Post your happy

[Zany_in_CO]

My harvest...the best pineapple I have ever tasted in my whole life.

It looks so good! I can smell it! Drool.

 

[Catscankim]

Wow! It's actually completely yellow! I guess they have to pick them green to ship them to stores and then ripening on the counter only gives it a yellow shade.

Yeah, I did some research on it. I belong to a gardening group and they said to let it go yellow. It was so hard to do! I'm used to getting green pineapples from the market. Thats the color it is supposed to be before plucking it. When I get a store-bought one that's green, it usually goes rotten before it gets yellow.

I have two more going that don't have fruit yet. The mother plant from this pineapple already has lots of pups on it. Those ones wont take as long to get fruit after I plant them from what I've read. Soon I will have a pineapple plantation LOL.

Edit: for anybody wishing to grow a pineapple I will tell you how I did it. I screwed off the top of a store bought one. Pluck the bottom leaves off of it until you see eyes...they are actually roots forming. You can't take off too many. I stick mine in a glass of water until roots grow. I mean REALLY grow. Usually they fill the glass of water I put it in.

I take out the crown and root mass and sprinkle rooting hormone on the roots and pot it up in a large-ish pot. Get a short wide pot so it doesn't keep falling over when it gets top heavy.

I water it A LOT while it is growing, then I watered sparingly when the fruit appeared. Like you can let it get completely dry...it helps the pineapple plant put more energy into the fruit. Fertilize occasionally with ROSE fertilizer, at half strength...it has iron in it. If your crown starts to look sad or pale, give it a dose. Once I got a fruit forming, I hardly watered it at all.

The hardest part was waiting until it turned yellow and SMELLED like a pineapple. I'd post it on my garden group "pick it now?" "Nooooooo, wait till it gets yellow" Oh my gosh, it looked like what I was used to getting from the market. Patience is a virtue LOL. Let it go yellow.

Look at me being an expert with one pineapple LOL. Just telling you how I did it and what I learned....

 

[MellonFriend]

That's really awesome, @Catscankim! What kind of conditions do the plants need to grow in? Sunlight, temperatures, etc.? Do you grow yours outdoors?

 

[Trea]

Posting my happy...

Just being able to sit here and watch the birds and squirrels, being out in nature, makes me happy!
Also...
This little girl!

 

[Catscankim]

That's really awesome, @Catscankim! What kind of conditions do the plants need to grow in? Sunlight, temperatures, etc.? Do you grow yours outdoors?

Full sun on the surface of the sun LOL. I did take it in when it got to freezing temps this winter, which doesn't happen often, or for very long. As little attention as you can give it lol. It didn't need to be watered a lot, I used half-strength rose fertilizer when the leaves looked a little blah (before it got fruit). Trust me, I had a lot of help from my gardening group, and a little youtube to learn about the pups and when to separate them, which I haven't done yet.

But yeah, it was in a pot on the concrete that every once in a while I was like...ok, lets spray you too. Now I water it deep because there are a lot of pups on momma plant.

When things started happening...like the fruit coming in. I even moved it from under my roof where it will get a waterfall. I almost brought it inside the porch to make sure it didn't get too much water. But it was heavy and sharp so I didn't move it around.

 

[mx5inpenn]

I don't make as much soap as I should during the summer. I'd rather be doing this.

 

[AliOop]

I don't make as much soap as I should during the summer. I'd rather be doing this.

Yeah I wouldn’t be soaping either. Or doing laundry or dishes or working.

 

[earlene]

I am happy to see you back, @Saponista!

Glad to hear that another grandmother gets to see her grandchildren. And happy that airline travel isn't stressing too many people out. (Well, at least those of us here.)

We also traveled by air this month; went to DC for the 4th, to see the national fireworks display for the first time ever. We had a perfect spot by the Netherlands Carillon. Even had a rabbit dash past the crowd just as the fireworks were starting. I missed Kitty Baby terribly and the stress of boarding her rather than taking her to my granddaughter brought on a recurring cold sore that I had not had in a couple years (of course just after I told my doctor I no longer need that prescription for Acyclovir - now I do again). Anyway, she was apparently fine while we were gone & is very cuddly now that she is back at home. At least I know I can rest assured of her safety if we need to board her there again (her Vet runs the boarding site), so that is sort of an almost 'happy.' But I still feel like I need to earn back some of her trust and faith in me after leaving her in a strange place for so long (9 days in a cage makes me feel really guilty!)

