Looking at Properties

We're still looking at properties here at The Plastic Homestead. The one that sounded so right may or may not be. The shape of the land is a little different that what we wanted (it's a thin rectangle; we kind of want a square or fat rectangle). The price is amazing though compared to other pieces with that many acres.

I'm also poking around "normal" houses. I'd really like to get out of the rental and have our money go toward something we would own. I'm keeping my eyes out for fixer-uppers. It would be nice to get some extra experience with building/remodeling before building a house from the ground up, like we're talking about doing on a vacant piece of land.

There's one house that has grabbed my attention enough for me to request a showing. We've driven out to several others, but this one is good enough to tour. It's a dump at the moment, which means lots of potential for hands-on learning.

This whole house/land hunting thing is a bit tiring, especially when I realize I may be getting carried away.

Looking for a Homestead

I was browsing for properties yesterday and found one that looks like it could meet our homesteading needs. It's a lovely piece of vacant land, which brings up the whole "Do we want to live in a tent while we build a house?" question, but the price is right and we could continue to rent while paying for the land and saving up to build on the land.

I feel more excited than I have in a long time! I've tried to avoid thinking about buying our own land/home because of our finances, but I've let myself get excited about this. If we buy this land, we could be tending a garden on our own land next spring! 

I've enjoyed having my garden here at the rental, but it would be nice to have more options and space. The strawberries are still doing well. I've picked quite a few more and spread grass clippings around them to keep the weeds down.

Misc

I haven't made bread again recently, but I did buy some new yeast! I can't wait to see if there is any difference between using old and new yeast. I'm planning on trying some new bread recipes (we need sandwich bread!) and maybe pizza dough (which never turns out well for me). I'm not the best with baking, but I do enjoy it.

My husband, William, and I recently started watching Game of Thrones. I didn't even hear about it until last year, but one of my nurses told me about it during chemo and recommended it. We were watching some other things, but when we finished those, we started Game of Thrones. We've missed a few episodes from this season (since we started in the middle), but I've enjoyed seeing what all the hubbub is about. I can see why it's popular!

Mint Mochas

On Sunday, my family spent the day outside gardening and enjoying the sunshine. The garden is thriving this year, especially the mint. As I said before, it is trying to take over, so when the hubby wanted a mojito, I was thrilled! I cut off a large bunch of leaves for him to use, but after his drink there were still leaves left over.

A little later in the day, hubby wanted me to make him a mocha. I was delighted because it would be an excellent way for me to use up some of the mint leaves! I think he was startled (as he was not expecting a mint mocha), but he said it was delicious, with a dark chocolate flavor.

 

First, I crushed the mint leaves in the cup so that the mint flavor would be released.

Next, I poured a third of a cup of coffee over the mint, then filtered out the leaves.

Then, I added a heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder and a tablespoon of sugar, mixing them in to the coffee. 

Next, I added a splash of cream.

Last, I added the rest of the coffee. 

The hubby loves coffee, so I think there will be quite a few mint mochas this summer!