Well, the fall out from my bank deposit last week happened this AM. (I had deposited in error a check from the Dreaded Black Sparkly Blazer customer.........when she had asked me to hold it til the 1st of Sept~ I truly just spaced that out, remembered not to cash the horse lady's check til Thursday....but in went all the checks last week)

Black Blazer lady calls this AM ...early...and crying. Said she was WAY overdrawn at her bank and would I loan her the money back until Friday? I can't imagine getting stuck in that sort of bind. I would never have purchased a custom blazer if I was short on funds.

Anyway, I did it. Not being one to add to the stress in my life......I wrote her a check for a couple of days, supposedly until her paycheck on the 1st. I think I felt worse about the entire transaction than she did; which is really backwards.

I apologized, told her I truly just forgot. I began work on this Blazer of hers in June for heavens sake, and haven't got paid yet. She took the blazer home this month and it seemed like I had been holding the check for-absolutely-ever and I just deposited it with the rest of my Aug checks.

I do expect to get paid. It's a small enough town I will run into her. I do know I won't sew for her again. So, several lessons learned from the experience. (at least on my part. Not sure if she learned anything at all)

Can't believe August is almost a done deal. I was out today and saw the trees beginning to take on some fall color already. Once that happens, whoosh......it will be Christmas and then the new year. I need to remember to take time to enjoy life and not get caught up in all the busy stuff.

I moved the things out of the antique booth up north....and wouldn't you know, August was my best month there! Took everything out none the less and will re price with the others stores price tags and pop them all into the other booth by next week.

Finished a quick little survey on line for an easy $5.00 today. Nice surprise. I don't usually qualify for many of these.

Even tho I paid the mortage this month for the old house (the new tenants are working & paying for repairs in exchange) I'm still doing OK budget wise. More money in than money out and that is always a good thing.

I've continued to keep my automatic savings funded, as well as my money market and my stocks......so far so good. I can stop these if things start to feel tight, but I would rather cut anything else first.

Finished off my month with a quick trip and lunch with my kiddo that moved out in June. Just a couple hours with him and I'm totally exhausted. A nice reminder why I'm retired.

No new plans for Sept, just keeping up with all my little part time jobs and spending the bare minimum on monthly bills.

Finally, my gardens are getting a bit of a drink.......other than me leaving the hose out overnight. I have no idea how many days it's been since a rain here in the Pacific NW; too many in my opinion.

Todays fine mist can't really be called rain, but it is a nice break from the string of 80+ days we have been having.

Although everything is enjoying the cool damp change, some things are not benefiting from being watered from above. Flowers are drooping, some plants I had not staked are now spreading out to become ground covers and the last of the roses are dropping their petals as they become full of water.

I have discovered I'm such a lazy gardener; any excuse & I'll try to skip out on my regular gardening chores... Todays excuse: Too wet! The most I got done is to pick the cucumbers and check for ripe tomatoes.

I got a call last night, and the gentleman said it was from an offer I signed up for on line in February! Asked me if I remembered doing that?? Gads, I can't remember much of anything these days, but I just said "Sure, of course I remember!!"

He was from one of the ellusive Mystery Shopper companies I followed links for and left my name with way back when...

He patiently explained what they do, then told me he had a job for me to visit a restaurant in our area, but the catch for me was......it had to be during a 3 day period this week. Since I'm doing more than my usual schedule of things this week, there was no way to fit in a delightfully long lunch in Bellevue (which really isn't just down the road from my place) Drat.

He did say offers usually have 1-2 weeks notice and usually come via email, which sounded lots better to me & my crazy life these days. He also said that turning down "jobs" was not a negative, so there's a chance I can still take advantage of this little program.

Now that I don't have full time kids, this would be fun to grab someone and go out.
And, I have to say........now that I know the program really exists, I might even look forward to the possible email from them!

Going out and having the bill paid; now that is the way to Do Lunch!

Staying home is a pretty sure shot I won't be spending money........heck, I can go lots of places and still not spend money. So, it's another boring but financially satisfying entry here.....no spending of money at all today.

I managed to unload a bunch of stuff on Freecycle and that felt great. Met a half dozen great people, most who were wowed with the garden patch here. Some were down right shocked with the squash jungle that is creeping into the parking area! Got to share info about the website I've been writing for, the gardening site connected with saving advice.

Too exciting here. My ad came out in the monthly newsletter for the first time in August and I already have a private student!

