Friday we rented a rotatiller to till up the garden plot. That is a big job. Fortunately Josh helped me! He did the 1st round of tilling, I did a few and then he did a few more. Finally we had some loose soil!
Saturday was cooler and damp. We returned the rotatiller and made a trip to the big box store. I bought some fencing for the garden and Josh picked up the overhead garage door he ordered for the pole barn.
I finally organized my closet Sunday. Our previous house (not the rental) had a master closet the size of a bedroom, so I had shelves and everything in there. This home has nice-sized closets, but no room for shelves other than above the hanging clothes. I bought one of those over-the-door shoe organizers. I found one that didn't have plastic or vinyl on it and it looks nice and keeps all my shoes up and off of the floor. I put my sweaters in a bin in the basement and made a small pile for Goodwill.
Yesterday I made some homemade bread and cookies! I grilled some steak to go with it and baked a few potatoes for dinner.
Josh has been working on framing the basement and really appreciates his new pneumatic nail gun! He worked on the bulkheads today around the ducts and plumbing. That's a big job.
Monday after work I got most of the seeds planted and put the garden fence up. Then Josh and Big Dog returned from the store with a load of over 200 2x4's to unload. (They were $1 off--and that's a lot of money when you need a couple hundred!)
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Earth Day
I just learned about an invasive edible plant that's a big problem in my region-and my own land--garlic mustard! The boys and I had a garlic mustard pull at the edge of our woods yesterday afternoon. We brought a little bit back to the kitchen where we washed it up and tasted it. Tastes a bit like . . . garlic!
We also have an issue with lots of non-fruit bearing brambles! They are everywhere and difficult to remove due to how throny they are. They are not in a place where we can just mow them down.
I haven't started my garden yet. I've been trying to locate an alternative to a rotatiller that I can rent to pull behind the tractor.
This evening we are going to our son's elelmentary school for the science fair. He made a simple project all my himself using his electronics kit.
We also have an issue with lots of non-fruit bearing brambles! They are everywhere and difficult to remove due to how throny they are. They are not in a place where we can just mow them down.
I haven't started my garden yet. I've been trying to locate an alternative to a rotatiller that I can rent to pull behind the tractor.
This evening we are going to our son's elelmentary school for the science fair. He made a simple project all my himself using his electronics kit.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Finally a full CO!
Today we finally got our complete, final certificate of occupancy! Hurray! Now we can apply for that great home buyer tax credit (on an ammended retun since it's April 16) and close on our mortgage!
Yesterday the cement for our sidewalk and approach to the garage was poured and some of the railings were installed on the front porch. Today the final grade of the yard was completed. We still need to go over it to break up the larger chunks of soil and collect the largest of the rocks.
We bought a 50# bag of grass seed today at Tractor Supply Company, along with a new open trailer with a ramp for talking the tractor in for maintainance, among many other uses. I also bought some peat moss for the yet-to-be-tilled garden and the book Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance. It has information on everything from gardening, to home repairs to raising animals, baking, shed building, butchering animals, making sassafrass rootbeer . . . anything we might ever want to know ( and then some)!
Josh is hoping I'm going to make cookies soon. I am hoping to avoid it. My day started 14 hours ago and I'd like to rest now.
Yesterday the cement for our sidewalk and approach to the garage was poured and some of the railings were installed on the front porch. Today the final grade of the yard was completed. We still need to go over it to break up the larger chunks of soil and collect the largest of the rocks.
We bought a 50# bag of grass seed today at Tractor Supply Company, along with a new open trailer with a ramp for talking the tractor in for maintainance, among many other uses. I also bought some peat moss for the yet-to-be-tilled garden and the book Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance. It has information on everything from gardening, to home repairs to raising animals, baking, shed building, butchering animals, making sassafrass rootbeer . . . anything we might ever want to know ( and then some)!
Josh is hoping I'm going to make cookies soon. I am hoping to avoid it. My day started 14 hours ago and I'd like to rest now.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Healthier Kids?
