first

6 comments

Happiness is so Fun To Watch by Lisa Batten Kunkleman

When life gets tough, try to find things to make you smile. Use all your senses to find it. Smell that toast. Rub that fleecy blanket. Listen to upbeat music. Taste that good smelling toast. Watch our granddog living large with his best friend, Water. He’s using all his senses I’m certain.

June 3, 2019
lisakunk

12 comments

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 […]

July 30, 2018
lisakunk

13 comments

Long Live Mr. Treehouse: Only Now He’s Mr. Bridge Patio Thingy Over the Stream

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman After seeing our empty-nester treehouse come down last week, many people from all around shared how they felt the pull of childhood fun coming to an end. End? Never! Transform, yes. We live by rules such as Waste not, want not and all kinds of cliches like that. As we will one […]

July 5, 2018
lisakunk

17 comments

Shelling Out Wisdom From the Beach: Hints for writers, parents, or anyone who enjoys playing

  By Lisa Batten Kunkleman   As a writer and parent, I know the importance of inspiration for new ideas. For me, nature and especially the beach are where my five senses heighten like hair standing up in gooseflesh. Thoughts flow in faster than I can put them into long-term memory. Taking photos helps me […]

9 comments

Clutter, Collectibles, and Critical Keepsakes: Barriers to Clearing and Controlling the Chaos Even With an Empty Nest

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman Today, while clearing some space on a bookshelf over-stuffed like me in Spanx, with photo albums, baby books, and home movies, I discovered an unlabeled, black three-ringed binder. Opening the notebook, I was pleasantly surprised and reminded of how organized I have always tried to be. Especially when paperwork is involved. […]

15 comments

Collecting Memories and Steps: Walking Down Memory Lane at an Antique Mall

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman It’s like a treasure hunt searching through other people’s antiques and collectibles. Some memorable items leave us full of pride while others leave us full of questions like, “What were we thinking?” or “Why in the world did we decide that was a good thing to possess?” My husband and I […]

23 comments

A Bathtub of Hurricane Prep Water?

A Bathtub of Hurricane Prep Water? By Lisa Batten Kunkleman What do you do with a bathtub-full of water after the danger of hurricane force winds has passed? Do you pull the plug and watch it glug down the drain, serving absolutely no purpose except to give the pipes a little rinse? No siree, not […]

35 comments

Eclipse Watching Without Eclipse Glasses

  By Lisa Batten Kunkleman Eclipse, eclipse, eclipse.That’s sure been a big story on the news. You’d think it’s a rare occurance or something. On our farm in Charlotte, NC, crescent shadows shone everwhere. With no fancy eclipse glasses, of course we couldn’t look up toward the sun and burn our retinas, so we looked […]

May 23, 2017
lisakunk

16 comments

All Tuckered Out: Training a Puppy Named Tucker

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman   Tending a puppy is a reminder of what life is like with toddlers around. Exhausting. Time consuming. Frustrating. Impossible. I’ll try to remember that most dogs do end up house-broken and finish teething. I made it through the toddler-years-times-four, and my kids are all potty trained and no longer bite. […]

May 5, 2017
lisakunk

33 comments

Mayfly Plague

What do you call millions of mayflies swooping in and covering your house, boat, cars and ground? Annoying? Ridiculous? I call it a plague. When these two-inch long cousins of the dragonfly swarm in, there’s nothing to do but watch in amazement. They covered our family lake retreat in eastern North Carolina with the speed […]

%d bloggers like this: