tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82797761989669906952024-03-05T11:35:57.504-08:00Pale Blue Homestead Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-18477996342836182202017-08-01T07:08:00.001-07:002017-08-01T07:08:51.160-07:00Minimalist In Training<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">We have family members that are constantly giving us stuff.</p>
<p dir="ltr">We have 4 kids, so toys and clothing are multiplied out of proportion.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">We stink at organization.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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!</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOa4hRkv_C55dp5BLiu-yFnJknGcghiso2oQuqo3HI2-PegDXxaTB8zfRvBL58trDmxE_fsuwRBWCC3cQxAcSchUmHYBW6XNMXI_xslvne8GZhaH50XT8sJ3RvzaFt-Wf3H8mkNrqJuxGr/s1600/20170730_144702.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOa4hRkv_C55dp5BLiu-yFnJknGcghiso2oQuqo3HI2-PegDXxaTB8zfRvBL58trDmxE_fsuwRBWCC3cQxAcSchUmHYBW6XNMXI_xslvne8GZhaH50XT8sJ3RvzaFt-Wf3H8mkNrqJuxGr/s640/20170730_144702.jpg"> </a> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-36843459487495356562017-07-12T06:26:00.001-07:002017-07-12T06:26:31.301-07:00Rain<p dir="ltr">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. </p>
<p dir="ltr">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. </p>
<p dir="ltr">As for around the homestead, a good downpour with some hail lets you know the problem areas to work on lol.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The rabbit area still gets a lot of sitting water. Thankfully that's not their permanent home. </p>
<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The shop needs a retaining wall around the man door and some gutters. A nice river flows under the door.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The yard is now full of tiny sticks and debris. The yard will never be clean!</p>
<p dir="ltr">On the bright side, the garden is getting water! I'm a terrible gardener, so every little bit helps.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSWvMe88q922Cv8xSgwTB9xvPODoqCm8xschaHJ-il3nAEVtDpY_THkZ9yh5V-ALgASU9dG7AEq3hZ9s3vDCs7JNdXV99ahudXWsDt2NFdye0CSx_FDyPbktIYDWoeRSksFWQybBepvFq/s1600/20170712_090848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSWvMe88q922Cv8xSgwTB9xvPODoqCm8xschaHJ-il3nAEVtDpY_THkZ9yh5V-ALgASU9dG7AEq3hZ9s3vDCs7JNdXV99ahudXWsDt2NFdye0CSx_FDyPbktIYDWoeRSksFWQybBepvFq/s640/20170712_090848.jpg"> </a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMhwPCiz1dKG9eR92t_P1Mb9RR7gtPFf6yspcRQ49gYhDh71PKN7OhQGyeF7nr9-Qyr11_zv54DuNjnJfepaVYv4VLC3DQKeLLiKZfFkRyir_3hA6M9HJswjAY6oYlfrXUEiR4LQMcMF2t/s1600/20170712_090858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMhwPCiz1dKG9eR92t_P1Mb9RR7gtPFf6yspcRQ49gYhDh71PKN7OhQGyeF7nr9-Qyr11_zv54DuNjnJfepaVYv4VLC3DQKeLLiKZfFkRyir_3hA6M9HJswjAY6oYlfrXUEiR4LQMcMF2t/s640/20170712_090858.jpg"> </a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTE_FTWcXS1UPIjU1aiKHWxWoyxnoYcySi_d2S_jtDkIL-dE_wk4Aq9zWtigkOTdDgHlP6ZM3pNTikVmU3f3_btcvm6zv5uE8vNbPYF7PeimAGiI-1yC7vwIMWik32YMyebL8e_a4oogX/s1600/20170712_084009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTE_FTWcXS1UPIjU1aiKHWxWoyxnoYcySi_d2S_jtDkIL-dE_wk4Aq9zWtigkOTdDgHlP6ZM3pNTikVmU3f3_btcvm6zv5uE8vNbPYF7PeimAGiI-1yC7vwIMWik32YMyebL8e_a4oogX/s640/20170712_084009.jpg"> </a> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-77913405340295880482017-07-07T06:01:00.001-07:002017-07-07T06:01:04.204-07:00Yardwork<p dir="ltr">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!</p>
<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">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.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Yay for small victories!</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJF4R70vMDITwJOFh2xVwQ1wL3cTmraxrx6G81tDkwjJNQzNTVlwo7cZXS8NfVQY7PJKKydSoCYnW3bD0RWTbs62gJVpHpBuUTSx1Zit55lvEH62pcu4xsqJP7Kbq5TpCiKsc3xjOF7ta/s1600/20170706_184435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJF4R70vMDITwJOFh2xVwQ1wL3cTmraxrx6G81tDkwjJNQzNTVlwo7cZXS8NfVQY7PJKKydSoCYnW3bD0RWTbs62gJVpHpBuUTSx1Zit55lvEH62pcu4xsqJP7Kbq5TpCiKsc3xjOF7ta/s640/20170706_184435.jpg"> </a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagHS7a12f5ddMBkxg_j-zi0yn4P9pFr416fBnIWJzana-hTd3jum-je4KdBCzV3gUAeJ4gtVZ6AqCR588xmj5jbTGOvZz2IaLQYpnpvTFp2JYEQOuSvuOPH-8ZtsoE38szIi2qEeg4iwk/s1600/20170706_201003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagHS7a12f5ddMBkxg_j-zi0yn4P9pFr416fBnIWJzana-hTd3jum-je4KdBCzV3gUAeJ4gtVZ6AqCR588xmj5jbTGOvZz2IaLQYpnpvTFp2JYEQOuSvuOPH-8ZtsoE38szIi2qEeg4iwk/s640/20170706_201003.jpg"> </a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfC7hAEfyFiUaMGtf8XccmH572KOJ7d8Uqgrnp0oP52pHy26hpe_ymmbatlJu-Elv4wnGzAznXw_dTAQuyszEmaPbYzoolY91ubxJR8E9IPQ9Vfvr5OMNUo9_Ex88Gx3bpNlohBJemJUn/s1600/20170706_185115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfC7hAEfyFiUaMGtf8XccmH572KOJ7d8Uqgrnp0oP52pHy26hpe_ymmbatlJu-Elv4wnGzAznXw_dTAQuyszEmaPbYzoolY91ubxJR8E9IPQ9Vfvr5OMNUo9_Ex88Gx3bpNlohBJemJUn/s640/20170706_185115.jpg"> </a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTFWPf0stjj_XryBOhP5Wg3iqb5S1v2MycIYtnHNDpfU-_nwacOyRFJM1CYZeRh_yxeWiDkFKldreJDtk3isLQx51DYJdU_ddiBCTzfANW8H4Cs0FkXl9Z8RNBGfbF0QP3V6KqwjRXFzYK/s1600/20170706_204542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTFWPf0stjj_XryBOhP5Wg3iqb5S1v2MycIYtnHNDpfU-_nwacOyRFJM1CYZeRh_yxeWiDkFKldreJDtk3isLQx51DYJdU_ddiBCTzfANW8H4Cs0FkXl9Z8RNBGfbF0QP3V6KqwjRXFzYK/s640/20170706_204542.jpg"> </a> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-4905205153793011242017-06-26T08:12:00.000-07:002017-06-26T10:16:31.223-07:00How To Leave The HomesteadI 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?<br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH91yDaTOG6yIX5EBaKeqVwNVh5X3bAkGOGvxPkcH8D_dzsh55IbAuJX8oVWQqdoF6BzQ1dmIAhKy0FTbP614ZzB6aNZpA6Fbu4qcxqfv-8ipXeX7M14zaN6d8g1QRCU0P-SuJ-G-5lop-/s1600/20170624_132925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH91yDaTOG6yIX5EBaKeqVwNVh5X3bAkGOGvxPkcH8D_dzsh55IbAuJX8oVWQqdoF6BzQ1dmIAhKy0FTbP614ZzB6aNZpA6Fbu4qcxqfv-8ipXeX7M14zaN6d8g1QRCU0P-SuJ-G-5lop-/s640/20170624_132925.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosa (made by Lilly), hanging out with the Fieros at the car show in Carlisle, PA.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br>
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.<br>
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--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...<br>
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--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.<br>
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--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)<br>
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--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.<br>
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--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!<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0-ej09DTImWtq22e8PxzrwYROryKHa2HLhQl3Z4QPmzPO9yihzdaBpfyXMfKp7G1YuJWPsZtjbFI1egO49C0hozzoZqgzxV59C6VPTNaQikPnIRZGlO36QGpF8rc2R2owsQc96un93uc/s1600/20170623_105054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0-ej09DTImWtq22e8PxzrwYROryKHa2HLhQl3Z4QPmzPO9yihzdaBpfyXMfKp7G1YuJWPsZtjbFI1egO49C0hozzoZqgzxV59C6VPTNaQikPnIRZGlO36QGpF8rc2R2owsQc96un93uc/s640/20170623_105054.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunny!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
