Beautifying

Now mind you, I do live in West Texas in the middle of one of the worse droughts in history, and it doesn't look like it is getting any better any time soon.  We are on well water which means I can water (unlike those IN town, who face severe monatary punishment if they go over a certain amount of water) however, I am a bit relucant to just water all the time as I am trying to be a good steward as well. 

A little geology for you (since that is my major)..we live on the edge of the largest aquifer (natural) of water called the Ogallala Aquifer.  This aquifer is drying up.  Already where we live is pulling water from other sources in order to supply the town with water.  I say all of this to say....our well water, which comes from the ground, is coming from the aquifer.  I don't want to speed up the process any by having a very pretty and lucious green yard...I would rather have a few pretties and midly green yard and know I may have added a day or two to our water supply.  Sadly, this is really a reality for those of us who live in West Texas.  Our water could dry up.....If you pull out a map, you will notice there are no lakes really out here, especially compared to the rest of Texas. 

But, since I live where I live, I do want a few pretty things.  And then there is the issue of my previous fail trying to hang up my toucan planter.  As for now, the toucan just sits on the ground.  That might be his new home until I get to a lumber yard with Robert and figure out what we need to build a strong enough pole for my planter.

Since I became the proud ownder of two shepard's hooks, I have since became the proud owner of two pretty hanging baskets. 

I have no idea what this little plant is.  It has beautiful flowers when it's not 100+ outside.  And yes, we have already had a day of 104 degrees temps!  The poor thing just shrivels up, but by the evening and early morning, it is back to looking pretty. 

This is another no named one (because I have no clue!) but it is a member of the succulant family so he ought to do just fine out here.  The leaves are waxey/glossy and the little pink flowers close up at night.  Such a pretty little thing.

My friend Micah suggest I get Knock Out Roses so yesterday I did just that.  I bought one.  Lynsie requested it not be pink, so I found the closest I could to red.  This moring Jacob and I planted him.  Eventually where he is planted will be a raised bed but for now, he looks great there in the yard. 

The picture is not the best.  And as you can see, I still need to work on our little deck.  But my sweetie has been working about 100 hrs a week, so I can wait a bit before getting that all fixed up.  This picture does really show you how dry it is out here.  We had to wet the ground just to plant the rose bush. 

Even though, we currently don't have a lush yard like we would have been able to have in Central Texas, I can say, it is very nice to have a few things out to welcome us home.  I also picked up a tomato plant for sweetie  I have it planted (barely visible yellow pot to the left of the picture) It came with a few tomatoes as well as buds.  Now Robert can pick his own tomatoes and enjoy them. 

Regardless of where you live or what you live in...having it looks nice and inviting if nothing else makes you feel welcomed to your own home.  Even if you never have company a few things outside will help you fee invited in.  When a huge wind blows through and knocks my plants off (and yes that does happen) everything looks so bare until I get every one put back into their little homes and back up.  We don't have a lot of company (unless you count neighborhood teens coming over) so I do this for me.  Even Robert likes to see it be inviting when he comes in.  I can't change the fact we live in a trailer right now, but I can make it into a home.  I can't change the fact we live in West Texas and its dry out here, but I can do a few things to help spruce up the place!!  It may be dry out here, but at least when you pull up to our little home there is a bit of a green welcoming committee waiting to greet you!

Ode to Baskets

I love baskets. Probably a bit too much, but I love them. I use them for a lot of different things and in a small house it is essential. Well at least in my small house it is. The nice things about baskets, they fit in places where a shelving unit or dresser or a piece of furniture just won't fit. I have baskets, on shelves, in closets, under chairs, behind chairs, under bedside tables....you get the picture. I even have baskets lining the top of my cabinets for decoration, but if I needed to---I could use them. They are just my favorites and I don't want to use them. I am in my living room right now and on my bookshelf I have two baskets. 1) because they help decorate the space and 2) to hold stuff!! DUH!! One basket holds all my dogs toys which are covering up some electronic stuff I haven't gotten around to moving. Previously the basket held movies and before that..it held something else, but I just don't remember. The other basket is smaller and is used to hold cards..playing cards. I am not sure how we ended up with so many decks of them. Now they are all neatly tucked away. In my tv hutch, I have another basket to hold more card games. Again, it adds visual interest as well as great storage for UNO, Phase 10 and who knows what other games we have in there.

