Tire swing memories~

Many memories of  an old tire swing, at my grandma's house, (we called my Grandma simply, Ma) from when I was a little girl have been on my mind lately and I have no idea why.

Maybe it's because life was so simple?

Maybe it's because of the warmth of this spring is triggering my mind and making me remember?

Maybe it's because it was such a happy time of life for me?

I don't have the answers, but all I know is that the memories wont leave so I must write them down to make room for other stories and memories that are trying to take residence in my mind.

When I was a little girl I grew up around family. So much family! Lots and lots of family. My cousins were my friends or were my friends my cousins? I don't know. It was good no matter how you look at it.  So any way you look at it I always had lots of kids around me.

My "Ma" had a huge backyard and hanging in a tree in that backyard was an old tire swing.

We would hang on that old swing. We would swing on that old swing. When the big guys (my dad, uncles and older boy cousins) would come out they would push us so high that I'd swear we were swinging to the moon and back and to the moon again. We would swing so high that you could feel it slack in the rope/chain (not sure which it one it was)  but  I can still feel my stomach drop even just writing about it, today.

Another thing we would all do is we would twist the tire swing as tight as we could, while holding on tight with our little legs dangling through the big tire hole, and then have the spinners let go, and we would spin super fast and hold on for dear life. The rush was something that can't be imitated by anything else in the world!

The best part was when the summer was warm, it had rained, and the rainwater would sit in the inside of the tire and warm up to bath water temperature or hotter. You'd get to swinging and that hot water would get all over you and instantly cool you down while swinging. As soon as the breeze would hit you'd feel instantly cooler and the dampness was so refreshing.

We would all be so dirty when we were done pushing one another and swinging. Black rubber dirties a kid up really fast and I remember my bath water being black as a kid, because of it.

Oh, the laughter.

Oh, the fun.

Oh, the memories.

Oh, the family.

Oh, to be a child, again.

Barefoot & dirty.

I miss it all so much, but the memories are mine for a lifetime. I hold on to them tightly just like I held on to that ol' tire swing hangin' in the tree.

Thank you for the memories, Ma!

Toodle loo
Nikki Pugh

My day, Friday-Designer specs & a lil' polka dot swagger

It was way overdue that I needed glasses so a few weeks a go I was able to get a designer pair of glasses.

Dolce & Gabanna glasses!

I now feel like a little redneck diva in these specs!

 Only around my own house, of course, and in front of anyone that encounters me in all of my designer

"fabulous-ness"

 In my everyday life I am so frugal with my purchases and spending money, especially on myself, but I was able to get, not only one pair of glasses, but a second pair for free, because I have the gift of haggling.

It's a family trait I inherited I'm pretty sure of so...........

Cha-Ching!

These glasses have to last me for quite a long time, but it's nice to know that I can switch between the two pairs.

It's the little things in life isn't it?

Yes, it is.

So this is the designer Dolce & Gabanna pair.

I love typing that out-

Let me do it once, again-

Dolce & Gabanna

Again.

Dolce & Gabanna

Gosh, that feels fabulous!!!

I usually only read those designer words in my Cosmo or Glamour magazine so I am feeling pretty cool at the moment.

Yes, I'll let you all still hang with me even in all of my

"cool-ness"

I know you must be worried about this-

(insert your "whatever, Nikki" right here)

Okay, so here you go-

I had a pic of them from the side where the little D & G signage is, but for some reason I deleted it.

See how the side of the glasses has a little dip and curve?

It's a little swanky and I love it!

They are like a deep dark red-ish, purple-ish, black-ish color and I love them!

Now, here's my free pair. Just kind of a basic chocolate brown color, but with a little surprise on the side........

See here-they have a little bling on the sides with a really creamy ivory plated insert.

I love them!

Score for Nikki Pugh!!!

I feel so fancy schmancy in my glasses, especially, as I blog about this in my ratty ol' brown & tan flannel and lime green fleece pajama pants.

I am just so excited to-

 1. -Be able to see once again-

 2.  Have a smidgen of of style, too, while I am seeing so clearly, once again-

I also bought a new five pair pack of undies this week, too.

(with polka dots & everything)

These brightly colored polka dots have changed how I enter rooms, now.

(in my own home, of course)

I think they gave me swagger.

Yes!

Now, I have swagger!

Don't try to stop me, now........

While on my fashion week streak.....

Apparently, I'm on a roll.......

And..........

I'm unstoppable, folks!

Toodle-loo

Nikki Pugh

My day, Friday~One Geeky Couple's Entertainment

We don't travel to Paris. We don't travel to Asia. We don't travel to Australia. Heck we barely leave our home-LOL!

Who can afford gas these days?!?!

Oh, my........gas prices are ridiculous.

We have to find ways to entertain ourselves.

We have to keep our minds active.

We have to think outside the box.

So we do home projects.

So Charlie had Good Friday off, last week, and we got lots of stuff done around here.

I had noticed my filters were getting nasty in the vent above my stove so I went right to Pinterest to look for a cheap home remedy.

Guess what?

Yep, I found exactly what I was looking for and better yet-it worked!!

So I am passing on this wonderful info to all of you.

Here's what you'll need.

1. Nasty greasy filters from your range hood-YUCK!

2. Baking Soda

3. Tongs

4. A pot of boiling water.

5. Too much time on your hands (giggle giggle)

Oops-I had forgotten to take pictures of the nasty metal filters until I had them halfway in the boiling pot of water, but you can still see how nasty the top halves are.

Now, when the water is at a rapid boil sprinkle in a couple of tablespoons of baking soda.

