bits and bobs: A random assortment of things; small remaining pieces and things
For the last two years I’ve wanted a fiddle leaf fig tree to put in our family room. I think their big fat leaves are kind of cool. It’s a simple, clean, low maintenance tree and it really has sort of a minimalist look to it. The perfect tree for a house that doesn’t have a lot of clutter.
But I can’t for the life of me figure out why they are so expensive. Seriously, $229 for an indoor tree? Do people really pay that much for them or am I just looking in all the wrong places?
If you are looking for an easy way to acidify your soil to give acid-loving plants such as blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons a little boost this growing season, add some coffee grounds to your soil. Don’t drink coffee? Pop by your local Starbucks, they usually have a free bag or two near the checkout counter that anyone can take.
Whipping cream! When did it get so expensive? I feel old sometimes when I look prices and am shocked at how much they have increased on products I rarely buy. I fully expect to be going up to total strangers in the aisles and asking them if they remember when candy was $0.25 a bar any day now. It’s crazy. Is it just me, or do prices seem like they have been increasing more and more lately?
I was looking through the images on my phone last night and came across this photo of the luggage Mrs. HB and I took on our 3 day/2 night trip to Spokane in June. After Mrs. HB and I were printing out our boarding passes she started to head over to the check in counter and I was like… “What are you doing!?” Which then started a whole conversation on carrying your bags on the airplane vs checking bags at the counter.
Mavis- Why on earth would I want to:
- Spend time {in line} to check in a bag when I can simply carry it on?
- Waste more time in baggage claim waiting for my bag?
- Risk the possibility of loosing my bag?
Mrs. HB – Why on earth would I want to:
- Carry on my bag when I can drop it off at the counter and not have to deal with it?
And then their was the whole conversation {which I won’t go into detail about because HELLO… it could take 20 minutes} about shoes.
Mavis: Are you wearing flip flops on the plane? What if there is an emergency? What if you have to climb over a seat or run down a runway or something? What if there is a fire? Your feet will get burned and then how are you going to be able to save yourself?
Mrs. HB: Oh my stars. You think too much.
Maybe I do, but friends, they’re funny. It amazes me how two people can be so different, and yet still enjoy each other’s company.
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Happy Friday everyone. Keep On, Keepin’ On.
~Mavis
Mindy says
I love the look of the fiddle leaf figs. I got a good deal on one at Lowe’s a while ago. Most of them looked sad but this girl in the middle just called to me. I took her home and potted her up and named her Fiona. She had a wonderful life…until she broke out in whatever disease the other plants that didn’t look so good around her apparently had. #ripfiona
Mavis Butterfield says
Oh Fiona. #ripfiona
Leslie says
It’s funny to compare travel preferences. I don’t like sandals because the dry air makes me want to put lotion on, and I’m not going to be “that” passenger. I prefer to carry on for the reasons you mentioned, and pack as light as I can get away with. I bring my own snacks and empty water bottle. I keep a lock on my carry on(s) so when I can keep it locked on the plane, hoping to avoid the horror stories about theft I’ve heard from others.
Sarah says
Have you had any posts about personality type, Mavis? I’m an INTJ and you totally speak my language.
Mavis Butterfield says
Sarah, you have just opened my eyes. I LOVE you.
Sarah says
I love you! INTJ women are super rare. Like a fraction of a percent of the population.
I’ve always felt like a weirdo because I approach things much differently than most women I know. The amazing thing is that most of my favorite bloggers are INTJ women! And they help me feel less of a weirdo 🙂
If you haven’t taken an MBTI test yet, this is what I had my husband and mom use recently. Understanding our personalities has totally helped those relationships. https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
Mavis Butterfield says
I took the test and it was spot on. Just sent this http://www.personalityperfect.com/intj-the-mastermind-personality-type/ to my mother and the HH to see what they think. Hey! We are normal… in a 0.08% kind of way. So, so interesting. Thank you for commenting. We are not weirdos. We are unique.
