Month: March 2026

A Little Day Trip

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Day DateLeave a comment

On Friday Donny had to go pick up some wall art at the Tyler store so I went with him. After we picked up the artwork he knew I wanted to go to World Market. I so miss having one in our town. We noticed there was a Kirkland’s next door. We decided to stop in there to see what their wares because it used to be such a cool store. Well, it’s not so cool anymore. I have had this angel for over a decade that I got at Kirkland’s.

The picture above our couch was from Kirland’s also. This was our home in Bryan that we sold in 2010.

screenshot_20260307-130230~24165036958842698023.

I used to love that store, but it’s just changed and not for the better in my opinion.

But on to the best store.

There were so many things that I could have brought home with me, but I was thinking of the lack of space that we have. Plus Donny just wouldn’t go for the double papasan chair that I just love. We did get some snacks and Donny snuck some lemon curd in the basket because he knows how much I love it.

I found two goodies.

By the time we finished browsing the entire store several times we were starving. Donny had heard that Ruby’s was good so that’s where we headed. I love Mexican food but I’m more used to Tex-Mex. There was no Tex in this Mex. My go to is cheese enchiladas. They did have their version of them but I did not want the cabbage or the piece of fried chicken that came with almost every meal. Even though they were not what I was used to they were in fact very good.

On our way back through the azalea district of Tyler we saw this really cool looking park so, if you know us, we had to stop and see it. Turns out it’s the Tyler Children’s Park. We didn’t really know where the main entrance was so we had to walk down this very steep, uneven rock steps.

The park was absolutely beautiful and sad because there were trees, statues, benches and bridges all dedicated to children who have passed away.

We walked around the whole park and it was a pretty good little trek.

I just love when we find these little hidden gems. I think I’m going to have to keep some hiking shoes in the car though because I was wearing the same shoes as when we found and walked around Elder Lake.

When we got home we were trying to decide where to hang the lantern from World Market. The final resting place.

it looks really good when the lights are off too.

And as for today, the storm we have been expecting for days finally hit. When the weather is beautiful I will be outside almost the whole day. That means that the inside of our house is getting slightly neglected. Well, today I got everything dusted, de-cat haired, vacuumed and mopped. That always puts me in a good mood.

The kitchen is always an ongoing cleaning challenge just because someone is always making something. I was so sick of dirty dishes just being piled in the sink with the excuse that they didn’t know if the dishes were clean or dirty in the dishwasher. Ok, opening it would probably answer that question but I made it easier.

I wish that we could all just normalize lived in homes. My kitchen is definitely lived in.

I’m hoping tomorrow the weather will be clear and I can be back outside.

Wednesday & Thursday

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Longview, txLeave a comment

I am so far behind in keeping track of what all we have been doing. I look back on these blog posts when I need to remember what we did when. An example is I wanted to find out when we got the chickens. I needed to make sure that Ruthie was over 6 months so she could be spayed. It really does help me keep track of my everyday life.

The forecast had called for storms on Thursday and Friday so on Wednesday I wanted to get the fence line cleaned up in the front. It was very overgrown and there were several of the dreaded extremely pokey dew berry vines.

I ended up filling 4 of the 33 gallon sized trash bags with weeds. I had to take them to Donny’s work to toss in their dumpster because we had no room in our trash can.

I have had my composting container for almost 3 years. It has been very neglected. I decided to move it closer to where I can utilize it better. I guess ignoring it made some pretty good compost though.

A much better home for it.

Donny had texted me on Wednesday saying that we were missing a really good estate sale. I was sweaty and had been working on the fence line and didn’t want to stop mid way. We decided to head out to see if we could find any treasures Thursday morning. I did find a few things.

The sea glass was in the dish surrounding the candle so I had to buy the whole thing. It was only $3 so not too bad. I want to try and wire wrap some of the glass to make pendants.

I found this bag of silverware and went through it to see if there were any I could make rings out of. There were a few so I decided to just pay the 10 bucks they were asking for the bag. Luckily when we checked out she gave them to me for a dollar. Sweet!

When Donny was checking out I looked out the window into part of the backyard I hadn’t ventured into and saw this shepherds hook. I have been wanting a good heavy one but, since I’m cheap, I didn’t want to pay a lot for one. This one was only $6 so it came home with me.

It still hadn’t rained a drop and the sky was clear. I checked 3 different weather sites and they all had different forecasts. I’m beginning to think they use a magic 8 ball to predict the weather. Because it was actually a beautiful day I wanted to go get some elephant ear and caladium bulbs. I needed to replace our hostas that were dead. We also wanted to pick up some flowers to attract the pollinators. Donny and I spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out where to plant what and in which pot.

I used my new shepherds hook for some violas.

The rooster got some lavender. It smells so good even with no flowers yet.

The hyacinths also attract bees and the marigolds are good bug deterrents.

We had run by Dollar Tree and I found this cute flamingo whirly gig.

