Kicking up dust

As I had figured, my son was NOT happy to have to clear out and clean his room.  He "helped" as best he could, all things considered.

I didn't go through his dresser though. It's a battle for another day. 

I pulled out all the stuff in his desk and closet and made him go through stuff. Took a few hours but his room is so much better and a lot less dusty.

On the bright side, my son forgot about the board games so they were *brand new* to him. Awesome. We played a round of Battleship and I won. 

After lunch my son and I took down the Christmas tree and he helped me move the desk back out into the living room. I'm feeling happy to have my living room almost back to normal.  The tree box is still out but not for long.

The sun shone all day but it was still too cold to spend much time outside. Temps were in the negatives this a.m. and will be overnight. I worry a bit about the chickens but I know they will be okay in the Chicken Shack of Love. We've got one winter under our belts and have a better idea of what the birds can tolerate. 

This evening I did a bit more knitting on my sock.  We ordered a season of Storage Wars that we haven't seen before and we hung around the woodstove.

Speaking of the woodstove, last weekend my DH created a heat shield for our wood stove.

Not only is it a heat shield, it is art. 

 We've had a lot of compliments on it so far. Yup, it's definitely a keeper.

 

I'm loving it.

My son is asking if we can do a "project" tomorrow. Otherwise known as: Can you please make cookies or brownies?

I told him "We'll see."

Last week of 2014

I'm well on my way to my first FO of 2015. The vanilla socks I'm working on will have afterthought heels.

The colors are pretty cheery.  The yarn was purchased more than a year ago on clearance.

Today was my lone work day for the week. I wasn't real happy to have to get up when my alarm went off. My DH was a good sport and got up with me. Now I'm home til next Monday. My son will not be thrilled with me tomorrow when I make him go through his room and do a purge out and tidy up.

I've rediscovered my kindle and have been reading cozy mysteries. Currently I'm reading "Murder Spins a Tale" So far so good. I'm about halfway through. 

This weekend I read the first two books of the Kiki Lowenstein mysteries. I'm not a fan of scrapbooking.  It never meshed with me. However, I feel for the main character. I want to see her succeed. I've got the third book on request.

The weather turned cold. Woke up to temps in the negatives. The sun was out.  The sun hasn't been out for a good amount of time since Dec. 6. Cold temps are here to stay for a while. Boo!

Christmas week

I had the whole week off from work.  The whole family has been home, which has been awesome.

Earlier in the week we harvested Sweet'ums the second turkey. This time around it wasn't as easy to process and pluck the feathers.  It was colder outside so the water couldn't get as hot as we would have liked.

Still tons easier than plucking a chicken.

I made turkey dinner on Christmas Eve, when the family came out to celebrate. 

This time around we put the turkey in a brine. It has been decided that we will get more turkeys next spring.

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration this year. My MIL gave me and my son a second recorder to share. My son is thoroughly enjoying teaching me how to play. So far I know only three notes. I realized I still stink at trying to read sheet music.  My son, however, seems to be a little music prodigy.  He got a few music books and he flipped one open and started playing a Christmas song like he's played it forever.  He also got a keyboard from his aunt and uncle.  He's already playing songs on it like he's been playing for a while.

One of my favorite gifts was this shirt.  I had shared it on Facebook some time ago. My SIL remembered and ordered it for me.

The last few days we've been taking it easy and I've been working on crafty stuff, here and there. I cast on a new pair of vanilla socks.

The weather has been decent. Temps are in the 30s. Not a lot of snow.  What snow we have had has melted.  Bad thing about it melting is the ice.  There are some nice slick ice patches on the deck.

Not fully sure on what is going to happen this weekend. Saturday is for visiting with family.  Sunday is still up in the air.

I do have to go back to work on Monday, but then I am off for the rest of the week. I'm already running a mental checklist of stuff I'd like to get done.


 

Once upon a time ...

Once upon a time there was a gal who made a promise to herself that she would write every day for 2014.

She almost did it, too.

But then October came and she got so busy with canning, preserving and general busyness of life that the writing had to be put on hold.

Can you guess who this gal is?

*hangs head and raises hand*

Yeah, it was me. 

I was doing *so* good too.  Oh well. 

But where to pick back up?   I've been a busy girl and lots of things have happened.

Or should I start with a clean slate?  Maybe I will start tomorrow.

The quick version?  Son is doing awesome. He's getting all high marks in school. He has also started learning recorder at school and he's pretty darn good. His father and I are so proud of him.  My son has some musical talent so we are encouraging him as much as possible.

Back in October we gave away a bunch of our roos.  Too many boys were harassing my ladies.

We butchered our first turkey for Thanksgiving.  It was a LOT easier to process than a chicken.  We will be butchering our other turkey next week.  Just in time for Christmas.

I've done a lot of canning and preserving.  I've discovered a salsa recipe and we've been eating a LOT of salsa. It's so good.

I've been crafting up a storm.  I've crocheted a bunch of dishcloths.  I'm learning how to quilt. A gal at work is willing to mentor anyone who was interested in learning.  My coworker and I jumped at the opportunity.  I'm done with my top.  I need to put a border on and then make the quilt sandwich and finish off the project.

I've also been working on a latch hook rug-thing.  I purchased it a while back and recently got the itch to finish it.

I'm still listening to audio books during my commute.  Currently I'm listening to the Mortal Instruments series.  Oh it's SO good. It helps the commute fly by.

Work had some significant changes and I can now finally come up for air, so to speak. Our bishop has been appointed bishop in a different diocese. Now we have an administrator and it could be up to a year before a new bishop is appointed. So, the fun will continue.

And with it being December I'm feeling all ponder-y and brooding again. When I got crazy busy I pulled back from a few things and now that I'm sitting here, catching my breath, I realize I don't miss a lot of it.  So I'm looking at things and see what kind of approach I want to take in the new year.

I miss writing, even though I'm not very good at it. I like being able to look at past entries and remember.   I'm not sure if I will be writing every day next year. If I have to choose between doing something versus writing about doing something, the writing is going to get pushed to the back burner. I've noticed other bloggers write on a schedule of two or three times a week.   I think I can handle a schedule like that.

There are some new things I'd like to try my hand at in  the new year. Will see how it all pans out. I've finally accepted the fact I'm a crafty person. I'm embracing it.

I'm off work now (mostly) for the next two weeks. I've been looking forward to it. I have no plans. That's the best kind of vacation.