There is a lovely blogger name Bruce at FallenfromGrace blog. He has had numerous health problems and is dealing with his issues. He always reminds me that it is important not to measure my worth by how much work I get done. After all, work is not all we are. For a total Type A personality this can be a hard lesson to deal with. It is easy to put all your self-worth eggs in the work basket. When you can't work as much anymore it is a big adjustment.
Today I am resting up. Yeah, I have gotten a lot done lately but by not prioritizing and resting up sooner, I am wearing myself out. I am sore and tired and dragging butt badly. Tomorrow, I clean a house and I hope desperately that I have the oomph to do it right. After all, my priorities have to be the pets, the hubby and my few clients getting their houses cleaned right. Friday, I am going to rest up again. Hopefully, by taking good care of myself I will be able to keep it together instead of falling apart for a week.
It does suck that I can't get everything done as fast as I want to but I keep telling myself that it is the big picture that counts. I will get my home improvement done even if it takes a long time to do it. It took a little over a year to finish the greenhouse but now I have a lovely spot to raise baby plants. It looks like it may not be until sometime this spring that I get the doors on the new long shed. That shed has already been in the works for over a year but, it is painted and it is being used for storage and by sometime next year everything will be snug when it rains or snows.
The wood stove is in and we had a lovely fire this morning. The house is toasty and warm. I am grateful for this. I have lived in worse places and been pretty darn cold so, just for today, I am enjoying sitting in a warm house with a lovely fire and all the modern conveniences including a computer.
Life is good even if I am not getting anything constructive done:)
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Freezing Temps and Fire
Tonight is the first night for freezing temps this year. I have all the irrigation and hoses off the faucets as a precaution. Once the hose bibs freeze your dead toast. They only freeze if you don't take the time to unhook the hoses.
Fortunately, we got the new wood stove up and running today. It is a Kuma Wood Classic and it is wonderful. We built our first small fire to cure the paint and sat by it for an hour. Hubby is getting all the credit for this one.
Hubby cut a hole in the ceiling, got all the roof flashing on and the support box in. He got the triple wall pipe in. Then, he got the stove centered and the double wall interior pipe on the stove. Really, an all day event. Although we did take an hour or so off in the early afternoon. Hubby can do anything and I am very proud of him.
I, on the other hand, have reached the point of exhaustion. Tomorrow is an absolute day of rest. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, is getting done. I really over did it.
Yeah, I have a lot left to do and I will still have a lot left to do on Friday but until then I am resting up tomorrow and cleaning a house on Thursday and that is it!
Fortunately, we got the new wood stove up and running today. It is a Kuma Wood Classic and it is wonderful. We built our first small fire to cure the paint and sat by it for an hour. Hubby is getting all the credit for this one.
Hubby cut a hole in the ceiling, got all the roof flashing on and the support box in. He got the triple wall pipe in. Then, he got the stove centered and the double wall interior pipe on the stove. Really, an all day event. Although we did take an hour or so off in the early afternoon. Hubby can do anything and I am very proud of him.
I, on the other hand, have reached the point of exhaustion. Tomorrow is an absolute day of rest. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, is getting done. I really over did it.
Yeah, I have a lot left to do and I will still have a lot left to do on Friday but until then I am resting up tomorrow and cleaning a house on Thursday and that is it!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Garden
The end of the season is definitely here. I pulled the last of the veggie garden irrigation tubing today. I picked the last green tomatoes. I cut the tomato vines down, chopped into smaller pieces and put them on the compost pile.
I moved some more dirt away from the greenhouse since I know Hubby is impatient and will not wait to split wood until I have more dirt moved. We are going to split wood where the road base for the little driveway up the little hill to the hay shed ends. That will help keep the sand from moving through there. But I need to get the sand lowered first or we'll never keep the doorway cleared for me to use the greenhouse.
I started cutting rice grass for the goats. It will take all winter to get most of it cut back. But we do have the best rice grass in the area so it will be worth it. Maybe I'll get the goats out into the North 2 acres and let them have at it. That would save me a lot of work but cost me a lot of time. We shall see.
I have been working on the compost pile, trying to get it turned. Looks like I am having a lot of success in making compost since I have been sprinkling it on a regular basis. Fun!
I moved some more dirt away from the greenhouse since I know Hubby is impatient and will not wait to split wood until I have more dirt moved. We are going to split wood where the road base for the little driveway up the little hill to the hay shed ends. That will help keep the sand from moving through there. But I need to get the sand lowered first or we'll never keep the doorway cleared for me to use the greenhouse.
I started cutting rice grass for the goats. It will take all winter to get most of it cut back. But we do have the best rice grass in the area so it will be worth it. Maybe I'll get the goats out into the North 2 acres and let them have at it. That would save me a lot of work but cost me a lot of time. We shall see.
