Busy Saturday

Well, I got my apple trees ordered. We did a little re-thinking after I checked the Stark's website. We still got them from Gurney's since they had better prices for standard trees. We debated between standard and semi-dwarf trees and decided to go with the standard trees. It will take a bit longer for them to really produce but we have the space and thought it was worth the wait. We are going to order our cherry from Stark's though since they had some different varieties. But there isn't a rush on that one.

In other news, tonight V and I are going out- not that it will be that much fun, though. Tonight is my work 'Winter Get-together'- otherwise known as the schmooze and booze. But I won't be drinking- I slipped on the ice this afternoon and twisted my hip funny so I've taken some Advil and don't want to drink on top of it. Just as well- it's a cash bar and they always charge WAAAY too much for bad wine.

V and I went into town today and shoveled out the driveway, back patio and all the sidewalks at the house in town in preparation for an open house tomorrow. Cross your fingers for us. We're thinking about dropping the price a bit again but are hopeful that after the holidays people will start looking again, especially since the homebuyer's tax credit ends in April. I would really like to get that house sold and pay off some debt. We had the consultation with I12's orthodontist yesterday morning. We're looking at $4600 spread out over two and a half years which brings it to about $150 a month. Our insurance is really bad for orthodontics so we basically end up paying most of that. But his teeth are really bad- he is likely to have to have oral surgery since one of his upper canine teeth is coming in perpendicular to where it is supposed to be and she doesn't think it can be moved into position and will start causing all kinds of problems in his upper jaw. Ugh. Just what we needed, one out of braces, one in. K9 will most likely be next. His teeth aren't as bad as the older two, thank goodness!

Well, we've gotta go soon. Schmoozing starts at 6:30 and the catered dinner at 7. But really, last year, the food was pretty good for $5 per person.

Stay warm out there, It's already below zero here again. Someday it will warm up.

Yard work

We spent the day at our old house, working on the 'curb appeal'. I was right, weeding and a bit of mulch worked wonders. We mowed and weeded. Tomorrow we will haul away the piles of brush and weeds. Normally we would have composted the weeds but I'm not adding anything new to the compost pile there.

My parents stopped by this morning on the way to a family reunion. We had hoped to go but with the need to get the yard work done we begged off. Even my Mom was understanding about our need to get things done. They brought us green beans, cucumbers, sweet corn and summer squash. My sweet corn isn't tasseling yet and I picked a total of 4 green beans last night. Mom also brought me 10 bags of frozen sweet corn. She said she knew our patch isn't very big so she thought we could use some for our winter stores. Thanks, Mom!

In exciting news. After V dropped J15 off at tae kwon do he went to our old house to get started (I was still at home with boys trying to get some laundry done). When he arrived at about 9:20 am there were cars in the driveway and people on the front porch. A realtor was showing our house to a young couple!!!! We haven't heard anything but V talked to them and told them that we would be doing some more work on the house this weekend so hopefully anything they found objectionable we can take care of. The realtor was from the same firm as out agent so we should get a report of what comments they made. It's only one showing but it's hopeful.

Cheesy walls

My old dining room walls- they are covered with cheese. Well, cheese colored paint, that is. We've been amused that the color of paint that we chose to paint the downstairs walls and stairwell is food related. The color is "soft brie"- or in spanish- 'queso suave'. I was curiously amused by the idea of suave cheese covering my walls. But the dining room is painted at the old house. We were hoping to not have to paint our bedroom but having moved furniture and discovered some staining behind my cedar chest (under a window where it has rained in on occasion) we decided that it will have to be painted as well. I can finish painting the bedroom tomorrow after work and I have Friday off (I worked last Saturday) so I can finish the trim paint. The house will be on the market this weekend. Woo Hoo!! What a major hurdle cleared!!!

We heard from J15- they made it to New Orleans safely and she attended the first event in the Super Dome this evening. I'll be honest- the thought of 36,000+ teenagers from all over the country seems a bit overwhelming. But she called and said it is more fun than she had imagined it would be. Tomorrow they have a 'learning event', Friday afternoon they have time for sightseeing and Saturday they will spend the day in 'service' at the WWII museum. I'm not sure what they will be doing there but it is something related to post Katrina restoration.

V hopes to frame J15's room this weekend. She is really hoping for a room when she returns on Monday. We also need the space. With most of the basement unusable due to construction- storage space is at a premium.

In more mundane news- we had nearly 3 inches of rain yesterday. 2.75 to be exact. And we had some minor water leaks in the basement again (sigh). We actually think it may be coming up through the floor in some spots. There is a hill to the North of us and there is the possibility that the water pressure building up on the North side of the house is forcing the water in. I'm really glad that the field on the hill is in hay and not planted. I hate to think of the runoff if it was tilled.

