Location:Washington
Occupation:Office Monkey
Future Career: Hopefully farmer
Hobbies: Knitting, drawing, singing, learnin' things
Favorite TV shows/movies: Don't really watch any.
Likes:Chocolate, cute fluffy animals, computers, wry humor, learning
Dislikes:Zealots of any description, anybody too heavily into "-isms", the deliberately stupid, French Toast
Pet: Three adorable pet rats
Happy New Year's, all. I'm starting this journal to chronicle my year as I start making some changes in my life to work towards my dream of being self sufficient home owner. I just moved a week before Christmas into a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment. I have money saved from inheritance to by my own home with acreage come Autumn 2010. Time to start small, yes? My goal is to spend this year learning and practicing as much as I can.
I like my apartment. It's 600 square feet, has a HUGE counter in the kitchen and I'm on the 3rd floor facing East/West. I have a nice big deck too. Just perfect for starting a container garden in the spring.
Current Projects:
- Budgeting. It's not so much that I am a bad spender, it's more that I've got a bad learning disability when it comes to math, and I ALWAYS seem to make a mistake that costs me somewhere. Forgetting about this or that bill, forgetting to check gas prices, miscalculating pounds per price when I buy produce at the grocery store...and so on. I STILL can't figure out sales tax or tips.
- Learning how to manage my food better. I'm actually doing pretty well at this. I got myself a crock pot and I'm having a blast throwing stuff into it. I've cut down a LOT on food waste because of it. I learned how to make my own stocks and butcher my own meat too. Still longing for the day when I can own my OWN chickens and livestock for this! Good skills for me to have when the time comes now.
- Sewing new hammocks for my ratties out of some old clothes, and learning how to knit something other than blankets and scarves.
- Challenging myself to start using what I've got and being creative rather than going out and buying things I "think" I need.
Projects In Planning
Spring - Deck Garden. Definitely growing my own herbs! This I'm familiar with, so I just need to pick my plant. Going to try my hand at a few vegetable trays. Some tomatoes, beans, garlic, and maybe a few other things. I've never grown veggies before, so I've got a lot of researching to do.
- Compost piling? No clue how to do this. Need to research.
- Starting small with some carpentry. I can't hammer a nail straight. Gonna figure out how to build my deck trays for the plants.
Summer - Expanding on carpentry skills. Need to figure out a bigger project to work on.
- Hopefully budgeting in the Spring will yield me being able to buy a sewing machine. I can hand sew, but I'd like to learn how to make some clothes and things. Haven't used a machine in years, so I'll employ some friends who sew to help me relearn how to use the darned thing.
- Working with thermodynamics. 3rd floor apartment and no shade. It faces East/West. Gonna get hot in the summer. Built a swamp cooler last summer, but I think I can improve on that idea more.
Fall - Buying my house! All year will be spent learning what to look for, how to do it, and how to get the best value for my money.
- Get a few chicks to start raising through the winter so they will be ready to lay fairly early in 2011.
I think this is enough for now. Gonna be a lot of things popping up through the year that I'll need to consider as I muddle my way through. But this is good enough for the first night of 2010.
Happy New Year to you all! May it be blessed with good fortune and ease in daily life.
Occupation:Office Monkey
Future Career: Hopefully farmer
Hobbies: Knitting, drawing, singing, learnin' things
Favorite TV shows/movies: Don't really watch any.
Likes:Chocolate, cute fluffy animals, computers, wry humor, learning
Dislikes:Zealots of any description, anybody too heavily into "-isms", the deliberately stupid, French Toast
Pet: Three adorable pet rats
Happy New Year's, all. I'm starting this journal to chronicle my year as I start making some changes in my life to work towards my dream of being self sufficient home owner. I just moved a week before Christmas into a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment. I have money saved from inheritance to by my own home with acreage come Autumn 2010. Time to start small, yes? My goal is to spend this year learning and practicing as much as I can.
I like my apartment. It's 600 square feet, has a HUGE counter in the kitchen and I'm on the 3rd floor facing East/West. I have a nice big deck too. Just perfect for starting a container garden in the spring.
Current Projects:
- Budgeting. It's not so much that I am a bad spender, it's more that I've got a bad learning disability when it comes to math, and I ALWAYS seem to make a mistake that costs me somewhere. Forgetting about this or that bill, forgetting to check gas prices, miscalculating pounds per price when I buy produce at the grocery store...and so on. I STILL can't figure out sales tax or tips.
- Learning how to manage my food better. I'm actually doing pretty well at this. I got myself a crock pot and I'm having a blast throwing stuff into it. I've cut down a LOT on food waste because of it. I learned how to make my own stocks and butcher my own meat too. Still longing for the day when I can own my OWN chickens and livestock for this! Good skills for me to have when the time comes now.
- Sewing new hammocks for my ratties out of some old clothes, and learning how to knit something other than blankets and scarves.
- Challenging myself to start using what I've got and being creative rather than going out and buying things I "think" I need.
Projects In Planning
Spring - Deck Garden. Definitely growing my own herbs! This I'm familiar with, so I just need to pick my plant. Going to try my hand at a few vegetable trays. Some tomatoes, beans, garlic, and maybe a few other things. I've never grown veggies before, so I've got a lot of researching to do.
- Compost piling? No clue how to do this. Need to research.
- Starting small with some carpentry. I can't hammer a nail straight. Gonna figure out how to build my deck trays for the plants.
Summer - Expanding on carpentry skills. Need to figure out a bigger project to work on.
- Hopefully budgeting in the Spring will yield me being able to buy a sewing machine. I can hand sew, but I'd like to learn how to make some clothes and things. Haven't used a machine in years, so I'll employ some friends who sew to help me relearn how to use the darned thing.
- Working with thermodynamics. 3rd floor apartment and no shade. It faces East/West. Gonna get hot in the summer. Built a swamp cooler last summer, but I think I can improve on that idea more.
Fall - Buying my house! All year will be spent learning what to look for, how to do it, and how to get the best value for my money.
- Get a few chicks to start raising through the winter so they will be ready to lay fairly early in 2011.
I think this is enough for now. Gonna be a lot of things popping up through the year that I'll need to consider as I muddle my way through. But this is good enough for the first night of 2010.
Happy New Year to you all! May it be blessed with good fortune and ease in daily life.
