Fishing... low cost and Fun!

I have recently been taking up an old favorite hobbie of mine, fishing. It's cheap which makes my wallet happy. Relaxing to get out into nature and enjoy the scenery which makes my mind happy. And if I catch something, free food which makes the stomach happy. The only thing not happy about it right now is the lack of funds for gas money to get to the fishing spots and no boat. I plan to one day own a Kayak (Hobie!) but until finances get better it will just have to sit in the dream category. I have been having fun relearning all those camping and fishing knowledge that has fallen to the wayside due to disuse. Pulled out a lot of fun old camping books that talk about hunting and survival. Also pulled out the old fishing books that talk about bait and tackle. I was fortunate in that while searching for some supplies at the local thrift/pawn stores I was able to come across some lovely local finds.

At the local pawn shop I got a nice salt water fishing rod for a good price. My current collection of fishing rods happen to be geared toward freshwater fishing and just was not strong enough on the previous fishing trip on the coast. Had a devil of a time reeling in a red drum that I caught. I had a heck of a time finding some crab traps, luckily one of the bait and tackle shops that I use had some and I was able to bring home some blue crab for dinner. While going over my fishing supplies and making a list of items that would be nice to have I thought about supplies I could make. I had a bait bucket but it was small and did not keep the bait alive long since it had no aerator to get oxygen in the water. I remember seeing a youtube video some time back about making a live well out of an old cooler. My landlady had a cooler out by the side of the house near the trash that looked like she was throwing away so I called her up and asked her if I could take it to try and make a live well out of it. I got the ok and within less than 30 minutes and $8 on an aerator I had myself a homemade cooler turned livewell. It worked great! The only downside I could see was that the cooler was not one of those wheeled versions so I had to carry it which was a little heavy when you add water and the catch. I'm thinking if I come across another cooler with wheels to try again but until then will look for a luggage carry rack at the local thrift stores. And last but not least, the prize find.. a late 60's Duel fuel coleman 2 burner camp stove mint in box with some camp cooking pots and pans which looked to have been never used all for $3.00, talk about a deal.

I was hoping to get out again before scallop season ends so I can do some scalloping. Unfortanately, cannot afford gas. Oh well there is always next year. Until then I will just have to keep an eye out for some more lovely old camp gear and wait for another opening to get out and fish.

Do not adjust your television...

After much discussion with my fiance, we decided to turn off our cable. I had no problems with this as most of the shows I watch on cable I can see for free on Hulu.com (yea hulu!) and we needed the money to be put to better use. No sooner than we turned off the cable my laptop blinks out. It seems the monitor is fried. Thankfully, the rest of the laptop is fine and as I always keep my leftover electronics (thanks dad for passing on that habit) I just pulled out ye olde monitor and plugged it into my laptop. Tada for temporary fixes until finances are better.

This weekend I hit up the local thrift stores looking for some clothing as mine is getting a little raggedy. As far as clothing goes I only found a nice pair of jeans but ran into the problem of either it being not my size or too pricey. I did luck out in other areas. I got a lovely toaster to replace the one that broke down, what looks to be a brand new 70's green fondue set, an American Gothic puzzle, a batch of thank you cards for the wedding next year, and last but not least the other love of my life (other than my fiance, cat, and crafts) some books. I got an 1878 Home Economics book which is full of all kinds of information on how to run a 1878 house. A 1943 book on knitting and a 1935 book on crochet. And last but not least, 5 cookbooks to add to my cookbook collection. I love thrift store scavenging. Too bad the ones around here seem to be hit up hard. Really picked thru.

Another postive note is that in two weeks from now I will be getting a raised bed garden and look forward to growing tastey food and learning about canning.

Now I am off to play with my fondue set, mmm tastey beef fondue.

Unpacking at a snails pace..

Well I know it's been a while since I last posted. I have moved into a house. I am really loving the house. Lots of space and oppertunity to have friends over. One thing I am greatly looking forward to is having my own craft room. I will even have a sitting room/library to put all my books in order. My only problem is that while I have the space, items, and know what I want that space to be in the end I am having trouble getting to that final stage. It's like I know what A and C is but have no clue about B and how to join them all together. End result, unpacking at a snails pace. Very slow and unsure. I believe I will just toss my hands up and kidnapp my mother to help me organize. She is good at that. Until then, unpacking at a snail pace one box at a time.

