Some weekend chores and the reason you're not rich

Well... a few things got done this weekend. And by weekend, I mean my weekend, which is Friday-Saturday. I do work tomorrow. As much as I used to say I loved my old days off, Tues-Weds, I admit it was because I had forgotten how many things there are to do on a Saturday. We've actually got quite a few farmer's markets around here, almost every single day, and flea markets galore! None of which, however, I attended today.

I did do these things..
made a bit of hot barbeque sauce..



dehydrated some strawberries...


cleaned and repurposed 5 glass jars...I'm not sure why I find the sight of beans and grains in jars to so pretty.


devised a plan to use a pile of warped floorboard we have, and a window cage we took off as a windbreak for the plants in our front area...


Our door is at the end of a driveway which acts as a giant wind tunnel. The plants look a bit weathered to say the least. I'm thinking if I can get them cut in 1/2 or 1/3 vertical pieces, I can weave them through the bars of the cage, with minimum materials required to fix them there...just some old fashioned muscle. I may need to borrow Barrett for that part :) Then, I could prop the thing up between the plants and the wind! Voila! no money, no class....100% function!


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I read an interesting short article about ten reasons "You're not rich". Attaining monetary wealth is the last of my concerns, but I laughed at quite a few of the points that were made because they illustrate the American human condition today. Some of it is ho-hum...but the best ones are the completely accurate "wealthy" or "well-off" viewed situations, but are really just "kid too small for his britches" scenarios.. My generation has been brought up in a world where most were handed everything they needed. The ultimate convenience era, the lack of skill development, the height of laziness...
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Speaking of things that don't really matter. Here's a vice of mine...I think everyone needs one or two things that they can focus on that let some steam out. I don't personally own a TV, so I actually go places to follow up on this, but its a great release..
The Sharks won tonight! 3-1 against the Kings.

Rain! Rain!

Woke up this morning to find it had rained...yay!

That can only mean the beginning of Fall..and this pale kid loves the sound of that.

We also found spinach sprouts!!


And a quirkey little red club chair that mysteriously appeared in front of our door.


Barrett and I have both been sick these past few days with a flu bug thats going around up here, lame I know! But Its given me a chance to do more reading than a hectic day would normally allow.
I finished this:


And have finally gotten a good chunk of time to tear through this!

Its funny how reading about making homemade cleaning products, keeping ducks, and culturing wild yeasts can be more exciting than a true crime novel, HA!
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Until next time, know that Big Brother is watching you!

An Ode to some stuff I like

I'll admit it, I've been kinda blue lately...due to a lot of stuff that I won't rehash here for the sake of moving on. I'd rather talk about fun, inspiring stuff anyways!
I found a big sturdy buffet cabinet at a garage sale for $20!!

My plans are to sand the less-than-attractive green and gold paint off of it and either stain or re-paint. Coming home from a day of madness at the shelter and just putting an hous worth of elbow grease into sanding this thing has become so cathartic for me..

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Transplanted the swiss chard and planted spinach seeds in a very handy planter Barrett re-purposed for me from a this giant plastic thing we found!



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Some of my favorite pics from the Portland "Bro"ad trip 08

Barrett and Adrian livin the red light special

Gettin into green green Oregon..

A little house of a friend of Matt's...my dream!

I LOVE this picture..Adrian, dwarfed by the Bloody Mary....with that look on his face and the quote on his shirt narrating his thoughts

The sum..

Three road scholars lost in the forest

The view from the top

Sundown in p-town

The beautiful garden at the boy's gracious hostess' house!

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Voyage to P-town

Barrett and Adrian are helping move Matt to Portland today. Barrett is pretty excited to see the city for the first time...wish I could join! So, I have a few days to myself :( but hopefully I can make the best of them. I so have a LOT to do around here...

the rig..

a little sketchy at best.

All in all I think this makes 7 or 8 people we know that have made the transplant there in the past year.
Carson and Jon's trip...happening now too.

We're gonna miss Matt.

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This guy better get home safe and sound too...

Under the Sea, or, work with the Bee

Problem:
I share this place with 3 boys..one bathroom. Space is at a premium. I desperately needed a girl corner; somewhere to keep the jewelry, makeup, hair-stuff, etc. We didn't necessarily have space in the room for a desk or vanity, so I came up with something different.
Solution:
I found a guy selling big floating shelves for CHEAP, that he had used and gotten tired of. I snapped them all up and have found quite a few uses so far! Two are painted red and hung in the kitchen to hold glasses, spices, etc(pic to come), two will be art shelves over our bed, two will be a makeshift linen rack outside the bathroom, and the last two I painted the same deep blue as our accent wall and did this with!

The corner space is only about 3 feet long, so we did have to cut them down a bit, but I really like the snug, unobtrusive look! I get the combined storage of a bookshelf and a little vanity table all in one. For so little money! As part of the little vanity nook, I needed somewhere to hang the miscellaneous jewelry. My little rack was overflowing, and I had all this open wall space...sooo.... Bees!

Hammer, nails, superglue, leftover Bee buttons!

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The green stuff is all comin up nicely!








Our goals are modest...this is a first time effort! I do have some big plans for fall planting though!
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Jon Choi's going away party..."Under the Sea" theme...









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My detailed list to the guys what can and cannot be composted...and tips on recycling.