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<br>
--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.<br>
<br>
--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.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAKoDv2Ovlfgi8P3jMuy1KEgHuypAAnTtXbVzI2i_Ic4fPK0gAeMaOaylYtk7Zza4z8Fso5e7oDiX-NadjXLj6gJev8FfZjr_WJ6Kw0iUEqeJ_wRW9eLxHxKvnpzWEZUjufC3RgYB4X7pN/s1600/20170622_175551.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAKoDv2Ovlfgi8P3jMuy1KEgHuypAAnTtXbVzI2i_Ic4fPK0gAeMaOaylYtk7Zza4z8Fso5e7oDiX-NadjXLj6gJev8FfZjr_WJ6Kw0iUEqeJ_wRW9eLxHxKvnpzWEZUjufC3RgYB4X7pN/s640/20170622_175551.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The PVC feeder and waterer installed on the side of the chicken coop.</td></tr>
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<br>--The dog stayed at my parents. He did well, but he has a lot of anxiety, so he barely ate while we were gone.<br><div><br></div><div>
--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.<br>
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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.<br>
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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.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-41691110072843945452017-02-07T08:36:00.000-08:002017-02-07T08:39:33.862-08:00Bathroom Makeover Progress<span style="font-size: large;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">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...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMiCfIZ4zUdI9AuROiMIqh70lAi8hn4ih4ZJO5xS16inqPTP1pEmTyOI9iot90tssJ80cvlpCwmRtivtGvZ4qJGkL0W1JkXZ31QXX0YfERUB9nj6CRnEkot1NLuevF2ri_kXCwX-Qyek-F/s1600/15727385_10210027718323524_6317639468867665024_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMiCfIZ4zUdI9AuROiMIqh70lAi8hn4ih4ZJO5xS16inqPTP1pEmTyOI9iot90tssJ80cvlpCwmRtivtGvZ4qJGkL0W1JkXZ31QXX0YfERUB9nj6CRnEkot1NLuevF2ri_kXCwX-Qyek-F/s640/15727385_10210027718323524_6317639468867665024_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">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.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DtQSV_CWkYUxNA5DOPa5aLvJAlUswKL4z5OCL-S1DvlxVz6_3XO5g-DIImLzkrLA1pjbLmWWZkekAUEdgpa4Ke9l0ms81qPV5B6I0BVUYoRltaR27ncO7aGsR9w1WcBG6y136UBEbnzX/s1600/15857291_1197065720348088_1227601624_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DtQSV_CWkYUxNA5DOPa5aLvJAlUswKL4z5OCL-S1DvlxVz6_3XO5g-DIImLzkrLA1pjbLmWWZkekAUEdgpa4Ke9l0ms81qPV5B6I0BVUYoRltaR27ncO7aGsR9w1WcBG6y136UBEbnzX/s640/15857291_1197065720348088_1227601624_o.jpg" width="390" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">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!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfahg1y1YaB2RAEWg8Q_lyWOIpU_1Eqrt0cNPhPRiwKxqJ42Wt5cHl-NI2Du0WvO0VHUDN8voeZqTjBuSsyDVY7vHDChG0y37CWVhHg8WONjfBDLARXGZP8f8YwFcbHTab7L5XQXY3gwAp/s1600/16422837_10210370124523465_636159969830150593_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfahg1y1YaB2RAEWg8Q_lyWOIpU_1Eqrt0cNPhPRiwKxqJ42Wt5cHl-NI2Du0WvO0VHUDN8voeZqTjBuSsyDVY7vHDChG0y37CWVhHg8WONjfBDLARXGZP8f8YwFcbHTab7L5XQXY3gwAp/s640/16422837_10210370124523465_636159969830150593_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">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!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My next small projects for the bathroom are the doors, a few small shelves, and potentially the mirrors.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">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.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">*Notes*</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Wall Color: SW6487 Cloudburst</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Vanity Color: SW0055 Light French Gray</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Faucet: Moen Caldwell Mediterranean Bronze </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-3711313192878528232017-02-02T07:25:00.002-08:002017-02-02T07:25:11.149-08:00Hints Of DepressionTomorrow 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
It's been 10 weeks that I have cried EVERY SINGLE DAY! 70 days. Every day from Thanksgiving on. Every day of 2017.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-17866175380513082872017-01-28T16:40:00.001-08:002017-01-28T16:40:24.628-08:00Random Thoughts<span style="font-size: large;"> 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.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">--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!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">--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...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">--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.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">--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!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">--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.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">--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!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">--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!!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-90483062989447326542017-01-27T11:00:00.000-08:002017-01-27T11:00:54.722-08:00Ways To Make Extra Money<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">January...the month everyone vows to make a change in their life. The month people anxiously await their W2's. The month you sit down and review last year's budget, and come up with a plan to make this year's budget better.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our budget goal is always the same, payoff credit card debt. It seems every year we make a little headway, then life catches up, medical debt comes into play, an unexpected car repair, a really awesome homeschool class comes along, and before we know it this year's numbers look the same as last year's numbers.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now that we are in our permanent house, we can focus on not only paying off debt, but in the case of credit cards, closing them off as we do it. We really don't need to rely on a credit score for at least a few years (hopefully the car lasts that long), so this is our time to get serious. House repairs can wait, because we aren't trying to sell the house, and we can make do with what we have for the moment.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That being said, while we wait for our W2's and other tax documents, we are finding other ways to expedite our debt payoff. Here are some of the options we have utilized. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Counting Change</span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What does everyone do
with their change? We have a large glass bottle sitting in our living room. The
girls are always finding random change laying around. When we packed up
everything in our old house, change ended up wherever, so it is slowly being
collected as we unpack.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Luke had his own
separate stash in his laptop bag. Taking flights to Atlanta for work, he uses a
lot of change for snacks and drinks at the airports. We decided to cash his
stash in, and it ended up being over $50!!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Ibotta</span></b></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Do you use it?
