How Does My Garden Grow?

Why, very well, thank you very much!  In fact, it is really coming along swimmingly.  This is a photo of my butternut squash plant and the baby squash forming behind the squash blossom.  The length of the squash here was about one inch long and about as thick as my pinky finger. 

As one new to the joys of gardening, this being only the second year of trying to grow vegetables, there is something really magical about seeing things grow.  It is akin to the wonder of watching your children grow and reach different milestones in their lives.  Last year, I got my garden going a little too late, and the only thing that grew were the Chinese bitter melon that only I like to eat.  Texas gets very hot quick, so we have to get the plants in the ground early in the spring to get them established so they can tolerate the heat.  The tomato plants last year did not do JACK. I planted them too late and even though it is a heat loving plant, it just was too hot and I did not get A. Single. Damn. Tomato.

Anyways, here is the same plant only about a week later:

Here, the squash has grown to about 3 inches long and has plumped up some.  The photo does not do it justice.  It is so shiny and very pretty with its' pale green vertical stripes.  I saved the seeds last fall from a store bought squash.  I planted six seeds, which is probably too much, now that I see how the plants are growing.  The vines are starting to fill out and there are numerous babies on each of them.  I think I'm going to have a bumper crop if the critters stay away. <knock wood>

The beds are filling out.  I realized, being the novice that I am, that I needed to do something about the paths.  The weeds keep growing almost over the beds, and I'm always ever cautious of the snakes (yes, we have some on occasion).  This winter, we plan on cutting down at least two diseased trees in our yard. At that time, I am planning on renting a wood chipper so I can then recycle the wood chips to use as a mulch cover for the paths to keep the weeds under control.  But until then, I have to deal with the tall weeds in the paths that the lawn mower can't get to.

One thing I noticed since getting the large tires in the yard is how much I like them.  Yes, they are ugly to look at but I really don't care about that.  This backyard is not visible from the street or prying eyes of neighbors looking in, so aesthetics is not that important.  What I like about them is the fact that the plants are elevated almost twice as high as the those in the wooden raised beds.  That makes for easy weeding and harvesting.  It is very easy on the knees if all you have to do to is bend down instead of kneeling by the bed.  (I guess I'm not as young as I think I am. . .) 

The other day, I gathered the first of the tomatoes and jalapenos and made some homemade pico de gallo.  I chopped up the tomatoes, jalapenos, a bit of onions and tossed all that with a bit of salt and a splash of lime juice from a bottle.  Let the flavors meld for a bit in the refrigerator, and voila!

The. Best. Damn. Pico. De. Gallo. EVER!  It was divine with some tortilla chips. My husband and I made a light lunch with just that. 

All of the tomatoes I used were sort of funky looking, and I think if my garden was a commercial operation, they never would have made it to the store.  But they tasted better than the ones from the store, and it really made me realize how much waste there must be in a commercial farming operation that can only sell perfect looking vegetables to the grocery stores. Food for thought, literally.

How does YOUR garden grow?

Almost There

The flower bed I started working on last weekend is almost done! I had to purchase additional resin edging to keep the dirt in place so it will not drain out through the cracks in the decorative rock "wall."  It was backbreaking work bringing in the dirt to fill the bed, one bucket at a time from the backyard because I don't have a wheelbarrow yet.  I mixed in some horse manure for good measure and planted three flats of impatiens I purchased at the nursery that was on clearance.  I probably will buy a few more flats to fill in the rest of the bed, or some perennials, I have not decided yet.  But it is wonderful to see some color in this corner of the yard. 

It has been very dry in Texas, we only had one rainfall in close to two months where I live.  The rest of the state is doing a lot worse.  You can see that the lawn is looking pretty sad as a result.  That is my next project when I have the energy.  Thinking of a cottage garden here eventually so my husband and I will have something to look at when we are relaxing on the front porch.  That project will have to wait for the time being, as it is getting almost too hot to do any work outside.  I was soaked when I got done filling the bed with dirt yesterday.

As I was watering my potted plants that I keep by the front door, I saw this little guy:

Amazing how the lily leaves can support his hefty figure!  Just kidding.  (Reminds me of the GEICO gecko though.)



I can't wait for the lilys to bloom, the stalks with the buds on it has been growing for some time.  I'm expecting then to bloom any day now.

Gardening Update

My vegetables in the garden is coming along, some faster than others.  I am fortunate that I can plant the seeds and seedlings in the ground a lot earlier than some other people as technically, I live in the sub-tropics.  Most of the plants here were planted in early March through early April.

The first of my produce from the garden:

I was at a loss on what to do with such a small amount of green beans.  I steamed them for about 5 minutes and served them alongside the grape tomatoes as an appetizer with some wasabi mayonnaise.

I had been planning to buy a persimmon tree at the nursery, and when I went over, the fruit trees were on sale @ 50% off. I purchased a peach tree also and planted them both in the side yard where we are in the process of creating a fruit orchard.  We have a bit more space, so I may go get a couple more trees next payday. The trees are hard to see in the photo as they are not much more than sticks with leaves.  I wonder how many years until they start producing? There is a Japanese saying that says, "peaches and chestnuts in three years, and persimmons in eight." I don't know how old these trees are, so it will have to be a surprise.

