200 posts!

Wow!  It seems like only last week that I started this little exercise.  Today marks 200 posts!  My goodness, how time flies when you're having fun!  So much has happened in the months since I started.  The adventure continues.

Today we got a late start out at the house.  We all slept in and were moving rather slowly this morning.  After a late breakfast and a trip to the home center, we all trundled out to the house to work.  My parents surprised us by showing up later in the afternoon to help (and to bring fresh cut asparagus from their garden- YUM!)

V finished getting as much concrete as he can safely remove from the well slab.  He is worried that breaking up the rest of the slab will drop pieces of concrete onto the pressure tank and we definitely don't want to damage that!  My Dad supervised while V worked and the children all helped move wheelbarrows of debris to a dumping pile.  V hopes to use the chunks of concrete for constructing dams in the creek to make some catchment pools to slow the erosion.

My Dad also helped me pound in the fence posts for the peas that my Mom and I finally got planted.  I have some earlier ones planted at Roger's house but these were the first things that we planted at the new place.  I also got all my onions planted (100 each of white, yellow and red) as well as chard, beets, lettuce, radishes and my broccoli seedlings.

Having my parents come help was great but it did really drive home that they are getting old (they are both in their 80s now).  My Mom had to take a break after planting a bit and my Dad was winded after hammering in the fence posts for me.  It really made me rather melancholy.  But the weather was beautiful and I finally got something planted.  My Dad helped me identify that we have a mulberry tree in the yard and Mom agreed with me that it looks like the apple was cut off at the ground and came up from the roots.

I also went the way of industrial ag this afternoon and wandered around with a sprayer of Round Up.  I know, I know... there are better, less damaging ways of killing weeds but we have SO MANY stinging nettles, thistles and poison hemlock plants growing that I wanted to really get them quickly.  There are nettles growing in the fence line around the garden and I keep running into them when I'm working.  Don't worry, there are still plenty if we want to  make tea.  I only worked around the garden edge and behind the barn where the hemlock was really thick.  I don't want the dog accidentally munching on something that poisonous.  I'm actually surprised that the previous owners didn't do something about it since they had horses.

Tomorrow it's back to work.  It should be really interesting.  We are starting with a brand new computer system for documentation that went live on Saturday. Hopefully they have gotten the kinks worked out of it by tomorrow.  It will probably be a very stressful day trying to get used to the new system so I just hope it isn't too busy.   I've got plenty on my plate with out work throwing me a curve.  

Dog Tired

Oh My, I'm tired!  V even more so.  We worked HARD today.  He was out early with a rented 12 inch chop saw cutting through the concrete slab that covers the well.   He didn't have a good time.  Evidently when they poured it, rather than using re-bar, they used several steel fence posts as reinforcement.  But he got through most of it before he called it quits.  Now that there is access, the well guys can come in next week and bring the well up to code and shock it so we can finally drink the water.  Then comes the septic.

Me, this morning I dug raspberries and then transplanted them out at the new place.  12 black raspberries and 16 golden ones as well as a few bluebells.  Then I mowed the lawn, at least that immediately around the house- with our push mower that chose today to suddenly be not-self propelled.  Ugh!!! What a job.  The grass was about 10 inches in some places and still wet.  To make matters worse, the previous owners' dogs dug holes in the yard which are now hard to see until you either step into them or the mower gets stuck.  Not to mention that the yard needs some serious re-grading (which hopefully will happen when we replace the septic) because there is a wicked hill.

We had a few visitors today as well. First, our realtor stopped out to see how things were going.  I think really to get a feel on when we will be ready to out our house on the market.  V is speculating that he has someone lined up already and is just waiting for us to be ready to move out.  

Then was the other surprise visitor.  V and I were taking a break to get a drink when an Iowa State Trooper pulled into the drive and got out of his car.  Lets just say that we were a bit nervous at first.  But, it turns out that he is one of our neighbors (one of the 3 houses we can see from our property) and was just stopping in to welcome us to the neighborhood.  It turns out that his MIL grew up in our house and is probably one of the kids from the family that originally built it.  Talk about a small world.