Basically you answer a poll or watch a short video, and unlock a few cents on
certain items you may buy at the grocery store. Go buy those items, scan a
receipt in, and you get the credit. It's nice because there are times when they
just have generic items, like milk, eggs, onions. No specific brands needed,
and they are basic items you almost always buy. Over the past year of doing it
(there was probably 6 months that I paid no attention to it), I ended up
cashing out $37.80. Considering our membership to The Wilderness Center is $40
a year, and they have homeschooling classes each month, I basically got that
membership for free this year.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Photography</span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Luke's photography
business is at a stand still. His day job has been so busy, he has no time to
schedule shoots and edit photos. Instead, he pairs up with two local
photographers to be the second photographer at weddings. He gives up a Saturday
or Sunday, but for $200-$250 a wedding, and he doesn't have to edit photographs,
it certainly helps out. So far we have 12 weddings on the calendar he is second
shooting, and one wedding that he has booked. My goal for this income is to pay
off 2 credit cards. I know for sure we can pay off one entirely, and probably
half of the other, but I'm sure more weddings will pop up as the year
progresses.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Selling Junk</span></b></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">After moving, I have
realized that we have entirely way too much. We still have many boxes out in
the garage that need to be unpacked and sorted, and I have no idea where we would
even fit anymore into this house. We are designating boxes to place items we no
longer have a use for, and we will first try to sell them on Facebook in the
local buy and sell groups. It may only be a few dollars a month, but it will
certainly add up.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Homesteading</span></b></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It's not something that
will take off right away, but we have the opportunity to make a few extra
dollars with our current set up. Currently the hens are on strike since it's
been so cold, and it gets dark so early, but when the weather changes, a dozen
eggs can go for $2. If I have a broody hen that sits on some eggs and hatches
them, we have the opportunity to sell the chicks for a few bucks a piece. Duck
eggs can go for $3/dozen. We have a male and female rabbit living together, and
if we end up with kits, we could sell them. We also plan to have a garden, so
we may end up with extra produce. I could freeze or can the extras, but I guess
that depends on if I unbury my pressure canner and jars out of the garage this
year.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Fixing Cars</span></b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">One of Luke's hobbies
is working on his Fieros. One of the main reasons we wanted this property was
because of The Shop, a 32x40 pole barn. He has a lot of tools, and knows a
decent amount about cars, so friends are always asking for car advice. We have
done oil changes, brake jobs, and even changed a motor for friends. I've told
Luke that we need to put up a donation jar in the shop since people like to
come over and borrow the area to work on their cars. It would help fund the
insulating the shop project to keep it warmer next winter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Any suggestions? What do you do to bring in extra money? Crafts? Babysitting? Yard work? What works for you? </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-89416668556645148812017-01-26T10:38:00.000-08:002017-01-26T10:38:02.983-08:00Picking Books...<span style="font-size: large;">This may surprise you, but Luke and I both dislike reading.
My mom was always on the couch with a book, I was always in my room with music,
movies, and video games. My parents never required me to read, and since I was
a straight A student, I guess they assumed I read on occasion, but even most of
the assigned books at school I merely glanced through, very few did I actually
read. Even now, sometimes it's very hard for me to just sit down and read. I
can glance through articles all day, or even read some fan fiction short stories
online, but to pick out a book, and dedicate time out of my day for it, and
actually enjoy it, is rare. I want that to change. Thankfully Lexi has no
problem sitting down and reading. Lilly does OK with it, as long as it is
something that is really interesting to her. Avery can read simple books, and
enjoys being read to. Henna doesn't care. She has a short attention span, so it
is hit or miss or her to sit down and look at a book and listen.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">So the family goal is for myself, Lexi, Lilly, (and
hopefully Luke) to pick a book, and to read at least 30 minutes each day. Avery
will pick an early reader book that she can read to me and Henna sometime
throughout the day. I will also pick out an easy reader/kid book that I will read to
Henna. I am hoping that this one on one with her will have her become more
familiar with the alphabet and the proper sounds they make. Her speech still
needs a lot of improvement. Finally, we will pick a book to read aloud as a
family. I did this with the book <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20target=%22_blank%22%20href=%22https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375869026/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0375869026&linkCode=as2&tag=pbhomestead-20&linkId=8af0963ae39a09aacc34edde55c7ebc9%22%3EWonder%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=pbhomestead-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0375869026%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank"><u>Wonder</u></a>, reading a few chapters every
night to the girls before bed, and it was a great experience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I've spent the week trying to distract myself from losing
Athena by re-organizing the library. We added more shelves, so I've separated books
by reading level, and we now have a place for board games, Legos, coloring
items, and other miscellaneous stuff. We haven't really left the house much this month because of Athena, but we
start back with our activities in February. We haven't made it to the
library to look at books, so for this first pick we will look through our own
library for something to read.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Here are our picks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Family Story: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20target=%22_blank%22%20href=%22https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/059035342X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=059035342X&linkCode=as2&tag=pbhomestead-20&linkId=c5178cecd4ed896ebd2f4282abd7e109%22%3EHarry%20Potter%20and%20the%20Sorcerer%27s%20Stone%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=pbhomestead-20&l=am2&o=1&a=059035342X%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank"><u>Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone</u></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Lucas: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20target=%22_blank%22%20href=%22https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553418025/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0553418025&linkCode=as2&tag=pbhomestead-20&linkId=e0979faf16b2bc1bf44eff30c3a8250c%22%3EThe%20Martian%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=pbhomestead-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0553418025%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank"><u>The Martian</u></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Holly: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20target=%22_blank%22%20href=%22https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312368011/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0312368011&linkCode=as2&tag=pbhomestead-20&linkId=14921b02596cc06dd67df3bcfcb0ea73%22%3EStorm%20Cycle%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=pbhomestead-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0312368011%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank"><u>Storm Cycle</u></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Alexis: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20target=%22_blank%22%20href=%22https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439129109/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0439129109&linkCode=as2&tag=pbhomestead-20&linkId=e9b3b978649c7449b7684285030aa480%22%3EWeetamoo:%20Heart%20of%20the%20Pocassets,%20Massachusetts%20-%20Rhode%20Island,%201653%20(The%20Royal%20Diaries)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=pbhomestead-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0439129109%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank"><u>Weetamoo</u></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Lillian: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20target=%22_blank%22%20href=%22https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439083621/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0439083621&linkCode=as2&tag=pbhomestead-20&linkId=a0bdc553051ae9939468580708c43aab%22%3ERem%20World%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=pbhomestead-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0439083621%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank"><u>Rem World</u></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Avery: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20target=%22_blank%22%20href=%22https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439332451/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0439332451&linkCode=as2&tag=pbhomestead-20&linkId=e13623e15cbb5c23d14c2865a7968203%22%3EClifford%27s%20Loose%20Tooth%20(Clifford%20the%20Big%20Red%20Dog)%20(Big%20Red%20Reader%20Series)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=pbhomestead-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0439332451%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank"><u>Clifford's Loose Tooth</u></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Henna: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20target=%22_blank%22%20href=%22https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385387709/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0385387709&linkCode=as2&tag=pbhomestead-20&linkId=1102423c215df793a63ff00def35cbf4%22%3EThe%20Good,%20the%20Bad,%20and%20the%20Krabby!%20(SpongeBob%20SquarePants)%20(Flip-It%20Pictureback)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=pbhomestead-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0385387709%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank"><u>The Good, The Bad, And The Krabby</u></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, I am trying out Amazon's affiliate links. I know I don't get the traffic for it to really make a difference, but some of the books we have are older or obscure and having a link to show you the book helps. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-16637614043727392842017-01-25T10:09:00.000-08:002017-01-25T10:09:31.984-08:00Meal Planning Done Cheap - My first Simple, Cheap, Meal Post<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Do you ever have one of those
