Category: Home Stuff

House Scent

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It’s so funny when people come over and say, you smell like your house. What they mean is our house smells like this.

I have used this laundry soap for years and the whole family always gets compliments on how we smell. Since I’ve basically become nose blind to it, I don’t really even smell it anymore. If I am away from our house for any length of time though, when I walk in I can definitely smell it. It’s spicy, earthy and just really smells good. It’s such a comforting scent. Some people think it smells like patchouli. I guess it sort of does. Anyway, I did laundry and that’s when you can really smell it throughout the house. All of the Zum products are so good. I use the bar soap, lotion, room and body spray and body oil. If you like earthy scents you should try this brand.

We are supposed to be getting storms in a little while. It’s been raining and lightning like crazy. I tried to get a picture of lightning, but of course it stopped right when I turned the camera on.

Hopefully if the storm does hit us it won’t be too bad. So many cities are getting hit by really bad weather lately. Spring storms are getting crazy.

Flies + Plant + Weird

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One thing you can always count on when the weather starts heating up in the South are flies. They are awful. We normally have the big smelly fly traps outside that can catch thousands of the little pests. Problem is, they are really smelly and therefore you can’t bring them indoors. Since our kitchen is right off of the side door, it is a playground for the flies. I saw a video on TikTok that showed a woman using a pine cleaner and water to deter them. Even though I’m not a huge fan of the pine cleaner scent, I gave it a shot and wiped down every single surface in my kitchen. This is what I used. It is 85% pine oil so it only takes a cap full.

I didn’t know this, but Pine Sol doesn’t contain pine oil any more. If you can find this stuff it is amazing. Flies absolutely hate it. In fact, they were just gone. I’m going to keep using it, at least through the summer.

Last night we heard a crash. The pothos I had hanging above the sink fell. I’ve had it hanging for 5 years. I don’t know why the hook pulled out, but when I tried to untangle the chains from the vines, I couldn’t. The more I tried the more frustrated I became. It was like a giant tangled necklace.

Luckily Donny loves puzzles so he was able to untangle it when he got home. I just need to re-pot it into a lighter pot and get it hung back up tomorrow. I got a much bigger hook for it too.

When I was cleaning and spraying everything today, I realized we have some weird things in our home.

This is Gaa-Gaa pig. The kids gave it the name when they were really little. I’ve tried to get rid of it several times, but they will have none of that. Its head even broke clean off, but they made me glue it back on. I don’t know why they love this pig so much.

This fine gentleman is Christian Frog. He used to wear a cross necklace, but in one of our moves it was lost. That doesn’t make him any less of a Christian though. He sits in our living room. He has been with us for years and I just tell everyone that he keeps us honest. You can’t do anything bad under Christian Frog’s stare. He’s also a good place to keep Hannah’s cap out of the way until graduation tomorrow.

We are having quite a storm right now, so hopefully the big hat will still be there in the morning.

P.S.

Have you ever made a big salad to just keep in the fridge and eat on all week? It keeps me from grabbing an unhealthy snack when I get hungry and it’s so good with Aldi’s Mediterranean salad dressing.

I ate some tonight with quiche that I made. SO good!

Retro Disney + Comfort Food

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Today the rain started about 12:30 and has been coming down ever since. I was going through some boxes that I need to organize and I found one of my old journals. Inside this journal I found these.

My mother lived in California and went to visit her and decided to go to Disney Land. This was back when a trip to Disney was simple. Buy a ticket, stand in line to get on a ride, if you have to leave, get your hand stamped. Now it seems so complicated with the fast passes and wrist bands. I miss the simpler time. This was also the trip where our then 2 year old daughter was obsessed with Mickey and Minnie. We had great seats for the parade and Mickey took her by the hand and danced with her down part of the parade route. As soon as she returned to us she started stuttering. When we got home we took her to her pediatrician and they said is was from being so over excited and that it would go away on its own. It took about a month and she still remembers the parade to this day.

