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what I’ve been reading

by Kaylah Stroup
Dear Laura book review

Dear Laura by Gemma Amor.

‘Every year, on her birthday, Laura gets a letter from a stranger. That stranger claims to know the whereabouts of her missing friend Bobby, but there’s a catch: he’ll only tell her what he knows in exchange for something…personal.So begins Laura’s sordid relationship with her new penpal, built on a foundation of quid pro quo. Her quest for closure will push her to bizarre acts of humiliation and harm, yet no matter how hard she tries, she cannot escape her correspondent’s demands. The letters keep coming, and as time passes, they have a profound effect on Laura.’

One hundred and nineteen pages that I devoured in one sitting! I couldn’t put it down. I feel like this is a great one if you’re in a reading slump and need a quick push out of your rut. Highly recommended!

the glassy, burning floor of hell book review

The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell by Brian Evenson.

‘A sentient, murderous prosthetic leg; shadowy creatures lurking behind a shimmering wall; brutal barrow men―of all the terrors that populate The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell, perhaps the most alarming are the beings who decimated the habitable Earth: humans. In this new short story collection, Brian Evenson envisions a chilling future beyond the Anthropocene that forces excruciating decisions about survival and self-sacrifice in the face of toxic air and a natural world torn between revenge and regeneration. Combining psychological and ecological horror, each tale thrums with Evenson’s award-winning literary craftsmanship, dark humor, and thrilling suspense.’

I’m a quick reader. A lot of the times with anthologies I will read a handful of stories per reading session. This one took me some time to get through though but it’s not what you might be thinking… These stories took time for me to digest. I didn’t want to run to the next one right away, I wanted to keep pondering what I just read. Each story felt like it had so many layers I needed to peel away to really understand what I was reading. I really enjoyed this book. I feel like this would be a fun one to read along with a friend or book club so you can chat about what the heck you just read.

I Found a Circus Tent in the Woods Behind My House by Ben Farthing.

‘Dave and his four-year-old, Jacob, find a circus tent in the woods behind their house. A strange voice invites them through the dark doorway.
When they refuse, the tent swallows them…’

I am generally not frightened by horror books. Ghosts? Whatever. Murders? Meh. This book though? It got me, not even because of clowns! I don’t mind clowns. I just loathe the idea of finding something in the woods that shouldn’t be there. I loved this book. It was fun, tense and totally unique.

Fun little tip; listen to creepy carnival music quietly in the background while you read! I listened to this. It just adds to the atmosphere.

The author also wrote I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls which I absolutely need to pick up as well!

On the theme of finding things in the woods that shouldn’t be there – The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher comes to mind. I loved that book and still think about it while I’m in my woods.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle.

‘Welcome to Neverton, Montana: home to a God-fearing community with a heart of gold.
Nestled high up in the mountains is Camp Damascus, the self-proclaimed “most effective” gay conversion camp in the country. Here, a life free from sin awaits. But the secret behind that success is anything but holy.
And they’ll scare you straight to hell.’

I’ve followed Chuck Tingle on social media for some time now but had yet to read one of his books until his horror debut, Camp Damascus. Queer horror? Count me in! I loved this book. I even made my husband read it right after I finished. (He enjoyed it too!) It was a quick and easy read!

Hide by Kiersten White.

‘The challenge: Spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don’t get caught.
The prize: enough money to change everything. Even though everyone is desperate to win—to seize a dream future or escape a haunting past—Mack is sure she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she’s an expert at that. It’s the reason she’s alive and her family isn’t. But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes that this competition is even more sinister than she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive.Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide but nowhere to run.
Come out, come out, wherever you are.’

Loved this one. Suspenseful and unique! I’m already looking forward to reading more from Kiersten White based on this book.

The Toll by Cherie Priest.

‘Titus and Melanie Bell are on their honeymoon and have reservations in the Okefenokee Swamp cabins for a canoeing trip. But shortly before they reach their destination, the road narrows into a rickety bridge with old stone pilings, with room for only one car.

