Spring Planting, Bedroom Closet Remodel, Working From Home, Northern Heart's 5 Best Ways To Handle Coronavirus Anxiety & Isolation & Stay Positive

Cabbages and Butter Lettuce

Spring Planting-
We've had our cold frame for several years and we usually plant summer veggies like collard greens and kale there. Given the state of the world I decided to plant some spring, cool weather crops. Here's the seeds I bought this weekend, all non GMO-

With 30's in the forecast at night, we tucked everything under a new row cover. I tucked in the 2 lettuces before the birds ate them!

Being resilient and adaptable we decided to tear out our low production/old Raspberries row and our one Marion berry plant along the low fence- 

I let the hens out and they had a blast digging in the bed!

The ground was soft after the rain so Dave ripped them all out for composting with the city. We will plant something else in the space, possibly things like carrots and radishes. We will probably reconfigure more rows going south/north and plant more new berries. The East/West rows didn't do as well as the one North/South Blackberries we kept. Haven't decided what kind of berries to plant yet. It's always good to look at what works and what doesn't! We love having a supply of berries that can be eaten fresh or that we can freeze.

Bedroom Closet Remodel-
Originally when we moved into the house 13 years ago we added these wire racks to all the bedroom closets-

They were good for clothes and shoes, but not all the other things I needed to store eventually after the kids moved out-

Stuff partially pulled out

I had the thought to tear the wire rack out, add 2 rods for Dave and my off-season clothes and crafts/decor stuff. I helped him measure and came up with this-

Tape's a great way to mark things!

Dave bought the rods, brackets, nails and 3/4" particle board. All of this was about $35.00. I made the management decision to not paint the closet knowing the walls wouldn't show much anyway. I had bigger fish to fry. Here's how it went, took everything out first, then taped-

  

My nice metal cart went to use in the living room for a charging station & storage

Next Dave started adding the supports, adding 1" x 4" furring strips-

Next adding the shelves-

Adding the rods, upper for Dave, lower for me, as he's taller!

 All done!

Anya had to inspect, of course!

I hung up the clothes, sorted and filled the shelves!

Bedding on the top-

Extra decor-

Craft supplies-

Fabrics and wrapping papers/bags-

It took about 4 hours and was well worth it, and I got my bedroom back!

Working From Home-
I was surprised when my boss texted me out of the blue this weekend asking if I had wireless in our house (we do). First thing Monday morning I got an email that I would be set up work from home "temporarily", along with some other staff. They'll provide the hardware.  I suspect this will be ongoing for quite some time. I'd actually love to work from home to avoid the Corona bug, be able to open windows, get some fresh air, not have to listen to overly chatty co-workers. People sometimes don't realize how loud they can be! And kitty Anya can keep me company. I'll save money commuting, less wear and tear on the car, sitting in traffic, contributing to air pollution. Our work load has slowed down considerably, so I won't have to drive to work and potentially turn around and go home a bit later. All in all not a bad move for me. I'll move my PC from the kitchen to another part of the house and work there. More coming soon!

From Allthingsgreen.nu/

Northern Heart's 5 Best Ways To Handle Coronavirus Anxiety, Isolation & Stay Positive-
I stumbled onto Maria from Northern Heart on Youtube a few months ago. I loved her videos! She's an incredible photographer and person. She's lives in a remote Swedish village, is fluent in English, and brutally honest about her life and is very inspiring to me. She has a lot of chronic health issues, many documented in her videos. I love this new video, watch and get to know Maria!!!

The author of the poem, "And The People Stayed Home", Kitty O'Meara is profiled here, she is an ex-chaplain Kitty O'Meara Interview  And just look around for something to wonder at-

From Gratefulness.org

September Is National Preparedness Month!!! Home Fire Extinguisher Warning, Harvest Time Continues!

September Is National Preparedness Month!!!
With hurricane Dorian and all the flooding, tornadoes, and fires on the West coast it's a good reminder that September is National Preparedness Month! In the last two days we've had lots of wind, thunder, lightning and rain here in Boise. While the rain is a blessing, the winds and lightning can always start fires. October usually brings our first big storms. One thing I'd thought of recently was buying sheets of heavy plywood to cover our large, west-facing windows and sliding door if they got hit by a storm. These take the brunt of the wind, and branches come down quite frequently-

