{Around here} Seeds, eggs, and proofreading

I hope to make a semi-regular habit of posting what’s going on around here. These posts will be things that aren’t really worth a full post themselves, but things that I think you might find interesting or helpful or fun.

Seed Snail starting

Have you heard of this? A couple of YouTubers I follow have tried this new method of seed starting that looks fascinating. I’m going to try it with some of the other seeds I need to start soon.

I’ve seen people use feed bags, thin packaging foam, paper, and bubble wrap. I have a feed bag that I’ll cut up and try this out! Just search “seed snail” on YouTube and you’ll see lots of videos.

Waterglassing Eggs

Another new thing I’m trying is preserving fresh eggs. We had three more chickens given to us last winter and we are swimming in fresh eggs! I want to store some for this coming fall/winter when all the chickens molt (and don’t lay eggs for a month or two) so I’m finally trying out an old fashioned method I heard of a while ago. This YouTuber shows how to do it, and then she does an update after 6 months, 10 months, and 13 months. I only need to save them for about 9 months, which she says is about the best time to use them by.

I’m using half gallon jars (because I had them) and lime that I got from Azure Standard. (The jar on the left has settled and the jar on the right was just mixed up.)

Proofreading

We’re on the home stretch for the release of the Susan Allibone memoir! So many of you helped me with proofreading and design and I owe you such a huge thank you! I finished formatting the book, and got the cover finalized, and everything saved properly to a format that Amazon accepts with no glitches–always a nail biter. After making a few tweaks on the layout, it was accepted by Amazon and I ordered proof copies! I ordered a few copies with cream pages and a few with white pages. The white was a bit harsh and the cream pages are a nice match to the cover and feel of the book, and they are a bit thicker too.

This memoir clocked in at 693 pages! It’s a BIG book! I think it’s perfect though, because after reading through all the letters and diary entries that are in it, you end up feeling like you really know Susan Allibone!

So now the last step is to do one final proofread through the book. It’s crazy how much easier it is for me to spot the mistakes when it’s printed out on actual paper rather than on a screen. On the left are all the typos I found so far! One of my friends, who taught grammar for years, is reading through it too. Hopefully between the two of us homeschool moms we should have a beautiful book for you with no typos! (Please pray for us!) The flags on the left are all the typos I’ve found so far. Yikes!

(Aren’t those page flags great? And that book weight is one of my favorite things to hold a book open on a desk! You might want to invest in a book weight if you’re planning on reading it!)

I’m hoping to release it in June, and I’m planning all sorts of super fun freebies to give away for launch week! I can’t wait to share them with you! That’s it for around here! Leave me a note and catch me up on what’s going on around your place!