Now that we have all this land, the boys are continuing to play outdoors on their own each day! Even Big Dog, my video-game-addicted-almost-12-year-old wanders outside a few times each day to explore. Yesterday Josh played catch with the boys and a football and today the boys went out on their own and played catch together. This may sound typical for most boys, but it hasn't been for mine, so we're thrilled!
I also got the boys to eat a bit of spinach this evening. The nutrition educator who comes to my parenting class made some quesadillas with cream cheese, cheddar cheese, grilled chicken and spinach. My students loved them and said they couldn't taste the spinach. I made some tonight with our regular meal of grilled chicken, mushrooms and rice. Each boy actually tried it and liked it! They only ate 1/4 of a quesadilla each, but that's more spinach then they're ever eaten before, so I didn't want to push it! Sweet pea said, "If you can't taste it, what's the point on putting it in?" I know the cream cheese wasn't the healthiest thing, but I figure sometimes it takes "a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down!" I do the same thing with that high fructose laiden V-8 Splash and V-8 Fusion. It's not all healthy, but it get the veggies in them at least!
The last few days we got the rest of the barbed wire from the woods and we used the John Deere to drag up an old metal trailer frame we found that had been hidden behind the brambles. We're trying to get the rest of the junk that surfaced once the snow melted and before the leaves come out and hide it all again. If we can, I'd like to start getting some of the fallen trees out of the woods as well before the poison ivy returns and we can't get to it anymore.
I also got the boys to eat a bit of spinach this evening. The nutrition educator who comes to my parenting class made some quesadillas with cream cheese, cheddar cheese, grilled chicken and spinach. My students loved them and said they couldn't taste the spinach. I made some tonight with our regular meal of grilled chicken, mushrooms and rice. Each boy actually tried it and liked it! They only ate 1/4 of a quesadilla each, but that's more spinach then they're ever eaten before, so I didn't want to push it! Sweet pea said, "If you can't taste it, what's the point on putting it in?" I know the cream cheese wasn't the healthiest thing, but I figure sometimes it takes "a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down!" I do the same thing with that high fructose laiden V-8 Splash and V-8 Fusion. It's not all healthy, but it get the veggies in them at least!
The last few days we got the rest of the barbed wire from the woods and we used the John Deere to drag up an old metal trailer frame we found that had been hidden behind the brambles. We're trying to get the rest of the junk that surfaced once the snow melted and before the leaves come out and hide it all again. If we can, I'd like to start getting some of the fallen trees out of the woods as well before the poison ivy returns and we can't get to it anymore.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Step 1: Buy the land. Check.
Step 2: Sell the house. Check.
Step 3: Build the new house. Check.
Step 4: Move into the new house. CHECK!
We got our temporary certificate of occupancy late Wednesday afternoon. My parents came down Wednesday evening to help us with the move. Josh's mother came down Friday morning. By Saturday we were organized and cleaned enough to make Easter dinner before my parents left. This afternoon everyone is gone and we have our new home to ourselves. Too bad I'm so incredibly exhausted. I got some groceries this afternoon. Tomorrow it's back to school for the kids and I, so we'll have to review new bus numbers, bus stops, and after school procedures today. I have some school work to be done before morning also.
My mom and dad gave us our birthday money early so we could buy some fruit trees. Maybe I can do that next weekend. We're hosting our monthly Euchre (cards) club this Friday, so I need to get the inside of the house in shape as much as possible.
Step 2: Sell the house. Check.
Step 3: Build the new house. Check.
Step 4: Move into the new house. CHECK!
We got our temporary certificate of occupancy late Wednesday afternoon. My parents came down Wednesday evening to help us with the move. Josh's mother came down Friday morning. By Saturday we were organized and cleaned enough to make Easter dinner before my parents left. This afternoon everyone is gone and we have our new home to ourselves. Too bad I'm so incredibly exhausted. I got some groceries this afternoon. Tomorrow it's back to school for the kids and I, so we'll have to review new bus numbers, bus stops, and after school procedures today. I have some school work to be done before morning also.
My mom and dad gave us our birthday money early so we could buy some fruit trees. Maybe I can do that next weekend. We're hosting our monthly Euchre (cards) club this Friday, so I need to get the inside of the house in shape as much as possible.
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