Kinda Lame

So, I didn't update Wednesday... or Thursday. Why? Because there isn't much going on. I wanted to post pretty pictures of completely finished rooms and flowers all around the yard but there is a problem or two.

1. We don't have any finished rooms. We have three rooms that are drywalled and partially mudded, but those pictures are actually really boring. But we are hard at work on the bathroom now. The floor has been taken up and now all we have to do is put it back down and connect all the plumbing. We are looking to move in around mid April.

2.Only a few of my flowers have bloomed. And I keep forgetting to take pictures of them. I am working on having my camera with me at all times but it is a harder habit to develop that I'd anticipated. But when they do bloom, I promise you that you will get tired of all the pictures of flowers.

Back at the apartment I haven't been doing a whole lot. I like being lazy occasionally. Playing Final Fantasy and eating bad food. My lifestyle is about to change drastically in a few months and so I'm enjoying my last chance to be the irresponsible and lazy young adult.

I did put in an order at Brambleberry though. It is my favorite place to buy soap-making materials. I am going to try my hand at making liquid soap very soon and I want to do lots of research first. I am also going to make some soaps for a baby shower I'm going to in June. My brother's fiancee is having a little girl and Brambleberry has onesie molds that are going to be so cute decked out in pick with lots of glitter.

Truthfully, not much else has been going on. Short post I know, but hopefully I'll have more later. We are going back out to the house tonight when the Farmer gets off work so hopefully I'll remember to cart around my camera and have some pictures when I get back.

Thanks,
Melissa

Updates

My morning tea, well at least this morning: chamomile and mint in my favorite tea mug. I usually save the chamomile for my night tea but I since I have been sick, I drink it when I feel the need to.

When I say sick, I don't mean anything serious. Just a little cold that the Farmer brought home from work. He got sick and thought up some ridiculous ideas like not kissing me so that I wouldn't pick it up.

It didn't work. Not because it wasn't a good idea but because I can't not (great english i know) kiss him. I considered it worth the risk. And then I got sick too.

Like I said, it wasn't bad. The sniffles, coughing, and a headache. I'm just a big baby when I come down with something so I didn't feel like posting a blog. But I'm on the mend now and I will try to catch you up.

The store delivered my tub!

Wonderful, big, fantastic tub that it is! Right now it is sitting in the living room because the bathroom is not yet ready. Not yet but soon. They also delivered some drywall and with it we finished the spare room.

So, now the master closet, master bedroom and spare bedroom are all drywalled!

We also splurged again.

You see, the Farmer wants a garden. I want a garden. I want to make homemade spaghetti sauce, and marinara sauce, salsa, pickles, and soups with the best ingredients. So, we needed a garden.

But our land had never been tilled. And we live in Tennessee. There's a reason the favorite song is Rocky Top. The Farmer attempted to dig the garden with a shovel but there were so many rocks...and big big roots. So, he decided we needed a tiller.

We looked around and realized that this was going to be a big expense. So, if we were going to spend the money anyways we might as well get a good one. So, we did. And it hurt.

But seeing the ground almost ready for the seeds to be planted just two hours later didn't hurt. It felt wonderful. So, it was a good splurge.

We also planted lots of flowers. I can't wait til they all bloom!

Back at the apartment the Farmer informed me that we were running low on laundry detergent. So, we made some more. Yes, we made some.

When I realized a few years ago that I was going to be living in the country one day I started reading blogs, just to get a feel for what I was getting into. One of my favorites made her own laundry soap which was cool and all, but I didn't need to learn to do that. The stuff in the store worked just fine.

Then, quite recently, I just got on this kick of seeing what all I could do. I think it happened when we moved and I wasn't in school and wasn't working. I was bored, so I learned how to make laundry soap.

It has saved us so much money. All we need is a soap(we use Fels Naptha), borax, washing soda, and water. It's that easy. I doubt we will ever buy laundry detergent from the store again.

We also need to make another batch of soap to wash our bodies with soon. When we do, I will post pictures.

