Making decisions

A really important question my husband I have been asking ourselves recently has been, do we want to buy a property that meets 75% of our wants, or do we want to buy something that meets about 25% and will help us build equity?
We're leaning toward building some equity. We found out we do not qualify to buy vacant land, nor do we qualify for a rehab loan. The best choice for us financially is likely a stick built home in a neighborhood.

It's a hard decision to make, since we want to have a large homestead, but if we sacrifice now, we might be able to afford our dream property after 5 years. And in the mean time, we will be able to control our own garden. Renting is wonderful in some ways, but not when you have to keep a landscaped garden rather than growing food.

Once we make an offer on a property, we'll have another garage sale. If my head is on straight, I'll remember to take pictures so I can show you how to make a lot of money at your own sale!

Tiny Update

I've been busy lately. We've decided to go ahead and look at properties more seriously. As in, we're going to buy something. Hurray! I've been spending most of my free time obsessively checking for rural properties. It's kind of hard because they're sometimes listed under larger town names. I really like the site Land and Farm. It has an option to search the whole state or by a particular county, which sites like Remax don't.

I still need to post about the amazing garage sale we had (woohoo for making $1,400 in a weekend!). I'm going to blog more when I wear myself out from property hunting.

Have a good weekend!

Finding a Routine

Things didn't end up panning out with the house that we toured. It was lovely, but needed far more work than our family could do. It also wouldn't have been safe with 2 little children. I've been eyeballing other houses, and lots of vacant land, though. We're still unsure on whether we will buy a starter home, or go directly to our homestead.

On the homesteady/grow your own food front, I found a walnut tree growing in our flower garden! I was pulling weeds and didn't recognize it, so out it came. I wondered what on earth it was, then realized the plant was growing from a walnut! It was unharmed and I replanted it. I've been watering it and making sure it stays healthy. I'll move it to a larger pot soon.

During my break from blogging we had a weekend garage sale and made $1,400. More on that later. :)

It's been hard for me to figure out a schedule now that I have more energy. The kids are both really demanding and I try to give them each attention, but it leaves me feeling drained. It also makes it hard to get the housework done. I imagine most stay at home parents of little children feel this way, but it seems to be the sort of thing no one talks about (possibly because of the lack of time).

One thing that has helped is the nice summer weather. We go outside every day at around 10:30 or 11. We usually head in around lunch time and find something to do until the baby is ready for her nap. While she sleeps, Wyatt and I spend some time together, which he really seems to need. I'd like to get a routine in place for the morning. I usually stumble around until I'm sufficiently caffeinated.

Our summer is getting busier, so soon I will have more interesting things to write about (plus tips on how to have a great garage sale).

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!