Been Gone a Long Long Time

Hi Everyone!

Remember me?

I know, it's been a while.

I've been keeping myself busy around the house lately.

The weather here has been toasty.

We had our first triple digit number last week.

I think we were at 101 degrees last Wednesday.

I've been enjoying spending some time outside

working in the yard.

It's not been too bad and when I do get hot

I have to say I sure am enjoying this baby.

The garden is growing like crazy.

I have more lettuce than I know what to do with.

The tomatoes are growing so fast.

These Big Boy Varieties are about the size of my fist right now.

My first bell pepper.

Our hibiscus are looking good right now.

I wasn't sure this one was going to make it

but with a little loving care

she's turning out beautiful blooms.

We have four bird feeders in our back yard.

We live in bird central.

I fill these large feeders in the mornings and by the afternoon,

all four of them are empty.

Next to the feeders,

I keep suet cake cases.

When I ran out of suet cakes,

I began filling them with bits of yarn

and I like to watch the birds come and grab some

for their nests.

We have two back patios.

The main one runs almost the length of the house,

the other is under a Ramada next to the pool.

The Ramada patio has been empty since we've moved in

since we didn't have enough patio furniture.

Last weekend we finally found a good sale and now

have some furniture in there.

I'd like to make some new pillows to brighten up the space.

The flowers on the table are so pretty.

I love the contrast of the lime green sweet potato vine

with the dark green of the vincas.

I've been busy inside too.

No, I still haven't redone my bedroom.

I'm still pretending it doesn't exist.

I do have to get on that shortly though.

I've been working on some smaller projects.

Remember my pantry jars?

I love these jars but I find that I'm constantly

in and out of the pantry grabbing them.

I don't like a lot of stuff on the counters

but I wanted these to be more accessible.

As you can see,

they had the original shiny silver lids 

with key tags for labels.

If I wanted them on the counters,

they would need an update.

I sprayed the lids with

Oiled Bronze Spray Paint.

Then I attached oiled bronze knobs to the tops

with E6000 glue.

I found the free printable labels

over here at The Painted Hive.

I didn't have the right label paper to print it out on

but I did have some clear contact paper

so I used that.

I found out the hard way that even after they sit

for an hour, the ink does not dry

very well on the contact paper

and it smudges very easily.

I redid the labels and this time

hit each one with a shot of hairspray.

Yup.

It worked.

As soon as the hairspray was dry,

the labels didn't smudge.

I just peeled the back off the contact paper 

and applied them to the jars.

They look so much better in my kitchen now.

And one last thing.

Katie's dear sweet boyfriend, Travis,

is home from his third tour in Afghanistan.

We have been so thrilled he is home safe and sound.

Of course,

I haven't seen very much of my Katie lately.

She's been busy with this guy, I guess.

Have a great weekend!

xxx-ooo

Holly

Simple Honest Living

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Anyone who uses social networks

such as Facebook, Blogs, or  Pinterest,

 can see there is a huge trend

 toward consumers making  more frugal choices.

Homemade laundry soap.

Refurbishing their old furniture instead of buying new.

Making simple home cooked meals instead of eating out.

Not too long ago,

It seemed that everyone was trying to keep up with the Joneses.

Buy Bigger!  Buy Better!

It was a cause for embarrassment to admit that you were

making frugal choices, budgeting, 

and looking for ways to cut back on spending.

It meant that you were not quite successful enough.

I think that this is the one good thing 

that has come out of this recession.

People are making better choices.

We are no longer afraid to admit that money is tight

And that we are doing the best we can to hold on to

Whatever it is we have.

We are reusing,

Reducing,

And trying to live more simply.

We’ve gone back to simple pleasures such as,

Hanging our laundry to dry in the sun,

Growing our own vegetables,

Creating beauty from things we already have.

source

Can you imagine dumpster diving or “shopping the curb”

Just ten short years ago?

If you did, you certainly didn’t tell anyone about it.

If you’re a Pinterest user like I am,

You probably have the same phobia that I do.

The fear of throwing something away that you could possibly reuse.

“Well, I guess I’ll just throw this empty tomato can away.”

But wait…..what if I just…..

 source

“This old suitcase is about to fall apart, I should just toss it.”

But hold on a minute, maybe I could….

source

I enjoy learning new ways to
live more simply.
Ways to save money.
Paying down our debt.

I'm amazed at the number of women 
who have been willing to open up
on their blogs
and share their financial hardships
and their ideas for saving money.
And so thankful for that.


