Homemaking Goals for 2020

   Jeff and I have been talking about our goals for this coming new year as it pertains to our home.  There are things that need to be done to make sure our home is safe and easier to function in as we get older.  We also have some gardening goals to get done to help us as we reach retirement years for Jeff and will need to grow more of our own food to help offset the drastic reduction in income that we will be dealing with.  Jeff is also worried about his possible knee replacement and having to take time off for that within the coming months.  He is really starting to stress about things and I really need him to calm down a bit so we came up with a plan.

Outside:
~Jeff will continue to take advantage of free lumber that is offered to him and bring it home for either our use or for our kids to use for projects that they may need to do.
~Jeff needed to replace the decking on our back porch and will also be adding a ramp to replace the stairs down into the back yard.  The ramp will make it possible for him to just use his hand truck to haul the wood pellets for our pellet stove up onto the deck from the area by the garage where we store them.  In the future, it will also make our home wheelchair accessible if that ever becomes a need.
~He is also going to replace the front stairs coming into our home.
~He will enlist the help of our kids to do the two major projects above.
~We will be moving 2 plum trees from the back yard into the front yard.
~We are making 2 compost pile bins with free pallets and scrap wood so that we can make our own free compost that we know will be free of chemicals.
~If time and money allows, we will also be building a small greenhouse to start seeds in and to extend the gardening season.
~Jeff is going to continue to pick up free wood pallets.

Inside:
~We are converting the front bedroom into a combo pantry and craft room for me.  We already have the pantry in there, but will be taking the bed out and giving that to Jaysn and Rachel for Steven.  We'll add shelves and cabinets for storage and keep my big crafting table in there.
~I will continue to add to my pantry with shelf stable items.
~I'll be making homemade vanilla for Christmas gifts next year.
~If I can find one at a great price, we will be replacing one of the couches in our living room with a hide a bed couch.  We will then sell the larger of the two couches we have now.  This gives us another larger bed so that we can have 5 guests stay with us at the same time.  It also makes it possible for me to be able to use it when I am not feeling well and still want to be able to watch TV while Jeff is in our bedroom sleeping.
~I'm going to recover the seat cushions on the dining room chairs.
~My hope is to do more canning and dehydrating of garden produce this coming year.
~Jeff wants to get my kitchen cabinets rebuilt for me with slide out shelving.  He did this to one set of cabinets already and it has made a huge difference since our cabinets are really deep and it is hard to reach things in the back.

How we are going to finance things:
~Jeff will be building benches out of pallet wood that he will be selling.  The ones he has made for our family have been a huge success and people love them.
~He may be building more cornhole games to sell since that is another thing that people seem to really love.
~I will be listing more things on consignment at one of the consignment stores that I do business with.
~I'll be selling more raspberry plant starts in the spring and possibly some iris and columbine plants too.
~Jeff is going to go through the garage and try to sell some of the things out there that are just taking up space and that we do not use anymore.