I have been working on the compost pile, trying to get it turned. Looks like I am having a lot of success in making compost since I have been sprinkling it on a regular basis. Fun!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Tired but proud
I am tired but proud of the work I did today. I picked up that new cleaning job and am happy to have gotten it. I think they are a lovely family. It is a big house and there are two dogs but I will do my very best to get it shining around there.
I ran to Costco since I was halfway there anyway. We had some ham in the fridge that wasn't opened yet and it had blown up like a balloon. Did not seem safe to eat that is for sure. They took it back, no problem. I got some milk, some cheese slices and some replacement ham, some apples and, my favorite, a Danish. Oh yeah, they had the pepperoni pizza on sale for $3 off so we are having easy eating tonight!!!!!
I ran to Costco since I was halfway there anyway. We had some ham in the fridge that wasn't opened yet and it had blown up like a balloon. Did not seem safe to eat that is for sure. They took it back, no problem. I got some milk, some cheese slices and some replacement ham, some apples and, my favorite, a Danish. Oh yeah, they had the pepperoni pizza on sale for $3 off so we are having easy eating tonight!!!!!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Goats
I did it. I got the goat pen cleaned out, the straw in the goat hut cleaned out, the water trough scrubbed and filled with fresh clear beautiful clean water and new straw in the goat hut. I am so proud of myself. I am dog tired but it had to get done. Those animals are counting on me.
I got a call for a new cleaning job. I have to be there tomorrow at nine since their cleaning lady they hired didn't show up today. Then, they will want every other week. Let's see if they balk at my price. I am not driving 45 minutes each way, bringing my own supplies and cleaning a 2 bath, 4 bedroom house with four people living in it for less than the usual $75 every other week.
Rested up and then got four plants into the ground. Two rosemary. Several people have told me they will make it through the winter here. I put them up front in the warm part of the garden. One Pineapple sage - I don't have a clue if it will live here but I put it in. I love the flowers on sage plants. This one has brilliant red flowers in a delicately shaped oblique tube with a fringe on the outside edge. One German thyme - I know that one will grow here since I already have some. Put it in on the south patio where it will fit in nicely with all the other heat loving plants.
Of course, I fed the goats and the dogs. Loaded up for tomorrow's cleaning job. Now, it is time to make sure I keep resting up. I must do a good job tomorrow.
I got a call for a new cleaning job. I have to be there tomorrow at nine since their cleaning lady they hired didn't show up today. Then, they will want every other week. Let's see if they balk at my price. I am not driving 45 minutes each way, bringing my own supplies and cleaning a 2 bath, 4 bedroom house with four people living in it for less than the usual $75 every other week.
Rested up and then got four plants into the ground. Two rosemary. Several people have told me they will make it through the winter here. I put them up front in the warm part of the garden. One Pineapple sage - I don't have a clue if it will live here but I put it in. I love the flowers on sage plants. This one has brilliant red flowers in a delicately shaped oblique tube with a fringe on the outside edge. One German thyme - I know that one will grow here since I already have some. Put it in on the south patio where it will fit in nicely with all the other heat loving plants.
Of course, I fed the goats and the dogs. Loaded up for tomorrow's cleaning job. Now, it is time to make sure I keep resting up. I must do a good job tomorrow.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Cutting wood
Hubby picked me up to go cut wood across the river yesterday afternoon. Turns out he already got some cedar wood in the morning. Then he took me out to get pinyon pine at an old mining town. Not much town left but there are plenty of resinous dead pinyons to cut down. Turns out that although the road is a bit rocky at the start, we can get a trailer up there, no problem, the next time we go. That would make for a very long day but we could get an entire cord of wood all at once.
It was so lovely up there in the hills. Trees all around and birds flitting everywhere. Peaceful and sunny. I had a nice time.
Honestly, I didn't help that much on the wood gathering. This whole make over - the painting, the shopping, the tile work - has kind of taken it out of me. I desperately need an entire day off. Today, however, I had to clean another house. So, tomorrow I will rest up except for cleaning out the goat pen a bit.
The slate tile looks so good on the hearth we picked up another 5 boxes so we could do the entry way by the front door. We had to buy another small bag of mortar but there is plenty of grout left from the hearth job so this will be an inexpensive way to pretty up that area. Right now it is green vinyl. Kind of goes with the green carpet. Yeah, I'd get rid of the carpet but I really don't have it in the budget. Maybe in a couple of more years.
Did I mention that Hubby got my pretty new chandelier up. He knows how to do everything:) It looks so pretty and the old one was so freakin' ugly. What a pleasant change. We took six years to get around to painting the living room/dining room/hall and fixing it up a bit. I am so pleased we are getting that opportunity now.
