# May 2010 "To Do" List



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Ah, the start of another month...what are your goals, projects and plans for May? Post 'em here and update them through the month. Let's encourage each other to get those lists finished! 

....or at least make progress on them.


----------



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I'll start us off:

1. Buy a real air nailer, not just a brad nailer, so I can work smarter, not harder.
2. Use that air nailer to put up my joist brackets, joists, loft floor, loft ladder, rafters, sheathing for the roof, and shingles. Add windows and walls to the loft area, add doors to the lower floor, and *finally get the shed finished*.
3. Finish cleaning out at least one barn stall - dumped on new garden space.
4. Hire the neighbor to till up my new garden space so I can finish planting the garden by Memorial Day. Get it planted.
5. Call the rock guy down the road to bring me as many loads of rock as it takes to get another layer on the driveway, level the parking area, and extend the driveway to the front and back of the barn - no more unloading hay and grain in the mud!
6. Hire the neighbor guy (one or the other) with a blade to smooth out all of said rock. 
7. Plant the grapes, and all the potted landscaping plants/trees.
8. Finish weeding and mulching flowerbeds.
9. Finish cleaning up and consolidating my "junk piles" outside (hide them from view until I decide what to make from them - most of them are building supplies). 
10. Continue cutting more saplings and underbrush to clear the back property line, and then run a string down it to mark the line. Bonus points if I get a fence of some sort put up. 
11. Spring cleaning time in the house! On rainy days, work on the storage room, Abby's room, and whatever other areas of the house need attention most.
12. Get my canners ready for the season - order weights for them, convert them where needed. *sent off an online order this am*
13. Can up some of the meat and other food in the freezers. 
14. Find homes for the rest of the puppies (except the one I'm keeping), and have Holly spayed, have tomcat neutered, too.
15. Work hard enough to burn calories at least 5 days a week!

Tired yet? Me, too.


----------



## puddlejumper007 (Jan 12, 2008)

good grief  are you triplets...lol just kidding, my list i can count on one hand....


----------



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

LOL - I wish I were trips - I might get a list finished. 

Bought the framing nailer and nails today on the way home from work. #1 is done.
Tomorrow I need to make phone calls and wander down to the neighbors to see about getting the rototilling, rock and rock spreading taken care of. Progress...baby steps, but still progress.


----------



## Pauline (Jan 28, 2003)

i need to set down and look at this months budget and the list of things that need doing then will post a list of what i hope to do besides daily housekeeping that needs to be on the list


----------



## MollysMom (Apr 20, 2010)

If I post a list it may become impossible to accomphlish, since I have to commute an hour to and from work and then work 8 1/2 hours each day M-F. Yet, I love to make impossible goals for myself, so here we go.

1. Deep scrub, clean the concret floor in the kitchen (which was once the floor of a porch, now a part of our kitchen.) 
2. Concert Prime the concret floor, then I will paint a faux rug onto the concret floor. (I use to paint Floorcloths and sell them online.
3. Sew curtains for the 3 kitchen windows, one is a double window then two other regular windows. I have a pretty yellow checked cloth that will go perfectly with our soft yellow walls.
4. I also will paint a silhouette mural on our living room wall near our woodstove, it will be a black silhouette of birds, butterflys on tree branches.
5. Transplant the banana pepper seedlings in our garden. (Our garden has so far survived our heavy rains this weekend here in TN.)
6. Dig up the herb garden and plant my herb seeds.
7. Plant the sunflower and flower seeds in the flower beds.
8. Also I want to try to grow a giant pumpkin and I have a perfect spot for it, it use to be a compost area, which is very fertile. This is more for fun and to give me a challenge.
9. Post some more items for sale on Etsy.com, and update and promote my Etsy shop. This has been something I have not done for awhile, due to life getting in the way.
10. Buy more canning jars for canning season and look for a good pressure canner. This will be my first year canning since I was a teenager. Scary....
11. Clean up and organize my Art Studio. Again.
12. Work on my junk food habit and improve my eating habits. Chocolate is my addiction. Sometimes I think us nurses have the worse eating habits. I'll blame it on the stress.


