About a month ago, someone approached me via email about adding a button to the sidebar of my blog. It was called "Daily Deals." Since Charlie loves his "Daily Deals," I decided to put it up. Through all my illness and recovery, the deal sat. Now, I have it posted. This is not exactly the same thing Charlie uses, but it does have some good information.
I have looked at some of the information. Click on it and look around. No, I don't get paid by the click! Let me know what you think. Every day there will be a new daily deal. Then, there are sites with coupons.
Your turn
Don't hold back. What do you think of the button and site?
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
What Happened?
My post is half gone and changed. Anyone got an idea about how to get my information back. I hate hate hate this color.
Helllllp! No, Blogger never helps at all.
Helllllp! No, Blogger never helps at all.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Save money with 20 Tips for More Efficient Google Searches
Saving time=saving money, soooo
Many of these tips I have known for years and cannot convince others they are really true. Time is money, you say? Yes, and I say less time spent is more efficient and less nerve-wracking.
#2 is easily my favorite. I showed this to a class of seventh graders who initially did not believe me. Their laptops could be seen on a screen at the front of the room. So, I had a cooperative girl to whom I had already proven this project her laptop onto the screen. We used a familiar term, maybe something like Christopher Columbus, but maybe not that. Whatever the phrase was, she got 8 million hits without quotes--Christopher Columbus. With quotes like this--"Christopher Columbus," she got only 975K hits, quite a difference. The difference is google searched and found everything to do with Columbus, MO and every person with the name of Christopher, plus other streets and trivia when searching without quotes.
By the way, our schools provide the laptops, teachers, laptop backpacks for the students who turn them in at the end of the school year and get them back when school starts (grades 6-12). Yes, the Dells get stepped on, sat on, stolen, lost, and broken. The whole school was wired for wifi, so any student can use their laptop on school grounds. Many students say they are getting the internet for Christmas.
I won't describe the advantages of the other ones I know and use. Try this site and free up some of your time. Make yourself more efficient. Show it to your children, spouse, others.
Your turn
Do you use these shortcuts for efficient searches? Do you think these will benefit you or your family.
Many of these tips I have known for years and cannot convince others they are really true. Time is money, you say? Yes, and I say less time spent is more efficient and less nerve-wracking.
#2 is easily my favorite. I showed this to a class of seventh graders who initially did not believe me. Their laptops could be seen on a screen at the front of the room. So, I had a cooperative girl to whom I had already proven this project her laptop onto the screen. We used a familiar term, maybe something like Christopher Columbus, but maybe not that. Whatever the phrase was, she got 8 million hits without quotes--Christopher Columbus. With quotes like this--"Christopher Columbus," she got only 975K hits, quite a difference. The difference is google searched and found everything to do with Columbus, MO and every person with the name of Christopher, plus other streets and trivia when searching without quotes.
By the way, our schools provide the laptops, teachers, laptop backpacks for the students who turn them in at the end of the school year and get them back when school starts (grades 6-12). Yes, the Dells get stepped on, sat on, stolen, lost, and broken. The whole school was wired for wifi, so any student can use their laptop on school grounds. Many students say they are getting the internet for Christmas.
I won't describe the advantages of the other ones I know and use. Try this site and free up some of your time. Make yourself more efficient. Show it to your children, spouse, others.
Your turn
Do you use these shortcuts for efficient searches? Do you think these will benefit you or your family.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Rub-A-Dub Sharpie to the Rescue
Rub-a-Dub Sharpie Laundry Marker aka money-saver
The pants are black, but the pants look gray in the picture. Yes, they are the darkest pair of black pants I own. I just cannot photograph them. The main stain is about 3/4 inch long. The white part is really bright orange. Yes, there are some orange, smudgy places, too. Lovely!
My husband, now ex, would wear out the tips to his dress shirt collars. If they were dark, I would trim the frazzles from the tips and use a Sharpie marker, whatever color the shirt was. Through the years I rescued a blouse given to me with one stain and numerous other items. For forty-two years Sharpies have saved me money.
Your turn
Do you save money by salvaging your "bleached" clothing by using a marker? Do you hate to ruin clothes as much as I do? Do you have a bleach stain coverup tip?
Friday, February 3, 2012
Lovely
The first daffodil of 2012, blossomed on 2/2/12
Can you believe this weather, inhabitants of the South?
Failure
The Road to Hell must be paved well with my good intentions. My failed good intentions have cost me cash. Bought and thrown-out food, scavenged and wasted food, gifts of food and other items, bright ideas I had--all are the past but still really bug me. Some of this failures were expensive, at least to me.