I found these cute mushrooms. They came on the same size pole as the flamingo. I didn’t want floating in the air mushrooms so I just used my bolt cutters to shorten them.

I hope the birds find the little bird feeder we put in. The martins have already started making their home in the hole above the patio. I’m so glad they come back every year. Donny and I are trying to figure out how to put a net under it because last Spring the only baby they had kept falling out and ultimately didn’t survive.

We had been wanting go to the Thursday trivia night at Oil Horse Brewery downtown. Hannah wanted to go with us and we thought it would be fun.

We did so bad, but it was so much fun.

It was crowded and we got there late so we were at the table/bar against the window.

The building with the green lights is actually apartments. Hannah and I both decided that if we had a chance we would live there because they were just that cool.

We were cheering on this little toddler girl outside the window playing Cornhole. I was leaning over to see outside the window, got overzealous with my cheering and knocked Donny’s beer over. The whole thing went down my shirt, through my shirt and was pouring onto my jeans. So that was the end of the evening. (trivia was on the last round) Except we went to Super 1 because we wanted ice cream and I smelled like a brewery and that’s okay because the ice cream was worth it.

Impatient

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn gardeningLeave a comment

Yesterday I had to run to Home Depot to get the rest of the soil I needed to finish up filling the raised beds. The front garden is so shady that it takes forever for something to grow. I found out that Impatiens and Vincas do well in shade so I looked for some there. No luck so I headed to Walmart where, online, it said the flowers were available. I could not find any of those flowers inside or out. I did find some tomato plants. I do not like the beefsteak or any of the large variety tomatoes. I prefer Roma but the smaller tomatoes are so hard to find for some reason. I picked up the last two that they had. Even Home Depot only had the large variety. While I was there I also picked up some strawberry plants.

Strawberries in.

I really dislike buying plants and prefer to start them myself with seeds, but I was very impatient to see something growing the the gardens. I am nurturing my seed trays and making sure they get enough sun. I keep the lids on at night but I have to leave them outside just because we don’t have the space inside.

I added a few more seed trays to the bunch.

My celery is starting to grow. I just plant the bottom part that I cut off.

I don’t know how my green onions are still alive. I just left them outside during all of the freezing weather.

Since I have planted seeds in the raised bed where I normally keep the seed trays at night I decided to just line them up outside the border and hope no animal gets into them.

Two things really irritated me today.

I went to move the weed sacks and the bottom dropped out of the bigger one.

This is the biggest one that I just don’t know what to think about it.

The city is putting in new electric poles and changing out the street lights. The light across the street has been burned out for a few months. At first it seemed so dark but I got used to it and actually started liking it because we could really see the stars so clearly

The light that was there before gave off a wonderful amber glow like this one down the street.

Did they put that kind of light back in? Oh, heavens no. We got a blinding LED light that is turned the wrong way so it looks like aliens are trying to beam up my neighbors house.

I guess I need to be careful what I wish for because I did call the city to let them know the light was out. Why Longview why?!?

More Garden Progress

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn gardeningLeave a comment

We have had the fenced garden for a couple of years now. It’s been okay, but always seemed a little messy. The dirt was always piled up in mounds. The stepping stones would end up buried. Part of the wood is rotting, but it will make it through at least one more season.

I was going to go get bricks to put up an inside border. It would have cost about 15 dollars which really isn’t bad, but since we are trying to use what we have I decided to cut some boards and use those instead. I didn’t like the plain concrete stepping stones so I painted them red. While those were drying I tilled up the soil and started spreading it out. After I dug the trenches for the boards and put them in I filled the space with mulch and laid the stones back down.

It looks so much neater now. The door used to close. For a while now we have used the rake to hold it closed. I bought some garden hooks at Dollar Tree. You get 4 per package.

Just looking at this picture I’m pretty sure I’ll be repainting the boards.

I used the other two to hang up the onions and the lantern.

Now I needed to get some seeds in the ground. I have tried all different kinds of plant markers. No matter what kind I get, they never seems to work. They either get moved, washed away or are just missing. I decided to make a diagram (poorly) .

The big blank space on the side is where the tomatoes will go.

I started filling in the planters with dirt from my really big pot and some others I’m not using right now.

I’m so excited because my seeds are starting to sprout finally. It’s a fine line between watering them too much and not enough. We got a new hose and sprayer. It’s still very stiff and hard to maneuver. I was looking online for a hose holder. The one that I really liked was, unfortunately $80 so that was a no go. I saw some free standing holders, but the reviews were not so great. There are baskets and pots that hold the hose also, but I just didn’t feel like paying what they were asking. Then I remembered that we have a huge pot that we have had trouble growing things in. My Jasmine died. My begonias died. So I thought this would be the perfect solution and it was.

I didn’t realize that you need to soak parsley and broccoli seeds overnight. So hopefully I will get those in the planters tomorrow.

The sun was out all day with not a cloud in the sky so that meant that my solar lights were getting all the charge they needed.

The lights make all the difference at night. I can’t believe how far this side yard has come.