Down on the homestead - Feb. 12th - 18th

**Mom23boys** · 02-12-2006, 07:47 PM

I tried to stay busy today decluttering and doing some minor home repairs. We have been putting some things off that need to be taken care of with our home, so that is going to be the focus of our attention from now on until they are completed. They are really minor things, but lots of them. We made a list of all the things we need to get done and will make it a priority to purchase the needed supplies each pay period (every 2 weeks). We will do what we can with limited funds, but we are making sure it finally gets done. No more neglecting the little things!

It is back to school/work for the boys and I tomorrow. We enjoyed our 5 day weekend. I wish it was longer, but spring break will be here before you know it, March 13th. I am sure we can make it until then.

I hope everyone is well.

**dwallyfam** · 02-12-2006, 08:30 PM

Today finds most of under the weather. One of the neighborhood kids has been sick and DD just had to go over and play with his sister. She brought home a cold and shared it with everyone. Mostly today I have been doing laundry and odds and ends.

Michelle I need to be like you and get some minor home repairs done. It also looks like out hot water tank is trying to go out along with the dryer. Hoping to make both last a little while longer.

tonight I am crafting and then getting in some reading.

Kellie

**flossymae** · 02-12-2006, 10:38 PM

Today was a quiet day, ds was out with his uncle, dh help me with OAMC, he's such a peach, got 6 loaves baked, Stew cooked, sauce for pasta, and sweets for my boys....sending care packages tomorrow to the girls...

**webjoba** · 02-13-2006, 11:21 AM

Is it OK to join in with this? I have a house on 7 acres in Maine although my work commute daily to Boston has stopped me from doing much on it for the last 3 years. I am unemployed now and will be looking for a job MUCH closer to home so I hope to be able to do more gardening, veggie growing and self sustaining work.

We had a snow storm yesterday but it only left around 7 inches. First thing this morning I was out with the snow shovel then back in for a nice cup of tea. (I am British after all

)

I think I might attempt my taxes today. I used to have my husband's (now ex husband) accountant do it but I really think I should be able to do my own.

After that - I will make some bread to go with the homemade mushroom and potato soup I will make for supper.

Will head out for a walk in the snow around lunch time - gotta keep my exercise up too.

Hope everyone has a great Monday.

**QuilterMom** · 02-13-2006, 11:38 AM

Welcome Joanne!

Dh had me on a mission to find new cookware yesterday. I also had to stop by the health food store while I was out to pick up organic 93% lean ground beef that's on sale and organic quick oats that are on sale. They were out of both when I was there Friday night and got a delivery yesterday morning. I managed to get almost 8 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies made yesterday and I wanted to make blueberry muffins, but I just ran out of time as I had 4 loads of laundry to do and we had 2 dvd's from the library to watch (Sahara and Christmas with the Kranks).

Today I have some homeschooling paperwork I need to tend to and I need to get the blueberry muffins made (6 dozen). Hopefully ds2 won't be too needy today, but it's okay if he is as he's a really good little snuggler.

Have a great day!

**djs** · 02-13-2006, 03:38 PM

Hi everyone

Went to my Grandbabies 1yr Bday party yesterday, which took all day. Didn't have to cook since my DD made dinner

Had 3 loads of dirt dumped in my front yard by the county on Fri. and wanted to get that spread but with the rain on Sat. party on Sun. it looks like I won't be able to get that done till this weekend since by the time I get home it's to dark.

I ordered a latch hook rug to make and am waiting for that to get here, can hardly wait to start it.

Have a great week!

**SAHMWannaBe** · 02-13-2006, 03:58 PM

I'm new here, could someone tell me what the acronyms mean? DD, DH.....

Can I join too? Today I'm am going to try and finish up most of the packing in preparation of moving to the other house. I have moved over 30 times (I'm 28) and am so sick of this.... My husband assures me that life with him will be different. My fingers are crossed.

Mel

**mrschris** · 02-14-2006, 10:01 PM

My husband and 13 yo dd cleaned out the barns over the weekend while I sat inside organizing our tax info for the accountant. I do home childcare to supplement dh's engineering income, so there is a lot of bookkeeping and I'm always trying to pull it all together last minute each year. I am determined to keep the records up to date this year!

The chickens just started laying again (finally!) and we are up to 18 eggs a day some days. For a long time we could just check feed and water and toss the goats some fresh hay and that was the whole evening. Now we've got to make sure we go all the way in and gather the eggs, watch the timer on the light, etc. We got kind of lazy during their extended molt. Sure is nice to have eggs again, though!

