But today I decided it's been long enough... As of this week, I am 20 weeks pregnant!!
That's one of the reasons I went on a posting hiatus at the beginning of the year. I felt awful for the first 15 weeks. Morning sickness doesn't even begin to describe it. Thankfully after about 12 weeks, I started getting some energy back, but the nausea didn't stop for another month or so. Still, during that time we were busy squirrelling away baby bargains that we found secondhand. So far we've managed to find a crib/changing table/dresser combo, bassinet, swing, bouncer, a Pottery Barn bedding set, a small dresser, a rocking chair, and a Jeep jogging stroller. And I think our grand total is still under $500. I'm so cheap. Er, I mean "frugal".
Now that I feel better, we're working on the house a little more. Tony the Drywall Guy has been dilligently working on the office walls, and he's finished the skimcoating. This week, he's going to install the 4.5' by 8' "patch" where the PPOs made a closet opening.
Tony also helped us find out that the knob and tube we found is indeed live. Yay... Fortunately, he also knows trustworthy electricians, and he's acting as a GC to get one here and working. Tony is our new hero. We're going to have the electrician remove the k&t as well as install wiring for a ceiling fan. I might also have him look at the two outlets in the living room that suddenly stopped working...
The next stage of our project will be rebuilding the two closets between the bedrooms. Considering the small space and the amount of damage done, I think we're just going to gut and drywall. There's just not enough plaster left to even try to save it. Considering how small the space is and how quickly Tony works, that should be a two-day project once we get there.
Amazing. The end is near!
5/10/2009
5/09/2009
Stolen flowers
Last year, I umm... stole some flowers. A friend and I were driving along a country road in the middle of nowhere, and in the woods off to the side was a field of woodland phlox. I always loved phlox, but the plants sold at our local nursery weren't the same. So we dug up a few bunches and transplanted them in my garden.
One bunch by the neighbor's fence got mildewy (a common problem with phlox). Another bunch that we planted at the edge of the woods just plain died. And the third bunch that we put on the side of the house looked like it just might make it.
A few weeks ago, I noticed some big, green bunches growing near the fence and on the side of the house. It looked like phlox, but I couldn't be sure; this was WAY more than I had transplanted last summer. Looking at some wild phlox growing along the road this morning, I'm now certain: my phlox came back and are preparing to bloom!
I should add that I have since found out that it is illegal to remove wildflowers from "the wild" in most states. Since the property I took my flowers from belonged to someone, I'm not sure they qualify as wild. Still, if nothing else, I did technically steal them. I'm very glad to have my phlox, but I won't be taking any more roadside wildflowers, just in case.
One bunch by the neighbor's fence got mildewy (a common problem with phlox). Another bunch that we planted at the edge of the woods just plain died. And the third bunch that we put on the side of the house looked like it just might make it.
A few weeks ago, I noticed some big, green bunches growing near the fence and on the side of the house. It looked like phlox, but I couldn't be sure; this was WAY more than I had transplanted last summer. Looking at some wild phlox growing along the road this morning, I'm now certain: my phlox came back and are preparing to bloom!
I should add that I have since found out that it is illegal to remove wildflowers from "the wild" in most states. Since the property I took my flowers from belonged to someone, I'm not sure they qualify as wild. Still, if nothing else, I did technically steal them. I'm very glad to have my phlox, but I won't be taking any more roadside wildflowers, just in case.
5/08/2009
My seeds are sprouting!
Last week, in an act of desperation, I planted some of last year's seeds in a couple of egg cartons. I think I broke every seed-sprouting rule there is: I used soil from the garden, I didn't water from the bottom, and I accidentally left them outside overnight a few times... But as of today, I have about 6 broccoli seedlings! I also have a couple lettuce sprouts. Nothing yet from the tomatoes and carrots, but the package says 7-10 days, so there's still time.
I also supplemented my seedlings with started plants. I bought broccoli (to spread out the harvest), roma tomatoes, and yellow bell peppers.
