homemaking

the deer is here

/ abby hummel / 15 Comments

There are many potential “first post of the year” ideas floating around in my head: reflections on 2011? goals and dreams for 2012? pictures from our holiday road trip? practical financial tips we’ve implemented lately? fun plans for visiting cousins soon? favorite books from the past six months? important life lessons? telling everyone about all the free books I’ve agreed to read and review here? fun crafts I made for Christmas presents? our new fish tank? the delicious meals we’ve eaten on a ridiculously small grocery budget? finishing one of the 12 half-written articles floating around my draft folder?
I’ve never ever had a problem coming up with ideas for any project in my life, writing online included. Instead, I have serious problems with procrastination and letting myself get too overwhelmed and paralyzed thinking of all the things I could do without actually doing anything. It’s been an issue my whole life. But the paralysis of pondering this year’s first post, which is not that big of a deal in the first place, was ended when a very noteworthy event took place in our home last night.

There is a back story here. Last November, Aaron shot a trophy 10-point whitetail buck scoring almost 150 inches (*CORRECTION: 154 1/2 inches*) with his then-new bow. He wanted to get the head mounted, and I agreed to this idea on the condition that we would remodel our kitchen before it was finished. I also stipulated that the mount would have to go in the basement or a “man room” of our next house. I can’t put it in the hunting-themed room of our current house, because it remains the potential nursery if we were to have children while living here. What if the head fell off the wall and an antler speared our baby? Like I said earlier, I think too much and it causes problems sometimes. Well, in case you can’t tell from the lack of updates, the kitchen progress has seriously halted, and I think I’ve been unconsciously avoiding anything that gets us near completion as if I could hold off the inevitable. But now the day I have dreaded is here: the deer head is back from the taxidermist and in our house. Since Aaron didn’t tell me he had picked it up, when he brought it in the house I thought (for just a moment) he was bringing an actual mature buck into the living room. I actually screamed and covered my eyes for at least 30 seconds.  Then Aaron hauled it upstairs, so I’m guessing he’s using one hand for typing a paper while gently, gleefully stroking the fur with the other.

First photo of the deer was with a cell-phone during the post-mortem river rescue…
Then a recovery shot on dry ground
And now, after waiting a year for the necessary drying-out and whatever else it is those taxidermists do, we have a deer head ready to mount. Discussions regarding the actual placement are ongoing.
I just want to know… why does his nose have to be so shiny and lifelike?

He might go in the living room or the kitchen. I’m hoping for the kitchen, as it would be less visible to my piano students. Either way, we will see it from the dinner table, so I hope we have actually finished the meat from this specific animal already. I fully believe hunting is one of the healthiest activities my husband could have, and I’m glad for so much free-range, lean, red meat. But I will still feel a little strange slurping my venison chili underneath this deer’s blank, glassy stare.

Literary Decor

/ abby hummel / 7 Comments

I took a little time this fall to re-read Perelandra, a special favorite of mine from C.S. Lewis’  Space Trilogy. In many ways, a good book can become much like a dear friend, and I loved contemplating the themes of perfection and un-Fallen paradise in this Utopian story.

As I curled up on the couch with a mug of steamy tea and devoured this beautiful tale, I was also stuck feeling like the fireplace was looking a little sad. I’m not ready to get out the Christmas stuff yet, and I found some great inspiration here:

fall mantel from "sweet something design"

So I whipped out a few things I had around the house and used a key phrase from Perelandra to put on a bunting banner, so now our mantel is looking great for fall. I think I can make this banner work for the Christmas season, too!

my mantel!

“I know now what they say in your world about justice. And perhaps they say well, for in that world all things always fall below justice. But [God] always goes above it. All is gift. …The best fruits are plucked for each by some hand that is not his own.”
(Perelandra, C.S. Lewis.)

all is gift

[Linking up to The Pinterest Challenge – see other projects here: Sherry, Katie, Erin and Ana.]

laundry

/ abby hummel / 1 Comment

Because a crazy summer full of:
A) Two new work projects. Both are going well, but I’m still not over the hump of the work-from-home learning curve. I have gone from four weekly students to at least seventeen over the course of a few weeks and I love it. As I wave goodbye to a kid leaving after their lesson, I think “How is this really my job!?”
B) A kitchen remodel. Also going well, and I am way behind on posting those updates. I’ll just say that right now there is a hole between the kitchen and the guest room, one of the two towers is down and the island has no counter.
C) Other desired outdoor projects weigh heavily on us, like readjusting some plant beds, building a retaining wall and putting in a fire pit.
D) At least eight sets of overnight visitors from out of town.
…wasn’t enough, we’ve had some laundry issues. More specifically, washing machine water drainage issues. So until figuring out what the problem was and getting it fixed a few nights ago, we haven’t been able to do laundry for nearly three weeks.