The pear tree in our backyard has fruit growing on it.  The tree was (I'm assuming) planted by the former owners. We are going on our 4th year in this house, and this is the first year this tree has borne any fruit.  I think the fertilizing spikes we have put into the ground the last two years are finally having an effect on the tree.  It will be wonderful to harvest the pears when they are ripe, and it will be a good opportunity for me to learn the can home grown produce.

I never grew anything prior to last year, and this is all new to me.  I must say that I am quite enjoying seeing things grow.  The butternut squash I planted from a seed from a store bought squash and saved the seeds from is even blooming and growing baby squash.  Same with the acorn squash.  It is really quite wonderful.  If only the critters will stay out of the beds.  I think the squirrels are using my beds to hide stuff in, as I often see small holes dug up in the dirt.

And I Thought Big Brother Was Watching Me. . .

OK. So I have a wee bit of conspiracy theorist in me. . . When my last silly post on Louis Vuitton disappeared from my little ol' blog overnight, I was mighty suspicious.  Does Google have some kind of thought police that removes posts criticizing advertisers in any way? Did I offend the higher powers that be who had some sort of vested interest in Louis Vuitton?  I don't trust Google to begin with, and my mind was conjuring up the many ways I might have violated some sort of blog posting policy (who reads the fine print, anyway??).   

So I was wrong.  Just a minor hiccup at Blogger when they were doing routine maintenance (or so they say. . .). 

But seriously, sometimes all this tech stuff really creeps me out.  Especially when you know that every post is analyzed to the n-th degree by some computer algorithm to maximize Google profits.  I was reading a Facebook post by a friend just yesterday and she was noticing how the ads on her homepage kept changing with every comment she made. After a while, she started throwing words out there, and the ads just kept keeping pace with whatever she said.  SCARY.  It's a little too much like that Tom Cruise movie from a while back who's name eludes me, where advertisements on walls and billboards greeted him by name as he was walking past, trying to lure him into buying "stuff." 

All this, of course is aimed at consumerism and commercial consumption.  Don't get me wrong. I am a firm believer in Capitalism and the free market system, but when reality starts mimicking fiction from only a short while ago, it really makes one pause to think about it all.

The fact of the matter is that, increasingly, we are losing our freedoms on many fronts.  Even while blogs we can create for free from the comfort of our homes in our pajamas give us all a platform to spout off whatever we care to throw out there, we must be mindful that all of this is recorded for perpetuity.   Once it is "out there" we can't take it back.  And it may, in some way, come back to bite us someday. 

SCARY.

My Louis Vuitton "Habit"

I had to go to the sporting goods store today to get my husband some new ear plugs for his swim workout.  As long as I was there, I might as well pop into the Goodwill thrift store nearby!  I found a Martha Stewart book for 99 cents and was checking out, when I noticed three mint looking Louis Vuitton bags behind the counter.  I asked to see them, and while I was convinced that they were the genuine article, I passed them by.

Why, you ask? Well, for one thing, my pet peeve recently has been that thrift stores in general are getting awfully proud of thier merchandise.  Yes, I realize it's for charity and a good cause, but recent pricing is bordering on retail levels.  For crying out loud, all the items were FREE!  Hellooooooooooo???

The bags were $39.99, $79.99 and $99.99 respectively.  For a split second, I toyed with the idea of buying one of them and putting it up on eBay, but what if it's a big flop?  The cheapest bag was in the best shape, but I was somewhat amazed at how cheaply made they all seemed to me. I just did not want to take the chance that I would have wasted the money. So I left the bags at the store.

You might say, if they looked cheap, surely it was a knock off? I'm convinced they were not, because all the purses had the LV logo on all of the hardware and "Louis Vuitton, made in France" leather label inside.  One of them even had a serial number on it.  My theory is that if it was a knock off, the manufacturer would not go through all that trouble.  It just is not worth the investment for them to do all that if they were just trying to make a quick buck.

Back in the day, when I was much, much younger, I desperately wanted one (or two or more) of these bags.  But even in my insane youth, I was not crazy enough to spend a king's ransom for one lousy bag.  So I never got one, until I purchased the three in the photo.  This is the extent of my Louis Vuitton "habit."

The largest one was purchased at a garage sale for a whopping $3.00.  Compared to the ones I saw today at Goodwill, this one was made when Louis Vuitton was synonymous with quality.  The leather handles have a rich patina from use by the previous owner, and I get a big kick every time I use it, which is not often.  But, I know I have the satisfaction of other people noticing that I own one, and the secret satisfaction of knowing how much it actually cost.  Hey, it cost less than coffee from Starbucks!

The white one was purchased about 3 years ago at Goodwill for around $3.00.  Funny thing is, it was in the "valuable goods" case at the store, but the price was not so valuable.  I purchased it not to use, but to eventually gift it to one of my husband's nieces when they are old enough.  Same for the other brown bag wich was about $1.50, no kidding! I purchased it last year at my local Goodwill.  I have not yet decided if I will gift it, but I'm probably going to use it as a make up bag when my current one falls apart, because it is just the right size for that.

