Updates from the Homestead

 

 


Life has been rather full lately.  Lots of activities happening with everyone it seems.  Emily and Sierra flew to Maryland and spent a week there… got some great nephew hugging in .  I guess that is one nice thing about online colleges you can keep up with your school work even if you are in another state.  Leanne has been house sitting and working on her college work as well.  Jacob is into his 3rd week of school and things are going smoothly.  


The most fun update is Sierra’s bedroom.  Tobin finished all the drywall and other prep work and the painting finally started.  Sierra and I bought a quart of both green and blue paint and she painted a scrap piece of drywall so she could see the colors together and make sure this is what she wanted.  Yep.. she loved her choices.  So yesterday we went and picked up a gallon of each and last night she started painting.  Wow..  It would not be my personal choice in color but I have to say it does not look too bad and she is thrilled.  It is fun to be a bit adventurous with paint!  After much thought on this she decided to go with painting 2 walls green and 2 walls blue.  The carpet will be blue and we will accent with purple accessories.  I will post pics soon..   


My garden is doing great.  I am still harvesting lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash and I have enough ears of corn left for one or two more dinners.  I am thinking about doing some overwintering seeds.  I was going to rototill the garden and plant a row of lettuce, spinach and a few other seeds and see if they come up in the spring.  Does anyone do this?  I wondered if I need to mulch them heavily?  I will try and do some research and see what I come up with.  On the rest of the garden area I want to plant a cover crop to try and keep the weeds under control and it will be a good way to add nitrogen to the soil next spring.   


I have also been doing more cooking for the freezer.  I ran out of just about everything I had made and started a new batch of beef, hamburger, ham, and chicken.  I have loved having these meal starters ready to go and am looking forward to them helping me out as I ease into the school year.  Today I need to strain out my chicken broth and cook and bag up some beans.  


It looks like we have a string of several cool days coming up in our forecast.  I am planning and doing a little baking and maybe even get some extra baked items in the freezer.  Bagels were sounding yummy..  we will see how the week/weekend goes.   


I also started sewing a quilt.  I guess the thoughts of fall and cooler days have me in a sewing mood.  It is just a small one that I will put over the back of my loveseat but I am enjoying doing a little sewing again.  I will post more about it in a future blog post.  When Emily saw I had my sewing machine out she reminded me that she had picked out some fabric for an apron and would just be so happy if I would make it for her.  She has no time to sew and I would enjoy doing that for her. That may be my next project after I finish the quilt.  


Our homeschool will officially start on September 14th. This will begin my 21st year of homeschooling..     I finally have all the curriculum ordered and it has arrived.  We have plenty of paper and pencils too..     Now it is time to start laying out the daily school work schedule.  I am actually looking forward to getting back to some structure in my day and that familiar routine with my kids.


That is all the updates I have for now..  Hope you all have a great day on your homesteads today!  


 

Comments

  1. One of my favorite color combinations is blue, green and purple. I can't wait to see pics - I'm sure it looks very pretty. :-)


    I live in a dull white walls apartment where we're not allowed to paint. But I'm looking into other alternatives - "wallpapering" in fabric (I hear it's easy to remove and doesn't damage the wall underneath) and/or hanging some square raised panels of fabric in different patterns.

    My mind is alive with all kinds of ideas of how I want to redo my bedroom. I'd better start writing all these ideas down!


    Have a blessed weekend.

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  2. It was fun reading about your plans. As you can see from my blog, I am on about the same track as you! xo Jeani

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  3. Hi Crystal, It was encouraging to hear your school start date is 9/14. Ours is 9/15. Thanks for sharing. I don't always leave a comment but I stop by often for a visit. Its always a delight to find something new to add to my little homestead. God Bless you. Steady at home, most days ;) Cynthia

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  4. Dear Crystal,


    I've just recently found out I need to stay away from all wheat and if possible gluten. This is super discouraging as I so enjoy baking and using wheat. Do you happen to have any resources or wheat alternatives that wouldn't be too expensive? Anything you might come up with would be super helpful. Thank you So much for sharing your wonderful ideas with all of us moms! It has been such a blessing for me and my family.


    Aimee

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