Purple peas! Finally blooming! Of the 4 seeds I received in an exchange this is the only one to make it this far.

My elderberry is preparing to flower!

The apple tree is happy and the tomatoe is as tall as it.

Progress on my picture book! A long way to completion but it's getting there.

Crush it!

3 rules:
Love your family.
Work super hard.
Live your passion.

So I have the 1st rule down. I left CML after over 15 years (not that I had a choice) to take care of my family. I freelance around my good wife life!

It's hard. Money is tight but it's manageable and I love taking care of my family. I'm finding ways to make it more streamlined and .... well easier.

Rule 2. I think I have that covered too. At least it goes hand in hand with loving my family! In my humble opinion.

Rule 3. Working on that. The stress of money does get in the way at times but I'm actively working on taking things 1 at a time. Working on 1 project a day. Follow my Instagram @patientfarmer for more active details!

I haven't gotten very far in the book, at bit of backstory to fill some pages.....I'm sure there's a point. For all I write like that I don't read very much of it....

It has convinced me to keep up with my vlogging.....so check that out on YouTube! Patient Farmer is my tag there as well. It's like the blog....my life on an urban homestead!

Passive heat

Concrete floors have enough thermal mass to retain the heat from the sun for a day or two. The key is getting the sunshine to actually heat it up.

From my browsing of google on the subject, carpet & wood covering the concrete will hinder it's abilities to absorb heat.

So today I'm trying something new. It's sunny so I opened all east & south facing curtains and rolled back 1 rug. That leaves 2/3rds of the floor (roughly) exposed to the sun.

I have a tiny problem with frosted over windows though. Not sure how to prevent that without getting a dehumidifier which will run nonstop.

Garden update:  veggies are planted. I asked Heidi for a few seeds we didn't have. If she doesn't have them in her bank then the local nursery in spring will do. I'll plant the herbs directly in their pots in spring. I'll also start the pears here soon as well once I find an acceptable container for at least a 2 year growth.

My winter garden is coming along nicely! Spinach and bok choy growing and looking so cute!

I finally feel accomplish. There have been other days where I have felt like this but it doesn't happen often.

This weather is crazy! I'm loving the thunderstorms though!

My sycamore has a mold issue and those damn beetles are nomming it all up. I went through today and trimmed all the infected leaves off (hoping I didn't hurt it by doing that) and disposed of them via city yard waste.

Nothing to be done about the beetles until I get the grubs managed next spring.

Our patio garden is looking awesome! We had a nice storm just as we were gonna plant that filled all our holes. Thanks to the storms timing (right during Aidan's nap) Dan had to do all of it by himself. Poor daddy! I still got muddy planting 3 of the plants! 😏

Try new things!

WTF was he thinking? Motorcyclist nightmare!

Chilling with the car keys while daddy buys all the plants. 3hrs of shopping without a fuss! What a trooper!

I love our plant selection! Can't wait to get them planted!

Dan's hard work! All I did was bring the stone from around the house after digging it up.

I've been silent for a while because we've been getting stuff done....well sorta. More work on the patio garden. Hard when the mate works full time & has Irish skin. 😏

I can't do much because of Aidan with equally Irish skin & his desire to be near me. Can't play with puppy in the shaded part of the yard. Oh no. Too far away from mommy! 😂 I got no one who can (or wants) to come entertain him while I get some yard work done!

Luckily yeaterday Dan had off so he worked all morning (till he fried 😢), I helped during Aidan's 1st nap by trenching the border of the garden....I need to redo (extend) part & go finish it. Then after some dr visits he went down for his evening nap. I went out and finished moving the large stone slabs for Dan to sort as he will for the steps. Even though Aidan woke up he got some daddy time which was nice!

The garden is growing. A boat ton of volunteers this year, including a plethora of persline which I ended up pulling. The only space in the garden for a me only is for beets!

So many projects started right now! Still have work on the kitchen to do and curtains to attend....& as you can see it might be time to clean the studio. OMG it's killing me. 😵

While making a sweet potato and apple puree for Aidan's lunches I found lots of sprouted seedlings. So once I finished and cleaned up I planted them all! Then figured I should plant my cucumbers, butternut squash and cat mint. I planted a tini tiny garlic clove by the sycamore tree in back. I still need to plant the sunflower seeds I collected last year and the herbs.


Update on the oily hair! My blend of oils and no shampooing appears to be working! My hair is less greasy by far! Plus it's healing the rope burns on my ankles!

Gala seedlings

Sweet tater & apple

Bar seating

Grand adventure 

New rug

Will I ever finish this!

Cinquefoil not strawberry 

Bar seat damage

Walked around the yard this morning. Watered the seeds. Thoughts? I have a few concerns regarding my transplants. Crossing my fingers.

Morning hor frost

Capitalize that sunshine 

Garden planning

Original location of bleeding heart 

New bed

Homesteading
I must admit. I feel bad. Dan is doing all my yard work for me! The whole reason we got a yard (as small as it is) is because I wanted it. I want a farm really but this will work for my self-sufficient homestead. Suburban that it is. And for the first year and a half I took care of it. Granted he dictated some of the things done to it but then again he's got an eye for resale and I don't. Not really. My plan for this land will only have value to a farmer at heart like myself. Not no city slicking urbanite!

Right now he's out there fixing up the front yard and the side yard that the patio peeps jacked up. Grub&weed killer, fertilizing, seeding and mowing. Yesterday he moved the back for me, after I told him my plan to wake up early today and mow. I couldn't get the mower started with Aidan strapped to me. What am I doing. Entertaining Aidan.

I could be outside helping if Motorola would stop sending me the wrong replacement part. It's been a month now and they've sent me 2 monitors and one camera to the set. I have sent them images (multiple times) of the original identifying sticker and they still can't send the right part. WTF!

He did say I was doing a good job at being a momma....that helps me feel not as worthless...some. Depression is fighting hard to kick me back down. It's been some years since I've fought this hard to stay (undepressed? happy?).

Further Learning
So a side note. Thanks to Heidi, I'm taking an online Permaculture course. I'll test my knowledge and hopefully learn something new. Or find some new tools or resources to help make this little burban homestead as self-sufficient as possible. Week one of a four week course down. Maybe we'll get together soon for coffee and a perma-chat!

Crafting
I've started turning my VMI panel into a blanket. I'll be making it roughly 27"x27". A good size for baby or lap. That way they don't feel so pressured! I got a plan in my head of how it should look. One detail I need to research how to do, so here's to hoping it turns out.

Life with Baby
Yesterday was a day of firsts for all of us. I bundled Aidan up into his stroller, leashed Georgia and went for a walk. I met 3 of my neighbors. Found out just how out of shape I am! How out of shape Georgia is!!! Visited a park for some swing time and pushed said stroller through 2 soccer fields, a tiny crick and a grassy noll. That was hard work! I blame that for my tiredness once we got home (just before the rain I might add). Got some pokemon Go'ing in! All in all. I think I'll do it again. Georgia was well behaved and Aidan had fun!

While they both napped I took some time to make their Silhouettes! Stacy also wants me to do this as a side project for her. Could be fun.

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