What started with just removing the carpet project.......

 Saturday was a challenge.  We had to drive one hour to get some supplies that were sold out in stores near us.  The weather was an issue. It was cold and the wind was recorded up to 74 mph in the area.  Power went out in many cities nearby, but thankfully not ours.

Hauling supplies in the back of a truck was not fun.  When we got home, the trim had been blown downward and was almost out of the bed of the truck.  We got it home and in the garage thankfully.  Yes, it was tightly strapped in, but like I said, high wind warning.

One ceiling fan is down, and not because we wanted it down.  You can see the original wall paint color of "country white."  Ceiling is painted.

New paint color for the walls.  We put 3 paint samples up to figure this out, and we did not go back to Home Depot.  We went to a local store, where we could get a more professional assistance on getting the right color.  The problem with Home Depot etc. is that they are constantly hiring people, and they have no knowledge to help correctly.  Anyway....

It's sort of difficult to show the wall paint color, but it is a gray.  One ceiling fan is completely down, so the light is not great in there for now.  Whoever installed the ceiling fans installed them incorrectly.  You should be able to remove the screws to pull the ceiling portion down to paint, and they installed them, so when you unscrew the very top, the entire fan comes down.  

One wall in the bedroom contains the walk-in closet.  The builders installed the door to it, dead center of the long wall.  It prevents us from putting the bed anywhere but one wall, because the bathroom in there is built in one corner of the room.  Yeah, it's been fun.

Guess who wants to cut a new door to the very side, so we can move furniture in a better layout?  Yep.  My husband.  The closet is FULL of the dismantled bed and other stuff from the bedroom, so that has to come out in order to do that.  Talk about stressed and overwhelmed right now.  In order to set the bed back up, we have to finish moving the closet door, and install trim.  Updates on that later. 

Meanwhile, I'm trying to set up a brooder, but have yet to find the pullets I want.  The eggs are over flowing due to take out and less home cooking.  I guess that needs to start again.

I'm thankful for the "little" things right now.  I'm thankful for the homemade lip balm I keep in my purse, because I cannot access mine, that I keep in my bedroom night stand.  

Painting progress and other tidbits

 

I'll admit, I have been terrible at cleaning the ceiling fans in the bedroom.  After dusting with the swiffer duster, I had to wash them with soap/water.  You can see the dust left on them after dusting them.  I'm also going thru to many duster refills, so I invested in this...

The blue cover slides off, and is washable.  The unit can be attached to your extender handle you use for painting ceilings with (if you have one).  Works great for weekly dusting on these types of ceiling fans.

My hands are cracked, dry and sore.  My back is sore by most evenings.  My fingernails are worn, torn and look terrible.   I'm climbing ladders unsupervised most days, but progress on the bedroom is starting to happen.  

In order to paint, I had to climb into our walk-in closet like a monkey holding a flashlight.  I had to get our "paint" clothes.  Mission accomplished.  Oh, the reason for the flashlight?  Well, the switch in there is a motion sensor switch, installed behind the door (builders did some dumb stuff), and it is not working.  It's on the to-do list with everything else.  

When our bed was dismantled, it ended up in three places - the master bath, the hallway and the walk-in closet.  Hence the monkey climbing.

The ceiling fans had to be cleaned, as they were covered in order to paint the ceiling.  Today, it's wall painting day.  It's also the day Tiger is to get out of the emergency vet.  We have not heard any update on his condition, so I am stressed and worried it will not be good news.

Daughter E has been keeping herself very busy at her salon, but also with her boyfriend.  She however, became even more stressed yesterday when she found out her boyfriend's Grandpa passed away.  Instead of her focusing on her cat, whom she loves dearly, she focused on her boyfriend.  She made him a basket. 

It made us tear up, that she was so very thoughtful, when she was so mentally stressed over her cat.

It's been cold and raining here, and today high wind warning.  I guess I'm thankful for the little things right now, considering our "living in the wild" during this process of renovations.

I'm thankful for leaving a sweater on a hook in the kitchen.  I cannot get to my bathroom, which I left on the back of the door in the master bath.

Whirlwind continues...