Now, I have no clue how much these things retail for.  I thought, at most, $100?  I have a high school friend in Japan who has the Louis Vuitton account for a market research firm in Tokyo.  When I posted a photo of the two smaller bags on my Facebook account and wondered how much they were if new, she told me quite a bit.  She mentioned that an iPod case was going for over $300!  Insanity, I tell you!  I'm sure glad my "habit" cost less than lunch at McDonalds!

Do you have a "habit"?

If It's Not NEW, It's EWWW!

For other people, perhaps, but not me. (A shout out to the Thrifty Chicks blog, where I lifted the above phrase.)  I've been loving to thrift shop ever since I discovered them.  My only regret was not discovering them earlier than I did.  I shudder to think about how much money I wasted shopping retail in my youth.  By the time my first son was born, I wised up.  Most of his baby clothes and through his toddler years to about five were all purchaed at thrift stores.  Beyond that, boys are so tough on clothes, especially pants, that I had to resort to retail sales items.  But I figure I saved a small fortune regardless.

But most mothers are not like me.  They want the best for their progeny, and will spare no funds.  If it's not new, it's ewww!  Seriously.  Even my late mother-in-law, God rest her soul, looked upon me with disapproval when we let it slip that her grandsons were dressed in second hand clothes from the thrift stores.  You see, she was a product of the Depression Era and lived through some hard times in her youth.  It did not matter that her father was one of the very few who never got laid off because he was a deputy sheriff and a big wig in the small town where she grew up.  Anything that was previously used, to her, was garbage. 

In her mind, even true, honest to goodness antique furniture that a well-to-do person would willingly pay thousands, if not tens of thousands for at auction at Christie's or Sotheby's was rubbish.  So she just never understood why we would pay several hundred dollars to buy a piece of antique furniture, because it was somebody's cast off any way she looked at it, regardless of the fine craftsmanship you just cannot get in brand new furniture.  When we told her it was part investment, since we knew when time came for us to sell the antique, we could probably recoup the purchase cost, she just shook her head as if she thought we were crazy.  She was content to buy a cheaply made set of furniture from Sam's Club that was "Made in China."

On a grander scale, this was the case in McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley where my younger son was born and where we lived for two years.  Now, this is a part of Texas that is very poor and where there is a very high percentage of people living in the lowest of low socio-economic level.  Yet, there was a building boom the whole time we lived there, and from what I understand, nothing has changed in the 15 or so years since we lived there.  In McAllen and the nearby suburbs, big, brand new single story houses with soaring ceilings were all the rage.  And the operative word was "NEW."  The market was so strange in that previously occupied houses had a hard time selling compared to new construction. People wanted houses that no hands had touched except those of the workmen that built it. 

The weirdest part of the whole equation was that McAllen and the entire Rio Grande Valley had no major industry except for citrus and other agriculture, but nothing you could get really rich off of.  That is, except for the underground "industry" of dope smuggling across the Mexico border.  McAllen just did not have enough jobs to justify all of the nonstop construction.  So did that mean that the neighbor next door was involved in the "industry" somehow?  I never found out.  Rumor had it that a high school in Starr County near McAllen received an anonymous cash donation to build a school gymnasium upon the condition that it had to be built in the shape of a marijuana leaf, and it was.  But I digress.

The point I was trying to make is that "used" is not a bad thing. Not at all.  In fact, even my mother-in-law knew that, though she didn't realize it.  She left her diamond rings to her granddaughters in her will.  If "used" was truly that bad, she wouldn't have, right? 

; )

(Almost) Free Pasta

Ronzoni pasta was on sale at Kroger for 50 cents each if you purchased 10 participating items in the store. Although I generally don't use coupons, I found out about their "$1 off of two boxes" coupons. I printed out the coupons at http://www.itpaystoeatpasta.com/, and had enough coupons for 16 free boxes. I had to buy 4 more to get the sales price, so I paid $2.00 for 20 packages, or 10 cents each! That's what I'm talking about!

I think deals like this makes me want to reevaluate my aversion to coupons.  I normally don't use coupons because, 1) I don't get the Sunday paper, 2) I don't buy that many processed foods, and 3) I am too lazy to try to find deals like this.  BUT, free is free, and if the stores and the manufacturers are having deals like this in these hard times, I think I better start paying attention!  A big "thank you" shout out has to go to the "Deals To Meals" blog I follow, where I found out about this.  Though the sale was over yesterday, you can still go online to print the coupons, which are good through June 9th. I would say one dollar off of two boxes is still a good deal! Hopefully the sales will continue through next week!  You can only print each coupon twice, but I have two computers in the house, so I got double that amount.  If you have access to more computers, then hurray for you!

