Kelty Girl

May 25, 2016 / beautyatbeard / 1 Comment

Have you heard the song, “This Magic Moment” by The Drifters? I was pretty obsessed with them when I was twelve. Yes, I know that’s weird but seeing as how I turned out, it all makes sense. The reason I asked is because it was playing in my head as I pulled up to the house and saw a giant box from REI on my front porch.

A few weeks ago I went for my second pack fitting for an Osprey bag. According to their sizing I am supposed to me a small / possibly medium. However, I quickly learned that in the world of packs I have an unusually long torso for a woman. Every woman’s pack I tried on ended up with the waist straps no where near my hips. At all. So we decided to try on a unisex, Redwing 50 by Kelty.

The Beard, along with the sales clerk strapped this on me and proceeded to tug and pull various straps and tethers making me feel like a ship they were rigging to set sail! After a few minor adjustments it fit perfectly and I didn’t look like I was wearing a toddler’s pack! In true Beauty & The Beard fashion, we didn’t purchase the gear that day, instead opting to wait for the anniversary sale. Hence, the special delivery on my doorstep.

I opted to Take the Black, a little game of thrones reference for you fans out there. The other color options were red and teal, which just seem like a giant bulls eye on your back in the wilderness. Originally $140, I purchased it for $112.

I also ordered this air pad. The compact design will work well for backpacking, as the least amount of weight I have to carry the better! Originally $99, I purchased for $75.

The Beard asked what I wanted to do for my birthday and I opted for a backpacking trip at The Red River Gorge. I have never been, and it’s been years since he has, so we are excited to check it out!

Our garden is slowly coming along, hoping to have a good crop to put back for the AT next summer. Also purchased the king of watering cans. This baby holds 2.6 gallons! So I get my workout on a daily basis.

And as usually, this is Petey’s contribution to the entire process.

We started our trail meal prep this week and I can’t wait to share it with you guys. I’m talking spreadsheets, grocery lists, price guides and a new vacuum sealer! The Beard also got a new pack from Osprey I’m sure he will be updating you about soon. Stay tuned!

Weekend Summation

May 9, 2016 / beautyatbeard / Leave a comment

Every once in a blue moon magic occurs and The Beard has the entire weekend off! So, what does one do with three days together? Everything of course! The key to any healthy relationship is to start things off with BBQ so we headed over to The Butcher’s Smokehouse. The second key is two pizzas. (These gems are free of charge folks)

After some delicious pulled pork and horseradish pickles we headed next door to the Butcher’s Block – our favorite butcher – to pick up some goodies for the weekend. Stay tuned for a recipe blog featuring Short Ribs!

From there it was time to reload my stock pile, as in I was out of everything and we needed to go to the grocery store. I buy the large quantities of paper towels (select-a-size all the way!) toilet paper, and laundry detergent. So as crazy as it may sound, I only have to replenish these items a few times a year. However, for some reason they all seem to run out at the same time. I’m not sure how my laundry habits sync up with my paper towel usage but it is what it is!

After making our delicious short rib dinner we got all gussied up and headed to the Comedy Attic. I scored some free tickets this weekend and the only thing better than date night, is a free date night! Yes, this is us gussied up. Enjoy.

Another thing our our to-do list was getting our garden going. Time to transfer our little seedlings outside to their new home.

While I was busy planting them, The Beard was busy digging holes for our newest family members. Let me introduce Barry & Gerry, our gooseberry bushes. Naturally we named them so we could distinguish whose bush was doing better since competition is good for the soul.

We topped off the weekend with a trip to the movies to see Captain America – Civil War in 3D. Apparently when you show up at the movie theater at 11 AM, tickets are incredibly cheap! That’s right, we were the people at the movies on a Sunday Morning. And as you can see, the place was crowded. We finished with a trip over to Buccetos for some delicious pizzas. That’s right, two pizzas. It’s important folks!

A special shout out full of girlfriend pride – The Beard finished another semester of school this past week! Getting closer to December 2016 Graduation! As a surprise reward, I got him a phrenology bust. It also doubles a piggy bank, so we are science-y and frugal!

Laundry Room Gardening

April 22, 2016April 22, 2016 / beautyatbeard / Leave a comment

Seeds? Check. Soil? Check. A dark room? Laundry Room it is!

Last year The Beard gifted me with raised garden beds and all the seeds for our anniversary. He’s awesome, I know. We started the process of planting our seeds and then my kidney’s decided to try and break some sort of record and produced five kidney stones. Needless to say our garden took a backseat and never came to fruition. However, this year is the year. Let’s do this.

Step one: Obtain some kick ass seeds.
The Beard purchased these beauties and our only struggle was deciding what we actually wanted to plant. So many options!

Step Two: Soil. You need it.
We ended up purchasing two trays with 140 soil pods. Go big or go home people. We have trail food to prep!

Step 3: Label your plants
As you can see from this highly technical chart, we have documented our seedlings. If you’re really into surprises skip this step and just see what happens.

Step 4: Heat Mat
While this step is optional, it has really helped the seeds sprout quickly and also made a really cool greenhouse on top of my dryer. Blog Note: I have a picture of the heating mat but it keeps getting turned side wise when I upload it. After messing with it for a good five minutes longer than I should have, I gave up. It’s a heating mat. You know what they look like.

Step 5: When your laundry room becomes a grow house
Imagine that moment when you come home from work, glance at your laundry garden and discover your plans are attempting to escape from their perfectly constructed greenhouse. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

Plastic Spoons to the rescue! I know you thought I was going to say, “Try and take over the world” but I’m busy with my laundry garden right now.

Step 6: Rig that sucker
They aren’t quite ready to be transferred and I would still like them on the heating mats for the smaller seedlings to continue to sprout so this was my interim solution. Notice heating mats under the trays. I did have a picture after all!

Just a few more weeks and these plants will be ready to harden off and plant! Guess The Beard and I better get our garden beds prepared. Then it will be so long laundry garden, see you next year. Oh yah, Happy Earth Day!