Things are very slowly getting unpacked. V finally got his computer set up and so is back at work this week and I've been working full time at the hospital. Since we're trying to clean up the old house to sell, unpacking has been rather low on the totem pole of priorities. I am frustrated that I can't remember what box I packed the cats' medical records into. They have an appointment with our vet on Friday morning (Mandy has worms!) and I can't find the records. I remember packing them, thinking that this was a great box to put them in but, now, the box I thought they were in- isn't it. I guess it's not the end of the world if I don't find them right away. We have Mandy's rabies vaccination certificate (she got hers last Wednesday when she got spayed) and I know Spaz got his vaccination the day we picked them up- it's just that the certificate is MIA.

Of course, I also can't find by blow dryer or my favorite t-shirt. They're somewhere- it's just that WHERE is the question...

I'm BAAACK...

We got internet access today. Hooray!!! So, a few pictures to satisfy your curiosity.

A gift in the mail!

When we got to the house on Saturday there was a package in the mail. THANKS MEADOWLARK!!! I can't wait to try them.

My new dryer- delivered on Tuesday.

But of course, it couldn't go off without a hitch, could it. I washed a load of towels, threw them in my new dryer and went upstairs to do the dishes. 30 minutes later, I thought I'd check to see how they're doing. EEEK! there is water leaking out from under the dryer and the towels are still wet. It seems that the dryer vent to outside was completely clogged with dog fur and lint and all the moisture was condensing in the vent hose and running down onto the floor. SIGH. I really wonder how the former owners managed to live like this. That much of a clog obviously didn't happen overnight- I wonder how they did laundry. I don't have my clothesline up yet- hopefully this weekend. But the vent is cleared and the dryer is wonderful.

The upstairs bath.

Ok, not the best picture, but the tile is in and the toilet works. The sink still isn't connected but hopefully soon.

Our bedroom???

If we can find the bed under all the stuff. Actually, this is before we had even more stuff loaded in the house.

J15 and her boyfriend B.

They did a fantastic job helping out. It was so nice to have a teenage farm boy to help move heavy furniture and appliances. He also took multiple loads of stuff from the garage in his pickup. He has even come back a few afternoons this week to see what else he can help with. He wants to help frame the basement walls. We're not objecting- I guess we haven't scared him away yet. Actually, of the guys J15 has dated this guy is definitely a keeper.

The truck.

We backed it up over the front lawn so se could run the ramp to the porch. That way we didn't have to move things down any more stairs than necessary. This is the first load. After that I got too busy to take pictures of the move.

The living room, piled with boxes.

The kitchen: counters stacked to the max.

My storage for the week.

One local store had a great deal on blueberries. So I stocked up. The canisters are my Mom's idea. Since they are airtight they do a great job at keeping the berries from getting 'freezery'. All you need to do is unscrew the top and pour out as many frozen berries as you need.

I'll try to catch up with what everyone has been doing but my time is rather limited. I feel a bit guilty even posting this since I have millions of things to do.

The cable company lied

Oh, we have cable TV, but the internet access...that's a different story. We can see the internet (kind of) we just can't connect. The system keeps telling us that our account number doesn't exist when we try to log in. We have called and V went to their office yesterday. The woman there told him that transfers of service 'confuse' the system and that it sometimes takes up to 30 days to sort it out. 30 days!!! I don't think so. We'll keep working on in, hopefully I can have access other than at work soon.

We're in

Just a quick post from work. We made it. There are still a few odds and ends at the old house and we are living out of boxes but we've spent the past two nights at the new house. The weather was wonderful and I'm ready to kiss J15's new boyfriend. A 16 year old with a pickup who volunteers to help you move is a godsend. More later- we're supposed to get internet access at home this afternoon.

Here we go!

We're gearing up. We've got a 14 foot U-Haul truck reserved. We'll pick up the truck at 8 am Saturday morning and begin moving furniture and appliances. We still need to get the toilet reinstalled in the upstairs bath but we've been waiting for the adhesive to dry on the tile so I can apply the grout. It's been so humid in the house that it seems like it took forever. But I checked before we left tonight and it will be all set tomorrow morning. But that still means no toilet until Saturday to give it 24 hours to cure.

The air conditioning was reconnected this morning and has been working to dry things out- but it's been so cool here that it hardly ran today. I also ordered my new dryer (we're leaving our venerable gas monstrosity here- but I'm taking my new washer) and it will be delivered on Tuesday morning. So no laundry after tomorrow.

After Friday night we will be without internet access until at least Monday- and no cable TV either (what will the boys do?- oh yeah, work!). If I have time and energy, I'll try to take some pictures of the ordeal. At least the weather is supposed to be nice- so far they're predicting low 80's and partly cloudy. I can live with that- as long as it isn't pouring rain.

Think happy weather thoughts.....

