My Kitchen

I finally have my kitchen looking pretty enough to post pictures! So, here you go...

My hubby and son put up the shelves for me on Mother's Day...it's taken me this long to actual get the shelves filled with practical and colorful things. I love these colors! I am so glad that they actually seem to be popular right now. Those set of mixing bowls on top were $10 at Big Lots!

My bottom cupboard doors were removed when we started fixing this place up and we don't have the money to get new cupboards. I bought this fabric for $21 at Walmart. It's fabulous. It is stain resistant and thick, so it doesn't blow around with all the windows open. I just stuck it up with heavy duty sticky-backed velcro. Of course I would love to have actual cupboard doors, new cabinets actually...but I really love the look of these curtains. I want to paint the drawers...can't decide on back or white...suggestions?

Our little dining area. This table was given to me by my wonderful mother in-law and the legs were a dark green. I gave them a couple coats of white paint and I think it makes it look like a totally new table. I'd like to make white slipcovers for the chairs, but that's probably a really bad idea with kids in the house.

A few of my favorite things...

I have been looking for cheap, cute, and colorful glasses and look what I found! I found these at Goodwill last week. 10 of them for $5.50! I LOVE this color. It's my favorite. One of those colors I love but look hideous in...so I have to splatter it around the house :-)

And these Giant mug/bowls...We have these really cute shallow white bowls...there to the left actually on top of the matching plates...but everyone hates them for soup and cereal. They are just too shallow and they spill so easily. I like them for portion control, but when hubby asked for new, better soup bowls, well, ok...I get to shop for my kitchen? OK! I love that they have handles and that they came in a variety of colors. They were the perfect addition to my kitchen.

So, there it is, totally clean and organized...I will have the kids refer to these pictures when they just can't seem to figure out what "clean" actually means. :~) I really like my kitchen and love that it came together so nicely on such a tight budget. I still have ceiling trim to put up, but you probably wouldn't have noticed had I not just mentioned it...and with that, I am off to mess up my kitchen with Sabbath preparations!

Shabbat Shalom, all!

Bunnies!

We recently acquired 5 new laying hens, 4 Barred Rocks, and one Red Star. They were free, and when we went to pick them up we found out they were also giving away their two bunnies and the bunny hutch. How could I resist? Bunny poo is wonderful for my garden and does not have to be composted. It can go directly in! SUPER! Not sure how long these general domesticated rabbits will last, I would prefer to have Angora's. I prefer useful animals, and well...these guys sure are cute and they have great poop, but I'm not so sure that poop is gonna cut it...FIBER would make raising bunnies worth the time and money. Poo...not so much.

 Oscar and Peter

A few words and pictures.

We've dealt with a broken tooth...it's all fixed now, but it was sure scary!

I've spent some time making the house pretty and trying to find space for everything.  Now we are getting ready to move things around again so we can make room for our wood stove.

I do believe the wood stove will go where the bookshelves are currently.

After cutting down trees and raking up the pine needle compost under all the trees, Sophie found these salamanders. I was fine with them in the house until I saw one creeping across the living room floor...

I've been watching my flowers grow and discovering what each one is. This is a Spiderwort. It's one of my favorites so far.

The field across from our house...So beautiful.

A giant puffball...they say you can eat these, but I would rather wait for it to dry out and stomp it to watch the powdery insides explode.

LOTS of tomatoes. We are gathering at least a dozen a day now. Tomorrow's lunch will be tomato sandwiches and then we will start canning them.

If all goes well I hope to have 6-8 heads of cabbage, which isn't a lot, but it will supply me with enough kimchi for quite a while :-)

Our little corn patch...I can't wait to cook up these organic heirloom ears.

3 little birds that are laying regularly now. An Australorp, Silver-laced Wyandotte, and possibly a Buff Orpington...not sure but she sure loves to sit on her eggs.

My $21 chicken coop...made from pallets and OSB. I still have to finish it, but the hens like their little home.

Echinacea...another flower that I was happy to see come up!

Charlie...he's growing up into a beautiful dog. He's become my friend and daily companion. I know he's Isaac's dog, but I sure do love him.

It's funny...when we were hand tilling this plot it seemed so HUGE, and now it looks so small. Next years plot will be much bigger and since my father blessed us with a garden tractor, we won't have to till it by hand! 

 

It has been a great summer and I can't believe it's almost over. We are thinking about winter and trying to prepare. The wood stove will get installed next month hopefully and then we need to order wood. Right now I am trying to focus on preserving all these tomatoes, preparing for the new school year and writing up my lesson plans, buying new books, and getting the house organized for all of those things. Small spaces are a blessing but are really tough sometimes.

Tonight I am SO happy to be on here, right in the comfort of my own home. We were able to get internet out here for one third of the cost we were anticipating. I've used most of my weekly allowance uploading pics, but it has been well worth it. I have wanted to share so much, but it has been next to impossible to keep this blog up just by going to the library. I always feel so rushed.

Hopefully I still have some followers that have stuck through this post-less summer :-)

Before I use up even more of my small weekly allowance, I will bid you all farewell...I'll be back again soon