So I find that I'm posting to Instagram with far more frequency then my blog. O.O Sorry about that! Please follow @PatientFarmer

So a bit of story for the following images.

My father found the handmade rocking horse and brought it over. I'm sanding and going to repaint it to better match our style. There will be a bit of Celtic knot work I hope! I'm just gonna do a rough sand to help the new paint stick better.

The bags of milk...ya that's my bomb ass mommy skills. Normally I can only get 3-ish oz while at work. That day I got 6oz. Whoot!

I made some oat milk in preparation for making my own soy milk. Super easy! Can't wait till my soy beans come in. Also, Dan made some pickles! Hot cucumber, Hot beef and Hot eggs! Note:  Hot as in Spicy hot!

& finally since puppy claws killed our sheets I'm repurposing them into shirts! XD

Rocking Horse Pre-sanding

Bomb mommy skills!

Oat milk:  not recommended with coffee!

Spring?

Just yum

Pickles

"I decided to run around in the mud!"

Repurposing

Today is a day for gardening. I have 15-ish plants started now. 5 roma from last years crop, 3 jalapeno from about 5 years ago, 3 bell peppers that I labeled as red bells from a few years ago [I'm not one to add dates to my seeds. Probably should start.] A pot of lavender seeds sprinkled in, a pot of chia sprinkled in, a magnolia from Dan's mom and a purple snow pea from last years trade!

Once these start & I have figured out where the plants I plan will go, I'll start some wolfberries! Plus in the next month or 2 I'll start my cucumbers and beets. A bit early I know but they grow so much better when given a head start. Dan is gonna raise & level out my veggie bed so I can't plant anything in it just yet thus beets being started indoors.

Garden plants raised bed:

• Roma
• Jalapeno
• Bell peppers
• Cucumbers
• Spinach
• Carrots
• Bok choy
• Purple snow peas

Veggies elsewhere:

• Zuccini 
• Butternut squash
• Sweet potato

We plan to level out some of the dirt of our jacked up yard, throw some seed down and mulch around the patio with lain pavers. Allowing for easy cleaning of these windows without trekking through plants. His coworker will be flying a drone over and getting some images of our yard for us in March. That'll help plan.

Magnolia and Japanese maples will be planted in a bed on the NE side of the patio. My Sycamore will be moved further north if its current location. The stones from the NE corner will be moved to the rock garden. The burberry bush will get relocated & finally my Peach will get some helpful guild plants. That's this years yard plans! More or less might occure!

I feel a tad frustrated. Things aren't going as I would hope with Iron Shot Cafe. I gotta stay positive though!!

I'm going to get back into the DCCM now that I've got the baby thing all figured out. I won't be able to work the farmer's market either day since I have to work at the library.

I've got a few new items that I think might sell better then shortbread. Shortbread being an acquired taste an all. Firstly, Cornbread Pound cake! Then if I keep getting rave reviews I'll add some protein bites to the mix. Not sure on pricing. I looked up starbucks since my pound cake in on par in size, a wee bit shorter which I make up for in thickness. Then subtracted some from that. So their lemon pound cake is $2.99 a slice, my cornbread pound cake I have at $2.50. Thoughts?

Planning the layout of the garden, tree guilds and reconstructing our torn up back yard is a lot of work. *heavy sigh* Some things that people claim are great in the tree guild won't work in mine because they attract harmful bugs to my delicate peach tree!

I really wonder though if my peach sapling will survive in it's current location. What with wet feet and not being grafted ... I'm attempting to help it out with some companion plants that will help it grow strong and perhaps deter the wee [giant] bunnies that are nibbling on it's stems. The wee buggers!

So far:
Peach tree guild:

• [insectary] garlic around the base to deter borer bugs and build up sulfur for anti-fungal.
• [insectary & pollinator] basil to repel aphids and attracts butterflies
• [insectary & pollinator] parsley to attract parasitic wasps & hoverflies 
• [nitrogen fixer] ?
• [ground cover] ?
• [mulch] ?

Apple tree guild:

• [insectary] ?
• [pollinator] ?
• [ground cover] clover
• [mulch] ?
• [nitrogen fixer]?

Paw Paw

• [insectary] ?
• [pollinator] ?
• [ground cover] ?
• [mulch] ?
• [nitrogen fixer]?