This is a smallish newspaper, published monthly & mailed or handed out at local churches. I know the editor and others that were advertising using this little paper & it seemed to work for them.......and I already can tell the increase in calls here.

I'll dig in my supplies to come up with a beginner "kit" for this woman, as I don't like making new folks buy something right off the bat. My frugal genes rearing their heads here.....but if she doesn't like the craft, or is really all thumbs, no money out but my lesson fees. Makes me feel better about teaching.

Since this woman has a small kiddo, I'm meeting her at her place (usually pick a public space, but we're trying nap time at her place). I can see the universe aligning here........ Her house is on the same street as the property in the possible trade/sale deal I wrote about last week! What are the odds?? It's also in the city my antique booth is in that I need to move out of.....

So, antiques, real estate and a knitting class all rolled into one day!

I'm thinking how handy it is to know how to do many things...........and what a bonus it is if others will PAY me to teach them how to do something! Fun, fun, fun!!!

For the 2nd month in a row, this has been my power bill. I have not sent in a payment, but we're using the surplus in the account from over the winter when I was paying the average payment of $150.00 per month.

Now, the Navy person is paying half of the power bill too.........and there isn't one! Go figure!

If it had been a different time of my life & I was still working full time, I probably would have put some money in the account. But, for these 2 months, it has been a nice relief to not do that. I will start paying the new average payment next month. Good to know we did a good job this past year holding the line on the power used here. (I'm not telling a soul here however, or they will all relax, taking it as a direct message to turn everything back ON!!!)

My lack of normal furniture was really apparent yesterday. For some reason, our house was full of drop in company from early AM til way after dinner. For most people this probably wouldn't have created a problem.........I mean, the people weren't all here at once, but I don't really have a place more than 3 people can sit down in the same room anywhere here.

When I moved, I left most of the big stuff, as well as the custom stuff the kids couldn't ruin or tip over, at the other house..... And, I've never done anything here but sort of "camp out" when it comes to furniture.

We've got 3 (albiet mismatched) chairs around a tiny little table in the kitchen.......and we can "borrow" the chair from my desk to make an eclectic little grouping if we have 4 for dinner (which has been often lately).

I've got a new couch & loveseat in our TV room, but the universal rule of loveseats for some reason is 1 person to a loveseat........which means again, I can seat 3 people.

I think I am going to have to do something here. We had 9 of us milling around at one point yesterday, people would sort of rotate through the available chairs. Fortunately, everyone knows me well enough to just deal with it.

I'll start watching Freecycle more closely for sitting upon sorts of events, to see if I can come up with a comfy, animal friendly, FREE option to solve my guests standing up situation here. When it was just me and the almost never here room mate person, 3 chairs seemed like overkill.

I just realized when I checked my DayTimer today that I had deposited a check from a customer prior to the date she told me it would be "good". ICK.

For any of you who remember the Dreaded Black Sparkly Blazer event here..........I finally got that customer happy. She had returned the blazer, saying it wasn't what she wanted. I re did the whole thing and then she was a no show to pick it up. Finally she came to get the garment and then she told me not to cash the check until the 1st. (I had not cashed it until I knew she was happy)

But, for some reason her check made it into the bundle of things yesterday for the deposit........... I don't know if I should call her, or what. I don't know if calling the bank is an option, or if they could catch my error at this point. Drat.

I can't blame this on anyone but me......or the fact that she told me to hold the check since she had spent the money she owed me during the time I was re doing the blazer. Or, that it was almost 80 here yesterday......or that I'm old...... Blast.

That's 2 times this month. A new record. I usually don't go at all.

My store of choice today........The feed store. I needed to pick up the chicken wire for the finishing touches on "The Coop" here....and also a roll of roofing paper. I tried to collect both from freecycle & Craigs list, but didn't get enough, or big enough rolls, so I had to go shopping.

Did the other necessary errands at the same time, banking and gas for the van. Then, straight home.

I'm busy making signs for the room mate persons yard sale again this week end. (she has to be out of the regular swap meet, due to our state fair, so this is her way to make rent) Speaking of rent, she has already paid $400 towards Sept rent & I'm flabergasted. Who knew she would come through?? Certainly not me.

The kitchen is becoming very fragrant...we've got a turkey dinner coming along in there. I just love this, I leave to do errands & the temp person here has dinner just moving right along by the time I get home. We're still harvesting veggies from the garden, so all the side dishes are virtually FREE, which makes dinner all the better!

