Expectations: Planting Seeds

Who turns their living room into a green house?

Dirt covers my floors, couch, dining hutch, and end tables. Make shift seedling pots are over ever flat surface available. There are sour cream, yogurt, coffee cups, baby food containers, non-dairy coffee creamer jugs, peat pots, etc. anything I could get my hands on to grow a plant in. I debate adding more tables until we have a few warmer nights outside. Thirty and forty degree temps are not going to keep my seedlings flourishing. Expectations...

I worry about the seedlings often. Are they warm enough? Are they too leggy? Are they growing fast and large enough? Will they successfully supply my family with much needed fruit or will they only succeed in being leaves and stems? My expectations, hopes, dreams ride on these little seedling's backs. This is my chance to learn (more than I know), see what I can grow (on a large scale), and how being a stay at home mom I can still provide for my family. I don't have much room for error in this. Perhaps these seedlings will even open the door to additional income for my family in the future. Expectations...

The expectations are great. A pantry full of homegrown food. Even a simple shopping cart of groceries stresses my tiny budget. No extras. No pop, sweets, treats, extra baked goods, or much meat ever get bought at the grocery. It isn't like you need those items. Could we eat even cheaper? Yup. Sure we could if we ate the same boring meals day after day. I don't want to eat as poor as I am. White rice for dinner every night isn't on my menu. I want to eat variety. I want to eat quality, expensive, healthful food. Honestly, I want to eat like a king and queen and have excellent choices for my children. So you see, these seedlings are my pantry. My hopes for variety and savings in the next year. Expectations...

I tend them at least three times a day. I turn them. Water them with a spray bottle to ensure the germinating seeds don't get washed around. Watch to see if new plants have sprouted. Gently fertilize them once they have more than two leaves. Thin them. Transplant them. Expectations...

Try watering 240 seeds with a spray bottle. The muscles in your forearms get a nice little workout. There is of course more than just food growing. I have some perennial flowers, ornamental grasses, and annual flowers growing as well. Or hoping they grow. They tend to have longer germination periods so there is the promise of beautiful landscaping without actually knowing if a single plant will thrive and with out the huge expense of purchasing more mature plants. Expectations...

Honestly, I know in my heart that if this garden isn't as spectacular as my expectations imply there is always next year, but I want so badly for this year's garden to be spectacular. I have waited for and imagined this garden for years. No master gardener grows their masterpiece garden in three year but... expectations...

People driving buy, walking by (we have a lot of foot traffic & street traffic), and stopping by must think we are crazy with my current living room green house. I can only imagine what they think is going on here. My one neighbor is thrilled though that I will be canning for the first time this year. He exclaimed that it is a "lost art". Maybe I am not crazy after all... expectations.

Grow little seedlings. Grow! What are your expectations for your yard/garden/living room this year?

P.S. I confess I am addicted to buying seed and I promise to stop now for the year. I walk past a seed rack and always find more veggies and flowers I could grow to make my yard lovely.

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Farm Friend Friday Folks! Thanks to Verde Farms and Dandelion House for hosting...

Lots more fun stuff here...

Before it gets better, it has to get worse

This week I have been trying to tame the chaos that has become my house. Some people clean top to bottom, or left to right, my cleaning method is different and complicated. It goes against my better judgement and really seems counterproductive. I can't explain it but it works for me... In order for one room to get better, every other room has to get worse. For instance, if I were to tidy the living room, all the rooms that border it would be destroyed. See, I told you it was weird.

Most times the house appears to be immaculate but the closets and other personal spaces hide a holy mess. I can hold this facade up for a while, keeping up with the essentials, like dishes and laundry, but letting other things go. Recently I have been noticing annoying piles of papers accumulating on my desk, clutter camping out on my nightstand, the clean laundry remaining in baskets, and closets overflowing with, well, everything else. This week the curtain has fallen and the act is over. I could take it no more and no matter what I had to sacrifice, I knew it would be worth it.

Say hello to my desk, after. (I'll spare you all the before pics!) Take a look at the uncluttered workspace, there's not even dust yet. Pay stubs and paid bills are filed and pencils are sharpened. Even the cubbies have been sorted out. All those pretty books. It still feels good to look at it.

My nightstand, unspoiled. Books underneath have been switched out for new reading choices. Besides a small jar of hand salve and a yellow ceramic catch-all, every other unnecessary item is banished forever.

The playroom. Books restored to their shelves, organized by binding type and in height order. I'm not crazy or anything.

