On weekend homesteading

Trust me, it is not all that folks think it is. For regular readers, you know that if you homestead at all, it is highly likely you will need a regular job for the money and the insurance. It helps a lot, even though it cuts severely into time you would rather spend doing other things, and causes those other things to take much longer to get done than you would like. This has been one of those weeks. Between work with some overtime every night this past week, and trying to get things done, it has been a hassle.

I still have to finish up our taxes, I am working on the next book, working on the webstore, daily online income-producing activities OTHER than the webstore, needlework, housework, litter training ELEVEN kittens, cutting wood, burning trash, and simply trying to find time to relax, the homesteading is slow going. Today was our usual errand day, and it involved:

brunch out
he stopped at O'Reilly's for spark plugs and plug wires for the truck
basic grocery staples
laundry
he stopped at the smoke shop for his silly coffin nails
water haul
getting everything in the house
water put away
laundry has to be put away
nonperishable groceries have to be put away
litter boxes are cleaned
sawdust toilet is changed and sawdust bucket is refilled
floors need sweeping
trash has to be pulled together and burnt

And we need to get started on next winter's wood supply for us and a customer, who wants four cords himself, in addition to the five or six we would like to have on hand, as a woodstove for heat is hopefully going in this year no matter what it takes to get it done. No wonder I am so tired all the time. Much of the small stuff like trash is twice a week, litter boxes and sweeping are daily (you would not BELIEVE how much litter fourteen cats and kittens can throw out of the box in a day's time).

While at the laundromat, I got the pig bib in the wash and it turns out I need to touch up some of the backstitching around the pig. Pink on pink is a bit hard to tell whether or not you got all the stitching correct for detailing if you have all that blue washable ink sitting in the way that makes the pink wash out against it. The cow bib was almost completed, and I got that finished up. It will go in next week's wash. Last week, my fingers were a bit sore, so I spent laundry time sorting out all the thread for the Noah's Ark blanket, and I got that started today a tiny bit. I am hoping that with the whole weekend off, I can get some TV or movie watching done tonight and tomorrow and will be able to thus finish off Mom's lap quilt and get it ready to go up to her, several months late for Christmas.

I also need to go through my crochet thread and such and find my #7 steel hook, and the colors rose, green, and ecru in my thread so I can make her this year's present and have a hope of getting it done on time (ha!). As I now have all my books here, including all my needlework pamphlets and books, I have the instruction booklet for a set of crocheted Victorian-style tree ornaments which I know she will like. She is rather into the Victorian theme stuff, so I know they will go over well with her.

Time to go get other things done that need doing. Hugs and love, all!