Down on the Homestead - June 19 - 25th

**homesteadmamma** · 06-19-2005, 08:51 PM

Its been nice to be away. Our oldest daughter's wedding was this weekend and it was awesome. She was just so pretty and so very happy. Our grandkids came to stay with us over night which ended up being a very late night.

It has turned really hot here and very humid. There has been some severe weather although in a different part of the province. The mosquitoes are horrid so you can hardly go outside which means the weeds are growing like crazy.

Not much happening today other than some quite relaxing time in our living room where the a/c is. We finally had to put it in.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

**QuilterMom** · 06-20-2005, 08:22 AM

I've been working on piecing pillowcases to go with ds's Hawaiian quilt I'll be making for his room. I still need a lot more fabric though so it won't be a project I complete any time soon. Since I did all I could with that I started back up on piecing a window quilt for one of his bedroom windows. It's been nice to sit and do all that since it's too hot for me to do much else.

I did get into the garden last night for a few minutes and it's a nightmare. We've had so much rain (poured again last night) that the weeds have taken over.

Oh well, there's always this fall/winter. I lost most of what I planted unfortunately.

Ds and I also took some bread and sat on what's left of our dock - LOL - and fed the fish. Some of you might remember that we had some snapping turtles in the pond that we thought had all been washed away during the hurricane flooding last year. Well, I forgot to mention it, but the little one that ds named George (the only one that would ever come and eat bread) is still in the pond. He showed up last night and was fun to watch.

Dh was busy all yesterday priming and painting ds's room and still has a ways to go. I'm very pleased with the color we picked, but the smell - yuck! We'll definitely have to pick low odor paints for the rest of the house, unfortunately the color choices aren't many.

Today is gloomy out so maybe we'll get a break from the heat for a little while this morning. I'll probably be parked on the sofa all day working on the window quilt.

**dmvezina** · 06-20-2005, 08:57 AM

Good morning. It is a beautiful morning and it is supposed to be a gorgeous day today!!

CJ~I'm so glad you had an awesome time at your daughter's wedding!! I bet she was beautiful!

Kim~I'm glad you finally got into your garden! We've had the same problem here! I've been wanting to plant more radishes & lettuce since Friday but it rained almost all week! So, today is the day, if I can find the time! lol

Ryan is doing well so far, knocking on wood!! lol
Things have been pretty hectic here. My 14 yr old dd had her birthday party on Saturday, today is her bday. Tonight is her graduation.

Breakfast today was oatmeal, pouncake w/strawberries & whip cream

Dinner will be kielbasa, hot dogs, fried potatoes, green beans, cornbread and raspberry iced tea

I have so much to do:
2 loads of regular laundry **1 in dryer & 1 in washer
1 load of whites
wash my quilt & curtain
empty the small trashcans **done
make a cake for dd's graduation
windex mirrors, tvs & computer screens
weed the flower & fruit gardens
do deskwork for 15 mins
declutter my dresser
clean out my closet
polish my bedroom furniture
put money on dd's cellphone
vacuum whole house
wipe the front & back doors
plant more radishes & lettuce
vacuum my closet
clean off my bedroom floor
declutter magazines & newspapers
clip coupons
bleach toilets
fling the closet & dressers
declutter my nightstand
sweep & mop the kitchen, laundryroom & bathroom floors
dust the whole house
bring my van to the garage for 11
make dr's appt for me

I'm not sure I'll get it all done but I'll give it a good try!! lol

So, I better get my fanny moving! lol
I hope you all have a great day!

**Heather** · 06-20-2005, 01:13 PM

Hi ladies!

CJ~Best wishes to your daughter and her husband! So happy for them both!

Kim~Sorry to hear about your garden, sure wish I could pack up some produce and send it on down. Glad to hear George made it and you are all enjoying his antics!

Dawn~you sure do have a busy day planned. Congratulations and Happy Birthday to your DD.

DH just left for work a bit ago for the week. I've got laundry in the washer and hanging on the line. I'll be picking up around the house...every Monday is the same!

This weekend we got lots done. There was an awesome sale on cedar trees so we purchased 25 of them to go along one of our fencelines. It'll sure help block the wind and snow in a few years. I was picking strawberries every day, put lots in the freezer, gave some away and we've all been eating our fill! Yum! I did lots of weeding, with the rain there sure are lots of them. We could barely see our corn (1 acre) for weeds. DH took the cultivator out and went between the rows, looking much better. We didn't want to spray it so this worked well.

The boys cleaned up the workshop and barn, cut and trimmed all the grass and helped repair some fencing. Today Dylan and I are rototilling the gardens and making an opening in a fence so we can get through easier to the back garden with the rototiller and tractor.

It's heating up here again this week.....suppose to be humid so I'll be getting outside work done first thing in the mornings or later at night.