Better go do my part, frying zucchini pancakes to go with the meal........yummy!

I have tried some of the pay to read sites, along with some of the survey sites but haven't paid much attention to them actually. They do seem easy here, if I'm on hold for something, I can click my way through a list of them pretty quickly. But, I truly was doing it mindlessly until yesterday.

I got an email asking if I wanted a pay out.....and when I checked a pay out of what....I had $23.00. A pleasant surprise for sure. Of course I said yes, a check would be just dandy.

The things I've learned on this site range from huge to tiny little things like reading emails for pennies! But, my little mindless on hold activity has now added $23.00 to the coffers here. Not bad!

Thanks to all here that continue their generous sharing of tips, ideas and websites. Never think "we" out here aren't paying attention. I thought I was pretty frugal prior to starting to read the blogs here, but wow, I truly was just starting out compared to some of you. It would be fun to know just how much I've saved and how much money I've earned directly related to this site........but nope, that's not an exercise I would do. (numbers make my brain fry) But, I can see by yesterdays surprise that the pennies truly do still add up!

OK, this one was even too weird for me. Parts of his stories didn't jive with what he had already emailed me and the reasons he needed to move were sounding a bit off too.

The whole visit here was sort of painful... well,not really.....but I sure couldn't wait til he was out the door, then down the road.

The roommate person was more than a little afraid I had already told this gentleman (use that term loosely), he could move in. The current temp tenant was almost laughing out loud at me as I tried to be polite, but usher this man to the door.

I'm still way ahead on my Craigslist folks however..........this guy isn't going to make me quit advertising or answering ads there. Not by a long shot. He was certainly good for some dinner conversation however....and quite a few laughs. I'm pretty sure I've never met someone who was wearing sooo much fake hair. He would scratch his forehead and the whole thing would move around. I'm grateful my parents taught me to be polite in any situation....and today gave me a chance to practice my skills.

I can't believe it is already feeling like fall here in WA state.......a tad foggy/misty like this AM and chilly enough people are searching for slippers here.

August has been interesting here:
-did pull in rental for the extra room
-I had the disaster from the old tenants at the other house, but am already seeing a huge leap in value there, due to the work & money the new tenants are putting in. I am grateful there were no down days at that place.
-did find out the part time recruiter job is ending Sept 30th. Will continue to search out who is awarded the new contract for this & contact them asap
-Jobs are getting tackled & finished, thanks to the Navy man staying on the property! (and he pays rent, can't beat this!...plus he is great to have around, nice, funny, patient with my DD kids)
-room mate person has paid entire amount of her half of the rent!!!!! Can't tell you what a first this is.
-Sewing business is becoming a bit steadier. Advertising now in 2 places regularly. Forget to put it in on Craigs list....dumb when that is free.
-Antique booth, already better at new location, will pull out of old one this next week and be in one place. Should be able to make rent and a profit at the new place the first month, much more traffic.

Think that's it for August.......mainly it's been busy, which feels so odd for me not working full time. I see that it takes more time to paste together these part time efforts of mine, than it did to do the full time job.

Looking ahead to fall here...........
-I've got the room rented til Sept 7th at this point, and a potential new person coming today to talk about the coming year here. Fingers crossed
-I will have to pay the mortage on the other house until Dec, as that was the agreement with the new tenants. But, in trade, I'm getting all the supplies and work done for the remodel over there. I am getting the work done, which I couldn't have done myself, and if I had to pay someone, it would have been WAY more than 4 months mortage. It will be a huge nice house, or 2 smaller nice houses when it's done. They are adding a kitchen to the downstairs, which was never finished, just plumbed in and they are putting a laundry room upstairs so there will truly be 2 entire houses. One 2 bedroom and a 3 bedroom upstairs. Nice. It could almost double the rental income possibilities.
-When the new tenants do start to pay rent at the first of the year, the number we have worked out pays for the monthly mortage, insurance and taxes so there shouldn't be anything I am coming up with in addition. That will be nice.
-And, then there is the possiblity of selling/trading this place to the previous owners. I'm having fun already looking at new properties! Nothing on the horizon that sparks my interest, but I'm actually looking forward to moving, which is soooo totally out of character for me!
-Keeping my resume out there, looking for something else to do (with all my free time) to add to the income stream here.

