Gone With the Wind

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

The day of the eclipse we were supposed to be getting rain. A lot of rain. Luckily the clouds cleared for the eclipse. We were in the 99% totality area. It got dark enough to where the street light came on and the solar lights lit up.

Everything was going well until that evening when the storm hit us. It was bad. The wind was just awful. When we woke up the next morning we had lost power and it was still storming. The patio was taking on water which meant our laundry room was too. When there was a break I went out to see how bad everything was.

Our little gnome drowned. The wind and water had flipped all of our landscape timbers.

We had a stream running from the backyard into the front ditch that was already overflowing. But the very worst thing that happened was this

Our poor greenhouse was demolished. I thought we might be able to save it, but when everything cleared up yesterday and we went out to survey the damage, several poles had snapped. Donny had so many plants that he had painstakingly been taking care of. We moved most of them to the side garden, but it was just so heartbreaking. Hopefully he’ll be able to save most of them. We just don’t know yet.

The power was still out Tuesday, but luckily the storm had brought cooler weather. I’m thankful for our gas stove because I was still able to make breakfast.

And coffee, thank goodness

Since it was so dark outside because of the rain, I decided that I would just lay in bed and read. Bailey had other ideas though.

Yesterday and today have been absolutely gorgeous. We were finally able to get back to Kilgore to see if they still had the dress that Hannah had decided HAD to be her prom dress. She gets very overwhelmed when shopping so we lucked out and got the dress, shoes and jewelry at Everything that Blings, her favorite boutique.

Since I can’t post the dress yet, I can post a picture of her shoes since they won’t really show in the actual prom pictures. It’s so hard to find closed toe heels that she likes. (she does not like sandals) I happened to walk back to a corner of the store and found the perfect ones. They were the only pair and just happened to be in her size.

Prom is in one week and lately weeks have been flying by. Tomorrow we are going to practice hairstyles. Wish me luck!

A Very Good Day

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When I look back on days that I find to be almost perfect, they are never the ones where I have made plans or gone anywhere special. They are the days that we just go with the flow, doing exactly what feels right.

Today was one of those days. Donny was off. He took the kids to school while I finished watching a movie that I fell asleep watching the night before. We puttered around the yard and started discussing what plants we needed to buy for our bigger pots that still had dead plants in them from the winter. We decided to go to Home Depot and just see what they had. The weather was perfect. The gusting 30 mph winds of the last two days were gone. It was a sunny 74, which to me, is just perfect.

We ended up with 3 Geraniums, 2 Hostas and, my very favorite, the Jasmine vine. I love Jasmine. Not only does it smell wonderful, but it attracts bees that will pollinate the gardens.

Because the Jasmine and Geraniums need full sun we decided to put them by they front garden.

Donny had a really stressful week so he went in to just chill for a while. He told Hannah that I can’t sit still because I’m afraid that if I do I’ll never get up again. That is true to a certain extent, but I really don’t like sitting still, especially on such a beautiful day.

I ended up moving all the flower pots to the side of the shed until I can get the shed cleaned out and organized. I mowed where I moved everything. I chopped some wood from a downed tree. I moved the fire pit and strung the lights that we’ve had stored since we took them down when we got the rooster. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am to be back in the backyard again.

Our yard is rustic. It is perfectly imperfect. There is so much more we need to get done back there, but we are finally able to use it and we’re in no rush. It’s the one big thing I’ve missed about our house in Baton Rouge. We used to hang out in our backyard all the time. Tonight with the fire pit going, lights strung, table set up for food it felt exactly like it used to.


Cannot forget s’mores

Nothing beats simple food and good conversation. As close to perfect as you can get.

A HipCamping We Will Go

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Weekend GetawayLeave a comment

I had never heard of the app HipCamp before. Hannah wanted to go camping for her birthday and although we have Caddo State Park very close to us, it’s booked months in advance. I googled “camping near Longview Texas” and low and behold HipCamp popped up.

We found a campsite in Hawkins, TX. It’s about a 25 minute drive. The only problem was that the campsite was down a long dirt road that is very rutted and gets very muddy when it rains. They really want you to have a 4 wheel drive. I contacted the host and told him what car we would be in, but that it does have front wheel drive. They gave the okay, so Saturday after Donny got off work we headed out.

