The ninth day….
All right, I’ve had this window open off and on for over a day and just have not been having time to finish this post. It’s been a bit crazy at chez sick baby here (today he finally seems better to me, no fever!) Things that I planned to do during the 2-parents-at-home days just did not get done. We actually rang in new year’s day in our pajamas watching wild animal documentaries (and then some Star Wars, because the wild animals were getting kind of gross.) Yesterday was better, though, and I am pleased to report that everyone in my home has clean clothing and an ample supply of healthy food. Sam just ate some hummus for lunch– I gave him some crackers but he just stuck his hands in and licked it. Hello, garlic baby!
Sam washes a giraffe... in the "new to us" kitchen Santa got from a friend and repainted somewhat successfully.
I am still in a big new year planning mode, and thought this was as good a time as any to take a look at our winter bucket list and see how we are doing with that. Not that I bear any delusions about the end of winter being any time soon. Especially since it hasn’t really started around here– such freaky warm weather.
Greenish goals: still need to do those audits. They are clearly less fun than making stuff so I need to schedule some time and just buckle down. We’ve rocked the wood stove (I love actually being warm), and I’ve done decently with the drying rack, when I don’t procrastinate on doing laundry. Not on the list: making cleaning and “beauty” supplies– I’ve been trying several new things with that, and will have a post on it soon.
Greenish kitchen: I’ve made yogurt a couple of times– try number 3 is currently in process. I have tried three different recipes/ tutorials and I’m hoping this is the one that works for me. The first try was fine but a bit thin; the second I screwed up… third time is the charm, right? Regularly getting raw milk has been hard for me, but that is about to change– I should have some later this week and I’ll be making cheese. I’ve stayed organized with the canned and frozen foods, and we are steadily eating our way through everything. I’m especially loving the tomato jam. I’ve found one new source for local food and we have been doing the Dark Days challenge, which hasn’t been too hard. We eat one exclusively SOLE meal a week, but we have many others that are mostly SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical). I’m really glad we decided to try that challenge. I have not made a new bread recipe, but I have tweaked the one I use, and we are happy with the results.
Simplifying: we are working on getting back into a household rhythm, but my plan right now is to go with a “10 minutes each day, in a different area each week” approach. I hope this will get me into a good habit. The family meetings continue .
Garden planning is underway around here! Ah, January, the time when my dream garden is perfectly weeded, growing all my favorite plants in rich soil, producing veggies and herbs that look like a garden catalog picture….Yes. Realistic post about that coming later this week.
Great goals! I love the SOLE meals…we definitely try for those. We have a milking cow so we have (almost) unlimited raw milk. I have a blog post on making yogurt, which is about the most basic and fool proof method I’ve found so far. Try it out, it’s raw milk approved!
Have you accomplished the green cleaning products and beauty products yet? I started do this in the late fall and no longer buy cleaning products and am using up the beauty stuff and either making my own or buying healthier options. I am more than willing to share my recipes and resources that I have found helpful.
I would love new recipes– thanks, Heaven! I mostly make my own cleaning supplies, but haven’t made my own shampoo and stuff yet– I should have a different answer to that tomorrow, though.