Also a rainy day means comfort food. I gave the kids a choice and they unanimously chose breakfast for dinner. Jackson especially loves waffles. So we had waffles, eggs, bacon and sausage. Not too healthy, but really good. That $5 waffle maker was one of the best purchases ever.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny. Fingers crossed.

Sunshiny Day

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I vowed at the beginning of Spring, that any day that wasn’t raining, I would do some type of work out in the yard. There is so much that needs to be done and I feel like if I don’t stay on top of it, it will never get finished.

Today, because there is a lot of rain in the coming days, I mowed the front and the back yard. I also had to pick up all of the cardboard that Donny had laid down in the greenhouse to kill the grass. Since the greenhouse is no more, we need that grass to grow.

It’s brown right now where it was, but it will get better.

I thought I’d go gather the eggs that were in there, but Penelope was busy doing her thing.

Our tomatoes are starting to bud.

The potato plants are getting really big.

I moved the front stepping stones, which we never really used for what they were meant for, to the side garden. We need to get some more and these need to be repainted.

I got the pineapple top planted and the random cantaloupe seeds I planted are sprouting. All in all, it was a productive day.

Oh, and I also ran by an estate sale near our home and picked up these goodies.

Now I’m off to bed. We start Jackson’s birthday celebration tomorrow. I can’t believe he’s about to be 17!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

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We had a big change today. A much needed one.

He finally got his hair cut. We’ve been trying to get it cut for a while, but the timing never worked out. I was able to get him an appointment today.

I promise he is a happy kid, he just hates having his picture taken.

We have another big change coming up.

Hannah picked up her cap and gown. I cannot believe she will be graduating in a little over a month. She has decided to go to Kilgore College and major in journalism. She thinks she wants to finish up at Stephen F. Austin University, although she did tell me today that the best journalism school is in Missouri. Yeah, that’s too far away, sorry. She wants to try to find an internship at one of the television stations around here.

Another good change is that Milo, our stray not stray now, cat is healing up and gaining weight. He’s become a part of the family, getting along with our other male cat, but not the 2 females, but they don’t like any other cats.

And just because I journal about things I like, I was mowing today and smelled the best fragrance. It was these blooms on the trees in our backyard.

Donny and I went to an estate sale down the street. We were surprised to see the home for sale. It has one of the most beautiful yards. Her husband had passed away 11 years ago and she felt the house was too big for her so she moved to assisted living. We picked up a few things.

The waffle maker I wrote about in a previous blog.

I love vintage mugs. The one on the right was made in 1977.

Donny found this trunk made in 1906. It still has the paper giving the details on the inside lid.

I am beat. Mowing in this humidity had my sweat sweating. I cannot wait for a goodnight sleep.

Switch

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Wednesday evening I had the bright idea to take everything out of my side if the closet and start switching out my Spring/Summer clothes for my Fall/Winter ones. Donny and I share a very small closet so there’s not room for both warm and cold weather clothing. Well, today I finished.

Since I’d gotten that far, I decided to deep clean our bedroom. We’d been living in complete and utter chaos for 2 days and I just couldn’t take it anymore. Here’s the fruit of my labor.

We always keep a “cat” blanket on our bed because of this.

Our bedroom is small and storage is an issue. A $5 garage sale bookshelf, that I painted, works great in this space between the doors.

My $12 dollar thrifted small chest of drawers, that I stripped a stained, is where I put on my makeup.

Reclaimed wood and some IKEA brackets hold some plants and special treasures.

We needed a bit more storage on Donny’s side, than a regular nightstand would give. We found these crates in an old barn at an estate sale for a dollar each and they fit perfectly in the space.

And that’s pretty much it. Our bedroom is not fancy, because we’re not fancy, but it’s colorful and cozy and the TV is too big for the space, but that’s okay too. I don’t follow trends, I just find what I love and use it.

Also, today my dad would have been 98. He was so dearly loved and I miss him, still, every day. Happy heavenly birthday, Daddy ❤️

It’s Here

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When I woke up this morning it was in the 50’s! Fall is here, at least for the next week. The wind was brisk, the sun was shining and it stayed cool all day long. The weather called for sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt. Thank you cold front.

