Goals 2012

I'm not a great fan of New Year's Resolutions, but the timing is right for me to be thinking of goals for the Cookstove House.  (El Jefe is still referring to it as Plywood Place).  Goals are supposed to be SMART, according to TEOTWAKI BLOG here teotwawkiblog.blogspot.com.  SMART means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Based.  The one that will give me trouble is Time-Based...  I can write down everything that needs to be done, or that I want done, but it is pretty much a twenty year plan due to the limited number of waking hours in a day and dollars in my pocket.

In order not to be overwhelmed by that, I am going just deal with what absolutely, positively,  must be done this year, rather than what I'd like to see done. 

Cookstove House must have curtains in the bedrooms, and rods to hang them from.  Otherwise, we won't sleep well.  I have curtains and rods for the living room; I just need to install those.  The lack of attic and garage, and the limited basement, means the closets need closet organizers to use all the space most efficiently, or we will be tripping over all our stuff and be unable to locate anything.  This needs to be done prior to 2/10.  The only major unfinished cleaning projects are the shower, the tub, and that nasty lazy susan in the kitchen.  Should be done this week.  Then we can move in.  Sanding and painting are not going to happen prior to moving.  I'm not breathing those fumes in a closed house.  That will wait til Spring - at which point it may not get done because I will be busy with the garden.  So maybe July. 

We need to get the visqueen laid in the crawl spaces while it is still cold enough for the insects to be dormant.  I'm not crawling under there when the spiders are active.  It's bad enough crawling under there when claustrophobic.  I need to haul up the loose stones in the "Michigan basement" just to make it easier to move around in (that's a "in my copious free time" sort of job that I may hire the kids to do, except for the rocks that outweigh them).  Also we need to remove the dirt that was piled against the house, install the plastic shields around the crawl spaces and fix any drainage issues.  And lift and replace the termite bait stations in the process, an annoyance.  And put in some foundation plantings - probably thorny rugosa roses as a small deterrent to anyone trying to break in through the many windows.  And because I want the rose hips for jelly in the fall.  And the mailbox needs a clematis, because my mailboxes ALWAYS have a clematis, and once in awhile a goal should be something that makes me happy for no reason.

Next is the driveway, or lack thereof, and the (non-existent) walkway from it to the door and around the house.  These are related to the drainage issues, so I don't know if this year will be the quick, cheap, temporary fix followed by a visit from the Bobcat when we have the money, or if we will manage to find the funds for this in the fall (I really hope so).

Related to the garden work - The hoop house needs to be cleaned up, the figs pruned, lots of compost added to the beds on the sides.   I want 8 - 4'x4' raised beds in the current garden.  Yes, I'm a square foot gardener.  Otherwise the weeds take over.  Next year I'll expand it enough to have veggies to can from it.  This year I'll be buying my veggies for canning from the local farmer's market, again.

We do NOT want to make the mistake we made at our last home, where we put off putting in the grapes and fruit trees because we kept thinking we'd sell the house...blah,blah,blah... we have no intention of selling this place.  So, the issue is seeing what is already ON the land, and figuring out the best places to put what we don't have.  Anyway, I want a Honey Crisp apple and a Granny Smith, a Damson plum and one other kind (I don't have another preference), a sweet cherry, and a sour cherry, and a good hardy apricot.  Also, seedless grapes (because I am lazy and prefer to make jam over jelly), although I could probably just deal with the wild Concord-types on the property if I had to.  I should try it as an experiment in any case.

Then there are the animals.

I have to order the bees this week.   One three pound pkg.  I'd like a dozen hives ultimately, but I'd prefer to work up to it by splits, captured swarms, and only buying one package per year if necessary.  That's highly optimistic on my part, but I'm going to try it that way first. 

Next is either building a chicken tractor, a coop, or repairing that old shed, or using space in the barn.  I do not know what the best option will be, so I have to do some research first.  Anyway, we're getting chickens.

Last is the unexpected pig, that will require a pen, and for me to repair some fencing.  I don't know the timeline on that because it is by El Jefe's arrangement.  I'd be real good with April.

Somewhere in there I have to homeschool the kids, and deal with refining next year's curriculum, too.  And make dinner.  Thank goodness for Crockpots.