82 Degrees & More Snowy Weather! Two Home Office Rehabs, Mini Grow Light System Hack

 

 82 Degrees & More Snowy Weather!

We have had really crazy weather here lately! One afternoon it was 82 degrees and sunny, within 3 days it was 32 and snowing! This is a more wacky Spring than we usually have here. Hens are laying great! Fresh eggs galore is so satisfying for us. The good news is the garden is greening up with the days longer-

 

 

 

Bonnie enjoys the sunny spots in the house-

"Before" shot original home office

Two Home Office Rehabs-

With my new job, and an earlier shift, my first day of work I drove in the pouring rain and dark. Not fun. Luckily it's daylight now, and I will be starting to do hybrid work in a few weeks. We added a new larger desk to our home office and relocated our other small existing desk. Here's the before and after on that! (Before shot above)

Originally when I applied for my new job it was listed as no remote work, 100% in the office. Between the time I was hired and the time it was posted things changed. I was very happy to find out I would be doing part-time remote/office work. It's really nice not to have a full time commute and be able to work from home some of the time. Lots of little things you can do in between working from home like moving sprinklers, running a load of laundry, etc. We were in the dilemma of what to do since we moved our personal home office stuff into the bedroom office. Now with that area being a kitchen buffet-

We opt to use a laptop with a monitor/keyboard/mouse at home. We decided to move the small existing desk into the other spare bedroom and set up our home office there. We donated my sewing machine cabinet and put my sewing machine in the craft closet- 

 

That made room for the small desk to go into that bedroom. Good excuse to deep clean! We deep cleaned that area, always hard to miss the dust bunnies behind the furniture-

 

Old desk, ready for when I start working remote

So next- what kind of desk was I going to use to work from on? We looked around and I really wanted to get something that would be more like a piece of furniture. Eventually when I retire we won't need two desks so I figured we'd buy something nice that we could keep long-term. We didn't want to spend too much money so I looked around and finally settled on a desk from Costco. It was $200.00 off, ordered it online and had it delivered within a week. The thing that really sold me on the desk was it was mahogany hardwood construction. I wanted something really stable that was not going to get wobbly or weaken over time. I did shop around quite a bit and we didn't want cheap MDF, etc. Dave and I got started-

Look at the Mahogany grain!!! WOW

 

Dave and I put the new desk together and it looks great! We're keeping our home set up for now. We'll move our gear to the other bedroom when I start working from home. We didn't spend any money for this except for the new desk, $300.00. I really like the distressed farm style! If we ever decide to move the personal workstation into the living room it would be a nice fit.

 

 

Bonnie approves! 

I used some leftover fabric from my kitchen buffet, so I sewed up a curtain with velcro on the top. Conceals a food storage bookcase, dresses it up!

 

Mini Grow Light System Hack-

I wanted to start some seeds and we were going to set up our grow light system in our extra bedroom. It's worked really well before. I decided this year, based on last couple years, that I really didn't need to start quite as much. I suddenly had the brilliant idea that instead of using the whole 6' tall grow light rack, with multiple shelves, that I could just downsize it. I decided to put it on top of our buffet in the dining room. So Dave set up just one rack for me-

 

Lettuce seedlings to thin

 

Basil from the grocery store to go outside

 It's over the waterproof counter and there's power there. Easy to keep an eye on and I can start plenty of cucumbers, squashes, herbs and flowers there. Because our growing season can be kind of unpredictable here in the summer we really prefer to buy tomato starts. They get off to a quicker growth pattern. I know not everybody does that but it works for us. I just moved a few things around and I added my wooden organizer that I and the seeds are in close proximity for the gardening season. Now I just need to keep the cat out! Will fill the rest of the pots this weekend. Lettuce will go outside in pots. I have given up growing in the garden area.

 

 

Independence Days Challenge

 

Independence Days Challenge-

Here's a look at some of the things that we have been up to. With our crazy weather we've had to put some plantings on hold but are getting started. I had a nice Mother's Day with two of my girls. One's living in Oregon now, and she sent me the most touching hand written letter about what my being her Mom meant. So lovely. I got a gift card from one of my other daughters which I always use every Mother's day to buy flowers and herbs locally. It's really nice to have our grandchildren in the area too, got to see them!

New Arbor Vitae

1. Plant Something-

We had to replace one of our Arbor Vitae plants that we planted last year in our mound garden. We found a good deal last weekend but decided to leave it in the garage for protection with the crazy snow weather. I did buy a few herbs for my herb box, some perennials and Nasturtiums. I bought a bird's nest Pine shrub for my herb garden area which looks pretty sad most of the year-

I'll be starting some calendulas from seed. With my job change and everything I just didn't have a chance to start some seedlings inside in our mini indoor greenhouse. The good news is all of the local nurseries seem pretty well stocked so far and the prices seem very reasonable. I will start some vegetables from seed out in the garden soon. Mostly I usually buy tomato starts for the garden, it's ready to plant-

We extended the chicken run this spring, so we can plant the veggies more intensively. It's nice and shady in the summer, once we finish the fall garden we will open the main garden back up to them. I made this decision last fall, after seeing where things were headed. They will be limited to the south part of the garden and the run. During SUPERVISED visits I will let them into the veggie area. This should increase our production by 30 % or thereabouts. 

2. Harvest Something-

Still getting lots of eggs and have been harvesting some of the wintered-over kale and collard greens, mostly to the chickens so far. I bought some more collard greens and we'll tear out the old one since they're really going to seed. Will probably buy, or start, some kale as well and give those old ones to the hens. 

