Down on the Homestead 1/1/06-1/7/06

**AmyBoz** · 01-01-2006, 02:13 PM

Wow...January is upon us. Where did December go?

This morning Rob and Julia went to church while Patrick and I hung out. Then, they picked us up and we went to my father-in-laws for bagels with all of the in-laws. We hung out with the adults and the kid cousins all played together.

My sister-in-law and I exchanged boxes of clothes. We gave her clothes that Julia and Patrick have outgrown for her son and daughter and she gave us back baby clothes that we had given her over the summer that her son has now outgrown.

I clipped all my coupons, played the Disney princess game with Julia, got my shopping list ready for ShopRite, and am chilling at the village for a bit.

I'll be washing all of the baby clothes and hopefully putting them away if I can get Rob to go to my parents to pick up the dresser.

Breakfast was bagels and crumb cake at my father-in-laws and lunch and dinner will be from the pantry/freezer.

Other than that, I think we'll just relax a bit. Only one more day before we go back to work. I want to take advantage of the off-time while I can!

Hope everyone is enjoying their New Year!

**forestdale** · 01-01-2006, 02:29 PM

Happy new year Amy and all our other homesteading ladies.

It's great you can swap baby and kids clothes with your SIL, Amy.

I have a few outside chores to do this morning before it gets too hot. I'll clean out the chicken coop, collect eggs, wash and refill the water containers for all critters and water the greenhouse.

Inside I'll be ironing. I'm going to turn on the airconditioner and watch TV while I get caught up on all my ironing. This afternoon I'm making a fruit cake for my sister's 60th birthday. I have all the ingredients in my stockpile and pantry.

Yesterday I collected a basket full of tomatoes from the garden. I'm going to semi dry some and make tomato sauce. I might start doing that this afternoon, after I make the cake.

I don't know about everyone else but I'm glad the holidays are over. It looks like a good year ahead and I'm going to make the most of t.

to everyone who follows.

**PrairieRose** · 01-01-2006, 02:45 PM

Happy New Year again Rhonda and now to Amy and to all who follow.

Gripey and I had a lazy morning, sleeping in and having a late breakfast. I've been surfing the village and taking life easy. I'm really, really tired after the holidays. The house is empty and very messy but will wait until tomorrow

We're gonna eat leftovers from the fridge and hopefully get that cleaned out today. I'm planning a busy day tomorrow, cleaning up around here, doing laundry and perhaps getting the boxes for the Christmas stuff out of the attic. I'm just about ready to put it away now.......(only 364 more shopping days!

).

Like Rhonda said, the new year is looking really promising. I'm looking forward to it and have been thinking of my to-do's for it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful New years day.

**Mom23boys** · 01-01-2006, 03:03 PM

Amy, I hope you enjoy your last day of relaxing before you go back to work tomorrow. We also go back tomorrow.

Rhonda, I am glad the holidays are now behind us too. I am looking forward to a wonderful new year.

Lisa, enjoy your "lazy" day.

We return back to work/school tomorrow. Our Christmas vacation will be officially over. I guess I am ready. I can't believe that we are on the downhill of another school year. In 5 more months I will have a graduate!

I haven't done much today. I did manage to finish up my calendar for the new year putting in all important dates. I also tossed some paper clutter that has been piling up.

I just want to try to relax as much as possible even though I know I need to be studying. I take my test on Tuesday for college. Why did I wait so long to decide to this is what I want to do. I have been out of school forever, or so it seems. The math portion is going to kill me, but as I review I am beginning to recall most of it. Just hope it is enough to pass.

Happy New Year to all!!!

**QuilterMom** · 01-01-2006, 05:22 PM

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm working on a couple of loads of laundry right now and dh and I got a dinner menu plan made out through Wed. so far. I'm just proud of anything we get accomplished right now. LOL We're still trying to establish a routine and find a balance right now, but with dh going back to work on Tues. the fun will really begin!

**baxjul** · 01-01-2006, 10:43 PM

We don't go back to work until Tues. DD goes back to school Jan. 10th. Tomorrow I will take the tree down, etc... DD is having a sleepover tonight, so I'm making sure that the fall asleep before I go to bed.

Kim, congratulations! I wasn't here for the baby news.

See you all later.

**seatosea** · 01-02-2006, 04:24 AM

Happy New Year everyone!
Back to work for me today and for some reason I woke up at four o'clock!

I had the weekend off so I managed to get some rest, take down all the Christmas decorations and do a little OAMC.
Trying to simplify for 2006 so I will be joining in on some of the challenges posted on the boards.
Have a great day!