And it's a good thing.

xxx
Holly

Grab It Fore It Bolts

The garden looks a little crazy right now.

New to gardening, 

we may not have planned it as well as we thought.

The potatoes have taken over.

Perhaps we planted too many.

Perhaps we have not a clue what we are doing.

We're hoping to see them flower and fall over soon

which will tell us that they are ready to harvest.

The lettuce is looking lovely though

and looks like it may bolt soon

so I picked some for a salad tonight.

They are soaking right now in my kitchen sink

in a bath of vinegar and cold water.

I'm not really fooled into thinking

that this will take care of every single tiny bug.

We will probably have a couple of bugs mixed in 

with our croutons.

What?

You're not coming for dinner?

I'm having issues with our strawberry plants.

I don't think I provided enough drainage

and I should have mixed a little sand in with the soil.

See that strawberry?

That's what we are getting out of these.

Teensy, weensy.

Advice, anyone?

I've planted some sweet potato vines in 

a wine barrel in the yard.

Hopefully, we will have a nice trailing vine

this summer.

I thought for the longest time that

this thing was a weed

but stopped myself from pulling it out several times.

Yesterday,

the beautiful Gerbera Daisies opened up.

So glad I didn't pull it out.

We bought three gardenia bushes

and planted them under the kitchen window

where they get plenty of shade.

Hard to come by here in Arizona.

Such pretty fragrant blooms!

We're looking at a high of 84 degrees today.

Low 90's for the weekend.

Can't wait to use this

for the first time!

Have a Happy Tuesday!!

xxx

Holly

Spring Cleaning on the Cheap

The windows are all open

and the breeze through the house feels wonderful.

Looks like a high of 84 degrees today

and in the 90's later this week.

Makes a woman feel like cleaning!

I don't have children at home anymore 

so cleaning is not such a chore for me.

Brian is relatively neat,

never misses the waste basket and

never leaves dirty clothes on the floor.

I consider myself blessed.

What I don't care for are the prices of store bought 

cleaning products.

About a year ago I began to make my own.

It took a lot of trial and error

to find the products that worked for me.

Everything I use was either found on 

Pinterest

Elaine's blog: Sunny Simple Life

or

One Good Thing by Jillie

I've had a few friends ask me what I use

and for the recipes to these

so I thought I would just post them here.

All you will ever need to buy:

Ammonia

Dawn Dish Soap

Vinegar

Rubbing alcohol

Baking Soda

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

Mule Team Borax

OxyClean

Cheap Hair Conditioner (Suave)

essential oils (optional)

Here are my tried and true favorite homemade cleaners.

Homemade Laundry Stain Remover - from Elaine

1 part Ammonia

1 part Dawn 

1 part water

 Put in squeeze bottle.  

Apply to stain, wait 15 minutes then wash.

Homemade Laundry Soap

3 Tablespoons Borax

3 Tablespoons Washing Soda

4 Tablespoons Dawn Dish soap

Put these ingredients in a large jug.

Pour 4 cups hot water into the jug.

Swirl until ingredients are dissolved in the liquid.

Then fill almost to the top with cold water.

(I've done the grated soap method before and found

this one above works just as well and only take 1 minute to make) 

Also, it's low sudsing so I can use it in my high efficiency washer.

For my whites, I add some OxyClean to the load.

Granite Cleaner or Pergo Floor Cleaner

½ cup rubbing alcohol

1 tsp Dawn 

14 drops of essential oil (lemon or orange)

water

Fill spray bottle to top with hot water

(When I had formica counters,

I used vinegar instead of alcohol, granite doesn't like vinegar)

Carpet Cleaner

2 ½ cups vinegar

2 scoops Oxyclean

Dissolve and add to carpet cleaning machine 

and fill the rest of the way with hot water.  

Homemade Fabric Softener

6 cups of hot water
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups of Suave hair conditioner

Mix conditioner and hot water until conditioner is dissolved.  

Add vinegar.  Use 1/8 cup per load

      Bathtub Cleaner

1 part vinegar
1 part Dawn dish soap

Mix in a spray bottle, and spray on tub.  

Let sit for 15 minutes and then wipe.

      Toilet Cleaner

1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda

sprinkle baking soda in the toilet.

Add vinegar and smile when you see the bubbles.

Because bubbles are fun.

Swish with your toilet brush and then flush.

(I also keep a bleach tablet in the toilet tank)

I buy my vinegar, baking soda and alcohol in bulk at Costco.

Everything goes a long way and will last for several months.

