Thinking Ahead and Hunter's Harvest

Hello Everybody! 

All this wintry weather we've had sure is cold, so much that I find myself daydreaming about my garden a lot!  I did very little gardening and no preserving last year.... well, that's not true, I did manage to do a batch of bread and butter pickles. I sure have missed pulling down a jar of peaches or applesauce this season, oh and don't get me started on the tomato sauces I'm missing!

With all this day dreaming, I began to think that I need to start thinking about how I'm going to approach this season.  I've got the cleaning and chores down, but now I'll be adding 2 more chores....
garden work and hopefully processing all the bounty. 

One thing that will help is Mr. Sun.  He will be coming up earlier and staying around longer in the spring and summer months, so instead of scurrying into the house when we get home at 7:30 in the evening I can head out to the garden and get a good 1/1/2 hrs in to working in the garden.

Early morning hours I can head out to water and maybe pick items that are ready to come in.  I really wanted to expand and create a herbal garden this year.  I have great access to cardboard, so maybe creating that won't be as difficult as I thought. 

It will be a grand experiment.  Now if I can just come up with an idea of how/when to preserve what ever my little garden grows this year. 

We were able to enjoy the work of a hunter's harvest this week when our friend dropped off a nicely filled bag of assorted deer meat.  Talk about local!  That's what I'm talking about!  We were treated to 3 lbs of ground meat, stew meat, steaks and bologna.  He said to just let him know when it's gone and he'll give us more.  Wow is it tasty! 

The weather is suppose to be crazy this week.  It's suppose to sleet/freezing rain tonight then go up to 45 f during the day, and mid to high 50's for a few days.... just to probably take another plunge!  I will surely take the rest from the deep freeze we've had lately!

Here's to thawing out!

Reorganizing the Laundry Closet

Hey All,

I'm one of those people that actually enjoy doing laundry.  I even enjoyed going to the laundry mat in my younger years.  I loaded up all my machines at once and let 'em go!  My grandmother used to say don't you separate your lights from your darks?  No, my dear Muzzy.... when you are my age and you gotta feed the machine quarters for each load, there are only 2 kinds of laundry .... dirty and reallllyyy dirty.  Ahhhhh, memories.....

OK, where was I.... oh, yea, 41 years old and dealing with a rats nest of a laundry closet.  Right. 

So.  Here's my laundry closet BEFORE

 

 

 

Wow!  The only good thing about this heap of mess is that it's white, which makes you *think* it's clean. Kinda.  So I turned on some reruns of King Of Queens and got started. 

 



 

First things first, take out all the junk and for the love of everything holy, sweep all the funk out from the back of the machine.... here is an oh so pleasant picture of what I found.... yummy right? 

Cleaners anyone?  Holy cow!  I've got more cleaners than I thought!  2 bottles of bleach Kimberly? Really?  Believe it or not, I kept all of these cleaners because I actually do use them all.  One of the bottles of bleach only had about 1/4 cup in it, so I am proud to say I'm down to just one bottle thankyouverymuch!  So now that the cleaners are out of the way, lets take care of all the other crap I've got stuffed in this hell hole!

Luckily I had Toby close by to give me pointers on how to approach this mess.  I wish I would've taken a picture of all the nasty old craft items I threw out.  Old dry play dough, scrap paper, dry rotted stamps..... hmmmmm, Ashton hasn't used these since he was 6.... time to go.  I also wish I would've taken a picture of cleaning the inside of my washer.  We have really hard water and we get mineral build up.... trust me, the machine is sparkling clean now.  So after some throwing away, some relocating and reorganizing..... it was done. 

TAADAAAAH!

So much better!  I went shopping around my house and found the cute little basket to keep all my cleaning rags in.  Much prettier than just stuffing them on the shelf I think!  The boxes have been reduced to 1 craft box, 1 battery box, 1 pet box (clippers and harnesses) and 1 misc. box that holds stuff like light bulbs, masking tape, duct tape, stuff like that.  So much nicer than hearing from down the hall, husband staring blankly into a cupboard-  "HONEY DO WE HAVE ANY LIGHT BULBS/TAPE????"  I dunno, look.  "WHERE?"  I dunno, don't you have some in the garage?  "WOULD I BE ASKING YOU IF I DID?"...... you get the picture.....