Our seeds are sprouting getting ready to be potted in the greenhouse.

Every single year, on Halloween, I watch the original Halloween movie. None of the streaming services we use have it this year, so when we went to Walmart, lol what I found.

This is at the very top of my favorite scary movies! If you haven’t seen it in a while, you really need to watch it again. Or just come on over on Halloween and bring some popcorn.

and just because they’re so cute, here are my cats who have been extra cuddly today. I think they’re feeling the Fall vibes too

The Wall

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The best thing that happened today was our leak was fixed and the wall got put back together. I just need to repaint the area tomorrow. They also found out that the pipe was going uphill instead of downhill so I guess something good did come out of it. Old houses, gotta love ’em.

i need to find a place for these cuties. I’ve had them stored in the shed. I got them last year at our neighborhood grocery store, after Halloween, for 90% off and have been looking forward to finally get to use them.

And here’s disco ghost or seizure causing ghost, whichever. I didn’t realize it was going to flash different colors like it does. Sorry, you only get the purple, but I’ve saved you from a seizure so there’s that.

it’s actually much cuter in person 🤣 Sorta.

Thrift Style

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Most of my home is thrifted. I love estate sales and thrift stores. I like that I have things in my home that no one else has. I fill my walls with things I love. I am running out of room, but that doesn’t stop me.

Some of the more recent things I’ve purchased I was able to hang up today. I think my favorite is the antique frame with the hand drawn daisies. I found it in the garage of the last estate sale we went to. The woman was an artist and had some amazing pieces, but this little picture was just sitting in the dusty garage. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it because it was just too pretty to be sitting by itself away from all the other paintings and drawings. I guess whoever set the sale up deemed it not special enough because they only priced it at a dollar. Thank you L. Richards, I will appreciate your drawing of one of my favorite flowers.

It has found a home next to my vintage clown head. Another thing is, I love clowns. No hate please. LOL

I also painted the frames that hold our antique sheet music that we found In Gladewater at an antique store that was going out of business. I had originally painted the frames grey, but all of our frames are either black or wood, so I decided that black was just more cohesive and it made everything come together.

I guess you could call me a maximalist.

The vintage Mexican pottery also found a new home on our shelving unit.

I repainted the little terra cotta moon I picked up recently because for some reason it just seemed flat and you couldn’t really see face. I used my go to favorite go to paint , Tuscan Sun. I very rarely use word signs , but I just really loved this one. The cross in the middle is from the same estate sale.

Now it’s late, well for me. We’re going to get cozy and watch the final episode of Shelter.

If you are wondering what that cylinder thing is, it’s my bongo.

Also, one last thing. Donny got the frame up for the greenhouse, but it was so dang windy yesterday the cover is going to have to wait a few days.

Yes, those are kiddie pools. They make good, cheap planters and we have used them for years.

Saturday

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I miss Louisiana. To be more precise, I miss southern Louisiana. I would go back, you wouldn’t have to ask me twice. I loved it; the parades, the swaps with hauntingly beautiful cypress trees dripping spanish moss. We loved all the parades that no matter what holiday was being celebrated all felt like Mardi Gras. It was mystical, magical. This is why I made a small homage on a small wall in our hallway.

The fleur de lis holds souvenirs from parades and trips to New Orleans. I found this awesome book that had drawings of NOLA that I turned into pictures.

Couldn’t forget the king cake baby.

I found this cool picture at a thrift store when I was putting this wall together.

Today was also clean the house day. I have a “uniform” that I always seem to wear when it’s cleaning day.

It’s my Saturday look.

Nothing beats a clean house, especially a clean kitchen. I feel like I spend most of my time there.

We live in a small home that comes complete with a small kitchen. We make it work. Also, I think our stove qualifies as vintage, but it keeps perfect temperature.

It wasn’t all work and no play. If you haven’t watched Harlan Coben’s Shelter on Prime, you should. The last episode comes out this Friday, so then I’ll have to find something else to watch.