Work! Work! Work! I love my life :) I am thoroughly enjoying both my full time financial planning job and my little homestead life! I am still enjoying a thankful heart...I don't know if it's because of all of the health and personal issues I went through last year, but you get to a point where you are just thankful to be able to get up and work and enjoy everything you've been given and celebrate it with the people in your life that matter to you. Even last Saturday when I was working my tail off building my raised garden beds (more on that later), I couldn't help but think with each shovel full of dirt and sweat soaked brow, "Thank you God for the strength and energy to do this. Thank you for the gorgeous weather. Thank you for the satisfaction of laboring with your hands and reaping a harvest." There was a time a few months ago when I couldn't have done any of that work!
So! Here's a run-down of what me and my grateful heart and blistered hands have done so far....
I am now a member of the Charleston Bee Association and I went to their monthly meeting on Saturday. Wow!! There are some amazing people there! And I came away realizing how much I have to learn (which always excites me!). I take the Honeybee course this weekend. It's a 14 hour course so I will learn a lot and be prepared to get my hive up and bees in place soon!
I have been studying permaculture and urban homesteading...fascinating! This is my year of beginning growth in these areas and I'm excited! I am getting involved in several groups locally that will be a good support system. I just downloaded an ebook on permaculture that has 14 sections, 285 chapters, and 388,000 words. That should be a good way to climb the learning curve :)
I can see how farming/homesteading is a full time job! I am lightly dipping my toes into it and find myself "working" on something almost around the clock. I plan my day based on the light outside and what needs to get done outside for the day. When I don't have light I start my indoor chores and do inside prep for my outside chores the next day. This is not a stressful, work situation; this is a rewarding, labor intense, but do what I can when I can "job"....and I'm loving it! :)
On to my raised garden beds....talk about hard work!!! I bought 15' picket fences from Lowe's and using my privacy fence on the sunny side of the yard as 1 side of the rectangle, I built a 10' long by 2.5' wide bed. I built 5 of these. Saturday I pounded the stakes in place, lined them with garden cloth (so the dirt didn't fall between the posts), tilled the ground, layered them with leaves, and started the process of filling them with the topsoil I had delivered. I got all but the last step done for all 5. Who knew moving dirt would be SO much work?!? :) I did get 1 bed completely finished, both to satisfy my sense of accomplishment and from a necessity standpoint, to get the 100 bulbs of garlic from my seed trays into the ground. I think I have decided to just tackle filling 1 bed a weekend until I get the other 4 beds done.
I made sauerkraut last night. Well, I started it at least, it needs to ferment now. This is not a new thing for me. It's super easy and tastes delicious and is a great way to get fermentation into your system in a non-dairy, sugar free way. 80% of our immune system is in our digestive track (that's huge!) so it's especially important for me as I build my immune system again to have a healthy gut...which means I need lots of good bacteria and a great, natural way to do that is to eat fermented foods.
My additional soap supplies came in last week so I need to make more of the hand/body soap this weekend. I love that stuff!
As far as a health update, I had another PET scan and an arm doppler on Monday. The arm doppler showed that my blood clots have completely dissolved! The technician was so surprised. She said that it was rare for them to completely dissolve on their own. "Someone must have been looking out for you." Yes, He was, and I'm grateful He chose a path of healing in that area :) This means I can stop my coumadin and now I am not on ANY medication :) I have a doctor's appointment this Friday to find out the results of the PET scan. There are 2 options. The first and most hoped for is that all the cancer cells are gone and I am in remission. I can then re-enter a "normal" life :) The other is that the scan showed some "activity" which could mean some cancer cells are still alive. If this is the case I will undergo another chest biopsy of the tumor and if that shows there are cancer cells I will start a radiation regime. My parents are coming down this weekend to go with me to my (hopefully last) doctor's appointment. I'm looking forward to seeing them and spending time with them on my little homestead :)
This weekend I plan on finishing another garden bed and transplanting more seedlings; putting up the greenhouse with my dad's help; attending a 14 hour honey-bee course; and a myriad of small to-do's, hopefully one of them being soap-making.
