Well, the calendar says that winter will be here soon, even though you couldn't tell it by the weather around here. It's supposed to be in the upper 60s to lower 70s all this week. :)

So does anyone have any big projects planned for this winter? I have several smaller projects on tap. My most immediate project is to get all of my David Winter and Lilliput Lane Cottages listed on eBay. I hope to get this accomplished by next weekend so I can catch the holiday shoppers. I also plan on sorting through my books and listing them on Amazon.com. I've sold 2 books there so far and it's been quite easy. I'm trying to declutter the house but when you live with a pack rat it's not easy!

I'm going to take advantage of the 2 month break I have before spring semester starts at school to restock the freezer. We've used up the last of the once-a-month-cooking stash so I've had to go back to daily cooking and I'm really not liking it! The food budget isn't liking it much either! I'm also on a quest for a bread recipe that actually works in my bread machine, so I'll probably be spending some time combing through the CS archives and experimenting. There is a surplus bread store just around the corner where I can get bread very cheap, but there's just something about the smell of fresh-baked bread on a cold day that makes it worth the extra effort.

Finally, I've fallen woefully behind on the herbalism correspondence course I'm doing with Rosemary Gladstar so I'm going to try to knock out a few more lessons during the semester break. I also have just started working with some of the Perelandra materials so I'll probably be doing some more reading and experimenting with it too.

So what are you going to be doing? :)

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2001

Answers

Cloche window gardens, dandelion root herbal production, heirloom seed attempt from germinatable hybrids and higher quality worm cast.

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2001

I plan to finish up some stuff in the bunkhouse: finish the fabric skirting that goes around the double sink; finish valances; hang up paintings, etc., so it looks cozy. Outside, I plan to completely cover where the new garden (for corn, berries) will be next spring...I will continously empty the ewe barn litter in a successive plot plan so that by spring we will (hopefully) have made discing easier....we'll see. The space is ~100' x 35'. If I have any time after the Holidays and before planting peas in February, I may actually get some spinning done again (before I forget how!) Also I may do some wool dyeing. I would also like to make some more soap. I just bet I won't have time for much of these, but it's out there somewhere. ;-)

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2001

I plan to spend my time recovering from the exhaustion from reading all your optimistic posts! ;-)

I have weeding and pruning to do -- all indoors, and darn few plants involved in it. Lots of STUFF! Not to mention organizing, etc. And I want to get my dog better trained.

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2001

Oh gosh..............terrible thought!!! PLAN for winter??? Yikes.....I am still in denial that winter is almost here. How about clean up my computer room??? (Sherri has seen it so she KNOWS that it would be an all winter project!!!)

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2001

Diane honey, unless you're planning on moving to the UP, the winters in Michigan just aren't that long! {ducks} hehehehe

I'm a fine one to talk, I need to tie a rope around my waist before venturing into the spare bedroom so I can find my way back out again!

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2001

Sherri........it's not fair to tell!!!

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2001

Ya'll have such neat stuff planned. Me, I can't plan that far ahead! Unless I write it down someplace. I'm building a woodburning stove for the shop and I PLAN on having it done before Winter. Sure hope Winter waits another week or two before it hits. I would love to be able to work in the shop this Winter and have warm hands. I don't think I'd drop near as many things as I did last Winter. My Winter projects last year were to fix whatever broke. I'm hoping that everything that can break around here has already broke and been fixed and maybe I can be like ya'll and dare to dream. The last time I made a list of things to do, I got so depressed that I stayed in bed for 4 days! Not that that's a bad thing. Hummm, maybe when Winter hits, I'll just make another list, every four days until Winter's over.

Wildman

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2001

Diane, you can foget cleaning the computer room.... unless you remove the computer first. Seems every time I start cleaning my study/ computer room I end up on line instead.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2001

I just wanted to offer Wildman a big hug for joining this forum! You make me laugh out loud every day, and lordy do we need some a that!

Blessings,

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2001

I'm gonna learn to spin!! Ummm..thats about it..Ooh ooh we are gonna rip out the disgusting carpet and get pine plank floors laid down. Yay!:o)

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2001

Earthmama, you've got me blushing. Some people laugh at me and some laugh with me but it doesn't matter as long as they laugh! I try to find humor in everything because it makes ME happy. If it makes someone else happy too, all the better. I hear laughing out loud is good for you. It's good for me. I feel that we need to laugh more and worry less. Most of the things we worry about are things that we can't change anyway. Hey, I'm the kinda guy that likes King of the Hill, Smurfs and Tremors reruns. You just gotta know I can't be right! Thanks for the kind words.