----------



## Patches (Aug 9, 2006)

OK, it looks like a lot, but I am confindent that I can keep up with it this month. Half of it is last month's that didn't get done. I know there is lots more to add to it as the month goes on too.
1. Plant all the garden
2. Round up the fence
3. Work on the weaving projects I have on both looms. Try to finish whats there and start another.
4. Spray the fruit trees, and grapevines, and cherry bushes, they are loaded with fruits this year.
5. Make soaps and lotions.
6. Get my mulch.
7. Learn to use my serger.
8. Get my herb beds/containers ready. (Got 12 pots filled yesterday)
9. Plant greenbeans in hoops for climbing.
10. Shear the dogs.
11. Butcher 5 more roosters. (the neighbor brought them to me last night)
12. Put panels on chicken pen to keep goats from tearing it down when they fight with the rooster through the fence.
13. Wash my house windows. (Little doggie nose and foot prints all over them)
14. Restack the insulation that blew away to the woods in the windstorm a few days ago.
15. Mow the chicken yard and goat yard. (the grass is getting too tall)
16. Enlarge the flower bed so I can plant more flower bushes.
17. Burn the brush pile in the corn garden. (where we trimmed the fruit trees earlier)
18. Clean out the freezer for inventory. (can some, make jerky,jelly, pie filling, etc.)
19. Stock up on cannning supplies.
20. Sew a few more projects. (on cold or rainy days)
21. Clean off my desk. (which I can't even find for the unopened mail and paperwork!!)
WOW, it makes me tired just typing. I better get up and get some clothes on if I am gonna get any of it done. Must do laundry and clean the house, (which has been neglected for a month), and get to the feed store first thing this morning. Glad it is supposed to be sunny and warm the next few days. Maybe I can get a headstart on this list. Thanks, Marilyn


----------



## MollysMom (Apr 20, 2010)

I thought of one more thing I need to get done :

Get the chicken coop ready for our fast growing baby chicks. I need to chicken wire the open areas so the chicks don't go outside without supervision, until they get larger. We have to protect them from skunks, our year old kittens, etc. We had chickens in there before my husband decided to sell them, two years ago to a neighbor who fell in love with our flock. (I was recovering from heart surgery at that time.) I still miss my big White Rock Rooster, now I have a new White Rock chick.


----------



## RedTartan (May 2, 2006)

My internet was wonky for several days and I couldn't get multiple sites to work. Sorry I'm late 

*Homestead Goals*:

1. Plant 50 strawberry plants 

2. Work on upstairs hallway on rainy days (still need to mud, prime, sand, and paint)

3. Have garden completely in by the end of this month

4. Move hen to broody pen *DONE, BUT I MAY HAVE BROKEN HER BROODY... OH WELL, AT LEAST THE PEN IS READY FOR THE NEXT BROODY GIRL.*

5. Rehabilitate the dead chicken yard with pasture seed

6. Get new tires for van

7. Paint chicken coop

My list looks short, but most of these are big jobs. The strawberries are going to take several days because I have to take up sod to make room for them. I hate pulling sod. It's a tough job. I also have to till for some garden space and if my FIL doesn't come bring me Grandpa's tiller to borrow, I'll have to do it by hand. We'll see


----------



## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

Okay, here goes. Some of it is a carry-over from last month :ashamed:

1. Finish paperwork filing!

2. Clean out flower bed in yard.

3. Buy edgers and mulch for flowerbed by shop

4. FINISH flowerbed by shop

5. Build new corner bed in garden for my Dill plants

6. Fill the corner bed and 2 new beds built last fall for planting

7. Plant out rest of veggie garden

8. Finish painting new garden shed inside and out

9. Clean out old shed and tear it down

10. Catch up on laundry and household cleaning, and do a better job keeping it up! 

11. Clean out freezer and can whatever possible.

12. Get to DM's and get her yard cleaned up, mowed and reseeded where needed.

That should be sufficiently more than I can get done in a month.


----------



## RedTartan (May 2, 2006)

My chicken is still sitting on her eggs! Yay! We use our chickens for eggs and meat so I need several hatchings per year. 

Today I'm going to work on finishing filling my raised beds and pulling sod to plant the strawberries.

I wish I felt like I want to do it though. My motivation is not present today, but this stuff is time sensitive. I'm not going to get anything done this weekend. A family birthday party, a movie, and Mother's Day. So I need to get stuff done now. I wish I could think of a reward for myself for working when I don't feel like it. Maybe I'll watch a favorite movie tonight. Or Bones. And crochet something new... Yeah, I think that's working...


----------



## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

RedTartan, I can so relate! Motivation seems to alude me, too!
I have not made great strides on my list, and we are already almost a week into the month. 

I have the yard flower garden about 2/3rds cleaned up. It took me 2 nights to get this far, and I had to keep telling myself, "Oh, just a few more minutes." or "What if I clean up around one more plant." But there is still more to do, and this is a relatively small bed!

And then DH did finally talk me into going farther with the flower bed by the shop than I originally intended (but I'm NOT going as far as he said I could!!) DD and I stepped it off last night and she is going to pick up the rest of the needed edgers after work. I need 45 more! :shocked: So I can check the edgers off the list, but still need to pick up mulch.

They are predicting rain this evening and tomorrow. That should help soften the ground for the edging. I have a lot of digging ahead of me!


----------



## Pauline (Jan 28, 2003)

ok here is my list short and sweet and easily finished i hope
1- strip wallpaper border and paint front room,hall, dining area
2- paint hall bathroom
3- find desk that works for doing geneology without using half my bed and twisting back and forth
4- set up sewing room
5- plan and hold a birthday party for my soon to be 6 dd


----------



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I worked hard on #10 today - cleared off a lot of brush, felled some leaning trees, whacked dead branches off hemlocks and Doug firs, and cut up a lot of firewood. I have about 1/4 of the property line pretty clear, along with the rest of the woods from the parking area to the property line. I have a lot more to do, but at least I made a good dent in it today.


