I was so blessed this Christmas that I'm a bit embarrassed...so it took me awhile to come and tell you about it all. Homestead Man and I both have parents who spoil us and our children...yep...I said it....we're spoiled. Here's a list of my blessings that affect the OAH directly:
Roomba - My mom gave us this awesome robot that vacuums my floors everyday at 11:00am!! This has been a huge life changer for us because this means we CANNOT leave anything out in the floors in our common areas (as I've set the Roomba to stay in the living room, dining room, and kitchen).
Rain Barrel - My in-laws gave me a lovely rain barrel, which will be in place and collecting water when our spring rains come!! So excited about that!
Magazine Subscriptions - My brother & sister-in-law gave me subscriptions to two fantastic homesteading type magazines: Countryside & Small Stock Journal and Mary Jane's Farm. I love reading both of these & it will be awesome to have them regularly grace our coffee table!
Bike - Homestead Man and the girlies got me the cool retro cruiser bike that I've been drooling over for a year! It's got whitewall tires and no handbrakes...just the good ol' pedal brake. Love it!
Solar Lamps - My mom found two solar lamps at IKEA and gave them to my girlies. How great to know that we have those in the event of a power outage! Another cool note, for every lamp purchased, IKEA gives one away to a child without electricity. The note pointed out that those children cannot read or color after dark, so a simple solar lamp allows them several more hours of light for these activities. How fantastic to think of this each time we use our solar lamps.
More plum juice - Homestead Man's grandmother mentioned that she was about to throw out all of the plum juice in her freezer because she wasn't able to can anymore...she asked if I wanted it! Ummmmmm...YES!!! I think I have enough for three batches of jelly! Awesome!
Airstream Camper - Yeah...I saved that one for last!! We came across a deal on a 1980 31' Airstream Camper that we couldn't pass up. It has solar panels on top that allow the lights, radio, and water pump to all work without additional power. We need to do some repairs and replace the fridge, but other than that, it's in pretty good shape. New curtains and new flooring were put in in 2001, and it came with complete records and the original owner's manual. I'll be blogging some more about it as we get it cleaned up and do some of the repairs. When it starts to warm up, we'll park it out at Willow Run to allow us to spend some weekends out there working on our goals for the land and spending time with the animals.