Not too much, though, because it will instantly bubble out and you'll have a huge mess or could be burned. Use common sense on this part. I even sprinkled baking soda directly on the filters themselves just to speed up the process.

Just keep flipping the filters every 5-10 minutes with your tongs so that both ends get equally cleaned.

When they were as clean as I thought I could get them I noticed all of the nasty sludge in my boiling pot-Ew Gross!!!

So I took the filters.

I put them in my sink.

Then I took the boiling water that I was using and poured it all directly on the filters in the sink for one last time.

Then I quickly rinsed them and switched sides of the sink and put the filters down again.

Next I got my Dawn dish soap and gave them a quick clean up to remove any excess grease/sludge and it came right off.

Then I had Charlie hold them up so I could take a good pic for my blog.

Do you see how clean they are?

We were so amazed!

It worked! It worked!

Then I just took Dawn dish soap, once again, to clean up my boiling pot and it came clean, too.

..........but my stove got so messy!

Look at all of that baking soda all over my gorgeous stove-YIKES!

It looks like I just stood there dumping baking soda all over my stove-Geez!

So I quickly cleaned that mess up before it made me crazy.

This whole process from beginning to end only took about an hour and one box of baking soda and I was so excited!

My Pinterest project worked!

I have had a couple of Pinterest projects that did not work before and that always feels wasteful to me when I have wasted ingredients, supplies, and especially my time.

This one worked and we were both elated.

Who knew we could have so much nerdy fun, too?!?!

Charlie and I were both intrigued watching the drippy grease drip off in the water. We were almost hypnotized by it-practically in a trance, and then I would sprinkle baking soda in the concoction again and we were like kids at Christmas!

The longer you've been married to one another the geekier you become with one another.

We're not to proud or too ashamed to admit that boiling pots with baking soda dripping old grease off of vent filters was our entertainment for the day. It was actually one of our highlights.

Giggle-Giggle!

We're just accomplished like that!

(P.S. I couldn't have a good blog without a blogger spacing glitch now could I? It's not fixable either. Trust me. I have tried fixing it. Thank you for your paitience)

Toodle-loo

Nikki Pugh

My Day, Friday~A Cooking Vacation

1. Busy week? Yes, it was.

2. I didn't have to cook for four days this week. This NEVER happens so I guess I could kind of say I was on holiday.

3. We ate out on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday & Wednesday. Again, we very seldom eat out and I always cook. This is a BIG deal to me. I think I might be starting to get a bit spoiled. I love to cook. I do. I do, but going out for dinner was my mini vacation and I totally enjoyed myself. No prepping, no serving , no dishes. It was fabulous!

4. Charlie had his 52nd birthday on Tuesday. We all went out for a steak dinner. Again, I didn't cook and was waited on and it was wonderful.

Here's a couple of pics of the lovebirds on Chas's birthday!

5. Wednesday night was one of my little brothers birthdays. He turned 35. That is so crazy to me. He was making goofy smiley faces while we sang happy birthday to him as seen here.

Happy Birthday to you!

Oh, brother!!!!

6. I made a batch of farm and country style pillows that are available now in my Etsy Shop So I was busy trying to take pictures so that I could sell them. I took one bunch of pictures that turned out awful and had to delete them all and start fresh. I am not a photographer and that put me in a grouchy mood, but I always do what has to be done and I got the second round of pics finished, finally.

7. I am totally and ridiculously hooked on that new reality show Duck Dynasty on A & E! Have you seen it? I love it, almost as much, as I love Swamp People! Almost. I think I should have been born in a Cosmopolitan Swamp. Is there such a thing? If not I think there should be-just sayin'.....

8. This week I have had the windows open with fresh spring air blowing through our house and had the house shut up tight with the furnace running. Welcome to Spring in Illinois.........it's just weird.

9. I ate too much chocolate cake this week and loved every minute of it.

10. I started cooking dinner, again, (vacation-over) on Thursday night and everyone was thrilled. They love my cooking. They missed my cooking. They missed our kitchen table.

How do I know this you might wonder???

Because it was our entire Thursday night dinner conversation, at our kitchen table, while they ate their homemade meal made by the lady that loves them all the most.

Yep, this girl.

Vacations are nice, but it's always good to get back home.

Reality. 

My favorite place to be.

Toodle-loo

Nikki Pugh

What I learned from her..........

As the lilac trees have been blooming over this last week it stirs in me so much emotion. So I went in search of a blog post that I had posted a couple of so years ago.

Click on the link below to read it if you'd like.

What I learned from her

She was my world.

She was our world.

She was my mother-in-law.

The studio that I work in, now, was her home and we lived in the big main house. When she got very ill we moved her in with us and took care of her until her last breath. It was, this time of year, when she took a drastic turn for the worse and the lilacs, which she loved, were in full bloom and I filled her room with them and played big band music for her as she passed away in 2006. It was a beautiful room filled with lots of love and peace. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday......it still is so raw in me. Every single day I need her and try to remember the little talks we'd always have to make it feel like she is still here with me. I have needed her so much over the last few years since she passed away. She, even though she wasn't physically here on earth anymore, is and will always be in my soul, because.....

She was my best friend.

We miss her so much in our daily life. They say time heals, but I beg to differ. When I saw the lilacs today the memories just flooded my mind.

So with that being said I just have to say.......

I love you.

I miss you.

We wish you were here to tell us to go cut the lilacs and put them in a vase for you like you used to have us do.

Guess, what I cut and put in vases today?

Yep, lilacs from your tree, and shed a few tears which you told me not do, but I cried anyways. I just couldn't help it.

They smelled like you.

Toodle-loo
Nikki Pugh