Wednesday, January 7, 2009

What Have I Been Doing Anyway?

Obviously, I haven't been blogging much. And I haven't gone anywhere since the 17th of December--I'm snowed in. So this begs the question, what the heck have I been doing?





That is hard to say, really. It seems being snowed in requires alot of extra work. I make almost all the food from scratch. We stocked up on basic supplies before we got too much snow so we wouldn't have to carry them in. So, every day I'm cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Have cereal for breakfast, you say. Sure, after I make the cereal. Make sandwiches for lunch. Okay, I'll make some bread. At least I've gotten to where I can make a decent loaf of bread. And I have an awesome batch of sourdough starter. But, I want you to just take a moment and imagine all the dishes it takes to make everything you eat from scratch. I dream of dishwashers.

There are other things to do besides cook when you're snowed in. We don't have a washer and dryer either. So guess what! I get to wash the laundry--by hand. Isn't that fun? My 7-year-old thinks it is. But only for a little while. To make the laundry washing even more exciting, we get to go out and fill huge tubs full of snow, bring them in, and melt them on the woodstove so we have enough water for washing. At least there's plenty around.

I'm also homeschooling the kids. Obviously, we can't get out very easily to take them to school, so they are now all mine once again. They're happy. They get their work done and go out and play in the snow--when their friends are still in class. They've pointed out the amounts of time wasted waiting for everyone at school. I hope they're not bored when they go back. I know they'll be happy to see their friends, but the one on one education is good for them.

Cooking, laundry, school. Throw in some snow shoveling, some sledding, a little cross country skiing, alot of staring out the window, and a bit of late night writing, and that's winter. My husband hikes out around once a week to get fresh vegetables and stuff like that. It's a 55 minute hike uphill from the car. We're hoping the snowmobile that we just finally got running will eek it's way through winter. If not, that's okay. We can live without it.


4 comments:

  1. Do you at least have a bread maker? Those things are awesome!

    K, clearly I'm a city girl at heart. But the peace and solitude sounds so wonderful. I'd love it. But I think I'd miss the conveniences.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! Your life sounds a little like Laura Ingalls Wilder's! It sounds cozy and peaceful but I'm glad I have a washer and drier. I love snow, too (except driving to work in it).

    ReplyDelete
  3. A breadmaker?! I am the breadmaker, the dishwasher, and the washing machine. I drool over washing machine commercials. It's ridiculous. After you've washed a family of five's clothes by hand, making bread doesn't seem like such a big deal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Is seven too young for deodorant? I'd take all their clothes out once a week and whip out the Febreeze...that's what the college kids are doing instead of laundry.

    No wonder you don't have to lurk in the damn 10 pound thread. Who has time to eat?

    If I win a free washer/dryer, I'll have it shipped to you. I just had to replace mine in the Fall. I haven't paid for them yet, of course, but it wouldn't even have occurred to me to handwash the sheets. Jeez, you make me look lazy.

    ReplyDelete