Hope you're all having a great week! Feel free to share your thoughts and insights!
PS - I tried the home-made detergent and it works well, for those of you who asked for an update. If you have stained clothes I would pre-treat the stain first but the detergent cleaned the clothes well and smells great.
So! Here's a run-down of what me and my grateful heart and blistered hands have done so far....
I am now a member of the Charleston Bee Association and I went to their monthly meeting on Saturday. Wow!! There are some amazing people there! And I came away realizing how much I have to learn (which always excites me!). I take the Honeybee course this weekend. It's a 14 hour course so I will learn a lot and be prepared to get my hive up and bees in place soon!
I have been studying permaculture and urban homesteading...fascinating! This is my year of beginning growth in these areas and I'm excited! I am getting involved in several groups locally that will be a good support system. I just downloaded an ebook on permaculture that has 14 sections, 285 chapters, and 388,000 words. That should be a good way to climb the learning curve :)
I can see how farming/homesteading is a full time job! I am lightly dipping my toes into it and find myself "working" on something almost around the clock. I plan my day based on the light outside and what needs to get done outside for the day. When I don't have light I start my indoor chores and do inside prep for my outside chores the next day. This is not a stressful, work situation; this is a rewarding, labor intense, but do what I can when I can "job"....and I'm loving it! :)
On to my raised garden beds....talk about hard work!!! I bought 15' picket fences from Lowe's and using my privacy fence on the sunny side of the yard as 1 side of the rectangle, I built a 10' long by 2.5' wide bed. I built 5 of these. Saturday I pounded the stakes in place, lined them with garden cloth (so the dirt didn't fall between the posts), tilled the ground, layered them with leaves, and started the process of filling them with the topsoil I had delivered. I got all but the last step done for all 5. Who knew moving dirt would be SO much work?!? :) I did get 1 bed completely finished, both to satisfy my sense of accomplishment and from a necessity standpoint, to get the 100 bulbs of garlic from my seed trays into the ground. I think I have decided to just tackle filling 1 bed a weekend until I get the other 4 beds done.
I made sauerkraut last night. Well, I started it at least, it needs to ferment now. This is not a new thing for me. It's super easy and tastes delicious and is a great way to get fermentation into your system in a non-dairy, sugar free way. 80% of our immune system is in our digestive track (that's huge!) so it's especially important for me as I build my immune system again to have a healthy gut...which means I need lots of good bacteria and a great, natural way to do that is to eat fermented foods.
My additional soap supplies came in last week so I need to make more of the hand/body soap this weekend. I love that stuff!
As far as a health update, I had another PET scan and an arm doppler on Monday. The arm doppler showed that my blood clots have completely dissolved! The technician was so surprised. She said that it was rare for them to completely dissolve on their own. "Someone must have been looking out for you." Yes, He was, and I'm grateful He chose a path of healing in that area :) This means I can stop my coumadin and now I am not on ANY medication :) I have a doctor's appointment this Friday to find out the results of the PET scan. There are 2 options. The first and most hoped for is that all the cancer cells are gone and I am in remission. I can then re-enter a "normal" life :) The other is that the scan showed some "activity" which could mean some cancer cells are still alive. If this is the case I will undergo another chest biopsy of the tumor and if that shows there are cancer cells I will start a radiation regime. My parents are coming down this weekend to go with me to my (hopefully last) doctor's appointment. I'm looking forward to seeing them and spending time with them on my little homestead :)
This weekend I plan on finishing another garden bed and transplanting more seedlings; putting up the greenhouse with my dad's help; attending a 14 hour honey-bee course; and a myriad of small to-do's, hopefully one of them being soap-making.
Hope you're all having a great week! Feel free to share your thoughts and insights!
PS - I tried the home-made detergent and it works well, for those of you who asked for an update. If you have stained clothes I would pre-treat the stain first but the detergent cleaned the clothes well and smells great.