2016 goals

Can you believe it's 2016, I certainly can't! 2015 was a big year for us with really great highs and really low lows.

This year I've got goals!

• Paint every ceiling and the 3 bedrooms
• Build a fence, even if it's just cattle panels.
• Improve the garden (more on that coming up later)
• New play set for the kids, the death trap has got to go!
• Upgrade a few things in the house the dishwasher, get a few bookcases, figure out a better toy stage system, some new light fixtures for above the table and the bed rooms. 
• Stop looking like a hobo all the time. I should to start getting my hair done regularly (once a year doesn't cut it and that'll give me some knitting time), get some new jeans. Mine are bad! And just take a little bit of time for myself, I'd like to not be so tired all the time
• I'd like to knit something nice for myself, it'd been a long time since I made anything for me. I have a ton of this I'd like to make but always end up starting a project for someone else. 

I think my goals are reasonable and all very do-able. I'm keeping it simple for 2016.
What are you working towards this year?

Monday Motivation the last Monday of 2015!

How is that even possible? This year has flown by!

This week I'm working on some goals for 2016, I've got a cost per dozen eggs coming up, and maybe that's it. We'll see.

Yesterday my vacuum bit the big one. I was not happy even though I hated that thing! A bit of research later, Scribs is going to scoop on up after work today. I'm hoping the new one will do a better job than the last.

I need to work on some kind of toy storage solution, the kid's have WAY too much and no where to put everything. Tough life, I know.

We have no rain projected for the next 10 days and the sun might even come out! I can't wait to get the kids outside!

What's your plan for the week?

Monday Motivation

Yesterday morning we had the most glorious and surprising sunrise rainbow!

Another week has past and I'd like to think I was productive! I made pickled zucchini and yellow squash (check 'em out tomorrow!), we harvested a bunch from the garden that I now need to take care of!

I already vacuumed and have the last load of laundry from the hamper hanging outside. Too bad the hamper will be filled again in a few days. This morning I got up on the roof and (hopefully) took care of some wasps. Those little buggers made a nest inside a toilet vent.

This week I should probably cut the grass. It's been so dry I haven't had to cut it since May or June. It's just starting to get a bit long, so I'll take care of that this week. And maybe wash my floors, but that's not too likely, let's be real!

What are you working on this week?

Monday Motivation

How was your weekend? Can you believe it's August, already?! Where did the time go? I'm pretty sure I say that every month. This weekend was hot as hotness.  Scribs bought the kids a pool and they've barely left it since.

What's with the dishwasher you ask? I spend my morning taking apart and deep cleaning this beast. Why? My dishes weren't coming out clean. I ran a cycle with a empty cup on each rack and nothing else, both came out full of gunk. I cleaned the dishwasher last year when we moved in so it needed to be done again. See that grey thing at the bottom of the door? That was literally full of gunk, a squishy mass of gunk. It was disgusting. There was a bunch of broken glass in filter and near the chopping arm. I'm not sure where it came from (not me!) but now it's sparkley and clean. When was the last time you cleaned your dishwasher? If can't remember or never is your answer, I highly recommend doing it. Just google how to take it apart and clean it. Depending how dirty it is, this could take half and hour to a few hours.

I've got a jam packed week. I've started getting too over-whelmed with my to-do list, so I've started planning me week with what I'm going to do each day before the kids get up and at nap time. Everyday I do a load of laundry and hang it first thing, so that's a given. Today my A.M. chore was clean the dishwasher, that alone was a huge project and took almost 3 hours while doing other things too.
Tomorrow, I'm cleaning my camera and canning salsa
Wednesday, making waffles and watering the garden
Thursday sort recycling and put the trash out, wash sheets
Friday water the garden
Saturday clean the bathroom
Sunday water the garden

We're on a voluntary water restriction so watering is only Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

What are you working on this week?

Monday motivation

It's raining! Glorious rain! We had a few light drizzles yesterday, not even enought for puddles to form. Today on the other hand I can't hear cars splashing on the road. There is puddles in the driveway! The grass is doing a happy dance! It's amazing how just a tiny bit of rain can perk everything up much better than a hose or sprinkler. I'm enjoying every second of it. This is the first measurable rain since May. May! That's way too long!

This weekend has been zucchini fest! We have about 2 dozen both picked and ready to be picked. We had grilled, fries, chocolate zucchini bread. Today I'm going to shred and freeze some and maybeake some muffins. Scribs took some to work and I'll be heading over to the neighbors to share.

The berry field next door is in full harvest mode. I had no idea it was such a slow process with a machine (tractor? I'm not sure what it's called.) We were watching and the machine is pretty cool. If you've never seen one, it's really high (almost as high as a single story house) has spinning things that go on either side of the bush (they look like big turnstiles) and it goes maybe 2 miles an hour. The have gone over the same rows several times. The things I'm learning!

