Weekly Update: 1.11.26
It was a week of reorienting, of finding our way into new routines that will serve us well this winter. We put together a new schedule that should work better for everyone — helping us all find time for personal pursuits while being available to work together on the bunkhouse. We all started getting up early again, making space for morning devotions and healthier breakfasts.
The week began with a little festivity, as we celebrated Epiphany Sunday. We had a rum cake for breakfast, enjoyed a parish potluck, and spent the afternoon playing board games. We finished the day with our annual eggnog roulette competition. Our youngest brother Jeremiah started the tradition several years ago. In each round, family members are eliminated by shooting, not eggnog, but salad dressing. This year, our niece Chloe was the winner.
We commemorated the end of the 12 days of Christmas with a white elephant bingo game — which made for lots of laughter. Even though the 12 days were over, we opted to leave up some of our holiday decor until Candlemas, which is in February. We did move our Christmas tree outside, as the bunkhouse has a very small living area, and we missed our space. We left the tree set up outdoors to continue enjoying this month. We cleaned our storage spaces that had become a bit piled over Christmas. We rearranged our living room, optimizing our space for both productivity and enjoyment.
At the beginning of the week, we took an inventory of what we need to finish on the bunkhouse, and we put together a projected schedule to complete some of the projects. I continue to be surprised by how time-consuming finishing work is. Still, I have to say it is one of my favorite parts of our build. It has been so fun to design and build both beautiful and functional things.
This week, however, we mainly worked on exterior siding. I never cease to be impressed with how pretty cedar fence pickets can look on a house. We took advantage of the warm weather early in the week for a couple day-long siding sprees. I cut boards for both my dad and Jeremiah as we worked our way across the final side of the bunkhouse. It was so warm on Wednesday, we all had to break out shorts and tee-shirts to get the job done. By this weekend, however, we were back in insulated bibs while we worked. On Saturday, our dad made us all hot lattes with our old commercial espresso machine, which fueled and warmed us at the same time. It felt good to start making progress again, after the longer than expected break due to sickness, weather, and Christmas.
While I helped the guys with siding, Bonnie-Jean and Grace have been sorting through our storage totes under the deck and bunkhouse. Since we don’t have a good storage situation yet on our homestead, we’ve been storing leftover construction supplies in totes. Now that we are nearing the end of our project, we can finally get rid of a number of things we were saving “just in case.” It’s amazing how much they found that can now be gotten rid of.
After all the holiday treats, we enjoyed cleaner meals this week. With all the nice weather, we took advantage of the new Kamado Joe grill Jeremiah bought the family for Christmas. We had chicken one evening and pork another. Everything has been delicious. Last night, Jeremiah put a whole brisket in to slow smoke for our Sunday dinner. I can’t wait to taste it.
It was a surprisingly busy week — so much so I hardly felt like it could be over so soon. The warm weather and busyness made it feel more like spring than winter, and I guess I shouldn’t complain. To be frank, though, I’m not ready for spring. I’m looking forward to some slow, snowy days inside. There is always so much to do on our homestead, I anticipate the excuse for rest cold days can provide. One of the things I love best about Missouri is that we have all four seasons — and I don’t feel like I’ve had my fill of winter yet this year. Maybe it’s my Scandinavian ancestry talking, but I am looking forward to a couple more months of hygge before jumping into everything spring will bring. If the forecast is correct, the mild weather is almost over. Colder days — and more candles, blankets, and tea — are just around the corner.