BUT, as with most things in life, you get a break on one thing, and then get socked in another.  At the last dental appointment, our dentist informed us that both our sons better get thier wisdom teeth pulled because they are coming in and will screw up thier orthodontic work in progress. He recommended that it be done this summer.  My older son started complaining that his mouth was hurting two days ago, and is scheduled for the oral surgery tomorrow.  Out of pocket costs for us (with insurance) will be $1300+. Ouch!

I'm Pooped!

Hello. Just a short post today. I should have taken a "before" photo, but I forgot. I guess you can call this the "during" shot.  This bed by the tree was VERY overgrown. I had some plants there that's been there since we moved in that looked like some sort of iris, but the dang things have never bloomed. I just got tired of looking at them without the flowers. The bed was also overgrown by weeds and downright ugly to look at.  This area is in plan view when my husband and I sit on the front porch, so I'm going to see if I can plant something, ANYTHING, that will bloom, preferably a perennial so I don't have to mess with it year in, year out.  I want color! That's the minimal requirement.

The rock enclosure is a recent project by "moi" with some stones left over from the previous owners' landscaping project, so it cost nothing, as was the black weed barrier that you can see a smidge.  I plan on filling the bed with the soil we had delivered for the vegetable beds and the horse manure so whatever I end up planting will have a good chance of surviving. 

But right now, I'm pooped, so I'm off to shower to cool down!

Cheap Thrills

I have seen this not-so-little guy hanging out in our backyard three times in the past week, always right before dusk. I know it's not exactly a good picture, but I just so happened to have my phone with me when I took this photo from inside the house. Since I always see him (or her, how does one tell?) on the fence or on top of the shed, I suspect his roost/nest must be close by. My husband and sons think it's a hawk, and I agree, but I couldn't figure out what kind, although I looked through the field guide we have in the house.

Goes to show you don't have to spend any money to be entertained. We have two large undeveloped tracts of land on two sides of our neighborhood as well as a state park on the other side of one of those tracts, so we do get our share of wildlife around here. Certainly a far cry from what I was used to growing up in Tokyo, Japan, which was nothing more than an asphalt jungle. I do miss it sometimes, but glad I don't live there anymore. The most I saw of wildlife back then were some sparrows, crows and pigeons.

Yesterday, I was at a loss as to what to make for dinner, so I threw some chicken bones I had in the freezer from past chicken dinners with some water and boiled that for a while until the broth turned a beige, murky color. I then strained the bones and other bits, added about 4 diced carrots, 2 stalks of celery, an onion and a bell pepper with some chicken bouillon granules and let all that simmer until the carrots were cooked through. In the meantime, I took out a pound of ground pork from a pig our neighbour raised but we shared the cost of upkeep and mixed in an egg, some grated Parmesan and tamale flour (my husband is on a low carb diet right now so can't use bread crumbs). I made little meatballs with that and dropped them into the soup to cook. My version of Italian Wedding Soup.  I know it needed some greens, but the rest of the family won't eat it if I had put any in there.  Everything was already on hand, and it was cheap. Best of all, everyone seemed to enjoy it, even the picky eaters of the family who shall remain anonymous... I wonder if the hawk would eat any of it if I put some outside?

You might enjoy taking a look at a live feed of nesting eagle chicks @ www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles. This morning, they were off the air but there are links to when the chicks hatched. My son told me about this site which he viewed with his class at high school live. He said while they were watching, the mother bird brought back a fish and the father bird brought back a rabbit for the chicks to eat.  Free fun is everywhere, if you care to find it!

Manager's Special

Had to make a run to Kroger last night to get cash for my son to buy tickets to an upcoming dance (remember I said children are NOT frugal?).  While there, I went up and down the aisles looking only for items marked down worth buying, and the above photo is most of what I came home with.  Three packages of Nolan Ryan's ground chuck (hormone and preservative free) marked down to $3.92 a package (about half off the per/pound price). Five packages of Ball pickle mix, from $0.94 cents to $0.59.  A tray of cinnamon rolls marked down to $2.19 (day old bakery is always 50% off). Four rolls of discontinued deodorant, priced at $1.30 each (sorry, the boys grabbed two as soon as I got home). And, two jars of Kim Chee at $1.99 a pop (regularly $4.99 each).

In addition, I purchased an off-season box of six 4-hour Duraflame logs for $6.00 (regularly $15.99), and 3 more boxes of Kroger brand 2-hour logs for $2.59 each (regularly also $15.99, go figure).  I had already put them away in the garage, sorry for the mess.  These logs are quite a savings, and we will surely use them once it gets cold again on its' own, or as starter logs for the fire wood we plan to buy this summer to prepare for winter (the wood is cheaper when not in season).

I was glad to find the Kim Chee, as I have not purchased any in a LONG time.  As with a lot of things I like to eat, it's something the rest of the family will not touch with a ten-foot pole, LOL. So I do feel bad spending five bucks just to please my cravings, aside from the fact that I think at that price point, it is waaaay overpriced.  I felt $1.99 was acceptable.  The reason they were on "special" was because the lids were starting to bulge out, I suspect.  I think those of you who don't eat the stuff would have been very disturbed to see me open it and then proceed to eat some this morning. You see, Kim Chee is fermented cabbage pickled with a ton of cayenne pepper, and the stuff continues to ferment in the bottle after packaging.  When I opened the lid, I heard a fizzing sound as the gas inside was freed from confinement.  Upon taking the lid completely off, there was a lot of bubbling going on!  Anyone not used to this would think the stuff had botulism and promptly thrown it out! I LOVE the stuff!