On a side note, I am totally going to have MRS.HB take the test. I can’t wait to see what she is.
Sarah says
This makes me SO HAPPY, Mavis. Yay for the INTJ ladies!
Kayla says
I’m an INTJ woman too. You are not crazy Sarah or Mavis-just rare. That is why I love reading this blog. So many of your (Mavis’) quirks are mine too.
Angela D. says
I love these conversations between you and Mrs. HB!!!!
Carrie says
I also want to know where I can buy a low cost fiddle leaf plant or something similar. The max I would spend is $40 on one. I want a plant that livens up my dining room and is low maintenance.
I am taking a 7 day trip to Utah next month. I plan on only packing in a carry on. Any suggestions? I’m staying in an AirBnB condo so I doubt there will be travel soaps. I will be hiking and sightseeing the Moab, Arches and Canyonlands area. I plan on wearing my hiking boots, packing my sandals and wearing my jacket to save space.
AlysonRR says
Our family love travelling light, though Mavis carries even less.
If we travel for a week or more, I usually plan on doing laundry (machine or sink), so I’ll take 2 “bottoms” (3 if I need a skirt) and 4-5 “tops” (layers – some long, some short sleeves),1-2 bras, 3-5 underwear, 3-5 socks, a few travel-size toiletries, a lightweight backpack and a charger and backup battery for my phone (which also provides reading material and acts as a camera).
Hope that helps – have fun! We did that trip a couple years ago, though in the summer (Moab was 108F!) – I think your timing is much better! Speaking of which, the temp drops faster than you think at night, so be sure you have enough layers when you’re out hiking.
mari says
I got mine at home depot for $39, they don’t get them often so you have to keep checking in.
Caitlin says
I could not wear shoes of any sort to the airport that did not require socks. I haaaate to step on the floor barefoot when they make you remove shoes at security.
Mavis Butterfield says
Me too.
Laurel says
Friends like that are the best. Good for pushing you out of to comfort zone and usually there is much laughter with that type of friend.
Susan says
Someone moving threw away 2 dead-ish looking Fiddle Leaf Fig Trees
at the park. I circled like a vulture for some time thinking that I could cut it up
and take cuttings. I finally picked one up and shoved it in my car.
Now I have 4 sprouted baby fiddle leaf figs for the house.
(It may take awhile before they are “tree sized” but I like them when they are
young and have a lot of leaves ) and the mother plant/stump is starting to branch
and grow new leaves.
(The second Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree at the park got picked up also. Maybe by someone who had the same idea I had.)
Rosaleen says
Carrie, look into Exofficio underwear and clothing for your trip. Full price items may still be 30% off with the code BIRTHDAY at their company site. I swear by this stuff. The Give and Go clothing actually does wash and dry fast. You can get away with using bar soap to wash them and pack one or two sets. Cabela’s had the “Scrubba” wash bags on sale recently, hopefully still does. This bag may not be may necessary, but is helpful, and it can double to separate damp or dirty stuff from the rest. If not the bag, at least bring a rubber sink stopper. Consider making a drying line. There are Youtube tutorials. I made one from 3 hanks of thin elastic cord from a discount store sewing department. The rubber band one is cheaper but heavier and bulkier. These twisted and braided cords let you stick a couple of edges of your wet clothing in beteen the braids to hang without pegs. Wrap one end around on end of the shower rod and the other around the shower head and hang your stuff to dry. The Air BNB site should show whether or not soap and shampoo are supplied. If not, you easily can bring a partially used soap bar from home. If your hair is not color treated or permed, a shampoo bar may work for you. They don’t work well on my color treated hair. If they did, I might use the same bar for hair, skin and clothing especially for travel. My shampoo can be dehydrated for travel, but conditioner, not so much. Have a blast on your trip!
Caitlin, in case you want to wear some sort of thong shoes in an airport, there are socks made for them. Look up “Samurai” and toe socks.