Clearly still needs a lot of work. Years worth actually. Especially since the trees are all wee saplings, the oldest comping up on 1 year old! The peach is super happy outside though even being so young!

Still haven't started my vegetable garden. Heidi might come out Sunday to help me start some seeds. At least tomato and jalapeno. I'll need a lot of dirt to bring that bed back up!

Patio update:

Cold, not calked and the manager of JSB home solutions is coming out Sunday afternoon to talk with us about the ever lengthening project. Should be fun.....>.>

JSB came out on Thursday. Said they would be done by time they left that day. I had to work so I wasn't here to see them finish or what it looked like when they left. However, the little I saw yesterday before work and today was....Ok.

I had no choice on the darker siding as what is on our house is discontinued. [That sucks!] After talking with me that morning, we agreed that they could take siding from inside the unit to clean up the outside. They had to get a new corner panel to fix that missing chunk. According to Dan they squished it half assed like then screwed it in place. Now, I'm no expert but even I know that's jankie. When they told me that they were going to use metal sheathing to block off the wood they had to cut...I assumed they were blocking it off from the elements. Apparently they just bent it to cover the outside of the wood so it matched the unit....way past the unit, not matching my house & not protecting the wood from anything. When the snow piles up on the roof it'll just like under the metal and still touch the exposed unpainted part of the wood.

The unit is still leaking. Or rather puddling up from under the frame. Not sure what to make of that. From what I saw of what they were doing [it was concrete patio, caulk, metal sheathing, then door frames.] There may have been caulk before the frame but I didn't see it. Either way if it's caulked why is water coming in?

I love slow mornings. Sleeping in, doing some morning yoga and making a nice cup of tea (or rather nooking last nights)! With a delicate snow fall as my backdrop!

Yesterday Aidan woke up at 3:30 then every half hour to hour later till I said freak it and took him down stairs. Were we played till he passed out around 9-10am. Since I had to work last evening I just got my day started. We ended up getting Georgia's nails done and stopping at Ace for a furnace filter. Our poor furnace was a whistling and that filter...oh boy. They had a very convenient sale!!!

That was Aidan's big nap and he didn't sleep a wink after (I don't really count the car rides). While he was at it I took Georgia out to play in the snow fall and shoveled the drive and sidewalks up to my neighbors' drives. I'm such an awesome neighbor! I almost shoveled the Fishers' driveway for them since they are super kind to us but they like doing yard work and stuff. They went back used their fancy snow blower thingy ... stopped at the edge of their yard of course. *shrug* The one thing I don't like about living in the berbs...shoveling sidewalks.....

Grandma entertained him while I worked. Had some fun customer interactions! (see end note!) My schedule was all messed up (got shorted 1hr which I worked anyways). Then we went home to a puppy in time out (she peed on daddy's office floor) and some homemade sliders! All in all not an eventful day.

This morning proved that wee Aidan had tuckered himself out good. Woke up at 6:30 hungry then promptly passed back out till 9. In fact I woke up before him! By like 5 mins but whatever! I got the changing table cleared off and his humidifier refilled. He was watching me! LOL! Changed his diaper and he let me lay him back into his crib to preform my morning bathroom rituals (minus shower. That waits till his nap time). It was glorious! He's currently bouncing away in his jumparoo while I take care of Georgia's morning routines, get myself breakfast and reheat my tea from last night!

Life's an adventure!

breakfast of champs!

Breakfast:  rice, fried egg in hamburger grease, ground flax, sunflower seeds & sweetened coconut oil.

End Note: Customer interactions!

1st:  Super tall chap. Got his life story! He divorced, his kids call one day (mom had kicked them to the curb....literally) so he has them now. He asked the Dublin schools if they would allow the kids to finish out their school year even though he doesn't live in Dublin. They said nope! They can finish out the week! So 6 days later he was living in Dublin! Awesome dad! He found himself a winner with the new wife. She makes awesome stuff from scratch. Pirogue, ravioli and the like. Actually established a relationship with the kids rather then trying to govern over them. I got photos. Then we talked about my being a new mom! It was just a great conversation. I got a kink in my neck though. Chap was like 6'5" at least! He told me his name too but I completely forgot. I suck at names!

2nd:  She walked in as I was trying to figure out a bundle to put "The Name of the Wind" in. I ended up giving her that & flushing out her reading list with some of my fav fantasy with male leads. We had very similar reading lists & a similar opinion on Anita Blake!

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!