Woke up to my trees bowing to Mother Natures wrath! We are getting some heavy freezing rain here. I've been told that they will perk back up. That it's the older more solid limbs that snap under this weather....fingers crossed and begging the dryads to keep them safe.

We're finally moving along with the book shelves! Super excited! More images to come.

Sycamore so far prostrated you can't hardly see it!

Peach looking dejected!

It IS pretty!

Before (but after cleaning)

The shit you got to look forward to when owning a home......clearing out a clog from the basement drain at 9 at night.....

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.

Been a busy morning here at the burban homestead. (Haven't named it yet) Aidan thought he was gonna play at 4am....I wasn't having none of that so we snuggled on the couch till daddy came down @7:30 am. (like cuddling a feral cat!)

We got the second floors all swept, chicken salad all made (the creamy kind you spread betwixt bread).

The patio swept, strawberries moved outside and sun tea set to steep.

When Aidan went down for a nap around 10:30 I showered, started de-petaling the dandelions Aidan helped me pick yesterday and set the paint out.

He woke back up before I got the flowers finished & wouldn't sit still long enough for me to finish so out on the patio we went. Had some lunch, read from "An Echo of Things to Come" for an hour then I figured it was safe to start painting the backkick of the patio steps. Clearly I was wrong! Aidan was all about what mommy was playing with...

Strapped his butt onto my hip and back into the kitchen to finish the mutilation of the dandelions! That didn't work neither! Wasn't having any raspberries in his chair so now we are upstairs destroying daddies gun & motorcycle magazines as I type this! 😂 The door is equally fun as it swings back against the wall after pulling it towards himself!

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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Today was a day to be outside. Daddy got burnt. I may have gotten burnt!

I brought a blanket out & alternately baby wore & sat Aidan on the blanket. Georgia guarded her yard & baby! All while leveling out the firewood bed's border. Those stones sunk pretty good over the last year.

Dan in the meantime, moved the Sycamore tree, dug a drainage trench around the patio and filled it in with stone, leveled out the dirt some & buried the downspout. I must say I felt lazy watching him work!

Got some frames hung & some art framed. I've also got a list of images to hunt down & print.

Warning:  bitch fest to follow.

So I get that Andy is angry, frustrated and many other complex emotions with his underling Michael who didn't make sure the room was built to expectations. I don't however, permit that his emotions be taken out on us.

I'm the consumer of your product. With your price tag I have an expectation of what that product is & will nit pick the fuck out of the work.

So Dan also finished the side bed. Looks great. We'll need dirt for the bricked part so I can plant tall grasses & I'm thinking mint or lemon verbena.

Getting some more gardening done while Dan is on a staycation! A side bed filled with gravel. Some plants trimmed. New garden bed.

I'm loving all this snow we've been getting. My drive into work on Saturday was fun. I had to turn my poor SI into a snow plow at damn near every roundabout. If it was less fluffy and more compact icy shiz I'd have thrown my girl into reverse and to hell with work. I don't get paid enough to jack up my bumper! That puppy is a good $300!!!!

Yesterday we had a well deserved lazy day. Watched "The Dark Tower" as a family. Did some renovating plans for my studio and our bedroom. We'll also be rearranging Aidan's room but that's just a matter of moments to do. All the furniture in my studio will be going and some built ins will be coming. I'll get some shelves as well. Details must be hashed out! In the bedroom we'll be adding some shelves on that silly li'le ledge above the doors. We don't know what else to put up there that won't just end up covered in dust...so books! They like dust!!!

As you can see we have a long list of projects for this house! 3 categories too. 1 per page [Cleany Crazy Prep, Beautifying & Construction]. If you see spelling errors just ignore those! XD Construction is the longest list of course...sigh I should track the $$$$ for all this!

Then today I have lots planned! Sitting on my butt, typing this up, calling JSB and figuring out what the fuck is going on [they told us 2 weeks start to finish & it's been 4 bloody months] calling drs offices and getting bills squared away....hmm I think I forgot something....OH! sipping coffee! It's nice and snowy outside so I don't think we'll be going anywhere. Maybe I'll get some garden planning done! Oh I should order a new top for my greenhouse so I can get my garden plants started!

A little back tracking is in order.

I pulled out the bouncaroo for Aidan. He's been holding his head up rather well and has been standing with some assistance so I figured it was time. Sadly, on the lowest tab it's still too tall for my 2 foot boy. That doesn't stop him from having fun in it!!! He kicks his little legs and makes the music start then coos to it!

Poor guy has a cold though. I'm impressed with his attitude considering he has trouble breathing through a stuffy nose. Said stuffiness makes it hard to eat and sleep. I got a new boogie sucker coming. Hopefully it helps.

Georgia is a bit jelly that Aidan gets all the fun toys. Ones that she could tare apart in a few hours or less!

While he was napping I managed to finish Michael's Tabby Timbuck. Hopefully in time for the convention he has [or possibly had] this month. He's going to take commissions for me and let me keep all the profit so I figured I'd at least try to get him some sells on his books. Posted to Instagram on both my personal [just created] and Iron Shot Cafe's is an offer of a discount on the plushie if you buy his book. I was thinking $10 off. & I need to perfect that sweater so it looks much better!!!!! If interested shoot him an email at FehskensComics@gmail.com. I'll be making his William Purburger OC once I finish a few other WIP.

While that was going on we had JSB beginning their work on our patio. So all that decking was taken away by a lovely young man who was going to build picnic benches and animal shelters to donate. I was super happy to know they were getting reused rather than filling a land fill. What was left JSB relocated to the corners of the house and started digging.

I messed up a bit by procrastinating on relocating all those damn rocks....now they are buried and likely will be hard to find. I might get lucky but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

JSB made a hell'a mess though. In stead of locating the dirt into the center were the patio is going [where they need to raise the ground quite a bit] they covered my grass and some of the rocks that were going to stay pretty.....Clearly not any more. There will be lots of beautifying and landscaping going on in the back yard this spring!

Georgia isn't thrilled by their work. She stands at the back door, did some growling at them and the hole since. Even outside she glowers at the mess. It's adorable!

Ok so then last night once Dan got home and frowned at the mess he decided he needed a drink. I made dinner [bbq chicken, with a delicious potatoe, mushroom soup] and got him that drink. Toasted marshmallow mead in a hot coco! Warm, tingly goodness!

Aidan's new toy

Commission/Trade

The mess

The work begins

Dinner

Mizer's Coco

Georgia being silly at dinner

Typed while sipping a peppermint mocha and eating a pumpkin/mushroom/cheese omelet!

& down it went! Dan spent all morning pulling it down!

Now to get the wood removed!

Time for some demolition! The deck needs taken down before the patio can go up. Plus rocks need moved....Dan started last night by taking down the railing.

Well it's finally time to retire my beloved shirt.

So I made nursing pads out of it!

1st day home with out Dan working in the garage. We added some finishing touches to Aidan's room.

Open

Closed

All his cards!

Squishy face

Must get as close to tiny human as possible!

Some delish spicy fish tacos before replacing outlets in wee Aidan's room!

Finished painting Aidan's room, got his baskets hung, his drawers on (still need to add the handles & do some touch up) and got the custom curtain rod up!

Now besides touch up I need to get some curtains made and finish his dream catcher!