I did take a walk about to see what is blooming at the new house.  There were a few surprises that should be fun to see how they turn out.

The wild cherries are just starting to open (there is a bee on the blossom- sorry for it being out of focus- the wind gusted just as I took the shot).  Wild cherries here are a 'weed' tree but still good for making wine.

There is an apple tree beginning to bloom.  I have no idea if it will produce any fruit and it is in really bad shape- it looks like someone cut it off at the ground and it came up from the stump so there are lots of 'trunks' intertwined making it look more like a big shrub.
We also have an ornamental flowering quince- pretty flowers but not much else.
I know I already posted a picture of the Bleeding Hearts but they are just gorgeous.
Just on the other side of the fence is a grove of wild plums in full bloom.  They smell heavenly!!!  Also, as I was planting the golden raspberries near the fence I discovered that there are wild raspberries across the fence as well as what looks like gooseberries.  Hopefully they are escaped cultivars since I know that wild ones tend to not produce as heavily.  

I did get the rest of the garden tilled last night since Roger called and wanted his tiller Friday night so he can work his garden this weekend. It was a bit wetter than I would like because of all the recent rain but it wasn't too bad.  So tomorrow- I plant!!!

When we called it quits we finally went out and did our 'big ticket' ordering.  We have a lawn tractor that will be delivered on Tuesday and my new range and range hood will be delivered in about 2 weeks (they are both special order items).  Hopefully by that time, we will have the gas line run and the island constructed and ready to go in the kitchen.  We have realized that we won't get everything done that we wanted before we move in.  We at least need to have the kitchen remodel done and J14's room in the basement finished.  Everything else, we can finish when we're there.

In some other good news,  V had a call from his little brother- the one who is a co-owner of an energy company in Texas that he is doing freelance writing for.  Anyway, bigK and his partners evidently like the work V has been producing and want to give him more responsibilities/work and will double what they are paying him.  It could make things interesting with the timing of trying to get work done at the house.  Maybe we will need to get the cable hooked up at the house early since that is the only way we will get high speed internet access out there and we're not going back to dial up.  So, that is good news on the financial front, especially since the publishing company that V worked for previously will be closed for good on the 15th of this month so there will be no more copy editing jobs from them.

Now, off to watch a video with the children for a bit and then it's off to bed for me.  Tomorrow is another busy day.  I'm excited that I'm finally going to be putting things in the ground in my new garden!!!

What's blooming at my house

I took a break from life's duties to stop and smell the flowers.  We've worked so hard on this place over the years.  It makes me almost regret moving.

Finding balance

Ok,  I'm having trouble balancing work, motherhood, homemaking and homesteading all at the same time. I'm feeling torn in many directions this week.  

Today was no exception.  I spent a full day at work and ended up spending an hour this afternoon with a patient who was sobbing and wondering why she should go on in life- trying to find meaning in all the hardships she has been through recently.  I really felt bad that I had to cut her short because I really HAD to leave because I only had 30 minutes to get home (25 minute walk), get the car and drive to the high school to pick up I11 after band.  I walked home, picked him up, got K9 from the after school program and dropped them off at home.  I then quickly changed clothes and drove out to the acreage.  Since it didn't rain again today I managed to get about 2/3 of the garden tilled for a second time.  I would have finished but I ran out of gas- and of course, we weren't organized enough to have brought out the gas can.  So I put away the tiller, kissed V- who was finishing up fixing the porch roof (lots of the cedar shakes had fallen off), stopped at the grocery store on my way home for milk and frozen french fries, called J14 to turn on the oven, came home, made dinner (we ate by 7! getting better), got kids through homework and sat down at the computer.  I still need to do the dinner dishes and maybe start to box up some things from the upstairs game shelf.

Any suggestions on how to make things run more smoothly?  I know that this is a temporary crazy period in my life but any suggestions are welcomed on how I can continue to preserve my sanity.

