It’s been difficult to sit down and write lately. The first winter in Idaho was one of adjustment. We had not found our feet, probably in part for a lack of looking. Spring and Summer followed with lots of well laid plans, and because they were all achieved on a budget, it was a long couple of seasons plugging along till we got everything done that we could afford.
Now, with less than a month to go before Autumn begins to settle in, we have a vegetable garden producing a bit of fun, a pumpkin patch, and a patch with watermelons, cantaloupes, and corn growing in it. We have two cows in the pasture over the road, and an enlarged chicken flock. All of this has added things to tend to, and to learn about to our list of daily doings.
There is also a lot of work to be done around the house! The place is about 100 years old now, and needs a lot of work done to it! My pet project has been the pantry. It stands to reason that if we are going to get the yard producing lots of food, then we are going to need a place to store it all once it’s harvested and canned. I have started in one corner and begun to work my way around. That way, I have a sort of template for how the entire room will go as I continue. I could have built lots of shelves and then added caps to them, but I instead went from floor to ceiling in the one corner. I am ready to start the second corner, having finished the area where the washing machine is and two of the doors into and out of the room. I have improved the lighting in there, and in the basement, and added two outlets for convenience. One is outside, to stop extension cords being trailed across the floor and through the back door, and the other behind the dryer, to rid us of the cord leading from the cubby behind the oven, through the little pantry, and into the big pantry. All of this is actually pretty easy work to do. It doesn’t even take a lot of time. But on top of everything else, and with the kids and all, by the time I am sat down, I want to rest a bit and get my mind off things. Hence the lack of blogging lately.
I even have a hobby in my shop, which is a table that I am refinishing which is probably older than this house is. It came from my Great-Great-Grandmother’s house in West Virginia, and even in its ancient state, it is a sturdy, strong table. It deserves a good refinishing! I had it as my first table in my first marriage. My ex painted the top blue. The refinishing work I am doing now is a way of erasing my ex, which helps to further close the door on that epoch. My plan is to eventually have it and an equally old chair done and put on the front porch for my little computer to rest while I BLOG! I am calling the whole project My Little Walden. It is to be my relaxing place.
I doubt next year will give me any more free time than this one has! We intend to plow up more garden space, because after all, we can. We may even cut into the irrigated land over the road where the cows graze. I also want to raise bees. We will likely get more cows next year too! There will be paddocks to create, and field management to do. I also want to get turkeys going, and waterfowl for the drainage ditch at the bottom of the field over the road. All of this on top of what we have been doing this year!
My workshop needs more done in it to finish it. I have a work bench down one side, and lighting, and some tools. I still need a work bench on the other side, and some cabinetry, and more tools of course, always more tools! I also need to get a permanent electrical installation out there! Believe it or not, I am currently (pun intended) working with a power strip and an extension cord from the front porch of the house. It all works because I only use one tool at a time, and the lighting is all LED, so low wattage requirements. They don’t even dim when I run the high consumption saw. But it is far from ideal! Thing is, the entire operation is going on a $50 a week budget, so it is slow. But I am positive that I am getting far more than $50 a week value out of it!
Been fun writing, but I have to go now, as the baby is getting fussy and the day needs starting!
Kelsey Bacon