I spent Saturday with a friend working on my garden, expanding it out, and I'm so, SO very happy with how it looks. And, yes, I used tires to circle where my bushes will be. A look from my back deck: The trellising is for my cucumbers and zuchini, but I also put it up … Continue reading More Work Expanding the Garden!
I sometimes spend time browsing our local Facebook buy/sell/trades, and in 2019 or so, I found an ad for a greenhouse, in box, never opened. Of course I bought it. I think it was ~$50. At the time, the woman I bought it from said they'd bought it for her mom three years ago, and … Continue reading A Greenhouse and a Surprise!
My garden isn't exactly Japan, but my cherry bushes have started blooming! They run the entire length of the garage, and there are a LOT of buds just waiting to blossom. I tried to get a good picture: A close up: So promising! Come on, spring! I can't wait!
I added a second grow light a few weeks ago, and my plants took off! I usually have problems with germination, and whatever germinates is leggy and fragile. Not so much now. I'll have to start planting as soon as it's past last frost because they're getting big! Having two lights allows me to have … Continue reading The Garden in My Closet Update
I planted four apricot trees in spring of 2014, and I only lost one of them in the years since. I've planted a variety of fruiting plants on my property, but only the apple trees have blossomed and made fruit so far. Last year, there were five or six blossoms, and I was delighted, but … Continue reading My Apricot Trees Are Blooming!
This last weekend, we (my husband and brother and I) took a day and pushed my garden a little closer to the state I want it to be in. I didn't clear all of the beds yet, but WOW. Adding edging and mulch makes a HUGE difference. Tundra was very interested in the proceedings. I … Continue reading We’ve Worked in the Garden
When I started this blog, I thought I'd push for three posts a week and see how long I could manage to continue it. I set a schedule to help keep me accountable. I sit down every Sunday and schedule three posts for the week. They're posted Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 5pm, which is kind … Continue reading 600 Posts~!
Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it. I may be 36, but you know what I can't resist doing every Easter? Colored eggs! I don't buy kits; I use food coloring for the dye. You can see in the photo below I couldn't find my egg... wire... thingie. So I used one of … Continue reading Happy Easter! You Know I Did Eggs
Paid of the credit card. Paid of a student loan. Then I feel that part of a tooth is missing. I find out a I need a crown - and I've only had the insurance 7 months. They won't cover crowns until a full year. $1300 out of pocket. They let me split it 50/50 … Continue reading There’s Always Another Bill
Tundra, you are VERY LUCKY that you're cute and we like you. We called the repair shop, but they're still looking for a seat. UGH.
I follow quite a few stock models on Deviant Art and one of the best is SenshiStock who you can find here. Recently I figured out that she has her own page where she sells stock packs. And a new item on that page is her shiny new stock cards found on this page. Here's … Continue reading Sketching Resources
At this point, the only pot that doesn't have baby plants in it is the asparagus. So! Photos: The two tan pots have lettuce in them - I'm going to try growing it inside this year so it doesn't bolt so easily. The leggy one is brussels sprouts, and I'm not sure what I can … Continue reading Seedlings! An Update
I have a variety of plants in my closet right now. Most of them are seedlings, but a few are larger potted plants such as my sequoia, my coffee, or my tea plants. I have the grow light high enough that they can get light, but it was making my seedlings kinda leggy. So I … Continue reading A Second Grow Light!
We have been working on paying off my student loans. I had three - two that are consolidated into a federal loan and one through a private company. The federal loan ones are $24,000 and $9,000. You can't separate payments out for them, and they're in forbearance due to the Covid situation, so we focused … Continue reading Smallest Student Loan Paid Off!
I've only had my seedlings in their pots for a few days, but I've already got some enthusiastic sprouting! The lettuce and the stevia creeping over the lettuce pots. Bok Choy, Brussel sprouts, and kohlrabi have all taken off. More kohlrabi, some tomato sprouts. You might not be able to see them well, but take … Continue reading I See with My Little Eye Something… Green!
We got our tax return back, and I immediately followed the plan I had laid out for paying down debt. If I let the money sit for very long, it's so easy to talk myself into small purchases that fritter the money away. So... first we paid off the head gasket! That's one monthly payment … Continue reading Clearing Debt Update!
It's THAT time of year again! I ordered a planting guide to give me a better idea of what needs to be planted when. I found this one on Amazon. We're in planting area 4, so I just flipped to this month and read what I should be starting indoors at this time and what … Continue reading Starting Plants!
