"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

End of January 2024

January is ending way too quickly, and we (I) figured we'd have the brunt of the home repairs done by the end of February.

Did you know that the hardware stores sell smaller pieces of drywall to patch walls with?  About 2 x 2 feet or so?  I didn't measure them, but we have successfully cut out the damaged drywall section(s), and doing the repairs ourselves.  The cost alone for supplies is over the top.  

Over the years the kids all had one or more pets (one had 3 at one time), and the pets ruined two areas of the hallway drywall.  I'm really re-thinking if we'll ever have pets after all these repairs now (just because of the cost and time to repair).

More trim was taken down for cleaning, priming and painting.  We replaced one door hinge on the door that leads into the garage.  I was surprised the cost for the hinge was less than $3.00.  

The hallway ceiling has been painted, and one light fixture removed and a new one installed.  The second fixture is on order.  I absolutely love the new fixture, so we plan to replace one in the master bath with the same one too.  Each has a "night light" feature.  Talk about being giddy with an upgrade.  The actual light is much brighter than our old one.

We will purchase a new smoke detector as well.

It is taking me more than one day to wash down all the walls in the hallway (it's wider and longer and part of it has a taller ceiling).  I have gone through several buckets of hot soapy water.  I'm more mindful about swatting any bug/spider on the wall now, or putting my hands on the door trim to take off my muck boots.

It's going to be all worth it, but time consuming over all.  Everything has to be washed first - doors/trims/walls.  I needed to prime everything other than the walls.  It's not an over night job for anyone.  

We have come to a small halt.  My husband is seeing a doctor about his back.  My elbow needs a break (it's still sore from my fall).  

We do need to eat, and have clean linens and laundry, so I'm catching up on that.  I have library books to pick up, that I have ignored, and one that I have not even looked at yet.  Bathrooms need cleaned, rugs washed, and windows cleaned in the kitchen.





In the process of putting total focus on the hallway renovations/repairs, I am slowing preparing for the master bath repairs/renovations.  I'll need to remove all the old ones from the bathroom cabinets and replace them with new.  Eventually. I eye-spied them while out for other supplies, and picked them up to be ahead of the game.

On the brighter side of all of this work, is that I have organized all of our painting supplies into one tote (and labeled the tote).  Aside from paint cans themselves, our supplies are all in one organized space (as it should be).

I hope your January of 2024 was successful, happy, memorable, and filled with living life (and not just work).



Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Little of This ~ Little of That

Brief post today.  
Busy, busy, busy. . . . 

Here is the next lap afghan on the hook.  My husband is calling it "Coffee and Cream" ha ha!  He said the "buff" color reminds him of his Dad's coffee when we would add cream.  I'm not in a hurry to finish this one.  

Colors:  Buff, (have no idea on the light blue as I have no label for the scrap yarn), Blue, Royal (Red Heart yarn).

Trips to buy supplies typically take away most of the hours we/I need for working on the winter project list.

We are finding it difficult to find supplies we need, and have yet to pick a paint color for the hallway.  We have more to do anyway.