• Pantry Progress Update

    The pantry is 98% completed. We need to hang some pegboard and a short closet rod and it’s done! Everything is painted and the door ready to be hung. We’ve had a fan on to help the paint dry quicker and I think since a sprayer was used the paint isn’t on quite as thick as when I painted my upstairs pantry with a roller. So today we are going to put clear Con-tac paper down and move some things in there. I will be storing my cloth napkins in there. Basically anything I use for large crowds will go into the new pantry. When I did a search for…

  • A New Pantry! So Exciting!

    When my husband moved our energy system (inverters & large battery) out to the shed he built just for it, he got the thought to build me an additional pantry. I couldn’t imagine how it would work but he had it figured out in his mind. In my mind I was thinking about the wash basin, the large tool box he has for working on cars and the 2 freezers in the way. Where would they go I wondered since the entire garage is completely full? But there was a way. The washbasin is no longer and the freezers still have a space in a different location and since the…

  • A Trip to Illinois

    I’m thankful for the last several days Justus and I were able to spend in Illinois with my parents. The start of my trip didn’t go so well. We left the house at 4 a.m. but then we ran into this situation… A semi trailer had caught on fire. No one was hurt but the freeway was closed and so we sat. When we arrived the officer was just putting out pylons otherwise we could have been through and made it to the airport on time. But we didn’t and our flight was missed. So we had a nice long (5 hour) layover in Chicago. But the reunion with my…

  • Sharing the Wonder with Our Children

    His eyes alight with the experience he had just had, my son had to share it with me as well. It was simple. Nothing we adults would think was too amazing nor have thought twice about but for this 11 year old boy it was a moment to remark on and to be delighted about. How often do we quell the first time discoveries our children have, brush it off as something that’s not really interesting enough or worthy enough of our attention? I have been guilty too many times These curious and wondering children. When did we lose our innocent delight in the simple things? Do we live lives…

  • Backyard Renovations – Installing the Solar System

    It’s time I gave an update on what’s been happening here at the ranch.  Exciting changes for us! Our backyard in April looked like this. But then inspiration (through the form of my sister) came and we decided to bring the upper level down to the grass level. And now we have our own pond… that is when we have rain and until we finish our renovations then it will be something else entirely! One thing that I need to do is plan how we want to use this space. I have some ideas but I need to really think it through before we start.  So that project (backyard) is…