 

Tiger when he was a baby.  He is under emergency vet care until possibly Saturday, depending on his prognosis.   He had an emergency ultra sound, which found crystals in his bladder, causing a blockage.  He was in miserable pain.  He is not being treated, but there is the possibility for kidney damage.  We are in touch with daughter E for updates.

The painting progress on the bedroom is slow going for now.  It takes two people to just do the ceiling edging.  Our ceiling is 8 foot, 9 inches tall, so a tall ladder is required, as well as someone to hold the paint tray, and yes we will be needing to cover the entire bedroom floor with plastic.  There are two ceiling fans in the bedroom that need spring cleaned before we cover them with plastic to paint the ceiling as well.  I feel like this room is the one that will make me lose my marbles.

I just want my bed back, so I'm hoping for at least the paint work done this weekend, in order to put the bed back together.  The air mattress is messing with us getting a good night's sleep.

There is so much going on right now, it's nuts!  I have now moved drying racks to my living room, and I feel like the entire house is chaotic.  I don't do "chaotic" very well.

On top of everything going on, I am stressing about getting the new coop started.  It's rained here for days, and the ground is mushy mess.  

Stress over time....

 Renovations gone wrong.....so many variables to deal with this time around.

My husband thought it would be grand to just take a short vacation while the bedroom carpet was removed and new flooring installed.  We went, we returned, and we are so frustrated right now.

First, we hired the same person who did our living room and kitchen bathroom.  Second, we hire him for chicken duty, and watering seedlings, so we do know him.

Came home to find the flooring installed in the wrong direction, and he knocked a large hole in one wall (we are still waiting for him to explain, but he will be fixing it on his dollar not ours, which also delays painting, which should have been done before new flooring....see what I mean about stress?).

He also did not water my seedlings.  It appears that he watered one time while we were done.  He literally was here every single day and asked me and I explained how to water them (he's watered them before).  98% of my seedlings most likely won't make it.  I'm beyond livid.  

This morning I get a call that my youngest daughter's cat is in distress and sick.  I am jumping in the shower and there will be an emergency vet visit.   Could this week go any worse?

...and it begins!

.....tomorrow morning.

We have not only carpet, but tile to remove (hard to explain what they did, like I said built for someone in a wheelchair), before the flooring goes in.

Oh, and my husband said, picking out the paint was on me.  Hm.  He wasn't that thrilled with the living room color until it was all done.  Not sure how this will turn out ha ha!  I will get samples before buying it.

Blog posts should resume after we are done or close to being done.  Hopefully some photos to share some time next week.

Coffee hour with me . . .

Grab a cup of coffee and let's have a short chat.

Not many "homesteading" things going on right now.  I'm mostly doing the purge/pack/donate motions.  There may be more take out dinners than home cooked for a few weeks.  We have however picked up seed potatoes for the garden.

Chicken's watering units got a good scrubbing.  The sun has been shining again, and a bit warmer, so they are laying pretty well right now.  Rain returns this weekend.

We are a bit frustrated with the company buy out.  We are in limbo with health insurance and he just had a check up.  I got a nice big bill of $210.00.  Hopefully the new cards will show up ASAP and I can get this mess taken care of.  

I got one camper ornament completely finished.  I forgot how much work goes into just one.  I have the pieces already made, but have a dozen or so to actually assemble.  I'd like to have them done for the craft show next month.  I've been so busy with the bedroom, that my crochet time is about minuscule right now.

Before I added the cheese.

I finally got some garden tomatoes out of the freezer, and tried enchilada (chicken) soup for the first time.  We have also enjoyed some home canned lemony-tomato basil soup (keto bread for hubby, and we put home canned cowboy candy in the grilled cheese).  That's a bit of butter in the soup.  Mmmm!  

Tonight is the last night to clear out the remaining furniture in the master bedroom.    The work begins tomorrow.  I'll be so glad to get that stinky carpet removed, but it has been a whirlwind so far.

Random Chit Chat ~ Post Office Closed ~ Finished and Unfinished and other tidbits

 I went to our small town post office last weekend to mail a package to a friend.  There was a hand written note on the door that they were closed "due to staffing issues."  How is this happening?  Anyway, we didn't get mail delivered either.

Finished!  A 17th set of pot holders ha ha!  I had to finish them, so that is done, but I won't be starting a new set any time soon.  Hopefully I will sell them next month, and I do have to deliver a set soon.

