Trades Gone Bad

I am all about the trade.
I live for a good trade.
I have things just for the trade.
I stick by my trade.

Okay, only once in the last year and four months have I not followed through. But, the deal is still pending and I admit I am in the wrong. AND, I will make amends!

Where to begin? This new friend mentioned last fall that she had some sort of case of drinks she did not want. Let's say it was chocolate Ensure or something like that. I will put one of those in the freezer and drink it frosty cold and call it a milkshake. (I am a sucker for chocolate even if I have to consume chemicals.) She offered it to me. When I said, how about a trade?, she concurred that would be great. We figured out what I had that she wanted. In fact, she loved whatever it was I had....oh, lots of fat-free cheese because she is diabetic.

Note: If you buy the wrong food and take it back to the grocery store, by law they cannot put it back on the shelf. I hate fat-free cheese.

So, I handed 8 lbs of cheese through her passenger window and looked in the back seat for the drinks. ??? Oh, I told the other women about our trade and that sweet little old lady said she sure would love the drinks, so I could not resist giving them to her. My smile did not just fade. It immediately disappeared and I presented a cold and stormy face, I am quite sure. I did not ask for the eight packages of grated Kraft fat-free cheese back because I was so stunned.  I wished I had.

So, yesterday, I mentioned if she ever had cartridges from her printer that she was throwing  away, I would trade something for them. I am not sure what happened next, but she mentioned she had two small tubes of Colgate toothpaste that she did not want. She wanted something minty. How about Aquafresh, a huge tube?  She was so happy because that was exactly what she wanted and what she used.

Tonight, I waited by my car in the parking lot as she drove past me. She stopped and I presented her with the Aquafresh. She said, Oh! And then handed me a plastic bag with a newspaper and something else. After five minutes, I looked at the side of the bag and saw a white box. What is this? She laughed and said it was my toothpaste. Okay, now I take it out and it is CREST, not what we discussed. She acted all innocent--Oh well...nervous laughter. Plus, the box AND tube were dirty like Coke had been spilled on them.

I was flabbergasted--It's use by date is over two years ago! She shrugged her shoulders--Use it anyway. It won't rot your teeth...shrugs again. I handed her back the toothpaste--This was not the deal. You can keep it. Besides, I won't give old toothpaste to my children and grandchildren.

I looked hard at her and then presented a lip smile..you know, sort of a smirk, not genuine, not with the eyes. You know, this is the second trade we have made where I got nothing. 

As she smiled at me, I could take it no longer. She made no promise to bring me the two tubes of Colgate. Just give me back the Aquafresh and I will trade someone else for the Colgate unless you find yours that you were looking at when we made the deal. She handed it back with a bit of disgust on her face. I smiled genuinely and said my goodbyes.

Then, I was shaking and boiling as I drove home. How dare she? Some days you have to teach people how to treat you. I am usually not so upset about a slight. But, it seemed she did both these slights on purpose. Moreover, she made no noise like she would make it up to me. Either time. She acted like it was no big deal to her.

Exbf thought I should have done what I did. (I called him to complain.) Believe me, he does not always agree with me on matters like this.  He tells me if he thinks my actions are wrong. Of course, he is wrong when he says I am wrong.

This is a minor trade, I know. But, it just irked me that the only two times we have traded, I got stiffed. Grrrr...it's a good thing I do not have high blood pressure because I could feel the top of my head coming off as it was. Of course, that could be the Diet Coke with caffeine that I had just consumed...two whole large glasses.

(By the way, I give things away all the time with no talk or expectation of anything coming my way and no favor being returned to me.)

Your turn
Tell me, have you had trades gone bad? Did you ever have anyone who just seemed to stiff you on purpose and show no remorse?

Sprouts: my first time

June 29, 2011

I have eaten sprouts for years in sandwiches and salads purchase elsewhere or at friends' homes.  I just was not confident I could grow them or that they would be right or that I could use a different bean. You know, I was in the stupid space, "You mean I could actually make my own clothing?" space. You have known people like that about different activities.

Since I have chosen something others declare as simple, I don't know why I have hesitated. Maybe it was the lack of explicit instructions, like how much beans, what kind of beans, how much water, how much light, exactly when do I rinse, what if I leave too much water...and on and on....

Saturday morning, I decided today is the day...tada...I start sprouts!  I used the beans I had and hate--pinto beans. I have dried black eyed peas, pinto beans, kidney beans, Lima beans, Great Northern, and navy beans--pounds and pounds. I really detest kidney beans along with pinto beans. By the way, the sprouts from kidney beans are poisonous.


June 25, 2011

  Besides, I decided to grow chicken food. In the winter it is more difficult to get green food into them because the grass is dormant and some of the weeds. Some of the green things I pull for them are undesirable to hens, obviously. Maybe they are pouting because they cannot get out of their pen into the freedom of the yard. I have seen sprouts with little green leaves, so this is my goal for the hens.

