Happy Spring & The Winter That Wasn't, Upcoming Home Updates!!!

Happy Spring & The Winter That Wasn't:

Happy Spring to all of you out there! It was 80° yesterday which is crazy for March! We didn't really have much of a winter this year. It was 62° on Christmas day! I believe that was an all-time record. I really missed having very little snow this year and it's really not good for snow pack and water here. While it is really pretty to see all the green it is way too early to be this warm. I hope we're not going to have a brutal, early summer. It was nice to see some of the bees out pollinating the peach tree which has flowers just opening up. The backyard is super green and the Italian parsley that should have gone dormant on the deck never did because it was so mild- 

 

 

 

We did get a little bit of snow this winter, but just not very much. Meanwhile watching the news it was terrible to see what the Midwest and East Coast were going through with all of the blizzards, over and over. I guess nature is what it is, we just all have to stay prepared. Preparedness is one of those things that people need to keep taking seriously. A lot of people still don't seem to bother, which I don't understand! I guess we all do what we do. Luckily our new little dwarf apple tree did great over the winter. Hoping for apples in the coming years. Girls are laying eggs steadily also! 

 

  

Old "buffet"

 

Upcoming Interior Home Updates:

We've been living in our house right now almost 20 years. We've done a lot of updating over the years with various things. When we first bought the house the carpeting was super cheap and wore out really fast, so that was one of the first things we did. Dave installed laminate through the main part of the house at one point. We had the kitchen cabinets refaced by professionals which luckily has held up really well. We painted all the rooms and the exterior, changed out all the light fixtures, redid both bathrooms, and that's just the inside! Since time goes on of course things wear out and need to be replaced. Then there are things you're just ready to update, and we saved up for. Since we have no plans to sell the house we decided to have some work done, by professionals. We don't want to be on the roof and have to be careful with lifting, etc. We got several bids and are happy with our choices. 

At this point we're going to be getting new light gray carpeting in all three bedrooms, new luxury vinyl planking in our kitchen and main bathroom, new countertop in the kitchen with under counter sink, new backsplash. We're also going to be removing our old microwave exhaust fan and replacing it with a vent/light that's ducted out. Will buy a new smaller microwave. We're going to be updating our current "buffet" that used to be an old computer desk the previous owners installed and we'll top with butcher block. I may whitewash it. Will probably keep the fabric for now but may pull that out and put in a couple of painted cabinets. Here's the previous blog post of on of the original updates Kitchen Update 

 

A couple MINOR updates first- 

hoping to replace the old Habitat brushed stainless dining fixture. We have a combo kitchen/dining room, hoping to get something like this, 

sort of rustic French/Scandinavian. Maybe thrifted, new one here Rustic Wood-Chandelier -

 

 Old one- 

We're removing this, to replace with a small vent/light like this in white Broan-NuTone  Nice and quiet, a good brand! We will remove and have the backsplash go up into that area, maybe add a shelf when they install the tile-

 

 

  

 

Small bathroom needs a new faucet, that's it! Old Ikea one getting pretty worn, too much hard water- 

 

 

Major changes- Old sage bedroom carpet, will get a light gray-

Old kitchen flooring beige- 

 

  

Old bathroom gray vinyl-

 

NEW kitchen and bathroom flooring will be LVP, same as our small bathroom. We will install a new toilet as well-

  

Old kitchen laminate counter/plastic backsplash-

 

 

New counter, quartz "Peppercorn", basically white with small particles of gray/off white. We were going to do a light gray, but it was too dark. We wanted something durable and simple-

 

Backsplash still to be decided. We got great advice- what until counter is in, then make the final decision! We are leaning towards a satin white/off white with a textured surface, like this- Apollo Tile White I REALLY wanted Zellige tile, but it's WAY too expensive. It's handmade (partially) and I love the rustic look-

 

Really looking forward to an UNDERCOUNTER sink, finally!!! Will be this one KRAUS Undermount    Counter top very similar to our new one-

 

 

I'll do some "after" shots once things start up. New roof coming first! Carpet, then counter/backsplash, then flooring. So excited!!! Work to start in about 3 weeks, roof sooner. Happy Spring!!!

 

 

 

Big Snow Coming!

 

Big Snow Coming!

