Category: Longview, tx

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.

Walkie Talkie

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Day Date, Longview, txLeave a comment

Hannah was feeling overwhelmed when I picked her up from college on Thursday. When this happens we go for walks. We decided to start at The Green, our favorite park. It’s so much easier to talk about problems and life goals when you are surrounded by nature, I think.

The trees were in bloom so that led us to Google Lens to try to find out what kind of trees we were seeing.

We always say hi to Shelldon because he is just so cute.

We always stop to play the xylophones. The one Hannah is playing is like experiencing a sound bath. The notes are so clear and beautiful.

And of course we had to admire our favorite tree. It is just so symmetrical and stands out against all of the other trees.

After a few loops around the park, we decided to go walk on the trail in our neighborhood. On the way there we passed beginning of the Boorman Trail that we had never started from. I always see this statue and wonder what this trail is like and where it actually goes. So we decided to pull in and find out.

The trail was beautiful. It’s more up kept than our more rustic trail near our home.

We still walk over the creek that runs through all of the trails.

We had walked quite a ways when Hannah spotted a park up ahead. As we got closer we realized that this is the park that we normally start with when we walk this particular trail. Since the first time we came here almost 6 years ago, I noticed the racquetball courts. They are a little run down, but I still want to bring our racquets and hot a few balls.

We don’t know what exactly this is but we thought it was funny.

We found another little library that we want to bring some books to.

This was a productive walk because we decided that we want to have a table at the next Art Walk downtown. We’ll see how that pans out. We decided to head back to the car and go to our next trail.

I am so happy that our neighborhood trail is finally open. As we were walking we found out why it had been closed for so long.

Apartments are going in. This makes me so sad. We still have the rest of the trail that is still heavily wooded, but it’s just not the same.

I am very happy that one of the bridges is open again. The city did such a good job rebuilding it and it means that we don’t have to drive to the entrance, but can pick up the trail from our neighborhood.

I don’t know how many miles we walked, but it was a few. I wore my Brooks which I never do for walking the trails. I normally wear my Merrills or Sauconys. This meant that I had a very painful blister on my toe. Hannah wanted to go to the gym later that evening so the next morning I was even more sore and my feet were hurting.

On Friday Donny and I were in Kilgore just puttering around. We went to an estate sale and on the way back he wanted to go see what there was at Synergy Park. We found Lake Elder, which lucky for me, had a 1 mile walking trail around it. That was sarcasm because yes, I do love water, but I was wearing my footbed clogs. Being the trooper I am I walked that blister screaming mile.

It was absolutely beautiful though.

My reward was getting spring rolls from our favorite Thai place.

So worth the pain and if you haven’t ever tried a Thai iced coffee you are missing out. In fact, I think I may go get another one today.

We need to run to Gladewater today so, who knows, we might just go take a walk around the lake there. I’ll be sure to wear appropriate shoes this time.

Sprouts

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Longview, txLeave a comment

Longview Texas finally got a Sprouts. It’s grand opening was on Halloween. The kids were out with friends last night so Donny and I decided to go check it out. I was so happy with all of the gluten free options. The food on the train was not gluten free friendly and all I had brought with me was a salad so later in the trip I had a grilled cheese and the next day my joints started aching. We found some pasta that I’m so excited to try.

I’m not a big pasta eater, but sometimes I just want a bowl of it with a good sauce.

Before I left for my trip I realized that I was almost out of my perfume oil. It’s my very favorite and I normally have to order it. Luckily I put off ordering it because they had it in Sprouts.

It was on sale for BOGO so, of course, I had to get two.

I picked up this protein shake that is amazing.

I think I could drink this instead of eating for every meal. It’s that good.

I burn incense every day so I picked up my favorite and this, what I stupidly thought, was a stand up burner.

I’m pretty sure it’s for cones, but I made it work.

I guess next time I’ll have to pick up some cones and another shake of course. LOL

New Things To Try

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Longview, txLeave a comment

Donny only has one day off this week because one of the salespeople asked for this weekend off so his Friday is gone. That meant that we had to get the grocery shopping done today. We headed to Ross first because our kitten, Baby Ruth, was taking up residence in the laundry basket.

Monkey, our oldest cat, will stay outside when it’s warm and come inside when it’s cold. She is a grumpy old lady who doesn’t really like other cats. We went to get a bed so that we could see if either Baby Ruth or Monkey would use it.