Since sprouts have proven deadly, I hesitate to eat my own. Silly? I know!

I put beans in a glass peanut butter jar to experiment, not many, as I have heard they really expand. I added water to fill three quarters of the jar. After twelve hours, I gave them their first rinse. On Sunday and Monday and Tuesday, they were rinsed 3 or 4 times. Today, I let them sit until evening without rinsing. I just rinsed and drained them. They fill the peanut butter jar.

Lid to drain

The lid to drain is a plastic thing to put over cans of food to drain away the liquid without spilling the contents. It's handy.

It is 6 p.m. now. Maybe around 7:00 I will feed my first sprouts to the hens. I want them to have time before beddy-bye (8p.m.) to eat them. Sprouts will be really easy, free chicken food.

I kept the beans on the counter but not in direct sunlight. Directions said not to put in direct sunlight and I need to know why. It seems I may need to keep at least two "sproutings" at all times, starting one two days after the other. That will keep my hens in two cups of sprouts each day if I use quart jars.

Beans hanging onto sprouts I eat? Nope, never seen those. But, I only assume they are not poisonous or contaminated. At any rate, they are chicken food.

Great Northern beans will be what I sprout for me. I wonder if all the nutrition is the  same or greater in the sprouts as in the bean. I have plenty of dried beans here, so I want to eat these, sprouted, instead of buying a different kind to sprout.



 This is a success! Next time I will use quart jars. And lay them down. Now, to see what the chickens have to say~~~

Mad rush to get sprouts



No Way! Nasty!

They just left quickly and then came back to stand between my knees, looking into my face and begging for something else to eat!  I did fail at feeding them for free. I will try to add the sprouts to other foods. Sometimes, when they are confined to their pen, they do eat food they have turned down. After the initial shunning of the sprouts, I rewarded them for their pickiness by giving them crushed eggshells, dry oats, and a banana peel with some bruised places I cut off the banana. Bad chickie mama!

Your turn
Have you ever sprouted beans? Do you ever use common dried beans that we usually cook, like the ones I have? Do you get green sprouts?

My Sunflower: cheap thrill

My sunflower is not even looking at me. I have never seen its face. Somehow, I thought it would face the sun, but, no.  It is a volunteer in the junky, weedy, overgrown part of my yard. I have packs of sunflower seeds from several seasons that I never planted because I never had the perfect spot.

I was overjoyed when my friend showed it to me. Yes, the sight of that sunflower kept me happy for hours. I am almost embarrassed to admit how happy it made me.

Your turn
Has the appearance of a flower or bud brought such joy into your life?

Christmas Challenge on behalf of the Homeless

You can give more for less. At first, this does not seem to be sound advice. It is a good idea. No, it is a great idea. Maybe you would rather give less for more. Hmmm...this is how I do it...

First of all, I would never advocate giving to the homeless only at Christmas. This idea is for collecting warm items for the winter, items you can find in summer yard sales. I have started giving these items earlier in the Fall.

One year at Christmas I listened to a friend who said that she had found watches on sale for $5 and had bought several dozen to give to young men who were trying to get a job. They were mostly homeless. She surmised that they could not get to appointments on time unless they had a watch. I felt sad that I could not be so generous to that many people. Without money, I thought, this was impossible.

Later that year, at a garage sale I saw a pair of gloves for a quarter.  Hmmm, these are nice gloves and warm, something a person in need might find very helpful. Then, the light bulb. I could get all the gloves I found that were only a quarter and in good shape and give them to the homeless shelter!

As I made the rounds of yard sales, I did find about a dozen pair for a quarter. Warm scarves and hats caught my eye. Now, I was collecting hats, gloves, and scarves. At the final yard sale of the year, the people were touting the merits of the gloves that they marked $2, telling me how much they cost to begin with. Finally, I revealed to them what I was doing and that I only bought quarter gloves. The two couples and others in the yard sale, had a conversation. As I walked away, they stopped me.

"Here, we will give you all the gloves, hats, scarves AND all the coats if you are giving them away." I assured them I was. Three minutes later, I could barely see out of the car because of all the coats filling the front and back seats of the passenger area.

The reason I stick to gloves, scarves, and hats is storage room. So, I made room for the three or four trash bags that held my loot + coats when I delivered it to my friend. It took two men to carry it all onto my friend's front porch. I am still collecting only the smaller items.

Panties and briefs and boxers were often reduced to a quarter at Walmart. I bought those as I could afford them. Some days, I was stretching to be able to afford an extra quarter. Other days, I spent my last 50 cents. The days of quarter panties ended...sigh. But, in the meantime, I bought all my grandchildren's underwear for about two years and some to put away for another year beyond. These bought to give to the homeless were with the warm yard sale items to give.