One of the fun things about this is finding items that have been buried away and being able to pull them out and put them on display. Current find, my grandmothers Smokey Moutain Pottery souvenier that she bought while on vacation in NC back in 1943. That belgium waffel maker that I did not have the kichen space for back in my tiny apartment now has room and I do believe I know what I will be making for breakfast tomorrow morning. Belgium waffels with strawberries and whip cream.

Car troubles and naughty temptations..

Well my trusty rusty finally died on me last week. And with a limited budget I have been car hunting. While searching for a car, I came across a very tempting ad. The ad was for a 1945 Dodge Coupe for $1,500. The body needed a new paint job and this was definitely a fixer upper but darned if it wasn't one heck of a naughty temptation. In the end, I was a good girl and purchased a used 2006 Mazda5 that was in great condition and had excellent milage.

But still the mind likes to dream and that 1945 Dodge Coupe is certainly playing a large part in it right now.

Something to sink my toes into..

After getting out of the shower and sinking my toes onto cold tile I have decided that I needed a little rug to sink my toes into. And since I am an avid collector of craft, diy, and how to books from all different eras I figured why not make something from one of my fun vintage craft book collection. So I have pulled out the first rug book I came across, Beautiful Rugs Star Book No. 73 published 1950. I am browsing to see what appeals when I come across this braided rug pattern that reminds me of the one my mom had when I was a child. I do believe we have a winner. Although there was a lot of fun funky patterns. One for a horse, leaves, a duck, even a mexican having a siesta. Looks like my addiction to collecting old crafty stuff is going to pay off and keep my toes warm. Now I just have to remember where I put my yarn....

Salad, thou hast decieved Paula

Ever order something and get something that was totally not what you were expecting? I have had a few surprises in my life with this but nothing like what poor Paula experienced upon ordering the nacho salad.

We were not that hungry so Paula and I decided to order a small lunch, especially as Paula was planning a big dinner in about 4 hours from then. I was having trouble between getting a soup or sandwhich, hungry enough for a soup but was not sure if it would fill me. So I got a half sandwhich and a soup. Paula wanted a simple salad but was craving nacho's so she decided to get the nacho salad. Now when my order came I was a little surprised as the "half" sandwhich was the size of a whole in my opinion. But my surprise was nothing compared to Paula's "salad". It was delivered on what looked like one of those platters you would serve a whole turkey on during Thanksgiving. I think the picture I took of Paula when the waiter placed that nacho salad in front of her says it all. It took three take out boxes to carry that salad home. Now if only I could get a income tax return that was as surprisingly large as that salad....

Books books and more books.

I love books. Got a collection of books and keep adding to them. Some fiction but mostly "how to" and diy books. My most recent aquisitions are 7 diy books. I got the Consumer Reports book on Auto Repair, a book on RV restoration and repair, 3 books on how to preserve and store your garden harvest, and two cook books. One of the cookbooks is the 1885 Nevada Cookbook. I love old cookbooks, you can get some great tastey recipes from there. My favorite cold slaw recipe came from the first World Trade Fair's Cookbook. The preservation books will be good for learning about how to make the most of my garden harvest and they have some interesting recipes. I figure the RV repair book might come in handy as one of my wishlist hope to own and use before I die items is an Airstream. I love the look of those silver bullet trailers. As I cannot afford the price of the new ones, my best bet will be to get a fixer upper. I got the autorepair book because I would like to learn more about how to fix and maintain my car. Would save me money and it is useful knowledge to have. I have books all over the place. In the bedroom, kitchen, living room.. the only place I do not have books is in the bathroom, too wet and tiny. I am addicted to books that teaches something usefull or fun. I got craft books from all different eras, ettiquet books, repair books, books on origami and napkin folding.. if it teaches something that I am interested in or might be interested in doing at some point I will get it. Speaking of which, I think there is a book calling me now..