Much later, Titus wakes up lying in the middle of the road, no bridge in sight. Melanie is missing. When he calls the police, they tell him there is no such bridge on Route 177…’

Okay, how great does that sound?! LOVE the idea a bridge or area you’ve been to not actually existing. That’s just really unsettling to me. This book was fantastic. I truly enjoyed it. Very atmospheric! You meet a lot of characters but they’re all quite memorable so unlike some books with lots of characters, I had no problem keeping them all straight!

Interestingly enough, a lot of reviews of this book call it out as being one of the author’s weakest books so I am very curious to check out her others if this one was “bad”.

Peruse the ‘books‘ category here on the blog for similar posts. Keep an eye on my instagram stories if you’re looking for even more recommendations!

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house plants + MycoMaxx

by Kaylah Stroup

This post is sponsored by MycoMaxx.

The weather is finally cooling down a bit and my garden is starting to die back for the season which means it’s time to make up with my house plants!

For the most part, my house plants are on autopilot. I water them regularly but maintence, feeding, propagating, etc kind of takes a backseat until fall. It always feels SO good to spend a day just tidying the collection up.

I am always interested in trying out new things to help my plants reach their fullest potential.

I’ve been experimenting with MycoMaxx in place of fertilizers for my indoor plants. Fungi spores colonize within the roots of your plant and become a living extension of your plant’s root system helping them take up more nutrients and water from the soil. So, in return you’re getting larger healthier plants!

MycoMaxx is super easy to use. All you do is mix a packet of it with a quart of water in a bottle and spray that on to the roots of your plants or directly on your seeds. It works on essentially all flowers, house plants and veggies aside from those in the brassica family (which is brussels sprouts, cabbage, etc!)

I can’t wait to see the difference this makes. I’m already excited to use it on next year’s pumpkin patch since that’s the one thing I’m always hoping to grow way bigger!

By the way, MycoMaxx sent me over a coupon code to share with you! ‘kamyco10’ gets you ten dollars off your purchase – which is a huge discount!

Squid loves to help with my plant care time. She always joins me, it’s the sweetest. ♥

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half bath renovation // part one

by Kaylah Stroup

On a whim, I decided to gut my half bath.

The room I said I would wait until last to even start… I started.

Sometimes having a giant fixer upper house feels wildly overwhelming. There are a handful of big projects that just seem very out of my control. So, sometimes it’s nice to just start something you know you can knock out of the park without too too much of a hassle.

And that’s why on a random week day, midday, I decided to start demo!

This is what I started with.

Its a room Jeff and I barely ever use but our guests generally tend to choose the downstairs bathroom. Because of this the idea has always been that it’d be a massively bold room. I want guests to walk in and just be hit in the face with fun bold choices!

It feels like a fun room to experiment with. Perhaps do things I might not want to try out in a larger room for fear of how it looks. If I paint it a color I think might look rad but hate? No biggie, it’s a small room and not terrible to fix. Although, spoiler alert, I am obsessed with all my choices to far!

This was one of a couple rooms in our house that wasn’t insulated when we bought. The previous owner actually had this section of the home behind a wall and then tarped in. It was definitely a chilly room mid winter! That was why I decided to gut it completely. Otherwise, the drywall that was already hanging wasn’t in too terrible of shape. I could have removed the wallpaper and patched the walls.

BUT obviously I want to do things right! My dad and I installed insulation. It worked out that we had the perfect amount left from when we had to insulate the kitchen (another previously chilly room!)

Demo, insulation + drywall aside, let me give you a peek at the planned details!

I scored a ceiling medallion at Goodwill for a couple of bucks. I wasn’t sure where I’d end up putting it but knew that I couldn’t pass it up for the price!

I had been on the fence about the bathroom mirror that came with the house. It wasn’t love at first sight or anything but I also didn’t hate it. When I saw the roses on the medallion though? I knew I had to keep the mirror and put the medallion in the bathroom. They’re not a perfect match but they do compliment each other and I like that.

I’ve always had it in my mind that I wanted a chandelier for in here. I just love the idea of a bathroom chandelier. Its…silly? I don’t know! Just feels like a fun choice. Lucky for me, someone had removed one that was in the house previously and left it in the basement. It needed rewired but otherwise seemed to be in decent shape.