They were not kidding when they said rutted dirt road. It got a little hairy, but we made it. After taking the tour where the owner showed us where the composting toilet and the dock, kayaks and canoe was, it was already dark and we still needed to set up our tents. This campsite was right by a lake and extremely isolated, which we loved. But, when I say it was dark, it was pitch black. Luckily, I remembered to pack my headlamp. We also had about 5 different light sources, but the headlamp was definitely the winner.

Just a quick selfie

I had ordered a bundle of wood so we wouldn’t have to bring any with us. It was a little damp so we decided to have cake while Gavin and Donny were getting the fire started.

The campsite came with a fire ring and a picnic table.

We had fun hanging out around the campfire and later playing a game of Apples to Apples. I think I finally crawled into the tent around midnight. There is nothing better than sleeping outside. Our tent is mainly netting that we can cover if we need too. I loved being able to look up and see the sky and the trees. The only problem was that I tend to have to use the restroom at night and there was no way I was going to walk down a long, curvy very dark path to the toilet. So I just had to use the bucket that was given the us to scoop lake water so we could douse the fire. Hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do, right?

It was a little chilly when we woke up, but it turned out to be such a nice day. Overcast, not windy and no rain. It has rained on every single camping trip Donny and I have taken. We would even check the weather forecast, but it still rained. We really lucked out this time.

There were some cool lily pads on our part of the lake.

We walked down the trail to the floating dock because Gavin wanted to go kayaking.

There was a super cool dome house that you could also rent. It had a deck with a grill. I snapped a quick picture because people were staying in it.

Donny started the fire again and we just relaxed, enjoying the water and all the sounds of nature.

I finally made it to the toilet. Can you imagine walking this trail in the dark? I swear there were animal burrows all around it.

Although our trip was very short we had a lot of fun. I cannot wait to use Hipcamp again. It was so easy and this campsite was gorgeous. And we made a little friend.

Chicken Prison

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Our chickens have always had free range of our backyard. They would occasionally jump the fence into the front yard, but always stayed close. When we got the newest four chickens we realized they were rebels. They would take off down the street, across the street, all over our street. I spent a lot of the day chasing chickens. Well, today that all stopped.

Donny spent most of the morning putting chicken wire up to keep them in. A little chicken prison.

It worked. They can’t get out. Now we just have to make sure that our cats don’t go back there when we go into the backyard because they can’t get out either.

Donny’s plants are doing well in the greenhouse. Hopefully we’ll get some veggies.

Tomorrow we leave to go camping for Hannah’s 18th birthday. She loves to camp. This will be the third camping birthday. We’re using HipCamp. I had no idea this existed. It’s like Airbnb for camping. It’s going to be a short camping trip because of Donny’s schedule, but I’m sure it will still be fun.

Since his car is bigger than my little one we are taking his. The dead mouse smell is still lingering, but I gave that interior a scrubbing and it’s much better. This is about the only time I miss all the room we had in the Flex, but we’ll make it work. We always do.

’round Here

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It has been a hot minute since I’ve been able to sit down and journal anything. Spring Break was last week and we didn’t really get to go anywhere because Hannah was working. Then this past week we lost the charging block to my laptop. But there have been a few things happening.

Hannah quit her job. It wasn’t because she didn’t like it, but more so because it’s her Senior year and for the past few months they have had her working 7 days straight with a double on the weekends and then 2 days off. It was just way too much for her and we were needing to get some things done and had no time to do it. She did give 2 weeks notice and the managers told her that anytime she wants to come back she would be hired. She had been there right at a year.

She is going to miss her coworkers though. (Hannah is third from the right)

Her favorite dessert is cheesecake so they gave her a free slice as a going away gift.

With her now having free time after school we can focus on prom and graduation. We went to her favorite boutique to find a dress. I didn’t take a picture of her in any of them, but we found one she liked, just in the wrong color. She said she felt like Arial from the LIttle Mermaid in it. It fit her like a glove though.

After not finding the exact one she wanted, we ventured to the mall. Slim pickings at Dillards, but we did find one she liked at another store. We were so tired by this time that I just snapped a photo so we wouldn’t forget which one it was.

And for the THIRD time, we got this done.

She better not let them close up again.

We have Milo, the stray cat. After almost 2 years he finally started letting me hold him and pet him. Well, I thought he was sick because he breath was awful. It was so putrid and when I went to look at his mouth I found a dime sized hole in his neck by his jaw. I made a vet appointment and they had to put him under to clean it out and we decided to go ahead and get him neutered. He’s quite an expensive stray. I guess he’s technically ours now.

After the vet visit the hole was the size of a quarter and we kept him inside for a few days. He is just so sweet. He comes in and out now.

