Goodness you guys! It feels like it’s been forever since I did an update, but it’s probably only been a hot minute. I’ve been so busy updating the blog and making everything uniform that I feel like I haven’t actually blogged! Sigh. But I’m extremely happy with how everything ‘behind the scenes’ is going. I use Canva to make all my covers now. I like how I can pretend that I’m a designer and put all these fun images together but really, Canva does all the work. I change things up a bit-colors, fonts, move things around, but really I start with a graphic that they’ve already designed. You can design your own from scratch, but I’m not there. Yet! Hehe. Anyway, it’s made me feel much better about the blog and my online image. I can make things stand out more and be more cohesive. I was thinking about using the same font across all the platforms just to make it more cohesive, but I think I like having that change a bit.

In other news, the video didn’t record for our craft along. the audio did but not the video. I will look into that for our next session (tomorrow night!!). But for now, you can see my bunting above. I went back and forth on the binding for the bunting. I wasn’t going to use the big white ribbon (folded in half) because I wasn’t sure I had the skills to sew the ribbon and the lace and the triangles on all at the same time. But I did it! And I love, love, love the final piece. I also heard from all the participants. They made their buntings! YAY! I hope you’ll consider joining me. Here’s the link to the schedule.

Those baby robins ! Oh boy! The first pics above are from last week. The ones near the bottom are from yesterday. How they are growing! I used a different camera lens (been experimenting with my photography lately) and they didn’t turn out as well. The one I think is so cute. It’s just a pile of robin fluff. I thought maybe it gave a whole new name to ‘fluffy butt friday’! LOL. Oh! I should also mention that I saw a mama bear and her cubs last week when I was moving dirt for the garden. She was down the hill from me. I was on the tractor. I looked down the hill (it was off to my right. Not where I was going down the hill) and there she was. She looked at me. I looked at her. We both decided to beat a path (in the opposite direction from each other). She had her little (and I mean little) cubs trailing behind her. She was big too! I don’t know how big. But big! In all the years that we’ve lived here I’ve never seen a bear on property. I know they’re here. Others have seen them. But I haven’t. I don’t really want to again!

In other Chicken Librarian news, we’re starting the book group up again. Here are the details if you’d like to join me. I do hope you will! There seems to be some interest (I think it’s mostly in the book the Bekah chose!). Moving on. I do hope you’ll consider joining us for some of these fun activities! The homestead is in good shape. The garden is moving along nicely. I spent some time in there yesterday planting some more stuff. Pulling up things that just weren’t thriving. And I noticed, once again, that I don’t think it’s getting enough water. So I’ll spend more time watering. I also need to add some more compost to each of the beds and then mulch them. I’ve been waiting to mulch because I wanted to make sure everything was growing. Oh. The peppers never grew so I replanted them yesterday. We’ll see where we get with them. So, mulching will have to wait a little longer. There are some beds that I can mulch because all the plants have poked up through the dirt. I still have enough wood to make one more big bed or a couple smaller beds. I think we’re going to do the smaller beds and plant my herbs in them. Right now, most of the herbs are in pots. So I think we’ll make that transition this week.

So. This brings me to the real reason I’m writing you today, not just to update you on life but also to see where I am with all those to-do lists I’ve been writing about lately. There have been a few! I think taking the time to not be so busy has really helped. I feel like my days are more balanced now (I know, it’s only been a week!) but I think I’m actually getting things done and not feeling so rushed and so exhausted all the time. Anyway, let’s check in with the to-do lists.

If you recall, this is the original to-do list. I had some stuff marked off already that I was able to get accomplished way back when. And now I can mark some more things off. Some things are in progress. And some things are being planned.

1. write a business plan (how do I still not have this done?!?!)
2. process grapes (remember them from last fall?): DONE! Made grape bbq sauce
3. grind meat and fat: being planned as a make along in July
4. write candles class
5. write cheese class
6. write crock pot soap class
7. freezer spreadsheet
8. order this years meat: in progress. Deposit has been put down on a pig!
9. sourdough starter
10. make face cleanser
11. make lotion
12. make shampoo
13. paperwork! Fun!
14. order seeds
15. order chicks!!
16. fix up chicken coop and run: mostly done. Just need a few more finishing touches. See this post for details.
17. send newsletter (sign up using the form in the sidebar if you haven’t already!)
18. finish chalkboard wall (this might be seen on a later to-do list): not even on the list anymore! Put on the back burner for some time in the future.
19. paint upstairs (ditto): ditto #18’s notes.
20. organize class materials, order supplies needed
21. mending: pretty much done. Made lots of pillows. Just have a few things left to do, mainly turn some t-shirts into tank tops.
22. organize photos: see my goal below for details

