Trying Again

 Been a long time since I posted. I haven't made much progress at all around here. Just been a hot mess like the rest of my life. But I've been trying to get things cleaned up. It just seems like every time I get going and start to make a little progress something happens that takes up all my time and attention and things fall apart again. Sigh.

 

Good Morning. Happy New Year. Been a long time since I've been in this space. Too busy, too overwhelmed physically and mentally. Hopefully this year will be a bit slower and a little less crazy.

While the inside of the house looks as bad or worse than the outside, I've been working out there as much as I can. I figure I can work on the inside when the weather is too bad to be outside.

Because I have so much going on I just commit to 15 minutes at a time. Sometimes it doesn't seem like I'm making any real progress but if I just get a little trash gone at a time at some point it will all be done.

And then days like today, I had momentum going and actually did an hour.

Getting Back in the Swing of Things

My Studio February 12, 2022

 And not much better in August of 2023

I've been drowning in everything. Grief from multiple deaths of family and 4 legged friends, too much to do, not enough hours or space to get it done.

I've recently learned that my chronic procrstination and disorganization are symptoms of childhood trauma and C-PTSD. Whew. Who knew! That knowledge alone made me feel better about myself. 

And one day I determined that wasn't going to let my crappy childhood hold me hostage anymore. I determined I was going to make my life better. It's slow going, slogging through all the crap. Still too busy with too much to do but I'm making headway.

There are three things I try to work on everyday;

Dishes, Laundry, Trash. 

Because those things pile up and become overwhelming. Because if I get behind in those areas there is no way I can work on anything else because those things are taking up all the space, time and energy to get caught up. 

So here I am just trying to do a little bit every day or two, to get ahead, to get things out of the way. My studio room is the first room I'm working on  hard because I need to get some projects out of the kitchen and into this space. It would be nice if I could use the kitchen just for food.

Still a long way to go but making progress.

6/10/19 some progress

I have been trying to get this mess cleaned up. I really need to be able to get my truck in here!  I spent most of Sunday morning working on it and I do make some major progress. 

A lot of thing sorted and shifted. Then it got too hot. Perhaps I can get some more done this evening. I have to work this morning.  

5/19/19 progress

front door before

Getting so I can hardly get from the car into the house, especially if I have to carry anything big or bulky. So I focused here today.

front door during

Took out a bag of garbage and several buckets of leaves and such for the compost.

front door after

Looking much better. Stuff piled on the pink table is keeper stuff that won't get hurt outside, mostly for  some projects I want to get to.

new plants

Later I went back and filled the pots with snap dragons and a couple of chile tepin plants.

Rhubarb

garlic

I planted out 2 rhubarb plants I'd bought. Not sure if they will grow well here so this is experimental. Some garlic was ready to come out of where the rhubarb was going in.

driveway before

Then I started on the driveway. It's been awhile since I could get the truck up into the back.

driveway after

No where near finished, but better. Took out a couple bags of trash, hauled a wheelbarrow load of leaves, bags of manure and shredded paper to the compost pile. Pulled out a bunch of weed trees. Moved empty pots and other things up into the back, closer to where they should be.

5/14/19 and that’s how life goes!

Fixed the gate post

Sooo I have a 100 pound Maremma (an Italian breed of livestock guardian dog) that is terrified of thunder and is getting worse with age. Now when I built this pen the gate latched just fine and I didn't think about bracing it. I also had no clue that in less than 6 months the chickens would manage to scratch down over two feet of dirt and rocks, causing the fence to bulge out and the Tpost to move sideways. So there was a gap, which I plugged temporarily with plastic box lid to help keep the chickens from slipping out. And my dog Giotto has been living here since December just fine. Well the other day there was a sudden small storm that came through with some pretty close lightening strikes. Now just before the rain started I was unloading the car and left the back open. When the rain let up I went out to close it and there was Giotto hiding in the car. He refused to come out and spent the night in the car. The next day I fixed the gate. Put Giotto back in and in about 10 minutes he was gone. I think he got out somewhere else this time because that gate was really tight.