Have a great day on your homesteads!

**Mom23boys** · 06-20-2005, 04:59 PM

CJ, I am glad you had a great time at your DD wedding and that the grandkids stayed the night with you!

Kim, sorry to hear about your garden.

Dawn, glad Ryan is doing good. Happy birthday to your DD.

Heather, enjoy all those strawberries! Try to stay cool in the heat.

It is hot here! It has been for at least a week! I am ready for some cooler temps.

Yesterday, we went to a water park for father's day. DH got in free and the boys had so much fun.

Today, I took Richard to renew his license because they expire tomorrow on his birthday. He rode with us since we were heading to town anyway...saving gas. We went to the library and Dakota received 3 more coupons for free items.

Chris has baseball practice tonight at 8. Their state tournament is this weekend. I am ready for the break. Dakota is still playing though, but I will only have to travel one way instead of 2.

Our garden is still doing good. We have a baby watermelon growing!! I was so excited when I saw it.

I am still waiting to pick something. Nothing is ready to pick, but I am waiting patiently.

Hope you all have a great day!

**dmvezina** · 06-21-2005, 08:19 AM

Good morning all! It's going to be a hot one today but that is ok. I love it!!! lol

Thanks for the birthday wishes for dd. I think between her birthday and graduation she had a really nice time!

I have another busy day planned as I need to get my house back in order so I can have fun with the kids over the summer!! lol

So, I need to do:
2 loads of laundry **1st in the washer
clip coupons
mop floors
bleach toilets
windex
declutter magazines/newspapers
mail coupons
do deskwork for 15 mins
scoop the cat box
match the odd socks
sweep front & back porches
wash entry rugs
sweep cobwebs down from porches
clean porch railings
clean porch light fixtures
put away stray items on porches
dust the diningroom
wash diningroom windows
clean both entryway doorknobs/lightswitches
thoroughly vacuum diningroom
clean chandelier
clean the coat racks out
clean the top shelf of the coat racks
change potpourri & candles where needed
type up dh's practice schedule
weed the flower/fruit gardens some more

Breakfast today was chocolate chip pancakes, hot chocolate & mandarin oranges

Lunch is sandwiches, mandarin oranges & graham crackers

Dinner will be spiral ham, herb & butter rice & broccoli

I hope you all have a great day!!

**Mom23boys** · 06-21-2005, 10:41 AM

Good morning everyone!

Dawn, I hope you take time to rest. Whew! You seem so busy!

Today is Richard's birthday! He is 17!! I can't believe I have a 17 year old. I wish they were little again. Besides getting a present, we always let the boys pick where they want to eat on their birthday. It is a tradition. I don't know where he has decided to go yet.

Another hot one here today. I don't want to go out, but of course there are things to be done outdoors.

Dakota was suppose to have a baseball game tonight, but they rescheduled it for Sat., but we won't be here. He will go to vacation bible school instead.

**homesteadmamma** · 06-21-2005, 11:24 AM

Good morning everyone. Its beautiful here right now, sunny with nice breezes. I have all the windows opened, rather than the a/c on.

Rhonda, thinking of you as your ds leaves for Canada. I'm thinking were pretty close to that day.

Not sure what I have planned for today. With the wind blowing as it is, I think I'll get outside and do some weeding in the garden. I'm like Heather, with all the rain the weeds are going nuts.

This afternoon we might make a trip to the library.

Tonight, its over to the po to clean and then home to relax and read.

Have a great day everyone.

**Heather** · 06-21-2005, 11:38 AM

(((HUGS))) Rhonda, wish I lived closer to where your son was going to be, we'd have him over

Happy Birthday Richard!!!!

Have a great day!

Today I've picked strawberries from the garden and put lots in the freezer and made up a huge bowl for the fridge.

I've cut out 6 pieces of fabric to make pillow cases for the kids. They need new ones and I didn't want to buy them so I went to my fabric cupboard and this way they get really neat prints and originals~smile~

I've got sausage in the crockpot and we'll have baked potatoes and carrots with that. I want to get some baking done, cookies and squares, this afternoon.

**Michele Annette** · 06-21-2005, 12:47 PM

Hi Everyone!

It sounds like everyone is super busy with Summer activities!

Over the weekend we had DH's Mom and her DBF for a visit. It was okay, but not great since DH's Mom's DBF was sick and coughing. We were worried for him and I hope he is much better now. It rained the first half of the weekend, but it was beautiful on Sunday. We spent a lot of time on Saturday searching for cheap/free containers for our portable garden. We also bought four ever-bearing strawberry plants. They are nice and big with strawberries already. So we ended up finding five, five gallon buckets (three were free the other two were a $1 each). We also got two galvanized tubs (very nice and big) for $1 each. Plenty of space for all the vegetables to grow! I try not to think about the garden I really want at the moment. A small one at our apartment is better than none. I hope things will start changing (in a good way) soon for us.