Another unfinished crochet project - doll afghan, but it's getting ripped out and yarn put away.  I think I was just looking for something new to sell.  Anyway, more yarn found, ha ha!

I pulled the totes out from under our bed.  One went upstairs, one had yarn, and one had a lot of stationary.  I pitched the envelopes (gone bad, discolored etc) and kept the paper for lists at my desk.  The last tote is my husband's college stuff.  He'll have to go thru that on his own.  Oh, and I found printer paper and matching envelopes. 

New rule for me:  Do not store anything under the bed!!  We just forget it's there, and collects dust, and makes it hard to clean under there.  Having carpet made it worse, but it's one bad habit to break this year.

I purged more clothing, and dusted a lot more. I started another box for donations.  Anyway, getting a lot more done, but I feel busier and busier, and boy the lists are going mad with reminders and what not.

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

We are approaching the count down on starting the carpet removal.  It's been a process for this room.  It's funny how fast (or slow) a job can go, when it involves where you sleep at night. 

Anyway, expect blurps in my blog posts.  We plan to start this Friday.  It will become crazy busy, as I try and figure out how to survive with things a hot mess again.

I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom (although all our kids have moved out)

The weather . . .

Cold, in the 30's but will warm up to the 50's this weekend.

As I look outside my window . . .

There is more snow.

Right now I am . . .

Brewing coffee.  The time change has me all messed up.

Thinking and pondering . . .

We thought about it, and and pondered, and decided to sell our record player and vinyl.  We used it twice since we've had it over the last 14 years.

On my TV . . .

Anything that looks interesting.

Listening to . . .

Country.

On my lunch plate. . .

Have no idea.

On my dinner plate . . .

Have no idea.

On the menu. . .

-grilled cheese, home canned tomato-basil soup

-enchilada soup

-leftovers

On my reading pile. . .

No reading as I am clearing the bedroom.

On the to-do list . . .

-Dust
-laundry
-plan meals
-work on bedroom

Plans for the week . . .

Take all the wall decor down in the master bedroom, box it up, remove any furniture other than the bed (still making a plan).  I finally convinced my husband to work on the bedroom first, then the closet (not all at once as he wanted).  I still have a lot of work to purge the closet (craft related supplies, purge shoes/boots, more clothing etc etc).

What I am creating . . .

I'm down to the last two color sections on our blanket, but need to check my yarn stash for gray.  I was incorrect on how much I needed, and may need to get more.

My simple pleasure . . .

Journaling.

Looking around the house . . .

Well, it looks as it would if you emptied an entire room into another room.  Again.

From the camera . . .

One of the many 45's I have. I have many from the 80's, and bought them in our home town at a record store that is still in business.

Bible Verse, Devotional . . .

Prayers for Hope, as she struggles daily with the loss of her husband.

A Few of my Favorite Things . . .

 

By "few" in this post, I really do mean a few.  There isn't much going on, as it is winter.  We got more snow last night too.  I managed to box up a bookshelf, dust it off and move it all out of the bedroom.  

I found books to a series I donated, and books to a series I am reading.  I really should just start using the library again ha ha!

I got after my husband for his willy nilly decisions/plans for the bedroom.  First, the best time to paint is when the carpet is out, and before flooring goes down.  He is really driving me nuts, so I just try to stick to the fact everything has to be moved out to get that stinky 14 plus year old carpet out.  The  one thing we have to figure out is where to sleep for a few days if we can't just slide the bed back and forth as the work is done.  We'll figure it out.

Although we dropped off donations, I now have more, and it just gets easier as we do this extreme clean.

I purchased a deep fryer strainer (not sure what the proper name of this is) to blanch vegetables with.  I can easily strain off the hot water, and place the entire basket into my ice bath, then drain and freeze.  It makes my life much easier.

I love this chef's knife, but wish I had an 8 inch one as well.  It is a 10 inch Victorinox chef's knife.  It's on the wish list for now.  The 8 inch sells for $50 some dollars right now.  I'm hoping the prices drop.  This knife works the best for slicing up harder squash like spaghetti squash, pumpkins, and butternut.