It didn't rain today!

More bleeding hearts discovered- white ones this time!

V again spent the afternoon out at the homestead.  He had an editing job to do this morning (he'll finish it tomorrow morning)  and had to meet the guy from the heating/air conditioning people in the afternoon.  They got the air conditioner unit moved so we can begin the work on the well.  Next, we need to somehow remove the 6 inch thick concrete slab that sits over the well pit (the air conditioner was sitting on this) so the well guys can extend the well head and shock the well so we can drink the water.  After the well, comes the septic system.  Things are moving, although seemingly slowly on this front.

V spent much of his afternoon demolishing the basement.  There are only a few walls left.  The ceiling tiles in the bathroom were quite nasty, as were many things.

An open expanse- the west third of the basement.

You can see in the distance one of the many sinks.  There is another, identical sink about 6 feet to the right of that one and the plumbing for another one in another part of the basement (they took the utility sink with them- of course- grrr).  One sink down here will remain- an extra sink isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially in what will likely be a craft/work area. The other will be moved up into the upstairs bathroom- which is HIDEOUS!!! I'll have to post a picture of the upstairs bath sometime. It is entirely paneled in dark wood (walls, floor, ceiling) with only one small (North) window that looks out on the side of the garage- it is dark and claustrophobic.

Off to the right is the gutted darkroom, ground zero of mouseland.

Some of the framing will remain for these walls. In fact, the wall you see here will be one of the walls for J14's room, in the corner (ahead, right) will be my sewing/guest bedroom.

It didn't rain today.  I checked the garden.  It is wet but not WET so I'm hoping that if it holds off raining tomorrow as well, maybe I can till one more time tomorrow late afternoon or evening.  But, we're forecast for more rain tomorrow night, Thursday and Friday.  We already had 2+ inches- enough already!  I want to garden!!!

But one nice thing...after a few small repairs and actually connecting the downspouts to take the water away from the house (what a concept!)- even with 2 inches of rain Sunday night- we didn't have water in the basement Monday morning!  YEAH!!!

I'm feeling a bit more in control than I did over the weekend. We're getting the new schedule down pretty quickly. And coming home to the 'town house' helps with meals and homework for the kids.

Oh, and my fingerling potatoes arrived today.  Certified organic seed potatoes!  Woo-Hoo!  Now if I just had somewhere to put them....

Independence Days- weeks 20 and 21 and a garden update

Whoosh,  I'm tired!  And I didn't even go out to the acreage today, staying home after work and getting caught up on dishes and laundry.  V was out there this afternoon working on gutting more of the basement.  It seems that everywhere he tears something down he finds mouse poo.  He reports that the ceiling panels are bad enough that he doesn't even want to try to reuse the electrical wires because they are all covered with it.  I can't imagine how these people lived there, let alone run a vet hospital.  Of course, it seems that all they did was put bandaids on the problem rather than do the work to eliminate it.  Since they had a mouse problem, they built a mouse-proof storage room to keep the animal food- rather than seal up the hole in the mudsill where you could see daylight through, or the holes in eaves, or the holes around the well room.  AAARGH!!!!

But, progress is being made and soon we will be able to thoroughly seal the place and hopefully get things under control.  I do think that almost all of the mice have moved out since it warmed up and there has been no food source for so long.  We have caught only one mouse in the traps we have set.  We have also been very careful to not leave any food out or scraps in the garbage that may attract them.  I realize that living out in the country we will probably never totally be mouse free but what has been here is amazingly horrific!  One line from the previous owners that we have been joking with:  When we commented about the amount of mouse poop (before we knew how bad it really was), they said "Obviously, you don't know about living in the country".  Obviously!  I grew up in the country- I just don't know about living the way they did.  Ick!!! and to imagine that they had a baby living in that mess...I don't want my dog living in that!

