Kays Country Cottage

KISS

2012-01-03T13:35:00.000-06:00

What an odd title for an article you might think until you realize that KISS stands for Keep It Simple Silly (I don't like the other word "stupid" because of it's negative connotations)

We are all making our New Year's Resolutions and many will have a list as long as your arm! Do you really think with that many you will even be able to accomplish all of them? Why not just make just a couple instead so that you know you can actually fulfill those goals.

Think of the most pressing issues that you need to accomplish. Is it to lose some weight this year? How about saying you need to lose just 10 lbs or 20 lbs rather than that 30-50 that you THINK you really need to get off. Once you are able to shed the smaller amount, then the rest will be easy to shed. Think about signing up at a local YMCA or gym where you can use either exercise equipment or a pool to get some additional exercise and also increase your energy and desire to lose that weight. Better yet, go buy an outfit, one size smaller than you currently wear, hang it on a hook on the outside of your closet door as a visual reminder that you WILL get into that by next New Year's eve!

Getting organized...... oh how I love this one, I do it every year! So this year, because I've already done a lot of pitching and tossing of items in preparation for moving, I won't have such a chore with this one this year. I used to get overwhelmed at the prospect, looking at all of the "things" I had accumulated from living in my home for over 14 years. So when I decided I needed to sell my house and that I would be looking at an apartment, with probably under 650 sq ft to accommodate all my belongings, I went on a cleaning spree. I've already packed away many items that will go with me and have the boxes labeled and stacked in closets. But you know what? I am thinking I will be going through some of them again and doing some additional "weeding out."

I have heard a few friends say that they haven't taken a vacation in years. Many did the "stay-cation" this last year or two because of the economy and the price of gasoline to go on any long trips. Since most people plan to do their traveling between June and September when their children are out of school or the weather is nice in all parts of the country, this will give you six plus months to start saving for that trip. This month, think of a few places you would like to go visit, start searching on line for information such as cost of accommodations such as hotels or camping grounds (if you are going to go by RV), sign up for some grocery store flyers and restaurants so you can see what the cost of food will be in that area. Of course you will want to check out the Chamber of Commerce websites to find out what special activities might be available during the time you plan on being there. By planning now, you will likely be able to meet your goal of having a true vacation this year. Send for some of those pretty brochures and put them out where you can see them and then place a big jar next to them where you can pitch in all your change. Granted, that isn't going to cover the cost, but it is a great visual aid when you see that jar filling up.

One of my goals this year, which I didn't give you the other day, is to have a more positive outlook on everything! I really got in a funk this past year. I personally had many struggles as did so many of my friends, family and just acquaintances. We all felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel, someone turned the light out. So this year, I truly am looking for better things for everyone, from improved personal relationships, to new or better conditions in their work environment, and personal introspection and growth. For our country, this is an election year and one that I truly hope will bring about our public officials at all levels of government from local to national, realizing you can't borrow your way out of debt and some changes really do need to be made. With elections coming up, we the people can have a strong voice in helping to bring about those changes by exercising our right to vote.

So get out your pen or pencil, a piece of paper and write down your resolutions. Then post them where you can see them every day and then be accountable, you know you want to reach them !

New Year and Resolutions

2012-01-01T20:52:00.000-06:00

Most people will agree that that past year has been a “humdinger” of a year and are very thankful it is over! Some things have happened too many of us, which have been out of our control, such as the downturn in the economy, the loss of a job or a loved one.

As we approach the New Year, each of us will be making resolutions, either actually writing them down or verbalizing them. It is a proven fact that those of us who write them down and do not make too many of them, have a much better chance of seeing those resolutions fulfilled. If you write it down, keep your list out where you can see it often and not tucked away in a drawer!

If necessary, make a goals board with pictures on it showing the things you want to obtain this next year. Whether it is getting better organized, losing weight, a better job, going on a vacation or finding inner peace.

It is time to set the wheels in motion to take control of the things that we can have control over.
Decide what your goal is and then make a written plan on how you are going to reach that goal.

Once again, I am going to attempt gardening! As you all know, if you have followed my blog for any time now, I have been a dismal failure in this attempt two years running. This coming year, we are going to plant in pots rather than in the ground!

My other goal is to make sure that I post on all three of my blogs on a regular basis so that I am able to increase my readership. I am going to set aside a certain amount of time on given days to do my writing. Approach it as if it is a job rather than just a hobby. There are all kinds of things to write about, I just keep pushing it all to the back of the line and I am not going to do that any more.

Now that you know what my resolutions are for the coming year, I hope you will make some of your own.

May you be blessed this coming year with good health, a good job and unlimited happiness in both your personal and professional lives.

An American Made Christmas

2011-11-11T21:35:00.000-06:00

As the holidays approach, as Americans we can give gifts that really are produced by American hands. There really are American made products that you can locate at various stores in your city and I am speaking of frequenting some of the smaller local boutiques and shops rather than the big stores such as WalMart and Target. Support your little local business owner and the products that they carry that are American made.

At this time of year, many churches and cities will have craft fairs where local artisans will have their wares for sale. You can probably do all of your Christmas shopping right there and not have to run all over town shopping. You can find almost any type of gift available for the men, women and children on your list.

