Layout:
Home > Archive: June, 2013

Archive for June, 2013

We've got eggs

June 25th, 2013 at 07:27 pm

Maybe you remember that we bought some chicks last January. We bought some broilers and a few layers. The layers are producing now. They have been for two or three weeks.

The first eggs are small, sometimes have no shell, and can be double yolked. And, laying is sporadic at first. But, now they are laying more consistently, and the eggs are, for the most part, getting bigger.

We have about a dozen birds, and some of them are roosters. We're getting 6-8 eggs each day. The fridge can fill up quickly, unless you have buyers. We've sold three dozen this week. We're selling them for $2 per dozen, that seems to be the going rate locally.

We'll provide my parents and in-laws with all the eggs they want, and we'll have more than all the eggs we want. Hoping to sell some to people at church and work as well.

This is very much not a money making opportunity. Just trying to offset feed costs for the chickens, ducks, peafowl, pigs, cats, and goats. That's a tall order for a few laying hens.

Cleaning Service

June 24th, 2013 at 03:19 pm

DW went shopping this weekend at the local grocery store. She looked on the cork board and saw three ads for cleaning services.

I called each of the three this morning. The first charges $10/hr. She doesn't have her own supplies, and it sounds as if she doesn't have reliable transportation, although she assured me that she could get to our house, six miles from town. It also sounds as if she doesn't have much experience. She will mail me references.

The second charges $15/hr. She has her own supplies, including a Kirby vacuum cleaner she prefers to use, because she's familiar with all the attachments. She does have reliable transportation. She has 20 years experience, including jobs in California and Colorado. It sounds as if she has moved here recently, and is trying to get another cleaning business going.

The third did not answer the phone, so I left my number, and asked her to call me back. I'll give her a while to call me back, but I'm leaning toward #2. Unless #3 is cheaper, and is just as experienced, and provides her own supplies.

Hopefully we line someone up for this week. My sister watches our boys on Fridays, and DW can take the girls out of the house for a few hours to allow for cleaning.

CCF - last time I blogged about this subject, you commented that it sounded as if I already had a lead on a cleaning service (the same lady that cleans my co-worker's home). My co-worker and I work in the same office, but we each drive 20 miles from opposite directions, so her house is far enough away that her cleaning service is not available to us.

snafu - thanks for the tips!

We're Considering Hiring a Cleaning Lady

June 14th, 2013 at 03:00 pm

I was talking to a co-worker the other day about general house stuff - I'm not really sure at this point exactly what we were talking about, other than I mentioned something about people who hire cleaning ladies, assuming that my co-worker didn't hire a cleaning lady.

It turns out that my co-worker does hire a cleaning lady. She comes in twice a month for three hours each visit. My co-worker pays her $10 per hour - or $60 per month.

We have four kids - two of whom have special needs. Let's just say that we find it very difficult to keep up on house work. The serenity that $60 per month would buy (or $75, or something in that range) seems very worth the cost. So, we're considering it. Needles to say, DW is all for the idea.

I'm Running Again

June 12th, 2013 at 04:52 pm

Not so much on the financial end - except for possible future health care savings - but I've taken up running again.

I've had an on again off again relationship with running. I ran during the summer 5 years ago, and again three years ago. I ran a 5K race each of those summers, and my running habit fizzled out after each of the 5Ks.

I started running a week ago Monday, and as of this morning I'm up to about 1,300 meters (0.8 mi.) of constant running without stopping. Then I walk for about another quarter mile, turn around and walk back toward home, and jog the last tenth of a mile. I aim to get in 30-40 minutes of exercise in the morning before I go to work. My littlest guy is usually up between 5:45 and 6:15 in the morning, so I put him in the jogging stroller and go. Occasionally his older brother will join us.

I've targeted 2-5Ks this summer. One will be the weekend of July 4th, and the other is the second weekend of August. The July race may have to be a run/walk for me, but if I'm aggressive with my morning routine, I may be able to run all of it.

I'm really busy with work in May (thus the lapse in posting to this blog). The work is fairly physical, and between the work schedule last month and the exercise this month, I've lost about six pounds since the beginning of May. If I lost another six or ten pounds by the end of the summer, I'd be a happy camper.

We took a vacation

June 7th, 2013 at 01:54 pm

Just this past Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We visited a state park, about 35 miles north of our house. It was our first family vacation since 2009. Part of the reason it has been so long is finances, but a bigger part is that we now have two boys with special needs, and we haven't felt comfortable taking them away on vacation until now.

We stayed in a cabin at the camp grounds, $80 per night. It was at the very end of the camp ground, so lots of privacy. We took our bikes, and bike trailer for the boys, and biked a lot. DW did some massive grocery shopping, and had meals all planned out. The girls had lot of fun, the boys limited their melt downs, and mom and dad were exhausted by the end. It was great.