Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Winter Jobs

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But inside it's so delightful!

After a beautiful warmish week, even hitting +6°C on Saturday, the temperatures have taken a nose dive and I am back to hiding out in the house.  Which is ok, 'cause there's still lots to do.

The house tends to get neglected from spring through fall, since summer is so short and there's so much to do!

The first part of winter we really push the school work- we always start late and of course feel like we're behind until about December.  We also catch up on some much needed reading, computer time, and board games.  Along comes January, and gosh, oh my!  It's nearly time to start planting tomatoes!

So the real work of winter has begun.  The fridge and the oven both got a proper scrubbing.  Closets are getting cleaned out, the basement has been tidied.

Husband and the Bigs did some repairs to the desks and then installed a new top (plywood) to make the two desks (back to back) functional for four.
By sliding the desks away from each other lengthwise and extending the top at the ends by a foot, it provides legroom all the way around.

They also built a new entertainment center.
Nothing fancy, built out of 1"X3"s, but sturdy, and everything fits.  Winter is a good time to paint them.

There's wine to rack, bread and treats to bake, and of course, the inevitable mountain of dishes that creates!

Bills to file, taxes to organize.

Sewing.  I need to shorten the curtains in the sunroom, a blanket to finish, and all sorts of things to repair. 

And besides, before I can start planting...

...  I need to reclaim my plant stands and the sunroom!



7 comments:

  1. Wendy,
    That's a fine looking entertainment center and desk redo. You have lots to do and make me tired. I laughed because that plant stand has to be reclaimed each spring.

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    1. I know, eh? It starts slowly accumulating crap through the summer. I clean it up in the fall. Then through the winter there's the barage of "I just need to let these dry out"- mitts, hats, etc- and before you know it- it's taken on a life of it's own.

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  2. It looks like everyone is pitching in to make things more comfortable around your homestead.

    I hear you on the dishes piling up whenever any cooking is done. It's a constant battle here too. I would love to hire a house keeper! :-) A live-in one...not the kind that come once every two weeks.

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    1. A housekeeper- that'd be a dream! I'm sure it would never happen here though... :(

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  3. It's nice you have a sunroom and plant stand. I still haven't decided where I'll try to keep my seeds when I start them. The first ones should be here soon. I'm afraid I may have to use lights. Maybe we can get a small greenhouse up before next winter. And I love your snow. I know we're not supposed to covet but.....

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    1. Thanks! Before the plant stands I had seeds in front of every window on whatever surfaces I could find. The stands were a worthwhile investment!

      The snow is pretty, covering all of the junk and mud and what not. I do look forward to it all melting away in spring though.

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  4. What a great idea for the desk - extending it like that. My Dad made his desk out of two 2-drawer file cabinets and a door - regular desks didn't give him nearly enough room for all his piles of stuff! And there was me thinking when I saw the plant stand picture: "what a great idea to use old plant stands for storage units!"....

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