As most of you have probably figured out already patience is NOT one of my strong suits – when I want to do something I do it right NOW and with spring finally here I have literally had to grab hold of myself and remind me that: “There are NO deadlines! Stop freaking out!!” Of course that kind of pep talk only goes so far and I am literally sitting on my hands at my day job because being behind a desk just FEELS SO WRONG! Because, finally, after that endless ridiculous winter, spring is here!
Of course there’s more to it then that: For the first time since my divorce I can FINALLY tackle the to do list for my yard and get everything done this year that I’ve wanted to get done for YEARS. No more waiting around for someone else! (I am also just shocked by how much his laziness hindered me and stopped me from so much.)
Regardless of spring technically being here though I was literally sitting on my deck last Saturday afternoon and looking at the over two feet of snow that was still there. “Why are you still here?! You are not wanted!” How can it be over 50 degrees for four days and there still be this much snow? Word is we still have over 36 inches of ice on some of our lakes too lol
(Coolness, I was featured in an article on the DIYIdea center! Check it out by click here ๐
Big joke on Facebook right now: “Please have all of your ice fishing houses off the lakes by July 4th.”
Second big joke on Facebook right now: “I sure hope summer falls on a weekend this year!” (I can literally hear people sobbing as they laugh at that…)
Sunday, however, I had quite had it with myself – I got up early and hit the ground running. First thing I tackled was my dishes and cleaning up the majority of the house before I forced myself to sit for an hour and have a cup of coffee before I hyperventilated. (I can’t be the only person who gets this crazy urgency in the spring!)
I took some stock and made myself a basic to-do list for this spring and, also, for what’s coming up here on the blog.
Then I tackled the frame project I have coming up the first Friday in May with the Farmhouse Hens Decorate. (See the completed frames here!) I was bound and determined to make a frame that anyone could make and still looked nice. All in, I am quite pleased ๐
From there I headed to my basement. A few weeks ago my best friend Rachie helped me empty it out of almost everything down there. (Yes my workshop is in boxes and yes it is driving me crazy.) Still down there is all of my scrap wood, my table saw, my miter saw and my shelving unit.
By some kind of miracle I got my table saw and shelving unit upstairs to my future workshop without hurting myself. (As long as some pretty impressive bruises don’t count as hurting myself.) I installed the shelf in the closet and was pretty darned pleased I had plenty of room for my table saw and ladders too.
Finally I am feeling some motivation in getting my new workshop complete! I’ll be posting all about it on the blog here in a few weeks as there is still a whole bunch of work to do. First thing is I need to un-box everything, go through it all and get it organized.
(It makes no real sense that crappy cold weather would effect inside projects like my workshop but up until this weekend all I wanted to do was go home and hibernate.)
At that point my mom showed up and we did what we haven’t wanted to do in LITERALLY MONTHS – we did a walk about of the farm yard! I told her about all of my future projects, showed her where my out house is going to be and told her about all of my plans for this spring/summer/fall. The garage still needs completion (another one of my ex’s projects he refused to finish) and that will only take me a few hours one weekend. I also plan on extending my privacy fence the rest of the way along the road to the property line. I’ll have to save up for seven more fence panels and seven more 4×4 posts!
But with the privacy fence extended I’ll have a full “back” yard that feels enclosed and private. And, once I get myself some doggos, it will be half of my extended dog run as well as I also want to expand my dog kennel someday soon too.
Then we headed up to my horse pasture to groom out our two horses. My gelding Garcia got so fat and sassy this winter I can hardly believe it but who can blame him? This winter lasted so long none of us wanted to move much for the past three months! Besides, at 27 years old, my boy getting through a winter looking this stout is just fine.
We emptied out and moved their water tank into the barn as it was one of the first things on my to-do list this spring. In the barn the tank will be out of the north wind and cost me a lot less to keep from freezing next winter. (I also plan to wrap the whole tank up in insulation and cover it.) On top of that, it won’t be filling up from water run off of the barn so it will stay a lot cleaner and healthier for them.
Remember my big leak out here in the barn that happened this winter that cost me a fortune to fix? Yeah, well I’ve had a milk heater running down by that fixed faucet ever since and that is also costing me! I need to get the empty well shaft filled with dirt this year so I never have to run that heater again. Savings all together between the tank being in the barn and that heater not running? At least $100 a month! That’s a savings of over $500 a year!
Initially, going into winter, I had expected to have at least a cord of wood left over and then winter laughed and just never left. I sent all my girlfriends’ the following photo with the caption: “That’s all she wrote!” because I was literally OUT OF WOOD. (Remember how I planned on moving all of my extra wood to my garage this summer? Yeah, well, that job literally took care of itself!)
Fortunately for me it turns out that my electric back up heat (though rather expensive to run) can keep my house at 60 degrees just fine as long as our outside temperatures don’t get below 10. I will be installing some kind of real heat before next winter though as I am quite done heating with wood!!!
The plan for the wood shed (in the following photo you see just one stall so imagine it being triple that big) is to completely empty it out and then I want to expand the horse pasture into one of the stalls and then keep my hay in the other two.
(Horses are SO weird. They have a perfectly fine shelter off the back of the barn and will they use it? NO! Hopefully this one will be a little more to their liking, if nothing else it will be a wind break from the north.)
So this next weekend I will be tackling my future hay shed and my garage. My ex left as much trash as he could behind in both places so that’s the next job that I can’t wait to tackle. I have removed him from my home so now its time to purge him from all of the rest.