----------



## RedTartan (May 2, 2006)

All I got done yesterday was filling the beds and planting a few more things that needed put in the ground or they were die. I looked over the area I need to pull (sod) and it's going to take days probably  Maybe my dh will help me with it for Mother's Day. Today I need to mow and I better get on that soon. Sigh. Maintenance work is getting in the way of my list!


----------



## Patches (Aug 9, 2006)

I've been doing really well so far!!!
5. 4 Batches of soap curing.
8. Herbs all planted.
11. Roosters are at freezer camp.
12. Panels are on chicken pen to goat proof it.
13. Puppy nose smears are washed off the windows.
14. Insulation is restacked and secured.(I hope)
15. Chicken and goat yards are mowed.
17. Brushpile is burned.
18. Freezer is cleaned out for the garden, deer jerkey meat is soaking to make jerky tomorrow.
19. Jar lids, surejel, lime, are stored in the pantry. (still have to get a few wide mouth lids, but Freds didn't have any yet.
21. I can see my desk again!!!!!!!!!
I just have a few more things to plant in the garden. Hubby should be home tomorrow, so he will till for my corn, okra, and squash. I am also waiting for him to get home to help me enlarge the flower bed (with tractor and blade), get my mulch, and spray the fruit trees. 
I am really going to town on this list so far, so I am really excited to get all of this stuff done. 
Marilyn


----------



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Spent 8 hrs working outside today. DD cleaned out behind the barn and worked on the stall cleaning. I cleared brush in the pasture and picked up a lot of rocks and sticks, hauled and stacked the firewood I cut yesterday, cut more firewood and brush, cut bean poles, and cleared more of the woods and property line. Tired tonight, but getting a bit more done.


----------



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I've been working in the woods again today, trying to get the property line figured out. I know it's a straight line down that side, but one of the flags marking the boundary looks like it's not in line with either end. Puzzling. I've cut more wood and stacked it. Had to fix the garden cart, sharpen the chain saw and the loppers, but I have working tools.  If only I could figure out how to get the air compressor drain plug out so I could put the replacement one in, I'd be in great shape to work on the shed. Since that hasn't gone well, I spent time cleaning up the messes the puppies had made in my "lawn" and garden, then spent time moving my Lakemont grapes out of the way so I can get my garden rototilled. Moved hoses, fencing, and tomato cages while I was at it. Now I only need to transplant my Fall Gold raspberries and a few flower bulbs, and have Abby continue to dump stall bedding everywhere, and I can stop at the neighbors and ask if they hire out to till (I think they do). Plus I can call for the first loads of rock on Monday. Hoping that by this time next week, I will be able to knock off about half my list.  Just stopped to take a break and eat some lunch after working outside for about 4 hours. Then it's back to work again - need to sharpen the Mantis tiller, do some tilling where the tractor/rototiller won't be able to reach, and see if I can get some seeds in the ground. Or, I might work in the woods again. Or, I might work on the shed...so many jobs, so little time. At least it's a beautiful day!

eta: Was going to go cut wood again, but couldn't get the saw to start - think I flooded it. So, I did some repairs - mended a couple extension cords and made them into one very long one, sharpened the Mantis with the Dremel, and did some tilling in the garden. What a difference a sharp tiller makes! Helped Abby finish cleaning out the barn stall, and spread it on the garden, tilled in some of it. For some reason, I'm a little tired tonight.


----------



## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

Wow, manygoatsnmore, it's no wonder you're tired. I got tired just reading what you were getting done! Hope the weather holds for you and you got done a lot more over the weekend.

I thought I was denting my list pretty good, but not compared to you!

1. Finish paperwork filing!_ Started in on this, but cannot find the notebook I KNOW I started for this. I must have, because some of my paperwork is missing!_

2. Clean out flower bed in yard. _Have MOST of this done. But I removed some plants, and now have to fill it back in and get more mulch._

3. Buy edgers and mulch for flowerbed by shop _Edgers are bought. And I have probably about 1/3rd of them set in place. If it doesn't rain too much this weekend (rain predicted for at least the next 4 days) I should be able to finish them this week. Then I can move on to planting and mulching - which will knock out #4 . _

4. FINISH flowerbed by shop

5. Build new corner bed in garden for my Dill plants

6. Fill the corner bed and 2 new beds built last fall for planting

7. Plant out rest of veggie garden

8. Finish painting new garden shed inside and out - _I got all this done but about a 6" square up in the very top peak. When I finally got the ladder that would reach out, I had to wait for the rest of the paint to dry before I could use it! It will take longer to set up the ladder and open the paint than it will to paint it! _

9. Clean out old shed and tear it down

10. Catch up on laundry and household cleaning, and do a better job keeping it up! - _Short of vacuuming the living room and some dishes, I did not accomplish much on this one over the weekend!_

11. Clean out freezer and can whatever possible.

12. Get to DM's and get her yard cleaned up, mowed and reseeded where needed. -_ We went yesterday (DH, DD and me) and mowed what we could. The grass in back of her house was SO tall and wet, we couldn't get it all. DH mowed paths through it hoping it could dry out and we could get back and knock some more of it down. So here's hoping this week's rain doesn't amount to much! He has been working on the disc so that we can work up the ground and seed the rest of her yard. It would be nice if the weather would cooperate for that, too! _


----------



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Wow, 1/3 of the month gone already. I see much progress on lists being made!  Keep up the good work, everyone.