The big push

Ok. I'm off for the rest of the week and we're talking getting the cable/internet access hooked up, the air conditioning will be on tomorrow and we're hoping to rent the moving truck this weekend. Internet time may be limited. 'See' y'all soon.

Judy

Independence Days- take 2: week 10

It's been another busy week here. Things are starting to come together both for house and garden. The end isn't in sight yet but we're starting to see a glimmer of light. I'm ready to start dry fitting the tile in the bathroom tomorrow evening so hopefully Wednesday I can actually put it down officially. But on to my usual Monday business- The Independence Days challenge.

1. Plant something- Nope. I really need to figure out where my herb garden is going to go so I can get things planted so they have a chance to get established before winter. Maybe in my spare time....

2. Harvest something-

Beets!!!

Broccoli, chard, beets, a hot wax pepper, raspberries and yes, the first tomato!!! It was a tiny Cherry Roma- no bigger than the tip of my little finger and it was red, ripe and delicious. Sorry, no photos, it didn't last long enough.

3. Preserve something- made Summer Fruit Massacre jam. I've got lots of beets coming soon so I need to find my recipe for pickled beets and see if I can find the time to can up a few.

4. Reduce waste- the usual- recycled, composted, used cloth bags. We're reusing the old shower curtain that was in the basement as a tarp for keeping things dry in the barn since we're resorting to using the barn for storage since we don't have the basement finished. We have continued to repurpose as much as we can out at the house- even if it means more work than buying it new.

5. Prep and storage- Stocked up on sugar since there was a good sale and I needed more than I had for making jam. Otherwise, still holding off on putting much food out at the house until we actually move due to the potential pest problems we have out there. I'm still counting all the work we're doing on the farmstead as prep work since it is the ultimate prep.

6. Build community food systems- Have been trying to get back to eating more locally but it's been tough as busy as we have been.

7. Eat the food- Still eating a lot from the freezer although we've been slipping with 'convenience' foods when things get crazy around here. We've been eating at all kinds of odd hours, anything from 5:30 to 9:00 pm for dinner. Our schedule has been dictated by what we're doing out at the house- the kids have finally adjusted to the chaos and we rarely get the 'are we going to eat soon?' plaintive questions anymore.

I'm hoping to get a few days off work this week to get some more done. We're hoping to move some furniture in the next few days and the air conditioning guys are coming on Thursday morning to reconnect the exchanger so we'll be cool and dry. It hasn't been too hot but it's incredibly humid in the house which makes it uncomfortable to work.

It will be another busy week here. Wish us luck.

Progress- a long weekend in pictures

Whew! What a weekend. I have been a bit frustrated since it seems that we haven't been able to get out to work until lunchtime all the four days I've been off. Of course, there have been good reasons. But much progress has been made. Thursday morning J15 and I moved almost the entire contents of my closet to the new house while V worked at home- he had a big deadline for his paying job. But in the afternoon we got the drainage system finished for the house. And just in time- Friday night into Saturday morning we had 8/10 inch of rain and....the basement was dry!!!! Hoorah! It appears to have worked. Friday, the boys hauled composted horse manure from the barn/yard to put on top of the plastic rain barrier next to the house. Now I just need to plant some pretty annuals for landscaping and we're all set.

I didn't have much time to work in the garden but at least we got rain so I didn't have to haul water.

We got another head of broccoli- YUM!!!

The basement- will it ever be ready to move in???

V works on the last of the heating/air ducts.

The basement is a mess, without any walls as yet. But it is dry. and much of it has the insulation up and V finished the duct work today. We did get the concrete slab poured and the air conditioner unit is moved back into position. We just need to have someone come and reconnect it and recharge the system and we're all set. The ducts are all reconnected and the system works. We had the fan running this afternoon to circulate the air.

While V worked on the duct work. J15 and I worked on the upstairs bath. The drywall is all up, the cabinet is set in place and the tile backer subfloor is all ready to go.

It doesn't look like much but it represents several days of hard work!

We will tile get the toilet and sink base in place next, then tile the floor, and finally, tape and mud the walls. It still seems like a lot to do but we're making good progress.

The tile is all ready to go!

We're feeling the crunch now. We are required by terms of our mortgage to move by the 21st, so we're in the final push now. We're probably not going to have the basement finished, maybe not even J15's room done. But she will be gone for a week in New Orleans from the 20th to the 27th so maybe we can finish her room then.

I"m going to see how much time off I can talk my co-workers into this week. We NEED to get this done!!!!!

I hope you all had a fabulous long holiday weekend.

Drywall and massacres

It's been a busy day here. I was up early cooking and baking. It's my turn to provide bread for the Sunday service at church this week so I baked some bread this morning. I also created a summer fruit massacre that I'll be featuring in a bit.