 

[dibbles]

@earlene do you know if there are any cat sitting sites like Rover.com for dogs? We've had good luck when we've had to board our dog. They are in a home environment, there are reviews of the 'sitter', you can filter by your pet's particular needs such as no kids, no other pets, fenced yard, etc. Many people love animals and miss having a pet, but can't - for various reasons - have one of their own. We found a sitter that would take our boy out in their fenced yard and play fetch with him a few times a day, would let him sleep in their bed, had a 'dog sofa' in front of their picture window for the dogs to look out. He would get so excited when we dropped him off that we knew he was treated well. Just a thought.

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

I don't make as much soap as I should during the summer. I'd rather be doing this.

View attachment 67651

I like to kayak too, but it's almost too hot for that down here. Kayaking is much more pleasant in the spring and fall here!

 

[mx5inpenn]

I like to kayak too, but it's almost too hot for that down here. Kayaking is much more pleasant in the spring and fall here!

I go year round, as long as it's above 40°F (I have a wetsuit for cold water trips) but prefer sunshine and hot days. I'm a summer soul

 

[TashaBird]

Yesterday I caught my first salmon!

 

[LynetteO]

This is completely not soap related but I am so excited. I have always loved small things. Which is a love passed on to me by my Grandmother. She collected miniatures & had them set up in the most unique display, which I inherited & TREASURE! Anyway, I’ve three daughters, always liked dolls myself, so I bought “Life of Faith” dolls for each of them. I never cared for the American girl doll body. However, I didnt purchase a doll for myself. I’m 52 and I am always looking at new dolls & antique dolls but nothing ever “grabbed” me until today. Today I came across Blythe dolls. They are only 12” tall and it was @ 1st sight with a custom Sugar Plum Fairy doll. I can hardly wait for her arrival!

 

[MellonFriend]

It was my one year soaping anniversary yesterday! One year and still completely and passionately addicted.

 

[Catscankim]

I have had my old truck for about 8 years. It has 287K miles on it lol. I drive an hour to work and sometimes it really makes me nervous on the turnpike. It makes so many unidentifiable noises. But with my credit in the state that it has been, I never thought a car loan was in my future. Over the past couple of years I have been working on it. I know its not great yet, not even in the "fair" range. I finally just got over the 600 hump, which again, is not the greatest, but figure that is an added 150 points than what I started out with.

I got an Amazon secured card a little over a year ago and I just buy and pay off. I finally got an unsecured low-limit card that I do the same. I waited for a bunch of old inquiries to drop off, then applied and received two more unsecured cards.

One glaring thing that keeps sticking out on Credit Karma is that I do not have a variety of credit and that was holding my progress back. Last Sunday, I worked overnight. I had a meeting at 9am that I had to wait around for, and that lasted an hour and a half zzzzzzzzzz....... which put me in the 16 hour range at work. I went to leave Monday morning and my stupid car wouldn't start. I went in to get my co-worker who is pretty handy with cars and he said it was my starter. He cranked it a few times and finally it turned over. "Do not shut your car off for any reason until you get home". LOL....geeze, hope I don't stall out along the way LOL.

Oh, I also got a "line of credit", which is through credit karma (affiliate) that is basically a secured loan. You pay into it a set amount. It looks like a loan, but it is secured. It made no sense to me at first, but I did research on it and it is a legit way of raising your credit score. My first "loan payment" hit my credit report and it increased by 15 points. The way it works is, they "give you" a small loan. In my case $500 and you pay it off. You can't touch it in the meantime. When you are done, that $500 goes back into my savings account (that my automatic payments come out of), and it starts all over again, using the $500 that is now in your savings account. I thought it was a little shady at first, but it is working. Of course now that it goes into your savings account, you can use it as you please because it is your money, or just leave it there to continue cycling it through this secured loan.

Don't worry, I only use the cards for like a tank of gas then pay it off right away. I am determined to get my credit right for the first time in my life.

So now that my truck had been sitting in in my driveway on jacks all last week, I decided it was time.

So I got me this....

YAY.ME!!!

The payment is high, the interest rate is high. I figured I would give it a few months and see about refinancing it. But I actually got an insurance rate for comprehensive for lower than my current liability rate on my other truck. My friend offered to be a co-signer, but I declined. I don't want to be responsible for anybody else's credit.