Bedroom Purge/Pack ~ Where's the Crust Pizza ~ Einkorn Peanut Butter Cookies

 I'll admit, if I was my husband, I would not want to do a thing in the mornings with his schedule.  By the way, that crazy schedule has now ended as of today.

However, baking him peanut butter cookies got him motivated.

We cleaned in the bedroom for almost 2 hours, purged, tossed stuff, vacuumed, dusted.....still not done.  The one fall back with a large bedroom, is more "stuff."   The bedroom has a tall ceiling, and is approximately 21 x 15 feet.  Yeah, that large, and originally built for a person in a wheel chair.  

It has really made me realize how much crafting stuff I still own.  I'm on the fence with getting rid of things like macramé, as I may feel like making some hanging plant holders.  Anyway, just lots of "stuff."  I found an entire container filled with all sorts of sequins.  I thought I gave that away, but one of the daughter's must have snuck that back into our closet.  Hmpf.  It's being donated.

My husband stood up and said, "there we are all ready"  and I had to laugh.  There are totes under the bed, a bookshelf I have to pack up and move out, and make decisions on keeping some other stuff still in there.  Oh, and pack up our night stands, move them out.

I'm on the fence with this new recipe.  It tasted good, but I think I would make changes.  First, the crust is too thin I think.  I would maybe double it.  I also think my home canned pizza sauce was not cooked thick enough this time.  I would like to try it with Italian sausage too.  Good, a bit messy, as it is not finger food and definitely fork food.  The crust is basically cheeses, egg, pepper and garlic powder.

Recipe is Where's the Crust Pizza, by Plain Chicken online.

The pan looks messy, because I had to scoop some out quickly, for my husband to take to work.  I didn't have time to let it cool for him.  Anyway, a gluten free, but not calorie free crust.

Sort of a boring post, but it's winter here and there is still snow on the ground, so not much going on homestead-wise.

Procrastination Station (aka computer)

The worst thing for me to do on a whack-a-doodle schedule, is to sit at the procrastination station (computer) too long.  I tend to browse crochet patterns, and have already printed one to crochet another item for the living room (a summer project that is much smaller).  My husband gets up late in the morning, due to his later work hours, so I'm totally thrown off with my own early morning routine.  Plus!!!  I'm not sleeping well with this schedule.

I also have about 98 draft posts I am going thru.  Most are getting deleted, but I try and read a few every day to work those out of my blog.

I got a visit with one daughter, and I totally forgot to pull meat from the freezer to go with yesterday's leftover veggies.  

I roasted a lot to save us time over the next few days, in hope to clear more out of the master bedroom.

Anyway, this is what happens when I browse patterns.....it's not like I can purge and pack up the bedroom if he's sleeping.

What do you think of this pattern?  The original pattern called for changing yarn color differently, but I am not a fan of sewing in a hundred or two hundred ends either.

Another reason why my own blanket is not done yet, ha ha!

Although, I blame my brain for this other blanket getting started.  I went upstairs to take yarn up, and to look for more black for my own blanket.  I came down with 4 colors not even related to my blanket, and well, my brain said to make it and put it up for sale eventually.....back to my blanket now....

I found more soft white, grey heather, and black, so I'm back to finishing it up.  It is almost done.  Oh speaking of this blanket, both my husband and one daughter agree that the sofa needs another blanket just like this.  Sigh.  Oh, I had to frog a few rows, because I left my crochet hook out and thought it was the correct size, and it was not. It was larger.  Another sigh.

Painting of course will not resume until the end of the month.  I'm have started to purge clothing so that is a start.  I already have piles to pass on to the girls, and piles to donate, but a lot more to clean/purge etc.  I have a lot more craft related items to deal with, and time is a tickin'!

I found another mini clipboard project (sigh) in our bedroom closet, but almost completely done.  I just had to glue the magnets onto the back.  These make great gifts by the way.  You can see the how-do on my other blog using scrap fabric as an option to decorate the front of it (Click Here).

The forecast was correct.  Snow today.  

Tiger, daughter E's cat is not doing well.  She is keeping me updated, but all we can do is wait.  He is about 13-14 years old.

Storing Ginger Root ~ Loony Lane ~ Peaches

 I have stored ginger root in my freezer for years.  I simply wash and dry it on a vegetable drying mat.

I wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and tuck into a freezer bag.  I simply take it out when I need it, and re-wrap it and put it back in the freezer.