But in better news. We worked at the house all afternoon (V had work to do this morning and I was in the kitchen). J15 and I got half the bathroom drywalled!!! Tomorrow we will finish the drywall and hopefully have time to put down the tile backer board so Sunday we can put down the ceramic tile. Maybe by the end of the weekend we can have a functional bathroom upstairs.

Drywall in the bathroom!!

We're still working on getting all the animals to play nicely together. It's amazing, Ticket is doing better with Mandy, the kitten, than with Spaz, who has supposedly lived with dogs before. Mandy is much more willing to let the dog sniff and lick her. At least Spaz is big enough to fend for himself.

Ticket is still getting to know Mandy.

I did make jam this morning. I didn't have enough of any one thing so we have a melange of fruits. Black raspberry, blueberry and peach. J15 nicknamed it "summer fruit massacre" and it stuck. It's REALLY good.

Summer fruit massacre!

Tomorrow is another busy day. We're planning to take some time tomorrow to celebrate the holiday and just enjoy being out at the house. J15 has another date with her new beau to see the fireworks. I don't know- 3 dates in two weeks. It must be serious. The scary thing is- he has his license and drives!!! EEEK.

Independence Days- take 2: week 9

What a busy week it has been. I've been weeding like a fiend for the past two days (well, only in the evening today) The garden is starting to look a little better. I've discovered the drawback of the wonderful, loamy soil that I've got. It dries out quickly. It seems like only last week that I was lamenting that we were having so much rain. Tonight I was hauling water to drooping pepper plants. Of course, the hose is back at the town house since we are using it to pressure wash the garage. sigh

But on to the business at hand. It's Monday again, time for my weekly check in with the Independence Days Challenge. I'm still finding this challenge quite helpful for me in organizing all those things that I'm doing. Even though I know we're accomplishing a lot, sometimes it seems like I'm just spinning my wheels and not getting anywhere. At least this helps me see what I've gotten accomplished toward our goals.

1. Plant something- nope.

2. Harvest something- Behold!!!

Chard, and two firsts: broccoli and a hot wax pepper.

Ok, I know it's not normal to harvest the first broccoli and the first pepper on the same evening. But I'm really excited about the broccoli. I've never grown it before and with all the craziness of moving it got planted out really late and looked pitiful for the longest time. I was actually surprised to find a head of eating size and a bunch of little ones coming along when I was weeding. The pepper- I just couldn't resist.

I also harvested some raspberries and saved some chive seeds.

3. Preserve something- again, only my sanity. Working 6 days straight last week and then only having one day off has been draining. But I only have to work 3 days this week and then I have a 4 day weekend. I may even try to take Wednesday as a vacation day if it stays slow like it's been. I'm really glad that I have so much vacation banked that I can use. I've used a lot of it this spring.

4. Reduce waste- just the usuals: recycled, composted and used cloth bags at the store. We've been repurposing as much building material as we can out at the house with good success. I've slowed down on collecting boxes. We've still got quite a stash and I'm not sure how many more we will need.

5. Prep and storage- not much stored. House prep continues. We've been focusing on waterproofing the basement since much of my food storage space will be down there, not to mention J15's room, my sewing room and the 'play room' so getting it reasonably watertight is a priority before we can start to finish it.

I'm also counting the cats as 'prep and storage' material. They will be figuring prominently in our mouse control plan. I'm actually glad now that we got them before we moved. They and the dog have been getting acquainted slowly but we've been having to keep them isolated from him when we're not available to 'supervise'. This means that J15 has their litter box in her room, which is NOT where she wants it on a permanent basis. So, hopefully they can work things out before we move so we can have the litter box in the downstairs bathroom as we had planned and have the dog leave them in peace as they move about.

6. Build community food systems- hmm, not so much, I've been rather self centered lately and not focusing so much on my community. I'm hoping to make up time later.

7. Eat the food- Still working on eating down the freezer in prep for moving. I had raspberries on my cereal this morning. YUM! We're going to have to incorporate broccoli into the menu tomorrow! And I'm seeing an omelet for breakfast with sauteed hot pepper and onion. I don't normally go in for that big of a breakfast during the week but it sounds sooo good.

I'll try to post more regularly this week but I make no promises. The fabulous weather is supposed to hold through the weekend. Highs in the low 80s, low humidity and clear skies. Sounds like great weather to finish a bathroom.

i've been a bad blogger

It's been a lean week for posts this week. We've been busy. I worked all week plus it was my Saturday to work this weekend. But I did manage to finish up a little early yesterday and we took advantage of the fabulous weather to get some work done. Here's an update of what's been going on.

Nothing I've done, but here is a tiny apple from the mystery tree in the yard. Look closely.

V was laughing at me this afternoon in the yard. We were working to fill in the holes the previous owner's dogs had dug in the yard. I had filled in a hole when suddenly I heard a squeal and realized that I had buried a nest of baby bunnies. We carefully excavated them and then teased each other on how 'soft' we were, even though we knew that they would potentially nibble on the garden.