It has stuff I don't even know how to use!! You know, like power windows and locks LOL. It is a 2018. My old truck is 2004. It only has 40k miles on it. Gonna have to give up a few luxuries, like eating for now LOL.

 

[linne1gi]

Yeah You! Congratulations

 

[Mommawolfe]

Congrats on your new truck! Just a word about credit karma...be careful with the click bait from them! They will claim you don't have enough credit and want you to get more...every time you apply for a new line of credit, it dings your credit rating. Also, transunion and equifax are not the only two monitors that exist, and in most cases not what banks use to determine credit worthiness. Getting a high interest loan is a necessary evil to improve your credit, again, congrats! I was off grid (credit and banks) for 10 years, so decided one day that I needed to get back on line with my credit. it has taken me 7 years to get into the "very good" range (credit karma) I still get turned away because of the fico score, because it does not always follow equally with the others. don't get discouraged, all improvement is good! You may also notice that your score will drop by 50+ points for no apparent reason! don't panic! it will recover within 3 months...(usually)

 

[Catscankim]

Thank you for all that.

any little bit of progress is good right now. And I get it that CK has a bait and click thing going on, but it hasn't done me wrong yet (I don't think lol). I have gone up the line from secured cards, to unsecured cards (all sub prime, I get it)...to car loan. In my head I think that maybe their affiliates see that you are actually working on your standing and maybe that's why it is helping. I never thought any of this was even possible a year or two ago. So I am over the top with all that.

i keep an eye on CK almost every day. Some day I will run a formal credit report to see what creditors see. Not yet though, cause I am pretty sure I am going to take a hit from all this credit activity going on right now and I don't want to get depressed about it LOL.

I really never thought it was an option for me to get a car. So I just kept dumping money into my old rattle-trap. Not to mention fingers crossed all the way to and from work.

So...just in time for the hurricane that's coming tomorrow. I want to wrap the new girl in plastic and tarp, maybe some saran wrap and bubble wrap too LOL. Consensus is that its not going to be much. Nobody in the neighborhood is even hanging hurricane shutters. But it is already super windy out.

 

[Catscankim]

My happy today is that my new washer and dryer is being delivered tomorrow YAY. I am not going to just tell you how happy I am, I am going to show you the state of my current situation:

I will use something until it literally falls apart LOL. Well, my appliances are falling apart all at once. This washer shakes so bad that I can feel it under my feet from the shower in my bathroom clear across the house. Sometimes it walks itself across the laundry room during the spin cycle...Then I have to put it on spin again, because its easier to "walk it back" while it is spinning LOL. I found a hinge from the lid in my clothes LOL.

For a couple of years it was "well, it cleans sooo....". I am actually embarrassed to show you the underside of the lid LOL.

The dryer now: it goes RAWR RAWR RAWR as it runs. The cat food bowls are in the laundry room and it scares the heck out of them just by hitting the button to turn it on. I have to run two cycles on a full load to get my clothes to dry properly.

So tomorrow I am going to be the proud new owner of a washer and dryer set that is probably smarter than I am. I know it might not be a big deal to everybody, but it is for me. I worked extra shifts and saved up for them. Still working on my credit, so I didn't want a ding for applying for a store cc that may or may not go through and carry interest, so I saved up the old fashioned way.

Anyway, they have wifi, the washer "talks" to the dryer to let it know what kind of load it should be expecting LOL. It is a HE washer and weighs your load and I'm like WHAAAAT???. I might be late to the game with all this laundry technology, so maybe you might be laughing at me. Prior to my house, I was an apartment dweller or laundromat user. All I know is to set on cotton for the highest heat setting LOL. My last apartment had a dryer that I had to rig it with a piece of cardboard and paperclip that held the button to the "on" position.

I am going to be so happy to be able to wash blankets, cause right now I have to take them to the laundromat, even the light ones. My w/d cannot handle them, or even sometimes a bathrobe or a full load of towels.

I didn't go for a top of the line, just something that had some neat gadgets for my budget, because I also have a refrigerator to replace eventually (will DEFINITELY not show you pictures of that LOL). My fridge belongs in the garage. It works great, but looks not so great. And the seal around the doors suck so I have to keep cleaning them because they will get moldy, so constantly spraying tilex on the rubber seals.

I always feel guilty buying something when I am replacing something that works. But it is definitely time.

 

[WildHareCraftSoap]

I’m happy because they’re gonna finally start building my home tomorrow. We’ve been waiting 6 months for permits