Category: Journal

Looking for Ollie

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On March 21st I found this little guy who had fallen off his mama.

Unfortunately, Mama opossums don’t come back for their babies if they fall off. He was too little to be on his own. I gave him a bath, fed him puppy formula and put him in a cage with a heat lamp.

He thrived and even learned how to use a litter box. He loved hamburgers and just about all food.

He was a male and we named him Ollie. He would cuddle for maybe a minute then wanted to get down and explore.

He loved hiding in the couch cushions and we worked with him on climbing and finding food. The plan was never to keep him, but when he got big enough we’d let him go in the woods by the trail.

This was the day we let him go. It was sad, but he was ready. When we opened his cage he sniffed around then took off into the brush and trees. I left one of my T-shirts by one of the trees because I’m weird and thought it would give him comfort. I realized after the fact that it was one that I dye my hair in and the stains on it could be mistaken for dried blood. I really hope no one picked it up and thought something bad happened out there.

Today Donny and I went walking the trail. I always hope I’ll catch a glimpse of Ollie when we’re out there. If I were an opossum that’s where I’d want to live.

There’s a creek that runs through the area.

I’m sure he’s very happy, living his best life.

I know I was happy because the air was a crisp 74 degrees and it smelled amazing walking in the forest. Please excuse my no makeup and scraped back hair look. We’re been busy all day taking care of stuff at home. It’s good to get out and breath fresh air a little every day.

A Little of This, A Little of That

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We woke up to temperatures in the mid 40’s. It’s amazing how cooler weather lifts your spirits. Our chickens were loving it.

Our teenager chicks inside were getting cramped in their pen so it was time to add another wall to their enclosure. We have two that are very brave and love to chicken fly around the room when they get a chance.

They are finally too big to fit through the openings and are actually calmer now that they can see what’s going on outside of their pen.

They are cute, funny and very chirpy. I cannot wait to get then out of our living room. Only a few more weeks until we can start introducing them to the flock.

Did you know that coconut oil can be used to condition wood? I used it on the chair I refinished and it made such a difference. I still need to start on the matching chair, but I’m pleased with how this one turned out. I’m still searching for just the right fabric to recover the seat in.

Getting all that paint off is hard work.

We try to buy from small business whenever we can. Today was the local vendor fair around the corner from our home. It’s grown so much from when it started.

A company that sells French frozen yogurt made with sheep’s milk was doing a buy one pint, get one free. Hannah got a free sample of their chocolate dipped bars and said it was really good so we decided on the vanilla and strawberry flavors. Delicious! You should really try this brand if you see it in your stores.

There’s no way we can pass up smell goods, especially handmade ones. There were so many booths that had some really awesome soaps, lotions and candles. I think we found two of the best booths. Hannah and I both picked up lotion and I found a cinnamon apple pie soy candle that we both decided smelled like Fall. It really does because I lit it as soon as I got home.

And as an ode to this wonderful weather, I made Mexican Soup. I’m going to link the recipe. You can change it up and make it to your liking. I add corn, green chilies and have shredded chicken on the side for whoever wants it. It’s so good with shredded sharp cheddar and sour cream.

Mexican Pinto Bean Soup | Easy Stew Recipe
https://pin.it/BOOhOoT

While I’m on the subject of food, Annie’s orange jelly is *chef’s kiss*. I’m now really wishing I’d gotten the lemon jelly also.

Best Worst

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Sometimes you can find the best part of the day in the worst part. Take today for instance. I had a very good workout.

Unfortunately it was climbing all over this behemoth. Did I mention I’m deathly afraid of heights?

And crawling all over this one. Today we set up on the front parking lot and while I was vacuuming (you can’t see that I’m in there when I’m doing it) a girl and her mom drove up and the girl climbed in the opening and started jumping. I probably gave her a near heart attack when I popped up. I’d love to see that picture her mom took when she realized I was right there.

The owner of the company I work for asked me to stay a couple of extra hours so he could go to a special luncheon. He is so gracious if I have to leave early when I have other commitments or days when I just say “I’ve hit a wall and just cannot do anymore”, that I would never say no. And I got a good bit of exercise out of it, which is the whole reason I do this job in the first place.

i was whooped when I got home, but Donny was off today and we needed to run errands. Look at this gas price! The line was incredibly long. It’s the cheapest place to get gas in town and luckily we live right around the corner. I hope it goes down even more.

We headed out to the Amtrak station so I could drop off a bag of books for their free library. We saw it when we took our trip to Chicago and I found that I love reading on the train so I wanted to give other people the opportunity, if they needed a book.