Recently, I have learned of a second way to store it.  Thanks to the cooking channel and learning new tips and tricks in the kitchen.

Cut and peel the ginger root.  Place in an air tight glass jar with sherry or brandy, and place in your refrigerator.  Hm.  It will be nice to have it already peeled.

I've dubbed my home "loony lane" for this month.  My husband is putting down the hammer, added with a time limit, to get the bedroom packed up and off the carpet.  The problem is, he doesn't understand I can't do it all by myself with that amount of time.

I swear, he is going to make me lose my mind.  I had to drag him into the walk-in closet and explain that everything on two shelving units has to be packed up and those shelves, that sit on the carpet have to move too.  This next renovation is gonna get the best of me.

Despite trying to get him to do anything before he goes to work, I am trying to get stuff done.  He felt guilty the other day and got off the sofa and installed two electrical boxes.  His wacky schedule causes him to want to sit around and do nothing before work.

I had almost forgot, that I thawed peaches from the freezer, but thankfully got the peach crumble baked.  You can see someone couldn't help himself before it cooled enough.

Oh, and every day I spray the pet pee areas on the upstairs wood floor, let it sit, then wipe it.  I will have to do a few more applications, and then I think we'll be ready to put the gym foam flooring down.  So far, it's working on removing the odor from the flooring.  I have the spare bedroom to do yet though.

It's a wee bit cold here but all the hens are laying daily thankfully.  The weather forecast is for snow tomorrow.  Snow.  yes I said snow.  Looking outside the window, you would never now.

Leggy Beet Seedlings

I started a tray of beets indoors this year for the first time ever.

After they sprouted they started to get leggy.  I wasn't sure if they were under watered or over watered or what. 

I did what most people do.  I asked Google.  It said to put more light on them.  I did that, and nothing changed.

...they look like this.  Too much water or not enough?  Not enough light?  I've tried it all, but that tray doesn't hold much soil either.  

Transition Days ~ Chickens ~ Seedlings

 The first few days of start up hours, for my husband's work can be crazy.  It's a time of feeling whack-a-doodle, as far as routine goes.  He's either working 2nd or 3rd or who knows what shift, and it throws me off completely.

It takes us a good few days to try and get flow to our daily routine, mornings, evenings, all of it.  I took the day off from purging and organizing and moving stuff, but it has been overwhelming for me.  I love to create crafty items, but it's sort of at the point, where I don't need to create so many items anymore.  I have to come to a point of deciding what to get rid of what to keep, in that area.

I used to make homemade gifts, that required bottles, or jars or whatnot.  Not anymore.  The kids are all grown, and do not put up Christmas trees, so I'm not making ornaments like I used to.  By the way, the "starbucks" ornaments in the making, made their way to the trash. I took off what could be useable, and tossed the rest.  The kids did not want one for their homes/apt.

I used an old bookshelf to store craft items in my closet, so that is the focus, but now I'm trying to decide if I want to paint the bookshelf and put it in the upstairs bedroom.  It is a solid wood bookshelf, so I will think a bit longer on that decision.

His schedule also throws off my meal plans.  I managed to clean a large amount of fresh spinach, blanch and freeze it.  I may be using some to make a breakfast frittata.  I do sort the spinach, because the last few times, I have found weeds, and sometimes grass it in.  I also lift it out of the soak water, and rinse again, before blanching it.

Our weather was a bit warmer yesterday, but we are still drying out from the recent downpour of rain.  We are back to cooler weather again.  

The chickens are back to regular egg laying, but their coop door is falling apart.  We'll need to start thinking about the new coop now.  For now, we will have to rig it, so the door shuts properly.

My saved hot banana pepper seeds have not sprouted as of today.  I saved them from pepper plants we purchased, and planted, so I'm not sure what's going on .  I may need to purchase Hungarian wax pepper plants and try saving those seeds this year (or buy seeds from my regular sources).  Also, the Cherry Bomb pepper seeds I purchased from someone on Etsy (I should learn my lesson after twice), did not sprout.  Only one did.  I can live without the cherry bomb, but I do use quite a bit of the hot banana peppers for a few canning recipes.