It cleaned up nicely and rewiring was a neat new skill to learn!

Here’s where I’m at now! Finished drywall, and beadboard paneling up along the bottom of the room. My dad and I made custom trim for both above the beadboard and along the bottom. The chandelier is hung and the ceiling is painted a nice moody shade! Flooring is ready to be installed and wallpaper is on it’s way here. The last thing left to choose is the color I’ll be painting the beadboard and trim.

I can’t believe it’s so far along!

Check out this reel I posted on instagram for another look at the room & everything I’ve done so far!

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what I’ve been reading

by Kaylah Stroup
a house with good bones by t. kingfisher

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher.

‘”Mom seems off.”

Her brother’s words echo in Sam Montgomery’s ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam’s excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.’

I’ve read a couple of books by T. Kingfisher at this point and I think one of the things I love the most about her writing is the world building. I find it so easy to visualize every one and every place in her books and I think that’s just wonderful. A House With Good Bones is a solid horror book that I’d feel comfortable recommending to just about anyone who’d listen!*

Also by T. Kingfisher I really enjoyed The Twisted Ones! I made my husband read it after I did. We both loved it. Since reading it I’ve been on the hunt for similar books and still haven’t found anything that scratched the itch.

*That sounds weird and robotic, right? But what I mean is that I read a lot of really icky, uncomfortable, just plain old triggering horror that I feel like pushes limits. This book feels like something that could be enjoyed by everyone, even folks who don’t necessarily love horror.

Abnormal Statistics by Max Booth III.

Abnormal Statistics is a collection of thirteen stories by author Max Booth III, ten of which are reprints, and three are original to this book including a novella called “Indiana Death Song”. First things first, I had never read anything by Max Booth III prior to this but you guys… a tweet of his showed up on my twitter where if you Paypal-ed him money, he’d send you a signed book. That’s how easy it is to hook me. I’d seen his name floating around before in the horror world so I figured why not.

This book was awful. The good kind of awful! The kind of awful you’re reading horror for! Just absolutely unflinching, uncomfortable horror. This is the kind of horror I’m talking about above, it’s not for everyone but for the people who like that stuff? THIS IS A GOOD ONE!

The first 84 pages start with the aforementioned novella which immediately made me a fan of his writing. It was bleak and heartbreaking. (Even more so when you read the story notes in the back of the book and learn it was based heavily on his own childhood. What!!!)

I tore through this book and hopped online as soon as I was done to order another of his books. I look forward to reading everything I can get my hands on now. I highly recommend this book!

OOZE: Little Bursts of Body Horror edited by Ruth Anna Evans.

This was another twitter find. I honestly just really loved the look of the book. It’s so cute and tiny and pink! Don’t let that fool you though. It is disgusting!

Ooze: Little Bursts of Body Horror is a collection of bite sized stories that plunge you into a world where the boundaries of the human body are stretched and distorted in the most grotesque and imaginative ways. It’s a quick read. I couldn’t put it down and ended up finishing it in one sitting.

We Need to Do Something by Max Booth III.

‘A family on the verge of self-destruction finds themselves isolated in their bathroom during a tornado warning.’

I wasn’t really sure what to gather from that very small snippet but after reading Abnormal Statistics I knew I could trust the author to take me on a wild ride. We Need to Do Something is slow-burning and anxiety-inducing.

This book was turned into a movie with the same name in 2021. It has… uh, not the best reviews but, I’ll tell you what, I watched it right after I finished the book and really enjoyed it. I felt like the casting was pretty spot on with what I was imagining too!

I always like when I can watch the movie version right after finishing a book, especially when it’s something like this that I’m still mulling over in my brain.

Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel.

‘The last time Maeve saw her cousin was the night she escaped the cult they were raised in. For the past two decades, Maeve has worked hard to build a normal life in New York City, where she keeps everything―and everyone―at a safe distance.