**AmyBoz** · 01-02-2006, 08:22 AM

Well, yesterday turned out to be more productive than I had imagined! Aside from dh getting the dresser from my parents, he also got my full-length mirror from my parents basement which has been there for two years. (Julia is enjoying the heck out of the mirror with her dress-up clothes) Also, when we moved in August 2004, the movers broke our bed frame when taking it apart. Granted, we had bought the whole bedroom set used and it was 20-years old when we bought it, and we had it for 3 years, but still. So, when we came to this house, in August 2004, we just put our mattress and box spring on a carpet on the floor in our bedroom and that's how we've been sleeping. Yesterday, in order to make room in the basement for Julia's old bed (she now has the guest room full-sized bed that we took out when we made the guest room Patrick's new room with his crib) he somehow figured out a way to interestingly fix our bed, so we, once again, have a real bed. (Footboard still won't work, but the headboard does and we are now off the ground!)

Today will be spent transferring Patrick's clothes downstairs to his new room and putting away the baby laundry upstairs that I started doing yesterday. Also, Rob has agreed to take the tree down today since we have the time, so, all of the ornaments and the rest of the decorations will come down today and the tree will go into the woods. Phewf!

Breakfast/lunch/dinner will all be from the pantry/freezer. We have so many leftovers it's ridiculous, but hard to heat up without a microwave. I know we can use the oven and stove, which is what we've been doing, but it's a pain because it takes longer and doesn't really heat thoroughly without the outside burning. Oh well...we'll survive and make do!

**Jeanna** · 01-02-2006, 09:05 AM

Down on the homestead today will be minimal. Have to do 3 loads of clothes though. Yesterday I did nothing except 2 loads of clothes and straightening the kitchen. I am having some major pain at the moment which really slows me down.

**dwallyfam** · 01-02-2006, 09:11 AM

Yesterday was a relaxing day. Woke up late and didn't do anything for awhile. As the day progressed took the tree down and went walking. It was so gorgeous outside. Then scraped and sewed for the rest of the night.

Kellie

**baxjul** · 01-02-2006, 09:24 AM

Good morning!

Today will be going to get some groceries, then take the tree down.

The dog Baxter, got sprayed by a skunk last night, so he'll get another bath today. YAY

Tomorrow is back to work, so I have to get everyone's things laid out tonight.

Have a good day.

**slowtypinwoman** · 01-02-2006, 09:35 AM

GM all
For those of you who are having your last day of vacation today, ENJOY!
We go back tomorrow.

Michael is ready, but not I.
Today I'd like to go into town and return my
Christmas gift from Dh. He got me a lovely work bench but it was too big and wouldn't hold my drill press. So I want to take it back for a smaller one with bolt holes.
I hope to also get the laundry done. It is suposed to rain so I won't be able to hang it out.
There are a pile of dishes too. Ick
Ideally I'd like for all of it to get finished today so all we have to do tomorrow is enjoy our last day off.
Have a peaceful day everyone!
Marcia

**homesteadmamma** · 01-02-2006, 10:23 AM

Good morning and Happy New Year to all the homesteaders and village members.

Kim, it's good to see you posting again. Hoping you get into a routine quickly.

I managed to get quite a bit of quilting done over the weekend. I'm working on dgd's Christmas quilt. I'm quilting it right now and have done most of it by hand.

Today I need to get some grain ground up and then bake bread. I think I'll make up a large batch of cookies as well.

Tonight I need to clean the po and then I'll read late into the night.

Hope everyone has a great day.

**AmyBoz** · 01-02-2006, 01:38 PM

So much for taking it easy! After taking down the tree, dh and I rearranged the living room! Rob wasn't a fan of the old setup and I figured that we did it my way for a year, I was happy to let him switch it the way he wanted it for awhile. It's not terrible...I'm sure it will grow on me!

I got some great dusting done while we were in there also.

**owiebrain** · 01-02-2006, 06:42 PM

I've been spending most of my "free" time researching the water filtration system and what we're going to do with the concrete floors in the new house.

Other than that, we spent all day yesterday cutting down trees in what is our future orchard and "yard" for the new house. I have 6 fruit trees arriving probably tomorrow so we really needed to get it done. They were supposed to be sent a couple of months ago but the weather didn't cooperate. We also changed plans for where to plant them. We were going to plant the across the road but decided to go ahead and put them in up nearer the house so I can keep a better eye on them while they're growing and it'll make harvest time that much easier--no hauling up the hill. Still lots to clean out up there but at least we can get the fruit trees planted now.

Hubby's out looking at a new truck now. Not new new but new to us. His current truck is just not cutting the mustard for hauling heavy loads on these hills. He's hoping the fella will take his truck in trade, then we'd only owe $2,000. Taking on another debt is the last thing I want to do right now but we really need a better truck that can handle all of the work around here.

It has been absolutely beautiful here weather-wise! It was 80 yesterday and wonderful! Today, it was only up around 70 but still very nice. It's so incredibly dry, though, and the winds just keep blowing and blowing. Red flag warnings have been up for a while so we can't burn our garbage--it's really starting to stack up. Maybe hubby can haul it to the dump if he gets that new truck. *crossing fingers*

I hope the new year is a wonderful one for all of my fellow homesteaders!