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Should We Live Daily in Storm Prep Mode?

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman Shortly after hearing of the ice storm heading our way in Charlotte, NC, our family began preparing to be snowbound even if it wasn’t snow, only dreaded ice. We have well water on our farm, which is pumped by electricity. If our power goes, our water goes. That’s a double whammy […]

October 4, 2025
lisakunk

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What’s in your junk drawer?

If you dumped everything out of your junk drawers into a big plastic storage bin, stored the bin in the barn and pulled it out three years later, what would you find? If you look at this picture closely, you too could play seek and find with me. Unfortunately, the box must’ve sat and gathered […]

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Leftovers: When Does Joy Turn to Obligation?

By: Lisa Batten Kunkleman Leftovers: When do they move from being joyful endulgence to  another holiday obligation? Are you over the leftovers yet? Does your fridge need a diet or a full-on cleanse? Does your dishwasher need a vacation? How to ensure all the food gets eaten the week after Thanksgiving is a conundrum for […]

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Restorative Yoga or an Organized Pantry for my Birthday?

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman An organized pantry with fresh bread, Goldfish, and Oreos. Is that too much to ask of my family for my birthday? I even Ashared an over-the-top neat pantry I saw on Facebook so my peeps would know what I meant. No problem. I gave them four days notice. As a back […]

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Out With the New, In With the Old

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman   I’ve done it again. Waited so long to update the house that it’s now in style. It only took twenty or thirty years. That would be great if I wasn’t sick of looking at our green bedroom and beige and blue bathroom. Our house is filled with the ceramic tile […]

March 14, 2020
lisakunk

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Food Hoarder Maybe, But Not for a Pandemic

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman Okay. Honesty time. It’s official. I have a food problem and it’s not got anything to do with how much I eat. I am going to swallow my shame and admit, I’m a food hoarder. Oh no, not a pandemic hoarder. I haven’t shopped for that at all. Why? Because I […]

July 18, 2019
lisakunk

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What’s in Your Fridge?

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman I wonder if the contents of a fridge tell what a person really treasures, or how he lives his life. Lord have mercy? I hope not. If a researcher looked into our fridge about an hour ago, they would think we valued out-of-date milk, slimy veggies, and a ton of cheese […]

June 3, 2019
lisakunk

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Pet Hair Piling up? Your Feet May Hold the Solution (This is not an ad. I’m just smart.)

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman Pet hair got you down? Tired of spending money on sticky rollers and gadgets to remove that hair? I’ve found the solution for your furniture, rugs, even your fabrics. Take off your sneakers and put them to work. Check the bottoms for gross stuff. Then use your cleanest pair to rub […]

April 12, 2019
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Think of Chores as a Workout

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman Who needs a gym when you have farm and yard work to do? Pull some weeds, pick up sticks, rake some straw. Or, do a full day’s work before “work”. Here’s one example of my husband’s morning workout before he leaves for his real job.  

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Chewing Dogs Pretend They’ve Outgrown It: Don’t Believe It

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman I saw my shoes by the front door when I left the house for writing class. I thought to myself, Tucker, our sweet grand dog seems to have outgrown his chewing phase. I won’t be gone long. Surely they’ll be fine. Yeah right. I am such a sucker for some big […]