Giotto hiding from thunder

So I put him in the big chicken house, well constructed, with some solid wood walls and some that are solid on the bottom 3-4 feet with fencing from there up. Just at dark another thunderstorm came through and an extremely close lightening strike followed with very loud thunder. In about 90 seconds Giotto was at my front door. He had managed to unlatch the pop door and squeeze his 102 pound self through a 12x12 inch opening. So he spent the night hiding in my bedroom.

loose fence

I went up on my hill and tightened up fence, staking down the bottom and such trying to eliminate any places he could get out.

front door jamb

But I wasn't finished, so I locked him in a 10x10 chainlink kennel. I came home to my front door open and he was hiding in the bedroom. There had been a tiny black cloud go over with some thunder. So he's spending the night in the house again. Apparently he hit the kennel gate hard enough to twist the whole latch assembly about 90 degrees from where it's supposed to be. The door jamb really isn't too much worse for wear, needs replaced anyway. So aside from basic chicken chores I have not accomplished much of anything for several days now. Tomorrow will be spent on working on the fence of the pen where he's supposed to be, after I fix the latch on the kennel and put him in. I will add a chain for security.

Hopefully I am not derailed too long....

5/12/19 happy Mother’s Day

before

So Happy Mothers Day. Couldn't tell you how many of these holidays I've spent doing a lot of what I've done to day, cleaning up! Which is OK, because I'm enjoying seeing the progress around here and I know when I have the crap under control it will actually be easy to *clean* the house, you know like normal people do, things like vacum and dust and stuff. So I didn't set my timer, just worked at this pile until I was tired of it.

after

The shoe boxes are full of receipts and things I need to input into QuickBooks, sorted by years. I'm still finding paperwork in odd places, especially the older stuff, from 2015 when mom was in the hospital and I was going back and forth to the valley daily. After this I took some things out of the house, some are good enough to sell and went to the consignment shop. And a couple of bags of trash to the cans.

my bedroom before

and after

Yes that is a quilt hanging on the bathroom door. It was outside and got a bit damp so I draped it there to dry because it's trying to rain again. A lot of stuff in front of the dresser was winter clothes because they don't fit in the dresser, they are too bulky. And then some summer clothes because I couldn't get the dresser drawers open to put them away. So now they are all in the dresser. I also rolled a can of change and packed up some more winter clothes. There are still a few things in the laundry basket to be washed and packed away.

I also sorted out more receipts I found and deleted over 2,000 emails. 

5/9/19 To Dos

before

after

Todays main project was cleaning out the brooder coop. Needed somewhere to put the manure, trying not to attract flies. So got out this old composter but needed space to set it up. These roses needed pruned anyway.

Breakfast

Chores

Plant: planted out some sunflower seedlings, this time of year I have to start them in the house because the birds pull them up just as they sprout.

Water plants

Kitchen  15 min washing up dishes

Laundry: nope

Clean brooder coop got a good amount done, but there is more to do

1 thing car

1 thing truck

1 thing living room

5/11/19

Calendula, chaparral sage, mini roses

Our Center for the Arts has a fund raising Mothers Day tea each year, so I dropped off some flowers for them before heading to market.

Eggs and flowers at market

My to do list wasn't long since it was a market day.
Breakfast
chores
cut herbs and flowers
clean indoor brooder: it started raining so that's on hold
work on brooder coop: same here
freshen nest boxes: same here
afternoon chores

corner in front room before

corner after; bank box is full of office supplies to donate

Since it was raining I worked on this corner in the front room. There was actually more stuff but I forgot to take a picture before I started. I didn't set my timer, just worked at it until it was done. A lot of it was office supplies, most of which were duplicates of things I already have enough of. So I will donate the extra to a teacher or to the library. The big box on the bottom is the chicken plucker I bought last fall when I got a huge discount through work. I haven't had a chance to even take it out and put it together yet.

My dog is a huge livestock guardian dog that lives with the chickens. Right now I have him in the pen that is most open to being attacked by predators. The problem is he's terrified of thunder. With the rain came a major thunder roll. He managed to squeeze out of the gate. I'd been unloading things from the car and left the back open. He ran and hid inside. He refused to come out until this morning. Right now he can't run the whole property space for lack of fencing in some areas so that has just moved up to high priority on the big to do list. That way in times like these he could go and hide in the shed or something and I won't have to worry about him.