Spaz is settling in. Please disregard the need for vacuuming.

Mandy finally settles in for a nap in the rocking chair.

The cats are settling in. The dog has been out at the new house during the days since they've been here so they have been having a chance to explore without him around. They won't let him near them so he has decided to bark at them from a distance. Ugh. Mandy has become a bit more bold, coming out to look at him from behind the baby gate we have put up in the door to J15's room (their sanctuary). Ticket is, I think, excited to get to know them. His tail is wagging in a friendly way and he really, really just wants to sniff them all over. He still doesn't know kitty behavior so he is trying to interact with them as if they were dogs. Poor guy.

But in even bigger news:

The well pit is filled!!!!

We just need to put down a layer of plastic that we're doing for waterproofing the basement, a little topsoil and horse manure, get the concrete slab in place and we're set for reinstalling the air conditioning!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!

V and J15 work to install the plastic water barrier.

V has come up with his water abatement plan for the basement. The biggest problem is that there is really poor drainage away from the house for any rain that falls. So, we spent time this weekend excavating a drainage ditch between the house and garage. There will be a plastic barrier fixed to the house and lining the ditch to lead water away from the house. It meant a lot of digging this weekend but hopefully, it will help keep moisture out of the basement. We've got both the North and West side of the house done and those are the sides that leak the worst.

I took advantage of the fabulous weather today to spend several hours in the garden weeding. I tried to rediscover my onions. Let me tell you, pulling large smart weeds from around small onions isn't a pretty thing.

And to end on a positive note:

Raspberries! Both black and golden.

The first 'real' harvest of berries for the year from the raspberries at our town house. I'm not expecting anything from the ones I transplanted this year so at least we'll get a few from the plants I didn't move. I probably won't get enough for jam this year but I'm looking forward to berries on my cereal for breakfast tomorrow.

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!

Busy Saturday

I really dislike Saturday mornings. They feel so wasted, at least when we're trying to get the new house ready to move. V and J15 have Tae Kwon Do and Kum Do classes in the morning which essentially takes them out of commission for anything until about noon. I took advantage of the morning by doing my grocery shopping and organizing the latest 'pile' of boxes to move out. We're really doing well on getting things packed. At least I think so. My parents stopped by in the morning and my Dad asked (tongue in cheek at least) when we're starting to move. We've still got lots of furniture to move but we also have lots of empty cabinets and bookshelves.

This will eventually be V's study.

The children have their rooms packed and moved except for the beds, dressers and desks.

V and I also made a quick trip to one of the local home centers and picked up the things we need to finish the upstairs bath, except for the tile for the floor. We got new light fixtures and a vanity/medicine cabinet for the wall. There was only a mirror on the wall and I can't function without a place to put 'stuff' in the bathroom.

Then we got to work. I finished up some painting elsewhere in the house while V disconnected the existing lights/fan in the bath and took down the existing ceiling. What a job!

The upstairs bath- down to the studs and with no ceiling!

V- HOT and sweaty!

We still don't have the air conditioning unit re-connected to the house and it was humid and in the upper 80's today so it was tough working conditions. But behold:

A new bathroom ceiling!!!

Tomorrow we need to make a run to the other home center in town (they have the trim tile we need). Then we will work on framing in a space for the medicine chest and work on putting up the dry wall for the walls. The tile floor will be last and will definitely be easier to do when we finally have lights in the room again.

The garden looks better today. Things have managed to straighten themselves a bit. I did lose a few tomato branches but that's ok- they'll make more. I also spent time today cleaning up the place. With all the work being done there are boxes, packing materials, wiring bits and general messiness that was driving me nuts. So the cardboard all got stacked for recycling and generally straightened up.

So now I'm tired! and tomorrow will be another crazy-busy day.

But at least it's Solstice- the longest day of the year.

Wind and whining

We had a HUGE thunderstorm come through late Friday afternoon. I had just arrived home from work. After it passed we went out to the new house to survey the damage. There must have been one heck of a wind with it out there. My garden is flattened :( and we have a few downed limbs including what looks like about a 6-8 inch oak limb broken off on one of the trees on the hills. Of course it wasn't a clean break and it's still hung up high in the tree. We also had water in the basement :( when we thought we had the leaks plugged. There was even water leaking in from a place that hadn't leaked before. (sigh)

In other whining news- we had a message from our insurance agent. When we bought the acreage, we explained the plan to her and she was fine with it. But evidently 'corporate' has figured out that we have two homeowner's policies and are pressuring us for a definite date we will make the new house our 'primary residence'. They are likely to issue us with a deadline. Grrr! I don't see why they should care- we're giving them their money.