This week hopefully I can tackle mountain of zucchinis, get some chicken photos. I have an update ready just lacking photos, give the dog a bath (she is a stinky beast!) and maybe, just maybe get a good vacuuming in. I need to move everything in the play room and really get in there.

What are your goals this week?

Monday motivation

How was your weekend? It was hot! We were in the high 90s with no wind in the afternoons and lots of smoke from the wild fires. A few days ago it was just hazy, now it smells of smoke and looks like fog. I hope that all the hardworking fire fighters are safe and can get these blazes under control. The photo is of sunrise this morning, no edits just cropped. Doesn't it look like a foreign planet?
Our long weekend was pretty good. The kids played outside, we grilled, there was fireworks until around midnight. I got over my fear of grilling. I always feel like I have no control and everything turns out charred. Not this time! I grilled all weekend and didn't burn anything. Pat on the back for me!

This week won't be too warm, only mid-high 80s. We ordered an air conditioner for the kids, paid for 1 day shipping, obviously that didn't happen. It'll be here today. It'll be here tomorrow. Our upstairs was unbearably hot, almost 100 degrees at bed time. No wonder the kids are so grouchy! I'll get that ready to go when it gets here this afternoon tomorrow. I also have a little project in the laundry room I've started and will share when I'm finished.

What are you working on this week?

Tuesday motivation

I can't believe its independence day this weekend! My favorite! We're going to have some early fire works, a cook out, root beer floats and popsciles. Sounds good to me! It's only going to be 88 degrees...

It was been hot all week with no end or rain in sight. I have no motivation to get anything done this week. I have phone calls to make, things to mail, nothing I feel like doing. We're getting close to our first anniversary on the farm, that means it's time to review and reasses our needs, policies, goals and future plans. Being a grown up isn't all the fun sometimes.

I did a grand total of zero rows of knitting this week. And will probably get a total of zero done this week. Oh well. It can be a write off and thats ok!

What are you plans for the long weekend?

Monday Motivation

Holy! A bit of radio silence on my part. We had a busy, and a bit difficult week. The berry field next to us started with their bird-scaring sound machine. It sounds like a combination of crows being murdered and alien abductions. It's LOUD and plays every 30 seconds for 17 hours a day. It's a bit much.Oh, and guess what! It doesn't work. The birds are sitting the fields not moving and I assume chowing-down on delicious berries! Needless to say I've been a bit frazzled with the noise torture.  I'm hoping to be a bit more on top of things this week! There will be a chicken update on Friday. Scout's honor! (I'm not a scout of any kind, does that matter?)


This week, hopefully I'll be able to get some knitting done! I'm this close to finishing one baby knit, but by the time the kids are asleep I'm so tired that following the pattern seems impossible.

Monday Motivation

How was your weekend? We were busy as usual! We had a lot of do and managed to accomplish most of it. The lawn is cut, shelves are built, barn and chicken coop are clean, some weeds have been weeded and for one brief, glorious moment the laundry was all washed, folded and put away.

This week Scribs is away and I have this silly idea that I'm going to get a million things done. The house will be spotless, the garden will be immaculate (HA!), everything on the to-do list will be done. Let's be real, that's not going to happen. It's going to be hot and I'm not getting anything done. 

I would like to hang some new curtains, and there is some wasps that need tending to (murdered). Thats about it. 

What are your goals for the week?

Monday Motivation!

How was your weekend? It was the first hot weekend of the year for us. We were busy! We went to a parade Saturday, it was awesome! The kids had a blast! What more could I ask for?

This week I'm going to learn one aspect of my new photo editor. Just one. Adding text to photos. That's my goal. Nothing crazy.

It'll be another busy week around here, I've got a new work in progress coming up on Wednesday and I've got some exciting news coming up on Thursday! No, it's not another baby, stop asking!

2 pictures to get you going this week! Two things I love, misty morning and the river!

What's the plan this week?

Monday Motivation (on a Tuesday!)

Did you have a relaxing long weekend? We had some decidedly not-fun things to do (get new tires, grocery shopping on the Saturday of a long weekend. Bleck!), But it was a productive week! My garden is 100% planted! There will be more on that Thursday. Scribs and I weeded our strawberry patch, let me tell you putting them where the compost was, was both a great and stupid idea. Everything is growing great, weeds included! I moved one massive pile of compost, 2 left and only found 2 wasp or hornet hives, 1 bone and 1 livestock tag.