This week--probably Thurs night, maybe not till Friday, I've got to get the goats' feet trimmed. They've had a buck in with them for over three months now. I was waiting until he went home (we borrowed him to breed the does) to trim feet because he's SO smelly. But his family hasn't come to pick him up, so it's just gotta get done. The does look nicely plump now. Yay! Goat milk again really soon!

And our two youngest girls attended their first 4H meeting today. So we're gearing up for that too. Dh and I grew up in the city, so 4H is new for us. We've been raising animals and gardening on a big scale (about an acre of our 20; the rest is pasture and hay) for almost 20 years now, but 4H is new!

mrschris

**SewCrafty** · 02-15-2006, 07:35 AM

Originally posted by Hixoncm
I'm new here, could someone tell me what the acronyms mean? DD, DH.....

Mel

You can find the meanings to the acronyms used in the village here: http://www.frugalvillage.com/modules..._content&eid=2

**SAHMWannaBe** · 02-15-2006, 09:17 AM

Yesturday we stayed the first weeknight at the new house. It was spent burning trash and cleaning up. The house was originally DH's but he moved out to live with me when we got married (one year on sunday!!!)
When I got there he suprised me by having the den cleaned out (you couldn't walk in it before due to the old get rid of clothes of the girls). I finished cleaning out the laundry room and swept and mopped. I'm getting really excited about completely moving out there....I hate living between two houses. I've already planted my flower gardens and veggie gardens millions of times in my mind. There's still a lot of work to do on the house, but I love working with my hands so am enjoying it.

mel

**homesteadmamma** · 02-15-2006, 10:12 AM

Good morning everyone. It's been a busy couple of days.

Monday I baked up a storm. I baked both oatmeal and butterscotch chip cookies, along with 4 loaves of bread.

Yesterday I did laundry, baked 6 loaves of bread and 2 large batches of buns. I also took the kids to music lessons in the afternoon.

Today I plan on:

~folding the clothes that are dry and doing 2 more loads of laundry
~quilting - I'm almost finished a quilt top I'm doing. I only have one strip of border to sew on it, then I need to get the quilting part done. I'm going to hand quilt it.
~make a list of what needs to be done in our home. Like Michelle, we've put off a few things, however we are going to get it done over the next few months.
~make a list of changes I want to make in regards to my baking items, plastic ware, etc. We are getting rid of all our plastics over the next few months, so I'll have quite a list to make.
~clean the post office
~go to a library board meeting in the city tonight

Hope everyone has a great day.

**webjoba** · 02-15-2006, 10:16 AM

Hi everyone!

Today is a beautiful 46 degree sunny day so I plan to go out for a long long walk.

Have been eating the soup and bread I made for meals so saving on groceries this week so far.

I decided to my own taxes and got them both mailed out - I am getting a little refund which will go straight into ING for now.

The snow fall has nearly gone but the ground is still frozen so I won't be able to get digging the veggie patch for a while yet.

Just read a great book on organic and local gardening by Joan Gussow.

Today I have to do some banking and then tonight it's Tai Chi at the local Adult Ed center.

Waiting to hear on a time for a job interview too.

Hope everyone is having a great week.

**QuilterMom** · 02-15-2006, 10:49 AM

We all have stuffy noses and are sneezing. We had our normal warm weather and then a cold front came through the last two days. We'll be back in the 70's today and in the 80's by the end of the week. Perfect weather for making everyone sick. We had a record low of 29 degrees yesterday morning so I'm sure our lemon tree and orange tree were damaged.

I've checked the health food store's new ad online and made my list. We need to do homeschool when I can pry ds1 away from the book he's reading (although that IS school) and I have various other little tasks to take care of today.

CJ - Have fun making that kitchen list! I made mine last month.

**SAHMWannaBe** · 02-15-2006, 11:34 AM

I wish I had time to do more cooking and sewing. Maybe once we get into the other house. I think we'll finish packing up all our clothes and stuff today and spend one last night in the old house. I'm anxious to start pruning back the shrubs and trees and planting my cold weather veggies.
mel

**FrugalMomof3** · 02-15-2006, 12:13 PM

Yesterday..Tuesday..I cleaned out the small backroom, used the built in shelving to stock items, today (Wed.) I will be putting up a curtain that i will make from left over material to cover it so it looks nice and neat. I also swept and mopped the floor (bad thing is that room has the backdoor attached so in and out, in and out.. it really attracts alot of dirt and stuff.

Today... Wednesday.. I cleaned the entire bathroom (now my hands smell like bleach..yuck!), later I will be cleaning the bedroom and, going through what I can sell at my yardsale or trash it.

I also want to actually Friday go dumpter diving or curb picking... haven't done that in years, I wonder what I can find.

~Tracy