So, we're planning to do a blitz to try to finish the upstairs bath this weekend. If all else fails J15 can sleep upstairs for a while until we get her room finished if they end up putting too much pressure on us. We figured that if we had another week where neither of us was working and we could spend all our time working on the house, we could be ready. But, I've already taken lots of time off and V has a big writing project that he has to have researched and finished by July 2 (for a July 3 site launch date).

You may not be 'seeing' much of me for a while depending on what comes down. We already know that we have a July 21 deadline for moving- that's one of the stipulations of our mortgage- We have 90 days from closing to be in. It's creeping up faster than the weeds in the garden.

Independence Days- take 2: week 7

Whew! What a week. It seems like time has been flying by and it's time for another IDC update already. It's been busy but sometimes I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. Oh, I know that every little bit gets us closer to our goal but I'm impatient and want everything ready NOW.

Here's my update for the week.

1. Plant something- Hmm, lets see, sweet corn -one freebie variety and then I planted 4 rows of Bloody Butcher corn. You can eat it fresh for sweet corn or let it mature for grinding. It has these fabulous red kernels! Beans (scarlet runners, Christmas limas, green, yellow wax and purple pods), cilantro, cucumbers (way late!!!) and transplanted little dill seedlings from my Mom.

2. Harvest something- lettuce, chard, mustard greens, radishes. I've pretty much given up hope for the peas but maybe once I get the fence up I can get enough for one meal... maybe. I've never tried to plant peas as a fall crop, has anyone else? I was really hoping to get some for the freezer and I have a bit of seed left- so maybe I'll experiment this year. I should have a bit more time by then- I hope.

3. Preserve something- No.

4. Reduce waste- just the usuals. We missed our regular garbage pick up last week in town so actually have a full barrel! That is something of a rarity here. Of course, we have also been pitching a lot of accumulated garbage. I have still been scavenging boxes from work. We're just about there with packing. Most of what's left are things that we are actively using (well, we haven't really started cleaning out the garage yet). We've still got our old video tapes down in the basement but again, V has train stuff on the shelves in front of them so I'm not packing them until it's gone.

5. Prep and storage- still working on the house. I've been trying to figure out where things will go. I've got more cabinet space in the kitchen than I've ever had so it's kind of fun. Unfortunately none of the storage spaces in the basement are finished- the bathroom is the only finished room down there so we have lots of things stacked all over the place upstairs. The room that will be V's study is particularly stacked tall. I'm almost dreading unpacking more than I did packing. I did get the last of my empty canning jars moved out yesterday and I only have a few full jars on the shelves here.

6. Build community food systems- Can't think of anything this week. I didn't even get to the farmer's market. Oh, wait, I bought locally produced yogurt (I had some for lunch with strawberries today - YUM!)

7. Eat the food. We've had home produced salads and I've had a couple of radish sandwiches (bread, butter and sliced radishes, Mmmm). Been trying to eat mostly from stores but as we've been busier, I've noticed that I've been slacking on my usual cooking from scratch. Oh well, we've gotta eat!

I didn't get out of work soon enough to make it to the animal shelter this afternoon (they close at 530) but we did go check out another rescue organization in town. We were able to talk to the woman in charge but they didn't have any animals there at the moment. They are in the process of moving their facility and are still remodeling the new space. But she said they have several cats who do well with dogs- unfortunately they both sound older than what J was hoping for. We were okay with not being able to get our hearts set on a cat since we're not really ready to adopt yet. But I'm seriously hoping a cat will help with the mouse problem. We thought we had most of the spots where they were getting in sealed up- but evidently not. I found some mouse droppings in one of the kitchen drawers on Saturday (I've been reluctant to put anything in those drawers- they seemed to have been a mouse hot spot) so we set some traps last night. V said there were two mice caught under the kitchen sink last night. Grrr. We only caught 2 the entire first month we were there- before we had the holes plugged! (sigh) They must have figured out that there are interesting things inside again. I'm going to have to give serious thought to mouse-proof food storage. I'll have to look for some large tubs or tins for things like rice and pastas. I don't think we'll ever be able to totally eliminate them but I'll be happy if we can at least keep them under decent control. We're worried that there are enough problems with the siding that we won't get the problem under real control until we replace/repair it. The term 'money pit' is still ringing loudly in our ears.

And now, it's nearing the time that I turn into a pumpkin. I was over-tired and didn't sleep well last night so now I'm paying the price.

I feel like I've been rambling for what should have been a straightforward update. Oh well, that happens when I get tired.

I'm tired

It was a busy, busy weekend here. We worked out at the new house Saturday afternoon and all day today. Today was really busy.

Saturday morning we slept in. Not intentionally but I think that exhaustion just caught up with us. even I, who don't generally sleep later than 7 slept until after 9. J15 got up at 940 and mentioned that I didn't wake her up for Tae Kwan Do. I did go up and wake V at that point but they opted to not go to Kum Do at 1015. V and I made a trip to one of the home centers and then we loaded up the vehicles and headed out.