Wildman

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2001

Like Wildman,my husband and me no longer make lists. I used to make lists and find them 6 months later. Hadn't done a darn thing on the list. I suppose we should start putting up new ceiling tiles or something. But we have gotten to the point that if we touch anything in this old farm house, we'll have to replace about half of it, because if it isn't already in need of repair, it will be by the time we're done with it. Also, this place came with the ugliest kitchen carpet ever, and who in their right mind puts in kitchen carpet anyway. I suppose they never thought about dropping a blueberry pie on it, or a whole dozen eggs (that was me, the klutz).Anyway, we've been trying to decide on what to replace it with. There is real wood flooring under at least a zillion layers of old linoleum under the nasty carpet. I can't be around if that all came up, dust and mold allergies you know, and I don't think I could put poor Tom through that all alone. Alison's plank floors sound nice, I'll have to ask about them at Lowe's or the lumbar yard. Other than that I plan on doing some quilting and knitting, and watching the birds at the feeders and keep the woodstove going. A peaceful winter--Vicki

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001

I REALLY have to get some of my cross-stitch projects finished!! I have several that I've started, but....well you know how it is! Last winter I foolishly bought this paint-by-numbers kit at my local craft store thinking that I'd have a chance to work on it thru the winter. Yeah right!! It still sits upstairs in my craft/chair-refinishing room (with a bunch of unfinished chairs!). This paint set cost me almost twenty dollars so I feel obligated to get it done! Speaking of computer rooms...how do they get soooo cluttered?? I have a coffee table sitting in front of the sofa where I sit. Here I can recline with my feet up and my keyboard on my lap and "converse" with you folks. It's getting really bad when there is no room on my coffee table to put my feet up!!! I have so many little notes that I've jotted down. You know, sites that I want to visit sometime! Added to the mess, are my glasses, pens and pencils, "pictures" my grandaughter has drawn for me and misc. cat toys that some of my jealous cats bring me when I'm sitting here ignoring them!! On the positive side, though, I am getting the inside and outside of my windows washed. I even had the "smarts" to take down all my curtains and wash them!! Hadn't done that since...hmmm, can't remember!

By the way, what are David Winter and Lilliput Lane cottages, Sherri?

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001

They are ceramic figurines of various sizes made to look like various buildings in the United Kingdom. There are cottages, castles, shops, etc. Some are real places and others are fantasy. David Winter Cottages and Lilliput Lane Cottages are the two main companies that produce them. They range in price from under $20 to over $500. I was very big into collecting them during my bored yuppie days. I've decided to just keep the ones that are representations of places I've actually visited, and to sell the rest and put the money towards paying off bills.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001

Thanx, Sherri. I'll keep my eyes open for them when you get them listed!!

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001

Wildman, my neighbor does a dead on impression of Hank Hill's voice. Too bad his wifes name isn't Peg. My favorite quotes is from Dale Gribble though :"They can read yer thoughts. Thats why I try to remain thoughtless at all times." hee hee Glad to find another Hill fan!

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001

Happy Birthday to you....Sherri!!! 38 seems like AGES ago to me!

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001

Sherri, Thirty-eight! You're not one of my kids are you? I've been married that long. You're still a pup. Trade with ya! No trades back!

Alison, I'm so glad that there's at least two of us that watch him. At least, now when I quote one of them, someone will know what I'm talking about.

Live a little

Wildman, AR.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001

Sherri, after reading my post again, I realize that that didn't come out the way I meant it. Let me start over. I have a girl that's 38 and want to make sure you're not her! No, she's here with us but I wanted to make sure she wasn't on the forum using a different name (Was going to use that big word for "different name", but couldn't think of how to spell it). I didn't want it to sound like I was asking if you could be one of my kids! I'm pretty sure that all of mine are accounted for. Did that come out any better than the first one? If not, then skip my previous two posts and as a bonus, skip my next one too.

Yours in clarification

Wildman, AR

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001

Better give up while you're ahead, Wildman :-)!!

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001

You consider that to be AHEAD?! [shaking head]

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001

I'm moving on to another thread. If I don't come back to this one, there's a reason. I think I might have done something in my Post Toosties! Or was it mess kit?

Live Free.

Wildman, AR

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001

Heck Wildman, my best friend's mom has already adopted me so there's no reason why I can't be one of your kids too! I always tease her that her mom likes me best. :)

I'm the oldest child in the family and the oldest one in my circle of friends, so it's nice to be somewhere where I'm the youngster for a change!

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2001