Here's my update for the month to date:

1. Buy a real air nailer, not just a brad nailer, so I can work smarter, not harder. *DONE!*
2. Use that air nailer to put up my joist brackets, joists, loft floor, loft ladder, rafters, sheathing for the roof, and shingles. Add windows and walls to the loft area, add doors to the lower floor, and finally get the shed finished. *having air compressor problems, so this one is not going well. Have pounded a few more nails and a few joists are up*
3. Finish cleaning out at least one barn stall - dumped on new garden space. *DONE!*
4. Hire the neighbor to till up my new garden space so I can finish planting the garden by Memorial Day. Get it planted. *plan to talk to the neighbor this week*
5. Call the rock guy down the road to bring me as many loads of rock as it takes to get another layer on the driveway, level the parking area, and extend the driveway to the front and back of the barn - no more unloading hay and grain in the mud! *another one on the list for this week*
6. Hire the neighbor guy (one or the other) with a blade to smooth out all of said rock. *after the rock is in, it's on the list for this week*
7. Plant the grapes, and all the potted landscaping plants/trees. *I WILL do this today*
8. Finish weeding and mulching flowerbeds. *making a tiny bit of progress on this one - pulled a few weeds, found several rotten logs and stumps in the woods that will made great mulch. Also found piles of ships from the chip trucks dump area that I can use for garden paths - just need to haul them*
9. Finish cleaning up and consolidating my "junk piles" outside (hide them from view until I decide what to make from them - most of them are building supplies). *haven't done much with this goal - too busy on the rest*
10. Continue cutting more saplings and underbrush to clear the back property line, and then run a string down it to mark the line. Bonus points if I get a fence of some sort put up. *have worked a lot on this so far this month. Still have about half the line to go and then I have to figure out if the one marker is in the wrong place, or if the property line is not straight like I thought it was*
11. Spring cleaning time in the house! On rainy days, work on the storage room, Abby's room, and whatever other areas of the house need attention most. *the house is looking clean, but somewhat cluttered with various projects - Abby is working on her room, and I need to tackle the storage room on the next really icky day ourside - the weather's been too nice to waste it working inside*
12. Get my canners ready for the season - order weights for them, convert them where needed. *ordered lots of parts and the weights on the 1st, waiting for them to get here so I can finish converting them*
13. Can up some of the meat and other food in the freezers. *waiting for canner parts*
14. Find homes for the rest of the puppies (except the one I'm keeping), and have Holly spayed, have tomcat neutered, too. *really, really need to get this one done - 9 large breed puppies go through 50# of dogfood in about 3-4 days! *
15. Work hard enough to burn calories at least 5 days a week! *doing this, but no difference in my weight yet - I think I'm eating more to make up for the hard work*

Added to list so I can check them off  :
16. Sharpen the tiller tines and till up the areas the tractor tiller won't be able to reach. *tines sharpened and part of garden tilled up - amazing how much easier it is to till with a sharp Mantis!*
17. Cut and stack more firewood while I'm clearing woods. *been working on this one, probably another cord stacked since the first of the month.*
18. Finish putting up wire along fenceline in new pasture. *Have the wire up, kind of - need to put in a wooden post at one end and then stretch the wire and clip it to the T-posts. Right now it is horse tight, but not goat tight.*
19. Clear everything out of the new garden area except for bedding pack, so that the tiller can get in to till as much as possible. *moved out all the rolls of wire, soaker hoses, etc. Dug and transplanted the grapes, need to move the raspberries and bulbs today*
20. Spend a day fixing things - extension cords, tool sharpening, tie out ropes, etc. *done*
21. Spring clip the goats. *Three done, 4 to go.*
22. Make more tie out rope from bale twine. *started the first one*
23. Rake the rest of the wood and rocks out of the new pasture, trim up the trees there, and have the goats eat all the blackberries and other weeds. *in progress - have hauled a lot of rocks and wood out, trimmed up trees and thinned where needed, goats have eaten most of the blackberries, salal, Scotch broom and wild roses. Part of the field is actually raked, maybe 1/3 total*

With the return of sunshine, I've had more energy and have been able to get outside to tackle all these projects that I couldn't/didn't get to in April. Feels good to be checking things off the list and to be making progress on others.


----------



## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

Well, it's been raining for the last 3 days. More to come today, tonight and tomorrow. Friday and Saturday may be dryer, but we have had over 3 inches of rain already this week. So, the ground will still be wet.