While I was ill, about 15+ lbs of bananas bought cheap and destined for the dehydrator went bad. Now, I am out of dehydrated bananas! The 15 lbs. were moldy and runny, so there was no salvation, not even baking or freezing. They were not fit for hens. Yes, hens turn up their nose at really rotten food.
Four heads of celery languished. Eventually, they were not even fit for hens. Six quarts of blueberries Charlie gave me went to the hens and a quarter pound of cherries I bought when they were $2.99/lb. My hens were delighted to get both of these, along with some plum tomatoes. I buy few cherries or plum tomatoes because of the cost, but I had bought both when I felt like I could afford the little treat.
All of the above can be attributed in full or in part to my being ill. I was feeling horrid on Christmas Day and now realize all had been getting worse for about three weeks until the eventual catastrophic gastrointestinal failure. Other things were beyond my control.
At Thanksgiving, I did not have enough eggs for the chocolate pound cake, so I bought eggs. At Christmas I did not have enough eggs for another chocolate pound cake, so again I bought eggs. These should have been consumed or scrambled/boiled and fed to hens. Nope, still have store-bought eggs here, eggs I do not want to scramble because I am spoiled with fresh eggs. It remains to see how many of these are good.
My friend gave me a pretty apple gourd that he decided he would pick early. Naturally, it should have been left on the vine to prevent rotting. Nope, it rotted. He does not know it should not be picked when pretty, just left to mold on the ground. It is in the compost.
My plans for a salad garden in the glass enclosure (turtle home?) never came to fruition. Why? I don't know.
The worst failure has been the fact that the hens laid no eggs for a week at a time. They are having to use all their food as energy to stay warm, not lay eggs. Remember, since my successful chicken defense effort, they have only a Rubbermaid box in which to live and no shelter from the wind during the day. They do not get to sleep inside a warm house. For a solid 48 hours, they were on their own last week, no food, no water. They did have apple on which they munched, left from a dozen or so I had put in their pen. Plus, the water did not run out in their waterer. But, I knew none of this from my position in the house.
Even with all the apparent failure scattered in my wake, I still managed to dehydrate many jars of fruit and vegetables. Since none of it was designated for long-term storage, it has been mostly eaten. If I do start dehydrating for long-term storage, I need to have used it to determine if it is prone to molding and how I like it.
I have choices: learn from the failures or keep making mistakes. I was too ill to get up to deal with food, plus I did not need to be contaminating food for storage. I must never have marathon dehydrating plans in order not to waste food. Also, I must recognize when food should go to the hens instead of holding out for a miracle recovery of my health. That is a big lesson to learn. But, who expects health problems?
Now, I know I cannot be the only person who has had failures, whether because of health, ambitious plans, or things beyond control.
Now, I cannot afford plum tomatoes or cherries. Finding financial equilibrium will be difficult!
I have had four hours sleep in the last 36 hours, so I am a little morose.
Your turn
Have you had failure, large or small, due to health problems or just bad judgment on your part or on the part of others? Was it as hard to come to terms with your failures as it was for me? Has downright procrastination been a part of the problem? Did you make plans so grandiose that your time, skill, or talents were not up to the challenge?
rotted and in the compost hole
I brought home 13 pumpkins for pumpkin pie and pumpkin butter and for chicken food. The chickens refused to eat them or the seeds, unlike pumpkins of other years. They were not good tasting to me, so I suppose the chickens had good reason to turn up their beaks. The worst part was my failure to get them off the patio table and allowing them to rot and get all over, necessitating my thoroughly washing the table and exbf having to expend energy and time to remove rotten pumpkins. They would have been so much easier to throw in the compost hole if I had dealt with it earlier. While I was ill, about 15+ lbs of bananas bought cheap and destined for the dehydrator went bad. Now, I am out of dehydrated bananas! The 15 lbs. were moldy and runny, so there was no salvation, not even baking or freezing. They were not fit for hens. Yes, hens turn up their nose at really rotten food.
Four heads of celery languished. Eventually, they were not even fit for hens. Six quarts of blueberries Charlie gave me went to the hens and a quarter pound of cherries I bought when they were $2.99/lb. My hens were delighted to get both of these, along with some plum tomatoes. I buy few cherries or plum tomatoes because of the cost, but I had bought both when I felt like I could afford the little treat.