This is one of five kids beds. Sheets, comforters, pillows, puppy dogs, mattress covers all clean and fresh. Fall and winter wardrobe packed away and spring and summer clothing hung in its place. I even helped them each weed through their junk drawers.

Linen closet. Yes, I know that the shelves are plywood but it is the folded beach towels and extra blankets I want you to notice.

This particular closet made my list because previously it housed copious amounts of fabric and clothing I saved to repurpose so I organized the fabrics, too. Rolled and tied each of them. Now when I rifle through my stash all the pieces will stay nice and neat and I can always find what I am looking for.

And the biggest news, the most spectacular transformation, has to be my closet. I spent Friday evening organizing my closet (yeah, I'm lots of fun) but it was awful. The piles of clean clothes were up to my thigh. Stuff to donate and half finished projects covered the floor and dressers. Now, purses and belts are hung. Pants folded and neatly stacked. All my shirts are once again sorted by color and sleeve length. I think we have already established I'm a bit compulsive.

Something amazing happened when I was pulling all the junk out of my closet. I found this...

Not the shoes, but the floor! Yes, it was that bad.

So...

Now that all of those things are done...

And all the floors are washed...

And all the surfaces dusted...

This is what had to be neglected...

Sacrificed....

Pushed aside... for all these other wonderful and necessary transformations...

The kitchen.

The dishes to be exact. Every. Single. Last. One. Notice the shelf on the wall which normally stores all my mixing bowls and measuring cups is completely bare. There are more items you can't see on the floor and even a sink full in my mudroom!

But like I said before, I still think it was worth it.

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Between writing this post and publishing it (in complete humiliation), I have conquered 3 hours of dirty dishes. The kitchen counters and floor are now clear of pots and pans but I still have to tackle the ones in the mudroom sink. Plus catch up on laundry. Guess I know what my Thursday looks like?

How about yours?

If You Love Me...

This sweatshirt was a thrift store find. I'm pretty sure it was around when I was a kid. All of my little ones have spent a good amount of time in this particular shirt. Maybe, just maybe, it's because I love the message...

If You Love Me...

Read Me A Story

If you ask me, all kids should have this shirt.

Time to Say Goodbye: Moving to One Vehicle

We are letting our work horse go.

The facts are: it is old, will soon need work (a lot of work), guzzles gas (gas is $4.00 a gallon fokes), we are tight on money, and it sits a lot. I am such a penny pincher that we won't drive it if we can use the Saturn that is better on gas by miles.

The truth is we wouldn't have so many things if it wasn't for that truck. Fences, deck wood, plywood, furniture, other people's trash which has become our treasures. Letting it go is hard. Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes choices are hard. We thought and prayed like mad about this one. Talked it out. It just seems right.

The truck was a blessing. Purchased for a mere $1000.00 at a time that we needed it and it was steal. A gift right from God. Now in our love of barter and Craig's List we are trading it for cash and service. My little Saturn is getting fixed. Trust me folks we are making out and the Saturn is long over due for service.

What will this mean? One car. Yup. Our family of four will be living by one car. How will we afford a new second or bigger vehicle... we will cross that bridge when we come to it. I pray this isn't the end of our trash treasures, free deck wood, and other things but it will no longer grace the driveway of our little blue house.

On to bigger and better things teal work horse. On to bigger better things.

Shadow Box Project

Did you ever have one of those "fun" projects that was just killing you to get to but you never have time. Well I made the time! Even with a screaming, fussing, crying baby at my feet. I tricked him. Bribed him. Sang to him. I got it done. Well one part of it that is. 

I have always loved miniatures, therefore to start I used a generic oven bake sculpting clay and made myself some miniatures. I am completely out of practice and this clay most definitely wasn't as nice as the more expensive Fimo brand or Sculpey (I really can't remember what I used to use). If I plan to do more miniatures at some point I might spend the money and buy the nicer clay. Honestly, the clay goes a long way. One package made all of these.

Next I took a few of my miniatures, a shadow box frame I bought for .99 cents at some point, and some other crafting supplies I had on hand and made this! It has been just an idea in my head until today and I am pretty happy overall with how it turned out.

Then I hung it up in my bathroom. It replaced a slightly larger sculpture thing that was hanging there. I did not love that thing. A bit sparse I know. But don't worry. I have about four or five more frames and I plan on doing a series. I am not sure I will use all of them here, because I would like to do a few for my yet to be decided bedroom theme. I will keep my eye out for more .99 cent shadow box frames that's for sure!

Let me know if you would like a "how to" for something like this. If I can do it so totally can you.