This morning we got an earlier start. I feel somewhat bad that we have been skipping church a lot recently but I've only got so many hours in my weekend and while I find it helpful for centering, I often get the same feeling of peace working in my garden.

I did get a lot done in the garden this weekend. I finally got my sweet corn and beans planted, as well as the cilantro and transplanting the dill seedlings my Mom brought me. This morning I weeded the fenceline and installed most of the rabbit fence around the garden. I got 3 sides done before I ran out of fence and wire ties. Fortunately, I got the 3 most difficult sides done. Now I just need to finish the barnyard side. But I need to put in fence posts to fasten my fence to. I did a bunch of weeding around the peppers and tomatoes but I've conceded that I'll probably never be 'on top' of the weed until we are actually living out there and I can spend a bit more time in the garden. I'm trying to look at this as a 'building year' (taking reference from various sports teams). I did discover that I have a few little peppers set on. It's quite exciting!! The tomatoes are blooming but I think it's been too cool for them to actually set. My eggplant have blossoms forming so we'll see what happens.

This afternoon I spent time ripping out the old subfloor in the upstairs bath. We are planning to use ceramic tile on the floor and the existing subfloor is the wrong kind. So it had to go. But now we are ready to install the tile backer, rip out the existing ceiling and put in drywall, tile the floor, finish the walls, install the new sink base and sink and then we're almost set!

The insulation is finished for the exterior walls in a portion of the basement so we are getting closer to being ready to frame J15's room. The upstairs bath and her room are the things that are keeping us from moving completely.

V did finally get the lights in the dining room finished today. Except for the bathroom, most of the main floor is about ready to move in (well, the kitchen island still isn't finished),

In more fun news, we spent a little time this morning looking online at the available cats and kittens at the local animal shelter. I told J15 that if we are still a bit slow at work this week we will try to go visit this week. I'm not ready to bring a cat home quite yet- we're still a bit chaotic, but we thought we would go see what they have. She has fallen in love with a 10 week old kitten that she saw on line but I told her she needs to meet them before she makes a choice. I'm worried that a kitten that young may have a hard time with the dog. They also have several 10 month olds who look very promising.

Tomorrow it's back to work and the 'real world' V needs to write for his paid job so I don't see much happening out at the farm tomorrow.

Have a great week.

Independence Days- take 2: week 5

Ok. I'm tired.  I seem to be saying that a lot lately.  But I didn't sleep well last night.  We were up late helping J15 on a school project that was due today.  It was a report on her 'life and times'.  She was supposed to prepare a history of her life, with pictures, and correlate the stages/ages of her life with world and US events.  Unfortunately, she ended up redoing much of it.  She had been working on it at school for the past week and had lots of pictures and information on her file on the school server.  Sadly, the school server was down all weekend and she couldn't access any of the photos she had already scanned in.   So she had to re-scan photos from before we had a digital camera and pull information and images off the web to complete her project.  Then, of course, her printer decided to be uncooperative.  Finally, she just saved it as a PDF and V printed it from his computer this morning.  Thank goodness for a household network where we can share files between computers easily.  When we finally got her wrapped up, a thunderstorm came through, and then I was having weird dreams that involved painting and packing.  Hmmm, I wonder why that would be.

I guess the 16 hour days I've been putting in working on the house have taken their toll as well.  Both V and I are feeling physically a bit better this evening after having had a 'down' day today.  V was doing some writing today and I was at work.  We did get out to the house for an hour or so this afternoon after I got off work.  V cut some wire to length for some of the re-wiring that needs done in the house and I got to weed!!!!  Hurrah!!!  Who would think I would be so excited about weeding.  I did get the lettuce, beets and chard weeded, the potatoes hilled a bit and some of the peas weeded.

But on to my usual Monday business: the Independence Days Challenge.

1.  Plant something- 3 huge crowns of asparagus from my parents, my super secret tomatoes, a yellow cherry tomato from our backyard and 10 free flowering tree seedlings (they look like tiny sticks!)

2.  Harvest something- RADISHES!!! our first real harvest from the new garden!  I did snack on a few leaves of chard and a bit of lettuce while I weeded but they aren't quite big enough to harvest for salad yet.

3.  Preserve something- again, my standard reply of  'only my sanity'  But that was quite a feat this week.

4.  Reduce waste- Hmm, the usual but not much else.  We are still trying to repurpose as much as possible out at the house.  Oh, and I guess I keep snagging boxes out of the 'office trash' drop spots at the hospital to use for packing (I got 3 boxes today!).  That saves them from ending up in the garbage.  My brother dropped off lots of boxes for us again today.  We will save all the boxes for them since they are hoping to be moving soon as well.  Oh, and another thing.  I pulled out a bunch of boxes, an almost new mop, broom and a box of cleaning supplies from the dumpster across the alley- someone had dumped lots of their moving/clean up stuff- so I ended up with a bucket, most of a bottle of bleach, nearly full bottles of clorox clean-up and 409 spray, a scrub brush and a few other things.

