We bought new drapes for the living room today (scarlet, because the walls are off-white and the couch is brown) and found throw pillows to match and, totally by accident, a silver wall clock with a scarlet face. Booyah. Fancier living room!
I'll have to take a picture of the old drapes -- they're lima-bean green intarsia (maybe intarsia is the wrong word -- there's a pattern woven in the fabric -- is that jacquard?) and gnarly. These are light years better.
Also got a new tumbling composter to replace the old box-style one in the backyard. It's old enough that the sides have warped and the lid doesn't quite fit, so raccoons get in and have a woodland jamboree.
Lots of commerce around these parts. And the best part is that almost all of it was thanks to gift cards we got at Christmas. Thanks for decorating our house, family!
(I'm also doing a fair amount of, "I'm 40 years old -- I should have decent things!" so.)
Maybe I should start composting. It seems so good!
My refund is what passes as my annual savings (outside of retirement) since I bought a house, so. I keep reminding myself I dropped my mortgage payment the amount of the car loan for the next 5 years, and I didn't have to pull from savings for that, so I'm doing ok.
But I won't lie, when I left the restaurant tonight, my mental accountant congratulated me on not spending what would have probably run $40 tonight.
New front runner! [link]
I know nothing about well water though.
Oh man, I love the deck. Quite a bit of paneling, though.
I have no thoughts about sofas except that I would like a new one. Ours was a Salvation Army purchase, and it's beginning to look it.
Boat slip! Ooh, and it's got the kind of kitchen sink I like! And the porch and deck, very nice.
I like well water, usually. You have to maintain the pumps to ensure you have water, of course, and if the pumps are electric, if you lose power you don't have water. For a cabin, probably that would mean you'd have to prime the pump each time you went up and shut them down when you leave, although the technology may be beyond that by now.
Just weighed myself and despite spending most of the last month on my ass, I haven't gained any weight. Maintenance is good. I've been scared to check.
Way to go Suzi!
My parents' house is on well water. No electricity, no water. And if the well runs dry, it's hella expensive to dig another. They've been in the house 40 years and had to dig a new one after 20-25 years. It ran almost $12,000. If the pump breaks, it's almost as expensive and you might as well dig a new one, though that may have changed in the last few years. Well water often needs water softener, and we don't ever drink it. I tested our water for a science fair project and the lead content was ridiculously high. Bonus? You're never paying for water.
It cost us a thousand bucks just to pull the pump up to look at it to see if a screw was loose. But our well was at 850 feet.
