Recent Posts

1

Managing a Household / June 18, 2019

« Last post by Rooney on June 18, 2019, 08:47:35 AM »

Hey girls.  Are you still there?  Guess everyone else has been busy too.

We are really enjoying summer, though the last days the temps have felt more like spring again.  Let's see....what is on our agenda for today.  I need to clean out the van from the weekend.  They really did a number on it and it really needs to be taken to the free vacuum place too, but I won't get there today.  Finishing up on the weekends laundry today.  Kids will be helping with house straightening. 

My dad gave us a 4 wheeler this past weekend to ride around the farm, so the older boys spent all Sunday afternoon doing that.  I foresee them doing that most Sunday afternoons for a while.  My dad is also getting ready to upgrade his riding lawnmower, so I am seeing a free John Deere zero turn mower in our near future as well. HA!

I have been spending lots of time on my new business.  Finally got far enough along with it that I now started my own store.  The store address is      https://www.ebay.com/str/therockinmonkey    if you want to stop by and look around and be one of my first followers!  I am really enjoying this and several of my kids are loving helping me with it.  Pushing super hard to make it grow quickly.  Sorry, I tried to get the address where you could just click on it, but this forum's hyperlink thing isn't working right for me today. 

That is it for me.  I will cram my workout in somewhere today.  I am thinking legs or cardio and core.

Lindsay

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Managing a Household / Re: Monday, June 10, 2019

« Last post by Rooney on June 10, 2019, 11:27:49 AM »

Good early afternoon.

Wow the weather went from hot and steamy yesterday to windy and sweatshirt weather today.  Last of spring before summer sets in for good, I guess.  Well, we aren't doing much today.  We have all been sick for the last week and my voice is now sounding like nails down a chalkboard.  Just that added level of difficulty to the day that I can't stand.  Will try to get in my workout today anyway.  Don't feel really terrible, just sound that way.  Little ones are getting grumpy, so I think it is making its way to them. 

Got salads for the whole family out of the garden yesterday.  The kids said it tastes so much better than the store bought stuff that they want it again today.  Can you imagine, kids actually asking for salad?!  I went out to pick it last night and got caught in the rain that a couple of minutes later turned into a downpour. 

Will work on stuff for the new business venture later on this afternoon, but other than that I probably need to rest.  Seems like my voice will never come back (day 3 of it).

That's all for me.  Going to go drink some hot chamomile tea.

Lindsay

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Managing a Household / Monday, June 10, 2019

« Last post by Alice on June 10, 2019, 07:29:57 AM »

Good Morning,

It is a wet, dreary, cool day today here in West Michigan. Yesterday was the same with lots of rain but not the stormy kind, it was very gentle.

My husband has finally gotten better from bronchitis and it took a little over two weeks. I was getting a bit worried but then he began to get better. We really just kept low profiles and I did whatever needed to be done so he could just concentrate on getting better.  On Saturday, he felt better and our roads were closed due to a 5k run and a parade so we had to stay home. I dusted our room and cleaned up in there. I asked him to fix my bedside night light that clips on the nightstand. He did a great job and now the clip is so much more secure. After all the events were done and our road opened up we ran a couple of errands and then went to pick strawberries at my mom and dad's house. They are so late this year but they sure are nice looking! 

We ended up cooking a whole chicken in our small rotisserie and had that and strawberries for supper while watching a movie. On Sunday we went to his mom's house for lunch and then I saw my hubby getting tired and he had a tummy ache. We went right home so he could take a nap which tells me he is not yet over his bug. After his nap he still had a tummy ache but this morning he said it was gone. Not sure what is going on with him.

Tonight I'll make something with the leftover chicken and hope to make a meal plan for the week.

Alice

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Gardening / Re: 2019 Gardens

« Last post by Rooney on June 06, 2019, 09:46:25 AM »

I tried to post 8 pictures, even from a different camera.  It must just be this forum.  I can post pics everywhere else with no problem.  Weird. 

This garden is about a quarter acre, but my dad said if the older boys are able to keep it weeded (and they are) that we can double, triple, or quadruple size next year (meaning he will disk up and prep a much bigger area for next year). 

Alice, do you have any sunny areas at all?  Maybe you could do some concrete block beds. They are cheap and also portable if you change your mind.  We get our dirt for beds in the greenhouse off the farm, so not real sure where to get dirt, maybe use the vegetable planting soil in bags at Home Depot.  I did that for my herb gardens and they are flourishing.  Basil is already 2 ft high.  Some of our beds are cedar (expensive) but some are block and we can change the shape of the block beds if need be, and have several times.

Aggravating about the pics not working.

Lindsay

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Gardening / Re: 2019 Gardens

« Last post by Alice on June 06, 2019, 07:07:20 AM »

Oh, awesome on the garden!

In our previous home we were huge gardeners and had a ton of veggies and an herb garden. When we moved into this house 6  years ago, there were lots of things to prevent us from having a garden. Smaller space, the kids mostly all left and I didn't need as much, there is way too much shade, the lawn is where I could put a garden but it is one with underground sprinkling and I don't know where the lines are and there really is no good place for one in the lawn. I am happy with a small herb garden in pots and my dad (88 yrs. old!) still has a big garden and gives me more than I need. I treasure what he gives me because, well, he is 88 years old and I'm not sure how many more years he will be able to do this!

But there is nothing better than looking at a beautiful and large garden. I would love to have seen a pic of your garden. I have a pic of my dad's garden and even some of my old garden that I will keep forever.