I'm looking at releasing my novel, 'Still Water', in July of this year, and while that's super exciting and all there's a lot going on on the back end side of things right now. I am in final stages of revision before it goes to proof readers, but these are more technical things on my … Continue reading Book Release Back End – A Brief (And Expensive!) Checklist
Okay, I'm just going to say that I'm in love with this channel. I desperately wish I were healthy enough and had land to try to build these structures!!! What channel? TA Outdoors found here, and they build a variety of old fashioned structures. Think medieval hut or Viking long house as items that are … Continue reading ITJFU: TA Outdoors YouTube Channel
Made a few new masks for my brother - these ones are 7"x9" fabric and 9.25" strap on either side. So, that's my news for the day!
It's THAT time of year, and we had our taxes prepared at our usual preparer's office, with the same person we've been seeing for... 10?... years. We always enjoy seeing her, and she likes us because we always have all the paperwork we need AND we pay quarterly so it's not a big bill. Our … Continue reading Tax Time!
So, the release date for my novel has been moved from June 15th to July 15th due to work due date conflicts, but I'm still puttering along with it. Here you can see my progress with no spoilers: You can see on the right that I've revised 7 of 15 chapters, and on the left … Continue reading My Cover Mock Up!
According to my planting charts, it's time to start some of my plants indoors! Here's a quick rundown of the seeds I bought that I'll be starting. The tomatoes including two I did last year that did amazingly well and the stuffing tomato to try out. Ground cherry not included in this planting:: And then … Continue reading It’s Time~!
My husband and I tend to have quiet Valentine's Day celebrations. Going out is a pain, not to mention frowned upon currently, and I can spend my money on wiser things than an expensive dinner and movie. Instead, this year we stayed home and made Lo Mein, and we watched this movie: You can find … Continue reading Wolf Children: Our Valentine’s Day Movie
It's been a bad two months for car repairs. My husband's 2006 Subaru Legacy Sedan had suspicious fumes in the cabin, so we brought it in. Below: his car, my current car, and in the background my old car. Head gasket leak, and they couldn't tell us how long it would be until it was … Continue reading Finally! Both Cars Are Home
When we bought our house, Community Block Grant reroofed it and put in a floating laminate wood floor in the living room because there was no flooring at all in there. The kitchen floor was rough, but they wouldn't work on it, so we put rugs over it to protect our feet from splinters. Closer … Continue reading Help! What Do You Know About Floating Laminate Floors?
There have been some massive storms moving through the country, and a lot of people are without heat or power. But Tundra is a dog, and all he cares about is that he can play in the snow. He hates the camera, so I had to be sneaky to get a photo. He was rolling … Continue reading Snow Dogs Be Snow Dogs
If you know me at all personally, you know that I manage our budget and have quite a system for it. I use the You Need a Budget website: It has a monthly subscription fee but lets me manage my budget so, SO easily. I manually input everything, manually split out pay checks into categories, … Continue reading Let’s Talk Money and Managing Debt Repayment
I've been making masks off and on as we need more of them, and the most common complaint is that they're too tight. They're not too tight on me, but that's just me. So when my brother needed new ones, I experimented with the length of elastic on them. On my usual masks, the elastic … Continue reading Masks for My Not-So-Little Brother
I was twelve when I moved to Wisconsin with my family to live with my grandmother. It turned out to be fortuitous that we made the move because my grandmother had the beginnings of dementia. We were able to care for her, keep her at home for the last years of her life. As soon … Continue reading Found at Last! Books From My Childhood
Inspired by watching 'Fruits Basket', I ordered an onigiri (rice ball) mold. This one to be precise: You can find it HERE on Amazon. I've traditionally made onigiri with my hands, but the heat is painful, even when using a ziplock bag, and they're much larger than they should be. So, on a night that … Continue reading Do You Have Room for a Pickled Plum on Your Back?
Why don't I remember to bring my camera with me when I go places?!? Whyyyyyy?!? We had a heavy snowfall here over two days, and this is the only photo I managed to take of it: This is the first evening. My husband beat me to the snow shoveling, which I wasn't surprised about because … Continue reading Snow~!
It's THAT time of year. The time seed catalogs come out. The time when you spend WAY TOO MUCH MONEY on seeds. I ordered entirely from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds this year. And the seeds have arrived!!! I decided to try focusing on new plants, ones I hadn't tried planting before. I've done mostly the … Continue reading The Seeds Have Arrived~!
