Monthly Recap - April 2020
To be completely honest, April felt like a much better month than March… I feel like the shock of the pandemic and the reality of the situation settled a lot and we learned to embrace it for what it is and make the best of our time. The weather warming up significantly and the snow melting helped like a 1,000% too! There’s nothing like warmer weather and being able to be outside more to lift everyones spirits.
It felt a bit weird to celebrate Easter with just our little family but we did enjoy zoom Easter egg decorating with cousins, and a big extended Kolkman family zoom chat! I really do miss seeing our friends at church but I have to admit, being super pregnant and getting to stay in my pjs for church while cuddled up with my favourite people is kind of amazing! I am eagerly anticipating things going back to “normal” but I feel like we really are enjoying this season for what it is…
[What We’ve Been Working On]
Even though we’ve been working on projects inside, there’s something about the weather warming up that seems to provide more motivation for getting things done…
Decluttering
Seriously, all the decluttering! Sometimes I feel like I’m not getting that much decluttering and organizing done, but when I look back on it, its amazing how all those little projects add up and start to make such a big difference in our house! This past month I tackled my bedside table, the coffee cabinet in the kitchen, our master bathroom, the dresser in our bedroom that will be where we store all the baby’s things, the guest room (in preparation for my mum staying with us for an extended period of time - it’s never been so clean and organized! lol), the kids’ whole room, and the whole mudroom/front entryway in preparation of renovating the closet. Whew! See, when it’s all typed out it really adds up!
Our Mudroom
We are very blessed in our cabin to have the most amazing and spacious front entryway and mudroom space connecting it to the entryway from the garage. It really is fantastic to have this much space with a family, especially for all the gear that comes with winters in Alberta! But it was a space that we never did anything with when we moved in and the lovely large closet had become a bottomless pit of coats, leftover paint, hunting gear, canning supplies, bike helmets, etc… We decided to tackle this space and, while we’re still not completely done, it is already feeling SO much better! We had already installed 8 hooks along the back wall for coats but we decided to make the closet into a bench with storage and hooks and a shelf above, instead of a traditional closet. Here’s the progress so far…
Grinding Our Own Grains
Ok, so we’re literally just starting out on this whole journey but I’m SO excited to learn more! We bought the Kitchenaid Grain Mill attachment (this one), some organic wheat berries from just up the road (from here), and I signed up for a course on grinding your own grains from one of my favourite bloggers (here)! I’ll share more as we go!
[On The Blog]
The 5 Random Things That Help Me Be More Productive in My Day
Where We’re Grocery Shopping During The Pandemic
This is a strange time to be living in but, just like before, I am so incredibly grateful for each and every single day that I get to be at home with my people. I’m finding great distraction in working on projects around the house, dreaming up our garden, and preparing for baby.
Until I blog again,
Alex