Shayne is going to make me a raised bed with some wood salvaged from the stash in my mom's garage rafters, and I plan to give square foot gardening a go. Compost and mulch are free for South Bend residents from the Department of Organic Resources, so long as you load it yourself. I'm not sure if we count, since we're outside the city limits, but our mailing address is South Bend... Still, at only $4 per yard for non-residents, it's a bargain.
If all goes well, we should have our started plants in the ground by Monday!
I also supplemented my seedlings with started plants. I bought broccoli (to spread out the harvest), roma tomatoes, and yellow bell peppers.
Shayne is going to make me a raised bed with some wood salvaged from the stash in my mom's garage rafters, and I plan to give square foot gardening a go. Compost and mulch are free for South Bend residents from the Department of Organic Resources, so long as you load it yourself. I'm not sure if we count, since we're outside the city limits, but our mailing address is South Bend... Still, at only $4 per yard for non-residents, it's a bargain.
If all goes well, we should have our started plants in the ground by Monday!
5/03/2009
Thinking spring, and about all the work we need to do...
It seems as though it's been a long time coming, but spring is really, truly, finally here. Trees are budding, lilacs are blooming, and the grass just had its first trim. I love how fresh and clean everything always looks during spring. Even the now-empty lot that used to be our woods doesn't look so bad now that the grass is green again. I'd still much rather have trees than a view of the neighbors, but I guess I'm learning to live with it. Like I have a choice...
One of the reasons I'm so excited about spring this year is because of food. When I started eating/buying local, seasonal produce last yearI didn't think it would change our diet much. Since I stocked away lots of veggies in the freezer, I figured we'd pretty much eat the same stuff during the winter as we do during the summer. And, that mostly proved correct. It's been very easy to live off our freezer stash, and I'm definitely going to do it again this year. I have bought a few bunches of lettuce, a bag of onions, and one head of broccoli at the store, but other than that, I've cooked from the frozen broccoli, beans, peas, peppers, and corn in the freezer. The potatoes I bought at the market stayed fresh living in the produce bin at the bottom of the fridge, and we devoured our canned applesauce and peaches.
And that right there is why I'm so very glad it's spring.
Fruit.
I never was one to buy fruit out of season anyways, but this winter I really missed it. Last summer at the market, I devoured the strawberries, blueberries, plums (4 different kinds!), nectarines, peaches, melons, pears, and apples. And they were just so much better than anything I'd ever bought from Meijer. I probably ate more fruit last summer than I had in the 5 years before combined. I would wake up early every Saturday morning and couldn't wait to go get more fruit.
And the problem with fruit is that there's no good way to preserve that just-picked taste. My frozen corn still tastes fresh 8 months later. But a canned peach just isn't the same as biting into a fresh, juicy one. And the home frozen ones kinda turn to mush. I need to get a commercial flash freezer...!
Fruit cravings aside, we've gotten quite a bit accomplished here in the past 2 weeks. The office walls are nearing completion, and I'm beginning to have hope that the upstairs really will be finished before the end of summer. Our drywall buddy knows an electrician who will help us with our knob and tube debacle and put a ceiling fan into the office. I have a feeling the closet walls and ceiling will be so shot that we'll just end up completely replacing with drywall, so that whould be a relatively quick project (especially since we won't be doing the work!), and then we'll just have to paint the walls and refinish the floors. It's getting there...
The only problem with this house is that the projects kind of create more projects. Like the Great Closet Recreation Project. Sure, it's wonderful that we're taking 2 dysfunctional closets and creating 3 usable ones. It'll imrpove resale value, and we'll be able to store more items in a more organized fashion. But, by putting the closets back where they belong, we have to remove a screwed up heat duct installed by the PPOs that "feeds" off of the duct to the master bedroom and effectively cuts airflow in half. Which is all well and good, until we find that the wall that the old, original heat duct ran through no longer exists. When they opened up the wall between the kitchen and dining rooms, they took the duct with it. So now, in order to really, truly do this project right, we need to build 16" of wall between the dining room and kitchen.