Now that we’re back up and running, this is what the bed looks like at all times. As soon as I get it cleaned off, another series of baskets is ready to be dumped on there. I’m thinking I’ll finally have it all done today. I also think if we could make it this far without doing the laundry, we have too many clothes.

don’t stop believin’ (garden 2011)

/ abby hummel / 1 Comment

Having an (admittedly) nerdy plant-loving husband is very helpful in the summer when he grows a garden. Aaron puts a ton of effort into both the planning and execution stages of gardening. In doing so, he finds enjoyment, we save money, and I feel hip because we’re extreme produce locavores.

This year has been pretty successful. Even though our first attempt at snow peas was an epic fail, we’ve enjoyed several rhubarb crisps, the first few fresh tomatoes have been divine, and we’re trying a new technique with the delicious acorn squash!

all our tomatoes!

the big tomato is almost ready - such a picture of hope.

these snow peas are an embarassment to nature

squash growing up on stakes!

that bee's pollination will make the flower produce a squash!

Rhubarb stalks. And sometimes I do, too.

This year I have my own little garden, too. I am very proud of it. I purchased this little basil plant at a farmer’s market and repotted it myself. I try to water it. Don’t laugh – this is actually a big deal for me. I don’t have natural horticultural nurturing instincts, but I’m starting small and trying to make this work. I don’t want to have to buy fresh basil all the time when tomato season is in full force, because my favorite way to enjoy a juicy red tomato is tossed with olive oil, chopped basil and fresh mozzarella in a caprese salad. I fully intend to try fanning the tomatoes like this, too. Yum!

grow, baby, grow!

[first picture from livingstonandporter’s etsy shop]

a tale of two bunny-buns

/ abby hummel / 4 Comments

Because I can now spend my days enjoying the breeze through my screened-in patio while working and getting paid to do so, I have more chances to observe the wildlife surrounding our little paradise home.

not pictured: ice-cold ginger ale

This spring we fell in love with two little bunnies living in the back yard. It wasn’t just me! Even Aaron used the word “cute.” We called them Brother Bunny and Sister Bunny. Brother lived back by the big tree; Sister preferred the raised beds by the side patio.

Brother Bunny

Sister Bunny

It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. I’m sure waiting until they snared our hearts with their adorableness must have been difficult, but after sensing the protection of our affection, the darling Brother and Sister feasted on the leaves of my recently-transplanted hostas…

too hostalicious for ya, babe

… and, more devastatingly, one of our bamboo (bamboo bamboo!- veggie tales anyone?) clusters. Those things were $35 a pop. Hopefully the gnawed down plant comes back next year.

bamboo leftovers, now protected by a homemade cage

Please do not judge us for the unlovely rock garden. We dream that someday the rocks will be gone and replaced by lush green grass with twin bamboo clusters for privacy, bordered by variegated hostas. We’ve come to grips with our own human limitations and know accomplishing these dreams take time. It will probably come together right as we put the house on the market.

the uneaten bamboo plant in all it's wire-caged glory

So unfortunately, with the demolition of our decorative greenery already underway, my husband encouraged me to say good-bye to Brother and Sister Bunny before they had a chance to discover the edible garden full of tomatoes and snow peas. Now this story is all we have left of the two bunnies with their cotton-tail buns.

Good-bye to our two little Bunny-buns! It was the best of times to watch you play in our yard, but the worst of times when you ate all our plants.

good morning, sunshine

/ abby hummel

I finally took those pop cans back last night – yes, my total “extra” income for the month is now up $6.45, which brings me to $21.15. I’m having a hard time believing some of the really nice clothes I took to the consignment store aren’t selling!

I love throwing bread in the bread maker before I go to bed… then I wake up with the yeasty smell of freshly baked bread permeating the house. Of course I will get up, I think to myself as the alarm rings, I want some toast! However, there was no strong crust on this very unfriendly bread:

undiagnosed failure in breadmaking

Happy Tuesday! Here we go…

order

/ abby hummel

I have been procrastinating a little bit today, but I have to say I have a dream where my whole weekend does not revolve in catching up from the last week and preparing for the next. Like maybe next Saturday I won’t have to fold 7 loads of laundry. How do we even have this many clothes? And maybe some weekend I’ll be able to work on a project without feeling guilty about the house because it won’t actually be a disaster. Does this life ever happen for anyone? I am willing to invest in some serious self-discipline if it would make life more ordered.

