The Holiday’s are officially over! We have two family members locally who are in failing health, and a very dear friend far away who is also, so with such a pall over us, we made this Christmas about being with our little clutch, and enjoyed it all we could!
Happy days for me! I got a Kindle for Christmas, and have it loaded with a bunch of books from Project Gutenberg. I have already finished Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, and am now working on Everyday Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which despite being largely made up of newspaper ads from the era, I find it immensely interesting. It has even answered questions about some of our goals here on the farm.
So, for the next couple of months, my pocket money is earmarked for fencing for our pasture, to hold in the cows, horses, and llamas we have over there. AS the fencing there now belongs to the leaser who has been putting his cows there the last couple of years, I want to assure that he doesn’t need to take it one day, and leave us with nothing. I need to get everything in order before spring so we can get some investment in cows for this year, and work towards many other things we will need in the future.
Plans for this year in the form of resolutions? I am reading more already because I want to, and have made no such resolution. If there is to be one, it is around improving my general health, which I can feel is in decline with association to my age. I need to lose a bit of weight, gain a little strength, and especially give more attention to my cardio health.
This year would like to see the pantry finished, electric to the outbuildings, and some outbuildings started, such as a workshop for missus and a greenhouse. It would also like to see as many cows as we can afford across the road to help pay for the things that will come in the next couple of years.
Propane is a swear word around here. We have just paid a $430 bill on it for the last fill up, which has just run out, and based on the current price, I think this next fill up will run us a bit over $700, and as the tank has less in it than I have ever before seen, it may be easily over $800. And to think, winter has just begun! It is probably the sole reason I am so excited for spring!
One thing I have decided on is that there is a reasonable space for me to run a bit of duct work through and install a couple of vents into to channel some of the heat from the downstairs furnace to the upstairs. Maybe it would be enough to shut off the upstairs furnace for good? That would probably cut the heating by a load! It would also set us up so if we ever do install geothermal, our ducting would be set for it. The only problem is that it would not allow the ducting to reach the boys’ bedroom. Everywhere else I could hit from the attic above the pantry.
Lighting is still moving along slowly. I have LED in many of the fixtures in the house so far. Of the 9 bulbs in the bathroom, 2 still need to be changed. There are four in the pantry, one in the little pantry, two out back, and three in the boys’ bedroom to do before I get into my grandparent’s room, the living room, and the chicken coop and tool shed. The living room is too dark even with its lights on, so some fixtures will be changed in there to brighten it up a lot, and to allow for appropriate mood settings and such. Eventually we see that room becoming a library and more of a parlor, and a room for listening to music.
Well, there’s sort of a summary of where things are at around here. There is still a lot of work to be done to get to where we want to be. We are getting by, and have not yet had to eat the horses. Let’s see how this year goes!
Kelsey J Bacon