Weekly Update: 5.31.25
This week passed in a rain-splattered blur of coffee and messy ponytails. It was a string of early mornings and late nights. Busy days in the bunkhouse were followed by long nights working on plans and supply lists. I've hardly had time to blink, but looking at all we accomplished, it was more than worth it.
With the wet weather keeping us mostly inside, we focused almost all of our attention on the bunkhouse.
We installed the siding in my parents' room during the first part of the week. It involved awkward cuts in cramped spaces during rain, and muddy trips outside between the rounds of weather. When we got a break in the rain Wednesday, we finished sanding floor planks and stained them. We also cut trim. When the rain came back on Thursday, we stayed inside to sand, white wash, and start trim in the bedroom. On Friday, Grace spray painted the rest of the trim boards yellow. Inside, I laid the floor and applied both coats of polyurethane. My niece Chloe was my helper -- making the project a lot more fun than it would have been solo.
It was a big week for our bathrooms. Our dad and brother Levi began the bathroom trim work and mounted the sinks to their vanities. They also worked on plumbing the shower and both handwashing sinks. My contribution was mainly layers of spar urethane on the cedar trimming our bathtub. It took awhile to get the cedar installed and coated just how we wanted it. Grace helped caulk everything, keeping it water tight. On Friday, we had fully functional bathroom sinks.
It was an eventful week for the puppies, as they are ready for their new homes this weekend. We've been doing our best to advertise and promote them online, which has taken up a lot of our evening hours. They had their vet check this week -- which entailed an entertaining first car ride. With seven little wiggly pups to manage, I rode along to help wrangle. I could hardly stop laughing at the shenanigans as seven puppies looked out the windows, tried to climb the seats, and fussed to be held all the way to the Ash Grove Veterinary Clinic. After a successful visit, everyone passed out for a sleepy ride home.
Since the rain kept our garden more than watered this week, we spent very little time there. Bonnie-Jean and Erin did manage to seed some more starts -- mainly herbs, marigolds, and sunflowers. I might be crazy, but we also started some winter squash. Jeremiah started working on four more trellises for green beans. In the next couple weeks, we hope to direct seed some corn.
We had planned to bottle our cider and beer last weekend, but it was still bubbling so much in the carboys, we were afraid to. After the bubbles finally slowed down this week, we took a hydrometer reading. I had no idea how, but after watching a few YouTube videos, we think we did it right. We will do readings again tomorrow. If they hold steady for a couple days, we can bottle.
As the week draws to a close, it's been a relief to finally complete so many tasks on our to-do list. If all goes well, we should have an indoor shower this weekend. We should also be able to finish my folks room in the next couple days, just in time for my dad's surgery next week. It's a small surgery, but it involves his neck, which makes us all nervous. We are trusting God, as it shouldn't be that big of a deal. This life milestone has been on our minds for months, and we are so ready to have it behind us. Our dad will be off work resting for a couple weeks afterward, and I'm thankful he will have a comfortable, indoor space to heal. I wasn't sure we would get everything done, but it seems we did. God is good.
