Down on the homestead - April 9 - 15th

**homesteadmamma** · 04-09-2006, 02:40 PM

Good afternoon homesteaders. I've been so busy I've been missing this thread. Hopefully this week isn't as crazy has last week. I want my simple, relaxing life back.

I slept in this morning until 10:30. Unheard of for me. It felt good though to wake up refreshed and ready to tackle the day.

So far I've got the following done:

~2 loads of laundry washed and hung outside to dry
~another load washed and ready to hang outside
~a turkey baking in the oven
~some decluttering done

Yet to do:

~clean the post office
~more decluttering
~sorting the library books and having them ready to take back to the library

Hope everyone is having a great Sun.

**missymomof3** · 04-09-2006, 03:22 PM

I have cleared the area for my garden and today raked it out so it is more flat. Peter and I are putting up chicken wire to hopefully keep the bunnies and dogs out. Now we need to get some topsoil and then start planting some time this week!

**dmvezina** · 04-10-2006, 11:06 AM

Good morning! It is nice & sunny today. The temp should be around 60! Finally, it's starting to warm up again!! lol

Ryan had a really bad weekend at the hospital. They had to even put him in "stong clothes" which is the child equivilant to a straight jacket. So, he probably won't be coming home tomorrow like they had planned!

Breakfast today was oatmeal, assorted toasts, fruit & hot cocoa
Dinner will be crockpot corned beef, potatoes & carrots, homemade applesauce & homemade sweet hawaiian bread.

Today I want to get as much laundry done as I can. I have one load hanging outside now and all the sheets & my pajamas in the washer. Those I will put inthe dryer though. I also want to "deep" clean the laundryroom & family room downstairs. I also need to scoop the cat box that I never did last week!! lol
So, here's the list of what I'd like to accomplish:
Family room:
clean any glass
dust furniture
fold blankets
tidy up
I want to vacuum but one of the kids clogged it
wipe baseboards
wipe walls
Laundryroom:
put all laundry away
wipe down washer & dryer
sweep & mop floor
tidy up
scoop the cat box

Tomorrow I will be busy with errands. Two of my children have dentist appointments in the morning, then another one has a therapy appointment in the afternoon. In the middle I need to stop in to Walmart.

I hope your day brings you joy!!!

**homesteadmamma** · 04-10-2006, 12:07 PM

Good morning everyone.

Dawn, thinking of you and sending warm

Today is another busy day here. Dh and I have already gotten in our walk (at least 15 mins of it) by walking to the post office and then over to the co-op to buy dish soap.

At noon I have a bookclub for an hour. Then I'm home until 3. Dd and I then need to go over to the next town over and see about her art she put in the festival. Tonight I'm at a scrapbooking crop from 7 - 10.

Hope everyone has a great Monday.

**Strawberry** · 04-10-2006, 01:01 PM

Good morning

It's another beautiful sunny day and the snow is almost gone

It's so good to be home but I'm still playing catch up with all the chores and other stuff that I let slide. Dh has also gone backwards by about 6 months. It's frustrating to deal with but it must be harder on him because he can't do things that just before the trip he was doing.

Today I need to unpack the suitcase(I should have done that last week but I was to tired), bake bread, do laundry, menu plan, wash a couple windows, wipe out a few cupboards, clean the microwave, return a few emails and dust the family room.

I just found out last night that my brother and sil are coming to visit their ds and family this weekend. They are staying with us. Now I'm trying to think of what to make for Easter dinner for 12 people; 3 people are allergic to milk products.

Hope you all have a great day!

Dawn, it's so good to hear from you again. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with your ds

**my4littlebuffaloes** · 04-10-2006, 01:53 PM

Tina, you can substitute plain rice milk for all milk in baking, so maybe that would make things easier? My dd is allergic to milk.

I always watch this thread, but don't post, because I am not sure if I qualify. Good luck feeding your relatives!

Jennifer

**Strawberry** · 04-11-2006, 01:05 PM

Jennifer, thank you for the tip. It will come in real handy

You are welcome to post here. We all have different ideas of homesteading; I think most of us are trying to be as self-sufficient as we can given our different situations. I live in the city and dh & I dreamed of one day soon moving out to the country but life as given us a bump in that road. Because of dh's injury, we mostly likely have to put that dream on hold for awhile for maybe even permanently. BUT, even in the city I can do somethings that make me feel like a homesteaders.

This morning hasn't started out to well so my day is already messed up. I am hoping to get some laundry done, wipe the outside of the cupboards, start some seeds, and start cleaning up the family room so I can set up the bed for our company this weekend. I have to drive dd to college and work, and take dh to his therapy this afternoon. Otherwise I'm not sure what the day will hold.

Hope you all have a great day

**Heather** · 04-11-2006, 05:30 PM

Hi homesteaders....it's been awhile since I've been here and posting.

We are so thankful for spring like weather the past few days. I have had laundry on the line all day. I've got some housework done, cleaned front entrance and the kitchen. I put supper in the crockpot so it's nice to not have lots of preparation for that. Chicken and stuffing and I've got potatoes boiling on the stove.

I've been busy planning our vegetable gardens this year. I placed an order on Monday for what we need:

~50 more raspberry canes (everybearing)
~100 more strawberries (going to try everybearing this year)
~currant bushes
~more rhubarb
~glad bulbs
~corn
~25 blackberries

When we pick this order up in a few weeks we'll also purchase our tomato, green/red pepper plants, seed potatoes and onion sets. I have seeds from last year that should be fine for peas, beans, beets, pumpkins. I purchased at the country store more peas and pickling cucumber seeds.