Mavis, aren’t you concerned that your bare toes might be accidentally stomped in those crowded airport lines? Much more likely than a plane crash, IMHO.
Mavis Butterfield says
I don’t wear flip flops so I totally didn’t think of that one. Excellent point though.
Lace Faerie says
I can do you one better, Mavis. I am 54yrs old and I can remember being given $.15 as a weekly allowance and getting to go to the corner store to pick out some candy. While my younger sibs were dithering over 1 candy bar or 3 nickel candies/gum. I was the much more worldly eldest, I shopped the whole store. I was quite upset when my mother nixed my $.15/pound box of dark brown sugar and made me shop the candy counter. Even at 12yrs old I was looking for bargains!
I travel to Hawaii twice a year to visit my sister. For such a long flight with layovers in Honolulu that can be 1-3 hours long, I always check my luggage but carry on my ipad and needlework. I wear leather sandals year around, home and away. I’m a SoCal born baby who has always hated wearing shoes. But I also cannot stand dirty dusty feet so I carry moist wipes for quick clean ups!
Wendy says
Mavis, you might find Fiddle Leaf Fig trees at your local community college plant sale. I can’t believe the cool plants I can find at mine, and they’re cheap, too!
Candice says
Lace I was allowed to spend my allowance on the ten cent box of brown sugar and promptly got a spoon when I returned home and ate about a 1/2 the box at one sitting..and never bought a box to eat like that again. I guess my mom knew plus she gladly took the rest of the box for baking. I too got 15 cent allowance back in the early fifties when a candy bar or bag of m &m’s were 5 cents. I think of that every time I pass the candy bar offerings at the checkout. I will NOT pay $1 for a mere candy bar.
Carole says
I love Ms HB, she’s a free spirit. Less stress that way
NCJill says
Good friend works at local airport w TSA. He says people that travel in flip flops are the worst. Someone took off flip flops at security and one of them got caught and jammed up the whole machine for DAYS.
Ever watch those “what NOT to wear on an airplane”? Flip flops are right up there. I’m with you, Mavis.
Meg B. says
I am a relative newcomer to the PNW. Tell me, is it a regional thing to use apostrophes to pluralize words? I had never seen it before moving here.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yep.Every.Single.Day.
Meg B. says
Ugh. It’s very annoying, and incorrect to boot. (Or should that be “its?”” All this apostrophe abuse has given me PTSD, so I can’t think straight.) The abuse is rampant in this region. I was at a restaurant, a fairly upscale one, for that matter, that listed a special as being served with “roast potatoe’s.” To make matters worse, the hostess didn’t even get my Dan Quayle reference!
Lilypad says
I’m a Seattle native and this is NOT some Pacific Northwest thing. It’s just a mistake by an individual each time. It could happen anywhere in the country (or in any English-speaking country, for that matter) and probably does. It bothers me, too.
Sarah says
Meg B. — I hope you appreciate what an easy breezy life you have if apostrophes are the things that get you so worked up.
Will you stop and consider what PTSD is? Maybe you should Google it. If you have a conscience you should feel awful that you wrote such an insensitive statement. That kind of attitude is pretty frowned upon around here.
You may use perfect grammar, but you are rude. Grammar is easily corrected. It’s takes some time and hard work to fix bad manners. I suggest you do.
Jenny Young says
‘Normal’ people don’t pay $229 for a fig tree. We buy small & grow it ourselves or we ask on freecycle/sale/trade groups for a free or cheap one to buy.
Prices are going up. I keep telling my husband I’m sorry I went over grocery budget & he keeps saying ‘what are you worried about?’….so, I guess I shouldn’t worry about it.
I’m with you…I wear gym pants & running shoes on an airplane.
Sarah says
Costco had fig trees for sale this year! They were large gorgeous trees for about $100.
AlysonRR says
Ikea sometimes has very inexpensive, larger trees for the home.