It has moved me back inside where I have been trying to tame the laundry monster. Got several loads folded that were still in baskets , a couple more washed and dried and folded, and the clothes on hangers are put away in the closet. The rest are still sitting in the basket. Why oh why can't I break myself of this? I think it's because there are too many clothes for our dressers, and the dressers themselves are hard to get into. I really need to look into this and find a better way than living out of laundry baskets!!

I also straightened up the mudroom (with the cold weather my tomatoes, peppers and sweet potato plants came inside) and part of the kitchen/dining room. Still have a long ways to go!


----------



## RedTartan (May 2, 2006)

Well, I'm getting #6 done on my list today:

6. Get new tires for van

My van is in the shop as I type and should be finished in a couple of hours. I've been working on getting my garden in too. Not today or yesterday though, because of the rain. Making good progress so far.


----------



## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

Well, I can take #3 off my list. I finished placing the edgers around the flowerbed last night. For once it wasn't raining when I got home, and I vowed to work on it for at least an hour. With all the rain we've been having the ground was soft, even muddy in places, but once I got going the placement was easy. So I kept going and got them all done. Of course, it is a lot longer now, which means more digging, planting, and mulching (see #5!) but at least this can be taken off the list. I'm hoping to get enough plants and mulch to also knock out #2 on the list at the same time. some will be moved from other parts of the yard, so that will help with the expense.

Tomorrow is the only day in the next 5 days that there is no rain predicted. We've had almost 6 inches in the last week. I would like to finish #8 by painting the tiny bit left in the peak of the garden shed. The inside is finished, unless DH gives up the pegboard in his shop and lets me put it up in the garden shed. It will then need to be painted, because I don't think I can stand the Ford Blue board on my pale yellow garden shed walls! I should still have enough paint left to do that.

I'd also like to get #7 - plant out veggies - done this weekend, but it's been too wet to fill the 2 new beds, or build the corner bed. I have given up #5 (build corner bed for dill) and will plant it in the bed next to the compost pile.

I noticed a couple of the existing beds need the sideboards replaced, so I may dedicate the rest of the timbers to updating the existing beds. I recently pulled out the old timbers around the strawberries, and stacked new timbers around it, but they need to be nailed down solid. I ran out of nails, but have them now. So if it is reasonably dry enough, I will tackle that tomorrow, also. Then I will plant in the beds that are ready and pray it dries out enough to fill the other 2 and plant them before it is too late in the season!

If there is a decent breeze I will try to tackle Mt. Washmore again tomorrow, too, and take advantage of using the clothesline.

The rest of the weekend I guess I will play by ear, depending on weather. I sort of hope it will rain, forcing me inside to get the house in order. But it is SO wet out there already, that I shouldn't be thinking like that!

RedTartan - Congrats on the new van tires!


----------



## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

Well. so much for making plans! Ended up working 5 hours on Friday (which is good for the paycheck!!) but it took a bite out of my plans.

I went home and tried nailing the timbers in place around the strawberries, and got one nail driven, although it bent. And then I proceeded to bend 3 more. These must be the cheapest nails in the world!!! DH said he would get out the drill for me so I could start them easier, but didn't get around to trying that. 

Saturday I got another bed set up with new timbers in place that also need nailed together. Then I weeded 3 beds and got my peppers and about 2/3rds of my tomatoes in the ground. Also set out my dill plants (they were getting root bound), planted some pickling cucumber seeds, and a few other "odds and ends", and weeded the onions and radishes. So I did do SOME good in the veggie garden, after spending most of the day out there!

Sunday DH and I went to Menards and got trim boards for the shed. I also picked up what I hope is enough mulch to do the shop flower bed. It was on sale for $1.98 a bag. Was going to buy some bagged composted manure to mix in the planting holes but they were way too proud of theirs for me to purchase it from them. :shocked: We unloaded the mulch and I spent the rest of the afternoon priming and painting trim boards, so DH can build the doors to the shed. I got all but 5 primed on all 4 sides, and about a dozen painted on one side and the edges. Then it started to act like rain again.

In the meantime, I had DD doing some of the laundry inside, and catching up on some of the dishes. So I'm not so far behind in the house, although you wouldn't know it when you walk in! 

Overnight we got about 6/10" of rain. It was still drizzling when I came to work. Should let up by noon, and be partly sunny the rest of the day, and tomorrow. Tonight I'll probably finish painting then see if I can get anything planted in the flower bed. That is if I can find some bags of manure in town that aren't just bags of mud after last night's rain.

Hope you all are making more progess than I am!


----------



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Let's see - I got the canner parts that I ordered - and some of them are even the right parts. Unfortunately, some are NOT.  However, I have at least one canner with the weights now, and another one as soon as I change out the pipe stem for the weight to sit on. I guess that means that the next rainy day, I'll be canning.

I've been working on my shed - the joists for the loft are up, and most of the loft floor is on. I covered the whole thing with a tarp before it rained last night, and it actually stayed dry inside. 

