Trying Blog Hopping

I am trying something new today. Blog Hopping! If you are looking to check out some new blogs or get yours out there - check out these.  Have fun!

Vacation Wednesday's

 I started taking Wednesday off last week, to spend time with my son. He is so bored all day being on summer break.
 We are not taking a vacation this year because of the turbulent weather everywhere. We hope to get back to Tybee Island next year though (and I am going to try hard to save the money to rent a condo this time on the beach).
Last Wednesday we went to Joslyn Museum in Omaha, Ne. (accross the river from us). Joslyn Museum  We love museums and they have some very beautiful paintings and exhibits there. An FYI on Saturdays you can visit for free!
We also visited the oldest cemetary in our town here. I had not been there since I was a teenager. It was absolutely awesome.  (My son and I love old cemetaries).

Today we went to the "Bodies The Exhibition". Very expensive but very interesting. For those not familar with this they are preserved human bodies opened up so you can see what is inside of us. Here is a link Bodies The Exhibition. My son held a human brain in his hands and said he couldn't wait to tell his dad. LOL!
That didn't take as long to see as we thought so I decided to take him up to the oldest part of the city which before being annexed was Florence. Here we found an old Mill that was established by Brighom Young and is now a museum. It was free but they take donations (yes I donated). In the upper part is an Art Gallery. It was a very interesting place and the woman was delightful to chat with. They have a Farmers Market type thing on Sunday's she said so we are planning on returning then. There is also another museum in the area that is only open on weekends. We plan to stop at that. Florence Mill
We also discovered the Mormon Trails Center Museum. It was totally free and very interesting. I had no idea about their history. I love history and they very kindly gave me a Book of Mormon, which I do plan on reading. I declined the missionary visit though. Mormon Trails Museum
Finally, I took my son to Hummel Park.  I had not been there in over 20 years. Check out this link Hummel Park. I had only been there at night also. It was almost as creepy in the daytime I found, but, we love creepy. LOL! We will be going back with our camera's soon to take pictures of the "morphing stairs" (LOL) and the beautiful views.
So if you are ever in Omaha, Ne. These are just a few of the inexpesive historical places to visit.

                                                               From The Garden
Picked another mess of green beans. A friend at work gave me the best resipe for them. They are in the crock pot as we speak! Smell so yummy!
Recipe
Put raw bacon (cut in 1 in pieces) on the bottom of the crock pot (as much as you want)
Next put in potatoes (about 1in cubes)  as much as you want but leave room for the beans)
Then snap your beans and put them on top.
I add about a 1/2 cup of water
Put lid on and cook until potatoes are done. I stir them about the last 1-2 hours
If you put them on in morning I suggest on low if you start them after noon as I did put them on high and turn down when potatoes are done.

I made this with the first mess of green beans and it "was to die for". Dave couldn't get enough and went on and on about it.

Flipping It For $$

Got this at a church rummage for 50¢  sold on Craigslist for $5.00

Found on curb - sold on Craigslist  $20.00

Dave brought this hood ornament home (found at work) I sold on ebay for $28.00

Thanks for stopping by. Have a good evening.

Sunday Again

I wanted to blog more often but it has been less. I just can not find time to do everything I want to do in a day.
                                                             From The Garden
The garden is starting to produce a bit more. I was able to get these few tomatoes and I don't expect to get many more. The rain just keeps coming and the ground is not drying up. I had to throw out some cucmbers that were laying in water and had grown fungus all over them.

The flowers are all doing well too. Those clearance flowers I bought for $1.00 each

Just look at them now!

They just needed some attention.

My favorite flowers are Lilies and more of mine are in bloom and they just smell so good!

We had another storm last week with winds of 80 miles per hour. Luckily we had no damage at our place.

This was taken as it was coming in . The northern part of my city got it worse than we did. Looks like we caught the edge of it.

Trash to Treasure

Dave brought me this old cast iron kettle, the bottom is missing and the top piece (cover) I took off.

It's really old and there is just something about it I like. I found a clay pot fit perfectly in it.

 Notice something different in these two pictures?  The wiring is hooked up to the outlet. Now I can put in my pond! YAY!!  Dave got the outlet finished today. So expect pictures soon ( I hope) -(yet another project). I have all the stuff for the pond I was just needing an outlet .