Maybe I just need less STUFF. Except my husband has cool stuff. Are these not the cutest? The green one has a trailer that moves around that you can practice backing up. And of course, my sword from theatrical fencing and some other goodies: Anyway, I set up the shelves: No surprise, they were damaged … Continue reading As If I Needed Moar Shelves
I intend to go through some of what we have in the basement, so I ordered some shelves and bins from Menards to work with. The shipping was steep, but when I went to the nearest stores (I'm looking at you Wally World), the bins didn't even have handles, and the shelves wouldn't fit one … Continue reading Boxes Galore!
I know it's a little early yet, but I took some time to clean up my seed starting space. I have an LED grow light (thank you to my mother-in-law!) that I have set up in my closet. It's pretty much the only space that I can keep warm enough and undisturbed so plants grow. … Continue reading Setting Up for Planting!
And by 'we', I mean my friend and her husband did almost all of the work because I'm freaked out by lye. Anyway, soap was made because my friends are amazing! We choose Raspberry Vanilla scent, and we went with purple, pink, and white colors. Then we almost forgot to dust the top with glitter, … Continue reading We Made Soap!
I have noted before that I bought myself an easy-to-use vacuum for myself. It's lightweight and has a long tube, so I don't hurt myself carrying it, and I don't hurt myself bending over. The vacuum: I went around last night and vacuumed EVERYTHING I could reach. I even laid down and pulled the storage … Continue reading Vacuum ALL the Things!
I ordered specialty soap for my husband for Valentine's Day. I ordered it from Cat and Raven Designs. I've watched a few of their videos on YouTube, and they're the first soap makers I've seen that let you order a soap to your specifications. You can find them here. Ya'll, I couldn't resist. I asked … Continue reading I Couldn’t Wait for Valentine’s Day
My husband has a driving wheel with pedals and shifter to play his racing games, but there's always issues on where to mount it, making space, moving it around. He has wanted a collapsible driving chair for years. This year he shared one with me, and it wasn't that expensive. Take a look: So his … Continue reading A Driving Chair for Sim Racing
These are a gift for my sister-in-law, but I'm hoping she's opened her present by now so it won't be a spoiler. I'm not a Harry Potter fan, but she is, and when I found official Harry Potter brand, cotton fat quarters, you'd better believe I snatched them up! And I made masks: Hopefully they … Continue reading Harry Potter Masks!
I've run into a storage and sorting problem. The first part is that I have 5 different drafts of my current novel, 'Still Water', and I don't want to throw any of them out but at the same time where do I keep them?!? Beyond that, I have written... 9? 10? novels. 10 if you … Continue reading In Which I Have Written Too Many Novels
You may have seen articles about 5G conspiracy theorists buying special cases to protect their routers from 5G... and then being outraged that their routers don't work. (The first article I saw on the topic.) I'll admit it. I'm awful. I laughed. And then I promptly sent an email to my family with the joke... … Continue reading Who Doesn’t Need a Faraday Cage?
There are few things as an adult more thrilling than getting cleaning equipment! I jest, but I am really, REALLY happy with my new vacuum. First of all though, apologies for not having a Friday post this last week. I wrote it. I scheduled it. I scheduled it for the 15th instead of the 8th... … Continue reading Oh, Glee!
Ya'll, I got THE most ridiculous hat for Christmas, and I'm loving it. Last year, I lost my winter hat at some point while working in the field. My brother had gifted it to me, and I loved it, so I was bummed. I tried buying another hat from the same company, but their hat … Continue reading This Hat Though
There was a little bit of a bummer with my tablet - it doesn't work with Krita, the free art program I downloaded to work with. There was much flailing, but the cheapest alternative I could find was the subscription for Photoshop. Painter was way expensive (ignoring the fact that I only know the basics), … Continue reading Terrible Doodles
This is not a surprise to me, considering I checked with my husband and ordered it, but I received a drawing tablet for Christmas! THIS ONE to be exact. XP-Pen is a brand that isn't as popular, but I read quite a few reviews and watched artists on YouTube use it, so I felt fairly confident … Continue reading XP-Pen Tablet
I'm visiting a friend to make some lye soap today, and it will be my first time working with lye. My friend has several batches under her belt, and she has prepped the lye water solution and oils and such, while I'll bring the scents and mica for coloration. So, I'm not posting today, but … Continue reading Off to Make Soap Today~!