It's been a while since we've had a "winter storm warning". Should be hitting this morning. Will be interested to see if we get actual white out conditions? We are "high desert" here so snow is really critical for our water tables, reservoirs, etc. All set and prepared here, chickens all ready. They love using their sun room in the winter for extra space. A year ago looked like this, great for dust baths and hanging out-

 

 

 

 

Cold, Cold and Snow! Independence Days Challenge

Cold, Cold and Snow!

Well we have been through quite the cold spell! Our cold weather at night had been in the teens. Our backyard looked like a small iceberg graveyard-

 

 

Every day I've been emptying out our back deck bird bath and refilling it with water. It's only been in the 30s lately during the day and with the cold at night the ice just isn't melting out on the lawn. Looks pretty funny! The good news was we had some warmer weather blow in, then got some rain. We desperately needed some moisture, it'd had been so dry for weeks and weeks. We did get a little snow early last month.

 

After a round of food poisoning (bad fast food) I got hubbie's dry, hacky cough and cold, oh joy. Luckily I had all the meds I needed on hand and didn't have to go anywhere. Finally got rid of the sinus part and got my energy back. I fell a bit behind on some projects, but I'm playing catch up now. I'm very grateful to be home currently, so I was able to rest and sleep as much as I needed. Then we finally got some real snow this week! Started last Thursday night, woke up to about 3", then got about another inch the next day, gorgeous! Colder weather came in. High today was 32 and hazy. More snow in the forecast soon, with lows near ZERO soon! We added more pine shavings to the coop, girls are nice and toasty! The "sun room" we added to the left of the coop is giving the hens nice extra dry space. They use it daily!  

 

Independence Days Challenge:

So here's what's been happening at the little Homestead...

1. Plant Something- Still winter, but did save/move a fern after my Trader Joe's Amaryllis bulb garden finished blooming-

I removed the bulbs and added fresh potting mix to the fern. Looks good!

2. Harvest Something- The hens finally started laying last week! No eggs since about October. I'm grateful I started our little flock years ago. I will probably get a few more chicks later this year for a larger flock. Debbie is still alive, leaving only two laying. Sunny the Brown Leghorn lays white eggs, Luna my Silver Laced Wyandotte lays brown. I like buying mixed varieties of chickens so that I can tell who's doing what-

Sunny laid first!

3. Preserve/Store Something- Froze some chicken parts, will be making some relishes to store in the fridge. Bought some extra rice to store. Will thaw some home grown tomatoes for pasta sauce and peaches for some desserts. I may also can some, didn't have time last summer.

 

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep- Trying to avoid tariffs I bought/will be buying a few things. Bought a used bread machine, thrifted after my old (thrifted) one died. I was able to find most of the owners manual online, made my first batch of bread, came out great.  Loaves are a little smaller but I can make bread as needed. Too much arthritis to hand make breads. Bought two funnel neck Nike hoodies for myself on eBay (used, like new) warm and cute! I hate crew necks-

Found some new sneakers 40% off on-sale on Amazon, love Sketchers!

 

Will be buying hubby Dave a few things right away, like his sneakers, etc. Bought a few cans of protein powder mixes (non dairy) on sale. We can't do much dairy. Bought a nice, small little rice cooker that works great! $20.00 Amazon, makes perfect rice, all kinds, always had trouble getting rice perfect every time, no more-

 

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe- We went out to a Japanese dinner the week of Japanese New Year and were gifted with a free thermos with the restaurant's name, how fun!

 

 

In honor of Japanese New Year I bought a little snake figurine at the Asian store (year of the snake), and then two lucky cats. The cats are called Maneki Neko, one for prosperity and one for good health, in my entry way-

 

I'm starting to make some simple Japanese food. I re-did part of my kitchen counter in the corner with some of the basics like sticky rice, etc.I got out a few things that I thought looked nice and added them. Since I'm a visual person hopefully this will inspire me and make it easy to find what I need. The two matching containers and bamboo vase were thrifted-

I had an extra planting box left over that I cleaned up, filled with various seasonings making them easier to find in the cabinet-

 

I like how it came out! I made a fun little bunting with some free sushi cat clip art. I printed on photo paper and strung on thread. I love it! 