BUT, even with the substantial savings, the receipt was still over $40.00! I hate to go shopping.  You have to fork over so much money to buy so little. . .

The Garden Update

The new (old) tires have all been planted.  The 5 we found along the side of the road also had horse manure mixed in while they were being filled with dirt.  It will be interesting to see how the plants in those beds compare to the beds in which I used commercial fertilizer in.

The peas are sprouting:



The eggplants (aubergines) are starting to bloom:

But I'm quite not getting why there is such a discrepancy in the growth rate of the Golden Beans in this bed.  Notice it gets taller on the left side of the photo? The beans are all from one bag of seeds, planted in the same bed, with the same soil and gets the same amount of sunlight. As far as I can tell, the bed is level.  Anyone have any clue?

Children are not Frugal

These are trying times. . . I have one son (17) on the verge of manhood. Yet, he starts CRAP with the younger one (15), who is going through some tough times, hormonally speaking.  Sometimes (often), I wonder why on earth my husband and I wanted kids in the first place.  Ever get that feeling?  But as with my younger son right now, hormones does a crazy number to yourself and your sanity, or lack thereof. I know way back when, when I was praying for children, it was the ticking time bomb doing all the thinking and feeling.  Had my hormones been under control, I wonder if I would have had kids?  Probably not.

But I guess that's how nature intended it.  If it weren't for the unexplainable urge to procreate the next generation, would humanity even exist?  Of course not!  I remember when I was pregnant with the first one, and I was scheduled for a C-section, the doctor asked me if I wanted to have my tubes tied because it would only have taken a couple of extra minutes of his time.  Did I say, "yes"? Of course not!  In the last stages of pregnancy, one is still not sane, because you are way deep in the midst of "procreate and nurture" mode.  What sort of question is THAT? "Do you want to sterilize yourself?" Sheesh!  Insanity, I tell ya!  Insanity on my part, that is.

Instead, we had two kids.  Private schools, sport activities, birthday parties, etc., etc.  If we did not have kids, my husband and I would be filthy rich by now! Just imagine the ROI on the money we could have invested in the stock market! We would be millionaires many times over!  <sigh>  But like most people, we're not.  And that's OK.  We're OK with the fact that our retirement will not be as rich and varied as Donald Trump's or Warren Buffet's will likely be.  As long as the boys grow up into men who care for each other and will be there for the other if one of them is hurting or is in trouble after we are gone.  I know time will change and improve things between them.  I have no doubt.

BUT.  If you are still childless and mulling the concept of procreating, think long and hard.  Run for the hills!  Children are not frugal.  No, not at all.

Cheap Chic

Many moons ago, when I was either in high school or college, there was a bestselling book on fashion titled Cheap Chic in the U.S. Lately, I've been thinking about what I remember from the book (it was a LOOOONG time ago), and I wish I had paid more attention to it than I did back then.  The book was about how one could dress fashionably even if you didn't have a lot of money, and interspersed throughout the book were bios of real life young women and how they shopped and dressed on a  limited budget.  The book promoted shopping in thrift stores as a way to combat the high cost of fashion at a time when, I realize now, people who were not "poor" never ventured into such stores to shop.  I know the concept was new to me. Heck, I've never even heard of it until the book came along!  I also remember myself feeling somewhat superior to a high school classmate who I ran into at a mutual friend's party after we had all graduated from college, when she mentioned how she regularly shopped at Goodwill so she could save money. Oh the horror! The truth is, she was waaaay smarter than me. I was downright STUPID.

Back in the day, I thought nothing of buying 10 ( ! ) pairs of shoes on one shopping trip. But that person no longer exists. . . I don't remember buying any "retail" new item of clothing for a minimum of 5-6 years.  I've shopped at thrift stores and garage sales for at least 20 years now.  The other week, a neighbor gave me the opportunity to look through some discarded clothes from someone she knew before she took them over to the women's shelter. I gladly took what fit me. New clothes from heaven! So what changed?

I think when one settles down and start a family, and you are no longer responsible just for yourself, one's priorities takes a big hit of reality check.  I know mine did.  Especially so after the birth of our first son.  We went from two paychecks to one paycheck in addition to the added burden of moving to a city with a higher cost of living (San Diego).  Something had to give, and that was paying full price for things.  If we could find it used, we did. If it was free, that was even better. And if we could do without, then we went without.