weeks (or a whole month) that everything just blows up? I imagine that
statistically January is one of the months that this happens the most.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It's no secret that we've
struggled over the past 12 years financially. We owned a money pit of a house,
the housing market went to crap, and when we finally got into a position that
we were ready to sell, the house sat on the market for a year before we took a
loss and walked away. We lived in Tiny Barn at my dad's for 6 months while trying
to scrape everything to make our finances look good enough to buy the place we
have now. It was a great price, a great location to family, and everything we
wanted, and it had already been sitting for quite awhile, and by some miracle
it hadn't been sold to the many other people we found out later were interested
in it. If this house hadn't been available, I have no doubt we would still be
in Tiny Barn, working away at our budget to become credit card debt free and
looking for a dream house. As it stands, we got the house, which is great, but
I'll be honest the budget isn't pretty, and I've been struggling back and forth
with the idea of going back to work part-time. Honestly the cons outweigh the
pros, but maybe if I could land something seasonal, it would be such a
short-term change that we could cope. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyways, the
point of the post is that this January stunk for us. It is after Christmas, the
propane needs refilled (that's at least $400), we had to put Athena down ($65),
we had to get Loki fixed ($106) before we ended up with babies, the van needed
new front brakes ($100+), and we had to pull wheel bearings off of V2 (our
spare van that is practically the same as ours, and was given to us for free),
because V1 (the van we use as our daily driver) needs new wheel bearings,
but they are about $30ish a piece and need to be pressed in, which is about $45
a piece (or we can buy a press and do it ourselves, which considering we would
be doing 4 wheel bearings (V1 & V2, it would be cheaper). All of that took
a toll on the budget, and on top of that, Girl Scout cookie selling season
started! Which means the girls want to buy cookies!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I've done a lot of
Excel spreadsheets, poured over Pinterest for meals, compared prices on Amazon
to our local grocery stores, and taken into account how picky our girls can be
at eating sometimes. We aren't really the sit down and eat a full meal type of
family. We are either home all day, or if we have activities, then we are on
the go almost all day, so small snacks and all day grazing seem to fit our
lifestyle better. My ideal goal was to find meals that would cost $5 or less
and fill the 6 of us, with an overall goal of $20 a day (breakfast, lunch,
dinner, and 2 snacks). Now, do I really want to spend $620 for 31 days,
absolutely not, and that doesn't even include toiletries or the animals. I
wanted to come up with at least a one week emergency meal plan. It may not be
the healthiest, but we won't starve.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So with all of that out
of the way, I think I've decided that every week I will post a quick, cheap
meal, complete with the prices I have found. I admit, I am no cook, and I'm not
the greatest at finding a bargain either, but it's at least a starting point.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, for my first
simple, cheap meal....</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Grilled Cheese</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">$0.99 - 1 loaf of jumbo white store brand bread</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">$3.49 - 16-slice pack of Kraft American Cheese</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pantry Items Needed: Butter ($3.99 for 45 oz of Country Crock)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So for my family of six this meal is $4.48 plus the cost of butter, but we do end up with both cheese and bread left over!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">*Warning affiliate link. This is the griddle I use. With this I can make 4 sandwiches at a tim<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">e. Convenient since I have 4 girls! We've had this griddle for at least 5 years, and it's held up between mov<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ing, dishwasher abuse, and sometimes sitting in the sink for awhi<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">le. Although I think I wa<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">n<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">t to lo<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ok for something a bit bigger.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20style=%22width:120px;height:240px;%22%20marginwidth=%220%22%20marginheight=%220%22%20scrolling=%22no%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20src=%22//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=pbhomestead-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00DE1CGKY&asins=B00DE1CGKY&linkId=3cfa22c1d2ab7e6aa02cbfbeac8feb65&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff%22%3E%20%20%20%20%20%3C/iframe%3E" target="_blank"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=pbhomestead-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00DE1CGKY&asins=B00DE1CGKY&linkId=3cfa22c1d2ab7e6aa02cbfbeac8feb65&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"> </iframe></a></span></span> </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-50520334489315119012017-01-21T15:31:00.000-08:002017-01-21T15:31:35.800-08:00My Dearest Athena<span style="font-size: large;">Yesterday was one of the hardest days I've gone through. Our 12 year old dog Athena had to be put down. We'd known since Thanksgiving that this day was coming, and two weeks ago we made the appointment. It is so hard watching something you love so much slowly deteriorate. She lost half of her weight, developed cataracts, bumped into everything, couldn't walk up the stairs, and was rarely able to make it outside to use the bathroom. She spent her days eating and sleeping.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We spent yesterday digging her grave while the girls stayed at my parents. I sat on the front porch in the rocking chair and just held her and cried. Our other dog Apollo is a little lost now. Luke's mother stopped by with a small memorial stone. That woman is always so thoughtful.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The girls cried initially when we buried her. I think it was more they had never seen daddy cry before, and it actually scared them a little. It's hard for them to understand that Athena was our first baby. She was here before any of the girls were.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today it was 60 degrees out. Freak weather for January in Ohio. We moved a bench to the front yard where she is buried and I spent a lot of time out there crying. I realized I never made anything for lunch, and when I made dinner, I cried the entire time I ate it. She wasn't here for the leftovers. I took out a cornbread muffin for her, and when Luke came to check on me Apollo took it. Even in death they are fighting over food.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have plans to turn the area around her into a garden for butterflies and fairies. I also love the idea of putting up a little free library, although on our rural road I'm not sure how much action it would see.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It will be a long, slow healing process, but I'm hoping someplace where I can spend sunny days close to her will help.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-45087636924138501742017-01-19T12:02:00.001-08:002017-01-19T12:02:57.887-08:00It's Been Awhile<p dir="ltr">It's been about a year since I've blogged, and about 8 months since I last updated the Facebook page. It's time to get back in the swing of things.</p>
<p dir="ltr">We have a lot of projects for this year! Some of them are...</p>
<p dir="ltr">-Cutting down trees for firewood<br>
-Enlarging the chicken coop<br>
-Making a new duck coop<br>
-Making a new rabbit enclosure <br>
-Finish painting some rooms<br>
-Actually having kitchen cabinet doors<br>
-Going through the rest of our boxes from storage<br>
-Creating Athena's garden</p>
<p dir="ltr">Needless to say this year will be busy!</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-43483676108260619882016-02-18T14:38:00.003-08:002016-02-18T14:38:59.041-08:00Roadtrip to West VirginiaWe took a quick vacation down to West Virginia. Everything with the house was going slower than planned, and Nana and Papaw's house got like 17 inches of snow, while we got zero up here in Ohio, so we packed up, drove 4 hours, and hung out in almost no internet or cell phone hills for a week. Seriously, we have to climb a mountain or walk over a mile up the road to get a cell phone signal, and just a few years ago, it was a 40 minute drive before our cell phones picked up a tower!<br />
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Nana and Papaw's. Apparently my camera decided not to save the whole picture... <br />
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The horses up the road. There were never horses when I was little, but the girls love to walk up and feed them carrots.<br />