We are off to the house tonight so hopefully I will have some cool stuff to talk about Wednesday!

Thanks for reading
Melissa

Texas, Tubs, and Soap!

Well, I'm back at the apartment after almost three days at the house...by myself. I must admit, it has been a long time since I was out in the country alone. Long enough that it was a little nerve racking at first.

But I survived. Not just being alone and surrounded by woods but also the Farmer's trip to Texas. Why was he in Texas? He has to go once a year for his job. At least this year I wasn't at the apartment. I was free to go outside and play if I wanted to.

Did I? No. For two reasons. One) because I was too gloomy. Honestly. I just didn't feel like doing anything. And yes, it was like this last year too.

Two) it was raining most of the time.

He did come back with some good stories though.

Like: the store called him as he was on the plane and told him that our tub had arrived. Remember that tub? The one that wasn't going to be in for a month because it was on back order? Yeah, that tub. So, as soon as he got home and I fed him a decent meal, we went to the store and arranged for a delivery! YAY!!

And: the hotel store soap was awful. Why is this funny. It's not really but it did put a smile on my face. The reason being is because almost a year ago, I started making our own soap. We haven't bought soap, shampoo or conditioner for almost a whole year. And I have to admit, I have sometimes wondered if it was the right choice.

Apparently "normal" soap is slick and snotty. And it coats your skin. My soap washes off quickly and clean, but the soap at the hotel took awhile to wash off. It made me feel good. We made the right choice.

The Farmer also came back with freebies. I got a new jacket and sweatshirt. It amused him that they were giving away winter things when it was seventy degrees outside but he took them anyways.

He also went to the Alamo while he was there. As soon as I can, I will post pictures.

House updates have been slow in coming because we have had other things to do. Later this week we are off to Chattanooga to celebrate my Grandaddy's birthday!! However, we did manage to put some tile down in what will be the laundry closet.

That is the kitchen floor in the back, by the way. Yes, it matches the bathroom floor. It too is being redone. Soon.

We are almost finished with the master closet. One more coat of drywall mud should do it.

Looks like Heaven's light is shining down doesn't it. It's not, we just bought a pretty light that looks like water on the walls.

It feels like it has been raining forever. If it doesn't stop soon, we may not get our garden done. When it rains, the Farmer spends time down in the creek. Before we came it was a dumping ground and now when it rains hard, the creek actually overflows and floods the entry bridge. So, the Farmer is trying to get rid of some of the pile and get the creek flowing more freely. He says it will help.

Not a great picture but since it was raining, I couldn't get closer. But you can see how high the water is. And you can see the pile on the left side of the screen. He wants it gone.

He did find a treasure out there though.

Fantastic. Apparently they are down in the creek quite a bit. Just never when I go to look for them. Oh well.

I suppose that's it for now. I'll have more pictures soon, hopefully of my new bathtub. And, as I keep reminding the Farmer, we can actually move in after the bathroom is done. Our lease is up in June but I don't think it will be that long til we are in the house!

Thanks for reading!
Melissa

Dissapointing

Well, the first unfortunate event with the house has happened. And before I get all melodramatic, let me tell you that it's really not that big of a deal. The tub we ordered is on back order.

They tell me it'll be here in a month. I've had things on back order though and usually they took about three months to arrive. But I'm going to hold on to hope and pray it gets here when they say it will.

Otherwise, it might be even longer before we can move into the house and that is just depressing.

On a happier note, on Tuesday, our neighbor took me into town and showed me around. It is the most perfect place! It is the quintessential small town, and I couldn't be happier!

We also got some more of my roses planted this week. At the rate we are buying them, my rose garden should be beautiful in a few years, that is, if the rains don't wash them away.

We had some very heavy rains this past week. The water flooded over our bridge and washed half of our driveway away! Hopefully, one day, we will be able to pave the driveway. But for now the Farmer just filled in the holes with more gravel.

So, for the next few days we are back in the apartment and I can update more often but soon we are house bound once again!

Thanks!
Melissa