An Average Day here at the Homestead

Today was a pretty productive day, so I thought I'd post a little bit about it.

In our house, we stay up late and sleep late, so my day might look a bit different than most.

I got up late today, and watched some tv. There was a movie I wanted to finish watching. I was up till 4am watching the second part, and wanted to see the third part.

After the movie, I went to the Country Store and bought my blueberries. They also had bing cherries for a cheaper price than most, so I bought a quart or so of those. I'm going to save the seeds and figure out how to grow a tree from them so we can have sweet cherry trees in the next few years.

On the way home, I stopped at the Stop and Go and got my oil changed in the car. That was overdue, so it was good I got it done today. And then I went to the grocery store to pick up more "vaccuum seal" bags and go to the bank. The vac seal bags are twice as expensive as the regular freezer bags, but its a one time investment, since I will re-use them every year.

Then I got home, bagged up 60lbs of blueberries for a total of probably 50qts. I put 47qts aside for the freezer and the rest in the fridge for our enjoyment. After that, I asked my son to wash the dishes, since i'm pretty busy with other household stuff. I went out and took down all the cloth wipes off the line and put them back in the bathroom.

I carried all the food scraps out to the compost bin. We've had quite a load of organic scraps: Corn cobs, corn husks, watermelon rinds, pepper stems, zuchini ends, squash ends, and who knows what else! So in it all went. And since we had such a large amount of organic scraps, I used some tree coverage that dh cut down to cover it all up. They aren't leafy trees, but I can't think of the name of them.

I grabbed a small basket of laundry from our bedroom and took it outside to the "laundry site" (the picnic table). It took two loads in the Wonder Clean to do it all, but that was because there were 2 towels in there. After the first load, I dumped the soapy water into a bucket and then re-used that soapy water for the next load. I did the same with the rinse water. That way I don't waste much water. Its kind of hard to drain the Wonder Clean into a bucket though so some of it did end up wasted. Its a little messy, so when I get around to doing it in the house, it will probably have to be in the bathtub. If I get another Wonder Washer, I'll get the kind that drains from the bottom to avoid the mess. Maybe I can find a way to drill a hole into the bottom of it and attatch a hose.

Then I wrung out all the laundry and hung it up. It was 7pm when I hung it out, so it won't be dry tonight. But we're not expecting any rain tonight so I'll just leave it out till tomorrow and take it down after it dries tomorrow. Even if it does rain tonight, a little rainwater won't hurt. It will just take longer to dry tomorrow.

I'm pretty tired now. I still have to carry the blueberries down to the freezer yet. And the house needs straightened up and vaccuumed/dusted. Having a little one here reminds me of how messy the house gets!! Little Boo Boo is 15 months old and likes to toddle around getting into everything. But she's a good little baby. We love having her here, even if she is a handful!! We've discovered she *does* like blueberries though!!

Well, I must get back to work. But this looks like it could be a typical day...especially in the next few weeks. I have to can green beans, and my husband tells me the tomatoes are getting ripe. And tomatoes like to get ripe all at once, so I'll probably be busy all of next week and the week after canning tomatoes and tomato based sauces, maybe even some soups!! Since I have a pressure canner, I can make vegetable soups, minestrone, and salsa!!

As soon as tomato season ends, then it will be time for peaches and pears...and then apples. PHEW! i'm going to be busy. I guess next time I plan a vacation it will have to be planned NOT in July or August!! I don't even know if September will work!!

But I love the beach in September, especially camping. And since my husband and I are married 20 years this past Spring, I'd really like to take a weekend and go somewhere, like Gettysburg, and stay at a Bed and Breakfast.