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The sun never really reached the house. It didn't get high enough in the sky to clear the hill until it was setting at the beginning of the road.<br />
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Building a fort!<br />
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Mr. Snowman<br />
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Our dumb dumbs... Apollo and Athena<br />
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Sled riding.<br />
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The snowpants were just as fast as the sleds<br />
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The snow lasted awhile since the sun barely hit this side of the valley.<br />
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Sunset<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-3342442337686793092016-01-26T08:21:00.000-08:002016-01-26T08:21:04.614-08:00Finally Some ProgressIt absolutely stinks to own a house that you can't live in! At this point in time, it'll probably be the end of February or the beginning of March before we actually move in, meaning that we will have owned the house for 3 months before actually spending the night there.<br />
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But we have progress... the gas company finally came out and installed the propane tank, and today they are filling it, which means that tonight or tomorrow, we should be able to stay warm in the house! This is what the contractor has been waiting for. He has a lot of drywall mud work to do, and mud doesn't stick to well to the wall when it's frozen.<br />
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Yay for heat! <br />
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We also gave our mailbox an update. I never really cared about the mailbox on the porch when we lived in town. You could barely see it from the road, and people rarely came to the front door. In the country though, mailboxes at the road define that there's a house somewhere around there, and I wanted something fun. The problem is that all 4 girls wanted to paint something on the mailbox (and I wanted to as well), so we decided to just do handprints, simple yet colorful.<br />
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Other things going on the past couple weeks include drywall getting put up in the kitchen, getting a wood burning stove for the shop and running the pipe for it, and moving our Taurus and 1 Fiero from dad's back yard to the shop. We still have 2 Fieros sitting at dad's place, along with a bunch of stuff that we kept outside when we lived in town. It's mostly outside toys, so it's not a big deal if they don't get moved until spring.<br />
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Our hope for this week is to have the furnace running, and start putting up drywall mud in the 4 bedrooms upstairs as well as the bathroom. We are so glad things are starting to move forward!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-52474901415033975042016-01-02T08:00:00.001-08:002016-01-02T08:00:31.595-08:00Knocking Out Stairs...It's some dirty work. With a 3 day weekend, why not tear something up? The furnace guys are supposed to come sometime next week, and the contractor is going to start running water lines on Tuesday, so we decided this weekend would be the time to knock down the attic stairs. We finished most of the demo work yesterday, and today we are buying the pull down stairs, and we'll try to get it put in. We also pulled up a lot of the masonite in the hallway, which means we only have the front loft bedroom left to do upstairs, and then we will begin to patch walls in the 4 bedrooms.<br />
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This is what the upstairs hallway area looked like before. The attic stairs are above the staircase, where the smoke alarm is hanging.<br />
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This is what the attic stairs look like. No thanks, those things bend every time someone steps on them. Super creepy, and they look to be original to the house.<br />
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Here's the hallway area after knocking it all out. We still have a stud hanging out, and there's a wire running there as well. We need to figure out what that wire actually runs and get it moved!<br />
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Of course no attic is complete without finding some curse in the stair walls. We found a Christmas ornament or two also, but yeah, napkin curses and a snake drawn on leather/suede. Fun times! </div>
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Hopefully we can get the pull down stairs done this weekend, and rip out more flooring. I'd love to have the upstairs finished except for lighting fixtures and sanding/staining floors in about 2 weeks. Let's see if we can get it done!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-46054437893652648452015-12-30T07:45:00.001-08:002015-12-30T07:46:34.840-08:00New Year's Resolutions 2016<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With the new year inching upon us, we have quite a
honey-do list around the homestead. I realize that we won't get everything we
have plans for done, that this will be at least a decade long process to get
the home completely finished, and have everything set up the way we want, but
I'm a list person, so we will do the obligatory New Year's resolution blog
post!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Homesteading Goals for 2016</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Move in :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Plan and plant a small garden</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3. Build a chicken coop and get chickens</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4. Start 2 bee hives</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5. Fence in a pasture area for chickens</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">6. Start an orchard that we can add to </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">7. Install a clothes line</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">8. Mark Maple trees</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The contractors should be done in early February, and
we home to move in shortly after. We just finished moving everything out of our
storage units into the smaller garage yesterday. I'm sure we could have quite
the garden, but I have a bit of a brown thumb, so I'd like to start off small.
We still have 2 chickens at the in-laws, and I hope to get more in March during
chick days. We will need a bigger coop than what we currently have for that,
and as much as I would love for them to free range completely, we have a lot of
predators around, so building a fenced area will offer more protection. We are
near some clover fields, plus we have 2 acres of woods, so beehives are a must
for our homestead location. We'll start off with 2 and see how we handle the
winter before thinking about adding more hives. We would also love to have a
large variety of fruit trees and bushes, along with nut trees, so thinking long
term, we need to start planting as soon as we can. Adding a few more trees each
year will be the best financially for us. Having first floor laundry right by
the backdoor is ideal for having a clothesline. We get plenty of wind coming
across the fields, and plenty of sun (when it's not cloudy in Ohio). One thing
we must do this year is figuring out the trees that are on the property. We
will need to start drying some firewood, but I'd love to try my hand at making
maple syrup, if only just a small amount, so identifying all of our trees is a
must.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Personal Goals for 2016</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Lose some weight (once I get this boot off my foot!)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Cook more, eat out less (make healthier choices)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3. Pay off Lexi's braces</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4. Pay for Lilly's braces in full</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5. Pay off our Paypal credit card</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">6. Pay cash for South Carolina wedding trip</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">7. Keep a $1,000 emergency fund in our savings account</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">8. Hang dry clothes at least 50% of the time</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Losing weight is always on the list. I know I'm not
nearly active enough, but hopefully these moon boots I've been wearing on my
feet will help enough that I will actually be able to be more active without
being in constant pain. I just spent 5 weeks with the boot on the left side, so
I have about 4 weeks left to go on the right side. I've never claimed to be a
cook, and we eat out far too often, so I'm hoping to take advantage of the
kitchen and start making more meals at home. I think living out in the country
will make that easier. I want to limit the amount we go running into town for
something. We still have 7 months of paying on Lexi's braces, and Lilly will
need them in the next 6 months, so not having those monthly payments would help
out tremendously. Luke has a wedding in South Carolina the end of April, and we
thought of making it a family trip. We need to run the numbers, but we also
don't want to charge the extra it would cost for the whole family. Paying off a
credit card is a given. I'd love to have them all paid off. We try to snowball,
but right now braces are eating up almost any extra we have, which is why are
savings isn't growing much either, so it's on the list too. As for number 8,
well I actually would love to use the clothesline, and not just stare at it!!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course, everything listed here is coming from my
head. If you were to ask Luke, I'm sure organizing the shop and fixing cars
would be the primaries on his list, and I'm sure the girls would have a tree
house and swingset on the list! In all reality, I'll just be happy to start
living out there and making the 5 acres more manageable once the weather gets
nice.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Happy New Year!!!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-91364452179257682432015-12-26T08:14:00.000-08:002015-12-26T08:14:47.190-08:00Floors and FireThe past week has been filled with work and Christmas preparations.