Speaking of canning.  I can confess, the first year I started growing a garden, I went nut-so with canning.  Boy, can you dive right into all those interesting recipes and end up with way too many condiments the first few years.  I have been very careful now, on only canning some "interesting" and delicious condiments for gift giving.  I decided not to can corn relish the last few years, after realizing we did not use it as much as we thought we would.

I have been discussing canning and the garden with my husband lately, and I may can some jalapenos to compare with freezing this year.  I'm not talking more cowboy candy, but just canning them.

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

I will link up when she posts.

The weather . . .

Today high is 54 degrees, but all week we'll mostly be in the 40's and more rain possibly today.

As I look outside my window . . .

Somewhat cloudy.

Right now I am. . .

Making coffee.

Thinking and pondering . . .

Trying to make plans on when and what we need from the hardware store - flooring, trim, supplies for the chicken coop, hallway flooring etc.

On my TV today . . .

Nothing.

Listening to . . .

Possibly country later today.

On my lunch plate . . .

Have no idea yet.

On my dinner plate . . .

Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Home canned tomato basil soup.

On the menu . . .

I will be working on this early today.  The only down fall on going away for the weekend, but I did wash the bedding and had the bed made before we left, so that is off the to-do list this week.

What I have so far:

Breakfast:  Fritatta, Sweet potato egg cups

Dinners:

-crock pot pork chops, oven roasted veggies
-Enchilada soup
-leftovers

On my reading pile . . .

Honestly, nothing this week.

On the to-do list . . .

-dust
-laundry
-bake a breakfast

-purge bedroom/bedroom walk-in closet

-unload dishwasher

-take trash out to the road

-spray flooring upstairs

-meal plan for the week

Plans for this week . . .

Purge walk-in closet/master bedroom and move items off the carpet.

What I am creating . . .

Still crocheting our blanket, and worked on a set of unfinished pot holders over the weekend.

My simple pleasure . . .

Taking a spontaneous road trip, which we did.

Looking around the house . . .

The living room is filling up with more yarn I need to store upstairs.

From the camera . . .

Pig butter dish at one antique store, that my husband insisted we get (ha ha!).

A few more mini hen and nest dishes.

My husband picked this out (oil lamp) at an antique store.

New trivet for one oil lamp, but I think I will get another one on our next road trip.  We came home pretty relaxed, and glad we spontaneously took off for the weekend.  It was opening day for the Amish flea market, and I wanted more cup coasters for the living room (forgot to show photos of that).

Bible Verse, Devotional . . .

Land of the Unfinished and other closet finds....

 I do not have a craft room in my house.  A few years ago, I started to move totes of yarn upstairs, on shelves on one wall of the "gym" room.  I have always used our walk-in closet for such items, along with shelves in my utility room.

I have started the process of cleaning it all out of the closet, and oh my word, did things get buried in there.  I have used a  bookshelf full of crafting items.  I am attempting to empty it, come up with an organized storage upstairs, and move the bookshelf to the "guest" bedroom or spare room.

Unfinished Christmas ornaments in a kitchen soup bowl.  Gulp!  I started these in 2017!!!!  That was six years ago.  I was making them for the kids for Christmas, and even wrote a blog post for making them on my other blog:  HERE

Under those above ornaments a pair of unfinished candy corn earrings.  Have no idea why that tiny spool was in there.

Unfinished granny square scarf, and one water balloon.

Unfinished set of pot holders, because I could not get yarn that matched to make the second one.

Unfinished cover top for one of the girls.

Unfinished camper Christmas ornaments.

Unfinished flip flop key chain.

Unfinished thin dishcloth.

Unfinished Christmas ornament project.

Unfinished set of pot holders.

Unfinished knitted dishcloth.

These are the current "finds" in the closet

My first, ever pair of crocheted baby booties.  They ended up too big.

A pair of thick socks we bought for one of the kids for Christmas last year.

More lip balm and salve containers I didn't know I had.

Six hand sewn apron bottle drink covers with straw slot on the front.  I put a pencil in the top one to show you.  I bought these so, so, so many years ago from a friend.  I have a women's group at that time, and I wanted to gift them.  I guess that never got done, ha ha! 

I found a dime while cleaning.  Smiling here.

Oh, we have only just begun.  However, I have finished painting one entire doorway trim in the hallway.