Savings

I didn't take any pictures but my son and I hit the clearance rack at Kohl's this week and he found a pair of APT Jeans for $6.00 (orig price $60.00)  and a pair of shorts for $2.80 (orig price $14.00) plus I had a coupon for 20% off entire purchase so I paid  $7.53  for all!

No great grocery shopping deals to speak of. Only bought a few things this week. I am trying to use up all we have in freezer and pantry before it goes old.

Have a good evening!

WOW It's already Sunday!

I have been dealing with hip pain (in both sides) these past 3 days. Needless to say I have not gotten as much done as I would have liked to, and here it is Sunday- back to work tomorrow. Ho-hum!

Friday I worked on the bathroom some more. Dave put up my shelf last Sunday so I could put my plant back in there.
I suppose I should explain the unusual planter. First, I want to say that I love it because it is unique and one of a kind. It means a lot to me. You see my son made it for me in "art class" at school last year. He admits he is not good at "ceramics", LOL (I don't care). I find it special an am proud to display it.

The Bathroom Project
I finished the cupboard by putting new knobs on. Here are a couple of "before" pictures.

There were cupboards around the "ugly" light fixture. We removed the upper and left side cupboards. I painted the one that I we kept.

I painted it to look like "old wood" but now I am thinking about going back over it and making it completely dark.

Now I am trying to decide if I want to paint the new sink base "black". It has a "plastic like" finish on the front doors for ease of cleaning and I just am not sure I can get that if I paint them.

 I wish I had taken a "before" picture of the old sink that was here when we moved in. It was one of those 60's fake marbelized ones. It had a tiny bowl and long 3 foot counter to the right. It was "nasty" (uncleanable), too.

The other thing I am about to tackle is the tub. ( Okay here if you could see me is where I am  rolling my eyes, LOL).  First - why on earth did they paint it?!! Not only did they paint it but they did a horrid job.

It has run marks!
This is the bottom of the tub (yes inside- we only use the shower at this time and a bath mat)

 The tub is porcelain so I can't scrape it off and have to be careful of any chemicals I use. I think however the paint is chipping itself off quite well .

This is not the only problem we have had while redoing the bathroom. At some point in time someone painted all the walls, ceiling and tile (we removed the tile) with varnish or polyurethane which, through the years yellowed, cracked and chipped and apparently when it got steamy in there, it ran down the walls. I scrubbed and scrubbed before painting just so my paint would adhere.

 So the bathroom is still not completely done.

Deals
I had only 2 great deals to share today.

 The tuna I got for 47¢ a can (reg 98¢ each) and the "always" I got for $1.69  (reg $6.98).

The Garden

It was raining today when I got up and it is supposed to rain more tonight. My tomatoes are not doing well at all, due to this. I am pretty sure I will not have enough to can.

I have already harvested several jalapeno's which is unusual since the plant is not even half the size as last years. I still have alot left in the jar, so I have started a jar for my son. Last year the big jar was full to the top, from just the one plant. I gave alot away too, off that plant.

The cucumbers, pumpkins, squash and beans are all doing wonderful.

My lilies finally bloomed!!

That $1.00 clearance pot I bought at Menards just needed some water and sunshine. (The other one is all budded)

 

Here is a clearer picture of the front bed (as promised).

I see I have green beans to pick and the sun is starting to go down so I better go pick them.
Thanks for stopping.
Have a - "good evening"

Happy 4th!

I thought I would share a great recipe that uses lots of your garden's veggies and is great to take to a picnic. I took it today to a picnic and it was eaten all up!

I love this Summer Veggie Salad !

1 cup uncooked tricolor spiral pasta
1/2 cup chopped seeded cucumber
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup sliced radishes
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon Good Seasons Italian dressing mix (hint: there are 2 tablespoons in a pkg)
2 Tablespoons plus 1-1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine all the veggies, cheese, garlic powder and pepper. Drain pasta and rinse in cold water: stir into the veggie mixture.
In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the dressing mix, vinegar and oil: shake well. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
5 servings

I doubled it to take to the picnic.

Hope everyone is having a great 4th. Enjoy the fireworks!

Another Busy Saturday

I was driving out to where Dave works on friday, ( a gravel road along the river where people seem to think it is the garbage dump).  Along the road someone had dumped off a few of these concrete scalloped edgers.

Of course I knew I could put them to some use, LOL. There were only a few (2 are not pictured). I stopped and loaded them into my SUV.

Today I put them to use to help keep the soil from continually washing down, pushing water into a storage room under my steps.

 I will do this on the other side as well. I will also be putting a flower bed on this side next year.