3. Preserve/Store Something-

Been buying random things to freeze and put in the pantry closet. I got some two-for-one ice cream yesterday and had a coupon for another one's so into the freezer it went. While I have to take it easy with dairy I can have a little ice cream once in awhile and doesn't seem to bother my stomach. I'm keeping up with having lots of flour stored as well as wheat berries. I had bought some Bob's Red Mill flour which comes in kind of a heavy plastic bag. After seeing some things about food storage I decided it would be best to actually put it in a vacuum sealed bag just to make sure it was absolutely airtight. Into the freezer it went. I don't freeze all my extra flour, I do have some in food grade storage totes. I was able to buy a couple of 2 gallon food storage totes yesterday with lids. I move some of my vacuum-sealed flour into those so they can be stacked.

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep-

I found a great deal on butter today so I bought two extra pounds to freeze, spray oil for baking, Dutch cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. We bought extra cat food for Bonnie, crackers and salad dressings. Just filling in all the reserves. I've been seeing a lot more caning supplies in the stores!!! Good news for us who can our own foods! Bought tow new sets of sheets, our were shot. I got some nice percale ones on sale, queen size $25.00, score! Got a nice LL Bean blouse on eBay cheap, like new. 

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe-

About every two or three weeks I hard boil a dozen eggs and work on them through the week for lunches. Sometimes they eat them playing with salt or make deviled eggs with spicy brown mustard. Yummy! I roasted some chicken from the freezer and we had a Greek chicken salad, with feta cheese, greens, Kalamata olives and some Kalamata olive bread. I thought out some huge country style spare ribs and will make those tonight for dinner barbecued.

 6. Build Community Food Systems-

We're going to the farmers market soon,  they should have some spring veggies in although the weather has been crazy. I heard the diesel prices are going to get really awful, also in a short supply in some areas of the country. Please support your local farmers and ranchers! It's going to be a tough year for them. Ditto feed prices. 

Bonnie photo bombed!

7. Recycle/Re-Use-

I wanted to spruce up my kitchen computer chair. I stumbled onto these covers for desk chairs on Amazon. It's a nice fabric lots of designs, and you just pull the two pieces onto your chair and viola! $10.00. I decided to go with the blue for a pop of color since I have some blue accents in the kitchen. At some point (before we bought the house 16 years ago) someone put a desk in the dining room and we actually really like it there. We thought about it moving the computer area to the spare bedroom but I like that it is centrally located. I'm hoping to replace the desk with a slab of butcher block for something different and do some different storage underneath. I decided to sell my bicycle that I hadn't ridden for a few years on Craigslist possibly. It's in really good shape but it's just not comfortable for my back. I donated some clothes and got rid of old office stuff we didn't need. 

8. Skill Up-

Learning lots of new software at my new job. Also learning more about the types of procedures we do and what they entail. Everybody's been really helpful at work so far. It's a nice relaxed environment so far! Great change for me. 

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something-

A lot of people who work in cubicles (like I do now)  personalize them. I'm lucky that mine is V shaped and pretty open-

I was looking for something fun to do under my big metal overhead cabinet and found this cubicle re-do on Pinterest, loved it, check out the photos on the link! 

from Farmhouse Cubicle

I wanted to bring nature in and decided to go with the white shiplap look after seeing that re-do. I can swap out some seasonal things as needed. I started with some white shiplap contact type sticky paper (removable)-

will rotate so the lines go horizontally

I then bought this-

Fun, 7" wide from Amazon $7.00

I saw a poster I really liked, took the idea and made my version, in a Word doc-

I'm going to do a color print and hang in my cubicle! I already have some other farm style things, so I'm spending very little on this. I may have Dave make something fun out of scrap wood. I already have this- 

Here' my idea so far-

I will post photos once I'm done. I think the white with rusty silver and green plants will pop, and then can rotate in some seasonal fun things too. May add a plant on top of the storage cabinet?

Updating Home Office/ Adding Desk Extension

Updating Home Office/ Adding Desk Extension-

When I started working from home in late March I didn't know how long it was going to be. We had a nice little desk in our spare bedroom that Dave mostly used. I decided to start using it. It faces the front yard, facing East and has a nice view out the window-

Previously in my office at work I had two monitors, which I really needed. Since they were moving out a huge amount of staff at once I only got one monitor, which was frustrating but I got used to it. This week they gave some of us second monitors, and some extra equipment since it looks like we'll be working from home permanently. Permanently is a loose term since who knows how long that means? Anyway I picked up my second monitor and this weekend Dave built me an extension for my current desk to have room for it-

2nd monitor waiting

End of desk

Luckily I saw the keyboard tray that I had Dave remove from the desk on the floor. I had a eureka moment thinking that we could basically use the keyboard extension as an extension on the desk to hold the other monitor. Dave used some heavy brackets and added a pine leg for stability-

works great!!!

I also wanted to update some of the decor as the walls are a light sage green, but is a cooler color. Some of the art on the walls were dark blacks and grays, which seemed too dark. So I swapped out some prints that I already had with white or light backgrounds. Then I bought a few things at Big Lots. I got a really cute little faux wreath, a white faux mini farm door and little wooden sign that says Live Simply with a white background. The sign was $5 and the wreath was $6, door was $20-

I transformed my previous home office into my full-time work office with a little bit more pizzazz. I also decided to reorganize our canning and storage rack so it looked a little bit nicer. Those little things to tweak. When you're working in a home office 8 hours a day and 5 days a week you notice all the little annoying things,  messy rack-

Before, messy desk shelves-

 After shelf shot-

 Also cleared off  small organizer with drawers-

I also re-purposed my thrifted frame/ home printed sign I had in my old office-

Now in my main hall with my lemon topiary I made!