A little done

I’ve had some life happening so not a lot of progress here beyond shredding paper and deleting emails. I did however clean up this area by the front door. 

I added 2 milk crates to hold my muck boots and I am putting baskets on top to corral my gloves, headlamps and pruners. 

5/4/19 To Dos

Calendula, roses, sweet peas

Todays list is short because I have market
Breakfast
chores
pick flowers
fix water line
mix potting soil
afternoon chores

This counter has a lot of odds and ends that don't belong

Oh so much better!

Loads of things went wrong today and I am just mentally exhausted. So I didn't do several things I planned, just couldn't get it done. That's OK, tomorrow is a brand new day! This counter has been bugging me because it had a lot of little things on it that I couldn't put away because there is still rodent poop in some of the drawers. The 2 drawers in the pic have been cleaned out before but there are still mice getting in there and there are 4 more drawers on the other side not usable yet because there is rat poop in them from when the house was empty. So tonight I did manage to take a box and put in it all the things that need to go in one of those drawers and moved it out of the way. Then I threw away trash and washed the counter. Much better! Took me 30 min including washing the dishes- I dumped the dish water just as the timer went off the second time.

5/3/19 To Dos

desk cubbies  before

So Today is Friday. Usually i would have vegetables to pick, wash and pack for farmers market tomorrow. But I was not able to get things planted in Jan, Feb and March because I was dealing with getting moms house emptied and sold. So I have been trying to get geared up and everything planted for my summer market which is much bigger. Today's Agenda Breakfast Chores Clean     Nest boxes    Water buckets: This took a lot longer than I anticipated. But I was watering plants and doing some other things as I would wait for the disinfectant to dry. Desk Did 15 min while I had my tea and cleaned out one cubby: did another 30 minutes and cleaned out 2 more cubbies Kitchen Got the dishes washed up while dinner cooked. Haven't made any new progress in there but I have managed to maintain the clear spots I have. Laundry: oops I put a load to wash but forgot to hang it up Water plants Mix potting soil: It got too hot before I got to this, to be standing in the sun. Will see if I can do it this evening Cut Flowers and Herbs Shade cloth I didn't get any new put up, but fixed some that was falling down. Steps on Hill Clear and prep garden bed Plant: couldn't get to most of this because I didn't get the potting mix done Marigold Squash Tomato Basil 1 thing in LR stuff in car brought in an armload, mostly dirty dishes Afternoon chores Drink More Water: 4 pints down My daughter that lives an hour away came to use the computer to print out a job app that she couldn't get printed at home. It got hot and I ran out of steam for outdoor work, so came inside to do other things. The unannounced visit did throw me off and I lost my momentum. Remember the water line I was trying to fix? Well guess what I found when I got junk out of the car. Yep both parts, the right size that I need to do that. Have no idea when I bought them!

desk cubbies after

I have been finding soooo many pens, markers and scissors! When I'm a little more organized I will probably give some of them away. In the mean time they are piling up on the desk. The basket is things I want to keep but not sure where they will go right now. The little basket in the cubby is things like price labels and small office supplies. I have tons of office stuff so when I find all of it I will decide on the things I want to keep and get rid of the rest.

5/2/19 todos and TaDas

Olive eggs and Black Copper Marans

Breakfast

Chores

Plant (ran out of potting mix, will have to make some more in the morning)

       Beets

        Marigolds

       Herbs

        Squash

       Tomatoes

Clear a bed: OOps didn't get there

Steps on hill: or there

Shade cloth: or there

Fix water to hill pen: I tried but the part I have is too small and somebody stole the last one from the store and left the empty package. urgh

Clean coops That is most of what I did today, but the big hoop house is now done and I can move some birds around tonight.

Desk I spotted a small box of papers on the floor and set my timer for 15 minutes. I sorted, shredded and filed and had time left so I shredded some of the big box.

Kitchen  I washed up the two nasty pots I dumped and put to soak yesterday.

Laundry  Folded up the dry stuff off the line and washed and hung another load.