OK gang..... next..... the last organizing project downstairs.... THE PANTRY!

Until next time friends! 

Grocery Fail.

Hey Everybody!  Remember when I posted that I wanted to get back to buying local produce and meats?  Remember how I said that I would find a way to make it happen on our tight budget?  Remember how I said that its important for us to eat whole healthy local foods and I'll just have to figure it out? 

Yea, scratch all that. 

Now it's not that I've totally given up on eating healthy.... it's just that I simply can't afford to go to the local butcher, baker and candle stick maker..... yet.

I dipped my big ole' money toe back into the local farm market a couple weeks ago.  I bought local eggs.  Oh they were so good! The cost of $2.50 a dozen, not so good.  Buuuuttt, you could tell these were some happy hens!  I bought some local grass fed beef for $7...... it was so tasty! Buuuttt, I only got one meal out of it.  2 meals I could've worked with.... one meal, no.  I did get a bargain of $2.50 for a 3lb bag of local apples.  Now that was a good deal, since in the supermarket or even the grocery outlet, non local apples were $3-4 for a 3 lb bag. 

Long story short....

I blew out my grocery budget for January like a truck driver blows out a tire on the interstate. 

I will be buying good healthy whole foods for my family.  I'm just not able to go to the farm market yet. 

One thing this has taught me..... I will definitely be putting lots of love and time into my garden this coming year!  Anything local we eat will be coming from my backyard!  Failure only creates motivation!

See ya next time friends!

Still decluttering and figuring this thing out.....

Hey All, 

Sorry I've been away for some time..... I am proud to say that business has been booming and I literally don't have time to sit and post as often as I'd like.  I don't take my laptop home, but that may have to change at some point.... but anyway.... I'm Back!

I tried guys.  I really did.  I tried like crazy to get my pictures to load.  For some reason, it doesn't give me the browse button.  Now, I'm not the most computer literate person in the world, so I'm sure there's someone out there right now yelling at the screen "Just do blah blah blah and it will work!"- but I haven't a clue.  I'm afraid you'll have to deal with a pictureless post this time around. 

Since last time I have decluttered my kitchen as well.  My next project is cleaning out and organizing the pantry.  That won't take much time at all.  We've gotten so busy here at the store that I can't take Sundays off any longer or else my hubby would go insane trying to put in the weekly orders and help customers.  So I'm planning a project each week..... hopefully after the pantry, I paint.  Ahhhh, yes.... I will lighten the accent wall  to match the other walls to brighten up the space.  Right now it is oh so the early 2000's  :) 

We have a darker accent wall in the living room as well that I also want to lighten, but one job a week!  I also like to bake our bread when I'm home for the day, so I don't want to over schedule myself.  Speaking of over scheduling myself,  I think I've got this whole how the heck do I clean my house and work 6 days a week without pulling my hair out thing down.....

I get up early. 

I think I told you this already, but my friend at my old job used to make fun of me because she had to clean her bathroom before work and I would NEVER consider doing that since I spent 1 1/2 hrs in the mornings on my days off (I only worked 3 days a week)  drinking tea and reading.  DRINKING TEA AND READING.  FOR 1 1/2 HOURS. 4 DAYS A WEEK.  Seriously?  No wonder she made fun of me.  Anyway, I finally got wise to this getting up early idea and I like it.  Instead of getting up at 7am, I get up at 6am (or 6:30 if the chore is pretty quick) I decide what chore I need to do and I do it.  I might clean the kitchen one morning, clean our bathroom the next and Ashton's bathroom the next.... until I've made a full circle.  Now the whole house isn't clean top to bottom, but hey, I don't think that has happened since Ashton was born! 

Also, keep in mind that my chore comes after I take care of my kitties.... I scoop their litter boxes and feed them before anything else happens.  Including my two little boys who are spoiled and want just a teensy tiny bit of milk in the morning.  I've also, so I don't have to spend my one day off a week married to the washer and dryer, have started washing one load of laundry a night and hanging them on my drying rack at night.... next night, I fluff jeans and towels and wallah, clean dry clothes ... and less electricity.... (there's the cheap Kim coming out again)--- roll your eyes here mom!---- 

Did I mention that my mornings are peaceful and even though I'm scrubbing toilets while its still dark out, I'm enjoying it?  Once hubby and son are up the noise level can get well ..... to a girl that likes peace and quiet in the morning... it can be brutal..... so, yea... nice calm morning before the whirlwind starts. 

