Saturday, January 9
With the exception of laundry there was nothing on the agenda today. Nothing. Can you believe it? No projects, no cabin to clean, no guests to wait for, nothing! However, it didn’t take us long to come up with a few things to fill the day. We needed some pig feed so we chose to go to the larger town nearby rather than make another trip to Rural King since we were just there earlier in the week. While in town we picked up some groceries, stopped at the health food store, then picked up a bucket o’ chicken and took it to my nieces. We stayed a while and visited. At the grocery store CountryBoy took care of getting the groceries while I searched for a few goodies to put in a care package. He enjoyed choosing some healthy snacks chock full of antioxidants such as almonds, prunes, and pistachios.
Once home I finished the laundry then we ate some of the healthy snacks and fruit and called it supper. I found a list of these healthy snacks in the ‘Gorgeously Green Diet’ book I’ve been reading. Also on the list were radishes, potatoes, broccoli, apples, tomatoes, and so much more all of which were great anti-oxidants. There really are so many tasty foods that are good for you and the items on the list are ones that you can eat as much as you want! I also came across a section in the book that talked about the benefits of probiotics (can be useful in controlling inflammatory diseases, treating and preventing allergic diseases, preventing cancer, and stimulating the immune system) which can be found in yogurt with live cultures. I love yogurt but it can be pricy and those little one-serving containers create a lot of waste so I decided to get a yogurt maker and some yogurt starter packets. The yogurt maker I chose was one that another blogger had used for years and the price was right. It even came with seven jars. Our gut health is extremely important so I’m truly excited and can’t wait to make my own! The starter and yogurt maker should arrive Monday.
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Farm news: 12 eggs
Sunday, January 10
Church and work for me today. Church and work for CountryBoy as well. After church I headed to work at the B&B and CountryBoy headed up the hill to strip and clean the cabin. His work was finished much sooner than mine! He did, however, load the side-by-side onto the trailer in preparation for taking it to the shop in the morning and was working on making our supper – a nice salad – when I got home. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and washing the cabin sheets.
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Wellness news: After one week of eating intentionally for nutrition CountryBoy lost two pounds and I lost one. It’s a start. The best part is we already ‘feel’ so much better. Intentionally eating foods that provide nutrients that support and energize our bodies has already made a difference in one week’s time. No heartburn, no indigestion, more energy and restful nights. That right there is a huge win!
Monday, January 11
CountryBoy took me to work today with the side-by-side in tow. He then went straight to the shop to drop it off. We’re hoping they’ll work on it first thing in the morning and that we’ll be able to pick it up either before or after our eye appointments which are scheduled for late afternoon.
Work was fairly steady up until the latter part of the day. I’ve laid out several pages already and got a good head start on a couple others. CountryBoy dropped off a package at the post office then came and picked me up at 4 o’clock.
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My yogurt maker came in but not the starter. That’s OK since I won’t have time to get a batch going until Friday. I took a glance at some of the recipes and am excited to try them. I think I’ll start with a plain batch to get the hang of it then I may do a batch with some homemade jam. Mmmm!
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Every now and then we get a really sweet note from our guests. Here’s a recent one left on a paper towel…
Isn’t that sweet? We love it when guests really enjoy the cabin.
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Farm news: 11 eggs
Tuesday, January 12
Today’s agenda – work, drop a few goodies off at the thrift store, pick up a greeting card at the store then go to the big town for eye appointments. We had the approval from the printer that our pages were good a few minutes before 1 o’clock. I had already prepped for next week and even made some page templates for the other paper while I waited to finalize the pages so when I got the word that ‘we were good’ I was outta there. CountryBoy and I had eye appointments at 4:00 and 4:15. Even though I made a couple stops on the way home I still had an hour or so before we had to leave. I decided it was high time I repotted a couple of my houseplants – a Fern and a Spath. I figured they were both pot-bound because shortly after I would water them they looked like they needed water again. I was right. My Fern is already much happier in its larger, wider clay pot and the Spath will be happy once I finish repotting it. (I ran out of potting soil.)
While in town we (I) wanted to go to Lowe’s to pick up some hardware for a mini-project in the mudroom. (More on that this weekend.) We also picked up a bag of potting soil but it was dark and cold by the time we got home so we left it in the truck. We’ll get it out tomorrow and I’ll top the Spath off with the remaining soil it needs.
