wants to go to Lowe's to buy at least 1 ceiling fan. He's planning on working on the house all day and I'll just do whatever I can. We have a 30% chance of rain this afternoon and hopefully we'll get it.

**DaisyLady** · 05-30-2005, 10:11 AM

Good Morning homesteaders!

Dawn ~ I forgot to tell you what kind of lotions I make. This time I made a moisturizer for my friend who has oily skin to use on her face. It was made with jojoba oil, wheat germ oil, beeswax, water and tea tree oil and geranium essential oils. It smells heavenly and she just loves it. I also make a great lavender lotion which is good for my exczema and a cold cream style facial cleanser for another friend (and myself too of course). I also made a toner this time too from witch hazel, apple cider vinegar and some herbs. I used to sell my lotions and soaps but the regulations for labelling and ingredients as well as the reporting process got to be tedious so now I just do it for enjoyment.

Rhonda ~ you had a busy day planned! Did you get it all done?

Well, it is the start of another busy week! I was supposed to have a class tonight but since no one signed up I am free to stay home and spin

Which means I am off to the library this afternoon to check out some spinning books. I also have a lot of knitting to do as well.

I've got one load of laundry on the go and I'm about to go and put another one in. We are supposed to have rain today so one will go in the dryer and I'll hang another one or two inside.

Tonight I plan to teach Andrea and William how to make a fast spaghetti sauce. Andrea is babysitting for a friend on Wednesday and she is going to leave stuff for Andrea to make...spaghetti sauce...so I thought I'd give her a trial run.

Tomorrow I have one student for my crochet class so that may get cancelled, but I hope not. Also DH is going on a field trip with William tomorrow to our brand new War museum. Wednesday I have a dinner with the women's group at church, Thursday is my flute lesson, Friday I am making pies with a friend (she is going to teach me how to make a decent pie crust, I hope

) as well as I have to give a saxophone lesson. Somewhere in there I have another friend who wants to learn how to crochet this week.

I'm getting the feeling I won't get much time to garden this week

BTW, my uncle dropped off 6 dozen chicken and duck eggs. Good thing I have an extra fridge to help store them. How long can I keep them for? After talking to him, he is now thinking about getting some goats and sheep so that I can have the fleece to spin

I love my family!

Okay, off to do laundry and then get lunch for (L).

Hope everyone has a great day!

**dmvezina** · 05-30-2005, 11:34 AM

Good morning!! We woke up to the sun today, but the clouds have taken over. That's ok, it's warm out!! lol

Chriss, that sounds like alot of work. Is it less expensive to make them yourself? Just curious because it seems like alot of ingredients but less "chemicals" too. lol

Today I'm not doing much!! 2 loads of laundry and my normal daily routines. And I'm not going ANYWHERE!! lol

Breakfast was oatmeal, toast & fruit cocktail
Lunch will be cheese quesadillas, cucumbers and an apple
Dinner is hot dogs, kielbasa, pasta salad, chips & cookies

Well, some of the kids are begging for lunch already! They had a late breakfast but you would think I didn't feed them at all!! lol

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!!!

**Mom23boys** · 05-30-2005, 01:38 PM

Good afternoon to all.

Kim, sorry to hear that the homeschooling convention wasn't as good as you expected. Sounds like some people were just plain rude!

Chriss, you have a busy week planned already! Whew! I hope you find time to garden.

Tina, I know exactly how you feel about the kids yelling for food. Mine do the same thing. They could eat all day long non-stop.

I went in 1/2 day today to work. We have the room all packed and ready for the cleaners to come in and wax the floors and such. I am so ready to just stay home for a few days....weeks, a couple of months.

I want to start decluttering my closet today. I need to get rid of all the clothes I can't wear any more since losing weight. I don't want to keep them because I don't want to gain the weight back and maybe that will be an incentive to keep it off if I have nothing to fall back into if I do.

I hope you all have a great day.