Dining room slider

Living room picture window

Master bedroom window

Tarps won't cut it in 65 + mph winds, snow or rain! It could also be used on the roof in case of a storm downing of large branches. We're in high summer garden and harvest season, but soon I'll be prepping the coop and putting the garden to bed for the winter. WINTER, yes it's coming.  One of the things I did today was buy a new winter comforter for master bedroom bed.  I realized I only had one comforter in the entire house and ours was getting pretty worn. If we lost the furnace or power it could get pretty darn cold with just one comforter, now two is even better! I got a great deal at a local discount store for that. I'll keep the old one as a spare. As for preparedness I have several links below with really great information on what kinds of things you may want to have on hand. There's also a link below about how to save money while prepping. Don't forget one of the main things you need to have on hand is WATER as you may not have access to some depending on the emergency you might have. Extra food, fuel, pet foods, baby/child items, OTC and prescription medications are always a must. We stock up on canned goods, batteries and I am storing more water this time of year. While we have a 55 gallon rain barrel it would need to be filtered (we have a filter),  but we have to empty it for the winter. I buy a gallon jug of water for $1.00, so it's easy to buy a few at a time. I personally don't like reusing milk jugs for water storage. Some folks use alternative methods for heat, wood stove (still want one) or have a generator. We have a camping stove and several Kerosene heaters, but not for indoor use. We could use the stove in the garage for cooking in a vented area. Links here - Ready.gov  Budget Friendly Preparedness Kit   Don't forget your pets!

Home Fire Extinguisher Warning-
We found out some information recently I thought I'd share, from my husband's business Fire Safety inspector. He told Dave that most home fire extinguishers have a six year life span. The plastic handle will also break a lot, as the solution will turn to sludge. If yours is 20 plus years old it might fail when you most need it. We bought a industrial version from for $55.00. Check yours, better safe than sorry! Any welding supply company has them and they'll recharge every six years for half the price. Here's our new one-

Harvest Time Continues!

It's the land of plenty! Nothing like freezing lots of famous San Marzano plum tomatoes, dead ripe!!!

 Little babies too-

Lots of apples, froze about 15 gallons or more of apple slices for baking-

Pears are starting, we bake or eat fresh, since it's a semi-dwarf tree-

And then there's apple crumble-

The Other Side of Amazon Prime

Photo from Theverge.com

The Other Side of Amazon Prime-
To be honest we all like a good deal. And we all buy stuff. One of the things I try to look at more and more over time is what I'm buying, and WHY. With a recent big deal of Amazon Prime days, coupled with watching the news, here are a few ideas that the mainstream media does not promote. As we all know Amazon has put a lot of companies out of business and that's part of the supposedly free market system. And they are very, very convenient, which is great for people who don't want to think a whole lot about how they actually shop. So here's a few different things I thought of that I will list. In no particular order....

Why do you pay a fee to buy stuff? Prime membership always cracked me up.

How many things to buy on Amazon that you could probably find locally and support local businesses assuming that you need something new?

How many things could you buy used or recycled, through various venues, instead of buying something new on Amazon? Maybe get free on Craigslist? Or barter?

How many things could you restore/reuse instead of buying something new on Amazon? Like our wheelbarrow we re-painted and added new hardware to-

How many things could you find online through smaller companies, they have just as many deals and the same products, that you could support instead?

How much stuff do you really need? To me that's really the biggest question. Good ideas, and maybe some answers here-

And how much of your old stuff winds up in a landfill?

Where are you going to store all your store when you run of of room?

It's been on and off in the news for quite a while about how dangerous, and punitive it is, working for Amazon. Not drinking water on the job, because then your count goes down when you use the bathroom. (See the article at the for more information). When I started seeing their trucks around town on the weekends I just sort of shook my head. They're catering to people who want instant gratification, all the time, for everything. This country has no patience and no deep thinking sometimes. How about simplify?

Homesteading to me harkens back to older times, when we were more self-sufficient and made do with a lot less. I had to laugh when I watched the movie Red Sparrow. There was a section in the beginning when a Russian teacher is instructing her class of spies-in-the making, that Americans are addicted to their shopping and their social media. I almost burst out laughing the theater. How true, how true. But I think it really hit the nail on the head for me for how the country is moving. I see that speed shopping encourages people to become so lazy that they don't want to drive anywhere, to buy anything, and or even get out of the car. Some people simply want to press some buttons on a device. It's mindless and it's promoting a scary future in this country... There is hope though, book stores are making a comeback!!! So here's some ideas-

From Lilywilliamsart.com

Happy Summer Solstice!!! Here Comes The Sun

Image from Telegraph.co.uk

Happy Summer Solstice!!!

I woke up to 42 degrees this morning, but yes, it's the longest day of the year!  Here's how it all work!

Image from Indystar.com

And for a little entertainment- James Taylor did a tribute to the famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma, whom he had recorded this cover with on Yo-Yo Ma's 2008 album Songs Of Joy & Peace. This video is from when he was awarded the  Presidential Medal of Freedom. Just lovely and a very different take than the original! If you look close you can see actress Anne Hathaway moved to tears!