I think we have used more wood this year to heat the house, than in the five years combined. Normally, we do not use the wood stove day in/day out, but this year...wow! We are flying through the wood, and we were getting worried about not having enough. Thankfully, my FIL gave us two large oak trees, and I mean trees. The trunks are HUGE. They were loaded on the trailer with the front end loader, and PH will have to cut and split them on the trailer, because we have no other way to get them off the trailer.
We like to have a two year supply, but we will be lucky to have enough to finish this season, which is shocking to me. Living on the prairie, trees are not in abundance. We have rather spindly trees out here, and we aren't one of the lucky ones to have Live Oak on our property. We have a few Mesquite and some Huisache.
The high for today is 45, and before I left the property, I made sure to put a large oak block in the stove (hoping to keep the house above 60 at least). It will be burned out by now, but there should still be some embers left for PH to get the fire going pretty fast once he gets home with the kids.
The pantry is TOTALLY finished. All walls insulated, hardi plank paneling in place AND painted, with trim. I am so excited! I moved in a large shelving unit that the library was throwing away, and with my other two metal shelving units, it looks like a mini grocery store. I now have shelving for my medical supplies, and odds and ends (twine, candles, wicks, etc.) Next will be to get my wheat grinder from the library (still hear since Heritage Skills Day) and put it in it's place in the pantry. Can't wait to be able to use it again.
PH started paneling the living room wall. He has finished the small wall by the stairway, and the walls leading into the master bedroom (our room is completely enclosed now), plus the south wall of the living room. Half of the wall is 1 X 6 tongue and groove planks, and the other half cement board for the future rock wall behind the wood stove. PH actually hung my two prized pictures on the wall. I say prized, because I do not have any others. I normally subscribe to the Shaker theory of home decoration. It has to be plain and useful :)
We are on our last ground venison, and I am praying that PH will get out there soon and harvest another deer before the season is over, or is it already? I'll have to check...
Have a good night and keep warm!
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
January Happenings
We are into our second week of January, and have warmed up a tad. It has been in the 40s at night instead of the high 20s and 30s. Yesterday, we received about 3 inches of much-needed rain. The pond is filled to the tippy top again, and my garden is going good still. Cabbage sure takes a long time to grow. The plans are healthy and green, but aren't growing very fast. We will be having some warm days (in the 70s) this weekend, so hopefully that will spur some growth around here. The grass needs to grow, the trees need to leaf out, and the garden needs to start producing some veggies!
We started back into schoolwork this week, after a two week Christmas break. The girls are less than excited. Our home school co-op will be starting up in about a month, and I need to get my class planning complete. I would love to stay home this semester and not attend, but I will grit my teeth and endure the 8 weeks of classes.
The pantry is done! Insulation, wall boards and trim up, and PAINTED! Yeah! I can now get another shelving unit in there, organize and inventory my supplies, and really SEE where I need to work. The long term storage items (#10 cans of dried goods from the LDS cannery) will be stacked in the now empty, container bedroom. The container, now shaded by the house, is cooler inside (even in Summer). I hope by having my food storage on the North Wall, in the shade, things will be kept in good shape. The bedroom will be our bulk storage location, as well as, my sewing room. Once I have finished cleaning and organizing the pantry, I'll move back to the container to get things sorted, remove the loft bed, and get the sewing table, fabric and notions set up. Cannot wait! I haven't been able to sit and sew in over four years since moving to the "cabin-tainer".
Items to store in the container:
Cases of canning jars
Buckets
Rubber Maid totes with clothing store (according to size) - I don't throw out all the clothes, I might need them someday. I keep the best, and get rid of the rest.
LDS food storage
Also, making plans for a root cellar type of set up for between the house and the container. It is shaded ALL the time, and gets quite cold in there..We just need to fence off the bottom, and put gates on either end (to keep the goats and pigs out), and we can store root vegetables in the area. A shed roof will be nice, but I won't push my luck right now :) PH is getting stressed out with the housing construction, and is fixing the well pipes today. We stacked hay bales around the well head/pump to keep pipes from freezing. It works! But....the livestock likes the hay, which is covered by a tarp, but they managed to stomp all through there and keep breaking the pipes. A well house is on the list now. Poor PH, he was M-A-D last night, and muttering expletives on what he wanted to do to goats. So, we didn't have water last night. Why is it, that you never drink water, but when the water isn't working, you feel like you are going to die from dehydration?