Monkey was still outside so Donny piled up some of Baby Ruth’s toys to see if we could lure her into the new bed. She cautiously used her arm to retrieve the toys and did not step one foot into the new bed. She did however go right back into the laundry basket. Hopefully Monkey will take to it.

After Ross we went to Aldi. I have been getting my bread at either Super 1 or Walmart, but today we found some gluten free bread at Aldi and the slices are bigger than my palm which is an improvement. Donny made some burgers tonight and I used the bread as my bun and it was actually good. Or maybe it’s just because I haven’t had a burger with a bun/bread in a long time.

As we were checking out Donny grabbed a drink out of the case by the checkout. It was a Poppi. I had never tried one so I asked him if I could have a sip of his when he opened it to see if I liked it. He just grabbed me one out of the case because he does not like to share drinks. I’m glad he did because it was so good! I know I’m behind on the Poppi trend, but dang, it hit the spot.

Donny told me that they had them at Drug Emporium. I said, Say Less, let’s go. I was hoping they would have the orange cream flavor that I liked and they did.

I looked at some of the other flavors but I’m not sure I’d like them as much as I do this one.

I also grabbed 2 more jars of my peppers that Aldi only has once a year. I eat them for snacks and am always sad when I can’t get them anymore. Call me a pepper hoarder, I don’t even care.

Blue Dog x2

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Longview, txLeave a comment

If you ever come over to our home you’ll probably notice that I have a thing for Blue Dog. If you aren’t familiar with Blue Dog, it’s George Rodrigue’s most famous subject. I first saw a Blue Dog painting while I was in New Orleans having dinner. There was a huge painting hanging in the restaurant. I had never seen or heard of this artist before, but it was love at first site.

When we first heard that the exhibit was coming to Longview we were so excited and last week we finally got to go. Hannah was busy so Jackson and I decided that we would go check it out and it did not disappoint.

I mean, c’mon, I got a smile out of him. He rarely smiles in pictures.

We now have two fine arts museums. This is the newest and it used to be a bank.

We took a picture at the selfie stop.

Hannah was disappointed that she wasn’t able to go so yesterday she and I visited.

Both Hannah and Jackson picked this picture as their favorite.

The saddest picture was the one that George never finished. He died of cancer and this was left on his easel. You can see the sketch lines.

After we finished touring this museum we decided to head a street over to see this exhibit at the main art museum. It’s called six degrees of separation because each vignette is connected somehow. We found several pieces that we really liked.

This was my favorite.

This was Hannah’s.

We both liked this one. The background are Splenda wrappers.

It was such fun days taking each of the kiddos separately to hear their take on all of the art.

I also couldn’t leave without buying a poster and a decal.

Jackson and I ran by the thrift store on the way home to see if I could find a small frame for the decal. I found the almost perfect one. I just had to paint the back of it to compliment Jackson’s Picasso rendition.

New Eats

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Longview, txLeave a comment

Our weekends are Thursday and Fridays because those are Donny’s days off. Thursday we had to go to the feed store to pick up chicken food and on the way home we stopped by two estate sales. There wasn’t a lot left since they both started on Wednesday, but I was able to find this really cool knife and a super cute denim shirt. The shirt was $1 and the knife was $6. I thought they were both a bargain.

We were hungry and Donny remembered about this little Mexican food place that had opened up a few months ago. We decided to try it.

The menu had a lot of choices, all freshly made. I decided on 2 pastor street tacos and Donny got the steak quesadilla. The horchata was so good. Donny got the tamarind drink. He said it was good also.

Each taco was $2.50, which I thought was a reasonable price. They came with grilled onions, limes, radishes and a grilled jalapeno. Donny’s was much milder than mine so we traded because mine was so hot. I found out that radishes are served to cleanse the palate after eating something spicy. The tacos were very good. The pastor was cooked well. It was the perfect amount of food for lunch. Donny liked his quesadilla, but for $12 it wasn’t really worth the price. We will definitely be back though.

Oh, and I almost forgot, later on we ran by Walmart and I found the sifter I’ve been wanting. I had been using my sieve to sift my dry baking ingredients. This will make it so much easier. They are only $4.97 if you are looking for one. It makes a world of difference if you like to bake.

Little Library

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Longview, txLeave a comment

I’ve had a bag of books that have been sitting on our egg swing for months. Yesterday Donny and I went to go give them to some little libraries.

I was hoping the train station would be open and it finally was. That poor library only had about 8 books in it, so I was able to empty my bag.

I also took 3 books because I’ve heard great things about this author, but as soon as I read then they’ll be going back to the train station.