I have several others that I use

and you can find them on my

Pinterest Board marked Favorite Homemade Cleaners.

Another trick I've learned is to make my own 

cleaning wipes.

Pull about 10 paper towels off the roll

and shove them into a mason jar with a lid.

I pour my granite cleaner over these

just enough to moisten them

and keep the sealed jar under my bathroom sinks.

Removes hairspray off the counter tops really well.

Just pull one out and tear it off.

I've also made my own

Swiffer Wet Jet Pads using old microfiber cloths.

I stitched Velcro on them to hold them in place.

I refill the Swiffer bottle with the 

homemade Pergo floor cleaner above.

Hope you're enjoying your spring weather,

whatever it may be.

Let me know if you try any of these

and how they work for you.

Elaine, thanks for all your great advice!

xxx

Holly

Free is the Best

I was approached a couple of months back

by the good people at Firmoo and asked if I would be interested in

testing their product and blogging about it.

It's not something I would normally do.

If you've blogged for any length of time,

you get these invitations every once in a while.

Most of these, I have to say, I don't even read.

But several things about the Firmoo email had me taking a second look.

First of all, what the heck was Firmoo?

I needed to find out what the company with the funny name was selling.

Turns out,

Firmoo is a Global Online Optical Store.

At the time, I was wearing prescription glasses that were five years old,

and my prescription had changed so much in the past five years

that I found myself squinting while wearing them.

The timing was right.

I am a contact lens wearer but I do wear glasses

in the mornings and at night.

I did a little research online and couldn't find anything negative

about the company so I decided to email them back to get more information.

The representative that contacted me

emailed back very quickly and answered all the questions I had.

I decided to give it a shot.

They were going to send me a free pair of prescription glasses

so they sent me the instructions on how to do this.

Of course, I felt extremely important and better than every one else

since I was chosen to review their service and get the free glasses.

And then I found out that they offer free glasses to everyone!

Everyone, I tell you.

Important people and little peon blogger people alike.

Firmoo.com is the world's most popular online eyeglasses store.

All lenses come with  anti-scratch hard coating without any extra charge.

First pair free for new customers.

The ordering process was very easy.

You just need to have a current prescription

and enter the information into their website.

You choose your frames.

This is the fun part.

You can upload a picture of yourself  to see how the

glasses will look on you with their

Virtual Try-On system.

My order went through without a hitch

and they were shipped very quickly.

I love the way they feel on my face.

Not too heavy.

Glasses are making a come back.

The old opinion that glasses are only necessities 

for people with vision problems is no longer the case. 

Glasses are increasingly becoming a fad and must-have accessories.

Firmoo also offers non prescription lenses, 

sunglasses and goggles.

If it's time for new glasses, sunglasses,

or you're just ready for a new look,

why not get them free at Firmoo?

xxx

Holly

Should I be Getting a Lap Dance or Something?

I’m in the phasing out period of my forties.

I only know this because I do the math approximately every month.

When you are my age, you kind of forget how old you are.

And you have to use a calculator to figure it out.

Using an online date calculator I have discovered that I am

47 years, 5 months, and 27 days old.

Or

17,347 days old.

Seems I would have done something with myself by now.

When you think about your life in days,

It does something strange to you.

It makes you rethink how you should be spending each moment.

For example,

 “What did I do yesterday?”

Oh yes!

For my 17,346^th day on earth I celebrated by:

Picking wallpaper glue out of my hair

Hiding behind my BBQ grill and then leaping out 

to scare pigeons from my garden

Going to Walmart to buy kitty litter and two cucumbers

Changing my air filters

Taking an Epsom salt bath

 (because I am tens of thousands of days old now)

Shouldn't I celebrate each day with

Cake, or a bottle of wine, or a lap dance or something?

I Googled

“Make Everyday Count”

Just so I could see if I'm doing this living thing all wrong.

Here’s what the interweb peoples suggest we should do.

Watch The Sun Rise

(It’s pretty, I get it, but every day?)

Take Time To Smell the Flowers

(I live in Arizona and have learned not to smell cacti)

Live with Purpose

(I purposely ate an entire box of Cheezits while watching Duck Dynasty)

Find Balance

(I honestly believe that the right side of my body 

is approximately 6 lbs heavier than the left side 

which is why I fall down a lot more

 than the average 17,347 day old person)

Don’t Be Afraid

(I think the pigeon story speaks for itself)

So, where am I going with all this?

I have decided to be content with the accomplishments

I've made in the time I've spent on this 

whirly little ball of water and mineral compounds

 that we call the planet Earth.