I'm hoping this week I can get my new clothes line up (Thank you MIL!), laundry detergent made (have you ever made your own?),  garden weeded, and deck swept. Not too much. It's been cooler here this week, I hope it continues. I like wearing pants and a sweatshirt, I know soon enough I'll be in shorts sweating like there's no tomorrow.

What are you working toward this week?

Monday motivation

This weekend was great! It was warm and sunny. The kids played outside and so did the chickens!

This week my to-do list is longer than usual as my parents are coming on Wednesday. You know the drill, company's coming cleaning! I'm not looking forward to washing the floors. We have hand-scraped wood in the kitchen, dining room and play room and there's crumbs and bits of sand in between them. How the heck do you get that mess out? I've vacuumed and swept. Hmmm, perhaps Pinterest will know.

My deck is kind of a mess, there's toys, random junk and bird poop all over. I bet a certain 3 year old will hose it down for me. 

I'm looking forward to having help around the house! What needs to get done and what is being accomplished are two very different animals. How does anyone get anything done with non-nappers?

Monday motivation

Pretty spectacular sunrise, no?

This weekend we moved the chicken coop outside, I got some gardening done, unfortunately I still have 3 or 4 rows left to plant and 8 plants left to transplant. One day it will be finished.

Next week my parents are visiting, that means it's time for the company's coming clean. My house is in a pretty sad state right now. A is done with his afternoon nap and I'm a bit overwhelmed with chores stacking up. Such is life. It will be nice to have some help and keep the kids distracted while I get some much needed work done.

If I get 2 more rows of the garden planted I will be happy.

What have you got going on this week?

Monday motivation

I don't know what it is today but both kids were up early. A came down and was crying at 3:50 and N was crying at 5:50. I was having a delightful dream starring Eric Northman. Oh well.  I think they're in cahoots. Either way I've been up since 4, I'm tired and have a ton to do as usual!

This weekend I almost finished making the rows in the garden. I broke a pitchfork in half in the process! I got some planting done too! Scribs is this close to finishing the coop! Our Droopy chicken isn't any worse so there's that.

I'm hoping for a rainy day this week to whip my house into shape. It's bad! There just isn't enough hours in a day. I need about 6 more waking hours.

This week if I get everything planted I'll be happy! What are you working on this week?

May the 4th be with you

Monday motivation

I love barn wood! I could take pictures of sun bleached barn for days!

We had the most beautiful weekend! It was warm, slightest breeze and no cow-poop smell (one of the joys of country living in the spring)

Scribs did some great work on the chicken coop. Let me tell, that thing is nice! 

I did some more work in the garden. We got this hoe and it is a game changer! It's making quick work of the hard clay soil. I still have a ton of work to do and I need to get those seeds and plants planted. 

This week my mother in law gets here! Hurray! That means I can hopefully get some real work done. She's only here until Saturday. I'm hoping she'll come back after she visits the rest of the grandkids. If I get the garden planted I will be happy! That's it. I say that's it like its a small project that'll take 15 minutes. Each row takes an hour to form. I'm so unbelievably sore already. I just hope my hands (and back) don't fail me! My hands are a blistered mess, every time I use different gloves and I get new blisters in different spots. I can't win! When I'm finished the rows I'll post a picture of my mess of hands!

Any goals for this week? I'd love to hear them!

monday motivation

Scribs made some great progress on the chicken coop this weekend. I can't wait to get those chickens in there! They are rowdy and ready for more room! All that is left is painting, roofing and their feeder and waterer! I'll share as soon as it's finished.

We did some light landscaping, just like my light weeding. Our neighbors trees have been creeping into our yard for what looks like years. When we're done we'll gain another 30'x5' strip. Scribs lumber-jacked our stinky laurel tree! Our deck looks much bigger without it and a lot of bugs are gone!

The weather was crazy this weekend! It was beautiful all week and then at around 11 on Friday it got super windy (6mph to 23mph within a few minutes) with cold wind, dark clouds but didn't rain until the evening. Then it was supposed to rain all day Saturday and Sunday. That didn't happen, of course!


Last week I did manage to get my floors vacuumed, not that you can tell! The lawn was cut and we were told not to bother with straw for the garden. We are lucky enough to know a master gardener (or two) and he said we were just making more work for ourselves. Now to build up our garden rows and get things planted! Hopefully by the end of next week everything will be planted.

I tweaked my back putting groceries into the car on Saturday. How? I'm not really sure. Dummy move for sure. I'm still laid up but after 2 days of laying around with a heating pad I've got things to do, I definitely don't have time for this!

This week I need to get a good cleaning done in the house as my Mother-in-law will be visiting next week.  I can't wait until she gets here! I'll be cleaning all the things that no one will notice, no one but me like dining chairs and light switches. Most of my house has been deep cleaned (remember? here, & here), so it shouldn't take too long. Do you do a company-is-coming, crazy person clean?