While it is totally ironic that I’m procrastinating by doing this, I looked up the english word “order” in an English-Latin dictionary. I was actually just looking for the word ordo, ordinis but what I found kind of shocked me. There is a huge list of words! And so many different meanings! Here are a few that I’m thinking about today:
Castigo, Castigare means to reprove, chasten, or punish; to check or restrain. As a participle, castigus, -a, -um, means restrained, orderly and neat.  Because an ordered life means I must restrain and chastise myself for my own benefit.
Modestia, Modestiae not surprisingly gives us the idea of modesty. It means moderation, restraint, propriety, orderliness; respect. Moderation is so often a great sign of respect, isn’t it?
And Ordino, Ordinare means to set in order, arrange, appoint; to govern as a country.  Well all I have is a house and some other little projects. Certainly I can govern just that and succeed, right?

january and february

/ abby hummel / 2 Comments

Okay, so I have this goal for January to have a mostly sugar-free diet and if it doesn’t kill me, I think I’ll do it for one other month in the year, too. I have no idea how people who do this “for real” plan things, but I’m planning to totally avoid all sugary snacks, cookies, candy, soda, etc., and when something MUST have sugar (like my plain oatmeal this morning), I will use fruit and a teeny bit of honey. So I guess it’s really a refined-sugar-free diet. I don’t think I’ve been eating that much sugary stuff, but I’m excited to see how this goes.  I may cheat for Aaron’s birthday though.

Another thing I’m working on is a goal to make $100 from stuff I have laying around the house. I’m kind of lazy/scared/strapped-for-time so I am avoiding craigslist and will be taking lots of unneeded clothing and home items to consignment shops. This may cut down my profit, but it will be much easier. I’m hoping to have made $100 from these efforts by the end of February! I’m not really sure what I will do with that cash, but we’ll definitely find a use for it.

the merry year is born

/ abby hummel

The merry year is born
Like a bright berry from a naked thorn
– Hartley Coleridge

I’m very excited to see what 2011 brings for us. We have plenty of house and yard projects to keep us busy; I am working on some other personal and physical goals and I’m just ready for another year of adventures, achievements and blessing. Last night Aaron and I were saying that it seems like we have had many difficult and some awful experiences, but we are in such a better place as individuals and a couple than last year. We’re anticipating another year of wonderful growth … hopefully it will come from good things and not just challenges! TS Eliot says “to make an end is to make a beginning” and that is exactly how I feel about entering this year.

The big thing to start this year is our plan to avoid spending any unnecessary money for the next 3 months to see how much we can save. The best way I can think of doing this is to eat ourselves out of house and home: eating the food from our freezer cupboards before buying anything else from the store. I’ve been stocking up during sales and Aaron has had great hunting successes, so this might take a while. We’re planning to remodel our kitchen starting at the end of January, so we need to keep saving pennies for that, and it will be easier to handle the heavy construction without random canned goods and cereals all around. Even if they were on a HUGE sale last year.  It seems so very elementary (save on your grocery bills by using what you already have at home) but I am excited about this challenge. Obviously we’ll need produce, dairy products and some lunchmeat, but I am excited to see how long it will take to get through it all – and how low the grocery bills will go.

So here we are! The morning started off with bacon (from our freezer) and eggs (fridge) and now we’re enjoying coffee by the fire. An idyllic New Years day… if only we could guarantee the rest of the year would be as relaxing and rejuvenating! I’ll write about how I’m doing on the more specific goals later. Also, just in case you were wondering, I feel that I am under no compulsion to remove my Christmas decor until Fat Tuesday. FYI. We are very much into the baby Jesus here at the Hummel house.

autumn

/ abby hummel / 1 Comment

Fall is the best season.

I love the leaves, the crisp air, apples fresh from the orchard, pumpkins on the front step, hot wassail and a fire in the fireplace.

My mom was out in September and we enjoyed a little craft time to put together this wreath for the front door. I’m not usually a huge fan of flowers “with a center” like daisies or sunflowers, but this really hit the spot for me.

I just bought some pumpkins to carve and keep by the door, too. I’m thinking about trying something like this for mine!