Our raspberries that we planted a few years ago should be beautiful this year and we should get another year of the strawberries we planted. The asparagus should be great for picking this year as well. The past few years I have been well enough health wise to devote the time needed so I'm looking forward to getting out there and diggin' in the dirt!

We are looking for a supplier for blueberries in the area and would like to try those this year, getting the soil right is tricky, we'll just play with it and hope for the best! We plan on selling some of our produce this year which has been a goal of our for a few years. We'll see how it goes this year to see what works best. I know last year when we had so much leftover there was a need for beets, tomatoes, beans and peas....neighbours came and picked what they wanted and I was happy to let them have what we could not use.

My daughter is selling Girl Guide cookies around town tonight. She is excited about that and both the boys are working at the grain mill in town.

Have a wonderful evening!!

**Strawberry** · 04-11-2006, 05:57 PM

Heather, it's soooooo good to see you posting. I've missed you and often though about you

**homesteadmamma** · 04-11-2006, 06:09 PM

Heather, what a wonderful surprise.

We've had quite the experience of making maple syrup. Dh and the kids put spiggets in our maple trees and colled 19 gallons of sap. The sap had to be boiled down and when it was all finished we ended up with a quart of maple syrup. What a great experience for everyone.

Today we had music lessons. The kids will be finished the end of May. I can't say I'm sorry about that at all. Although both kids have done well, it's time for a break. Dd is in the festival on April 24th and they have their final recital on May 24th.

When we got home from lessons, I decided to bake bread. A little late, however there wasn't any bread in the house. I think that means I needed to bake some, no matter what time it was.

Our weather has been beautiful. We have been enjoying it by going for walks and the kids have been outside playing.

Tonight it's over to the post office to clean, then home to read.

Hope everyone is having a great Tues.

**QuilterMom** · 04-11-2006, 06:15 PM

I haven't posted here in a while. I've been really busy with getting next year's homeschool curriculum taken care of (some subjects I write myself and I have been researching supplemental books, printing worksheets, etc.). All that has come to a screeching halt though. We have had no rain and major pollen problems as a result. I had an allergy related eye infection about a month ago, thought it had cleared up, and now it is back again pretty agressively. I'm limited to wearing my glasses so I'm not functioning too well. As someone who is used to wearing nothing but contacts, this is a huge adjustment for me and I'm not doing so well. LOL Hopefully the medicinal eyedrops my optometrist has me using will have all this cleared up soon and I'll be at full speed again.

**homesteadmamma** · 04-11-2006, 06:28 PM

Kim you have been missed. Continuing to pray your eye improves. Glad to see you back.

**Heather** · 04-11-2006, 07:48 PM

Thanks Tina and CJ, nice to hear what's going on everyone's homesteads.

Kim, praying your eye continues to get better.

**dmvezina** · 04-12-2006, 09:24 AM

Good morning! It's supposed to be a beautiful day here in NH! The sun is shining & it' going to be around 70!! I already have one load of laundry hanging outside, one in the washer & I may do one more. The next few days aren't going to be as nice! Cooler, cloudy & rain showers!!

Today I am spending the day in the kitchen!! lol
I'm going to bake some bread, I have french bread dough in the breadmaker now for french bread pizza for dinner. I am going to make up a bunch of snacks, granola bars for DH, make some mixes, and I took my tub of leftovers out of the freezer to make a soup for tonight. I have some leftover pastas in the fridge that need to be used up, so I'll throw them in my leftover soup! I may find some other things to make too. Who knows!! lol

Breakfast today was poptarts, choice of fruits
Dinner will be soup, french bread pizza, salad or fruit salad.

dd-17 is home sick today, or at least she says she is. lol, I never know with her. She stayed home one day last week too claiming to be sick but spent most of the afternoon & evening on the telephone. So, I'm thinking maybe today no phone till after dinner!! dh & I were talking last night about her. lol She will be 18 this summer but still has one year of school left. Her IEP director configured her schedule so she can graduate in January. I think that will help because I know her! I know when she is 18, she's not going to want to go to school anymore, but knowing she only has to go for half the year, she may go. BUT, if she chooses not to, we will not support her! She will have to get a job & pay us rent/or move out if she so chooses. She has been a "difficult" child for many years now! It's really wearing on me. I would love her to stay home & graduate high school and will try to do everything i can to make that happen. But, honestly, I'm afraid of how things will go when she does turn 18. She thinks NOW that she should be able to do whatever she wants. So, what's going to happen when this birthday rolls around?? Oh boy!!! lol

Yesterday was very hectic for me. I had to have 2 of the children out to the dentist by 10:45. They don't take them at the same time so we were there for almost 2 hours. I had a couple of quick errands to do on the way back. I got home with just enough time to eat some lunch & do a couple of things around the house, then I had to head back out for dd-17's therapy appointment. Luckily I didn't have too many chores on my list. But still didn't get them all done! lol Oh well, there are plenty of days left!

Well, I suppose I read a few more posts & then get into the kitchen!! lol

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!!

**Heather** · 04-12-2006, 11:58 AM

Good morning! Dawn, you are having a busy day. I can totally relate with your teenager....some days sure are trying. All we can do is keep going and love them.

It's raining here today. I put a load of jeans on the line last night hoping for them to dry by noon today....guess they will be getting an extra rinse.

I was up early this morning, couldn't get back to sleep at 5 am so though I might as well get up and get something done. I have so much cleaning done and 2 loads of laundry done and put away. I've got a big pot of potato/vegetable soup simmering on the stove for lunch. On another burner is some more of our sap boiling down. We are enjoying our syrup.

I'd like to work on my dining room this afternoon, dusting, sweeping and some decluttering.

Have a great day!