It just doesn't feel like Christmas this year. We don't have a big tree
here in Tiny Barn, our decorations and stockings are in storage,
everything we bought is hidden over at dad's house, and we are going to
shove the majority of their presents in bags because wrapping would just
take up so much time right now!<br />
<br />
We had a few very cold
days before it warmed up this week, so Luke wanted to play around with
the fireplace and see if we could make it work. It has a wood burning
insert that was basically rusted shut from sitting so long, so he worked
the controls loose, cleaned out the old ash, and we ripped up some
newspaper and collected some pine needles to burn. After successfully
seeing smoke come out the chimney, he bought a few firebricks to replace
a missing one, and built an actual fire (small one) to make sure it was
drafting right. So far so good, although we won't make anything too big
until we do get the chimney inspected.<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
We
focused on the floors upstairs, pulling the fiberboard and plywood off
the floors in the back loft, and finishing off Luke's office (the John
Deere room). We still have the front loft and hallway to rip up, and
then the upstairs will be ready for a thorough wipe down. As soon as the
heat works, we can then mud, sand, prime, and paint all the bedrooms
upstairs, before tackling the floors.<br />
<br />
There was mostly
a thin plywood in the back loft instead of fiberboard, but it seems
that they decided to use some glue to hold it down, so the floor is
pretty messy right now.<br />
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<br />
The
John Deere room (Luke's office) has a nice big plywood section in the
flooring from where the chimney came up through, so we'll have to patch
that up somehow. <br />
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<br />
The
electrical guys have started working on pulling out the knob and tube
wiring, but so far the furnace guys are MIA. We need them there so we
can have heat, so the contractor can start his drywall work! We still
have light fixtures to order and pick up, trim to tear off the walls,
and some downstairs flooring work, as well as the upstairs floors that
still need peeled up. We spent Christmas Eve working on hooking up the
electrical box in the shop, and driving in ground wires. We had to go
look for gifts for the hillbilly gift exchange anyway, and the shop
certainly has a lot of junk to sort through. We took the opportunity to
burn some cardboard from the shop too, and just enjoy the view since the
weather was so warm!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-81692502453605934102015-12-14T12:33:00.000-08:002015-12-14T12:36:11.111-08:00Lazy Sunday, Rainy MondaySunday and Monday were demo days 9 and 10, but really, not much happened in the way of destruction. It's been unusually warm in Ohio for December, and Sunday it was overcast and in the low 60's. We spent a lot of time outside, making a fire, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, climbing trees, and exploring the woods.<br />
<br />
The girls put their fire building skills from girl scouts to the test.<br />
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<br />
Lexi was trying to pull herself up the tree.<br />
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<br />
Lexi got to push Lilly up the tree. <br />
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<br />
And then Lilly's shoe got stuck in between the tree trunks! <br />
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<br />
They also enjoyed making chalk art all over the concrete. There's a nice patio area, sidewalks, and a concrete front porch to decorate.<br />
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<br />
Time for S'mores!! <br />
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<br />
We found a few spots full of these beetles. I did some quick internet looking, and we believe they are pink spotted ladybird beetles. They are good at eating aphids and lots of other insect eggs, so they are definitely beneficial to the neighboring fields and our future garden. <br />
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<br />
My brother and dad decided to haul up the lawn mower, just to see how it would handle the long, thick grass that has been left to grow wild for at least 4 years. It clogged easily, so it was slow going, but amazingly enough it did cut it down.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJy623Uqwbwch6_2K_vLXa0Ub7vD0zbceBdOsgK2egmM6jUJkj9TqBuFNb9t9Mt-UfoUwCu1tJyhylDupjFn9xRH9cpUzSogEVu4PGv3RXlM6B5AwL1UizCP3xBedwG0-nh6gVvDjBpfPB/s1600/IMG_0463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJy623Uqwbwch6_2K_vLXa0Ub7vD0zbceBdOsgK2egmM6jUJkj9TqBuFNb9t9Mt-UfoUwCu1tJyhylDupjFn9xRH9cpUzSogEVu4PGv3RXlM6B5AwL1UizCP3xBedwG0-nh6gVvDjBpfPB/s640/IMG_0463.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We now have a path to the West field where the R/C planes fly.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnvsn5UbTnKYsau1CVvJp5OSOuwFAGWPXe4zTA0qTtuB8BjYc1teUZLbVr8syz4nnDGdsTURAsse9t9FNhyphenhyphenCYn4nKaPyoR54f4JBHHIaWnP46PMt-bzh-tNfjn54zGE8-vDkV2__IesJg/s1600/IMG_0466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnvsn5UbTnKYsau1CVvJp5OSOuwFAGWPXe4zTA0qTtuB8BjYc1teUZLbVr8syz4nnDGdsTURAsse9t9FNhyphenhyphenCYn4nKaPyoR54f4JBHHIaWnP46PMt-bzh-tNfjn54zGE8-vDkV2__IesJg/s640/IMG_0466.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We also have a decent pathway from the house to the shop. <br />
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Of course the planes had to make an appearance since we spent most of the day outside. </div>
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We did manage to work on the flooring in the spare room for a tiny bit, and pull off the door and base trim in the laundry room. A few doors made their way to the garage from upstairs as well. The doors all need a good scrubbing, and they'll just be in the way when we actually get to the point of sanding floors, so we might as well just take them off now.<br />
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Today isn't much of a workday either. We went up to the house over lunch today and pulled a few staples out of the floor, and quickly took off the doors to the kitchen cabinets. <br />
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While we were there the trash guys came by with another dumpster since we filled the first one over the weekend. <br />
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The girls threw a few piece of paneling in the new dumpster before we left.<br />
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Progress is going to really slow down this week. Luke has tons of work to do for both his day job and photography, so he can't keep taking half days to work at the house. Hopefully the electrician gets finished up this week enough to get the power turned on, then we'll be able to go up in the evenings. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-62688704375830267892015-12-12T15:53:00.000-08:002015-12-12T15:53:04.963-08:00Demo Days 6, 7, Santa, and 8!Thursday and Friday were spent working on flooring. Thursday we finished ripping out the fiberboard in the living room, and on Friday we finished the library.<br />
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Here's the living room. Mopping it over really brought out some of the original stain color.<br />
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The girls hung out with us on Friday while we finished the library.<br />
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Here's the library. It still has some staples on the floor, but we'll get to them.<br />
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Today we had our Build and Grow at Lowe's. We built a holiday train and then got to visit with Santa! This is Henna's first year that she actually spoke to him, although I had to walk up with her.<br />
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My dad and brother came up to the house today, which was a huge help! We filled the dumpster with everything we had in the front yard, only to pile more carpet and paneling in the yard while we wait for the dumpster to get taken away and emptied.<br />
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Our focus was the upstairs. We got the carpet ripped out of the 3 bedrooms up there that had carpet, pulled out the plywood that was down on the office floor, and pulled out most of the paneling in the hallway and staircase.<br />
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Here's the front loft bedroom so far.<br />
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This is the John Deere bedroom. It'll be Luke's office, and since it had plywood instead of fiberboard, we got most of the flooring uncovered today.<br />
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Here's the back loft bedroom. We may work on this some tomorrow since it has plywood down instead of fiberboard.<br />
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And finally the staircase and hallway. <br />
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We also had to take a time out and fly the plane a little more.<br />
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Tomorrow we will be back at it again. We may try and take off all of the doors upstairs and put them in the garage so we can scrub them down later, but mostly we will probably be working on uncovering floors...<br />
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This is what we have to look forward to. Piles and piles of tetanus!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-85906016755888288452015-12-10T07:03:00.001-08:002015-12-10T07:03:59.307-08:00You guessed it! Demo Day 5...Wednesday was our 5th day of demo work. Our main focus was the library (otherwise known as the fireplace room). We pulled off the rest of the paneling on the walls. It seems like the entire house got a makeover in the 70's.<br />