Alice

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Gardening / 2019 Gardens

« Last post by Rooney on June 05, 2019, 03:52:50 PM »

We got our first salad out of the garden yesterday!  It was so good that I ate another one for lunch this afternoon.  I guess we got lucky and planted it at just the right time.  It was hard to gauge when that might be with all the rain.  I would love to post pics, but this forum doesn't let my pics go through anymore.   The lettuce and kale was almost too pretty to pick!  ALMOST!

Tomatoes already have tiny red tomatoes on them.  The cuke plants are getting big enough to have to trellis.  I planted lettuce and kale starts for eating at the beginning of summer and some from seeds that will be ready to eat later in July and after.  The pepper plants seem to be growing slower that I had hoped, but will probably catch up once the heat kicks in.  The corn is about 1 and a half feet tall.  The beans, radishes, carrots, cantelope, broccoli, cauliflour, watermelon and snap peas are growing right along.  Only thing that didn't seem to come up was celery and I haven't ever had much luck with that. 

I also made two herb gardens on each side of the outside of our greenhouse.  Let's see....basil, oregano, cilantro, thyme, mint, chocolate mint, chives,  and some marigolds (just because I love yellow).

Other than some marigolds around the flagpole at the end of the driveway,  that is it for my planting this year.

Oh.. I did plant a hybrid peach tree (actually 2, but one didn't fare well in shipping) that should bear fruit year after next.  Think I will plant several more next year.

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Managing a Household / Wednesday, June 5, 2019

« Last post by Alice on June 05, 2019, 12:45:09 PM »

Good Afternoon!

After a wet morning we now have a beautiful bright afternoon! 

Not much going on for me.  That is pretty typical for the beginning of a new month. I began my purging last night and got rid of 6 sets of twin sized bedding and a big box of a 12 serving set of dishes. I have more walking around the house to do and I will find things that are not useful to me that I would like to purge. I am thinking of buying new towels for the entire house. We have a lot of towels but they are starting to ravel. They work just fine so I'm on the fence about it.

I have some throws I bought when the kids were little that we used to cuddle under or an extra bed on a cold night. I bought one for each of them and two extra for a total of 5. We still love them today for a nap on the couch or a little extra warmth after the removal of the heavy winter stuff. I count them a couple times per year to make sure they are all accounted for and last night I only counted four. I know the patterns on each of them so I went hunting around and I found the last one. I had put it in a drawer and forgot about it. I'm keeping those blankets. I remember getting them at Walmart for about $5 a piece and thought it was a good deal 20+ years ago.

On Saturday our community is having a festival day and they are closing my street off from 7:30 am to about 10:30 for a race and then a parade so we have to make sure not to plan something because we won't be able to get out or back in!

Tonight will be spaghetti or a spaghetti bake with mozzarella cheese. Sounds really good and I even made homemade spaghetti sauce. We have twinkie cake for dessert. My dad celebrated his 88th birthday on Monday so we took my parents out for pizza then back home for twinkie cake. I offered them the rest of the cake but they declined so we can handle eating it. It was/is very good.

Not much else for me.

Alice

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Managing a Household / Re: Tuesday, June 4, 2019

« Last post by Alice on June 05, 2019, 06:17:13 AM »

It was a beautiful day! It is now Wed. and though I tried to write a note yesterday I just got bogged down with other things so it is now Wed. My hubby mowed our lawn yesterday and it looked so nice. We have a ton of those helicopters falling from the trees and we blew them off the driveway, out of the garage and off the patio.

We had leftovers for supper last night also though I did add ham pieces I had frozen and yesterday I pressure cooked it for 10 minutes.

I also donated a lot of twin sized bedding as well as a large box of dinnerware that I got from my parents that they got from a garage sale. I've never used it and I probably would never use it so I donated that. I have a tv stand I should donate. I have stuff that just needs to be gotten rid of and our church has a furniture ministry that we gather all of these things and then give them to people who are less fortunate and just can't afford even the most necessary things.

Alice

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Managing a Household / Tuesday, June 4, 2019

« Last post by gaggleofseven on June 04, 2019, 04:24:14 PM »

Good afternoon! We had a beautiful, sunny day - so nice for a change! I took some photos outside, and they turned out well.

We are coming up on our anniversary soon, and DH is fishing for some gift ideas. After this many years, I really don't need anything. I'm not a "stuff" person. In fact, I'm trying to declutter and reduce things rather than add more. Maybe we'll just go to dinner with the kids.

Dinner tonight is chicken sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and a vegetable.

Have a great evening!
Jennie

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Managing a Household / Re: Sat., June 1, 2019

« Last post by Alice on June 01, 2019, 03:32:56 PM »

Well, it's late afternoon now and t he day just flew by! We allowed ourselves to sleep in as long as we wanted and then had a later than normal breakfast. After that shopping for just a few things. Then I moved things around in one of my daughters' room. She live outside the country and is coming home for the summer in three weeks. I have her room nicely freshened up.

We made and ate a late lunch early supper around 3 pm because that is just the time I was able to get it ready. We'll be fine for the night. Got laundry done and all the dishes so we'll get to watch a movie.

I feel like we accomplished a lot even though it was slowly done all through the  day. I think we have freshened most of the house in the past week or so and that is nice feeling entering summer.

I told hubby we need a better meal plan for the week to run more smoothly. I at least am thinking of things to make this week so we'll see if I can follow through and actually follow it!

Alice