But now, down to business.  I've been lax about updates on challenges lately, so here goes:

Independence Days Challenge, several weeks lumped together:

1. Plant something- I did manage to get the strawberries in the ground last week but the garden area still needs work before it's ready to plant anything. I received notice that my fingerling potatoes have finally shipped and should be here tomorrow or Wednesday and I really need to get my broccoli seedlings and more peas in the ground.  I just hope it doesn't keep raining.  We had about 2 inches of rain and more is forecast for later in the week.  I'm still waiting for my blueberries and other plants to arrive and I really need to transplant my golden and black raspberries before they get too much bigger.

2.  Harvest something- Other than a few chives for on potatoes last week, nope.

3. Preserve something- Only my sanity, and that is questionable.

4. Store something- Nope.

5. Manage reserves- we've eaten mainly out of stores last week- mostly because I didn't make time to go to the grocery store...except for Sunday night dinner which I feel awful about...I fed my family frozen pizza!  Ack! how could I have fallen so low.

6.  Cook something new- only frozen pizza.  I think I've only ever bought them once or twice before in my entire life.  Of course, at 830 pm, we only cared that it was food.  At least I didn't go through the drive through and pick up fast food.

7. Prep something- We pulled off the ultimate prep and have our land.  Now, just to make it livable.

8.  Reduce waste- NOPE, other than the usual.  In fact, we have been generating an enormous amount of waste in fixing the house.  We had hoped to be able to salvage as much as we could but with the amount of mouse waste on things, we're opting to just pitch it.

9.  Learn a new skill- OK. I'm learning construction techniques and learned how to hang gutters on a house.  I also learned how to use V's new compound miter saw-  OOO, power tools!

10.  Work on community food security- other than prepping my garden space and talking with Roger, not really.

11.  Regenerate what is lost- Ummm.  Talked to my parents about helping rehab the house, worked out with my brother to borrow his saws-all, air compressor and nail gun.

12.  Behavior change.  Definitely no procrastinating around here.  Although, I do need to work on being more organized.  I did pretty good during the week last week, taking things with us that we needed, figuring out how to feed everyone but that all fell apart over the weekend.  I haven't even made out the menu for the coming week.  Heck, I don't even know what we're having tomorrow.  I'd better think about that.

Now, for a brief garden update, since I'm  doing the seed to seed challenge.  Most of my garden stuff is mentioned above.  Since it rained, Roger said I can keep the tiller for now,  I think my garden spot will dry pretty quickly- it's on the top of a hill and the soil is pretty light, in fact, some places, there is so much organic material (and horse poop) that it's almost like digging in compost, I do really want to till it deeper to stir up some of the 'real' soil underneath to even it out.  We're supposed to have sunny skies tomorrow and hopefully Wednesday.  I'll have to check it out Wednesday afternoon to see if it's dry enough to till.  I would like to be able to give Roger back his tiller this weekend.  That and I will have my fingerling potatoes to plant soon.

I'm feeling so behind on this garden stuff.  While I'm thrilled that we have the property in time to plant this year, the time crunch is killing me.  We still have to get our current house in shape to sell.  ACK.  Maybe I'll just give up on sleep for the next few months...Nah, I like it too much.

House- Day 7: Exhausted!!

We have Bleeding Hearts!!!

That was the high point of my day.  We put in 11 hours straight today.  Whoosh!!! We're all tired.  Mostly V and I.  The kids took lots of 'breaks' but did manage to get a few things done.

I11 works on painting his room

We did manage to get both coats of paint on his room so tomorrow we can pull the painter's tape and it will be done!  Now we can start using both boys' rooms for stacking boxes.

V says that I "work willingly with my hands".  Wow, I didn't know I was virtuous.

But, the fascia and soffits are done!!!!  Behold:

Yeah, I know, gutters aren't that exciting to most people.

Now, it's very late and we have yet to eat.  (pizza is in the oven)  Tomorrow I go back to work.

Sigh....  I do wish I had more time to work on the house.  I don't think we will have everything done by the time we had hoped to move in.  But we'll see how far we get.