The task of the month here has been bedroom cleaning. In hindsight that might not have been the best idea, but getting Dane upstairs to a new room became a priority. Dane is still working on purging toys and whatnot in both his old and new rooms. He is claiming that he plays with them all. Paige has had to confront her hoarding tendencies and clean her room. We have to repair the window in her room as well as the ceiling. As of right now, we just want her floor clean which she has been making great progress on. We are also challenging her to keep it clean. I have confidence she can do it if she sets her mind to it.

We moved the bed from Dane’s old room to Shali’s old room to make a better guest bed. The bed in that room had a broken box spring and was uncomfortable to sleep in. We also needed to address the bed frame. We got that accomplished and the bed made. Sometimes getting the bed made too is a huge accomplishment!

We moved a friend last weekend. I loved how organized she was. All the guys had to do was carry out the furniture and deconstruct a few items like the bed frame and the entertainment center. The boxes were all packed and ready to go. We just had to load the truck and U-Haul truck. We spent the night (aka collapsed into a hotel bed) in Rochester and had lunch with another friend for his birthday as well as hung out with Rob’s uncle and aunt for awhile. A nice weekend all-in-all, but we found out how out of shape we are! I am still feeling sore muscles today.

We also came home with a loveseat, a small table and four chairs, and two bar stools that were free to us. They will be put to very good use in our home. The loveseat will replace an existing one that is quickly falling apart. The table and one chair will go to Dane’s room as a Lego table/desk. The barstools will be used in the shop.

I was hoping for Spring to be here, but we got a couple inches of snow last Friday night. The weather guys are saying we will be getting more snow Wednesday as well as the temperatures cooling down for Easter. That is not very conducive to getting stuff done outside.

I know a lot of people plant their potatoes on Good Friday. I have never had any luck with doing this especially in March. My potatoes end up rotting in the ground. However, I have a few fabric growing bags and I am thinking about growing some potatoes in there. What do you all do? Do you plant your potatoes on Good Friday? Do you plant your potatoes in the ground or use another method?

I have had some private comments that we are not homesteading when we are talking about getting the house in order, making repairs, and generally doing what we can. We have chickens, but they are pretty content just being chickens and laying eggs. I have things planted in the garden right now, but gardening in northern Iowa is not the best idea at the moment. 

We are doing what we can in this moment. Since our energies cannot be devoted to being outside growing and making things, we are concentrating on other areas. Being a homesteader is being self-sufficient and we are practicing that all the time. We are making our own repairs. We are putting our house in order so we can concentrate on working outside when the time is right.

We are making plans. Oh my, are we making plans! We are planning what to plant in the garden and how. We are planning to plant more apple and pear trees. We are planning to move the raspberries to increase the room in the garden. We are planning and working on the shop so we can make and repair more of our own things. We have been debating on getting more chickens this year or wait until next year. There is so much we want to do!

We are all in different stages of our own journeys. Some people may be comfortable just gardening. Some people may want and have it all. Homesteading is not a contest. It is an individual journey of your own making.

Thanks for reading,
Erica

Sharing is caring!