So, life's full........I'm enjoying this retirement bit and bills seem to get paid. Not sure how, since there really has been a decrease in income as of July, but I'm not going to argue!

Good thing I'm not into House Beautiful & Martha Stewart sort of entertaining here.
With the beginning of the new & improved Antique Booth business, the odd and interesting "collectables" have been collecting, right here in my office/living room area.

I can see everything from a table full of things that are offered for sale on Craigs list, since they are a tad too new to be an antique........or vintage.......We're just hoping there is someone out there looking for just the peculiar collection that is on that table.

Then, there are boxes and bins and tables and buckets and shelves..........oh, my goodness. I am sure stuff is multiplying overnight here!

I did get another truckload of absolutely priceless (????) treasures.......read with more than a touch of sarcasm please........taken into the booth today. Things are looking a bit better. The space has enough furniture pieces now; but could use a few more boxes of small stuff, and then there are the walls. I only have 1 print hung at this point, so need to come up with some other eye catching sorts of things....

We did have at least one sale since yesterday....obviously, we had the vintage glass doorknobs priced right, someone bought all of them! I didn't notice any other holes in the display and I don't like to go ask the staff. I can wait til the end of the month; in fact, I love trying to guess if there were sales or not when I visit the space.

So far, it feels great at this mall....I'm looking forward to spending some time there each week, re stocking and just playing with my displays. Fun stuff AND it makes money. Can't beat that!

I just need to remember the fun part when I look around my house! Neat & tidy we aren't.

I can't seem to get on an even keel here in my little corner of the world. I know that is pretty much the definition of that four letter word L I F E, however. I understand the 'have to have some rain mixed in with the sunshine' bit........but some days!!!!!

I got an email last night, explaining nicely, how the non profit I just started working for, lost the contract with the state of WA...........so Sept 30 will be the last day of that little part time job. I was just starting to feel like I had the routine down on that one. Actually knowing my clients, feeling like I was making that preverbial "difference" that matters so much to me when I'm doing something.

And, now I'm going to be working for the next 5 weeks or so, towards what? Nothing really. Talk about having a difficult time being motivated to actually work!

So, back to the budget drawing board here.........I've got only one more paycheck from this job to count on. I was just getting over being surprised to get it in the mail at the first of the month!

After imagining all sorts of awful things for the last two days, the group of people that have rented my old house came to "visit" tonight and talk they said. I knew the meeting was to happen, & I've had 2 days to try to think of what they could want/need/whatever/???

I need to remember to turn off my brain in situations like these. I always, but always............come up with a scenario that is WAY worse than what really happened.

They really needed to tell me all the improvements they had been making and the hours they had put in working. They brought pictures to share, so I could see the progress which was great (you have no idea the mess I was left with).

And, they had some questions as to whether they could dispose of some of the things that were mine.....easy answer, if they were doing it, sure. Dispose away!

So, there really wasn't much to the meeting at all. They finally broached the subject about getting one more month of rent off the deal, and then asked if they could plan on staying 2 years instead of just the one they had originally talked about. Sure to both of those too.......

Considering I would have had no way to do what they have done, and not enough money to have hired the work done as well as paid the mortage, I'm getting the bargain of the century here. Plus, they are all so nice, and I'm going to have friends for life here. So, one more month of paying the house payment myself, it seems like peanuts in the scope of how huge that job was when I was contemplating it by myself. I can do the rest of this year, I don't like it, but the alternative is horrible.
This is definately an example of having to make the best decision out of two poopy decisions. There really isn't a great option, just a less poopy one.

Moving and all it entails makes me crazy with just the pondering it phase.......and here I am jumping ahead to thinking about it in real terms now.

After last weeks Oddest Phone Call EVER.........I have to admit I'm really, really hoping the whole offer thing comes to pass & I can truly move. I must be sick!!

Waiting impatiently for my realtor to get back from a week end in Vegas, just playing around ..........and get back to work on gathering comps & such, so we can make plans to go view the potential swap property. I think that will be the first step; to either entertain the swap, or put that idea to rest....and think of buying something else totally.

I am spending spare time searching real estate possibilities already, and I will not buy something else without a bathtub in the master BR. Gads, have I missed that.........and that alone will spur me on to get this bunch of deals moving.