So we gained one pet and lost another, which does not make me sad. The one that is now gone is the rooster. After 2 years I can now walk in my backyard without carrying a weapon. He had never tried to get out of the backyard before and then realized he could get on to gate and jump off.

That 100 percent was a lawsuit waiting to happen because he would go to the neighbors homes. We tried to keep him in.

In the end, animal control came and got him. They had someone in the office that had a farm, so at least that’s good. I don’t miss him one little bit.

The weather was good for a few days and then rain hit hard along with much cooler weather. We are trying to get our patio and backyard ready for spring and summer. We had Jack’s old dresser against the wall. Donny broke it up for me and it’s finally gone. I did keep the last two drawers because they were maple and make really good shelves.

They give me just that little extra storage needed. I always try to recycle anything that I can.

And last but not least, it was that time of year again. Mammograms aren’t fun, but at least mine came back clean.

Copper + Flashback

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn WeekendLeave a comment

I struggle with carpal tunnel syndrome. It started when our home flooded and we did the clean out ourselves. All the scraping of floors and then painting once everything was finished caused it to flare up so bad. I used to wake up in the middle of the night with my hand feeling like it was on fire. It would cause me to actually cry because it hurt so bad. Every time I used my hand/arm in a repetitive motion like painting, sweeping, pulling weeds, you get the idea, it would flare up again.

About 2 years ago I started wearing copper cuffs. I used to have to sleep in a wrist brace and just got so tired of doing that, that I decided to give the copper bracelets a shot. They worked. I have added to my collection over time and now I wear 4 of them religiously. I only take them off to shower. My favorite one I found in the antique mall here. It has little designs on it and is very light weight. If you suffer from CTS you really should give copper a try.

When I was picking Hannah up from work a J Geils song came on the radio. For a split second I was 16 again cruising in my car on a Friday night. I turned to her and asked her if she wanted to go hang out at the Quarterdeck and then go cruise Everhart. I threw in that if we’re lucky someone might want to go with us to Goatman’s. She looked at me like I had lost my mind. It’s hard to explain the freedom we, as teenagers, had back then. No social media or cell phones. Life seemed so much easier and freer. Trying to explain to her that we would go hang out at an arcade and then cruise down a street that all high school kids in my city used to cruise down only to turn around in the sonic drive thru just to do it all again, didn’t seem fun to her. To us, back then, it was the best way to spend a Saturday night. Goatman’s was terrifying because it was a brushy area that the Goatman supposedly lived. You”d drive through hoping to see him. One time some guy in a mask jumped out with a baseball bat. We high tailed it out of there fast. Sometimes I really miss those days. Now that I drive my little hatchback I crank up retro music and still feel like I’m in high school, although I drove a ’77 Buick Skylark back then.

My purple Mardi Gras baby living its best life. Ignore the pollen. It’s that time of year.

Yes, I still listen to CD’s and #9 Narrow Daylight has become my new favorite song. If you haven’t heard it you should give it a listen.

I also had to run into Hobby Lobby to get the kids their eclipse shirts for school. I generally cannot stand the mass over produced products they carry, but I did find the perfect wind chimes. Shirts and wind chimes were both 40% off so I couldn’t pass them up. They give off such a peaceful sound.

The Lawn Mower Saga

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I have mentioned before how we were loaning our lawn mower to Jimmy because his broke and he walks around mowing lawns in the neighborhoods around our house. Almost daily during the summer he would knock on our door asking to borrow our mower. We thought it was a little weird when he started coming back the beginning of January to borrow it again. We were leaving our lawn dormant until the weather started heating up again and Jimmy would ask time and time again if we wanted him to mow our yard.

Anyway, Donny went to get the mower out of the shed so he could mow inside our greenhouse. He came in and asked me where the mower was. I told him Jimmy borrowed it about a week ago. He normally just puts it back in the shed when he’s finished. A couple of days later Jimmy knocked on our door and told me that he had it at his friend’s house and it was “taken”. Hannah and I were walking out the door because she was late for work so I couldn’t talk to him very long, but he told me that he would buy us a new one. I was not a happy camper and I’m pretty sure he waited so long to tell me because he sold it.

A few weeks ago I saw him walking down the side street by my house PUSHING A LAWN MOWER! By the time I had run into the house to tell the kids I was going to find him, grab my keys, he was GONE. I drove around looking for him, but he must have seen me and took off.

I saw him about a week after that cutting through the neighbor’s house two doors down and across the street. I tried to find him again with no luck.