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Here someone drew a picture of the fireplace on the wall...next to the fireplace!<br />
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We also worked on the floor. A third of the flooring didn't have that masonite fiberboard. It had some kind of thin plywood instead, which meant the entire sheet came up all at once, making that section of the floor SO EASY to uncover. This room used to be two rooms, but thankfully the wood floor ran underneath of the wall that used to be there, so it looks to continue seamlessly throughout the room. The only issue is that we uncovered a patched area where a furnace vent used to be. Originally it would have been up against the wall that separated the rooms, but now it's just going to be in the middle of the library. Not really that big of an issue though, people have register vents in the middle of rooms!<br />
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Forgive my phone...anytime I take pictures with my flash on it, I get the red lines.<br />
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Luke of course spent a couple of minutes chipping the plaster off of the chimney in the kitchen again. I swear he's in love with it! The plaster is in such bad shape, it's coming off a lot easier than anyone expected.<br />
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The weather was very overcast, and it actually started sprinkling, so we lost daylight rather quickly inside. We took a quick peek upstairs under the carpets in the front loft and office where they meet the hallway. It looks like the fiberboard covers painted wood floors up there as well. We just aren't sure of their condition. It also seems like the fiberboard is molding in some places. Ick!<br />
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Here's the rain clouds rolling in... <br />
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On another note, we've had numerous people stop out and ask about the property. Four or five of them were actually interested in buying it, and a few others were from somewhere in the vicinity and came to see what was going on and congratulate us on our purchase. It seems like a lot of people have had their eye on the property for quite awhile. I guess it's a good thing I made Luke contact the bank in California that owned it, because if it would have actually went to market, it would have been sold long before we were able to purchase it!<br />
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The plan for today it to continue pulling up fiberboard, and start hauling out smaller debris that is piled up on the floor downstairs. We are hoping to gather up a little more help on the weekend, which will make ripping out the carpets and paneling upstairs a lot easier. My boot for my plantar fasciitis doesn't allow for very good balance going up and down stairs, especially carrying debris, and trust me, those little pieces of fiberboard add up into piles real quick!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-75524881128704195102015-12-09T14:41:00.000-08:002015-12-09T17:41:06.447-08:00Demo Days 3 & 4Monday and Tuesday were both half day demo days. Luke worked until after lunch and then we headed over to the house for 3ish hours in the afternoon and worked until the sun went down. Tuesday I went over in the morning to chip at the floor in the living room for almost 2 hours, and then we brought the girls with us that afternoon.<br />
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The electrician has been there the past few days working on the new 200 amp service box. Of course I've been over there both days and failed to take a picture... The garage door company was also out measuring for a new garage door on the shop. We've been busy chipping away at the floor in the living room. I don't know why anyone would ever put that many nails into hardwood flooring to put down fiberboard and carpet.<br />
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This is the end of day 3, and then the end of day 4 in the living room. We now successfully have half of the living room floor uncovered. The floor looks pretty decent, but we did find a boarded over register vent, so we will have to reroute a furnace vent to that spot.<br />
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We spent most of day 3 pulling out the paneling in the kitchen. It had two different types of wallpaper on it, so it had to go! In doing so, we've decided that for right now, we will not rebuild the wall area above the cabinets. One day we will actually buy new cabinets, and in the event that they are taller, we would just have to rip it all back out to place cabinets higher. The only place where this becomes an issue is where the cabinets turn out into the middle of the kitchen, so we will just build a small wall to help hold those in place.<br />
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We found this calendar behind a cabinet. Apparently the kitchen was redone in June of 1974!<br />
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We also uncovered the chimney in the kitchen. We've decided that we will leave 2 sides of it exposed, so Luke started chipping away at the plaster that covers it.<br />
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On day 4, Luke kicked through the wall in the eat-in area of the kitchen that faces the laundry room. The plan is to cover over the current laundry room door, and have access to the laundry room through the kitchen. I'll have Luke build a barn door eventually that we can hang as a divider between the kitchen and laundry area. Eventually on down the line I can imagine the back part of the house being redesigned a bit so there is maybe a sliding patio door instead of 2 separate back doors, but for now, having a mud room/laundry room that opens into the kitchen right next to the backdoor (with the small porch) that will be used the most makes sense to us.<br />
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On the other side of the eat-in area of the kitchen, we knocked out the upper cabinets that were there. I'm not sure when we'll start knocking out the wall for a pass through. We need to figure out how big we are making it, and get the lumber to frame it out before we start punching through that wall.<br />
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The dumpster also arrived, so everyone can feel free to stop by and transfer our huge pile of construction debris!<br />
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The rest of the week we will continue to pull up as much fiberboard as we possibly can, and start moving stuff from storage and dad's yard hopefully. We also still have all of the carpet upstairs that still need to be pulled up. So I'll leave you with a sunset :)<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-40458548740176349342015-12-07T07:50:00.000-08:002015-12-07T08:11:24.771-08:00Demo Day 2!Sunday was our official Day 2 of Demo work. Luke had a photo shoot in the evening, and with a late morning to say good-bye to Nana and Papaw before they left for West Virginia, we only had a few daylight hours to work.<br />
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Of course, work couldn't start until flying was finished. Luke had already been out Saturday after the girls' party with his brother, so Sunday was dad's turn. There is talk of building runways with lights and R/C race tracks...<br />
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We succeeded in pulling out the stove, since it was something quick to grab and wasn't bolted down like the range hood or dishwasher that still need pulled out. <br />
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We also got the drop ceiling frame out of the kitchen. Tearing things apart made us realize that the kitchen used to be two separate rooms, and the library was also split into two rooms before.<br />
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This is the guest bedroom floor. Originally we were going to have our contractor replace this flooring, along with the flooring in the living room and library. We've ripped a tiny section out of the living room and found hardwood, and this is the section we ripped in the guest bedroom. The fiber board has been nailed down practically every inch, so ripping this out of at least 3 rooms (it may be upstairs under the carpet too) is a slow going process! As long as they aren't totally shot, we plan on refinishing them!<br />
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Here's part of some treasure we found next to the chimney that runs up the kitchen wall. Someone must have been doing some research on Native Americans down around Bolivar. Pretty interesting, but it would have been cooler had it been something to do with the house.<br />
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These are the cabinets by the eat in area in the kitchen. You can see the gap between the cabinets and chimney where the papers were shoved. Our idea for this is to actually knock out a good section of the wall and make it a pass through to the living room. We plan on painting the kitchen cabinets since we don't have the budget to replace them right now, but these upper cabinets are seriously bowed, and more than likely we will break them taking them out. <br />