I had the chance to talk with my mom last night and share this whole event with her, she was as surprised as I was with the previous owner now offering to buy back the house! (she is a retired realtor so she has a bit of experience...but nothing like this she said!) We had a few good laughs, looked up the property on a map, made plans to do a 'drive by' and she topped it all off with an offer to use any money she has to make something beneficial happen with this new offer.

We did brainstorm about the 1031 exchange bit, as well as thinking of swapping for the 11 acres and then taking my equity and her $$ and picking up another piece at the same time. I can see over the decades that mom & dads biggest regret when purchasing anything, was to not put less money down on several things, scrimping just a tad more and ending up with twice (or more) stuff in the long run. Mom is a great cheerleader when it comes to real estate deals like this potential one for me........nice to have support all the time!

I need to watch my enthusiasm however, as I don't want the old owners to think I'm too excited. My realtor has already added in an emotional charge, for having my life totally upset by this offer to buy back the property! HA. The idea of moving is becoming an obsession! Off to check the new real estate listings!!!

I don't do the grocery shopping for our household. I do make out the lists however........but today, I did both.

What an amazing place grocery stores have become, at least in my area. My mom took me to her favorite store after we had gone out to an impromptu dinner and I just wandered around sort of in a daze.

The already prepared stuff area was bigger, by far, than the sections with plain food in them. When did that happen? The cafe was as big as the produce section used to be and there was even a take out sushi bar!! This isn't even in downtown Seattle, but way out in the suburbs.

I managed to find all 3 items on my little list, and then splurged on a 'gift' for our Navy man here, I couldn't resist.
He said he has been asking the cook on board his ship to provide him raisens for his oatmeal in the AM and has been told "Sir, the Navy doesn't have raisens". So, of course, I bought him a little package of those little boxes of raisens. I can't wait til he finds them in his in box area here in the house! Worth the money in my book.

So, I made it out of the store with 4 things, and my moms milk. I don't care if I never do the grocery store run again....it was just TOO much stuff for me. I'll be content with listing the things we need in the kitchen on my list; posted on the fridge and then putting the items away when they arrive after someone goes shopping. I'm definately spoiled!

I'm off today to move into the new antique booth............just as soon as I finish packing the van with the boxes of priced items, meet with 2 new sewing customers and pack lunch for my disabled young man that is with me all day today.

Then, we'll take both vehicles and head to the booth and see what sort of eye catching display we can come up with in the 4 hours I have for this event today.....before I need to head to the meeting point to drop off my young man.

I'm excited about this booth, even tho it is the most expensive little piece of real estate I've rented in this venture, it is the nicest one... I even have 3 entire walls to work with at this booth. (the last one only had 3 poor excuses for half walls) So, I've got the tools loaded, as we're allowed to rig up anything we want in our little areas. Love this part!

Unfortunately, I'm doing this set up bit right during the hottest part of the day. Moving furniture and the rest of our goodies when it's pushing 90 is already making me tired! There is no way to wait for a cool day these days........something has happened to our weather and we only have Hot & Sunny now in WA state. Who messed with the controls here anyway???

On the way home, I need to swing by a grocery store......I don't usually do our shopping, but need the ingredients for a birthday tomorrow. The new tenant loves to cook, so she's agreed to make this special dessert that the room mate person has requested for ....oh, maybe 10 years or so, but I've never done. They are just too complicated & I've just never managed to do them for her. But, the planets have alligned this year and she will get her requested dessert tomorrow. At least the grocery store will be A/C this evening....I might just have to stay & brouse for a bit! So, spending a few dollars, but I should be under $10.00.

It's going to be a long day; funny how much gets packed into one of my days now that I'm "retired". I'll have to re-define that word one of these days.....when I have some time!

My no spend days are stringing together, I think I am almost at a no spend month sort of stage. I did buy light fixtures this past month, and I did pay the monthly bills, but that's it as far as money out. (at least as far as my memory goes)

I am so comfortable with this no money lifestyle, it doesn't even cross my mind until I read something in another blog or article about tightening their budgets, etc.
I read the 101 cost cutting measures Jeffrey had highlighted in a recent blog entry that was given to airline employees being laid off........and had to just chuckle.

101 ideas and some of them I would consider living High on the Hog as we used to say. Made me really look at my lifestyle here. Am I really THAT cheap? Are there things I'm not doing that are so detrimental they have a negative effect on my life??