That Christmas, I probably spent only $10 giving to those without means. At least a dozen people stayed warm. Nothing was shabby, just not new. I left shabby things for others to buy. One of the coats was leather and was insulated, also. Giving $10 means nothing to the masses who need. Giving all I had worked for more people.

All the hats and the little pair of gloves in the picture were at a neighbor's yard sale. She lives on the next block and just moved in. The hats were $1. When I started to put them down, she told me her husband wore them when he was in the Army and how warm they were. I told her I only bought things for a quarter and told her what I was doing with them. She handed them all to me and added the little pair of gloves. I tried to pay for them (quarter each), but she was generous. She had coats but I did not beg for them by telling me other people gave me coats one year. I get what I can get for a quarter and maintain low expectations so others will not be resentful and feel like I am begging or pressuring them.

The first year, I gave all I collected to my friend on Christmas Day. So, homeless people who had nothing warm still were cold on Christmas. The next year, I took it all on Thanksgiving Day.

Although I am in the South and Birmingham is even further south, it still gets cold, especially if people are out for very long in the weather. I can run to the car gloveless day in and day out until January if I want to. But, I imagine not having a warm house or car or a warm destination. No, gloves are needed.

Another way to give more for less is to get free items or really, really cheap items using coupons and sales. Give those items to the homeless or those who have no means of obtaining the things we take for granted. However, collecting good, warm, yard sale items is my way of giving.

Your turn
Can you find one thing or several warm things that homeless or destitute people need, buy it for a quarter and stretch your giving dollars at Christmas (winter)?

Clothes Drying Rack

This handy drying rack is from Country Living. It is a custom-made piece, but we could probably adapt something we in Blogland already have for the same purpose, just not so cute. Then again, those with handy husbands might get something just this professional and cute.

In my yard is a rack of some sort that I use in the yard for drying. I only have one short clothesline. I have no idea what it originally was. Recently, the sight of it has annoyed me. It's too good and handy to move to the curb. That's where I found it...lol.  Maybe I can do something with it inside.

The rack in the yard is about 6' tall and very, very light. It is in the way now, because the guy who mows my yard for $10 just tosses it aside and never puts it back. NO COMPLAINTS!

Ex bf would move it or give me a chance to do so. I usually put chairs and other items on walkways, in the swing or on a table to help him. This guy does not call, just shows up. So, for a deal on mowing, I am certainly not complaining to him!

I think if I take the front of the rack off, I can attach the bottom to the back part of the house so that it will never have to be moved. It will barely show. This is still not a project I can complete on my own, but at least it will be easy to do. If you notice the front part is the best piece for the rack. It is already bent just right.  Hooking the front to the wall will give me a piece that is attached to the wall and then permanently leans outward.

As it stands, it always blows over in a stiff breeze, especially if there are clothes on it! See the bare spot in my lawn? That is one of the many bare spots left after the daffodils die and are mowed down. Unsightly spots are the price I willingly pay to have large swaths of daffodils in the spring. Besides, moving the bulbs to a bed would just make too much sense.

It suddenly occurred to me that this project could be completed using a broken wooden drying rack, the kind that sits on the floor. I see those all the time...light bulbs going off all over my brain today...lol.

Your turn
Does anyone have a similar swing-out or drop-down rack like Country Living shows? Does my project to obtain more hanging space outdoors look feasible?

Yard sale finds

Sweet dress!
This dress was only $2 at a yard sale. I was ready to pay the price asked when I discovered a dirty, black spot on the white sash. Then, I found huge yellow arm pit stains.

I asked the guy if he would take $1. You never can tell if stains will be okay after a wash. Here it is, hanging on the line at dusk after I machine washed it in a load of light, good items of mine. Perfect! K will love this. The tiers are so fluttery and sheer. Plus, she loves lavender.

Toys R Us Totally Me Sewing Machine and Knitting Machine
Then, there was this gem. The little girl got it out once and put it away, showing no interest whatsoever. The grandmother sewed and tried to get the little girl interested. Only the thread is missing, although it is threaded for the first time, threaded from the factory.

Hmmm, the knitter looks interesting, like something I might like. If K, the g-daughter does not want me to send the sewing machine and knitter, I may sell it. I have lots of regular machines, but this one with the chain stitch might be interesting for some items. It is certainly portable, weighing less than a pound.

The sewing machine and knitting machine cost me $5 in the box, along with the yarn for the knitter and a little sewing box. I will sell it for $15. It is $29 on the internet.

Today, I spent $6, will make $15, a $9 profit plus a free dress. I was not out to make anything, but why not? Well, if daughter wants K to have machine and knitter, I will be out the whole $6! Oh well....

