Independence Days- take 2: week 8

Another week gone by- another week that we aren't moved yet. AAARGH!!!! This seems never-ending. We did get some good progress done this weekend but goodness, things just don't go as smoothly as you would wish. V and the children will go out tomorrow morning while it's still cool to see if they can get some work done. V hopes to finish the framing for the bathroom medicine cabinet and the wiring for the GFCI outlet above the sink. J15 can help him bring in some sheetrock since we forgot to do that before we left this evening. I think the children are going to work on finishing filling the well pit. One bonus of all the rain we have had it that the dirt has settled nicely and we can see how much more we need to add to actually fill it up. It has to be filled and settled before we can reconnect the air conditioning unit that will sit on top of it and believe me, with the temps in the 90s and high humidity that has suddenly become more of a priority. With all the cool weather we had been having it didn't seem that important but all the sudden it hit us in the face that we don't want to move until we have air, especially since the basement won't be finished and we'll all be sleeping upstairs where it is hot (it was 85 in the living room this afternoon. Of course, if we were there full time we could open windows at night to let in the cool air- oh wait, most of the screens still need repaired and the mosquitos are fierce. sigh.

Anyway, it is time for my weekly IDC update so here goes:

1. Plant something- Nope.

2. Harvest something- radishes and chard. A little bit of lettuce, but as soon as it got hot here it bolted so it needs ripped out (in my spare time). I did pick the first two golden raspberries from here in town. The ones we transplanted out to the farm most likely won't produce this year but there are still plenty here in town and it looks like we will still be here for raspberry harvest so at least there is that good point.

3. Preserve something- No. I've thought about freezing a bit of chard since it looks lovely but I'm not sure I can find the time. I need to make time I guess. One more thing to add onto the list.

4. Reduce waste- the usuals of recycling, composting and using cloth bags. We even remembered to take our cloth bag when we stopped at the home center this afternoon. I'm thinking of using some of the packing cardboard from some of our purchases as mulch in the garden to try to keep down some of the weeds. I am slowly getting control of the weeds in the tomatoes but the onions and beets are looking pretty sad. Maybe I can have children weed those- it's pretty easy to tell an onion from a weed- even for a 9 year old.

5. Prep and storage- nothing much here. I'm actively trying to NOT store anything new at the moment- even though it's tough sometimes. I'm really hesitant to move much in the way of food stuffs out to the house when we're not there all the time to keep an eye on it. But no more mice since the 3 we caught last week and V found another entry place around the fan housing for the bathroom vent in the basement bathroom. Whoever installed it punched a hole through the foundation block for the fan but didn't seal it well so it was yet another mousey highway. But on a positive note, while V was patching it this evening I went out the basement door to the garden and there was enough of a suction to move air in and out of the space he was working on, which tells us that the house is much better sealed than it was before. So progress is being made. Before there were so many holes in the mudsill that the house was like a sieve.

7. Eat the food- no problem here. We're trying to eat our main meals out of storage for the most part. But we've still been having to make multiple stops at the grocery store each week. With the children home from school they have been going through gallons of milk and lots of bread for sandwiches. I haven't been baking my own due to time constraints. It's a good thing that the grocery store is located on the direct route between houses so it's an easy thing to stop.

I hope this week coming week will be a bit more productive than last. No word from our insurance agent as to a deadline. But I work on Saturday so that takes me out of commission for the day. But it means that I have a 4 day weekend for the 4th. EEEK! July is coming up that soon! We need to get moving- literally!