Did I mention that the dining room still has its lovely paneling and ceiling tiles? And don't forget the window opening that is hidden beneath that paneling. And the beautiful, unrefinished pine floors lurking under the Pergo. Oh, wait! And if we build a wall between the kitchen and dining room, we can't very well leave all the nasty wallpaper in the kitchen up; we'll need to remove it and paint. And since the kitchen doesn't have any heat ducts of its own, we should probably fix that while we are running ductwork, right?
This is where I start wondering why the hell I ever thought we needed to fix the closets...
One of the reasons I'm so excited about spring this year is because of food. When I started eating/buying local, seasonal produce last yearI didn't think it would change our diet much. Since I stocked away lots of veggies in the freezer, I figured we'd pretty much eat the same stuff during the winter as we do during the summer. And, that mostly proved correct. It's been very easy to live off our freezer stash, and I'm definitely going to do it again this year. I have bought a few bunches of lettuce, a bag of onions, and one head of broccoli at the store, but other than that, I've cooked from the frozen broccoli, beans, peas, peppers, and corn in the freezer. The potatoes I bought at the market stayed fresh living in the produce bin at the bottom of the fridge, and we devoured our canned applesauce and peaches.
And that right there is why I'm so very glad it's spring.
Fruit.
I never was one to buy fruit out of season anyways, but this winter I really missed it. Last summer at the market, I devoured the strawberries, blueberries, plums (4 different kinds!), nectarines, peaches, melons, pears, and apples. And they were just so much better than anything I'd ever bought from Meijer. I probably ate more fruit last summer than I had in the 5 years before combined. I would wake up early every Saturday morning and couldn't wait to go get more fruit.
And the problem with fruit is that there's no good way to preserve that just-picked taste. My frozen corn still tastes fresh 8 months later. But a canned peach just isn't the same as biting into a fresh, juicy one. And the home frozen ones kinda turn to mush. I need to get a commercial flash freezer...!
Fruit cravings aside, we've gotten quite a bit accomplished here in the past 2 weeks. The office walls are nearing completion, and I'm beginning to have hope that the upstairs really will be finished before the end of summer. Our drywall buddy knows an electrician who will help us with our knob and tube debacle and put a ceiling fan into the office. I have a feeling the closet walls and ceiling will be so shot that we'll just end up completely replacing with drywall, so that whould be a relatively quick project (especially since we won't be doing the work!), and then we'll just have to paint the walls and refinish the floors. It's getting there...
The only problem with this house is that the projects kind of create more projects. Like the Great Closet Recreation Project. Sure, it's wonderful that we're taking 2 dysfunctional closets and creating 3 usable ones. It'll imrpove resale value, and we'll be able to store more items in a more organized fashion. But, by putting the closets back where they belong, we have to remove a screwed up heat duct installed by the PPOs that "feeds" off of the duct to the master bedroom and effectively cuts airflow in half. Which is all well and good, until we find that the wall that the old, original heat duct ran through no longer exists. When they opened up the wall between the kitchen and dining rooms, they took the duct with it. So now, in order to really, truly do this project right, we need to build 16" of wall between the dining room and kitchen.
Did I mention that the dining room still has its lovely paneling and ceiling tiles? And don't forget the window opening that is hidden beneath that paneling. And the beautiful, unrefinished pine floors lurking under the Pergo. Oh, wait! And if we build a wall between the kitchen and dining room, we can't very well leave all the nasty wallpaper in the kitchen up; we'll need to remove it and paint. And since the kitchen doesn't have any heat ducts of its own, we should probably fix that while we are running ductwork, right?
This is where I start wondering why the hell I ever thought we needed to fix the closets...
5/02/2009
Suburban self-reliance
I've read a few books and articles over the past year about people who live on small plots of land, yet are able to produce most of their own food. I'm still trying to decide whether these stories make me feel envious or overwhelmed... Since I'm just learning about gardening and animal husbandry, it seems like a huge time and energy commitment. Not to mention the steep learning curve... I want to do it all, but the idea of slaughtering a chicken is very intimidating for me. I wouldn't have a problem eating a chicken I raised, but I'm not sure how I feel about actually killing and butchering it myself. An attitude like this points to what I feel is one of the biggest problems in today's society: people want things, but they don't want to do it themselves or do the "dirty work" to achieve things.