And it was locked up tight with a note on the door telling people that due to staffing shortages there would be no tickets for sale inside and loading and baggage would be done on the patio. That makes me sad but I guess it just means we’ll hit the free little libraries to drop some off at each. The Green Park has one so I know the kids will want to go with me because it’s a favorite place.

i also got one more very important thing crossed of my list today

Five brushes! (I’d already given Jackson one) Our brushes disappear at an alarming rate, which has nothing to do with our teenage daughter, I’m sure. We are definitely set for at least 2 weeks now 😉

Rain

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Today it rained most of the day which means I didn’t go to my very part time job. That’s okay because there was a little self care going on.

A little frozen strawberry yogurt eating

And then a lot more of this wonderful rain that always cools everything off. I’m fact, we’re not suppose to get over 90 for a week, hopefully longer.

Can we take a moment to appreciate these giant Adirondack chairs at the kids school? How fun would these be in my yard? Or anyone’s yard.

Now I’m going to go to sleep listening to the rain that is supposed to continue all through the night and into tomorrow. There’s nothing better than that sound. Deep sleep her I come.

Drug Emporium

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We have this wonderful store right selling the corner from our home. One half is drug emporium and the other half is Vitamins Plus. Today I picked up these.

They are so good! Next we need to try the salted caramel.

i also picked up dune socks for Jackson because they have some really fun designs, are well made and less than four dollars.

it’s such an old fashioned store where nothing is scanned but keyed in by hand. They carry my Mad Hippie face products and my favorite zum products also, at a much better price point than any other place around. There’s also Jeff, who works in the vitamins plus side, who knows everything about everything and is such a great help to all the customers. If you have one of these stores in your town you really should visit it.

i also forgot that I bought this cute little chickadee hand painted on wood by Jerri when we went through yesterday. I don’t know why Jerri is, but it makes me sad to see a piece of art that someone has taken the time to paint end up at a thrift store. She’s found her home now.

my walls are white. No idea why they look yellow in this picture

Burning Man

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The best thing today is that it’s almost over. Today was hard and I’m ready to go to bed. I was warned that the inflatable I was working on today had been in sand. The owner told me it was at the dump in Tyler. I thought he was using a euphemism. No, it was at the dump at a party for the sanitation workers.

It turns out it wasn’t sand but a very fine alkaline dust. If you know about burning man, it was like what I’ve heard playa dust is. It didn’t want to come off and it was everywhere. It’s also one of the hardest bounce houses there is to clean. It’s 3 rooms with pylons that whack you in the head and a tunnel that is definitely made for small children’s bodies. It took over 3 hours and I took a vinegar shower after because my skin felt like it was shriveling off my body. There are official names for each inflatable, but I give them my own special ones. This one is now officially called burning man.

i am so tired, but I’m off until Tuesday so tomorrow I’ll hit the ground running.

Sunday.

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home life, JournalLeave a comment

Today I woke up knowing exactly what was on my to do list. I was going to steam clean the rugs, touch up the paint in the bathroom, start on the Halloween decorations and finish up the laundry. I had deep cleaned the bathroom the day before and had noticed that there was some water marks on the baseboards behind the toilet and next to the vanity. It seemed dry. It wasn’t. I ran the sink to see if any water came out onto the floor. It did. I don’t know why these things always happen on a Sunday. We rent our home and our landlords live 5 streets away. I immediately texted them and they were over in less than an hour. The easiest access to the leak was from the kitchen. This is how my kitchen looked.

You can see the water damage. Luckily the pipe is just dripping. they will be back tomorrow at 8 to cut open the wall all the way to fix it.

I had to move everything out because our kitchen is small and they need all the room to gain access.

It feels so empty and not like my home. When we were looking for a house to rent, it was smack in the middle of quarantine. Our lease was up at our other house and although it was twice the size there were problems with it starting to pile up. They were also raising the rent quite a bit. We just didn’t really like the house. We started looking and we found only 2 that were in the right school district. The first one was already rented so we came to see this one. There were no pictures of the outside and when we drove up we knew why. It was just a plain box. No landscaping and the whole house was white with chipped grey shutters.

When we walked in and both Donny and I looked at each other and said nope this isn’t going to work. It was small, half the size of what we were coming from, but the backyard was huge. There was only one bathroom, but everything had been very well maintained. There was carpet. Everywhere. And not pretty carpet either. Then we talked to the landlords. They were just so nice. They don’t ever raise the rent once you move in. Ever. And the price was less than most one bedroom apartments. They said we could put in flower beds and I could paint the front door and shutters. The only stipulation was that she didn’t want me painting the walls. They had been freshly done, in white, and I loved it. So that’s how we got here and we’ve been here for 3 and a half years.