Of course, we have been kind of busy since we moved in.
It was so lovely up there in the hills. Trees all around and birds flitting everywhere. Peaceful and sunny. I had a nice time.
Honestly, I didn't help that much on the wood gathering. This whole make over - the painting, the shopping, the tile work - has kind of taken it out of me. I desperately need an entire day off. Today, however, I had to clean another house. So, tomorrow I will rest up except for cleaning out the goat pen a bit.
The slate tile looks so good on the hearth we picked up another 5 boxes so we could do the entry way by the front door. We had to buy another small bag of mortar but there is plenty of grout left from the hearth job so this will be an inexpensive way to pretty up that area. Right now it is green vinyl. Kind of goes with the green carpet. Yeah, I'd get rid of the carpet but I really don't have it in the budget. Maybe in a couple of more years.
Did I mention that Hubby got my pretty new chandelier up. He knows how to do everything:) It looks so pretty and the old one was so freakin' ugly. What a pleasant change. We took six years to get around to painting the living room/dining room/hall and fixing it up a bit. I am so pleased we are getting that opportunity now.
Of course, we have been kind of busy since we moved in.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Make over
Hubby has a few days off and we have gotten a lot done. Loosely using the term we.
The new chandelier looks fabulous. Hubby got it up today.
The slate tile got laid yesterday and we grouted it today. Hubby did all the heavy lifting and I did the actual grouting and cleaning up excess mortar while Hubby kept the clean buckets of water coming. That saved me a lot of back breaking effort. A good thing since I didn't have it in me.
We managed to get some of the stuff put away and now we can walk through the office again.
I have a cleaning job tomorrow and am resting up so that I can get my arms to do that much work. Arghhh. It is hard not to have the ability to keep going and going but darn it at least I am still going.
I hope I manage to paint Sunday and Monday so that we can wrap this job up for the most part on next Tuesday and Wednesday.
It's been a lot of work but I am so pleased that after living here for 6 years we finally got to the last room of the house to be painted. The wood stove will be toasty and save us money. Plus, we will not freeze if the power goes out for several days.
Tomorrow, Hubby is meeting up with me after my cleaning job and we are going to see about cutting wood for the new stove. He has already said he will do most of the work tomorrow since I am pretty much done in.
The new chandelier looks fabulous. Hubby got it up today.
The slate tile got laid yesterday and we grouted it today. Hubby did all the heavy lifting and I did the actual grouting and cleaning up excess mortar while Hubby kept the clean buckets of water coming. That saved me a lot of back breaking effort. A good thing since I didn't have it in me.
We managed to get some of the stuff put away and now we can walk through the office again.
I have a cleaning job tomorrow and am resting up so that I can get my arms to do that much work. Arghhh. It is hard not to have the ability to keep going and going but darn it at least I am still going.
I hope I manage to paint Sunday and Monday so that we can wrap this job up for the most part on next Tuesday and Wednesday.
It's been a lot of work but I am so pleased that after living here for 6 years we finally got to the last room of the house to be painted. The wood stove will be toasty and save us money. Plus, we will not freeze if the power goes out for several days.
Tomorrow, Hubby is meeting up with me after my cleaning job and we are going to see about cutting wood for the new stove. He has already said he will do most of the work tomorrow since I am pretty much done in.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Notable Quotable
http://new.exchristian.net/2011/10/sacredmoralevil-should-freethinkers.html#comment-337276978
Today's Notable Quotable is an entire article by Valerie Tarico, published on exChristian.net. Valerie is often thought provoking as a writer with a gentle style about her.
So, do we keep the term spirituality or do we find another word that conveys this meaning better. Is there another word available? I don't know but I am planning on looking into this topic this winter.
Today's Notable Quotable is an entire article by Valerie Tarico, published on exChristian.net. Valerie is often thought provoking as a writer with a gentle style about her.
So, do we keep the term spirituality or do we find another word that conveys this meaning better. Is there another word available? I don't know but I am planning on looking into this topic this winter.
Cheese and Whine
Can I have a little cheese with my whine? Yesterday I was definitely whiny and sore. This morning I am sore and tired but making a plan to get through the day. I'll mostly do the laundry and rest up:)
So, what did I do today? I fed the goats and the dogs. I watered a bit using a sprinkler to do all the work. I moved a couple of items around into the dining room and living room. I got the laundry done.
I took a nap, twice:) I sat on my butt and gazed at the new color on the walls and the new chachkies arrangement on the cookbook sideboard or buffet. I put the two corn plants in the corners by the sliding door on top of the rectangular wicker baskets with flip up lids. I hide the extra blankets in those. I think it makes a great statement.
