Goodness it’s been a little while since I’ve posted. It’s amazing how the time can just fly by isn’t it? We’ve been very busy with renovations, decluttering and of course the gardens!
The back room that was originally a summer kitchen, we started renovating a few years ago. We had planned to turn it back into a functioning summer kitchen. But we’ve had second thoughts on that. While it would be helpful to have a summer kitchen, since it is attached to the house, it really wouldn’t be that helpful in keeping the house cool when cooking. What I really need right now is book storage! So I’m leaning more towards using it as a library/den. We’ve moved the old wood cook stove out and will replace it with a heating stove. No, I’m not getting rid of the cook stove! I’m planning to set up an out door cook area. 
The drywall mudding is just about finished, soon it’s time to start sanding! Oh that is always a messy job. lol I’m glad the room isn’t TO big so it wont take as long as the living room did. After that we’ll paint it. I haven’t decided on a colour yet. The old wainscoting on the bottom half is white. I’m not sure if I’ll repaint it white and add a colour to the top part of the wall, or do the wainscoting in a dark colour and then do white for the upper wall. But I have requested hubby build lots of shelves for our books!
In the middle of the renovations I’m still working at decluttering the house. I’m sorting through clothes and tossing what is of no use any more. Anything that is in good shape is being packaged for the thrift shop. A dear friend gifted me with an old teachers desk she was not using any more. Yippee!! I’ve so needed a desk for a while. I used to have an old office desk that I loved, but I gave it to hubby as he needed it more than I did at the time. But with all the work I do planning lessons, I’ve outgrown using my Grandmothers sewing cabinet as a desk!
A few weeks ago we went to a huge library book sale. We look forward to that every year! I picked up 8 bags of books and videos, hubby and the kids also picked up a few bags worth. I was very excited to find some titles that are on the Ambleside Online years we are using this year and next. But I will share more about some of the finds in another post, I found some wonderful old titles and reprints of things. Hubby found a reprint of the 1897 Sears catalogue!
My new desk piled high with new books and videos. This does NOT include the books and vids the kids picked out.
As I’ve been working at putting the books away, and finding ROOM for all of them. I’ve added a hutch to the top of this desk. I swiped it from the little table I had been using as a baking centre. I’m not going to need it any longer so the hutch is put to a good use here. The lower cabinet I plan to use as a potting bench out side. Photos coming soon on that!
A few weeks ago when I was at Humber Nursery, I picked up 3 currant bushes. One each of white, red and black. They’ve been planted along the side of the driveway where the fence will protect them from the snow. They are doing well over all but stressed from the hot and dry weather we have been having.
The first squash to start producing has been the Tondo Scuro Di Piacenza. Although the cucumber beetles sure love these plants!
The lettuce is in the kids garden is doing really well. Don’t mind the weeds beside it. lol
We’ve been using the living mulch system for the tomato garden. I’ll do another post on that, but I want to say I’m happy with it! This photo was taken on the weekend. We had just mowed down the clover between the rows and I put up a layer of string for the Florida weave trellis. I’ve since started weeding around the tomato plants. An updated photo coming soon!
Despite the lack of rain, the tomatoes are starting to set fruit! I can’t wait for the first tomato sandwich from the garden. Yum!
And our old rambler roses are flowering.
We have also had our winter fire wood delivered. 12 cords of wood all together! 9 cords of slab wood and 3 cords of larger hard wood chunks for over night burning.
The wood stack is about 3 feet high and longer then our house. lol Can you guess what we will be busy doing in the next while? Yes stacking fire wood! lol First we’ll have to clean out the side of the shop to use, then figure out where we will store the rest of it.
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Oh my you have been busy. I think it is great that your turning it into a library, it would also be so welcoming and bright a nice color like yellow.
I don’t know how much land you have but have you ever considered guinea fowl to help keep the bugs down in the garden and yard? they work great if you can put up with the racket they make. We have had them for years,and now I just can’t live without there racket, but if you have close neighbours they might not like them as much. LOL. Just a suggestion to help the veggies out.
Your flowers are beautiful.
My what a lot of wood you are very lucky to have it delivered to you and chunked up like that.
We have to go to the woods and cut ours. We do however have slab wood from our saw mill and Hubby made a stand to cut it in.
Have a great week and I hope you are getting the warm weather like us.
Jessica, I LOVE yellow! My kitchen is light yellow on the walls and the bottom half is wood wainscoting. Maybe I’ll carry the same colour out to the library to! Thanks for the idea.
On our old farm we also used to cut it from the bush. It is very hard work! Since being here we’ve mainly used skids or pallets cut up for wood and just hard wood at night.
We have just under an acre right now and being in town we can’t let animals run loose. We used to have a 100 acre farm and let our chickens and ducks free range. I would love to get guinea fowl to help with the bugs, but until we move that wont work out very well.
We are spoiled this year to have the wood delivered.
Oh yes we are getting very hot weather! lol Breaking records here in Ontario!
Wow, you sure have been busy. I use to love going to those library book sales….don’t do that anymore:-(
Your gardens are looking great despite the dry weather. Ours are okay considering the rain LOL….will be making more trips to the market this year as most of the garden is not going well.
I have not made the zucchini relish yet as I cannot find Clear Jel anywhere….so we are eating our zucchini in other ways….but will continue to “hunt” for CJ.
Connie recently posted..Busy Times On The Homestead ~ Fire Wood, Gardens, Renovations
Connie, you can make the relish and just leave the thickener out! It still tastes great.
You just wont have that extra sauce bit.
I hope you get some better weather out there soon. We need to switch for a week. lol We need rain desperately.
I love the color yellow too. I have been thinking about painting my bedroom what they call a “butter” yellow. My kitchen is done in blues because I collect the Robinson Ransbottom Wheat pottery. Right now the walls are plain but I want to change that by adding wainscotte to the bottom painted white and get a very small blue flowered wall paper for the top for two of the walls.
Wendy that would be really pretty!!
Everything looks GREAT! Good luck with the wood stacking! I am so glad you have so much. I know you will appreciate it this summer.
Everything looks GREAT! Good luck with the wood stacking! I am so glad you have so much. I know you will appreciate it this summer.
Thanks Heather! Yes when the cold winds start to blow, it will be great to know we have lots of firewood for heat!