Goals, winter planting and sewing

It is a cold and blustery day.  Last night the winds were brutal and even blew the stop sign on our corner down!

Goals - I am the type of person that loves to make goals and lists.  Last year I missed the mark on a couple of my goals for the year, like a trip to the east coast where I grew up and instead of buying two milk goats we bought two lambs. Otherwise, I did okay.  Here is what I made for 2019:

So I started the day!

Journaling… I love to journal.  I have a problem , though, writing anything negative. Here is a page from the journal...

Gardening in the winter... I worked in the greenhouse today.  I ran out in the cold but found the harsh winds had jammed the greenhouse door shut.  My cuttings were blowing all over while I struggled to get the door open.  Dude saw me from the window and came running to help . He had a screwdriver in hand.  He has had experience with this in the past.  I was in in a jiffy.  Ahhh, it was so warm in there. 

My son gifted me a coleus plant and I have already paid it forward with three plants from it and now these!

They root within days in water. 

I also rooted and planted rosemary from my kitchen plant. 

Began the day with orange and peppermint in the diffuser to get us going.  Later in the day the dehydrator was working on drying rosemary.  It is reported  to be good for memory and good for when you are studying. It is said to help with circulation and warding off evil spirits.  I don't know about that but we grow and dry it for the lamb we raise and topped on bread.  The house smelled like perfume to me... the kind I like. 

Creating time … I want new pajamas and cut out this pair. I love green. This fabric has been in my stash for probably 10 years. Time to make something of it. 

Recipe... was garlic soup. No, Dude, did not have any.  It is super simple and something I do to change it improves the flavor 100% - oranges.  It is a can of beef stock, a can of water, a whole head of garlic sliced, dried parsley, sage, and rosemary (all homegrown) and I added dried orange that I minced.  Heated it up and ate. 

I saved some for lunch tomorrow... I will need to remember to pack mint tea and my toothbrush or sit alone all day!

Recycle... we love when people give us their old cardboard egg cartons. Yes, we use them for our eggs, but better yet, they are great as fire starters for our woodstove. 

Towels are laundered and dishes done (teamwork).  Now, three hours of just reading and getting ready for tomorrow. 

peace

Kids are made for gardens and a quick recipe

We still have snow on the ground from this weekend.  I woke up to see the wind had blown the greenhouse door open. I was concerned the winter garden had gotten frost bite or froze.  I would check it later. 

I decided to make some mini impossible pies before work. You'd be surprised what you could make with 2 meatballs, some Bisquick , a little bit of cheese and jalapeños

You take the classic Betty Crocker recipe of 

1/2 cup of milk... I used almond milk

1/2 cup Bisquick … I used the lite

2 eggs

Whip all that up. 

Then spray a cupcake tin with cooking spray. 

Fill them half way full. (this made 8) 

Then I sliced up a couple of meatballs, eight slices of leftover cheddar, and 4 jalapeños. 

 

Put those in the tins and put the jalapeños in half of them. 

Bake 375* for 20 minutes. 

They turned out delicious and I want to try a dessert one with maybe cream cheese and fruit. But for now I needed to get out in the greenhouse. 

Our grandson had arrived and was ready to see what was going on in the greenhouse. 

I was happy to see the garlic sprouting. 

Our own little sprout was planting seeds today - flowers and mustard greens.

Kids love dirt.  They love to plant things, see things grow and... 

pull things from the ground. 

After a morning of working in the garden it was time to head into the house. 

Someone approved of today's snack...

Next up... sewing.

I want to make this block this weekend. It is the first square of a 12 month quilt called IMAGINE by Nancy Halvorsen. 

Since I like to get a lot done in the day, I need to take this in bite size pieces. 

January

My goal was to trace the pattern and get it ready for the weekend. 

It didn't happen before work but I did get it done on my dinner hour! 

Little by little we get things done. We tackle a little here and little there and in the end it gets completed. 

peace

Monday homestead chores

We began the day figuring out which money challenge we were going to do this year. I found all these on Decluttering your life .com .   Really, you can get creative and make your own, such as doubling some of the numbers or doing the challenges backwards. 

We will attempt the monthly and 52 week money challenge. 

Next it was out to clean the chicken coop and greenhouse. The weatherman told us there would be hurricane force winds . When we went outside and found a warm blue sky day with only mild winds we decided to quickly get work done. 

I cleaned out the beds. We has one very cold night (below zero) when the greenhouse door blew open and everything froze.  Sadly, the cabbage that was left rotted. 

Dude cleaned out the coop and I  laid all the new bedding and straw down. 

Yep, look up and at the end … we had music blaring. 

The chicken manure and rotting greens were put in the compost.  The rest of the morning was spent chasing the dog from the compost pile.  He rather fancies a snack of chicken turds. ohNorman. 

We finished just in time for the winds to kick up and swirl around. I could tell if the wind was angry or simply having fun.

I am finishing reading a  book I got from the library call Survival Mom.   I rather like it.  Living on a homestead you are usually far from a city, grocery store and any quick facility for things you might normally be able to pick up quickly. 

I like her thinking , pretty much the same way we do and prioritize things. I like the lay out of the book with tidbits on the side of the pages and lists at the end of chapters to check off. 

Anywhooo… I recommend, 

peace 

Sunday Funday - Epiphany

We celebrated Epiphany today.  It is our Little Christmas.  We had a great time laughing, eating, playing games and just being with each other. 

I will let the pictures speak for themselves. 

Peace.

Big bowl of chili. 

A lot of fun . 

The Merry-Maker brought toys and games to play. 

  The all beef no bean chili was all gone by the end of the day.  Only a little left of the veggie chili.

Decorated our snow globes. 

Gifts exchanged.