CJ- I'm so glad you had a wonderful time at your DD's wedding. Did you manage to finish the quilt in time?

Kim- I'm glad George came up for a visit! I'm glad he was safe from that storm!

Dawn- Is Ryan still home? Is he doing better this week? Happy Belated Birthday to your DD!

Michelle- Happy Birthday to Richard today! I hope you all have a fun time!

Heather- I wish we had many more strawberries! Enjoy them!!

Rhonda- I hope you are doing well. Thinking of you!

I hope you all are having a good day!

**QuilterMom** · 06-21-2005, 12:51 PM

Over 5 hours of rain yesterday and some sprinkling so far today. Ugh! There is standing water everywhere.

I made it out to the garden for a few minutes this morning and picked some green beans that managed to survive and some Italian parsley. I got the parsley cleaned and it's drying now. I'm still waiting to hear from dh as to what he wants me to do with the green beans. That's okay though since I'm worn out and need a rest for a bit. I hate having such a low energy level now.

I'll be doing more quilt top piecing this afternoon and evening.

**Mom23boys** · 06-21-2005, 02:27 PM

CJ, enjoy the wonderful breeze while you can.

Heather, what a frugal way to get new pillow cases! I bet your children love them.

Michele, I hope your MIL's DBF is ok. Glad you were able to find some containers free or next to it for your garden!

Kim, has the rain stopped? I sure hope so before you all wash away.

Thank you for the birthday wishes for DS#1!

**forestdale** · 06-21-2005, 03:06 PM

Hello to all my lovely homesteaders.

All is going well here. Kerry leaves on Friday morning. He's going via Sydney, San Francisco, Calgary to Edmonton where he will stay the night in a hotel before getting picked up by the resort bus on Saturday afternoon. He's almost packed and he'll finish packing up his room tomorrow. He's letting his brother have his car while he's away which I think is very generous. The car is only 12months old so Shane is really pleased to have it.

Shane is coming over tonight for a family dinner. I'm making roast pork and vegetables and I've bought a mud cake for the boys for dessert, it's their favourite. It will be the last time we'll all be together for a long time. I feel sad and excited at the same time. It's a funny feeling. Shane will take Kerry's car when he goes home. My sons are very close friends so it's sad for them too, they've only been apart when Kerry was in Europe a couple of years ago.

Kerry is SO excited about going to Canada. He's got an around the world ticket so he can travel around a far bit while he's away. He knows he's fortunate to work at the Fairmont and he's looking forward to learning as much as he can from the chefs there.

I've also been busy with the stitchery, web site and a book of patterns I'm making. It involves a lot of drawing, both for the website and the book, so I don't have a lot of time to post here. I've been checking in briefly every day and rading what you're all doing.

CJ, I loved the wedding photo of your daughter. She looked so beautiful and happy, you must be a very proud mum.

Heather, I'd love Kerry to meet you too.

I do hope he's got the opportunity to meet many Canadian families in the time he's there. He's looking forward to snowboarding (he's a surfer), hiking and seeing the national parks and the wildlife. I hope he also gets into the small towns and has a good look around.

Michelle, I hope Richard has a wonderful time on his birthday.

Wow, 17! doesn't time fly by?

Dawn, I'm hoping Ryan is well and settling in to home life again. I think of you all quite often.

Michele, I love the look of galvanised metal. You garden will look great. Good luck with your strawberries.

Kim, You've had so much rain! I hope it's stopped for the time being. Are you feeling a little better now?

I hope everyone is well and happy.

**Mom23boys** · 06-21-2005, 07:51 PM

Rhonda! I hope you enjoy your family dinner tonight. That was very nice of Kerry to loan his brother his car while he is away. Makes me think of "Brotherly Love".
Here are the lyrics, http://www.coquet-shack.com/lyrics/C..._Love_1337.php

This is just the chorus:

There's a bond that brothers know,
And it gets stronger as they grow.
A love that time and miles can't come between.
We disagree but in the end,
There will never be two closer friends.
And brotherly love is something we all need.

I love the whole song and think of my boys when I hear it!

I hope Kerry has a safe trip!

**forestdale** · 06-21-2005, 08:22 PM

Michelle, that's such a great song. I didn't know of it before. Thanks for sharing it with me. That's exactly what my two are like. They were both born in July, one year apart, so they are like twins. They made up their own twin language when they were little.

You'll be like me in a few years, I'm sure. It doesn't take long. I can clearly remember, when they were around 9 and 10, them fighting and yelling at each other and then laughing like maniacs. I used to think: OMG, how long does this go on for! Well, now I have the answer to that - not long enough.