Yesterday I woke up feeling a little overwhelmed and I looked into Lucy’s sweet little eyes and said… I’m not getting online until I get all that wool bundled. And my seeds are planted!
And that’s exactly what I did.
I didn’t “log on” until nearly 5 pm yesterday, and it felt great. Unplugging felt good. Getting everything I wanted to get done yesterday felt good and now I’m ready to get back at it again today.
Only this time we’ll be moving all the furniture out of the bedroom and the refrigerator and canning cupboard out of the kitchen/dining area so I can paint the ceiling tomorrow morning and have the HH in there sanding the floors on Sunday.
All the wool I’ve been dyeing over the past few weeks has finally been bundled up {there were over 250 bundles to put together!} and stored away for summer sales and just being able to have that one task checked off my list feels like a big accomplishment.
Because now… I can finally focus on our garden. And growing a boatload of food. And that makes me HAPPY. 🙂
Yesterday I started a flat of peppers.
This year I plan on canning salsa, tomato sauce and habanero pepper jelly, and I think I’m even going to try giving roasted peppers a whirl.
Thinking ahead to homegrown roasted peppers on a homemade pizza or in a pasta salad during the winter months sounds like a good idea if you ask me. Especially with food prices going nuts these days.
I really want to take advantage of the garden space we have and see just how much food we can grow this summer.
So far I’ve started onions, celery and pepper seeds. This weekend I’ll start dill {I plan on drying some and using the rest for pickling} and a few flower varieties.
Since I can’t set tomato plants out until the last week in May, I’ll start those on April 15th. Gardening season rolls out slowly here in Mid-Coast Maine, but once it gets going… it’s basically non stop growing, gathering, preserving until late September.
That’s why it feels so good to have all my major rug hooking and pottery projects done. Now I can finally give my garden the attention it needs. 🙂
Oh, and the electrician came and did his bit. To the tune of $530!!!
And the HH replaced all the GSI switches in the kitchen and bathrooms {which were just a wee bit fried}. Now all he needs to do is replace the garage door opener mechanisms and things will be just as they were before the power surge.
But first… THOSE FLOORS! We need to get the floors refinished!
Hopefully by this time next week I’ll be telling you the kitchen/dining/bedroom has been done and now we’re gearing up to do the family room next.
That’s the plan anyway. 🙂
So here’s to a sunny and productive weekend,
~Mavis
Lesley says
Mavis, how will you manage the dust that comes up from sanding the floors? It is the part of home projects that I cannot stand in an OCD way. I end up postponing renovations because of it. It gets everywhere! In drawers and closets where you can’t believe it. How do you handle it?
Mavis Butterfield says
I haven’t had to deal with it yet. I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂
Carolyn Rust says
Suggestion for the dust of sanding floors – If possible section off areas with plastic or blankets so the dust doesn’t go everywhere. Open a window/door and put a box fan (or several box fans) blowing out. Also take screens off the windows so the dust doesn’t collect on the screens. Be fully prepared to have dust everywhere anyway, but this will mitigate some of the grief. If your house is really open concept block off what you can and open every window and get those box fans blowing. This is what the guys did when we had ours done and it was fairly effective. Took about a day for the air to clear and it was totally worth it, but I understood why my dad had not done it in the 45 years they had owned the house.
Kim says
They now have sanders that have a vacuum attached to remove all the dust as you are sanding. Worth renting that type of sander!
Susan says
Perhaps put the sander bag on that catches the dust?
Margo says
Glad your bill was only $530. Judging by those GFI’s, a fire could have been much more. Glad you all are safe! House maintenance, never ends….
Jennifer says
Yeah, $530 was a bargain when you think, “what if?”.
Donna Knight says
Lord, your house could have burned down. Homemade is always best.
debbie in alaska says
$530 is a bargain for all that you mentioned went wrong. Glad it all got fixed.
Gail Nowakowsky says
I much prefer to freeze dill than to dry it. The flavour is much closer to fresh dill . It also makes the process much more quickly dealt with.
Dianne says
Mavis,
I tried your cinnamon raisin bread a few days ago. While, delicious, it came out quite flat. Not wide enough to make a grilled cheese. I followed the directions to a “t”. I brought the dough to a ball and let it sit for about 15 hours. I heated the Dutch oven for 30 minutes. I used parchment paper inside the dutch oven. When I went to make the bread, the dough was very sticky and seemed wet. I added a bit more flour as I was trying to form it into a ball. I ended up just pouring the dough onto the parchment paper. The dough had a very good taste, but the consistency felt pretty heavy. Can you think of anything I might have done incorrectly?
Thanks, Mavis
andrea d says
Some thoughts from a fellow reader- Did you remember to drain the raisins after soaking and discard that water? Maybe too much liquid was added? The dough is usually a little sticky but shouldn’t be wet. As for the ‘flat’ part, it could be because your moisture content was off, or sometimes for me that can happen if my yeast isn’t working. Sometimes the temperature and humidity of a home can effect the moisture content of dough, too so you might just need to experiment to see what works for your environment. Good luck!
Ellen C. says
$530 for electrician services is not excessive. Also, they are GFI outlets (Ground Fault Indicators). It sounds like only the damage was corrected but the reason for it has not been fully explained. Pulling out the washer/dryer plug should never cause the cascading failures you experienced. Don’t be surprised if it rears it’s ugly head again.
Love watching you start up your garden. Can’t wait to see what you do with the lasagna garden.
Cecile says
I agree $530 for an electrician is not expensive when it comes to the safety of your family and your dream home! When you think of what it takes to become a certified electrician (in Canada anyway) it is worth having work done by a professional so things like this don’t happen! I wouldn’t be surprised if a) the outlet the washer/dryer was connected to wasn’t grounded or b) there wasn’t any marrettes used on the ends of the wires causing them to touch the box that encased them causing a short. So often in vacation areas jobs are done by handymen, or the home owner without the knowledge or proper codes being followed! Having been married to an electrician for almost 40 years I hear all kinds of horror stories of what he finds in different situations and wonders why more families aren’t lost with the sketchy work being done!