My landlords called me to find out how the plumbers did and I told them that I was sorry that our yard was not mowed and then told them why. It turns out they know Jimmy and said that he’s homeless. He had lied and said that he lived with his mother. He had been staying at this homeless camp and with some unsavory people a few streets over. My landlord said that if she sees him she’s going to text me so I can find out just what happened.

It sucks when you think you are doing a good thing by helping someone and they completely screw you over.

Anyway, Tuesday we got a delivery.

I loved out old mower. It was a better one than this one, but we don’t have an extra $600 dollars to buy another Troy-bilt. This one cost half that and it’s going to take some getting used to because it has rear wheel propulsion instead of front and it’s so fast. It’s like walking a great Dane that isn’t leash trained. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

Here’s the before of our poor lawn.

We have so much work to do on it this Spring. It used to be beautiful St. Augustine. Not so much anymore.

It does look a lot better after I mowed.

And after being sick for almost 2 weeks I’m finally feeling like myself. I had enough energy to deep clean the house and that in itself makes me feel so much better. I love to open up the curtains and let the natural light in.

New Virus?

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been well enough to even think about writing anything. Hannah was sick first. We’re pretty sure that she brought this sickness home from work. After Hannah had it Jackson got it. They both missed a few days of school and then seemed to get better. Then I got it. It started last Thursday with me feeling “off”. Then I woke up Friday morning with a fever and sore throat. Later in the day I started getting really stopped up and all of my joints were aching. It just kept getting worse. I took a Covid test that came back negative. Hannah had been tested for Covid, strep and the flu, all negative.

I’m assuming this is the new virus everyone has been talking about. Today is my 9th day with it and I’m finally starting to feel better. I think I would have felt better on the 7th day, but I was folding laundry and heard our toilet start to bubble then a flood of liquid hit the floor. I ran in and raw sewage was flowing over the toilet and coming up into the bathtub. I was cleaning that up for over an hour before the plumbers got there and it zapped any strength I might have stored up. It’s finally fixed after a visit from the city and another visit from the plumbers.

We’ve had to start wrangling the chickens because the newest 4 are rebels and will end up down and across the street. We found their new nest in the pampas grass that luckily was cut down right after with gathered the 13 eggs in it.

This is Penelope, one of the original hens. She likes to jump on my lap and hang out.

The cats are afraid of the chickens so I’ve been giving the cats catnip to calm them down. Milo was out. I don’t know if you can tell, but his front legs are up in the air.

And because I don’t consider this social media I am allowed to post my kids pictures. My daughter and her boyfriend finally got to have their Valentines dinner at Sushi Shimo.

That’s about all the news here. I did make my first Dutch Baby and it turned out really good. I’ve still been cooking, even through sickness, but nothing exciting. After the toilet incident Donny picked up Zaxby’s because Jack has been wanting to try it. It was awful and tasted like a salt lick. I don’t recommend it.

Birthday

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Monday was my birthday. On Sunday Donny asked me what I wanted to do. I told him nothing. It was a holiday so the kids were out of school. They are teenagers. They sleep in. So nothing is absolutely what I did. I sat on the couch and watched movies that I know Donny wouldn’t want to watch. I think I watched 4 movies. It was wonderful. I didn’t do any housework. No wiping down the bathroom. No making beds. Nothing but do what I wanted to do. Hannah did have to be at work at 5:30 so I had to drive her there, but I came home and watched another movie.

When Donny got home he asked what was for dinner. If you’ve ever seen Office Space, you’ll understand when I told him, “yeah, I’m not going to be making anything. Can you go get Jucy’s?”. He called in our order and asked if I wanted to go with him to pick it up. I again said, “no, I’m not going to do that. I’m doing nothing”. Chicken fried steak for the win. Calories don’t count on your birthday.

So, in a nutshell, my birthday was absolutely wonderful. I’m not big on ever being the center of attention. In fact, when I was a little girl, I would hide under the table at my birthday parties because I didn’t like people singing Happy Birthday to me. I also hate opening gifts in front of people. That stems from a birthday party I had where my mom made me open gifts and then pass them around the long table so everyone could see what i received. My friend had bought bikini underwear with zebras on them and, oh yes, those were passed around even though I tried to hide them under the table. I was mortified because there were boys at this party. I think this happened when I was 8 or 9. Yes, I’m still friends with the gift giver.