I've produced two beautiful children.

(Well, one did go through a seriously awkward stage 

between the ages of 6 and 9 that I would actually not call beautiful)

I've married a wonderful man.

(Who will offer to make me toast 

or hit the Whataburger drive through 

when I just can't face the kitchen one more time)

I own a house that I love.

(Or I will, when the mortgage is paid off in

10,957 days)

I am healthy.

(with the exception of my slightly elevated cholesterol,

 my bum elbow,

and that thing that keeps growing back on my shoulder

 that looks like a zit but I'm pretty sure it's shoulder cancer)

And, because I always include photos in my blog posts,

but have nothing that relates to this story,

please enjoy this picture of me when I was only

273 days old.

xxx-ooo

Holly

The Wagnthap's House of Humor and Torment

Spring is here.

I know this because every time I walk outside onto my patio

my nose holes are assaulted 

with the aroma of orange blossoms and steer manure.

(picture of neither orange blossoms nor manure,

just lantanas and palm trees)

I have not posted anything in 3 weeks.

This is due to being busy with the craziness that has become my life

and part pure laziness.

I planned on doing a wonderful post

for my 3 year blog anniversary.

I was going to do a giveaway.

It was going to be awesome.

This is where the laziness set it.

I would have had to go shopping

and buy some spectacular shi-dazzle to give away

and then write a post about it.

It just wasn't in the cards, people.

Let's talk about what's going on around these here parts.

When I say "Let's talk about this",

What I mean is,

I'm going to do some ranting

and you're going to sit there and read about it.

Easy Peasy.

Very little work on your part.

Are you still here?

Good, because this post just goes on and on.

First off,

I finally know what these things are
that are growing on the side of the house.

They finally flowered.

I have calla lilies.

Thank you to everyone who commented in my earlier post

to tell me these were either calla lilies, canna lilies, or hostas.

Now we can all sleep.

The garden is coming along nicely.

It's not been an easy process for this first time gardener.

We've had to deal with neighborhood cats

leaving their pootie rolls in the lettuce patch

and birds stealing the watermelon seeds,

only to move them to strange places throughout the yard.

We've found watermelon vines growing under our pool pump,

in the rocks under the tree

and in a flower pot on our patio.

Turns out, watermelons will grow anywhere

without constant supervision.

The watermelon seedlings were found and moved back to the garden.

The neighbor's cats were deterred 

by putting orange rinds around the soil

and by putting carpet tack strips on top of the block walls

 surrounding our back yard.

Don't judge me.

Do you like doody flavored salad?

We've placed bird netting over the strawberries

and the watermelon seedlings.

We've put marigolds in
as a deterrent to bugs and such.
The whirly gigs seem to scare the birds and cats
and they're pretty, so there you have it.

We were excited to eat our very first two strawberries of the season

which were about the size of small ball bearings.

While I ate it, I could almost taste it.

Here's what we've got going right now.

Green Leaf and Romaine

Red and White Potatoes
Yellow and green onions

Tomatoes, Peppers, Corn and Strawberries.

Also, if you don't have this hose,

run out and get one NOW.

That's practically an order.

I will never, ever use a big old green "non-kinking" hose

that weighs 3 tons and kinks like a Mother Hubbard.

Big green hose selling people are lying liar heads.

This hose is 100 feet long and it weighs practically nothing.

Honest.

Best purchase I've made in a long time.

Enough talk about the garden.

Let's move onto the house for a bit.

My project this week is to remove the wall paper in our bedroom.

I decided to start in a corner and just see what's underneath.

Like everything else we've dealt with since moving here,

it's been an ordeal.

The previous (and original) owners

put the wallpaper up over

plain old drywall.

Un-primed, unpainted drywall.

So, that's fun.
(And who doesn't love Hunter green chair rail?)

This is not our first experience with weird happenings here.

For example,

the wiring here is so strange.

All the light switches are upside down.

If the lights are off,

the switches are in the "up" position.

And, if you plug anything into the outlet

on the patio (like the weed whacker),

the evaporative cooler on the roof turns on 

even though the cooler is turned off at the main box.

The misting system over the patio is 

hooked up to the sprinkler system so when

the sprinklers go on,

the misters turn on.

What the What?

I've come to refer to the previous owners as

Mr. and Mrs. Wagnthap.

(We Ain't Got No Time to Hire a Professional)

They must have been a hoot.

I think I'll leave it at that for now.

I've got a product review with a freebie 

coming up in the next couple of days

so be sure to stop by.

xxx-ooo

Holly