Minimalist In Training

Do you ever feel suffocated by things? If you do, I completely understand! We made the mistake when we moved to just pack everything up and we can sort it later. Words of advice... go through it before you pack it up! I constantly have to remind myself that it didn't get this way overnight.

We have family members that are constantly giving us stuff.

We have 4 kids, so toys and clothing are multiplied out of proportion.

We've lived together for 13 years, and have lived on this planet even longer than that, so we have combinations of childhood keepsakes and hobbies that clutter areas.

We stink at organization.

But we are trying. We've lived in the new house for almost a year and a half now, and we are finally going through the garage. One entire bay was stacked full of boxes. We've put loads of boxes to the curb (hoping people will take some to save us from running them to the thrift store). We still have more to go... and the inside of the house is just as cluttered.

It's slow progress, but yesterday as a family we dedicated an hour to cleaning up the library. We moved games and books, sorted through paper, and moved items that don't belong in there. There's not much of a difference yet, but with continuing a half an hour each day to maintaining the house with all of us involved, eventually we will have the house uncluttered!

Rain

We've had a lot of heavy rain and storms lately. Normally that's a Spring thing, but it just happens to coincide with the girls' day camp this year.

So far the girls are loving camp. It's superhero themed, and they've done lots of STEM activities. The older two are doing archery as well.

As for around the homestead,  a good downpour with some hail lets you know the problem areas to work on lol.

The rabbit area still gets a lot of sitting water. Thankfully that's not their permanent home.

The area where I'd like a small pond with a river floods nicely, creating it all on it's own. A bit more digging and contouring will make that a reality.

The shop needs a retaining wall around the man door and some gutters. A nice river flows under the door.

The yard is now full of tiny sticks and debris. The yard will never be clean!

On the bright side, the garden is getting water! I'm a terrible gardener, so every little bit helps.

Yardwork

Yardwork is a vague word when you live on a 5 acre homestead. It could mean, mowing, or gardening, or cleaning up branches from the storms that blew in... Or it could be taking down trees!

We have a few trees on the property we call Newman (say it in your best Seinfeld voice). They have long thorns EVERYWHERE and man they hurt. They've drawn blood, gotten stuck in the soles of our shoes, and threaten bodily harm every time they get mowed around.

I can now say one corner of the property is Newman free! If we had waited any longer, they probably would have taken out power lines.

Yay for small victories!

How To Leave The Homestead

I bet you're thinking WHAT? Leaving the homestead? Why? No, we are not actually leaving our attempt at homesteading, but everyone needs a vacation every now and then right?

Rosa (made by Lilly), hanging out with the Fieros at the car show in Carlisle, PA.

I'm talking about all of the work that goes into running a homestead. We just got back from spending the weekend in Pennsylvania for a car show. We left Friday afternoon, and returned Sunday afternoon. That means evening chores for Friday, morning and evening chores for Saturday, and morning chores for Sunday needed to be done by someone else. The lucky winner, my brother! My brother has no interest in homesteading, animal husbandry, gardening, or anything else related to that lifestyle really. That means we needed to prioritize and streamline the process as much as we could, as fast as we could.

--I ditched the garden. I barely pull weeds and water it, so there was no need for him to do it. It seems to have survived the neglect so far...

--All of my porch plants and indoor plants went to the front lawn. We had a lot of rain on Friday when we left, so having them someplace where nature can water them meant he didn't need to care for them.

--The turtles had an extra mound of food in their tank, and plenty of water. (They do well for a couple of days if need be anyway)

--We bought a 2.5 lb waterer and 10 lb feeder for Loki and Freya (indoor cats). With a freshly cleaned litterbox, they would have been able to survive more than likely 2 weeks without us before needing a refill.

--Our newest acquisition, the outdoor cat Sunny, was given a large mixing bowl of food and water on the front porch. She wasn't seen Friday or Saturday, but Sunday morning she popped in when he came over. I guess we have ourselves a permanent outdoor cat now!

Sunny!

 

--We installed a PVC waterer and feeder for the rabbits. The small garage protects the feeder from the rain, so the rabbits had no problems eating while we were gone.

--We made the same PVC waterer and feeder for the chickens. The heavy rain on Friday moistened some of the chicken feed in the pipe, so the chickens had some problems getting it out, but with 5 acres to forage, they didn't starve. My brother had to come up every morning and evening to open and close the coop door though.

The PVC feeder and waterer installed on the side of the chicken coop.

