In Case You Were Wondering

Just a little follow up on some of the goings on I've mentioned in previous posts:

The Chickens

As mentioned, my HOA will not allow me to keep chickens but my friend Anna's will. Since she wanted to start her own little hen house, she graciously agreed to let me keep my chickens at her house in exchange for help with feeding, cleaning and the like. The kids and I went to check on little Minnie and Olivia and my how they've grown! They've been living in Anna's garage but are just old enough to move on out to the coop Anna's hubby constructed. And by the end of the summer, the girls should start laying! Minnie and Olivia are joined by Goldie and Nugget, making our shared flock a total of four. Hopefully we'll be able to add more hens later in the year.

 The Girls!

The Herbs

My first a attempt at hang drying herbs was successful. About a week into the process they started slipping from their bundles and making a mess of my windowsill. I took down all the little bundles and put them in to one big one and secured them with a rubber band so the herbs wouldn't fall out as the stems shriveled and dried. I now have one mason jar full of homegrown, home dried parsley.  

The Debt

We're getting ready to make our first double car payment and it feels great. It going to feel even greater to see the principal balance go down so much! Our savings are right on track too. I've been planning meals with the sales flyers and couponing like a mad woman. Last week I did two weeks worth of shopping and came in at $142, or $71 a week to feed a family of four.  There's room for improvement but I feel pretty good about that number.

The Sewing 

  

I have washed, pressed, cut out,  and pinned my table runner to be. I had planned for the sewing to be done at this point, but I've had a stomach flu the past two days (and still have it) and was unable to complete any of the tasks on my to-do list. I still need to cut the scraps into napkins and edge them. I also discovered that if I register for my sewing class on the first Saturday in June, I'll save 50%. Guess I'll be taking a trip to the craft store. Oh! And my borrowed sewing machine is now my own. I traded my son's crib and changing table for it. Cool!

The TV

The kids have had little complaint about losing TV time.  My daughter still asks EVERY DAY if she can watch a movie while my little one naps but she's gone from crying about it to sighing about it so I suppose that's progress. I've also been trying my hardest to come up with ways for a 3 year old and 1 year old help me with dinner preparations so they stay calm and entertained in lieu of Dora the Explorer. My baby boy takes his own little plate and spoon to his highchair. Precious.

The Garden 

The garden is well. Now that the temps are hitting the triple digits on a more regular basis I'm a bit worried but all the plants seem to be holding up well.This week we harvested zuchinni, yellow crookneck squash, red onions, green onions, tomatoes, turnips, beets and radishes. We also harvested what my husband thinks is a melon. I think it's a pumpkin. It tasted like neither. There's another one on the vine so we'll let it go longer and see if does indeed turn orange!

 Some turnips and tomatoes. We have the BEST tomatoes!