So, a little bon fire is in order, it will take care of lots of branches I have downed across the property and everything that is safe to burn that I can burn left by my ex. Any trash he left that I can’t burn I will be hauling directly to the dump.
Then, with the garage cleaned out it will now house my lawn mower and my wood splitter besides my two cars and that will finally totally free up my old wood shed to truly become my horses’ shed (yay!) my Operation BLISSULLY HAPPY is in full swing! And I’ll be expanding the horse pasture a bit more besides giving them a stall in their new shed, so they’ll have even more room to run and graze!
I can’t wait to get this done this weekend! Do you guys have spring plans that you can’t wait to tackle?
Great plan(s) and I look forward to seeing your many successes as spring (finally) lets outside work commence. Tarah you are a great role model.
Joy
Thank you Joy, have a wonderful weekend!
It sounds as though you will take spring by the horns and make that a great place to live. I am afraid to undertake such things as I know nothing about them. I would love to do more by myself since my husband is one that never seems to get the things done that I ask for.
Hi Carol, I am really looking forward to getting my to-do list tackled, my ex husband did the bare minimum or nothing around here so now I can finally just get it all done!
Tara –
Good morning!
Spring is here so time to find our saws and hammers and screw drivers (not to mention the band aids, ice packs for bruises and the liniment/heating pad for our backs) and tackle our “to do” lists.
So many projects, so many goals!!!!
Today I will be installing a light fixture in my bathroom (currently I am one step beyond taping a flashlight to the top of my bicycle helmet) which has been on my “to do” list since last fall.
Question: Now that you have moved your workshop from the basement to upstairs; are you not concerned about all, while working on your projects, that the dust will make its way through out your home?
Hi Sandra, yup I better find my first aid kit too lol Spring is FINALLY here! I am concerned about the dust to be honest. Its in a pretty secluded location (dust would have to get down a hall and through two doors before it got to my main living space) so that is DEFINITELY something I’m really worried about. But, like everything, I’ll just have to figure it out lol The room does have two windows so if I do anything sanding I’ll definitely be opening them!
I moved from a mild climate to a nasty climate about 15 years ago and never quit bitching since. I know exactly how you feel Tarah. I have stuck my tongue out at the snow lol. Enough already.
A 27 year old gelding, how beautiful, old and set in his ways. Let me eat and stand where I want. I imagine he is very glad for spring too.
Yup, this last winter was a rough one, I am so relieved it is finally over good grief! Yup, he’s my old man, been with me for 2/3rds of my life and still gives me daily kisses.
You guys are doing great, but I know what you mean about self-imposed deadlines. I drive myself crazy sometimes.
Thanks Michele, glad to hear I’m not the only one that gets urgent sometimes lol!
We are finally getting trees trimmed, garden is tilled and some planting. Baby chicks will be hatching soon. So much to do outside but it is all good.
Candy, I love spring the work feels so good after a long winter!
I, too, have despaired the end less winter. i found myself getting lazy, but now that there is finally hope of spring, I am feeling more energized to tackle my to-do list! Good luck with all of your projects.
Thank you Michele, I’m so sore but its a good sore to finally be moving and working outside again!
I really enjoy catching up on your news when you link to the Bloggers Pit Stop – you have such a positive go-get-em attitude and I love seeing all the improvements you’ve made (and plan on making).
Thank you for coming by Leanne, have a wonderful weekend!
I love spring, it always gives us a boost to tackle all those tasks we’ve been postponing during winter.
Thank you for joining The Really Crafty Link Party. Pinned.
Thanks Teresa for coming by, have a great weekend!
I’m so sorry you have been going through a divorce, Tarah, but I am so happy to hear that you are making a fresh start and moving forward. You have accomplished so much! Everything looks great! I love your frames, they look really good. And what a beautiful horse you have. Thank you so much for sharing, and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party.
Thank you so much April, if feels really good to finally be getting some things down! I clean out my garage and hauled a lot of trash this last weekend. Its like my garage is brand new again!
We’ve finally had spring arrive here in the UK too after a ridiculously long winter that just didn’t seem to want to quit! You have exciting plans, good luck with them all!
Thank you Julie and thank goodness spring is finally here!!
Your ex isn’t the only man to not finish or even start projects. Mine always has excuses, refuses to do things, they don’t need to be done or? U get so blasted irritated and nothing gets done. He has no vision for what I ask him to do and changes everything I do ask him to do, no matter how I feel about it. Because of certain health problems am not able to do some physical things myself which irks the devil out of me. Plus am not getting any younger, will be 78 in July. If I could do even half of what you do would be so happy, ggggrrrr, after 49 yrs. of this am ready to strangle him. f somebody asks him to make something, like our daughter, he’s out the door in heart beat.
Me like a fool keep trying to make things on my own, find ways to do things.
Have to applaud your determination and vision, what you accomplish is incredible, am inspired to try to push myself. Keep on, keeping on!
Hey JanEllen, I know exactly how you feel! There’s a running joke about me in my family now that I will probably kill myself doing something I shouldn’t because I refuse to ask a man for help ever again in my life. Fortunately it does turn out though that pure stubbornness really does make up for muscle. I’ve had to get creative a few times and I’ve learned the VERY hard way that I can hurt myself and have many times. So, now that I’m older, I do approach things with more caution. I will drag something instead of picking it up now lol and I’ve learned just to take many more smaller trips then risk my back getting hurt ever again. It can be SO frustrating though!!!
Thank you as always hon for coming by reading and commenting, so sorry to hear about your frustrations!