Here is a couple before pics of the new front flower bed

I laid it out then scraped off the top

planted some flowers and seeds.

Here is what it looks like now that I added some mulch today and "children" (lol)

( I didn't realize til now how the pic seems out of focus. I took this at dusk, I  will add a clearer pic tomorrow) You get the idea how it's coming along though.

I have discovered  that going to Menards on Saturday mornings gets me some great deals.

I was there to get more mulch and they were marking things down. I got a real tall "Shephards Hook" for $5.88  (reg $16.98) and as I was leaving I found these cute little "Scented Windowsill Garden" kits.  for $1.00 (reg $6.98)

They are copper colored tin pots with a tray, growing medium and seeds. I bought 2 and both are different seedwise. One has Silver Thyme, Lemon Balm and Mint, the other has Spearmint, Peppermint and Mint.

They will look great on my windowsills! Can't beat them for a buck!

Got a great deal on corn-on-the-cob at No Frills today 12 ears for $2.99!! WOW!

  (It is usually $3.99 for 6 ears).

It will go over well at the picnic tomorrow.

I got all the rest of my perennials planted today, except one. Still trying to decide where I want to put the other "Butterfly Bush", sis bought me.

We put up "another" trellis for the climbing green beans and some fencing around the pumpkins to get try and keep them off the ground.

I picked a handful of green beans off the row today! 

I happened to have my camera by me at just the right time today and got 3 of my "family" in the pic.

Here are top L-R "Blacken", " Boot-Z" and "Damon" (aka "itty-bit") bottom.

Enjoy your evening. Thanks for stopping in to read my blog!

I'm Still Around

With the warmer weather I am so much busier! When I am not at work I am usually up to something in one of the gardens I am attempting to create. Then there is the bathroom that still is not done, but, I am working on it every extra chance I get.

Needless to say, the only time I am on a computer is at work and "blogging" there is a big NO! NO!

LOL!
Also, I have had PC problems since an Microsoft "update" on 6/23/10 (anyone else?)  I restored twice. This last time I did not install the updates and it's back to working fine!

I have not been to many yard sales. There just have not been any that have looked "appealing" to even stop at. Oh well, I am trying to get rid of what I have here before I bring more in, anyway!

I had some great finds this past weekend though,

We had to run out to Menards and while there I discovered Geraniums 6 for $1.00. Then they brought out a cart while I was there of marked down planters. I got 2 for $1.00 each- already planted! The pots are worth that!

The Geraniums look real nice in my blue pots. Oh, tonight when we were leaving the house Dave looked over and said "I really like those blue pots". (That made me feel good).

We did a Target run Sunday and got some good deals too!

The Stove Top was $2.24 before coupons, I paid $1.24 normally I don't buy this, but with the coupon deals and this new flavor I wanted to try it.    The Glade was $3.49 , I paid 49¢. The Q-tips cost me 89¢ each (reg $1.89 each),  Wonka candy was $3.49 - I paid 99¢,  the Crystal Light are the bigs ones that are $3.98 each I got them on sale $2.98 each - less one $1.00 coupon, I paid $1.98! Total worth $21.20 - I paid $11.70

I have had "ugly" curtains up since we moved here 3 years ago. They were some that were left and some I had and they didn't even match. LOL. I have looked at the prices of drapes but for my big front window it would cost me an "arm and a leg" ( neither of which I am willing to part with, lol).

I was at the Family Dollar last friday and found they had some pretty "nice looking" ones for half off on clearance. They only had 3 panels,. I found another panel at their other store (funny that store only had one hmm). They were $7.50 and the valances were $4.80.  They really match the coloring of my funiture. They also look pretty nice. I took a quick pic while I had them up temporarily to see if I would like them. I think when Ifind some material I will line them. They sure look better than the old ones.  lol!

So here are the curtains that were here when we moved in (yuck plaid!)

I had to get the plaid -gone, so I used some thermal curtains that were the same color but had a design. Not real attractive either. The window faces the west, the sun just heats up the room and blinds us so bad . (I solved that problem this weekend with some window tint).

Okay don't these look much better (even though they came from the dollar store)?

Then finally here is my other deal of the weekend. All these groceries were free!

 15 cans of veggies, 4pk of yogurt and the new Kraft mac and cheese Explosion  >Total value $13.07!!!

Enough for now. Hopefully will be able to get back on schedule now. Thanks for stopping. Have a good evening!