Upcoming weekend plans

Now that I'll have a weekend off with no plans to run here-go there-pick this up, I'll be concentrating on the basement......FINALLY! I'm taking everything out of the furnace room and starting over. All of Lisa's sewing/craft stuff will go in the big room, the shelves full of canners, stock pots, and jars will go in the 6x12 walk in closet area I made in this room, and then nothing will go back in there other than holiday decorations....yay!
I've been working on cleaning out the laundry room little by little this week, and it will soon be ready for firring strips and drywall. I have to relocate some plumbing and light fixtures first, but that's easy stuff......I HATE DRYWALL! ugh But....I'll get it done before spring. I want to make a hanging clothes drying rack for in there when I'm finished. It'll be something similar to this ( http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=114&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=673&iSubCat=728&iProductID=114 ) but I'll have one wall mounted, and another that hangs from the ceiling on a pulley system. I dispise running the dryer so much in the winter, and I plan to use this a lot. Now to get that wringer washer to match.....hehehe.
This room will get a slight makeover too. I brought in ALL my camping, fishing & hunting gear from the garage and misc closets in the house, and have way more than I thought. All combined it looks like a mini Cabela's store in here lol. I'll get it all organized and marked on the supply sheet. (yes- I track every single thing in here) I have a 20+ page notebook of things to stock, some I have, some I don't, and some I'm getting this weekend. When the big xmas toy battery sales happen, I'll be getting quite a few for the flashlight, emercency radio, and smoke/CO2 detectors. I'm also gonna push Lisa to spend another afternoon making candles so I can get some down here.....you can never have too many. I brought in the giant industrial first aid kit I had in my last work van, and will go through that and re-stock it too.
We're gonna make a few stops today when Lisa gets off work and try for some food grade buckets. I've read a few times about people getting them from subway and bakeries/grocery stores with bakeries. The plan is to clean and fill them with flour for now. Later will come sugar, rice, oats, and some other things.
Yep....that crazy stockpiling couple is at it again.

The 4-day weekend helped on getting things caught up around here. The temporary winter coop is as finished as it can be finally, with the feeder & waterer hung from a bracket, and the heat lamp hung directly over them. Hopefully this will help a bit with the water freezing. I put small boards in front of the new nest boxes since they kept kicking out the straw, and put a golf ball in each one to see if it helps them. I'm still only getting about 2 eggs a day, but I'm going to blame that on stress for now. The 7 new birds had free roam of about a quarter acre, and now they're somewhere new and confined to 15x4 feet roaming space. I imagine they'll come around soon. I also got a programmable timer, so the lights and heat lamp come on at 5:30am and turn off at 9:00pm. They get the overhead 4 foot florescent light, as well as double 500 watt halogen lights. I'm hoping this also helps since the garage was pretty dark, even with me turning on the one 4 footer every morning at 5am. Things look much better out there finally. All I have left to do is get more straw today on the way home.

Even with christmas fast approaching, we've talked more about stocking food and supplies. Reading the news stories lately shows some scary stuff. Famine, rotten economy, food shortages...scary stuff. Lisa got another 25 lbs of bread flour when she was out on Thursday, and we plan to get more soon. After christmas we'll take a more agressive approach to it and get more each week. Garden seeds will be ordered in the next few weeks too, and we're adding some basic greens that can be grown inside to that order. I'm not taking any chances. Maybe we're just a bit crazy for doing all this, but I'd rather be prepared than not. I'll be purchasing more ammo soon as well. Firearm sales are up 40% here, and ammuniton is up 60%....everyone see's what's coming, and I'll soon join the ranks of these smart individuals. There are too many things on the books for our new p.e., and I want to be ready BEFORE all of these rediculous things are passed. It's a shame when an honest law abiding, hard working, tax paying citizen is punished for the acts of the criminals of our society....or governed by the blind and jaded.

New chickens and others

Today I got some more chickens home from Tammie's. I left work a half hour early to pick them up, get them home, and still have time to pick Lisa up by 5:00.We planned on only 3-5 more, but when I was there, I called Lisa at work and we decided to go ahead and get 7, making our total bird count 10. My point was that we just simply couldn't have an odd number anymore...she just laughed and said to go ahead. I only got to briefly talk to Tammie through the screen door, so honestly I'm not sure what kind of birds I have now, lol. Silly I know, but I don't care and neither does Lisa. I e-mailed her to find out what they are, and when I get a response, I'll post here what the birds are. They settled in fairly well, I expected the little pecking order scuffle which they had, but the last I checked, they all seemed to be doing fine.

Thanksgiving will be the usual dinner here at home with the kids, then off to Lisa's sisters, then my folks for pie later in the day. We tend to eat here early, normally around 2:00, so it won't be a late night, and I can get a good nights sleep before the rest of the weekend. I'm off Thursday and Friday paid, so I'll be doing my best to catch up on some things around here. My main goal is to drop the cigarettes. This slowing down gradually just isn't working for me...when I get bored or idle, I smoke. So when I'm busy, I can ignore it, but when I'm idle, it's right back up to where I was. I'm tired of it and it's time to just do it. Now just to let the kids know they can't smoke upstairs on thanksgiving...... If my friend Frank can pack up one duffle bag, leave everything behind, and leave for another state, surely I can muster up the self control to stop smoking.