One of my favorite baskets is this one:

It stores all my cami tops. I used to be under this great chair, but now the chair has moved on and the basket is located in my closet. I don't have enough space in my dresser or room for another dresser, so the basket works great. I simply grab out which cami I want and put it on. Because I don't dry these in a dryer, I hang them in my closet to dry. Once dry, I quickly fold, turn around and back in the basket they go. Ta-Da! Before being moved to my closet, it hid under the chair. No one really ever saw it, and it was quick grab and get when I needed a cami.

My room also has a basket for craft items, cd's, current reading, the list goes on. They have served me well. And for a small space, I am better able to use the space I have available for those items which do not need large amounts of storage.

I buy my baskets both new and used. Under my bathroom cabinet I have an ugly pink basket but thanks to spray paint...it is now black. I think I paid $1 for the basket, so not only am I able to orgainze quickly, but also cheaply as well. And who doesn't love a good deal. When I am out and about I simply keep my eyes peeled for a basket and if it is the right shape for what I need, then home with me it goes. And if it happens to be ugly, out comes the spray paint, and wah-la I now I have a pretty basket.

Now, I must warn, don't go crazy...too many baskets and you have a bit of tacky going on. Buy good looking baskets (or make them that way) before putting them out. Just because your space is small does not mean it needs to look like Wal-Mart's Easter Basket aisle threw up in your home. Don't gather all your baskets in one spot, unless you are trying to make some sort of statement and look around for places to stash a basket or two. Under the coffee table for magazines? By the front door for a catch all. Under the bed for shoes or what nots. Hidden away in cabinets with spices or lids or whatever contained....okay--so maybe you can go a little basket crazy.

So how do you use your baskets? Do you have baskets? Which one is your favorite??

All hail baskets and small home living!!

The Official Introduction

We really aren't trailer trash.  But generally people think of that when you say "hey, I live in a trailer," and thus the trailer trash name.  I will tell you how we got here, so maybe you can be a bit more understanding of how and why we live in one.

We moved to West Texas for work.  Yep, the oil field.  It is a practical gold rush out here.  Families, single men and women are moving in from all over because currently our town is #1 in the state of Texas for lowest unemployment rate.  Signs are posted every where saying "Hiring"  If you want a job, it's out here.  Almost every company related to the oil field has a sign as well, not including every 7-11, resteraunt and various other places.  Job fairs are the norm out here with one about every month.  You see maybe one homeless man out here.  And honestly, if you don't have a job, it is because you simply don't want one. 

We moved out here in June of 2011.  We lived in a motel for a month.  Not the best of times, but not the worse....hey it had a pool!!  LOL  Out here when it comes to housing, you take what you can get.  We found this place and well....took it. 

You have to understand, housing out here is crazy.  3 bedrooms rent for $1500-3500 a month.  I am not joking.  We have discussed buying, looking for another rental etc...  but the truth is, we have a good price for rent and we are not 100% sure we are staying out here forever (discussion has already been had over North Dakota) So we stay....in our tiny little single wide mobile home. 

There is six of us.  Four teenagers and two adults.  Three teen age boys share one room (all teenage boys are over 6ft tall let me add!!)  The girl-child has her own little room, and of course, us two grown ups share a room.  Our home we have figured to be about 900sq foot.  Yep, that is it.  In the land of plenty and excess, we live in a tiny home.  We make due and make room.

Now let me explain a bit about our little trailer park.  It is not your typical lower class, cars on blocks type of place.  Our neighbors include a DPS officer, second in command for the fire department, and people who drive NICE cars.  You have Yukons, Escalades, big ole burly Dodge trucks etc... parked out front of little homes.  So really, no trash here.

My little blog is simply how we live in this small home.  How I decorate so it feels more like a house.  So I hope you will join me in the fun of living my crazy life.  And maybe glean a few ideas for yourself which you can use in your home!