I'm determined to change this attitude in myself, especially as it pertains to food. In the society we've evolved into, the average person is far removed from the processes that sustain us. Some people don't even know how to make a meal unless it comes out of a box, much less how to preserve home-grown produce to last through the winter. Personally, I don't like to live like this. It makes me feel very insecure, as I'm relying on so many other people just to have the basics to survive. I don't think that I'm an extremist; I'm not going to become a hermit who completely withdraws from society to live off the land in some ramshackle cottage in the woods. But I do want to do what I can to make myself less reliant on others for the basics (water, food, energy), and I want my children to also have these skills.
I don't think people realize how fragile society really is. After a disaster or major social disruption of some sort, it takes only 72 hours without strong governmental intervention for the social order to start to disintegrate. Anyone remember all the looting after hurricaine Katrina? Or the effects of the widespread "Northeast Blackout" of 2003? I was visiting family near Detroit that weekend, and stores immediately sold out of bottled water, ice, gasoline, and other emergency supplies. It doesn't take long at all for fights to start over the last remaining supplies, and it seems much more prudent to have supplies on-hand instead of trying to beat the rush to the grocery store. Personally, I don't think stealing food from a grocery store after a natural disaster is truly "looting", it's just people doing what they need to do to survive and feed themselves. But would you want to be in the way of people who are that desperate?
Especially in light of the fact that we plan to bring children into this world, I feel very obligated to be able to provide for ourselves under most any circumstances. I'm not worried we're all going to die from swine flu, or that the nuclear holocaust is right around the corner. But I do believe that I cannot (and should not!) rely on the government to rescue me from a disaster or emergency situation.
So, today I'm going to really go through my stored food and figure out what I really have and what I really need. There's no reason to have 10 lbs of flour if I don't have anything to make it edible...! Throughout the month of May, I'd like to make sure I have a true 1 month supply of food and fuel that is organized and accessible. I'm also going to build a small raised garden bed for the seeds I started a few days ago. Then I can concentrate of building up the 3-month supply that was supposed to be last year's resolution!
I'm determined to change this attitude in myself, especially as it pertains to food. In the society we've evolved into, the average person is far removed from the processes that sustain us. Some people don't even know how to make a meal unless it comes out of a box, much less how to preserve home-grown produce to last through the winter. Personally, I don't like to live like this. It makes me feel very insecure, as I'm relying on so many other people just to have the basics to survive. I don't think that I'm an extremist; I'm not going to become a hermit who completely withdraws from society to live off the land in some ramshackle cottage in the woods. But I do want to do what I can to make myself less reliant on others for the basics (water, food, energy), and I want my children to also have these skills.
I don't think people realize how fragile society really is. After a disaster or major social disruption of some sort, it takes only 72 hours without strong governmental intervention for the social order to start to disintegrate. Anyone remember all the looting after hurricaine Katrina? Or the effects of the widespread "Northeast Blackout" of 2003? I was visiting family near Detroit that weekend, and stores immediately sold out of bottled water, ice, gasoline, and other emergency supplies. It doesn't take long at all for fights to start over the last remaining supplies, and it seems much more prudent to have supplies on-hand instead of trying to beat the rush to the grocery store. Personally, I don't think stealing food from a grocery store after a natural disaster is truly "looting", it's just people doing what they need to do to survive and feed themselves. But would you want to be in the way of people who are that desperate?
Especially in light of the fact that we plan to bring children into this world, I feel very obligated to be able to provide for ourselves under most any circumstances. I'm not worried we're all going to die from swine flu, or that the nuclear holocaust is right around the corner. But I do believe that I cannot (and should not!) rely on the government to rescue me from a disaster or emergency situation.
So, today I'm going to really go through my stored food and figure out what I really have and what I really need. There's no reason to have 10 lbs of flour if I don't have anything to make it edible...! Throughout the month of May, I'd like to make sure I have a true 1 month supply of food and fuel that is organized and accessible. I'm also going to build a small raised garden bed for the seeds I started a few days ago. Then I can concentrate of building up the 3-month supply that was supposed to be last year's resolution!
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