Autumn is finally here! I've got my non-Halloween decorations out and the place is looking very festive! Once October is here I will get the witches, jack-o-lanterns, and ghosts out. I've been working on cutting down the jungle that was once a flower garden. After a couple weeks of humid and rainy weather, the weeds just completely took over everything!
Well, I was quite busy over the past week so I haven't gotten on to do any updates. Last Friday night was my hometown Homecoming. Its been (Gasp) about 15 years or so since I've been to the parade and game and a few things have changed! The high school updated their concession stand and bathrooms, as well as, put in a new walkway/ramp up to the stadium seating. The parade was disappointingly lacking in school spirit, however. There were two floats made by students. One was from the youth football team and there was just one from the high school students. I remember when each class built a float and the parade had many more participants. I guess its just too "geeky" to show school spirit anymore. The game was a loss, but got to spend some quality time with friends.
Saturday was my birthday. I really don't care to celebrate my birthday much anymore but my husband surprised me with some "tie-dyed" mums and a romantic card. We took a day trip around the Eastern/Central Michigan. The forecast had called for rain but it actually turned out to be a really nice day! We stopped a large sporting goods store and a cheese shop in Pinconning. I scored on some cheese boxes that I will find some project for and we got some samples of specialty cheeses to snack on. We drove north up to Tawas City and stopped at a park near Lake Huron to eat our cheese. Since it was so nice out we just took a nice long loop though West Branch and Houghton Lake back to the freeway home. Of course, it wouldn't be Michigan without some road construction, but luckily, it wasn't a problem.
Sunday we spent the day clearing my husband's hunting area at my parent's property. Not my favorite thing to do, but I got to use the weed-wacker lol. There is a nice little oak grove coming up through the bush! By clearing around the small trees, hopefully they will grow nice and strong in the next decade or so.
This week, I've just been clearing out my gardens and working on daily chores. We had planned to go away this weekend again, but there are just too many things to get done before winter gets here! Insulation needs to get put in our front den, the woodshed needs to be built, the portable carport moved, and, wood to be cut, split, and stacked! There are a lot more projects, but, hunting season starts and my husband will be focused on that...
As for my focus, I need to get ready for a craft bazaar in a couple weeks! I don't even know what I am going to bring yet! I have necklaces and pocket knives for resale. I have lots of wood-burned and painted signs made that I plan to bring too. I was hoping to get some holiday items put together but time has just crept up on me! It doesn't help that on the weekends, we've been binge-watching The Walking Dead every chance we get! Now our fall shows are back on this week too! Thank goodness for DVR!
Check out my Instagram account (linked on the upper right) for photos of our adventures! Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope to get things more interesting soon!
Featured song: Atlas Genius - Centered On You
Friday, September 23, 2016
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Middle of September Already!!!
I can't believe how fast the month is going by! Autumn is nearly upon us so I dug out the outside fall decor. I keep it pretty basic until October, then I get out the jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, and witches! I've been working on a few projects but not really completing any. That is the norm though. At least I get around to starting the projects. I won't post any pictures today since none of the projects are presentable yet. And, I've just been too lazy to go upstairs to get my camera.
Tomatoes are still slowly rolling in. I didn't plant many plants, but the crop has been awesome this year! I have one cherry tomato plant that is still producing about 10 ripe tomatoes a day. Two roma plants that sprawled all over their cages and out into the lawn! They are still producing a few ripe ones a day. And 3 steak tomato plants that are nearly done. I haven't gotten the total tally yet but I have well over 50 jars a various tomato products that I've canned in the past month and a half! Not bad for the few plants I have. My crock of sauerkraut won't be ready for another month yet, but this batch is looking pretty good! I started one a couple weeks before this one and had to throw it out as the water somehow drained out! I made some last year and it turned out perfect! This time I added a small head of red cabbage to the 2 giant heads of green, and shredded up a carrot to see how it would turn out.
I started to organize my basement but still have a ways to go. Since my parents came to live with us after having a house fire, storage has been a little limited. I have plenty of room in the basement but its not very efficient. So, while browsing Pinterest I found some ideas for making a shelving unit for all the plastic/rubber totes I have all over the place. I made the shelves with the scrap wood I had lying around and, it worked out pretty well! I still have a lot of stuff to go through yet, so I haven't taken pictures.
I also started to re-pot some of my outdoor annual foliage to bring inside for the winter. We purchased some sweet potato vines and coleus from a local greenhouse and they were so pretty this year I can't part with them! I'm going to see if I can keep them alive through the winter. With 7 dogs and 4 cats, we shall see how that works out.