Your turn
Did you find anything at yard sales today? How fabulous was it?

Trembling Enchantment of Green



"He who loves a garden still his Eden keep" A. Bronson Alcott


Don't get me wrong. I never wear green. Nothing in my house is green--no walls or furnishings. Green of nature enthralls me every year as though I had never seen it before. As I grow older (almost 63 now), it seems I appreciate it more....not sure why. The life I see in green is something Thoreau would appreciate. Nothing else seems to hold the peace and promise of green trees, foliage of yard plants, and the grass. Maybe it's just me. My St. Augustine grass has a depth to its green that is lacking in other grasses that I have observed. By no means have I experienced all the greens and grasses of the earth.

As I drove the back way from Huntsville, south to my home, avoiding the interstate, about 6:30 pm last Saturday, I was struck by the majesty of the land around me. There were few houses, a little mountain foothills  range, and absolute quiet. People must be at home eating, tending the last bit of their garden, or getting ready to go out on Saturday night, I thought. This road normally has many cars. Not so when I drove the 30+ miles home this evening.

Since I had the radio off, the drive seemed especially serene. From now on the radio will be off so the noise won't interfere with the green experience. I could not see green for the cacophony of my favorite music (60s and easy listening).

I passed the old barn right beside the road with the little stand for selling produce. No one has sold produce there for the last 25 years. The old man died. His widow insisted on raising and selling gourds. Maybe that is produce. Her son raised gourds just for her and filled a 6' x 6' x 4' high lattice bin, made just for her and her gourds. The bin has a nice roof and overhang for shoppers and gourds to stay dry and shaded.

One summer day, I saw her, bent and walking slowly. She wore a faded, printed cotton house dress, topped by a faded apron. She had a bonnet on her head and old knee socks scrunched around her legs. For years there was never anyone at the stand. The one sighting of her and a later conversation with a very young, respectful relative were the only means of communication except for the locked money box in which to deposit money to pay for gourds. Laughing gently, the relative said the old woman had the only key and checked it regularly.

Now, there are only very old gourds in the bin. It does not look like they raise gourds any longer. The young relative had pointed them out to me, up on the hill near the woods. Did she die? I wonder. Everything was too quiet and green to stop and inquire.

Even the dogs seemed to honor the peace of the green afternoon, soon to be dusk. All their masters must have mowed the lawns because every lawn was freshly cut. The scene was not marred by a jarring note. Mowers were gone. No cars were in sight in the yards and few were on the road. Nature, even subdued by a lawnmower, seemed to be in charge. For one moment, I wondered if it were this quiet a hundred years ago. Home awaits me.

Late Spring has given us over a week of rain which seems to have added another dimension to the green world. As I stood in the backyard today, hanging clothes on the line, I was struck by the fact that I could see only green as I gazed round me. Only the clothes, the chicks and part of the back of my house broke the green spell. The sky was blue with clouds. The 6 foot back fence was obscured by scuppernong vines and wisteria. Even the trunks of the trees were gone, hidden by privets that reached up toward the branches of the hickory nut trees and bowed to the ground, touching the grass. The low-growing limbs of the tree hid my car and the house next door.

The diffuse, trembling green of Nature seemed at her best. Green must be female, tantalizing us each day to play with her, to interact. Green has many agendas and roles--nurturing, playing, birthing, tending, feeding, burying, cleaning, listening, hiding. Green is there to discover as I increasingly have the last few days.

It all seemed too perfect, punctuated by two bright petunia plants, rescued from brown doom at Lowe's. I nurtured them back to their green and pink state. The old-fashioned roses on the back fence have faded, and I won't cut the vines until I see hips. Maybe I will have hips.

For a moment, I felt as if I were in a secret garden, seeing nothing and hearing only the birds and chicks. Sometimes, it is hard to tell them apart just by listening.

I had no horizon, only walls of green on four sides and a blue ceiling. The house is there, but from where I stood, I could not really see it. The blaze of the sun, though blinding, kept me focused on the green. Weeds grown up over my rock garden hid even the heat of the rocks so nothing emanated. It was all green, just green.

This feeling comes over me every year. Today pulled all the green I feel from the depths of me. I never told anyone before.

"He who loves a garden still his Eden keeps."  (sign in my yard)
A. Bronson Alcott

(Written on June 22, 2009, ten days after I had no TV)


(Note: June 22, 2011: I still have no TV. I can tell the chicks (now hens) from the birds chirping in the trees. Neighbors cut lots of green privets and put up a fence which the wisteria is starting to cover again. I will be 65 in two months. Today is the same green month and day as when I wrote this. )

Your turn
Does the green of nature touch you deeply? Does green, lush foilage renew you as it does me?