We started back into schoolwork this week, after a two week Christmas break. The girls are less than excited. Our home school co-op will be starting up in about a month, and I need to get my class planning complete. I would love to stay home this semester and not attend, but I will grit my teeth and endure the 8 weeks of classes.
The pantry is done! Insulation, wall boards and trim up, and PAINTED! Yeah! I can now get another shelving unit in there, organize and inventory my supplies, and really SEE where I need to work. The long term storage items (#10 cans of dried goods from the LDS cannery) will be stacked in the now empty, container bedroom. The container, now shaded by the house, is cooler inside (even in Summer). I hope by having my food storage on the North Wall, in the shade, things will be kept in good shape. The bedroom will be our bulk storage location, as well as, my sewing room. Once I have finished cleaning and organizing the pantry, I'll move back to the container to get things sorted, remove the loft bed, and get the sewing table, fabric and notions set up. Cannot wait! I haven't been able to sit and sew in over four years since moving to the "cabin-tainer".
Items to store in the container:
Cases of canning jars
Buckets
Rubber Maid totes with clothing store (according to size) - I don't throw out all the clothes, I might need them someday. I keep the best, and get rid of the rest.
LDS food storage
Also, making plans for a root cellar type of set up for between the house and the container. It is shaded ALL the time, and gets quite cold in there..We just need to fence off the bottom, and put gates on either end (to keep the goats and pigs out), and we can store root vegetables in the area. A shed roof will be nice, but I won't push my luck right now :) PH is getting stressed out with the housing construction, and is fixing the well pipes today. We stacked hay bales around the well head/pump to keep pipes from freezing. It works! But....the livestock likes the hay, which is covered by a tarp, but they managed to stomp all through there and keep breaking the pipes. A well house is on the list now. Poor PH, he was M-A-D last night, and muttering expletives on what he wanted to do to goats. So, we didn't have water last night. Why is it, that you never drink water, but when the water isn't working, you feel like you are going to die from dehydration?
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Happy New Year!
It's the third already, so I am a little late with the well wishes, but I've been off of work, and I do not have a computer at home, so cut me a little slack please.
The weather here has been decidedly chilly lately, primarily overnight. Since we heat with wood it has been a chore to get up every 2 hours or so to keep the fire going. Fortunately, we have started using large oak blocks, which can mean I only have to get up every 3 1/2 to 4 hours, which is a plus. PH RARELY gets up and stokes the fire during the night. For some unknown reason he believe it is my job to do so. I have no idea why??
Christmas Eve we spent the time with my mom and family at my sister's. It was nice, though a long, squished drive. Six of us squeezed into a pickup cab (front and back) along with gifts, doesn't make for a comfortable hour or so ride home. Plus, we picked up two motorbikes from her. Her boys (now young men) were too big for them, and my kids just love zooming all over the land. PH was able to spend a couple of hours tuning them up and getting them running, though this chilly weather isn't exactly conducive to keep them running great.
Along with the fellowship and gift giving, we exchanged a rather nasty cold. I came down sick the day after Christmas, and was in bed for two days. On the third day I had to drag myself out of bed because people had to eat and such. I feel recovered now, though I have a nagging cough, especially in the evening when I lay down to sleep (sigh). So far, PD#1 and PS#2 have fallen ill. PH and PD#2 have managed to escape (so far). PD#2 is diligently taking the Watkins Rezist Immune Booster herbal caplets. She has to break them in four pieces to get it down (it's a horse pill for sure!) PD#1 is not recovering well, though I am beginning to suspect she is milking it. In my opinion, if you are well enough to argue with your siblings, then you are good enough to get out of the bed and get your own food/drink. So, to her sad dismay, she is up and dressed today.
