It has been a busy couple of weeks. The weather is finally warm and we can spend the weekend outside getting ready for summer.

The chickens and ducks are growing.

I learned that the ducks aren’t so good at doing ramps. I had opened up the bottom of the coop for the birds a couple of nights ago – they love exploring. However, the ducks love sleeping under the coop, and the chicks seem to think the ducks are their parents, so they try to sleep under the coop with the ducks. And the ducks don’t seem smart enough to figure out how to get back into the coop. It still gets cool at night and I worry that without proper feathers the chicks and ducks will get too cold away from the heat lamp. So, of course, I spent three nights climbing under the coop to collect the birds and return them to the coop.

Today I decided to close up the bottom until they are a week or two older. I was tired of crawling though the mud every night, no matter how amusing Susanna thought it was to watch me chase birds around a small cage. When they all have feathers I figure they can sleep wherever they want.

The garden is mostly planted. We have three raised beds. A couple of weeks ago, I put onions and leeks in the first bed. I’ve never tried onions or leeks, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out. The second bed is filled with strawberries, but I think I’ll be able to squeeze a couple of tomato plants into the end where the strawberries have yet to claim. I planted summer squash, winter squash, and pole beans in the middle of the third bed. Today I planted 13 of the tomato plants on the ends of that bed. If the weather supports tomorrow, I’ll plant 5 of the remaining 9 plants in the garden and Susanna will take the final 4 for her pots.

 

Today we started the new year off right with a short 2.5-mile hike on the Narragansett Trail. The section of the trail we hiked was a short drive from our home. The whole family (minus chickens and cat) went on the hike. We hiked out to a beaver dam and lake. And Tucker didn’t even throw up in the car (he did however throw up on the walk).

… and why do I want to keep adding a “n” to the end of beaver dam? I can tell what vocabulary I am used to writing. I guess I need to find more water slowing features to describe and lay off the cursing in 2015.

So… How did I do with my 2015 goals that I posted last January? Let’s see how much ADHD and life came in the way of finishing my first list of the year.

Here is what I wrote last January with my how I did:
For the house:

• Paint the garage (Susanna finished it this year)
• Fix 4 windows. (Susanna repaired 3, with two more to go in within a week or so)
• Replace the bathroom floor. (I replaced the part of the floor that I had intended)
• Focus on cleaning up the yard. (Not so much as I had intended)

In the workshop:

• Finish the nightstands for the boys. Build nightstands for our bedroom.  I’ll be pretty sick of nightstands by then. (I finished the boys’ nightstands but didn’t make ones for our room)
• Build a bed. (Not done)
• Finish the workshop floor, and repair/replace the doors. (Partially done – floor is finished)
• Add better heat before next winter. (Not Done)

With the family:

• Take the sailboat out for an overnight trip. (Done)
• Go camping. (If you count camping in the sailboat – more than once)
• Buy a new car. (Done)
• Print books from Will and Ben’s blogs. (Done)

Personal Goals:

• Exercise more (Not done enough…)
• Keep writing in the blog (Done)

Overall I had a pretty good year. I didn’t do all the things on my list – but that is okay, a list is just a place to start and is always changing. Instead of a bed, I built a toy box. Instead of camping, we spent several nights on the boat. I sailed to Block Island which was a very long trip.  We redid the mud room (mostly)and the hall ceiling – I hadn’t planned on a major project this year.

I did pretty good with managing unfinished projects. I did start building a boat, but life got in the way, and I gave up on the project. But I think that is fine – as long as I am finishing most projects. At the end of the year, I have a couple of unfinished projects. I’m working on cleaning and organizing the basement, and it is half-done. I also need to finish the mud room and the toy boxes. I’m sure if I asked Susanna or the boys they would be able to point out a couple of more unfinished projects – but what fun is life is one doesn’t have way too much going on.

Not to think about what I want to do in 2015…. But that will be another post.

Ah, nothing says “Christmas” like weather in the upper 50’s, rain, and a flood of new electronics that need charging. I know, maybe some year we can try something traditional like snow and an Official Daisy Red Ryder Range Model 1938 Air Rifle BB Gun.

Our current charging station is a box that replaces the faceplate of an outlet and gives 4 USB outlets and 8 plugs, and a place for one or maybe two iPods to sit (off the counter). But we are now a house with four phones, three iPods and three iPads. So, now the corner of the kitchen counter with the charging station is a muddle of charging wires and expensive electronic devices. A brand new iPad is just what you want sitting on the counter next to the coffee machine.

We put an outlet high up on the wall in the laundry room so I could eventually build a charging station. I think that eventually meant “this week.” It will be nothing fancy, built from oak plywood and edged with oak. A fancy solid-wood charging station is on my long term list, but far enough down that it will probably never be built. But what fun is having a workshop if my “honey-build” list isn’t overflowing with projects that may never get finished (until all the things on the other never-ending “honey-you-really-need-to-build-it-before-I-give-up-on-it-and-buy-it” list are built).