Spring 2018 Burbstead Update
Did spring even happen this year? Here the weather went from quite cold, with lots of snow in April, to high temps including a 95 degree Memorial Day.
Getting baby chicks is usually a spring highlight, but sadly, we aren’t raising chickens this year. They’d be due for processing right around my due date. Our kids and their friends love the baby chicks so it’s a little sad to skip it, but we’ve got plenty of other things on our plate.
Such as… Neil’s planning to begin our bathroom remodel this weekend. That’s going to be interesting, considering I have to pee about every 30 minutes. Fortunately we have a second bathroom with a shower in the basement. So it’s just going to be a lot of stairs for my nine-months-pregnant butt. Oh well. I need to stay in shape somehow. And DIYing the bathroom is going to save sooo much money, it’s a no-brainer. Thanks Neil! (Why didn’t we start this sooner? Long story. Wish us luck.)
In other news, we are hosting a friend’s bees in our backyard again. Neil refuses to spend $100 on something that will probably die. His friend asked again if he could keep a colony in our yard. Hopefully we don’t lose them all (and the honey) at the end again this year.
Due to the late spring the lettuce didn’t get planted until this week. Peas went in in April, a few weeks after the traditional St. Patrick’s Day planting day when the ground was still too frozen. The rest—mainly tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers—went in Memorial Day. Neil also planted two new fruit trees and two blueberry bushes. Not expecting the fruit trees to produce this year but the blueberry bushes are transplants from my mom and have produced in previous years.
I’ve got a little over 3 weeks till my due date—ah! We’re pretty much ready on the logistics front. The crib is set up, the clothes are washed, the gear is gathered and clean. I kept most baby things, with a few exceptions. Some things were borrowed and I returned them; a few things got lost in the hand-me-down circle, which is only to be expected. The car seat was expired before we decided whether to have a third, and I hated the one we had anyway. A friend generously gave me her car seat & two bases for free.
So aside from a few medical co-pays, our baby prep spending has been: $10 for a baby bath tub and $20 for a stroller (both on Facebook buy-sell trade). $22 on newborn sleepers and pants since all I had was onesies. I’ve spent about $30 on maternity clothes—one sweater, one jeans, one shorts, and 3 long-sleeve tees–since I had very little for winter and many things were worn out.
And big news—Neil is taking off an entire month. He was planning to take some unpaid time, but he has enough vacation left after taking the week of paternity leave offered by his company. Never had that before! He is very excited for his “sabbatical” as he’s calling it. He’s got big plans for the big kids, and I’m so glad they won’t have to miss out on summer fun that I won’t be able to do, like swimming and biking. I know they’re going to have the most epic summer. It’ll be interesting to see how they hold up with dad in charge. I think there’s going to be a lot more danger, adventure, and junk food. But I know they’ll survive and have a blast.
What do you have planned for this summer? And how does your garden grow?
I didn’t get around to planting my garden this year. I had other projects I was more focused on! I’d love to see some before and after pics on your site of the bathroom! And that’s awesome Neil gets a month “off” (I say in quotes because it sounds like you all will be really busy!)!
Yes, I will post some pics of before and after. I’m so glad Neil has the time at home!
Exciting times! I hope all goes well Kalie. The Oldsters are moving into a new (to us) house in about 10 days. We are going from .15 acres to 3.5 acres with lawns to mow, flower beds to tend, and raised garden beds to (hopefully) provide some fresh veggies. Not the move I thought would happen this close to 60, but we are looking forward to it none the less.
Good luck with everything. It is shaping up to be an awesome year!
What an exciting adventure. We would love to do something like that, but also want to be in a neighborhood while the kids are young. Maybe when we’re empty nesters. I hope it goes well!
It’s not too late for chickens. You can start them in July for fall processing. I like getting my pullets in September. When the days get longer in the following spring they are the right age to start laying. Maybe this isn’t the year to raise chickens. You’ll be busy enough with the new baby.
Yeah, I don’t think July is going to be much calmer or that we’ll be ready to undertake layers then. We’ve never had layers, just chickens for meat which is a short (6-8) week process.
3 weeks! I had my first 3 weeks early, so you never know … And I really do hope the bathroom reno moves along at lightning speed. All the best in the weeks or days or hours before baby comes along!
I know, there is a pretty good chance the bathroom won’t be done in time but we’ll see how far we can get. Both of mine came about a week early but you really never know. Luckily Neil will be home for a month so he can get it done then, though that was never my vision for it!