We arrived to our appointments a half hour early so we used the time to look for new frames. I like to do that BEFORE my eyes are dilated. After that it’s kinda hard to see how the frames really look on your face when your eyes are dilated and everything’s blurry. I found a pair I really like and we found a nice pair for CountryBoy. The frame place didn’t take his insurance but they recommended another place in town. We really liked his frames so we’re hoping that the other place will put lenses in them. If not, we’ll pick out another pair (hopefully very similar) at the other place and return these. We’ll have to go there another day. Mine will be ready in 7-10 days. Yay! I could tell that my eyes have changed and my prescription verified that. CountryBoy’s had changed as well. It will be nice to see things more clearly again.
We chose to eat at Outback Steakhouse because the food options would be healthier. CountryBoy got a medium-size steak, baked potato and broccoli. I had a Ceasar salad with grilled shrimp. It was not the greatest choice but I’m not a steak eater and it was better than some of the other options. If I had a cell phone I would’ve taken a photo of CountryBoy’s face when I said that he didn’t need the 11 oz. steak and that the 8 oz. would be enough. The pout on his face would’ve reminded you of a little boy who was just told he couldn’t jump in the mud puddle or have the dog he wanted. It was too funny! In the end though, he said the 8 oz. was plenty and was glad I put my foot down. I’m tellin’ ya – it’s the only way.
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The side-by-side was not ready so we didn’t have to worry around with working that into the afternoon’s to-do list.
Wednesday, January 13
CountryBoy took me in to work today in hopes that he would get the call that the side-by-side was ready. The call never came so he blocked the cabin for another night. He’ll take me to work again tomorrow and Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise it will finally be ready.
While I was at work he did the mini-project I had in mind for the mudroom. Mercy, our mudroom… if you’ve ever been here than you have witnessed the mess that typically is our mudroom and I don’t mean mud (although this time of year that’s certainly not out of the question). What I mean is that room is the catchall room. No sooner do I get it somewhat organized, functional, and somewhat inviting then something else shows up in there. Like, for example, buckets of paint because you can’t leave them in an outbuilding due to the freezing temps; gallon jugs of water for the cabin; coats – SO many different coats depending on the weather and the job; shoes; and just stuff in general. I see beautiful photos of mudrooms on Instagram and wonder how long do they stay that way and then I think that certainly no one really uses that space or it wouldn’t look like that for very long. Goals I guess! Anyway, this time of year the coat rack above the bench becomes overrun with all the coats to the point of almost not seeing the bench let alone being able to sit on it. With that, I decided to make a little coat rack for the heavy coats. I measured the available space and we picked up a 10″ and 12″ piece of conduit, an elbow and two wall mount brackets while we were at Lowe’s yesterday. I really wanted a 9″ piece but they didn’t have any threaded ones that size so the 10″ had to do.
The wall mount bracket sticks out a tiny bit on the shelf but what can ya do. Thankfully it’s not that noticeable.
These are all my coats. It seems I have the need for many different types of coats and jackets depending on where I’m going, what I’m doing, and how cold it is. I’m just glad they are hanging up now. We can actually see the bench again and we’ll be able to use it when necessary. I have another project in mind to wrangle the shoe problem. Once we can get those under control maybe the mudroom will a bit more functional and appealing. After all, it is the first thing people see when they stop by and nine times outta ten I’m embarrassed by the state it’s typically in.
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I worked a long day today. I’m working on a huge project that requires me to utilize both computers and is very time-consuming. Bit by bit I’m making some headway but I foresee many long Wednesday’s over the course of the next several weeks. There was also a small amount of ironing to do so I worked on the big project as long as I dared and then started on the ironing. Once I finished that I called CountryBoy to come get me. While I waited I made up some linen & room sprays which are sold in the gift shop. No sooner did I finish and he was there. I came home and finished repotting my poor Spath. I think both plants are happy once again.
Every time I walk into the greenhouse these beauties greet me..
There’s always a few Pansies standing tall to greet me which is a welcome sight in these colorless, cold days.
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Farm news: 12 eggs. This morning Mabel broke through her barred off door to get to the chicken’s cracked corn. Typically CountryBoy feeds her first but this morning he had a pail of water to fill the chickens waterer so he took care of them first – feeding, watering and tossing some cracked corn out of the coop. Miss Mabel was having a fit and somehow she managed to remove the barrier and directly there she was standing in the paddock helping herself to some cracked corn. CountryBoy filled her bowl and she was easily enticed back into her pen. Once she was happily munching away he fixed her barrier again to keep the chickens out which they can’t stand, by the way. Throughout the day you’ll find a mess of chickens just standing outside Mabel’s pen wondering why they can’t go in. Mabel is healing nicely and that’s why they aren’t allowed in. We do need to figure out some way that Mabel can go in and out whenever she wants but the chicken’s can’t. There’s always something that needs figured out!
Dream Valley Farmstead 