That doesn't mean we will never pay retail.  Another important concept I remember from Cheap Chic was the idea of "Price Per Use."  This is where that cute outfit you absolutely had to have because "it was on sale and so damn cheap" ends up costing you more in the long run if you end up wearing it once or twice or not at all, than the expensive, top-of-the-line item because if you divide the purchase price by the number of times you use it, the expensive item comes out cheaper than the throwaway item.  For example, if you purchased a classic blazer for the ungodly price of $500.00, but you wore that at least once a week for 5 years, then your price per use would be less than $1.92. But if you bought an outfit for $15.00 but only wore it once or none at all, your price per use is $15.00!  I'm not trying to rationalize here, I don't think I can fork over $500.00 for one item of clothing, but you get the idea.  Just because an item is expensive should not deter one from purchasing it if you absolutely know that it will be used over and over, and you can afford to buy it without putting it on credit.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that if you can't find what you need used, you don't necessarily have to dismiss buying it retail. But if you can't, or if the used item will end up costing you more to use it, as the case may be with old electric appliances, then you might consider buying it new (but preferably on sale).  Cheap Chic is all about being smart with your hard earned money. 

Roadside Treasures

My husband had a hernia surgery last Wednesday, and was under doctor's orders to be moving around instead of planting himself in bed as conventional wisdom used to be back in the day.  Two days after his surgery, he decided he needed a walk.  We went out for a leisurely stroll along a lonely stretch of road right outside our neighborhood:

This road has a VERY deep ditch along its' side to control runoff from the rain (in Texas, when it rains, it pours). Anyways, we were strolling along, and found a big, fat tire in the ditch. I said to my husband that the tire looked like it was the same size as those we made raised beds with. I decided we could use more vegetable beds, so we should come back and get it 

As we continued on with our walk, we found not one, not two, but 4 more tires of the same size along the road, meaning we found 5 tires total.  On one level, that was fine by us. We could sure use them. But on another level, it really made us mad. For crying out loud, doesn't whoever threw away those tires know that we LIVE here? Why do they think it's OK to dump tires along the side of the road? REALLY?  Talk about lack of civility and common courtesy!  Not to even mention that they are trashing our planet!  Sheesh! (Breath in, breathe out. . . OK,  I think I'm done venting. . .)

We sent our sons off to retrieve those tires after we got back from our stroll.  They were not all that happy about it, especially after they got home.  They were complaining that the tires were HEAVY, and they could barely get them lifted into the truck bed.  My husband asked them if they stacked them up in the driveway. The answer was negative. When asked why, they said all they could do was roll them off the bed of the truck, and that if they had not done so, that I would never have been able to move them!

When I went out to check them out, I understood why. These tires were even larger and heavier than the tires from my son's truck. The three guessed they were probably dump truck tires. When I measured them, they were fully 42 inches across. They will make sizable beds, and all for FREE!

We also found a sizable patch of wild blackberries. We went out later to pick some. I think they will be in season for at least several more weeks.  I washed them quickly and put them on a sheet pan in a single layer to freeze in the freezer.  That way, I don't have to worry about them going bad. I will probably make blackberry cobbler and blackberry dumplings (my husband's favorite childhood dish). If I get a sizable stash, I may even give a go at making blackberry preserves.

We also went back later that afternoon to dig up some of the blackberry plants to replant them in our garden.  Don't know if they will take, but at least it's worth a try, and it was free. Can't beat THAT!  So all in all, it was a good day, even if I got really pissed off at the sight of those tires initially. . .

That's a Lot of Horse Sh*%!

Quite literally. Really.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought even 5 years ago that I would willingly drive 20 miles to go get a free load of horse manure! But that's exactly what we did today so we can improve the soil quality in our raised vegetable beds.  With the ongoing drought in Texas, the manure was really dried out, and we are going to have to wet it down and mix it in with our compost pile before we can use it, but I know I can look forward to a bountiful harvest next year once all this crap, literally, is mixed into our dirt.  Tomorrow, we have to shovel it out of the truck bed. Oh joy. . .

Thank You

Today is my birthday. Feeling a bit under the weather, but the family is taking me out to dinner later.  I am at a age when, if my husband and I want to get something and we can afford it, we generally will, though we will always try to find whatever we want used before we fork over our hard earned money to buy it new.

So, no presents this year. My husband more than made up for it last year when he surprised me with a very expensive set of kitchen knives that I was too cheap to buy for myself.  I use it with a lot of gratitude every day when I cook.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank those of you who bother to read this blog. I now officially have 9 "Followers," but I was surprised to learn today (when I finally figured out how) that my blog has had over 1000 page views since its inception.  Whether you are an official follower or not, "Thank you" from the bottom of my heart.  I was doing this for myself mostly, as an online diary of what I've been up to.  I was pleasantly surprised that I had not been talking to myself.

I think those of us who take the initial step to start a blog have a frustrated writer in us wanting to emerge out of the shadows.  I know I had an inkling to write a novel that I've been nursing in my heart for years, but where to start?  At least this is the first step.  Don't know if I'll ever have the time or will power to actually write that book, but I thank you all for bothering to read my rambling thoughts.  And you know what? Starting a blog doesn't cost a penny, so it goes right along with the frugal theme.  :)

Here's to hoping that this next year in my life and yours will be evermore frugal and joyous.

xoxo

Frugal Bathroom Part II

I completed the unfinished project for our hall bathroom.  This is what the other side of the bathroom used to look like:

Gag me with a spoon! I think you can see why this bathroom had to go. . . I HATED those faux marble looking smoky mirrors.  We used to live in a rent house when we first got married that had these same mirrors.  Ugh! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING??  They must have been high on SOMETHING.  There is no other explanation. . .