--The dog stayed at my parents. He did well, but he has a lot of anxiety, so he barely ate while we were gone.

--Last but not least are the ducks. Since the house and fence we have them in now are temporary, we had nothing set up for them. They completely relied on my brother to open and close the coop, and feed and water them each day.

The point of all of this, is that everyone survived! We had no problems besides the chicken feeder getting clogged, and once we make a small roof for it, that should keep the rain from getting into the pipe.

Next on our list besides a more permanent structure for the ducks are automated coop doors. That will reduce the need to have someone come over daily early and late. A midday visit to make sure everything looks ok will be all that is needed.

Bathroom Makeover Progress

At the very beginning of the year, I made a Facebook post and asked how everyone (especially sister siblings) shared a bathroom. I don't have a sister, and although I grew up in a house with one bathroom, my brother is 6 years younger than me, so bathroom time was never an issue. I had no idea what protocol was for sisters. Do you share hairbrushes, toothpaste tubes, and makeup? We can potentially put a second bathroom in upstairs, but it would only be a toilet and sink, and budget wise that won't happen for awhile, so we are stuck with 6 people (5 girls) and 1 bathroom.

Thankfully, our bathroom is on the larger side, and there is plenty of room for improvement. Here is what I shared with everyone, it was our current situation...

Horrible right? All of my porch plants ended up in there for the winter, that litter box is there, unpacked bathroom boxes, and one crappy little vanity cabinet that we don't even use the drawers because it is basically falling apart.

Shortly after that post, my great aunt contacted me. She was getting ready to redo her bathroom, and had a double vanity she was pulling out and had no use for, so she offered it. She sent me this picture and a measurement...85 inches long.

Sold! We had just enough space before we ran into the toilet on our bathroom wall, and just look at all the storage space! 6 drawers for 6 people. I quickly started a spreadsheet to figure out costs, knowing we would have to do little bits at a time.

Last week she messaged me to say it was out, so on Friday we drove over and picked it up. Over the weekend Luke sanded the cabinets and drawers, primed them, and painted them. I dug through my stash of cabinet hardware from my days of working at Lowe's and found 6 handles for the drawers. While everyone was enjoying the Superbowl, we pulled out our crappy vanity and installed the new one!

So pretty right? Sure we still need to do the doors, and figure out how to organize in the cabinets, and of course new lighting, more plumbing, another faucet, mirrors, the list goes on, but the important part is that we can at least start unpacking the bathroom boxes a little more. The girls are super excited to have their own drawer. And check out my Aloe plant, apparently I can keep those alive!

My next small projects for the bathroom are the doors, a few small shelves, and potentially the mirrors.

The next large project (more budget than anything) is another faucet. We don't want the faucet to get discontinued before we have a chance to get another one, and it's $89. We replaced the faucet when we moved in, so it's fairly new and still a current model for now.

I'm not sure what to do with the litter box. Right now the big black shelf is sitting in the living room. The plants will go back to the porch once the weather warms up, but the cats are a mystery right now. I'll get it figured out.

*Notes*
Wall Color: SW6487 Cloudburst
Vanity Color: SW0055 Light French Gray
Faucet: Moen Caldwell Mediterranean Bronze

Hints Of Depression

Tomorrow marks two weeks since we had to put Athena down. Of course we had known the date we scheduled two weeks prior to that. Looking back, really it was Thanksgiving when we finally caved to the idea that she wasn't going to be around much longer. We knew she had lost a little weight, and her eyes looked a little glossy (the start of cataracts), but at Thanksgiving, my parents came over, and my mom immediately said something about the way Athena looked. My mom hasn't been to the house much because she had been feeling unwell off and on (that's a whole other story). Anyway, that's when we knew, when someone else notices the changes, it becomes real.

My goal was for her to make it to her birthday on December 17th, then to Christmas. Once we realized she wasn't going to be around much longer, she seemed to decline at a rapid pace.

It's been one heck of an emotional rollercoaster since then. I try to keep myself busy by writing, or going over the budget, or starting on a project. I will sit at my computer for hours fiddling with my Excel sheet on our finances, tweaking things, just so I'm not sitting here lost in thought. Still, I have moments that I stray, and the tears come.

It's been 10 weeks that I have cried EVERY SINGLE DAY! 70 days. Every day from Thanksgiving on. Every day of 2017.

I've stopped eating so much. We are a family of grazers. We snack all day long. I just don't feel like eating now. I've actually lost 6 pounds! For someone whose weight hasn't fluctuated in 5 years except for that one time I tried to count calories and get healthy, that's saying something.

