More Summer Fun..... on the cheap!

Hello everybody!  We have been enjoying our summer and also enjoying how cheap our activities have been.  But before we get into that, let me do an update on all the goings on in homemaker kim's world....

On the store front, I think I may be ready to let you know what our business is before too much longer.  We are doing pretty well.  We are going to be expanding soon by carrying a new product line and we are excited!  I can barely wait to get started!

On the homestead side of things, (if you can call my little plot of earth a homestead!)  Things are going pretty well in the garden.  My lima bean plants made it through and are growing bigger.  I installed support cages around them this past week.  Normally they would like a twine trellis, but since we are making due with what we have this year, I put tomato cages upside down around them.... that way they can just grow up that and out the top if need be.  I'm excited that I managed to get them through their rough patch.  I hear a lot of people talk about how bad the drought is for them, but we are having better luck than most folks.  I tell ya, having my rain barrel is really coming in handy.  I haven't needed to use the faucet to water so far this year.... I'm keeping my fingers crossed!  I planted some cherry tomato seeds last week for fall and they are sprouting up!  I'm so excited! I dug out my compost to fill in the raised bed I had cleaned up, but it wasn't nearly enough.  I did have some luck that I picked up some dried grass clippings from work here the other day.  A fella came and mowed the property behind our store and I got two trash bags full of clippings... free mulch and garden material!  Gotta Love It!!  Bush beans are doing well and my larger tomato plant has blossoms!  However......

my house.... oh my poor house..... lately it feels like I'm constantly behind... and the reason is because of having to share a car. 
I shared with you that I'm in a bit of a pickle with my car.  My car has officially said NO WAY.  It won't start.  The ignition switch needs replacing.  Now folks, my car has over 225k miles on it.  It is worth $1000 and that's being generous.  We would really like a different car since she is starting to nickel and dime us to death, but we also don't believe in going into debt for things.  So, we are having the switch replaced.  The part will be about 150.00 and my dad will put it in for us.  We'll pay him with some home canned pickles, home made bread and some homebrew.  Thanks Dad!!  Then we will keep chunkin' money away as we can to buy a different car.  We may sell some stuff to get the process moving a long a little quicker.  But, for this week, until my dad can get to my car, we are sharing my hubby's car.  Did I mention that my husband let his inspection sticker expire?  Yep, that's a whole other story. 

Financially, well, let's say no news is good news.  Moving on.

Summer FUN!  Ok, this has been an awesome summer so far.  We are getting creative and I like it!

We went to a free reggae concert at our local museum since we are members there. It was so nice.  It was outside in the gardens.  We just brought our own chairs and relaxed.  We weren't allowed to bring our own food in.... so mom may just have to get a *ahem* bigger purse for the next concert.... we went to a beautiful state park to swim at the lake.  It was so relaxing and at $5 a piece for the whole day, I'd much rather go there than the local water park. You can and are encouraged to bring your own cooler of food and snacks, but you have to take home your trash.  Not a single trash can there and honestly, I like that idea too.  It gets you thinking about how much waste you are going to produce.   As you can see my son had a great time as well!  Tomorrow we're going to head to the local park after work to watch the leagues play a little softball.  It's free to watch and you can bring your own snacks!! 
Next month we have been invited to an early look at the new exhibit at the museum since we are members and get this.... we will be getting complimentary desserts!  Holy Free Cake Batman!  Now, that is summer fun at its greatest!  Finally, the best part of a summer is the free enjoyment of reading.  My son and I have been reading a book together this summer that I got at a yard sale for 75 cents.  Yea, I probably should try to go to the library, but it's just not very convenient.  Here's some books I've been having my face stuck in recently. 

 I got the two on the left from the thrift shop and purchased Possum Living since I just couldn't wait for that one to either be in a library or be available in a thrift shop.  Gooooood stuff. 
Well, there you have it guys.... not that exciting.... definitely not that pricey but it's good simple stuff and that's what I like. 

Until next time friends!