Okay. So not bad. Then there was the updated version below:

1. Process grape juice: DONE!
2. Grind deer meat: see above
3. Business plan: started it but haven’t worked on it in a long time. It’s on the to-do list for this week (see list below)
4. Set up chicken coop and run: see above and see this post.
5. Build raised garden beds: DONE! Or at least I consider it done. Everything is planted now it’s on to cosmetic stuff.
6. Finish chalkboard wall: off the to-do list (see above)
7. Paint upstairs: ditto
8. Do some mending: mostly done!
9. Do some sewing (have specific needs for #8 & 9): done!
10. Organize photos: still working on it! It will be on my to-do list for forever! There are a lot of photos to organize. Sigh.
11. Make soap (have a list of soap to make): nope. not yet.
12. Write an article for a magazine: ugh. Nope. Not even on the list at this point. Sigh.
13. Finish one knitted item already in progress: ha! Nope. Not done.
14. Inventory class supplies: done!

Okay. Still Not bad. Then I started setting weekly goals. This list was for the business from last week:

1. Finish and ship knitted hat: almost done. Should get it out the door this week
2. Order yarn for 2 commissioned knitting projects: done. Just waiting on the second order now.
3. Make video (on soapmaking): nope. Add it to the list for this week or next week.
4. Organize 2 photo folders: yep! I did it. I actually did way more than 2. I have about 6 folders on my desktop that I just need to find the corresponding blog posts and attach the name to them. Then they get filed away!
5. 3 blog posts (not including this one. I have 3 already mapped out): yep!
6. Catch up on reading blogs: yes! Now to start this week’s reading!
7. Craft Along Tuesday: success!
8. Make and list one new item in the shop and then promote it: nope. I focused on updating the blog instead.
9. Facebook Live Saturday: yes!

And then there was this to-do list from last week about getting things done on the homestead:

1. Finish planting garden (dirt into last raised bed, plant tomatoes, squash, radishes, herbs): Yes! Done! Now I’m just playing around in the garden!
2. Spend time with chickens: yes! We got at least 2 hours of free ranging most days last week.
3. Make soap: nope!
4. Clean the house: I feel like I got this done and then it got dirty again. Sigh. It’s a big house to keep up with y’all!

So…overall, not bad. I’ll make a new overall to-do list and share in the near future. For now, I like these smaller, more manageable to-do lists that focus on the business and then one for the homestead. So, let’s set goals for this week:

Business:
1. Finish organizing folders on desktop (i.e photos)
2. Finish and ship knitted hat in progress
3. Blog: get facebook live videos onto blog (see info below)
4. Blog: garden post
5. Apply for grant
6. Apply for fall market
7. work on business plan
8. file paperwork, update spreadsheet (income/expenses)
9. Make soap video (not sure this will actually get done but I’ll keep it on the list until it does!)
10. Finish uploading videos to Youtube.

Homestead:
1. Mow (always mowing to be done. Weekly)
2. Clean up stuff from storage (still have a ton of stuff to go through, throw away, or donate. When will the donation centers open up?)
3. Keep house clean
4. Finish bathroom (we had a leak and we’ve been cleaning it up. I ordered a new vanity from Lowe’s put apparently they’re walking the vanity here from where ever it’s shipping from. Sigh.)
5. New screen door knob
6. Hang cast iron pans
7. Finish fancying up the garden! Herb beds, sprinkler hose system, plant potatoes, melons, flowers

I guess before I wrap up the wrap up, I have one more quick note about the blog. I’ve been trying to get my facebook live videos over here on the blog (the virtual homestead) along with the recipes and my notes. I haven’t been very good at doing that. So I started the project over the weekend. I also want to upload them to my youtube channel. I spent some time over the weekend doing that as well. I fancied up my channel and uploaded a ton of videos. So that’s my goal for this week-to finish that project. I also discovered that I can back date blog posts to correspond to when the event happened. So I’ll be doing that with the facebook vids. If you are looking for something in particular, that’s where you’ll find it. Oh. And PS: this is the original, original to-do list! And then there was this version. I started with the most recent version since I hadn’t updated anything since that version!

Whew! That was A LOT! But I feel good looking at all those lists and seeing what got checked off, what is still in progress, and what still needs to be done. Some things, like the chalkboard wall and painting upstairs can wait until later in the summer. I have a lot of things in progress and it feels good to be working on those goals. Okay. I really do think that’s enough for now. I’m off to mow and then I hope to have some time to check in with you all!

’til next time
-k
xoxo