Besides catching up on the to-do list this weekend, I plan to catch up on some reading. I have several books I want to finish, and another I want to start. Last week at my normal Goodwill stop, I picked up a copy of the Boyscout handbook for 50 cents. It may sound silly since it's a scout book, but that book is PACKED with usefull information on survival and other techniques. Most of it I know, but there is a lot that I don't. I've always wanted to know more about wild edible plants, and it's in there. Buidling small shelters-in there.....more info than some new survival guides. Let me re-phrase that-"more USEFULL info". Most modern books cover the basics, some more extreme than others, and some are just plain silly. Some of the books out there must be written for the types that lose it when the local Starbucks loses power and they can't get their mocha-java-choco-latte whatever, lol. I see this book being one of the ones in my little library with the torn & beaten pages from re-reading so much. Aside from that, I want to finish one on Outdoor stories, then start reading through the natural/herbal remedy books my sister gave us. I'm fascinated lately by wild edibles and medicinal plants and herbs. I see a winters worth of reading leading to a much larger herb garden next year...like I need more to do around here!

ahh Monday on a 3 day week

The weekend was pretty uneventfull for the most part. Saturday I got the coop addition finished and will be getting the other chickens today or tomorrow after work, all depending on when Lisa gets the car cleaned out. Yesterday was a trip to Tractor Supply to stock up on layer feed, cracked corn, oyster shell, another feeder, and wild bird seed.
The dr's Lisa works for have 4 offices, and they all decided to start doing some charity work this fall & winter. Last month everyone donated cash to the local independant Humane Society, and this month they're donating to the homeless shelter (Haven of Rest). The back of the new Pontiac is loaded with things from her office, and today she is going to the other 3 to pick up what they have. We'll drop it all off when I get off work around 4pm. Just her office alone has 3 boxes of canned goods, a few winter coats, and a bunch of baby clothes. Imagine what the other 3 offices will have.
At home, we've had a guest since last Tuesday. My bosses brother is staying with us till this weekend. ( I knew him before from a week-long salmon fishing trip with his brother in '99) He's gone thru a bitter divorce and his company went bankrupt. He had a rough summer, some of which he spent homeless with nothing but his Harley and the clothes on his back. He's been working with me at that close jobsite, but all he has now is his motorcycle. He was fine till last Monday when we got the first snowfall, then was stuck with no way to get to work from the hotel he was basically living in. It took a whole day of convincing to get him to stay here, but he decided it was for the best. He's just waiting for a check from his attorney on some old business matters,which should be Tuesday, and will be catching a greyhound this weekend to start a new life in Wisconsin. He's not paying hotel costs or eating fast food twice a day, so he's saving that little bit for his trip as well. The bike is in storage, and he's set to go Saturday at 6am on his journey. In a way I'm jealous....leaving it all behind, going to a new state with nothing, and starting from scratch. I honestly don't know if I would have the courage for that big of a move. It's been fun having company here, and Lisa has loved cooking for one more person with an appetite. Yesterday she even taught him how to make homeade bread and noodles since he had asked how to do it; she really enjoyed that. It'll be sad to see him go this weekend, but he's making his big life change, so thats a wonderful thing for him.
Beyond that, there's really nothing all that eventfull going on here. I'll spend the next few evenings digging out all the christmas decorations since we have so much. Everything will be put up Friday and Saturday as always, even our cattle proof tree fencing. Yes fencing. With 5 dogs, we have to fence in the tree. Presents get chewed/eaten, ornaments get broken, lights get pulled....heathen hounds anyway, lol. So a few years ago, I made a 3 foot tall picket fence that hinges around the tree to the wall, making it as dogproof as possible without going to chain link with barbed wire and a mine field, hahaha. We tell people the tree keeps trying to escape when they question the fence...those damn artificial trees are pretty rowdy when cornered!! Luckily with the fence and being teathered with the lights plugged in, we keep it under control.

Monday morning and snow...no pics today

Well....it looks like the first day of any snow accumulation has arrived. We got a bit over the weekend, but nothing stayed on the ground. I went to feed & water the critters a half hour ago, and there is about 1/2" on the ground and car. I don't dread driving in this, or the weather itself, but work today is going to be a pain. OF COURSE the day I plan to run pipe in the carport it gets cold and snows, lol, there goes that Murphy guy kicking me in the ***s again. Ah well....I grabbed the coveralls so I'll be fine, I just have to listen to all the other trades whine....yay. ugh. It's Ohio-it's November-we get cold and snow-deal with it guys, geeeezzz.
It was an odd change to go into the garage to feed and water the chickens and rabbits. Normally I just go in to get the feed, but now the animals are inside for the winter as well. I finally got to that yesterday morning, and I'm glad I did since we got this snow. I ran a 4 foot flourescent light to right above the chickens, and the rabbits are right beside them, maybe 3 feet away. It seems to light up that side of the garage ok, but I'm going to get a 2nd one this week along with a timer and hopefully heat lamps. I have to block two broken windows in the garage door and seal a bit around the doors to help block drafts, then it should be nice and cozy in there for them. I'll have to get more straw by this weekend for both, but that has to wait as well thanks to the huge amount of checks we've written in the past week. I have a tarp tossed over the grill and will get it all tied down today when I get home, and dig out another tarp to cover the Lowboy. I wanted it inside either the garage or carport thing, but I have more stuff than room, so it has to sit outside. At least where it's parked is a straight line to the garage for the plow, and close to electric to run a block heater. Next year I definitly have to do better preps for winter storage and thin down on some things! I'm playin the old "10 gallons in a 5 gallon bucket" game here, lol.