The color [Behr Pale Honey] is stunning. It really is the color I wanted. Golden and yet not too dark. It definitely is not beige. Ack. I want some color but it still fits into the earth tones, I think. I placed the antique chest of drawers with the unique old time radio looking top piece on the wall by the window. I think it looks good there. The gold color on the walls certainly accentuates its good looks.
The walnut dresser from the forties is going where the antique piece used to be, near the front door. I think it will look good there and there is room to hang the mirror. We can have a basket for keys and such on it. And you will be able to set items down to open and close the door on your way in and out.
The dog leashes need to find a new home. We rarely use them anyway. We'll see what we do about that.
The couch is leaving tomorrow afternoon. I found it a good home.
I am hurting all over but taking a day off will hopefully help and I will feel better by tomorrow. We'll see.
So, what did I do today? I fed the goats and the dogs. I watered a bit using a sprinkler to do all the work. I moved a couple of items around into the dining room and living room. I got the laundry done.
I took a nap, twice:) I sat on my butt and gazed at the new color on the walls and the new chachkies arrangement on the cookbook sideboard or buffet. I put the two corn plants in the corners by the sliding door on top of the rectangular wicker baskets with flip up lids. I hide the extra blankets in those. I think it makes a great statement.
The color [Behr Pale Honey] is stunning. It really is the color I wanted. Golden and yet not too dark. It definitely is not beige. Ack. I want some color but it still fits into the earth tones, I think. I placed the antique chest of drawers with the unique old time radio looking top piece on the wall by the window. I think it looks good there. The gold color on the walls certainly accentuates its good looks.
The walnut dresser from the forties is going where the antique piece used to be, near the front door. I think it will look good there and there is room to hang the mirror. We can have a basket for keys and such on it. And you will be able to set items down to open and close the door on your way in and out.
The dog leashes need to find a new home. We rarely use them anyway. We'll see what we do about that.
The couch is leaving tomorrow afternoon. I found it a good home.
I am hurting all over but taking a day off will hopefully help and I will feel better by tomorrow. We'll see.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Gardening and Painting
It is official. I feel bad! I have so over done it that I don't know if I can do one more thing today.
I got the second coat of gold paint on the living room/dining room walls. That was another 3 hours of painting on top of the hours of scrubbing and painting I did yesterday.
I got a lot of the winter cover crop on the garden and tried to rake it in. I don't think I did a very good job but it has to get done yesterday.
I got the dishes in the dishwasher.
That is it. I am all done in. I am going to hobble to the couch and desperately hope I feel good enough to get 22.5 sq.ft. of slate tile mortared into place tomorrow.
Late afternoon. I took a break and then decided that it was now or never on finishing up the tar on the roof. I really only had about 5 feet by 10 feet left. I crawled up there and got it done but have reached the "I think I am going to be sick" stage of physical labor. I have a couple of movies to watch and I think I will do that and stop playing Wonder Woman.
I really shouldn't have done it but this is the last day of the year that we will have weather close to 80 degrees. This was a top priority until Hubby decided getting a wood stove was a great idea. Which it is. I just had other things to do so I am trying to prioritize. Which isn't easy to do when you have a wood stove coming on Tuesday and fall cover crop that has to get in yesterday and painting and tarring the roof to finish and putting in a fire hearth and shopping your butt off to get all the things you need to get all these jobs done.
I think I' ll go now.
I got the second coat of gold paint on the living room/dining room walls. That was another 3 hours of painting on top of the hours of scrubbing and painting I did yesterday.
I got a lot of the winter cover crop on the garden and tried to rake it in. I don't think I did a very good job but it has to get done yesterday.
I got the dishes in the dishwasher.
That is it. I am all done in. I am going to hobble to the couch and desperately hope I feel good enough to get 22.5 sq.ft. of slate tile mortared into place tomorrow.
Late afternoon. I took a break and then decided that it was now or never on finishing up the tar on the roof. I really only had about 5 feet by 10 feet left. I crawled up there and got it done but have reached the "I think I am going to be sick" stage of physical labor. I have a couple of movies to watch and I think I will do that and stop playing Wonder Woman.
I really shouldn't have done it but this is the last day of the year that we will have weather close to 80 degrees. This was a top priority until Hubby decided getting a wood stove was a great idea. Which it is. I just had other things to do so I am trying to prioritize. Which isn't easy to do when you have a wood stove coming on Tuesday and fall cover crop that has to get in yesterday and painting and tarring the roof to finish and putting in a fire hearth and shopping your butt off to get all the things you need to get all these jobs done.
I think I' ll go now.
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