Errands

      Bank

      PO 

Unload feed

Take something out of the van  I took a grocery sack of trash out of the van

Afternoon chores

All in all a pretty productive day around here. I'm pretty tired, but that's ok. I'll feed the dog, eat some dinner, move some chickens after dark then go to bed.      

5/1/19 To Dos

The chocolate flower and primroses are going to town. 

Happy May Day. Happy Beltane. Too hot for a bonfire though.

Breakfast

Chores 

Laundry I rinsed and hung the stuff that got left in the washer and washed and hung out another load.

Kitchen: sort of; I dumped, rinsed and put to soak with bleach two nasty crawling pots. Boy that was a relief to get them done.

Desk I emptied the shoe box full of receipts I took out of the car last night and shredded paper for 15 minutes

Clean coop and compost 

Plant tomatoes

        Herbs

        Seeds

        Rose
        Gladiolas 

Shadecloth  got a small piece put up; need a larger piece to cover one area.

Steps on hill; didn't happen

Clean up beds; didn't get there either

Put out grit; nada

Circuit breaker; working up my nerve to put my hand in the breaker box and pull it out....

I planted the red rose in memory of my mother and step dad and poured some of their ashes in the hole. 

4/30/19 To Dos

A fluffy butt just because ;-)
I worked a half day today and just wasn't very energetic this evening.

Breakfast
Chores
Clean coop & compost almost done cleaning another 7x9 pen
desk
kitchen well no, not really
laundry never even thought about it
clean chick brooder
afternoon chores



So this morning I spent 15 minutes taking care of bits on the desk leftover from last night and shredding some paper.

much better. I like having some clean space

When I got home from work I emptied out the door pocket of the van, which is where receipts tend to collect. I put everything in a shoe box and put it here on the desk. I haven't done anything with it, but it's not in the car any more and it's not in danger of blowing away when the car door is opened.

4/29/19 To Dos

A pretty and fragrant hybrid tea rose "Oklahoma"

Working half day so short list

Breakfast

Chores 

Clean chick brooder: it turned cool, windy and trying to rain. Maybe tomorrow

Sort basket on desk

Afternoon chores

Laundry  I managed to get the dry clothes off the line and folded up before I left for work, since it was trying to rain.

Bathroom tidy

I don't know why my brain does some things. Trash on the floor not picked up because it's too much trouble to move the heater to access the trash can. I could have just put it in a bag and trashed it elsewhere.

It actually took me less than 15 minutes

So I spent the remaining 3-4 minutes on the dresser top.



I spent about 45 minutes sorting out 2 shoe boxes of papers and receipts from under the desk.

There are a few bits left from the boxes that I'm not sure what I want to do with and some other bits that I will deal with tomorrow. On the plus side of desk cleaning I have found a gift card and a couple of checks which are still good to cash ;-)

4/28/19 To Dos

Fresh cut peppermint

Today’s tea flavor is peppermint. 

Today’s list

Breakfast

Chores

Incubator set up

Plant tomatoes herbs: oops never got there

Clean chick brooder: didn't get there either, but tomorrow for sure!

Nest boxes: didn't manage that either

Shade cloth: didn't even go there

Desk Ta Da managed to get the desk top cleaned off!

Afternoon chores

Laundry: folded up and put away the ones on the line, managed to wash and hang out another load

Dishes   Did 15 on dishes while dinner cooked

Clean coop And compost   got a small coop cleaned out and another compost pile started

Oyster shell  If you don't know oystershell is calcium carbonate and is needed by laying hens to make hard egg shells.

Of course the list is impossibly long. Yes but I didn't get too worked up over it and actually took it kind of easy today.

The big tall cardboard box is full of egg cartons. Behind it is my vintage 1950s redwood incubator. My little tabletop model cooked a batch of eggs and I need to get some chicks hatched before it’s too hot. So that incubator needs to move....

Over here where I can plug it in. 

Took me 30 minutes to accomplish a move of about 10 feet.

I did manage 30 on the desk. There is still more to do but a lot of it I’m not sure what I’m going to do with yet so just going to rest on what I’ve gotten done for now.



That vintage incubator came right up to temp and held steady all afternoon. So 72 eggs went in tonight.