We haven't done any actual physical work on the home or projects lately, but there has been a lot of planning. The goal for this month is to get the guest room painted. We'll need to do some patching of the walls first; the previous owners put vinyl decals up and when you take them down, the pink paint comes off with them in chunks. Looks like there was only one coat of that hideous pink, but we'll need to patch the places where it has come off so that we can put the new paint smoothly.
The garden is still going (and growing) strong, despite winter weather's damaging the cloche here and there. Thus far we've been able to repair problems in time to prevent permanent damage to our veggies, and we're still harvesting! One broccoli plant sustained severe damage so Nick picked the little broccoli sprout early and ate it - he said it was terrific. We had a salad with lettuce and radishes from the garden just last week - that's at the end of December!
We were also fortunate enough to receive some pretty terrific gifts from the family at Christmastime. Nick's sister bought us a really neat portobello mushroom growing kit, so now we are growing mushrooms in the hall closet. I kid you not. See?
More to come on the mushrooms one they start growing, which should be soon!
We now own two cookbooks focused on fresh seasonal ingredients (they also happen to be vegan cookbooks but that is besides the point). A few nights ago we made a delicious dinner using recipes from the books: French lentils with roasted roots, caramelized onions and thyme, and sautéed kale with red onions and cannellini beans. Simply delicious!
Additionally, my in-laws bought us a yogurt maker, so now we can make delicious yogurt at home without having to pay through the nose at the supermarket. Nick is already planning to make snack-sized cups of coffee and vanilla-flavored yogurt, while I am excited about the possibility of making my own fruit-on-the-bottom yogurts for work. Hubby says it can be done with low-sugar preserves. Sounds so good! The first batch of plain yogurt using Greek yogurt we already had as a starter was a roaring success.
Oh yes, and one mustn't forget the big gift I purchased for my beloved this Christmas...
As his sister pointed out, he's one of the few people we know who can be trusted with a chainsaw. Plus, we have a lot of trees to take down in the backyard and we don't want to hire someone just for the little ones. Nick also received the Kreg Jig he's been asking for, to facilitate furniture-making. Add to that a homesteading encyclopedia and a book on intensive small-scale farming, and we are golden!
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