August Events

Many inside and outside projects were being done this month while we took advantage of Joe being home most of the time until the new school year started. Before our July vacations, all we had set up were our beds so the first thing to do was to go through and unpack all the boxes.

Living Room

(Before)

After

Family Room
(Before-completely full of boxes I can hardly get in the room)

After

Utility/Storage room

(hopefully there will be a washer & dryer here by the end of the year)

lots of storage closets-a perfect size for a little hiding spot

Kitchen-cleaned up and finished with the new tile

Dining area with an actual table and not our usual card table we've been using for the past 5 years (I was so excited when I found this table at a second hand store in fairly good condition)

Bathroom

(Before)

After

Brooklyn's Room
(Before)

After

Baby Brother's Room
(Before)

After

Sorry you don't get to see our room because frankly, it's not finished--the bed's up and made with boxes of clothes and things all around (mostly my stuff, I will admit).

Outside projects happen rain or shine because we're running out of time. It's too late to get a garden started for this year, but we want to prep the area so it's all ready to go for next year.

Not where the garden will be, but I grew up mowing lawns and always hated mowing around trees. I had a better idea for this little area.

(Before)

After

And where did all the grass go? We threw some of it away but most of it, we laid it in other areas of the yard that hadn't grown grass in years. Most of the grass has taken root and looks fantastic. Did I mention this was my Grandparent's home so I know what it use to look like--everything needed a good sprucing up.

I'm all about straight lines when it comes to mowing the yard so we're cutting out more grass. Some of this area will be for planting flowers and some will be for a garden.

(Before)

After

Main Garden area for next year--pulling out these Yuka plants this fall
(Before)

After

Trying to straighten out this side
(Before)

After--ran out of grass to transplant but hopefully we can get more to grow by watering

I feel like I can finally work on my pitaful food storage now that we have room to store it and don't have to worry about packing it all up and moving it half way across the country. We may still move again but hopefully within a short distance. Also, being 4 blocks away from my Mom, I have to take advantage of her homemaking skills that I never really did while I lived a home.

Homemade Granola

(I made about 4 of these containers full but this is all that was left when I remembered to take a picture)

Freezer Corn

Freezer Peach & Raspberry Jam and Peach Jelly

46 quarts of fruit!!!

This last picture should say it all when I say it was a busy month. I quickly learned my lesson that it is counter productive to try and can while entertaining a 2 year old. It took me 4 hours to do one batch of peaches while Brooklyn was awake. After I put her down for a nap, it only took me 2 1/2 hours to do one batch of peaches. This may still sound like a long time to those of you who can often, but I thought I was doing pretty good considering this was the first time I'd done this all by myself.