Nope. Nothing's amiss here. I like things just like they are and even daydream of being even more self reliant than I am. So, no changes on the horizon; I'll keep up the pace here to increase the contentment factor with no questions about am I missing something lurking in the back of my mind.

Our household is going through withdrawals. We are having problems with our router talking to the modem or something and my PC is the only one that can get on line. Everyone else is lining up here to check their email on this machine......

My son in law was just here and pronounced us as "having a problem". He got my computer up and running, and told the rest of the bunch they would have to wait til Monday.... Should make for a looongg week end here with everyone chomping at the bit.

This episode has caused us all to have a pretty good discussion as to how spoiled we all are, and how dependant we have become on our computers and being on line for almost everything!!! I can remember my house when none of us had a computer and then when we bought one for the household..........and tonight there are 4 here that are down and my one working system....all in the same house.

Selfishly glad my system is up and running....and I've promised not to be too irritating about it here!

Good thing I was sitting down when the phone call came yesterday. Good thing the woman identified herself with some details besides her name. And, it's probably a pretty good think I kept my tongue and didn't let my sarcastic self take over the conversation that ensued.

Some background first............ I bought the house here in Oct of 05. It wasn't my first choice, but I already had the other house rented, so a move was in order.

Anyway, back to yesterday. On the other end of the phone, I hear the woman identify herself and then she says "I'm the woman you bought the house from." (I had never met her, just the husband person) She then just blurted out "I want to buy the house back from you".

Shocked, surprised and totally blown away is where that left me. I don't even know if I spoke for a bit. She was really nervous, but did start talking pretty soon about how her daughter didn't like their new home and really wanted to be back here, etc, etc.......... and how she would be considered the coolest mom if she could pull this off and buy back their house.

Guess how old this daughter person is that is creating the hub bub in this family?? She is a SIX YEAR OLD!!! Can you imagine?

Anyway, this looks like it might be a legit offer, I told her I would certainly entertain it, but didn't want to do anything in a hurry. She agreed and thought that working out a deal so it was finalized by next summer would work for them too.

I did call my realtor so he could get a chuckle out of this too; it was a first for him, no one has offered to buy back their house after this amount of time.

No idea if this will come to pass, but I have no ties to this place and could easily move by next summer. (even tho moving comes right after being drug behind a bus in the scope of my favorite things!!)

Spent most of the week at my moms again, helping in the gardens as well as getting a few odd jobs off her TO DO list.

I did squeeze in a haircut and an evening of working at one of the part time jobs I seem to be collecting. I also checked out an antique mall in moms town and rented a booth starting this week.

We've got a pretty full house this week end......the young couple are still here, both respite young men are here and the Navy man is back from the trip to Oregon. His ship is now getting a make over so he hasn't got access to showers, etc on board, so we have one more using the bathrooms i& laundry. A quick meeting among all the folks and I think we have a workable bathroom schedule for the near future.

My lousy landlord skills are cropping up again, I've got folks that owe rent and I really, really don't like this part. I would rather not do anything and have them pay me when they could, than say anything. So far, money seems to be coming in at a rate that takes care of the bills, but it would be nice if all the parties paid up without a reminder. Makes me think about doing more retail rental types of investments?? Using a management firm??
Both are sounding inviting now.

Adding up the Amazon gift certificates again here. I just got notification this morning; my reviews for Insider Pages got accepted and my $50.00 will be arriving in the mail shortly! TA DA! That was an easy do.
Just review businesses I have frequented and let Insider pages know when I was finished. I like the whole project.....I get to write, I get paid and in the process, I can let others know about some local businesses that could use the free advertising.

I think I might even use some of my Amazon money this week, I've got a birthday gift for the room mate person here to figure out. She's pretty easy to buy for, so I just need to find her something on Amazon & it's free to me!

The Hunter Douglas survey I participated in is truly paying off. I had my doubts, and wasn't holding my breath for the package to arrive.........but arrive it did...this morning.

One more thing to go on the TO DO list, is to get these installed, then I can complete the survey about ease of installation. And, they are mine to keep if I like them, or return them for $50.00. I'm all done whining about surveys that don't seem to pay off!!!

I'll continue to do the silly little surveys to get entered into the "sweepstakes", which I never expect to win.....because, that's how I believe I got into this event with the blinds. I was sent an email on this one, it wasn't through the typical survey sites I have signed up for.

