If the bag looks old, just say no.......

 On Monday, I reluctantly got up early to put a pot of beans on. The bag I grabbed looked like it had been around for a while but I just wanted to be done with it so I used it anyway. I now regret that.

You see, my mom later told me that she remembered buying that bag....... A year ago. It had looked old and beat up when she had bought it, leaving her to believe that it came out of some hidden corner from storage. Where it then proceeded to avoid getting cooked for A WHOLE FREAKING YEAR. I don't know how I kept missing it. But I wished I had continued to do so. 

The beans were cooked in a slow cooker for over 12 hours and still were too hard. I cooled them down, refridgerated them, and cook them for a few hours more on the stove top the next day. Still had a bit of a bite to them. I honestly don't think I can do anything else to these beans. Sidenote: it gave me the worst gas ever.

So, consider this a PSA. If you have a bag of dried beans and they look like they took a road trip so long ago that are now one with the dust they traveled with, maybe use those said beans to make a Collage. Don't cook them. All you will get is regrets, half-cooked beans and a bad case of gas.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

Squishmallows, Stove Burners, and 18-inch Lizards.....

 Last Friday, I bought a Squishmallow. I then spent the whole weekend trying to keep my Squishy to myself. My mom and Siblings are constantly trying to slip my Squishmallow away from me. I can't blame them though. Look at how cute it is!

Orin the Orange is its official name. I renamed it Sunshine Squishmallow aka Squishy. LB3 insists on calling it Plushy. He is also leading the charge in trying to take Squishy away. At least we are all on the same page when it comes to keeping it away from our dad. We know that if he sees it, it will become his and getting it back will be hard. We might as well just buy him his own. Maybe. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Also bought on Friday were two new stove burners that we needed. Only thing was, they were the wrong size and weren't for our stove. Undeterred, Mom bought another set on Sunday that match our stove and they came in on Monday while she returned the first set she bought. And they fit.......the burners that we aren't trying to replace. So, earlier today she searched and finally found the correct ones and proceeded to take four hours purchasing it online due to an incorrect zip code. She was about to give up when everything was finally sorted out. So, finger crossed everyone. I should give her some Squishy time so she can cheer up.

On Saturday evening, an 18-inch long lizard crawled out our upstairs bathroom sink and freaked my mother out. We'd taken the drain stopper out for some reason or another and forgotten to place it back. The lizard had a straight shot and took it. Mom was preparing to take a bath and got the fright of her life. She REALLY doesn't like lizards. Especially when they get cozy on her clean clothes that she placed on the counter. LB1 took care of said lizard.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

Audiobooks that cost nothing!?!?!

 No, I am not taking about Audible. I am talking about LibriVox. When I began my book worm life, I began with books in the public domain because I was a broke teenager who wanted books more than I wanted to shop at the mall (yes, I know that dates me). I never made a MySpace or Facebook account because I was too busy learning when the PD cutoff was and finding new and exciting old books online that I could download. 

Old books are fascinating to me. Contemporary fiction of that time is now considered Historical fiction. It's like getting a peek into the psyche of the time and getting a glimpse of a world that has ceased to exist. Growing up with a History Buff Dad rubbed off on me and my love of old books and history are intertwined. I burned so many CDs full of PD books (I have no idea where they are now). My parents let me be as there are much worse hobbies a teenager could have and the sites I ventured to were safe.

I learned about LibriVox then. At the time, I paid no mind to it as I had no way to really enjoy it. But all that changed when I received my first mp3 player. I filled it full of my favorite Jane Austen novels from LibriVox and the rest is history. As a lover of old books, it made exploring new authors easier and fun. 

LibriVox is a non-commercial, non-profit and ad-free project that is volunteer run. Their mission is to bring the books in the public domain to the world in the form of audio books for free. You can download any audio book there for free. No limits. You are always welcome to donate but you are not obliged. Volunteers read the books for free and post them online. They are always putting up something new in a wide range of genres. I hope that you all can check them out.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

Under the Mulberry Tree, We Grill......

 As I write, I am in front of our grill cooking sausages. I was told that I was grilling today as soon as I woke up. I don't think I ever stood a chance.I am covered in mosquito bites. 

Upside of grilling:

1. Get to enjoy the shade

2. Can lay in the grass later with LB7

3.FOOD, 'nough said

Downside of Grilling:

1. Mosquitoes

2. Smoke smell sticking to my body

3. Mosquitoes

As you can probably tell, I am having a tough time with the mosquitoes. I will be keeping this post brief as I am kind of busy right now. As always, feel free to leave me a message below.