I'm working on the fences around the chicken pen and the garden again. Got it about half done today, so maybe tomorrow I'll finally have a garden that the puppies can't get in and a chicken pen the chickens can't get out of. I've made the first of the raised beds, and weeded all the strawberries today. I tilled up all the rich ground in the old chicken pen and had Abby move some of it to my future raised beds. Transplanted 3 apple trees from the old orchard to the new one, and fenced in the 2 remaining apple trees in the old orchard. Brought home a pickup load of chips from the chip pile and mulched all around those 2 apple trees with them. I'm making a little progress pretty much every day - but my hands are just killing me - carpal tunnel, big time.


----------



## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

manygoatsnmore, you are really moving right along! Keep up the good work!

Anyone else out there putting my progress to shame?

Let's see, in the last 2 days I managed to get about 90% of the flower bed by the shop planted and mulched. Just waiting to move a few more plants and for DH to bring home some more cardboard from work to put under the mulch to help stop weeds, and need to pick up a couple more bags of compost/manure for when I replant. A couple of hours ought to finish it up. 

Got a few more plants for the hole in the yard bed. Again, need some compost/manure for the planting, and some more mulch, and this bed will be finished off other than the usual maintenance.

Last night I planned to work outside, but DS came over with jeans that needed patched. Somehow he manages to rip his jeans right along the right back pocket. He explained to me that the only pair he owned that WASN'T ripped was the pair he had on! And he had worn them to work the last 2 days, because he was afraid someone was going to say something about his boxers being exposed!!! I patched 3 pairs last night to get him thru the rest of the week, and promised to look at some more of them over the weekend. He expressed his appreciation SEVERAL times, and I told him I'd get even! LOL. I'm thinking to enlist his help drilling the timbers so I can nail them together around the strawberry bed. 

Tonight I have a feeling will be dedicated to mowing the lawn again. Looks like rain starting again late tonight and into tomorrow...


----------



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Lickcreek, you're doing great! And it sounds like a great plan to put ds to work for you while you're patching the rest of his jeans. 

I brought home a huge load of cardboard in the back of the SUV the other day - unloaded it into the garden, where I'll use it for weed suppression. Cleaned out all the totes under the drip lines on the barn and let them refill with rain water - it's been coming down here pretty much all day, and most of yesterday, too. We have a quick break in the clouds right now, and I ran out - surprised to see it was only about an inch of rain. It was enough to pretty well fill the buckets and totes. Lovely rain water for watering critters and doing laundry. 

With the continued heavy rain, I've found a few leaks in the tarp over the shed - should have used a new tarp instead of a used one.  Guess I'd better put on the new tarp before I go to work. I need to bring home hay tomorrow, and I wanted to store it in the shed, so it has to be dry.

Since I couldn't do much outside, I worked on a few fix-its in the house. Things not on my list, but needed anyway - I managed to get the closet doors back on the tracks in my bedroom, and I tacked the trim strips back on in my bathroom - just a couple small trim pieces that never got reinstalled after I painted in there about 2-3 YEARS ago.  Not that I procrastinate or anything.


----------



## Patches (Aug 9, 2006)

Wow!!!! Looks like everyone is doing great!!!!
I have a few more items done too.
1. Garden is all in. Let it grow!!!
9. Green beans are planted on their trellis. Let them grow!!
16. Hubby doubled my flower bed, and I have it planted. Just waiting to mulch it down, if it ever stops raining.
We plan to spray the fruit trees and vines and bushes this weekend. It is supposed to be 90 degrees and sunshine finally.
Will go get our load of mulch this weekend also. 
I am planning to shear little dog today, and will get big dog tomorrow, Sat. and Sunday. I am sure it will take me that long, but I should have some help.
After that, I think my sewing and weaving is all I have left on my list that I haven't gotten to this month. That may have to wait till fall:nana:!!!


----------



## Pauline (Jan 28, 2003)

ok here is my list short and sweet and easily finished i hope
1- strip wallpaper border and paint front room,hall, dining area
2- paint hall bathroom
3- find desk that works for doing geneology without using half my bed and twisting back and forth
4- set up sewing room
5- plan and hold a birthday party for my soon to be 6 dd

1-4 on my list is postponed til june due to the passing of my grandmother and needing the money for the funeral, number 5 will be done on a smaller size then first planned it will be for only 6 not taking treats into her whole class at kindergarten


----------



## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

Pauline - so sorry to hear about your grandmother. ((hugs)) And I'm sure your soon to be 6yo will enjoy the smaller party just the same.

Well, I thought I'd go back to my original list and see how much I really accomplished. I knew it was rather ambitious when I posted it. And here we are with only a week left of this month!