5.  Prep and storage- Well, we are still working on the ultimate prep of getting our homestead up and running (well, livable comes first!)  Storage is NOT high on my priority right now.  We're trying to downsize our stores before we make the big move or at least not add anything new.  Although, I'll confess, I almost picked up some canning jars I saw last week but then I remembered that my Mom says she has a whole bunch that she isn't using anymore that I could have (after we move!)

6.  Community food systems- Not really.  I guess the sharing of the super secret tomatoes is a kind of building community, even if they weren't mine to give- I was a recipient.

7.  Eat the food- no problem there. We're trying to reduce the stores so we've been eating from stores as much as possible, although I'll confess that we stopped at the store on the way home to pick up some frozen french fries to have with our burgers for dinner tonight.  But tomorrow is cheese tortellini (from the freezer stores- purchased when it was on a good sale) and pesto frozen from last year's garden. We're almost out but I noticed that my basil is up so we'll have more this year.

Not ready but closer

Well, like I said last night, we won't be ready tomorrow.  There isn't really a deadline but I am so anxious to be done with all this craziness so I can begin to settle into a new routine.  My garden is suffering while I've been painting and packing.  I need to spend some quality time weeding and I really need to get my beans and corn planted! It's supposed to rain for the next two days so maybe I can finish up the painting here at the old house in the next two evenings and spend some time out there the end of the week.  There isn't that much painting left to do. I've been putting off painting the dining room because we still have so much furniture left in there that I hate to move more than I have to.  I also still need to paint the trim in the master bedroom and the interior of the back door but we're much closer than we were a week ago.  

Since last Saturday, we have-

OLD HOUSE: 

painted the living room

painted the stairwell and landing/hall at the top of the stairs

painted the boys' bedroom

woodwork painted in bathroom,  boys bedroom, hall and basement/backdoor landing

got garage repaired and half painted

packed numerous boxes

as well as the usual laundry, dishes, birthday parties (bake and decorate cake), meetings/school events to attend, meals prepared, homework monitored, etc.

NEW HOUSE:

moved 4 or 5 vanloads of stuff

finished stripping old flooring from upstairs bath

hung new range hood

installed new track lighting in the kitchen

tried to figure out the wiring (the house is wired very oddly- things on circuits that don't make sense together)

began insulation of the basement

got the well pit over half filled

painted the living/dining room

planted asparagus and trees

Okay, I guess when I list it all out, we did get a lot accomplished- I can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel but it still seems so far away.  Realistically- I don't see how we can list this place while we're trying to move out- things are too torn up.  I would hate to think of having to clean up everything every time I change what I'm doing.  I've been working on packing up my sewing/craft room in the basement (which also doubles as storage for V's guitars, the telescope and various toys) and I have craft stuff scattered all over the desk and table as I sort and pack.  It looks like total chaos  but I actually know where stuff is so it can be packed in an organized manner.  If we were going to be showing the house, I'd have to either finish packing everything or put it all back in the cabinet every time.  

I really need to be more systematic about how I pack.  I've found that I've been rather random about packing- a few boxes from the china cabinet, a few from the kitchen, a few boxes of books- rather than just totally pack one area.  Well, the kitchen and dining room still have things we use but I need to finish packing books.  But, I guess I'm waiting on V to finish packing his train stuff.  He has trains 'parked' on the bookshelves in front of lots of the books and I'm NOT packing those- or all his computer stuff in the basement- so I've packed what I can now I have to wait for him.  I'm not good at waiting.  

Tomorrow I'm back to work so it's back to double duty, working during the day and then working here to get things ready.  Oh well, at least work will be less physically demanding.  Both V and I have been moving pretty stiffly lately.  I think it's the cumulative effect of all the work we've been doing.  Oh, and the fact that we both fell this week.  The old rickety stepladder that was left at the new house collapsed on V as he was climbing down from the attic and my foot slipped off the ladder as I was working in the boy's room and I fell backwards onto the corner of the dresser (I've got a lovely bruise on my right butt cheek!)  V needs to do some writing for his job tomorrow as well so hopefully he'll give himself a chance to rest some.

Although... we've both realized that if we stop moving for any length of time we start to stiffen up so the best solution has been to just not stop.  But we can't keep that up forever.

Thanks to all of you for all your kind comments.  I was in a pretty whiny, stressed out place last night (OK, I still am a bit).  Having your encouragement and understanding has helped me tremendously to keep it all in perspective.