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The electrician and furnace guy are set to come out this week to do their thing. We've got to get propane service set up ASAP. Our general contractor probably won't begin until next week, after heat and electricity have been established, which means we have this week to tear out as much as we can. The more we tear out, the more money we will save, since the contractor won't have to do that work. Our big problem is that Luke works 9-5 everyday, and it's pretty difficult to work up there in the dark. We also need to get a U-Haul fairly soon and get everything out of storage and into the small garage, that way we can eliminate our storage bill.<br />
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We have no idea how far we will get this week. Everyone works, vacation is a myth for Luke, he still has editing to get done, and we have the girls. I may end up leaving the girls with Luke while he works and I just go up by myself and start chipping away at the fiber board. It all needs done!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-72651527815371362572015-12-05T20:34:00.000-08:002015-12-05T20:37:04.389-08:00Demo Day 1The day has come! We are homeowners again. We closed Friday morning, and drove straight to the new home to change the locks and start some demo work. Here's a look at Friday's achievements.<br />
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This is the formal dining area when you first walk in the front door. We will use it as the living room. We succeeded in tearing out the carpet and padding, we still need to rip out the fiber board that was underneath. It is starting to bow in places.<br />
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This is the Harry Potter closet in the home's original living room. We will use the room as a library/music room. We pulled the paneling off, which completely ruins the plaster underneath. It's not so important here since we are seriously considering knocking the staircase out and flipping it around, but I'm not sure what we plan on doing with the rest of the paneling in room.<br />
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Here's the kitchen. We got the drop ceiling tiles pulled out, and Sunday's goal is to get the framing pulled out as well. <br />
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Here's the library. We pulled out the drop ceiling completely in this room. <br />
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This is the spare room. We pulled the carpet out, but still need to get the light fixtures down. <br />
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Some of our crap pile! <br />
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Our new door knobs!<br />
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And here's the house with day 1's demo pile outside!<br />
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We also ripped out the carpet on the stairs. <br />
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Saturday was filled with Avery and Henna's birthday party, and a quick tour around the property with extended family. Sunday we will continue to demo. It's an exhausting weekend!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-19456346205357007302015-12-03T07:33:00.000-08:002015-12-03T07:33:24.022-08:00New House Sneak Peek!For everyone that doesn't know, we officially have a closing time! Tomorrow morning at 9AM we will be signing papers for our new to us house! We will still have a couple months of tiny house living since our loan is a rehab loan. The house has sat vacant for around four years, so there is surface mildew on some of the trim work, the plumbing is stripped out, the furnace needs replaced, the electric is shut off, and the carpet is coming up in places, not to mention there are raccoon tracks going from the open dryer vent to the toilet (and that raccoon enjoyed playing in that toilet!).<br />
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Once we sign Friday morning, we are heading straight over to the house to change the door locks and start ripping out some carpet and drop ceiling. This weekend is a little messed up, because Luke has a photo shoot Sunday, and Avery and Henna's birthday party is Saturday afternoon, but we are hoping to get as much ripped out as we can before our contractor officially comes in to start working. That means we'll be bouncing all over the place this weekend. It really doesn't help that it gets dark at 5PM, and with no electricity, we'll have to drag dad's generator back up there with extension cords and lights so we can see if we do anything in the evenings.<br />
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While the demo is going on, we also plan to get a box truck and empty our storage units into the small garage, and grab as much of our outside stuff from dad's yard as we can before it freezes to the ground. We also hope to move Luke's Fieros from dad's yard, but that will require us to push all the crap that's in the big pole building (nicknamed "The Toybox) out of the way. There's china, a dresser, a wood totem, craft stuff, VHS cassettes...just a bit of everything in there!<br />
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I hope to have a lot of blog posts about the house progress, but in the meantime, how about a sneak peek of the property!<br />
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This is the fireplace in the living room. Technically, we are going to call it the library, since we plan on using the formal dining room as the living room with the TV. This room will have bookshelves, the piano, and probably a table for games.<br />
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This is creepy Halloween Tree. It's in between the house and the driveway, and looks to be wrapped around a windmill base. It's super neat, and it had orange flowers sprouting from it earlier this year.
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This is facing directly East when you stand in the driveway. You can see the little deck and back entrance into the kitchen, the concrete patio area, the toybox (red building) in the far distance, and lots of trees. 5 acres is massive after living on a city lot for 11 years!
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This is the two car garage where the driveway is. I guess it can be my garage since Luke gets the big one LOL!
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This is the view facing Northwest from the driveway. The overgrowth shrubby areas are on our property. The nicely manicured field is the next property over. We can see a lot of sky. Perfect for the Observatory we want to build.
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Here's the Southeast view from the driveway. You can see the front porch on the other side of Halloween Tree, and it's nothing but farmland and sod farm fields in front of the house.
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Stay tuned! We'll have a lot of in progress pictures from demo work coming up in the next few weeks!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8279776198966990695.post-67950014696429664142015-11-20T07:59:00.000-08:002015-11-20T07:59:05.905-08:00Delays, Crafts, and a Boot!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The great news for the week is that the water test came back good! No E. Coli or coliforms. The bad news is that due to the sheer amount of paperwork involved in a USDA rehab loan, our closing has been pushed back, and due to Thanksgiving, our new date is December 4th. Looks like we will be tiny home living for awhile longer.<br />
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It's not all terrible though, Luke has some photography stuff to finish up, and our Girl Scout troop is going crazy with Christmas crafts (and I'm the troop craft mom), so we are plenty busy with things, and getting a delay gives us more time to finish up stuff. We will be shoving family into my dad's house for Avery and Henna's birthday party, which is scheduled the day after closing!<br />
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Our Girl Scout troop wants to make ornaments and tags to sell as a fundraiser this year. Our meeting spot is a little grocery store that only sells locally grown foods and local artisan crafts, and they will allow us a small table after Thanksgiving, so I've been busy trying out different crafts, seeing what will be easy for us to do. The hardest part will be coming up with prices.<br />
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On a last note, we had our check ups at the podiatrist this week. We go every 6 months. All four girls seemed to inherit my flat feet unfortunately. Lexi, Lilly, and Henna seem to have no problems or pain with theirs. Avery has some leg pain, but her left tibia is also twisted slightly, which may be contributing to everything. We saw an orthopedic pediatric surgeon in June that did a full x-ray, and we are playing the waiting game now to go back in a year for a repeat x-ray to see if it is straightening on it's own, or if it's getting worse. As for me, my problems started in 3rd grade after being asked to run a relay race. I've had orthotics, foot surgery in 5th grade, and then slacked off with visits and orthotics in my late teens and early 20's because of insurance and kids. That was the biggest mistake ever. Now I have plantar fasciitis, and it is awful! I've done inflammation medication, cortisone shots, and new orthotics. Now I have basically have a walking removable cast. We are starting with my left foot, and I wear it all the time until the pain is gone, then wear it a week longer. Then I can switch it to the other foot. Needless to say I go back in a month to see how things are. Right now we are trying to avoid surgery, but make it easier for me to keep up with the girls. <br />
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Isn't it gorgeous?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2