1. Finish paperwork filing! * Not done yet and I HAVE to get some of it before this weekend!!!*

2. Clean out flower bed in yard. *DONE!!*

3. Buy edgers and mulch for flowerbed by shop *DONE!!*

4. FINISH flowerbed by shop*Almost done, I was 3 bags of mulch short. But that should be remedied this week.*

5. Build new corner bed in garden for my Dill plants *Gave up on this, as it doesn't look like it would really work. Dill is planted next to compost bin. *

6. Fill the corner bed and 2 new beds built last fall for planting *There will be no corner bed, but the rest have not been filled. It's been too wet to get this done. *

7. Plant out rest of veggie garden *I finished planting everything there was room for over the weekend.*

8. Finish painting new garden shed inside and out *Inside is done. Outside still has a small spot in the peak. We started to hang the doors on Saturday, and there will still be trim to touch up.*

9. Clean out old shed and tear it down *Won't get to this this week *

10. Catch up on laundry and household cleaning, and do a better job keeping it up! *Did get a little farther here on Sunday. But a LONG ways to go!*

11. Clean out freezer and can whatever possible. *Won't get to this this week, either! *

12. Get to DM's and get her yard cleaned up, mowed and reseeded where needed. *With all the rain, we've only managed some mowing. Wen't over again last night and got some more mowed, and did some trimming and weedeating. Was going to haul some of the grass we had to rake up home for mulch, but DDs pickup started overheating, so we didn't chance it. It's so sad to see it all go to the ditch!! *

I have to admit, I don't think I would have got this far if I wasn't "held accountable" by you all! Thanks for the incentive, everyone!


----------



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Great job, y'all! Pauline, my condolences on the passing of you gm.

My plans have evolved throughout the month. I decided to go with raised beds and to plant potatoes, corn and squash/pumpkins right into the rotting hay and stall bedding that I've been covering the newly added garden space with. After seeing how well my onion sets were growing in it (the puppies were helping me plant them  ), I think I'll get a decent harvest and can save the cost of tilling. By fall when I harvest everything, I should be able to work on tilling it up a bit at a time with the Mantis. Abby and I finished fencing in the chickens in their expanded yard, and finished fencing the puppies OUT of my garden, so I can actually get something done in there without "helpers". I've covered the shed with a new tarp and am waiting for it to dry out again so I can finish the loft floor and paint both floors. The joists are in, most of the loft floor is installed, and I'm seeling light at the end of the tunnel on this project.  I've been working on my "junk piles" as I've been going through them to find the boards for my raised beds. So far I've built 3 raised beds and have enough wood for a couple more out of treated lumber. I could do more if I use other lumber, but I want to save some of it for my greenhouse addition I have planned for the south end of my house. I've done a little weeding, hauled a pickup load of chips home and used them around trees, and in the paths around the raised beds, planted some seedlings and grapes, moved my raspberries and will move the bulbs when I put in the next raised bed. I won't finish my whole list, but so far, I'm pretty pleased with what I have done.


----------



## Patches (Aug 9, 2006)

I am really excited about my list!!! I had a very long one, and I think I have completed all but 3 things on it. All is done except the inside stuff, 3. Weaving, 7. Serger, and 20. Sewing. 
I have cut out a couple of aprons, might get them before the end of the month.
I keep looking at that loom, just can't seem to get there while the sun is shining.
I will probably put my serger learning off until I remodel the sewing room and fix a table to keep it on.
I am going to mulch a little in the flower garden and veggie garden today, and start thinking about next month.
We have all accomplished a lot this month. I am really proud of us!!!!!:grin:
Marilyn


----------



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Finished putting in the 4th raised bed and putting down cardboard in the aisles between them, nearly finished spreading wood chips on the cardboard, but I ran out of daylight. When it's too dark to see, it's hard to get the wheelbarrow across the garden without running over something.  Planted cauliflower seeds in pots to be the next additions to the crop rotation. Weeded and hilled the potatoes, transplanted a few volunteers to the potato plot, and did more tilling and digging, getting more soil ready for planting.

I didn't expect to be able to get anything done today - I worked last night and slept all day today, but I got called off tonight (on call until 1am), so I took advantage of a dry evening to get out in the garden. Only 4 more days in May, and I don't think I'll come close to finishing my list, but I'm getting closer every day!


----------



## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

I know this is suppose to be a "holiday" weekend, but I know I won't enjoy any of it unless I get a few things caught up. Everyone in the house will be camping this weekend, or at least on the run for the most part. So I'm hoping to get some things done around the house that are tough to do with everyone home, like mop the floors!! I have some cleanup in the garden that needs done, and I really want to get those timbers nailed together so the beds are finished. 

If possible, I want to get some of the touch-up painting done on the garden shed. I would really love to start moving in to it, but DH has a lot of the wood and tools he will need to finish it in there right now, so they are there when he gets to it. Maybe I can get moved in this fall. I am thinking I will clear out one corner, though, to store the things I really need to use in the garden now. That would help some.

For the most part, I have pretty much caught up on everything that NEEDS to be done outside that CAN be done right now. So I really need to take some time to focus on the inside of the house. And boy does it need it. 

Anyway, hope you all can enjoy all (or like me, at least a large part!!) of the holiday weekend. Tuesday starts another month, and another list...


----------



## RedTartan (May 2, 2006)

My updated list is below. I've been so horrifically busy this month that it's a miracle I got this much done.