All of the above can be attributed in full or in part to my being ill. I was feeling horrid on Christmas Day and now realize all had been getting worse for about three weeks until the eventual catastrophic gastrointestinal failure. Other things were beyond my control.
At Thanksgiving, I did not have enough eggs for the chocolate pound cake, so I bought eggs. At Christmas I did not have enough eggs for another chocolate pound cake, so again I bought eggs. These should have been consumed or scrambled/boiled and fed to hens. Nope, still have store-bought eggs here, eggs I do not want to scramble because I am spoiled with fresh eggs. It remains to see how many of these are good.
My friend gave me a pretty apple gourd that he decided he would pick early. Naturally, it should have been left on the vine to prevent rotting. Nope, it rotted. He does not know it should not be picked when pretty, just left to mold on the ground. It is in the compost.
My plans for a salad garden in the glass enclosure (turtle home?) never came to fruition. Why? I don't know.
The worst failure has been the fact that the hens laid no eggs for a week at a time. They are having to use all their food as energy to stay warm, not lay eggs. Remember, since my successful chicken defense effort, they have only a Rubbermaid box in which to live and no shelter from the wind during the day. They do not get to sleep inside a warm house. For a solid 48 hours, they were on their own last week, no food, no water. They did have apple on which they munched, left from a dozen or so I had put in their pen. Plus, the water did not run out in their waterer. But, I knew none of this from my position in the house.
And I broke a thumbnail off to the quick as I staggered into a door!
I have choices: learn from the failures or keep making mistakes. I was too ill to get up to deal with food, plus I did not need to be contaminating food for storage. I must never have marathon dehydrating plans in order not to waste food. Also, I must recognize when food should go to the hens instead of holding out for a miracle recovery of my health. That is a big lesson to learn. But, who expects health problems?
Now, I know I cannot be the only person who has had failures, whether because of health, ambitious plans, or things beyond control.
Now, I cannot afford plum tomatoes or cherries. Finding financial equilibrium will be difficult!
I have had four hours sleep in the last 36 hours, so I am a little morose.
Your turn
Have you had failure, large or small, due to health problems or just bad judgment on your part or on the part of others? Was it as hard to come to terms with your failures as it was for me? Has downright procrastination been a part of the problem? Did you make plans so grandiose that your time, skill, or talents were not up to the challenge?
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Original Non-stick Cookware
scrambled eggs in 8" cast iron skillet
Some people say that cast iron is too hard to clean. That is one of the beauties of cast iron--it is easy to clean. Several good cast iron skillets and pots will last three or more generations. I cooked scrambled eggs in this skillet (above) 24 hours before I took this picture. As you can see in the picture below, little egg is left in the pan. Yes, I even scrambled with a spoon. So, there was no flat edge to scrape the pan.
Cast iron has been in use for 2000 years, so this is not a new-to-the-last-century innovation. It is a proven type of cookware.
clean skillet
I took the spoon and flicked out what egg was left. The morsels were not even stuck on. Then, I used a cloth to flick out the rest of the morsels. How much easier can that be?
After I saw the picture on the laptop screen, I went back to see what was in the pan the--red stuff. There is nothing evident. ???
Besides being NOT harmful like aluminum cookware and Teflon, cast iron adds iron to your intake of food. So, cast iron has a positive benefit to your health. Don't be fooled, the new and improved Teflon is still harmful.
If cast iron does not need a full seasoning, I can just put a bit of oil in the skillet, heat it and trust it will be okay until I have time to fully season it. This one is due.
If you are buying used, buy what you can. Taiwanese cast iron is light, but better than no cast iron and much better than Teflon. No matter the brand or where it is made, the cast iron will be better than Teflon or aluminum. If you are buying new, buy Lodge but not from Walmart. Lodge is one of the brands that are MADE IN AMERICA, right in Tennessee, just north of me. Old Lodge is better than new lodge.
You may find a piece of cast iron marked on the bottom with Griswold or Erie. Buy it unless it is cracked. Some cast iron pieces are not marked. I will buy any cast iron at the right price. It goes straight to an antique shop sometimes. Right now, my gas grill is full of skillets!
Campers and Preppers are probably already familiar with the Lodge brand and with the use of cast iron. No, this is not back-packing cookware.
My mother had her grandmother's ( b. ca 1850) cast iron skillet. No one knows if it was handed down to her. When our house burned to the ground when I was four, the skillet cracked. My mother still owned the skillet when she died.
Your turn
Do you use cast iron? If you don't, why not? If you do, how long have you been using it? Tell me your experiences, good or bad.
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