Whatever the reason, I'm excited to be getting free blinds, as that is the only price that would be in my current budget for something that isn't really a necessity here. (no window coverings on any windows here, as there is no one that can see in here anyway) But, blinds for the sun in my room would be a real treat. Gone with the white sheets here!!!

This is just too easy. I responded to a freecycle item over the week end, (a huge bolt of sheer fabric,) thinking it might work to finish out the window treatments in my bedroom........

And, as luck would have it, the fabric belonged to someone I've begun to sew for & she quickly emailed me saying I was first to respond and she would bring the "good" with her today when she comes for her order. (that isn't even started yet!!! Thank goodness it is just hemming drapery panels)

Nice deal and I don't even have to drive for it. I had enough sheer fabric to do my slider but nothing left over for the windows, so I'm hopeful this new bolt will be adequate. I'm going to tea dye both pieces so they are similar in color, just want an off white, creamy neutral sort of affair and the tea should do the trick & if course it is in my price range of FREE.

Coffee's done, I'm heading to work.....which consists of shuffling out to the sewing room where I can open up the big door to the gardens, have my coffee, listen to some great music and make money at the same time. Not a bad day "at work" at all.

While working at the Festival of the River today.......I splurged and bought a fillet of salmon and a slice of watermelon. I had sat there yesterday and smelled the smoke and the fish........as well as watched others gobble up the meals right and left...so today I succumbed.

I didn't get the whole meal, as it didn't look like I would enjoy working on corn on the cob, while manning an info booth.....so I just took the fish and the fruit. Paid $7.00 for that part of the meal and was looking forward to the fish especially.

It is so odd to me how deciding to spend the money for this 'treat' for myself made me so hyper critical. I didn't enjoy the fish as much as I had thought I would.....and will think before repeating a similar purchase. I had presumed it would be tasty & yummy......and it was a tad dry and would have to be called satisfactory. Not great.....in other words, not worth the treat. Blah!

My dinner here, when I got home was oh, so much better. I wonder when I will KNOW this lesson, and how long it will take me to learn it? If I had of known any of the people I was working with today, I should have asked them for a taste of their fish.....and I wouldn't have bought any for myself.

So, money out today.......with nothing coming in. Can't get myself jazzed up to head to the sewing room tonight, so will need to be up at dawn tomorrow to get an order ready for a customer coming at noon. I'm more of a morning person anyway.....lucky for me!

Off to another day at my part time job, which today......will mean sitting in the shade at a riverside park, talking up Foster Parenting.

Not a bad deal at all. And, I can take my knitting & finish a project or two for another of my "ventures". I'm going to supply some hand knit & crochet items for an ebay store just to see if there is a market for this type of thing.

So, outdoors........knitting and chatting.......and get paid. Doesn't get much better than that!

The new boarders will start dinner & I will help when I get home......This live in help is very handy.

This could get very, very habit forming. I had to dash off to work for my part time job today........and came home exactly at dinner time to find the young lady had cooked a full course meal....and baked a peach cobbler to boot.

She had the fan on so the smell was wafting outside when I got here. Yummy, totally yummy!

She had done laundry, he had dug a trench for the compost near the garden plot.......he is washing dishes and she is sweeping.

I really have no idea when someone did the dinner here for me. Either it's been decades ago, or I'm too old to remember anyway!

They had even bought me flowers and a card.........I told them I was paying someone to go rent their apartment out from under them so they would HAVE to stay here! I could get sooooo used to this!

Well, the new couple moved in last night and so far, all's well. They get up at 3 something to get themselves to work (only 1 vehicle, so lots of driving for her).

Forgot to mention the best benefit of this entire arrangement.........she is a massage therapist, licensed in CA, but here she needs to go back to school for additional hours. But, she is bringing her table tonight and offered to share her talents!!! I'll have to bite my tongue or I'll let her have the room here for nothing!!!

This is sounding like my deal with the horses........I get to have them here on the property and don't have to pay for them...Oh, wait....the horse lady PAYS ME.

This is sounding sort of similar...but it is temporary! I did ponder the idea of going to rent their apt. they are waiting for, so they would have to stay here and I could get my massage here while they PAY ME. (seeing a trend here........???)

Anyway, Day 1 of the temp. people and at this point, I like them both. Very fun couple and funny too. Animals lovers, gardeners and gone most of the time. I need to find something they want/need to trade for my massage now...... Will keep my ears open & see if we have something on their list.