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The first Monday homemaking notes of 2023!
The weather outside is //
As I look outside my window // We have had a relatively mild January so far, which is a bummer for my kids (they desperately want snow!) but great for getting me outside. This week looks to be in my favor again if I can dodge the rain clouds.
As I look around the house // This is the week I get back to my cleaning routine! We were pretty loose with our routines during that post-Christmas fog and I still haven’t found my groove in the new year. Some tasks I’d like to accomplish: scrub down the kitchen cabinets, organize all of the random ribbons/papers from Christmas and pack them away for next year’s packages, and declutter a bit of the schoolroom.
Researching // a better seed starting system. I need more space and lighting and would love a system like this, but the price!! Yikes. I think we can DIY something similar for a fraction of the cost. A trip to Home Depot is in order!
On this week’s to-do list //
– complete my third annual winter reading challenge
– list a few things on ebay/Poshmark/Pango
– create a rough garden and food forest plan
– start making bread again
Currently reading //
- Fiction: East of Eden by John Steinbeck & Red Knife by William Kent Krueger
- Nonfiction: Just Send Me Word: A True Story of Love and Survival in the Gulag by Orlando Figes
- Religious: To Know Christ Jesus by Frank Sheed
On the menu this week //
Monday: chicken with cheddar broccoli and rice
Tuesday: pork tenderloin with potatoes
Wednesday: pasta and homemade meatballs
Thursday: chicken noodle soup and crusty bread
Friday: breakfast for dinner TBD
Oh, my … That book Just Send Me Word: A True Story of Love and Survival in the Gulag sounds fascinating! I’ll look for that one at my library. I am drawn to Holocaust survivor stories, as well as those about Soviet Gulag survivors and those of other atrocities. I am always in awe of the resilience shown by these people, and am so inspired by them. We have so much to learn from reading these stories.
On a similar note…have you heard of this film? It’s called “No Place on Earth” and is about a spelunker who found artifacts in a cave that he couldn’t explain. Once he started researching, he discovered that they came from some Ukrainian Jewish people that lived there during the Holocaust. Then he found – and brought back – the survivors. They knew the cave like the back of their hand! If memory serves, it was the longest known/recorded history of people living underground. Amazing story. I would love to get my hands on the corresponding book, but there were very few printed, so small chance of that… Check out the film if you’re able. It’s incredible!
In Christ,
Melisa
“I am always in awe of the resilience shown by these people, and am so inspired by them. We have so much to learn from reading these stories.” <-- Same here! I would put frontier stories in that category too. And thank you for the film recommendation! I can't wait to check it out.
Speaking of frontier stories… Have you read Hannah Fowler by Janice Holt Giles? Also, A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich? I think you’d enjoy them, if you haven’t read them yet.
Blessings!
Melisa
I LOVED A Lantern in Her Hand! I’ll have to check out Hannah Fowler, thanks for the recommendation!
I have marked both the book and the film (from the first comment) in my library account to request. I am taking a short break from reserving things from the library, to have a little more free time in running to and fro and reading and watching a few things I already have in the house.
I love the seed starter but not the price! We will soon have some extra metal shelving (the 4 shelf kind) (because husband is making a larger food storage pantry in our mud room closet. When we bring in groceries, it wasn’t making sense to put food in deep freeze and shelf storage which were in 2 different rooms. Now they will be in the same room). We had talked about maybe selling the shelving, we will have 3 empty ones; but I can see buying some lights and setting up seed starting instead. I have never even tried seed starting! We used to have big gardens when we had chickens but not much space so I just bought seeds or starts…I think it might be time to try the actual starting myself. I also have less space in this yard for veggies (at present, due to deer and soil – it’s a long term plan for a larger garden) but making more flower beds is doable at present.
Let me know what you come up with! I think I’m going to try metal shelving and somehow rig up some fluorescent lights. I’ll report back. 🙂
Excited to see what kinds of plants you are planning for the garden and food forest
I started East of Eden over the summer. I’m about halfway but set it down. I need to get back into it!
I’m reading it for book club, but man! It’s a chunker!