busy bee

We are going to have our house appraised for refinancing sometime in the next few weeks.  For the past few days I've been kicking up organizing and getting rid of trash/useless things that have accumulated in our entryway, gardening nook, laundry room etc etc... Last night I tackled Esme's TV counter, which was in need of a thorough dusting.  I washed down a few appliances, and cleaned out aforementioned garden nook.  This morning I went down to the laundry room and gave it a onceover - although it is a bit more difficult with all the dust and lint from the dryer.  It looks better.  I also weeded out our pole garden - it needed it - and made the border edges especially visible again so you can see exactly what we've done landscaping that in.

We've made a lot of improvements to the property and we want to show them off - and tell them what we are looking to improve on further.  We want to build a barn and equipment shelter outside, not a huge one, but enough to keep our tractor in and give the goat and chickens a better home.  And we want to add a lot more insulation to the attic - it has been our list for years but we've never been able to do it all at once.  Once we have the tractor running again and properly sheltered, we can upkeep the road and bring in more gravel.  I have a bit of hope we can further apply a bit towards some gas heat and putting a better surface on our shower valve wall, which has leaked through to the water heater closet a few times.  These things will really help the value of our home and make it nicer overall.

In the meantime, while we are waiting for everything - I will be seeing what I can do 'with what we've got'.. long overdue organizing and destashing etc. 

I made a big dog pillow for the couch again last night out of old clothes that I had been putting in a plastic bin and some fabric Mark found at the thrift store the other day.  They really appreciated the last round of those.  I've got some other, better condition, older clothes to drop off at a thrift store, and some in between things I was going to cut up to make a new set of counter mats for the kitchen.  I've tried to reorganize my yarn and projects into one place - there is a sweater I was working on last Spring, and the current rectangular 'color-shift' shawl I'm crocheting.

If I can do more with the giant fabric container sitting out in the middle of the floor and things near it - it will give more space there and not feel so crowded.

So.. those are the goals right now...