RedTartan said:


> *Homestead Goals*:
> 
> 1. Plant 50 strawberry plants *DONE*
> 
> ...


----------



## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

So, here it is, the last day of May. What is the final tally on your lists? I worked my tuchus off this month, got a lot done, and changed my mind about 6 ways from Sunday about how I wanted to do things, especially in the garden. I didn't finish everything on my list, not even close, but I sure made wonderful progress. I have the garden planted, at least the basics, anyway, and a lot of cleanup outdoors done. I love having the accountability factor here, too - thank you so much for keeping me plugging away! 

1. Buy a real air nailer, not just a brad nailer, so I can work smarter, not harder. *DONE!*
2. Use that air nailer to put up my joist brackets, joists, loft floor, loft ladder, rafters, sheathing for the roof, and shingles. Add windows and walls to the loft area, add doors to the lower floor, and finally get the shed finished. *Should have stuck to the goal of getting a lid on the shed - THAT I did! My shed still has a tarp over the top, but it's dry inside, and I'm already using it for hay storage. The joists and loft floor are pretty much done. *
3. Finish cleaning out at least one barn stall - dumped on new garden space. *DONE!*
4. Hire the neighbor to till up my new garden space so I can finish planting the garden by Memorial Day. Get it planted. *Decided not to hire the tilling done - instead, I'm mulch gardening, raised bed gardening, and using my Mantis to till a bit at a time. Just finished planting the potato patch and the early corn today. The essential planting is done, 4 raised beds are built in the garden, and one by the barn.*
5. Call the rock guy down the road to bring me as many loads of rock as it takes to get another layer on the driveway, level the parking area, and extend the driveway to the front and back of the barn - no more unloading hay and grain in the mud! *I dug out all the mud and muck this month and made a raised bed, but didn't call for the rock.No good reason, I just procrastinated.*
6. Hire the neighbor guy to blade all of said rock. *Next month.* 
7. Plant the grapes, and all the potted landscaping plants/trees. *Grapes are done, need to return 2 Japanese maples and 2 grapes to Lowes, plant the contorted filberts as soon as I make a new bed for them - maybe next month!*
8. Finish weeding and mulching flowerbeds. *Weeded and mulched several beds, still have about half the perimeter of the house to do. Hauled 2 loads of chips from the chip pile, but used them all in the garden instead of on the flowerbeds and paths there.*
9. Finish cleaning up and consolidating my "junk piles" outside (hide them from view until I decide what to make from them - most of them are building supplies). *Sorted out and used quite a bit of stuff from the piles this month, but still have several unsightly stacks to put away.*
10. Continue cutting more saplings and underbrush to clear the back property line, and then run a string down it to mark the line. Bonus points if I get a fence of some sort put up. *Still have about half the line to go and then I have to figure out if the one marker is in the wrong place, or if the property line is not straight like I thought it was. I worked hard on it the first part of the month, then switched to gardening.*
11. Spring cleaning time in the house! *Gotta admit, I failed miserably on this one - when it rained, I rested up for the next day's work outside.*
12. Get my canners ready for the season - order weights for them, convert them where needed. *Have one totally ready to use, one nearly so, and I need to return some of the WRONG parts for the right ones.*
13. Can up some of the meat and other food in the freezers. *Didn't get to this one.*
14. Find homes for the rest of the puppies (except the one I'm keeping), and have Holly spayed, have tomcat neutered, too. *Found homes for most of the pups, but not all of them have been picked up yet. The rest will be re-posted on Craig's List tonight or tomorrow. Didn't get Holly in to the vet, and the tomcat disappeared. *
15. Work hard enough to burn calories at least 5 days a week! *Done! Lost a little weight this month, and added some serious muscle. :happy:*
16. Sharpen the tiller tines and till in garden. *DONE, but will be an ongoing project as I'm not having the tiller guy come in.*
17. Cut and stack more firewood while I'm clearing woods. *Done -probably another cord cut and stacked this month.*
18. Finish putting up wire along fenceline in new pasture. *Have the wire up, kind of - need to put in a wooden post at one end and then stretch the wire and clip it to the T-posts. Right now it is horse tight, but not goat tight.*
19. Clear everything out of the new garden area except for bedding pack, so that the tiller can get in to till as much as possible. *Not bringing in the tractor/tiller, but did get all the stuff moved out of the garden.*
20. Spend a day fixing things - extension cords, tool sharpening, tie out ropes, etc. *Done.*
21. Spring clip the goats. *All but the buck and the new momma done, she's dairy and birth clipped only, because she didn't kid until yesterday.*
22. Make more tie out rope from bale twine. *Done.*
23. Rake the rest of the wood and rocks out of the new pasture, trim up the trees there, and have the goats eat all the blackberries and other weeds. *Tree trimming and brush eating done, pasture partially raked.*
24. Finish fencing the chickens into their new pen. *Done.*
25. Fence the puppies OUT of my garden. *DONE!!!*
26. Order the ribbons for our community fair. *Done.*

Well, that's it from here - on to June's to-do list!


----------

