We are almost officially moved. Closing is 4pm today. Although we had lots of help loading the truck, we did all the packing, driving and unloading ourselves. I never want to do it again! The boxes weren't so bad. It was all of the bikes, furniture, etc that couldn't be boxed that was difficult. If we must move again, I will probably just sell it all and start over again. We managed to get almost everything into a 26 foot moving truck with the minivan packed as well, but boxes took just less than half of the space. Starting over would mean a much smaller truck as well. Then again, I had a dream once that we were gypsies....
In any case, we arrived in Texas on Monday and have been living in hotels/motels. Tonight we will be our first night in the new place. We're all excited about settling in one place and eating homemade meals.
Although the house feels a little smaller than it looked in the photos and the pool is a little smaller (we decided on it with only Thom having seen it) we really like it. The kids found a secret hiding place that they're really excited about. The kitchen space is used well, as is all the space in the house.
The land is covered in trees and is beautiful. Everything just needs some TLC. First on the agenda is to purchase a washer and dryer and put a up a fence around the pool. I'm very nervous about the little ones safety, so we're trying to get that up ASAP. Then we need to get a fence up for the goat pen. We're not sure yet where to put the chickens and orchard, but we have a spot chosen for the herb and vegetable gardens and the vineyard. There is about 8 acres that need the underbrush cleared to make it usable. The pond is nice, but covered in algae, so if anyone has experience in that area, we'd love to hear from you!
I also have to begin a regular schedule of book-learnin' soon as well. I have all of our books and supplies ready to be unpacked, we just need to get in a regular routine again.
There is a lot of work to do, but we're really excited and ready to begin!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Frugal Friday--"Purple Soup"
As we continue packing, I am trying to use up the food in the pantry/refrigerator/freezer. Last night we had "Purple Soup". The first time I made this, we called it "Frugal Soup", but Thomas was a little guy and misunderstood (it was kind of purple), thus "Purple Soup" was born.
The idea is to throw in the crock pot or soup pot any combination of dried beans, barley or rice that you have in the pantry. Add about 4X the amount of water or stock. After this has cooked a while, add any vegetables you have on hand. I always add carrots or bell peppers for the sweetness--it's just no good without them--and onions, leeks or chives for flavor. Also add any combination of herbs and spices that you have and that smell like they would go well. Italian herbs such as thyme, oregano, basil, marjoram or parsley are always good choices. Boil until beans are cooked through, adding water if necessary. When they are done, add bouillon, salt or pepper to taste.
Another tip: I usually keep in the freezer a bucket of meat and veggie scraps to make stock with. Just boil until the kitchen starts to smell really good, then strain and it's ready to use!
The idea is to throw in the crock pot or soup pot any combination of dried beans, barley or rice that you have in the pantry. Add about 4X the amount of water or stock. After this has cooked a while, add any vegetables you have on hand. I always add carrots or bell peppers for the sweetness--it's just no good without them--and onions, leeks or chives for flavor. Also add any combination of herbs and spices that you have and that smell like they would go well. Italian herbs such as thyme, oregano, basil, marjoram or parsley are always good choices. Boil until beans are cooked through, adding water if necessary. When they are done, add bouillon, salt or pepper to taste.
Another tip: I usually keep in the freezer a bucket of meat and veggie scraps to make stock with. Just boil until the kitchen starts to smell really good, then strain and it's ready to use!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Frugal Friday--An Evolution in Scrapbooking
In prepping for our move, I found a couple of boxes of photos and scrapbooking paraphernalia that I absolutely did *not* want to follow me and haunting me any more! So I arranged a scrapbooking date with a friend. I have already greatly simplified my pages, but she gave me more ideas to simplify. Here is a sample of one of my earliest pages (the event took two pages).
This is a later one.
The first thing I did was sort through and toss *at least* half of the photos. Then we finished the rest very simply. It takes much less time and supplies and looks much classier. I also am only using the very best photos. Here is a sample of the new method (I know, I know, it needs labeled...).
The oldest kids worked on their own books, while the younger kids played with scrap paper and tossed photos.
Then we discovered an even simpler way. We had tons of digital photos on the computer of our vacation and decided to use iPhoto to make a slide show and save it to DVD instead of making a bunch of pages.* It took about the same amount of time as making three pages. The only thing I haven't figured out is how to journal it.
Lauren thinks she has a way, we'll see...
Anyway in just a couple of days, we have almost finished archiving the entire box of photos, have pared down to minimal supplies and have devised a system of maintaining it all. Not bad!
Kim
*Lauren will be posting a slide show to her blog soon.
This is a later one.
The first thing I did was sort through and toss *at least* half of the photos. Then we finished the rest very simply. It takes much less time and supplies and looks much classier. I also am only using the very best photos. Here is a sample of the new method (I know, I know, it needs labeled...).
The oldest kids worked on their own books, while the younger kids played with scrap paper and tossed photos.
Then we discovered an even simpler way. We had tons of digital photos on the computer of our vacation and decided to use iPhoto to make a slide show and save it to DVD instead of making a bunch of pages.* It took about the same amount of time as making three pages. The only thing I haven't figured out is how to journal it.
Lauren thinks she has a way, we'll see...
Anyway in just a couple of days, we have almost finished archiving the entire box of photos, have pared down to minimal supplies and have devised a system of maintaining it all. Not bad!
Kim
*Lauren will be posting a slide show to her blog soon.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
By request... our (soon-to-be) new home
For those hot Texas days...
our peaceful abode...
and Dad's office and shop...
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Another Vacation
It's been a long time since I've blogged--so much has happened that I hardly know where to begin, so I'll start with pictures. After packing twenty-some boxes of books for our (possible) move to Texas, I decided to take the kids to Washington to Grandmother's house for a visit.This is Zoe in her prairie dress that Lauren made for her birthday. We had a tea party birthday among the aspens in the backyard.
One day we went to Astoria (the oldest town in Oregon). It is very steep like San Francisco. We climbed 164 steps to the top of this tower, which is at a high point in the town, overlooking the Columbia River. The history of Astoria is in word and picture up the side of the tower.
Later, we hiked, off the beaten path, to a bunker on the water's edge, really high up. My mother's husband took her there on there first date (how romantic)! His family used to keep this lighthouse. The view wasn't great that day because of the heavy fog, but it was fun nevertheless.
Another day we went to Mount Saint Helens. It was beautiful! We'd read about the "little grand canyon", so it was neat to see it with our own eyes.
I think Pierce's greatest thrill, though, was riding go-carts in town.
We had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa and will miss them when (if) we move.
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