Without a second thought, this bathroom got ripped out except for the tub as soon as we got title to the house.  We installed a new toilet and it stayed like that for two years.  Last year, we finally got around to finishing it off.  I had to find a new vanity because the one above was history.  Have you ever priced bathroom vanities? A basic, nothing-to-write-home-about vanity made of particle board WITHOUT a counter top, sink or faucet was running at a minimum of $500 at Home Depot or Lowes.  It was out of the question, and that vanity was really ugly anyway.  I was not interested.  What to do?

I searched high and low.  Again, Craigslist to the rescue.  The new-to-me used solid wood buffet was $100.  It sat in the dining room of an elderly lady who was moving into a nursing home.  I'm sure it never got much use.  It has the furniture look that is popular now, but I think it looks timeless because of its' Country French styling.  The undermount sink was less than $50 from Overstock.com.  The big splurge items here were the granite counter and faucet that came to around $500 total.  But, considering a bottom-of-the-line vanity from a big box retailer sans counter, etc was going for $500, my husband and I could live with that.  We don't plan on ever moving again, so we were willing to spend the money this time.



Here is the in between look with the temporary mirror we were using.  Notice that I am getting ready to install the mirror I showed you yesterday.  I was using the tapes to figure out where to install the hanging hardware.  I am not too bright when it comes to numbers, so I believe in the mantra, "measure twice, do once."  Even so, my husband complained that the mirror was too low and I had to redo it.  Drat!  In a perfect world, all the crap on the sink would not be there, but hey, I live in the real world.  Maybe one day when the boys are gone, my house will have the semblance of a model home. . . 

Which reminds me, I remember reading an old issue of Architectural Digest, and the feature was the home of Garrison Keller of Lake Woebegone fame (I think that was his name). He wrote an accompanying article, saying that the home in the photos does not exist, and that it was an illusion, meaning in real life, his house has all kinds of stuff strewn around because his family lives there. I thought it was reassuring of him to say that instead of making us believe that his life was perfection. . . But I digress. . .

So, without further delay, here is the finished bathroom.  I finished spray painting the chair and reupholstered it today.  What do you think??

The hanging black plaque was another thrift store find that was around $4.00.  The mirror we had been using was moved over to the other wall as art.  I LOVE to use mirrors. I don't look at myself much, but I love the silver color that reflects the light.  The chair was a freebie when I purchased the buffet/vanity.  It had a dated finish, but I liked the shape, so a quick spray painting with the same satin black paint as the mirror updated it.  I covered it with a fabric remnant also from the thrift store for, I think, 79 cents.

Yes, I am pretending that the bathroom always looks like this, but alas, it does not.  The photo is a grand illusion, I'm afraid.  Normally, the counter has all sorts of bottles and such strewn around, but one can dream. . .

What Else I've Been Up To. . .

I wrote about our bathroom before and promised that I will show you the vanity area sometime. . . I'm not ready to show you just yet, but here's a teaser of what I've been up to to finish it off.

The reason I was not ready was because I've been on a hunt for a mirror to hang over the vanity. We've been making do with a small mirror until I found the right one for the right price, meaning a great mirror for a very cheap price. I had no luck at the thrift stores at all, and I was to the point of succumbing to full retail (well, to a point). About a month ago, I spotted this diamond in the rough hiding behind a gaudy painting:

It had good bones, but its' previous owner had tried to do a shabby chic number on it, without success.  The paint job was dingy, dirty, and downright ugly. Actually, I think it was gesso and not paint, and it was splotchy and noticeably built up over some spots.  But hey, it was only $9.99! So I brought it home, and it sat in the corner of the bathroom until I finally got off my tush and went at it:

Here, I masked off the edge close to the frame and covered the rest with masking paper I had left over when we painted the house before we moved in.  Can you see the bad distressing job on the edges? It was waaaaaay overdone and really ugly.

Lastly, here it is after several coats of satin black spray paint.  I pondered whether to attempt distressing it again, but decided against it.  I think it will eventually acquire the requisite patina as I used it over the years.  The satin finish is very understated and makes the mirror look a lot more expensive than it was. 

I'll post a photo of the bathroom soon, I promise!

Garden Projects

Inspired by Kate's post at Living the Frugal Life, I built myself a Native Bee box yesterday with some scrap pieces of lumber I had in the garage.  Here it is, hanging from the fence post in the back yard by my vegetable garden.  I've never heard of "Native Bees" until I read her post. I Googled it, and read some more about it.  I was not aware that honey bees are not native to the U.S. and most native bees are solitary bees who live out their lives alone other than to mate to lay eggs for the next generation.  The hardest part of making it was drilling all the holes for the bees to lay eggs in.  The battery on my drill kept dying, and I had to wait until it was charged up again.  I'm looking forward to seeing if my "condo" will attract winged guests!