I did get two of the best gifts ever though. Donny had asked me what I wanted earlier in the week and I didn’t even have to think about it. I want a hand held vacuum. He looked at me strange and said, “like a dust buster?”. Yep, that’s what I really and truly want. I have a full size vacuum, but it’s heavy and cumbersome. It works just fine to do what I need a handheld for, it’s just more difficult to maneuver so I would never actually by myself a hand held. But, as a gift it’s the best. Boy did he come through. This thing is SO amazing!!!! It really sucks, in a good way.

It’s a little more than just a hand held, but I can use it on our woven leather rug that you aren’t suppose to use a regular vacuum on. It also works better than the car wash vacuums. The car wash I go to actually has free vacuums but there is a sign saying you must pay for the self service car wash to use the vacuum. I don’t always need to wash my car, but I do because I feel bad if I don’t, because of, you know, the sign. I have to vacuum my car out at least once a week because our driveway is so narrow and dead grass will start covering the floor boards if I don’t.

I also received a package yesterday that had no card, name, nothing. Donny thought I ordered something. When I opened it I swore that he did it because it was another thing on my wish list that I would never buy myself. Turns out it was from my sister. I must have told her that I had been wanting one, so a big thank you Sissy.

It’s a cheese grater/slicer that suctions on to the counter top. I cannot wait to try it! I have a hand grater, but when I have to grate a lot of cheese this is going to be so wonderful. I don’t know if you know this, but pre-grated cheese has stuff on it that keeps it from sticking together and from melting like grated block cheese. I find that gross.

So that was my birthday. I just might do the same thing next year. We’ll see.

Oh and just to record this for posterity sake, I was FINALLY first in line at school pickup. It only took almost 3 years.

Day Off

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn saving moneyLeave a comment

Donny normally has Thursday and Friday off, but this week he only had Friday off. I guess it was good because I got called into clean this super fun bounce house on Thursday. Kidding about the super fun part because this one is one of the hardest ones to clean because it’s 3 sections and was filled with turf pellets that reminded me of mouse poop. I guess I’m only semi retired from this job now. It did feel good to use muscles I haven’t used in a few months.

Anyway, the kids were out of school. Hannah is sick and didn’t go to school yesterday and since it’s the end of the 6 weeks she missed her Government final, she had to go in and take it at 8:30.One of the perks of being at a small school. It was teachers work day. I had to take my car in at 8. Of course the warranty is almost out and it has a slight vibration at stoplights, so in the shop it goes.

After we got all of that situated we decided to go to Sasquatch’s. On the way we saw an estate sale. It was hosted by Perry and Co. Their prices are a little high, but we decided to go see what was left. We really didn’t see anything except this dress that I thought would be perfect for Hannah. Ignore the purse they hung above it. It was a vintage dress with tiny button down the back.

We ended up not buying it, because there was a chance she wouldn’t like it.

Next stop was Sasquatch’s. We always try to go on Fridays because they are closed on Thursdays for restocking. We did find some things that we needed.

A 20 pound bag of flour, a gallon of sugar and a bag of cake mix.

Prosciutto, cheese and a gallon of lemon juice. The lemon juice is a bit excessive, but Jack drinks the Arizona tea Arnold Palmer so I wanted to try to make it myself because he goes through it by the gallon.

I cannot wait to try this black pepper fettuccine.

There was one bag of coffee left so I grabbed it because we’ve really been wanting to try it.

Donny grabbed this at the checkout. It’s a plant based chocolate bar with toffee and sea salt. It was really good. I was shocked.

On the way home, we saw this little car for sale that we thought Hannah might like. Turns out it had too many miles on it, but it was in the price range she’s looking for. She’s been working so hard and saving up her money to buy her own car. We are really proud of her because she’s also making really good grades.

When we got home I showed Hannah a picture of the estate sale dress and she really liked it, so Donny and I headed back to Gladewater to see if it was still there. It was, and when I looked at it more closely I saw that there were holes in the tulle so we decided, once again, not to buy it. I’m kind of kicking myself now because I bet I could have found a seamstress to repair it.

Our last stop was Tractor Supply so I could see if the hack I saw on Tiktok actually works. It’s using pine pellets, used for horse bedding, as cat litter. They were out so we had to run to Jake’s feed store where they had it. I’ll let you know how it works. It’s a lot cheaper than regular cat litter.

By this time we were tired of all the driving around so we went home and I made nachos and we watched The Flight Attendant. It such a good series if you haven’t seen it.

And today I gathered up all of my empty containers and the flour is now put away.

Bring on the weekend!