 

 

 

We're really fortunate we live five minutes from a huge Asian food store, the biggest in the area. Their staff is also really helpful in finding things! My first dish I made is called Onigiri, or rice balls. Usually made in a triangle with different fillings for snacks or lunches. These had Bonito flakes/soy sauce and pickled ginger, yummy! I wrapped them in Nori, added some whole grain rice mix for more nutrition-

 

6. Build Community Food Systems- No farmer's markets yet. May start selling some eggs to friends with prices the way they are. I suspect a lot of people will be buying chicks soon, hopefully they will do their research first. I may do a "how to start your first urban flock" post soon.

 

7. Recycle/Re-Use- We donated several boxes of holiday decor, clothes, kitchen items, shoes, etc. Bought a used bread machine $12.00, I got a few years out of my last thrifted $10.00 machine! 

 

I've been looking more critically around the house, getting rid of more decorative items I didn't really use. I donated quite a few cookbooks that I had gotten on eBay/thrift stores.  I'm sure somebody else can give them some love. On the kitchen counter (see above) I got the two blue and white ceramic storage jars with cork lids, $5.00 each. One for brown rice and one whole oats, nice! Got two Asian medium sized plates, $2.00-

 

 Got two sets of 2 condiment/sauce mini trays for a couple bucks-

 

8. Skill Up- I started watching YouTube videos about what it's like living in Japan, really interesting. Here's a YouTuber I really enjoy Chani Japan  She's Australian and moved to Japan to teach English. She had been there before. She goes camping in Japan with her kitty Millie and is delightful. She bought an abandoned house, fixed it up, inspired me to try making Japanese foods. Check her out! I'm doing lots of Youtube and Pinterest for recipes.

 

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something- We have decided to cut down our front apple tree. We will either plant a dwarf apple tree, small shade tree or perennials. Time will tell. Just too much to manage. Have been deep cleaning and re-organizing chunks of the house. Took everything out of the fridge and washed all surfaces, reorganized. Looks great! Will re-do the storage in our office/spare bedroom. Need t move some things around and re-sort home canned stuff, etc. More to come on that.

 

 

GOOD TO REMEMBER RIGHT NOW 

From Pba.umich.edu

 

AND 

 

Big Snow!!! Queen's Cake Baking

 

Big Snow!!!-

Well we got the big snow that was predicted! I was watching the weather really closely Friday because we knew it was coming, but wasn't sure exactly about the timing. I follow a local young meteorologist on Facebook (Treasure Valley Weather Headquarters Kody) who is much more on track than the TV weather guys and he really nailed it right down to the hour or so. No snow Friday night on the way home which was really nice, forecast from NWS-

 

 

 

We ran some errands Saturday morning (yesterday) and got home, the snow started in the afternoon. It really picked up after about 4:00 p.m. and then we really got hammered. The high for the day was 17°! I kept the heat lamp on in the coop overnight. I do turn it off during the day even though it's hard wired in. I'm always a little paranoid about a fire. Had about a good five or six inches on the ground when I went to bed, woke up to about 4 or 5 more inches! The top photo of our herb boxes, the solar light are buried completely. There's a video of the snow on my Instagram account, just click on the link! Looks lovely but Dave definitely had a lot to dig out. He shoveled the front sidewalk or driveway and the neighbor sidewalk as well. Lows of 6 degrees tonight, 2 degrees tomorrow night! More snow later in the week.

 

Love our little tree!

 

He created a little walkway for me to get to the coop and he cleared off the sunroom. This is the reason why we always put this up! 

 

 

 

Gives the chickens a lot more dry space when the weather is bad. I've been going out every day and giving them some greens and some wild bird food to give them something to peck at and keep them busy. Deck-

Solar bulbs still showing last night 

 

 

Queen's Cake Baking-

Since I had tomorrow off as a holiday I decided to do some baking this weekend. Since I was still recovering a bit for my surgery I didn't really do any traditional Christmas/holiday baking. I love the recipe for the Williamsburg Queens Cake. I've made it quite a few times before. It has lemon and orange extract with Currants. It takes about an hour and a half to bake but it's worth the wait! You want to let it cool completely before you slice into it and it's even better the next day. Keeps really well! Today or tomorrow I'll be making some chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with bittersweet chocolate chips. I did make the cake yesterday with half whole wheat pastry flour to make it a little bit healthier and I'll do the same with the cookies. When it's 17 degrees out it's a good time to bake!