Gather Little by Little

Not sure about you, but here in the NC Mountains we had some absolutely beautiful weather the past weekend and early in the week. Unfortunately, it was 35 again this morning after being in the mid-seventies for the past week. We really enjoyed the nice weekend weather and spent almost all of the daylight hours outside.

We discovered a rather large spring about 50 feet from our house that looks to have been covered by a large rock slide sometime back. We’ve been busy digging it out and forming a beautiful and wonderful sounding “creek” flowing down the mountain. I liked it so much, I decided to build a small patio next to it using the rock. This project kept myself and our boys busy most of the weekend and it’s still not finished. As you can see in the picture above, I still have to put the rock wall up against the back, and lay rock down for the floor. We plan to put some moss and ground cover in between the rocks and surround the area with some ferns. I also plan to build a natural log arbor to give us a little shade and maybe allow some wild ivy to grow on it. We also plan to build a small bridge to go over the creek to the patio.

We can’t wait to sit down with some cold iced tea this summer and relax to the sounds of the creek flowing down the mountain. I’ll keep you posted on our progress and share some pics as we get it completed.

Important Stuff!

• Do you like golf or know someone that does? A friend of mine runs a golf review blog and is currently having a refer a friend contest where you can win up to a $150 gift certificate to Golfballs.com. Head over and enter the contest!
• Restaurant.com has a fantastic deal going on right now. Save 80% off with every order of $25 Gift Certificates. Use code MENU and pay only $2 thru 3/15/09. We’ve used Restaurant.com gift certificates a number of times in the past.
• Win a $25 Amazon.com Gift Card. Just a reminder that I have a contest going on right now for the most creative money saving tip. Not only will your ideas be featured in my Money Saving Monday article  this coming Monday, but you’ll also win a $25 Amazon.com gift card if your idea is selected. So head over and add a comment with your favorite money saving tip.

Carnivals

I participated in the following blog carnivals this week. Thanks to all of the hosts that did such a great job!

• Carnival of Debt Reduction hosted by the Mighty Bargain Hunter
• Money Hacks Carnival hosted by MoneyNing
• Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by StockTrading To Go

The Gathering:

Here are my favorite personal finance articles this week from the M-Network and other blogs on my blogroll:

• I Want it Now, Not Later! Spending Like a Millionaire… @ Jay Peroni – If you’ve never read the Millionaire Next Door, you’re really missing out. You’ll be amazed at how the truly wealthy live.
• The Feeler vs. Doer Distinction @ The Wisdom Journal – I’m not convinced people fall into just one category. I think most are a combination of both. I also believe that feelings influence everything we do regardless of whether we are a doer or feeler. Regardless, this is a really thought provoking article that will make you really take a look at yourself. Good stuff Ron!
• Simplify Your Personal Finance Life @ FrugalDad – FrugalDad encourages us to reduce the noise in our personal finance lives. I’ve simplified my personal finances and it made a huge difference. I continually look for areas where I can simplify as well, including my budget categories.
• Taxes for Bloggers @ Mrs Micah – This was the most useful article for me this week, as I finally completed and sent in my taxes. If you are a blogger, this is a must read article full of some very useful information.
  
• 8 Green Cleaning Tips To Save Money & The Planet @ My Two Dollars – Excellent ideas for cost effective and earth friendly cleaning. Looking forward to trying the upholstery cleaner.
• ShareBuilder Review