The last project we worked on was for my husband. We went to my parents' property to get it ready for hunting season. My husband hunts whitetail deer. Bow season starts October 1st, rifle season November 15th, and muzzle-loader season starts in December. He hunts all three seasons so he has a lot of stuff to set up! All his trails had become heavily overgrown. So, we had to clear those, and make some new ones in the process. He has a new ladder stand, so we had to find a nice tree to set it up in. The wild grape vines are everywhere on that property, so it was quite a battle getting through to a large tree! It took us until dark to get a path cleared and we didn't get the stand set up yet. Hopefully the weather holds up this weekend so we can finish.
On Friday, my hometown is having their Homecoming football game. I plan to attend the parade with some friends and maybe go the game as well. Saturday is my birthday. My husband and I plan to go to Pinconning, Michigan. There is a sporting goods outlet store that is having a drawing for a crossbow package. We've been binge watching The Walking Dead and I want to try out a crossbow. Apparently, they have some you can try out. Not sure if I would actually like one so I want to try it out before I buy one. There are also some cheese shops there too I want to check out as well. Then, maybe out to eat at a nice place, and maybe see a movie. I really want to see Bridget Jones' Baby. I like the other two movies and am a fan of McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) so its a win/win for me!
I'm sure Sunday we will be back in the woods at least part of the day. I also want to get supplies to finish out our front room too. We need to get some blown-in insulation and rent a machine to install it. Then, I want to get some paneling for the ceiling. Too much stuff for one weekend, I'm sure.
Well, I will try to get some pictures up next week and hopefully have some finished projects to share. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
Featured song: Gary Jules - Mad World
Tomatoes are still slowly rolling in. I didn't plant many plants, but the crop has been awesome this year! I have one cherry tomato plant that is still producing about 10 ripe tomatoes a day. Two roma plants that sprawled all over their cages and out into the lawn! They are still producing a few ripe ones a day. And 3 steak tomato plants that are nearly done. I haven't gotten the total tally yet but I have well over 50 jars a various tomato products that I've canned in the past month and a half! Not bad for the few plants I have. My crock of sauerkraut won't be ready for another month yet, but this batch is looking pretty good! I started one a couple weeks before this one and had to throw it out as the water somehow drained out! I made some last year and it turned out perfect! This time I added a small head of red cabbage to the 2 giant heads of green, and shredded up a carrot to see how it would turn out.
I started to organize my basement but still have a ways to go. Since my parents came to live with us after having a house fire, storage has been a little limited. I have plenty of room in the basement but its not very efficient. So, while browsing Pinterest I found some ideas for making a shelving unit for all the plastic/rubber totes I have all over the place. I made the shelves with the scrap wood I had lying around and, it worked out pretty well! I still have a lot of stuff to go through yet, so I haven't taken pictures.
I also started to re-pot some of my outdoor annual foliage to bring inside for the winter. We purchased some sweet potato vines and coleus from a local greenhouse and they were so pretty this year I can't part with them! I'm going to see if I can keep them alive through the winter. With 7 dogs and 4 cats, we shall see how that works out.
The last project we worked on was for my husband. We went to my parents' property to get it ready for hunting season. My husband hunts whitetail deer. Bow season starts October 1st, rifle season November 15th, and muzzle-loader season starts in December. He hunts all three seasons so he has a lot of stuff to set up! All his trails had become heavily overgrown. So, we had to clear those, and make some new ones in the process. He has a new ladder stand, so we had to find a nice tree to set it up in. The wild grape vines are everywhere on that property, so it was quite a battle getting through to a large tree! It took us until dark to get a path cleared and we didn't get the stand set up yet. Hopefully the weather holds up this weekend so we can finish.
On Friday, my hometown is having their Homecoming football game. I plan to attend the parade with some friends and maybe go the game as well. Saturday is my birthday. My husband and I plan to go to Pinconning, Michigan. There is a sporting goods outlet store that is having a drawing for a crossbow package. We've been binge watching The Walking Dead and I want to try out a crossbow. Apparently, they have some you can try out. Not sure if I would actually like one so I want to try it out before I buy one. There are also some cheese shops there too I want to check out as well. Then, maybe out to eat at a nice place, and maybe see a movie. I really want to see Bridget Jones' Baby. I like the other two movies and am a fan of McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) so its a win/win for me!
I'm sure Sunday we will be back in the woods at least part of the day. I also want to get supplies to finish out our front room too. We need to get some blown-in insulation and rent a machine to install it. Then, I want to get some paneling for the ceiling. Too much stuff for one weekend, I'm sure.