Ok, everybody..... so that is it for now.... I will be back soon, hopefully with so many pictures it will burn your retinas!

FUUUUDDDGGGEEE!

I was going to do a really great post on the thrills of cleaning and organizing my laundry closet..... buuuuutttttt, I can't get my pictures to load.... so let me go throw a tantrum and scream like a preschooler  try to figure out what the problem is.... and I'll be back with that post soon...k? 

K. 

Kick butt Kick start to the New Year

Hello Everyone and Welcome to the 2013 edition of homemaker kim.... good to see ya!

Now that we've got a good foot hold on this new year, here's some plans that I have.....

1.  Start eating healthier and more local.... I've already gotten back on track with this.  There is a year round farm market near our recycle center (go ahead and roll your eyes now mom!)  that has local grass fed beef and very local (as in right down the street) brown eggs.  What a difference!  Those are some happy chickens I tell ya!  The yolk is orange which is a sign of very good nutrition, which in turn is good nutrition for me!  Booyah! 

2.  Do another year of Found Money Challenge inspired by the oh so wonderful Katy from Non-consumer advocate..... I didn't have much luck last year, I think I topped out at 45 cents.  But this is a fresh new year.... so people! Get to droppin' those coins!  I've got a challenge here!  My son has even gotten in on the fun by stealing   finding 2 pennies on the floor at Target ( I can't believe I missed it!)

3.  Start collecting aluminum cans to take to cash in at the local metal recyclers......  Now folks, I cringe at the amounts of cans that I hauled away just to dump at the recycle center.  It was easily hundreds of pounds over the years.  But then I got a clue to taking them to cash them in.  I had always known about doing it, but for some reason I just didn't.  I took in 4lbs of cans from my husbands last *ahem* "round" and I walked away with $2.76!  I know, it's nothing to write home about but hey, that do-do adds up!!  So, now I'm not only on the look out for coins, I now keep an eye out for aluminum money!  Yes, my husband is absolutely thrilled about this latest venture... just LOVES IT**

**not.


4.  Continue to be a money grubbing crazy person     responsible, thrifty,saving, loving momma......
2012 was a big change for us.  We went from making nearly 55k a year to ummmmm let's see, 15k .... yea, I know.  We started our business and thankfully it is doing well.  The only reason we were able to start our business is because we don't have any debt and don't have a lot of monthly expenses.  We squeaked by some how some way with only minor emergencies (winking at you momma!)  This past month was great and was able to take a deep breath.  We have re-funded our Baby Emergency Fund (if you speak Dave Ramsey speak) and are now working on funding a fully funded emergency fund.  We are starting to save for things like a different car for me, and have special "envelopes" (again Dave Ramsey speak) for things like Christmas, clothes, haircuts, etc....
So our financial life is good and moving forward again.  The biggest accomplishment for us though is that we went through all this and did not take on any new debt.  That is a big deal!!  **

** If you don't know who Dave Ramsey is, I highly recommend him and his financial plan! (and no, I didn't get paid to say that!)

5.  Continue to do all my "hippy" stuff....... I am daydreaming about my up coming garden, processing a crap ton of food, making granola and beef jerky, wearing my homemade deodorant, shopping at thrift stores for fun and bringing my own shopping bags every where...... all the stuff that my family just looks at me with a glazed look in their eyes and shakes their heads. 

6.  Breath...... shake off anger.....  As I get older, I realize that life can be taken from you at a moments notice.  It's fragile.... Seeing things in the news, hearing my friends lose family members unexpectedly..... we're lucky to be breathing, happy and healthy..... there's no time to hold onto anger.... there's no time to hold onto sadness... will I be perfect?  Heck No.... I'm a girl with hormones after all, but I will lighten up this year...... and just enjoy the ride.....

7.  House..... after such a heavy #6 item, I forgot to mention to continue the decorating and decluttering of my house..... light and fresh is what I'm going for.... by special request by hubbs, I will be reorganizing/cleaning out the laundry closet next.  I'm trying to think of ways to prettify it (what you've never heard of prettify?)  so come back soon for a picture packed post! 

Well, I think that's it..... thanks for coming along with me for this coming year! 

Until next time friends!