What are you working towards this week?

Monday Motivation

If ever there was a day that I needed a little motivational boost it's today. I am tired! Last night after the kids were in bed I sat down and felt like I melted into the couch. It's not the regular I'm ready for bed tired or I didn't sleep well. It's a bones aching, feeling slow and heavy tired. I purposely didn't have a load of laundry to hang allowing myself a slow morning. Good thing! N was up at 4, and that threw everything off. Is there anything worse than being woken up an hour before your alarm and not being able to go back to sleep until about 15 minutes before your alarm goes off? I should have just gotten out of bed! Alright complaining over, on to the weekend!

This weekend we had a bit of excitement! Saturday while eating lunch I saw something in the field, dog maybe? Grabbed the binoculars but still wasn't sure if it was a fox or a coyote. The mystery animal went into the neighboring berry field and I lost sight of it. An hour or so later, it was back! And this time I got a good look at his face. Coyote spotted making a day time appearance. I think we may need to get some nuisance tags. I'd rather not have to shoot anything but if it comes near our chickens or worse, us, I'll take that thing out in a heart beat. That would be interesting trying to explain to the kids!

Did you have a nice Easter? the kids had a great time!

The kids have been spending more and more time outside, which is good! We're spending around 8 hours out there! I'm sure thats making me tired, while they're napping I'm working. By the end of the summer I'm going to have some big farm muscles! I'm very grateful for the warm weather, more than 12 hours of sunlight and the many projects we have on the go.

This week it's supposed to be warm and sunny! HURRAY! I need to get my lawn cut, I'm hoping to get some straw for the garden and maybe vacuum! Vacuuming seems so pointless but I guess I should do it, between the sandbox and the dog the floors are a mess!

What are you goals for this week? Something fun I hope!

Monday Motivation

This weekend was very productive! I have my the Under the Sea blanket blocking, I cleaned the chicken box, cut the grass, Scribs did a ton of work on the coop, and got some seeds started. I'm sure there is more that I'm forgetting.

I'm almost done my laundry room deep clean! I need to do a little more washing and vacuuming before I am ready to share. I'm cutting it a bit close, I know! That's my main project for the week, finishing that silly room. I'm looking forward to sharing!

Um… how is it already almost Easter? That means we've been living in Washington for a whole year. It went by really quickly!

My favorite part of this picture is the tree in the bottom right corner, and the falling down fence that has since been replaced.

How was your weekend, I hope it was great!

Monday Motivation

This weekend, my goodness! Was… not good. It rained, the kids were grouchy and the garden. Let's just stick with it was not good. All my garden work last week has left my house a mess! This week I need to whip it into shape! The kitchen and the floors will be my focus this week, unfortunately my March cleaning has fell by the wayside. If we get more rain this week I'll need to get to work in there. I didn't get my windows cleaned… Again. I'm starting to sound like a broken record on this on!

What are you up to this week? Any Idea what these flowers are? They're tiny and pretty!

Monday Motivation

What a weekend we had! We went and picked up some chicks! I promise there will be more on the chickens really soon!

We had a lot of running around to do this weekend! Groceries, several trips to the hardware store, library, the kids of course needed to get outside! The never ending yard work! We had two juniper bushes under our big maple tree that we've been trying to get rid of. We are left with the ugly stumps. Have you ever tried to get rid of juniper bushes? Jeez Louise, what a night mare! Their roots are the devil. We picked up an ax at the hardware store, the handle literally broke in half after 4 swings. We're lucky the ax head didn't go flying! Needless to say that was trip number two to the hardware store. Lesson learned, next time buy Fiskars first and don't waste time!

This week I did get my washer and dryer cleaned! We had a few rainy days which were perfect days to clean. I still need to vacuum the dryer vent. There is some nasty lint and junk inside the actual machine that I'm not entirely sure how to remove. The vacuum doesn't reach inside, I tried taking the dryer apart at the access panel, no luck. Maybe I can suck it out from the outside. Any ideas?

This week I want to get the window in the laundry room clean, it's gross! I need to take the whole window and track out, give it a good scrub and unclog the drains in the track. The weather keeps changing every 5 minutes, I'm hoping to get a break and get it clean.

We are having our garden tilled this weekend, rain or shine. I need to get the compost spread so it gets worked into the soil. Scribs and I started Saturday during nap time. In an hour and a half we managed to cover a quarter of the area. Thats it. It's going to be a long process and I will be doing it this week in the rain. At least I don't need to go to the gym living on a farm!

I hope this daffodil from my yard gives you hope that spring is coming! Hang in there East Coast!