Spring? A Longer List of Home Repairs& Improvements, More Creamed Ham, Independence Days, Cataract Surgery

Last years rhubarb

Spring?
It's been so mild lately, with rain, and things are getting green! Crocuses and rhubarb are coming up, grass is greening, and I'm getting out more spring/summer clothes.


A Longer List of Home Repairs& Improvement-
Well, when it rains it pours so to speak. Dave decided to go into the crawl space. He had found some mold under the edge of the vinyl flooring in the main bathroom. We're getting ready to remodel it. We knew there might be an issue with that. In the crawl space was a big wet spot. It's probably from a combo of the gutters that need to be replaced, and the shed next to that outside wall. We built a shed and attached it to the house, on the south side, between the house and the 6' fence. Looks like there's some drainage issues there. That's ok, since we can tear it down, and put in another one somewhere else. We don't need a big one anymore, so we're looking at this-

Since we have a lot more room in the garage (got rid of kids stuff finally!!!) we can go small. We're going to have a gutter guy come in and do a continuous metal gutter along the back run of the house. Dave installed one years ago, and it's not holding up due to leakage. We're looking at going to Portland soon anyway to visit Dave's brother, and I thought IKEA! We've been pricing bathroom cabinets, vanity tops. Ikea has a great selection and has the odd 40" size the original is. We may get something like this-

I'd use baskets for this

Nice birch finish

I like the way there back drops off on the counter top for toiletries behind the faucet.

We like this faucet!

I did some research and realized I could put tile or slate over laminate in our tiny bathroom, and have a new counter in there too! I may do this in the summer. I like this-

and this, but the sink's too spendy

More Creamed Ham- 

I made my 2nd batch tonite of Creamed Ham, and added 1 cup of fresh mushrooms. Oh baby, it was even better! I served with cooked carrots and homemade spiced applesauce. So good!

 Independence Days-

1. Plant Something- Nope. 

2. Harvest Something- Eggs.

3. Preserve/Store Something- Got some freezer food at Costco.

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep- Looking for bathroom stuff, good deals on gutters, a shed, and getting a pro to trim our 2 big fruit trees. Got 2 new runners at Costco, dried figs, bread, and a few other things.

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe- Pulled out some home canned applesauce for dinner. Got some other breads, bacon from the freezer. Used up the last of the home grown nectarines (I think).

6. Build Community Food Systems- Not right now.

7. Recycle/Re-Use- We're going to expand the growing garden, and remove our old shed and get a new one up. Both Dave and I had too many shoes piled up so we combined- I had 1 white rack and used Dave's old one up on top of mine. I bought him 2  ($7.99 each at Ross) to stack for his shoes. Now all neat and tidy! Sorry, no before pics! 

 8. Skill Up- Learning all about doing slate over laminate!

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something-  Will salvage any shed materials we take down. Will re-use sinks and faucet in the little bathroom, when I do the counter. We will fence in the old shed are when we take it down, and give the girls more room.

Cataract Surgery-

I will be having cataract surgery this coming Tues., so I probably won't be posting for a bit. Once my eye calms down, I'll be back!