I just covered the carpet with rugs. Lots of rugs. Now all clean rugs because I did manage to steam clean them today.

Cute runner I ordered off Wayfair.

Woven leather rug we got 90% off from Ashley and a vintage wool rug I got for $30 at an estate sale. The leather one is super hard to take care of though. You can’t use the vacuum on it. I have to use the brush attachment, but it was such a great deal I don’t mind.

I did get some of my Halloween decorations up outside. Yes, they are super cheesy, but the kids still like them because we’ve had them for years. We used to have 3 tombstones, but one blew away last year. We just make it work, cheesy or not, but most of the time cheesy wins.

I do love Halloween!

Evan’s Corner

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Have you ever read a book that changed your life?

When I was in the very early years of elementary school, we read a book as a class. I loved it. I read and reread it as much as I could. Little did I know, at the time, that this little book, would stay with me forever.

Even as I grew into an adult and had children of my own, I always referenced this book. I couldn’t remember the name of it, but I knew the story by heart.

Today while I was in the shower the story popped into my head once again and I knew I had to find out the name of this book.

And, thanks to an extensive Google search, I found it.

Screenshot_20200601-122540~2

It’s about a little boy living with his family of 8 in an overcrowded apartment. He just wants a place to call his own so his mother lets him pick out a corner that he can call his. He finds some old crates to use as a desk. He paints pictures to hang on the wall and even gets a pet turtle. He loves his little corner until he realizes he misses playing with his brothers and sisters. He invites his little brother into his corner and they end up picking a corner for him and Evan helps him fix it up. Evan realizes that it’s good to have your happy place but it’s even better when you share it with others.

It dawned on me that my home and this blog is my corner. Just like Evan’s corner, I use what I have to make it work. To make a place filled with the best parts. A small cozy reprieve from the craziness that is happening around us.

I won’t write about breaking news or politics. I’m well aware if what’s going on, but this isn’t the place for it. There are a million blogs out there about those subjects.

When I look back and re-read my posts, I want to remember the good stuff that happened. So yes, if you happen to stumble upon this blog, it might seem hokey and optimistic, but that’s okay by me. I keep it public because sometimes we all need a little hokey in our lives.

TCB

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home life, JournalLeave a comment

Today was beautiful but we had other things we had to get done. With our changing schedule our home had been neglected lately so we decided a deep clean was in order.

That included A LOT of laundry:

How embarrassing is this? The kids sorted theirs and added it to ours in the bathroom. I’m happy to report that it is washed and put away. Well, I have a load of towels that just came out of the dryer that I need to fold.

This basket from Dollar Tree has been so handy. I keep all my deep cleaning products in it and just store it in the garage when I’m not using it. It’s pretty sturdy for being just a buck.

Today was the basic tools. I decided to mop instead of using my crosswave and sweep instead of using the broom vac. I did finally find a new standing dust pan. Actually Donny found it when we were in Home Depot recently, My other one was so old it wasn’t laying flat on the floor anymore. It’s the little things, y’all. With 3 cats and 2 dogs it gets a lot of use.

I am super proud of the kids for getting their rooms done and helping me out with various jobs without complaining. We decided to reward our hard work with a walk around our neighborhood. It finally feels like Spring outside.

Lazy Days

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The past two days have been gloomy, overcast and rainy. There were however some bright spots. Yesterday my friend Katelyn and I were able to talk on the phone. Her and her husband recently moved just outside Portland, Oregon and have been busy setting up house. When we talk it is always a marathon phone call trying to catch up on everything going on in our lives. Don’t you love having a friend that you can just be yourself with? That is Katelyn. We are like two peas in a pod.

Today is one of Donny’s day off so he went to work with me to help me out. I did not want to wake up this morning, but we did and knocked it out right before the bottom fell out of the sky. This is my treat for breakfast. I can justify it because I actually burn more calories at work than I do when I run. Seriously, and it’s weird.

Yep, fake Froot Loops! Jack, Hannah and I eat them every day. They taste exactly like the real deal and are only about $1.80 at Aldi. Cereal is one of my favorite foods, hands down. Donny is not a big cereal eater or sandwich eater. I find that odd. He also doesn’t really love the beach either. He is a trooper though and will always go with us without complaining (much).

Since it was a lazy day Donny suggested Sonic. We hadn’t been in forever. I like to get the wacky pack kids meal. Just the perfect amount of food. My kids have long passed the kids meal days, but I still like them. Look at my cute little toy I got inside.

I think I’ll put him to live on the side of one of my plant pots. Also, I think Sonic has some of the best Dr. Pepper around. Best ice too!

Now I’m just going to lounge on the couch waiting for Survivor tonight. It’s been a good lazy day!