The irony is that right after we closed on our house, we had to pay a bee expert to remove three bee hives that had been built inside the exterior wall while the house sat vacant for two years.  My husband and a contractor had an unpleasant close encounter when they were discussing a job.  They were poking around the roof line, and disrupted the bees who immediately became angry and started to swarm.  I've never seen two grown men running so fast!

When the "bee guy" showed up, he removed the siding on the outside wall and grabbed the hive and shoved it inside a plastic garbage bag. He then cleaned the area as best he could of the honey and sprayed some sort of chemical where the hive had been.  He promised that although we might see stray bees for a while close by, they will not go in to try to rebuild the hive because the bees do not like the chemical.  He said most of the bees followed the hive into his plastic bag, and they will be relocated into a hive box in a commercial bee operation.  Even after 3 years and a power washing of the exterior wall, you can still see the dark spot left by the dripping honey below where the siding was opened up to reach inside.

Anyways, I did not have a 4 x 4 lumber, so I used three short pieces of boards and screwed them from both sides top and bottom.  After the holes were drilled, I added another scrap piece for the roof to protect the hole openings from dripping water.  I promise to post another photo when the "visitors" have checked in!

You can't tell from this photo, but the other recent project was to plant some raspberry plants along this fence. I got them on clearance at the garden center a couple of weeks ago.  I purchased 12 plants, and threw one away by mistake because they look like a dead piece of stick! I had just made a big pile of weeds and vines I had pulled up to clear the area to plant them, and then promptly threw one of the plants onto the pile by error. I tried to find it, but it was a classic "needle in the hay stack" situation, and I gave up. Sooo, I only have 11 plants. Hopefully, they will start putting out new shoots sometime soon.



When the Going Gets Tough. . .

Don't you sometimes feel like you just want to curl up into a ball and do nothing? That's how I feel today. Don't want to talk about being frugal, thrifty, tightwad, etc., etc.  I just want to get my caffeine fix and go curl up with a book and forget everything. 

My younger son is 15, and he is navigating through some very rough waters, figuratively speaking. He is surly, all attitude, back talks and argues.  It is really frustrating trying to get through to him, because he won't listen. He "knows" everything.  I know intellectually it is a waste of my breath arguing with him, and yet. . . I end up in a shouting match with him over. . .nothing.

But I do remember the sweet boy he used to be, just a short while ago. He used to have platinum blond hair as a toddler, which was really strange because I am a dark brunette and I remember from biology class that dark is the dominant gene.  He was very sweet tempered and angelic.  I used to have an irrational fear that he would be in some horrific accident, and I used to pray over him as I put him down to sleep that he will be safe and my fears will remain a figment of my imagination.  On the weekends when my husband and I used to try to sleep in, he used to climb into our bed and lay close to me, patting me with his small, chubby hands as if he was trying to comfort me. . .

I know. . . I hope. . . this will pass.  He will grow up into a responsible young adult in a few short years.  But until then, the battle continues. . . Today, I'm taking a time out.

Frugal Raised Vegetable Beds

We had to buy new tires for our older son's truck. That was not so frugal, but it had to be done or his vehicle would not have passed inspection.  His tires are extra BIG, 33 inches in diameter to be exact. Rather than pay the additional fee to the tire store to dispose of them, I brought them back home to try something I read about in a now discontinued blog.  I was going to reuse them to make raised beds for my vegetable garden.

Here is my younger son who happened to be home cutting out the sides of the tire with a reciprocating saw:

Thank God for power tools! :)  As you can see from the photo, they are quite wide. Since these are heavy duty truck tires, I believe they are also quite sturdier than regular passenger vehicle tires.

Here they are in my garden after the sides were cut out and dirt shovelled in:



The one in the foreground was planted with shallots, which tend to be expensive in the supermarkets.  I remember reading somewhere that you save money planting vegetables that are pricey.  The other three were planted with three different varieties of cucumbers, slicing, pickling and an oriental variety I planted last year that I saved seeds from a cuke that was allowed to mature on the vine.  That means I didn't even have to buy the seeds! :) You can't tell from the photo, but the seeds in the second bed germinated just since this morning when I went to water!

And here is another shot of the rest of the beds:

The two beds with the darker soil is from last year when I purchased bagged garden soil.  That can get expensive really quick, so this year, we purchased a truckload of dirt.  It probably is from a riverbed or somewhere like that, so there is no organic matter in it.  I was not sure how the seeds would germinate in such a medium, but so far, everything appears to be doing nicely.  I just need to make sure to fertilize it once or twice during the growing season.  When the compost in the pile you can see in the background is ready, that will be mixed in so I hope the garden will do even better in the following years!

I will be adding two more tire beds later this summer when my husband's truck needs at least two new tires to pass inspection on his vehicle.  Tires are not cheap, so why spend extra money to the store just to get rid of the old ones?  These babies are pretty much indestructible, so these will be in our garden for years to come.