I've practically lived in a flannel and pajama pants for the past month. We didn't have karate or music lessons in January, so we could spend more time with Athena. I left the house four or five times in January, and one of them was the vet appointment.

I watch the chickens a lot. I sit at the window in the library and stare out across our side yard and watch. There are dishes and laundry and schooling, but I don't care.

I've become anal about meal planning. Our budget isn't the greatest right now, so I've actually compared prices on Amazon and the local grocery stores, created spreadsheets, and figured out how much each of our meals cost. Not the healthiest meals, and lots of repeats, but it's getting us through the lean time.

I don't care to be social at all. This is actually somewhat normal for me. I'm an introvert, and really awkward in public settings, but I normally keep quiet, listen in, and can input a pleasantry when needed. Right now I make sure I keep my mouth shut. I am so tired and angry and depressed, my nice filter is gone, and I really don't want to unload crap on some unsuspecting acquaintance or stranger even.

My anxiety medication is being used on a regular basis. I haven't had day in January that my chest hasn't felt like the beginning of a heart attack. Sitting in quiet places, by the fire, or in the dark of my bedroom, help very little right now.

All of the projects that need to happen around the homestead have an Excel sheet tab. I am working on making materials lists and breaking down costs. It's one of those things that keep me busy from thinking to much and spiraling down further.

Why am I writing all of this out? Well, writing does help, but if reading this helps one person understand the inner workings of what depression can look like a little better, then I call this writing successful. I honestly don't know what Luke thinks. I get so lost in my own world, I don't know how he is handling the same issues. I know he wants to help me, but he doesn't know how. He gives me my space though, and helps distract me, which is nice. I don't think the girls have noticed a change. I try to keep it hidden from them.

It's February now, and we are back to lessons and real life and gearing up for girl scout cookies. Maybe all of these distractions will help. Maybe the fog will start to lift.

Random Thoughts

 I told myself to start blogging again, and it seems I have a million different things to write about in my head, but when I sit down...nothing. Not one topic jumps to the front and demands my attention. Instead of walking away, I've decided I'll just do a random stuff post. Maybe a weekly or monthly catch up, things we have going on, things we have done...whatever.

--We went to Space Day at The Wilderness Center today. I posted pictures on the Facebook page. The girls had a blast, especially Lilly, since she wants to be a scientist and astronaut. We identified constellations in the observatory, made rockets, moon-walked, took a tour of our solar system, and made star gazing charts. It really is an awesome place to go. I grew up visiting the place, and it's nice that they offer a wide variety of programs, even homeschool ones!

--Winter stinks! I am over it. This is our first full winter in the house (we officially moved in March 2016). We are on a hill, with lots of farm fields around. It's always windy, the windows leak, we don't have enough seasoned firewood to utilize the fireplace as much as we would like, propane gets expensive, and the mud in my hallway at the backdoor is caked to the floor. I can't wait until it warms up, but the mud in the hallway never goes away...

--Our reading goals. So far we haven't done so well. The older two girls have read some of their books, but we have yet to do family reading. Hoping we can get into the swing of things soon.

--Speaking of books, we are suckers for books. The Wilderness Center had a table of books they were selling for a $1 each. Lots of nature and science stuff, thankfully we only spend $9!

--Lowe's Build & Grow. Something we've gone to for the past several years when they have a kid's clinic. Unfortunately their website says that they have enjoyed providing it over the past 10 years, but they have currently stopped them. Home Depot still has theirs, but we've never attended one there, so it's something I will look into. Unfortunately the only one they list is for next Saturday, which is Muggle's Day for Girl Scouts.

--On the subject of Girl Scouts, we just handed in our initial orders for selling cookies. All 4 girls are in scouts this year, so we had a goal of 200 boxes per girl. Initially we sold just a touch over 300, but I ordered the full amount of our goal and we will sell them at cookie booths. It's tricky this way, because we are financially responsible for those cookies since we ordered them and not the troop. I am hoping we sell them all and sell most of them the first weekend of cookie booths at the end of February. We have 515 boxes of cookies to get rid of. We did close to that last year (we only had 3 girls to hit goals, so we did less booths). Honestly though, I'm sick of cookies already, and we don't even have them in hand. The girls want those prizes though, so we'll be standing out in this Ohio weather selling cookies!

--Now that my entire post sounds like a rant I needed to unload, I leave you with Freya. I think she wants one of my hens!!