Well, I will try to get some pictures up next week and hopefully have some finished projects to share. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
Featured song: Gary Jules - Mad World
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Introduction!
Hello! If you came here hoping to find handy tips and great advice, you may be disappointed. I am no homestead guru. I live life knowing that Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) not only exists, but happens on a regular occurrence. I look for the easiest and cheapest way to get something done. And, more often than not, it doesn't work out. I live by the motto "Live and Learn". I often make things up as I go, so if you want to follow along, it may be fruitless. Things do turn out the way I had hoped sometimes though. I will share my weird, crazy, and lazy adventures with you and maybe you can all "Live and Learn" with me.
As for who I am, that is a hard question to answer. Demographically, I am an average mid-west housewife in my late 30's. Married for nearly 10 years now, we have no children, but do share our home with my parents and our collective 7 dogs and 4 cats. I like to travel, listen to music, read, take random photos, create different arts and crafts projects, watch various television shows, cook, eat, and garden. I like to browse the internet looking for helpful information and things for sale. I always have several projects going on at once and rarely have the ambition to finish them. I procrastinate, stay up late, and sleep in. I am a realist with a dreamer's heart.
I currently have some projects going on that I hope this blog will help motivate me to finish. We burn wood for our heat source. It costs less monetarily, but uses a lot of time and energy to prepare. My husband is trying to come up with some sort of wood processing center. We've seen some interesting videos on YouTube with different inventions people have come up with. By taking some of their ideas and using the materials we have available, we will create our own system. I will try to document that project and let you all know how it works (or doesn't). We also need to build some sort of wood shed and maybe some sort of ramp to our wood stove in our basement.
Another ongoing project is the den in our house. When we moved in it had this beautiful stone fireplace and brickwork on the opposite wall. But the rest of the room was extremely dated. There was gold shag carpet, drop ceiling tiles, and dark wood paneling. We have the room stripped of most of the stuff and are (very) slowly updating it.
I always have other random projects going on from preserving and processing food, to arts and crafts projects. And, of course, fall brings back many of the television shows! I will be giving my opinions and reviews weekly. These will contain spoilers so I will probably do them on Monday nights.
Another thing I would like to do is share the music I listen to. So every post I will post a YouTube link to a song on my playlist. I also will give shout-outs and links to other things I enjoy or find interesting. If any of you would like to share your favorite things, tips and what-not, go ahead in the comments! I like to learn new things and branch out of my little world. Please no spam!
Well, thank you for stopping by and we'll see how ambitious I get this week.
Featured songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrdCBkXB91I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7jVK81FcjY
As for who I am, that is a hard question to answer. Demographically, I am an average mid-west housewife in my late 30's. Married for nearly 10 years now, we have no children, but do share our home with my parents and our collective 7 dogs and 4 cats. I like to travel, listen to music, read, take random photos, create different arts and crafts projects, watch various television shows, cook, eat, and garden. I like to browse the internet looking for helpful information and things for sale. I always have several projects going on at once and rarely have the ambition to finish them. I procrastinate, stay up late, and sleep in. I am a realist with a dreamer's heart.
I currently have some projects going on that I hope this blog will help motivate me to finish. We burn wood for our heat source. It costs less monetarily, but uses a lot of time and energy to prepare. My husband is trying to come up with some sort of wood processing center. We've seen some interesting videos on YouTube with different inventions people have come up with. By taking some of their ideas and using the materials we have available, we will create our own system. I will try to document that project and let you all know how it works (or doesn't). We also need to build some sort of wood shed and maybe some sort of ramp to our wood stove in our basement.
Another ongoing project is the den in our house. When we moved in it had this beautiful stone fireplace and brickwork on the opposite wall. But the rest of the room was extremely dated. There was gold shag carpet, drop ceiling tiles, and dark wood paneling. We have the room stripped of most of the stuff and are (very) slowly updating it.
I always have other random projects going on from preserving and processing food, to arts and crafts projects. And, of course, fall brings back many of the television shows! I will be giving my opinions and reviews weekly. These will contain spoilers so I will probably do them on Monday nights.
Another thing I would like to do is share the music I listen to. So every post I will post a YouTube link to a song on my playlist. I also will give shout-outs and links to other things I enjoy or find interesting. If any of you would like to share your favorite things, tips and what-not, go ahead in the comments! I like to learn new things and branch out of my little world. Please no spam!
Well, thank you for stopping by and we'll see how ambitious I get this week.
Featured songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrdCBkXB91I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7jVK81FcjY
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