When Andrea suddenly reappears, Maeve regains the only true friend she’s ever had. Soon she’s spending more time at Andrea’s remote Catskills estate than in her own cramped apartment. Maeve doesn’t even mind that her cousin’s wealthy work friends clearly disapprove of her single lifestyle. After all, Andrea has made her fortune in the fertility industry―baby fever comes with the territory.

The more Maeve immerses herself in Andrea’s world, the more disconnected she feels from her life back in the city; and the cousins’ increasing attachment triggers memories Maeve has fought hard to bury. But confronting the terrors of her childhood may be the only way for Maeve to transcend the nightmare still to come…’

When I finished this book and was thinking about what to write about it here the first word that came to mind was ‘predictable’. I know that sounds bad but hear me out, okay? It’s predictable in the way you can absolutely see what’s coming a mile away and there’s nothing you can do to stop any of the events that are about to happen. You just have to buckle up and hold on tight. It was so fantastically stressful. I loved it!

Peruse the ‘books‘ category here on the blog for similar posts. Keep an eye on my instagram stories if you’re looking for even more recommendations!

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my food garden / before + after

by Kaylah Stroup

When we bought our home the yard wasn’t the prettiest. We were absolutely stoked about the land and actually owning property but in the state it was in, it wasn’t much to look at. Adding my massive flower bed made a huge improvement! We also added trails throughout the woods off the main grassy area and most recently, I’ve been working on converting overgrown weed filled areas to something more useful.

Last spring I started the process of clearing out the area beside my garage. Seen below. It was full of weeds that grew taller than my head. Mixed in with that? Trash. Bunches of it. Not even fun old trash, just like… real modern trash. I wish I had gotten more pictures of it before but honestly, it was just an eye sore. It was an area I purposely kept out of frame.

I spent spring of 2022 clearing out the trash, carefully mowing, and ripping out all everything growing. I ended up planting my pumpkins there last year which really worked out because pumpkins are great at taking over. They kept other plants under control while I figured out exactly what I wanted to do with the area.

Check out my pumpkin tunnel from last year here. It was such a massive source of joy!

This year I started with a plan!

I wanted this area to be more food garden focused as opposed to for funsies flowers. I got three 17″ raised beds from Vego Garden. I have two of the 6 in 1 beds and one 9 in 1 bed.

The beds were easy to put together and I was able to fill them quite affordably by using rotting logs, yard waste, cardboard and homemade compost. I LOVE how they look!

My vision was that the two smaller beds would have an arch in between them and that you’d walk through that arch to get to the larger bed. I used 16ft cattle panel from Tractor Supply to make the arch. Luckily my dad has a truck or else it’d have been a real pain in the butt to figure out how to get the panel home since they don’t deliver.

early in the season, May

I planted tomatoes, marigolds, nasturtium, peppers, onions, and peas!

I’ve felt kind meh about it season long though. Honestly, I’m not having the best gardening year. Everything just seemed to be off to a really slow start and SLUGS. My goodness, slugs! I have never had a problem with them before but they won’t leave my stuff alone no matter how many darn egg shells I crush up around my plants. It’s one of those things I’ve just had to kind of ignore so that it doesn’t drive me mad.

BUT! Earlier this week, I walked outside early in the morning and was able to look at everything with fresh eyes. Things finally seem to be taking off. My tomato plants don’t look very pretty but they’re heavy with fruit just beginning to ripen. My peas are finally climbing the arch! I have baby peppers growing slowly but steadily.

I worked my butt off on this area and it’s definitely paying off. Maybe not as quickly as I’d like but wow, what a huge difference from the before photos I shared above.

vego garden beds
vego garden beds review
vego garden beds arch

Doesn’t it look so lovely? I’m quite pleased with my decision to plant clover in between the beds instead of doing mulch or bark. My mower doesn’t fit but it just takes a second to weed whack! I think having the green in there makes such a big impact and kind of extends the yard.

pumpkin tunnel

Also, this year’s pumpkin tunnel? I’M VERY EXCITED! You can definitely expect to see a lot more of that later in the summer! xo

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in the garden // july 2023

by Kaylah Stroup

It’s the third summer in the flower garden of my dreams!

There are so many plants blooming right now. It’s an absolute treat to wander around inside. Every day it seems like something new is exploding with color.