The house, barn, and land is in sad shape. This cold weather forces me to stay inside more than I'd like, which means maintenance suffers. Laundry needs to be done, as well as, dishes. Oh boy! do the dishes need to be done. PH has been hunting an adapter for our kitchen faucet, to try and connect the dishwasher we were given. We have about figured out, we will be washing dishes by hand forever. Which is fine, I've only had a dishwasher once for a year, so am used to manual washing. I just had these hopes you know??
PH has been s-l-o-w-l-y working on the house. A few boards here, some insulation there. We have a bad case of the blahs lately. I am stuck on where to continue to stock up. It is overwhelming. So much to be done, so little time and money to get it accomplished. Some days I feel like throwing in the towel, though I know it isn't the thing to do.
We didn't go over board on the gifts this year, trying to keep the focus of the day where it belongs. We did receive a few really good useful gifts. $100.00 gift card to Home Depot, a LARGE cast iron dutch oven (w/legs), candles, socks, coins, tools, new jeans and such. I think next year, we will strive for an entire homemade holiday. We didn't spend a lot, but all that we did could have gone towards more preparations.
A few areas to concentrate this next year are:
completing pantry
purchasing canning jar lids
water filter(s)
ammunition
gardening
canning more - 600 quart goal
organizing storage container
setting up sewing area
clean up land
increase wood pile
The weather here has been decidedly chilly lately, primarily overnight. Since we heat with wood it has been a chore to get up every 2 hours or so to keep the fire going. Fortunately, we have started using large oak blocks, which can mean I only have to get up every 3 1/2 to 4 hours, which is a plus. PH RARELY gets up and stokes the fire during the night. For some unknown reason he believe it is my job to do so. I have no idea why??
Christmas Eve we spent the time with my mom and family at my sister's. It was nice, though a long, squished drive. Six of us squeezed into a pickup cab (front and back) along with gifts, doesn't make for a comfortable hour or so ride home. Plus, we picked up two motorbikes from her. Her boys (now young men) were too big for them, and my kids just love zooming all over the land. PH was able to spend a couple of hours tuning them up and getting them running, though this chilly weather isn't exactly conducive to keep them running great.
Along with the fellowship and gift giving, we exchanged a rather nasty cold. I came down sick the day after Christmas, and was in bed for two days. On the third day I had to drag myself out of bed because people had to eat and such. I feel recovered now, though I have a nagging cough, especially in the evening when I lay down to sleep (sigh). So far, PD#1 and PS#2 have fallen ill. PH and PD#2 have managed to escape (so far). PD#2 is diligently taking the Watkins Rezist Immune Booster herbal caplets. She has to break them in four pieces to get it down (it's a horse pill for sure!) PD#1 is not recovering well, though I am beginning to suspect she is milking it. In my opinion, if you are well enough to argue with your siblings, then you are good enough to get out of the bed and get your own food/drink. So, to her sad dismay, she is up and dressed today.
The house, barn, and land is in sad shape. This cold weather forces me to stay inside more than I'd like, which means maintenance suffers. Laundry needs to be done, as well as, dishes. Oh boy! do the dishes need to be done. PH has been hunting an adapter for our kitchen faucet, to try and connect the dishwasher we were given. We have about figured out, we will be washing dishes by hand forever. Which is fine, I've only had a dishwasher once for a year, so am used to manual washing. I just had these hopes you know??
PH has been s-l-o-w-l-y working on the house. A few boards here, some insulation there. We have a bad case of the blahs lately. I am stuck on where to continue to stock up. It is overwhelming. So much to be done, so little time and money to get it accomplished. Some days I feel like throwing in the towel, though I know it isn't the thing to do.
We didn't go over board on the gifts this year, trying to keep the focus of the day where it belongs. We did receive a few really good useful gifts. $100.00 gift card to Home Depot, a LARGE cast iron dutch oven (w/legs), candles, socks, coins, tools, new jeans and such. I think next year, we will strive for an entire homemade holiday. We didn't spend a lot, but all that we did could have gone towards more preparations.
A few areas to concentrate this next year are:
completing pantry
purchasing canning jar lids
water filter(s)
ammunition
gardening
canning more - 600 quart goal
organizing storage container
setting up sewing area
clean up land
increase wood pile
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