Thrift stores are in inundated with books. In fact the one closest to me had 5¢ November where every book was only 5 cents. There were boxes and boxes. And boxes. You get the idea. So if there’s a bus station, train station or little library near you, please donate there instead of the thrift store. It’s always fun to find a good book to read when you are heading out on a trip.

Shopping the Outlet

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Longview, txLeave a comment

I recently found out that we have a Gap distribution center here. We don’t actually have a Gap store in our town, but there IS an outlet within the distribution center that has Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta and Old Navy clothes and accessories. The only store we have in our town out of the 4 is old navy, so this is pretty cool.

Since it’s only open on Thursdays and every second Saturday of the month, this was our only chance to go before we leave on vacation. We were looking for specific leggings that Hannah needs. We didn’t find the leggings, but Donny found a pair of cargo pants. Jack found 2 shirts and I found a dress and some jeans. Each brand has it’s own set price which is considerably cheaper than at the actual store.

My dress and jeans were $7.99 each. I love the pattern and how lightweight the dress is. It’s going to be perfect when the weather warms up. I’m not sure how much the other things were because I was looking at swim suits when Donny checked out, but I know they were good deals. I’m definitely going back when I have a little more time to spend there.

Now I’m off to get things ready for our trip because we leave Sunday and it’s going to be cold in Chicago and I need to make sure we pack out winter stuff ❄️

Found It!

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Longview, txLeave a comment

Donny and I were at Wal-Mart the other day and I saw a guy wearing the coolest shirt. The next day I was in our local Papcita’s restaurant (not part of the Papas restaurant chains) and saw that they were selling the same shirt, but in a bright turquoise. I asked about it and they said it was a shirt family owned restaurants and businesses were selling to make money for the income lost during the quarantine.

I didn’t have time to buy it then, and truthfully, I don’t typically wear bright colors, but they had given me names of other restaurants that were selling them also.

The next day I was planning to run back into Papacita’s to pick up the turquoise shirt. Before I could do that I was at Jucys tacos and just happened to ask if they were, by any chance, selling the shirt. They had one left. It was in my size and it was charcoal grey! I must have been the last person in Longview to know about these. Anyway, of course I bought it.

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It didn’t hurt that I love both Jucys tacos and Jucys hamburgers! I looked online and the Jucys hamburgers shirts were dark green, so tacos it is.

What a great way for our town to help small, family owned businesses recoup some of their losses.

Sms just because, here is a picture of Donny carrying our 3 legged cat. He was taking him into the kids rooms to say hi. So random and yes, the cat can walk and even run just fine. LOL, he just likes to be pampered occasionally.

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❤

 

 

 

The Green

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn family, Longview, tx, Things to doLeave a comment

Every time we were heading out of town we would drive by this park. I always wanted to go see what it was all about, but it seemed as though it never worked out. It was either raining or the kids wanted to go to the trails.

FINALLY last weekend we had some beautiful weather and decided to see what it was all about. We were not disappointed.

Hot air balloon statue since we have the balloon races here, in Longview, every year.

The kids were fascinated with the wire sculptures that were all around the park. The first one we came to.

There is a path that runs around and through the park.

A wind chime made of recycled materials.

There is even a little free library. The kids loved this. We even came back later that evening with books to donate. Hannah took a couple she’s reading now.

There is a notebook in the little library that you can draw a picture, write a poem or just leave a message. That’s what Hannah was doing.

Another one of the kids favorite parts was the music area.

“Bongos”

There were benches by the music area. How cool is this?

See? Recycling IS important. Thank you, Chick-fil-A.

We found two little snails chilling on a rock.

There really is a whole ecosystem here.

THIS!!!!! There is no typical playground equipment. But that doesn’t mean there is nothing to play on.

Another super cool wire sculpture.

Little surprises in the trees.

Knife, fork and spoon wind chime.

I can’t imagine how beautiful the trees will look in the Spring and Summer, but they were still pretty without leaves.

We loved this wire fisherman.

This park opened in March 2018. There is a big pavilion that is used for concerts and can be rented out also.

There are several picnic tables around the park, but there is one designated picnic area. I love the Kansas fence posts that are placed around it.

Just plain good!!!

I cannot wait to go back. It is exactly 10 minutes from our home. Why was I thinking it was so much further???? If you ever come through Longview, I highly suggest taking a break and stopping by The Green. It’s relaxing, informative and just an all around great park. I think it could be my favorite.

I’ll leave you with this.

Namaste,

Stacy