It’s been too hot most recent days to do much of anything out there which works out just fine for me since it’s mostly on autopilot during the summer. The goal has always been that there are enough plants that there just isn’t room for weeds. While I’m not quite there yet, this year’s garden is worlds different than my first-year garden (which I HATED during the summer because it just felt unmanageable!)

This year my flower bed is an absolute delight.

I just wanted to share some recent flower bed pictures. That’s all. xo

Check out this post from June of 2021 to see little peek at how far it’s come!

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remaindered books?! // Book Outlet review

by Kaylah Stroup
Book Outlet review / remaindered books

See all those books up there? Know how much I paid for them? Forty bucks including shipping!! They’re not used either! Forty bucks at the bookstore is getting me two books, maybe not even two if they’re hardcovers! But I was able to grab EIGHT of them for forty dollars.

I love reading and I LOVE collecting books but yikes, it adds up quick!

While reading reviews on Amazon, I came across the word ‘remaindered’. The review wasn’t about the book’s content but the book itself. I hadn’t heard this term before so I hopped over to Google and learned that remaindered books are ones that are already printed and no longer selling well so they’re liquidated. They’ll sometimes be marked by the publisher or bookseller so that they can’t be returned but otherwise, they’re generally in new, unused condition.

Learning this term led to me Book Outlet. They sell remaindered books as well as store returns and special publisher buyouts. All of their books are at least 50% off of retail. 50% OFF!!! Sounds too good to be true, right!?

I started browsing their horror section just out of curiosity but soon found myself filling my cart because C’MON how could I resist a deal as good as this?

Book Outlet review / remaindered books
remaindered books

Above are examples of how my books were marked. Out of the eight books in my order, two were completely unmarked and the other six had either a small dot or a line. Seven of the eight looked (aside from tiny marks noted above) and felt brand new. The eighth book has some slight cover damage shown below but honestly, nothing terrible! I would still have purchased it at a bookshop looking like that.

Since the stock is based on books that are remaindered it’s a great place to look for popular books you might not have gotten a chance to grab yet! Some of these were already on my TBR list and others sounded good and had a price I couldn’t resist.

I was so excited about my purchase that I made a second order before the first arrived. All in all, I ended up with fourteen books for eighty dollars which is just bonkers! That’s a little under six bucks per book on average.

I was a bit worried it was too good to be true but all fourteen are something I’d 100% feel comfortable with grabbing from a bookstore in person in the condition they’re in! Aside from the one specifically shown earlier in the post, there was zero visible damage outside of the remaindered mark.

I will one hundred percent be making another purchase… although I’ve already had to tell myself no more browsing for a bit! It’s hard to resist a good deal!

PS! If you make a purchase through a link in this post you’ll be getting $5 off your purchase… which makes your books an even better deal. Ahh, how can you resist!?

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dump digging!

by Kaylah Stroup

Last week my dad text me this…

Although I feel like we’ve already got pretty much anything cool out of the dump, of course the answer is yes! I grabbed my stuff and headed over to play in the trash!

Check out our previous dump-digging experiences here.

We started the short hike to the property the dump is on but after wandering around a little while came up short. The woods seemed… different? Maybe I’ve been reading too much horror but it was like we were transported to somewhere else. There was no sign of the dump. If you look at my other dump digging posts you can see the rows of bottles and other treasures we left on logs. I know it’s been a few years but it seems highly unlikely that someone actually cleaned it up.

So, we walked and walked and walked until I spotted something off in the distance. I darted over to check it out and wouldn’t you know it, we discovered a whole new dump! Totally untouched by anyone in YEARS!

Presumably a farm dump used from the 1950’s-70s. There was a little bit of everything. Boots, toys, pots and pans, miscellaneous car parts, and my favorite – bottles! So many unbroken bottles. Such a treat!

The photos in this post are of the treasures I bought home. I like collecting random bottles for making bouquets and giving them away to loved ones. Clearly, I also can’t resist a tiny bottle. What will I do with them? Who knows but they’re cute!

Check out the video below for a little ~explore with me~ experience.

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