back on track

Now that the mess with the car is finally over, we can start concentrating again on things around here. That whole situation had me worried, and I lost touch with everything for a week or so, so nothing really got done at home....now back to it.

This weekend will be spent for the most part on getting Lisa's sewing room put back together. I have to clean and scrub the downstairs bathroom, repair some shredded drywall, replace some scratched-to-hell wood trim, and paint before we start moving things back in. ( NEVER EVER again will there be a cat in this house!!) She has a LOT of things to go through and set up since she does so much-sewing, quilting, rubber stamps, candlemaking, painting, crocheting, beading, jewelry.....TONS of stuff. She plans on going through things box by box as I bring it out and thinning out her surplus, though I don't see much going out the door lol she just can't get rid of anything....I can't laugh really since I'm guilty of the same in the garage, and the two 4x8x1 foot shelf units of coffee cans full of nuts, bolts, washers, screws, nails and other hardware proves it.hahaha It's going to take a while to get her back into full-swing, but after it's all said and done, she'll have her own space back...all 14x26 feet of it.

With all that's been going on, the cold frames never got anything planted in them, so I'm just gonna write them off for this year and plan on planting starts in it in the spring. I was hoping to get some cool weather greens going in it, but life interfered. No biggie, at least it's built and ready for spring. I still have to rake the leaves (as you can see, there's a LOT) and put them on the garden space. The John Deere needs winterized and put into the shed, the Lowboy needs the snowblade mounted and tucked in front of the garage so it has easy acess to electric. It runs on 50w and needs a block warmer to even attempt to start it when it's cold, otherwise it's like trying to turn over a motor filled with frozen molasses. I need to cover the cooker, dump the composters, clean and oil the garden tools, bring in the 2 footlockers with the tents inside, cover/ replace the 2 broken garage door windows, hang the chicken feed hopper, and run lights with a timer to the birds.........can you say busy weekend???? With the change in the season, and the time change, I barely have an hour from when I get home till it gets dark, so time to get things done is really limited. We already lost Monday night since we had to go to the dealership, last night I was tired and grumpy (cut my smoking in half over the past 3 days), and tonight I have to return my uncles truck. I need a vacation, lol.

We somewhat started planning next years garden already, though nothing is set and on paper yet, it's still all just talk. We do plan on socking away materials little by little over the winter to build a coop and get more chickens in the spring (meat birds), since I never have enough projects anyway, haha. Slowly but surely, we'll get where we want to be. It's just taking time. At the very least, taking this path has taught me patience, which is something I really didn't have before. But with every little step is a sigh of relief and a great feeling of accomplishment....I love it.

Back from the dead.....sort of

Last week was AWFUL with the mess going on with the Saturn, I didn't get online other than to read emails.

As I said in a post before, the transmission went out in our '03 Vue. It turns out that this tranny is nothing but problems, and they are doing NOTHING to adress it. We had it towed to a tranny shop, who can't get parts or a rebuilt one, and their quote was $5800. Another found a used tranny with NO warranty for $3000, or could get me into a new one for $4900. Last and surely not least, the dealer quoted us $6100 =tax and labor.........are you kidding me??????? I was wrong on the payments, we owe a little over a year on it, so adding that with the cost of any of these quotes doubled what the car is worth, really NOT an option.....

Now comes the fun part.Hi mr car dealer man, I have $1000 cash and a 5 year old car with a blown transmission, and by the way, our credit is shit right now....so will you sell me a car???huh???? Saturn only offered us a '06 Vue with a 5 speed, and Lisa doesn't know how or want to learn how to drive a 5 speed. Another dealer offered to get us into a new Ford Fusion, but our payments would have been $550. 2 others couldnt help. Finally the last one Lisa talked to called back and had something. We couldn't get too picky with our situation, but we almost had to have an SUV or truck since Lisa has a bad back and is currently having knee problems.

We ended up with a '06 Pontiac Torrent. It's very close to the Vue style-wise. It's a 6cyl all wheel drive, lots of options, and fairly low mileage. Lisa loves the color, I love the price lol. 2 weeks of jerking around and a bizilllion phone calls and FINALLY something we both like. When it was all finalized, it was 5:00 on saturday, so not all the papers could be signed or get the Vue there, (the tranny shop isn't open weekends), so we're going today to sign our life away for another 5 years....ugh. We were hoping to do away with car payments, but not much of a choice. At least the stress is over, and Lisa had a dependable vehicle. Maybe now I can get my head screwed on straight and get back to concentrating on things around here.......yay.