Let's use our ingenuity and think of things that are truly different and unique. How about thinking of services that we can give to some one else? How about gift certificates that lets someone you love be pampered for the day? Perhaps to a local spa, where they can also get a manicure and a pedicure? Or getting a haircut from a local hair salon or barber? With everyone concerned about their health, consider a gym membership, which is good for any age group.

For someone who doesn't have time to wash their car, how about several gift certificates to a locally owned detail shop and car wash. Or how about an oil change for their vehicle, or getting their tires rotated for them?

As a person who doesn't have the time or energy to care for their yard the way they would like to, perhaps they would really appreciate having their lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed during the winter.

For the golfer in the family, how about some certificates for some rounds of golf at the local golf course. For the younger set, a chance to race go-carts, go horseback riding, or perhaps swimming lessons offered through the local YMCA.

There are a many owner-run restaurants, all offering gift certificates. Remember, folks this isn't about big National chains, we are talking about the small locally owned restaurants here. This is about supporting your home town Americans helping to keep their doors open.

Could Mom use some help cleaning the house? How about the services of a local cleaning lady for a day or more throughout the coming year.

It really doesn’t have to be a big gift, just let others know that they are appreciated. Leave the mailman, the trash guy or your babysitter something a little extra like a tip or even a small homemade gift such as a gift basket filled with homemade cookies and candy.

Stop draining American pockets by buying foreign made products. Keep our money here at home and support our local American businesses so they can continue to keep their doors open and afford to hire more employees. When we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in the form of local community growth, more jobs for those in our community and also the feeling of unity which is priceless.

So this Christmas, as so many of our local businesses are struggling during this economical depression, lets each of us do our best to BUY LOCAL and BUY AMERICAN.

Big Changes Are Coming!

2011-09-21T23:36:00.000-05:00

What a challenge I am facing. Downsizing a 1250 sq ft home with 14 years of accumulated “stuff” to fit into an approximately 600 sq ft apartment. No easy chore but one that has to be done.

Getting rid of things and clearing out things has been good for the soul. I’ve been able to send some things off to people who can really use certain items and others have been donated to my favorite charity, The Salvation Army.

I’ve already been able to pack away many items and have them in boxes, neatly labeled with their contents, stacked in the spare bedroom closet.
As I get closer to moving time I will have even more things to get rid of and may even need to reevaluate the items that I have packed and plan to take with me.

It is a good thing that I have always been a believer in using furniture that can store items or serve multiple purposes. I’ve got many bookcases which are going to come in very handy not only for all my books but for my nick-knacks as well.

I do need to be sure that the apartment complex will not object to hanging my artwork on the walls and putting up curtains and rods in addition to the Venetian blinds that are currently on the windows. I do worry about having enough closet space for storing linens and out of season or seldom used items. Let’s just hope it all fits!

Texas is on Fire

2011-09-06T23:38:00.000-05:00

If you have been watching the news at all, not only is the East Coast being hammered with tropical storms and hurricanes, but Oklahoma and Texas are having their share of wildfires which are ravaging many acres of farm land and destroying everything in their paths.

Texas is being hit extremely hard and there are many fires that still have not been extinguished, much less even brought under control and contained. They are continuing to march across the hill country area of Bastrop, which is located outside of Austin and there is a lot of open dry pasture land and pine trees in the area.

Presently even the National Forestry Service is assisting in hopes of finally giving some of the local firefighters some much relief and lots of air assistance.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in the area. Please stay safe and I pray that when you are finally able to go back home that your homes are intact and your livestock is safe.

Recycling 2lb Coffee Cans

2011-08-21T00:42:00.000-05:00

What could you do with a 2 lb coffee can? That is besides just throw it in the dumpster! After removing the labels to where you have just silver can you try doing some of the following:

1. Make an outdoor patio candle: Poke holes about ½ down from the top rim. Affix a hanger to the top rim by punching two holes, inserting a wire hanger (a wire coat hanger works great, use the hook to hang from a nail)
Then fill the bottom part of the can with candle wax and a wick. Add citronella if you want to deter bugs.

2. Make a hanging lamp: Paint the can to complement your décor. Cut out a medium sized hole in the bottom of the can to where you can slip through a light making kit cord. Use the cord from the lamp kit to loop through hooks in your ceiling to hang the lamp or you could use ribbon, twisted twine, or macramé.

3. Make a can up light: Paint can whatever color you want. Make a hole in the bottom of the can large enough to put the cord of a lamp making kit through. Glue 3-4 felt furniture protector dots to the bottom of the can to lift it up from the floor a little bit so that the can will not rock or glue on some little wooden “feet.” Insert a 40-watt light bulb and place near a tree in the corner of your room to shine interesting patterns on the wall.

4. A towel tower: This will require at least 10 coffee cans. , a board the width of four coffee cans wide and some glue made to stick metal surfaces together.
Use small nails to nail four cans to the board, side-by-side, and edges touching one another. The next row will be three cans, centered over the four cans. Glue the sides of these cans together and then glue them t the bottom cans. Repeat this process with two additional cans for the next row and then one can on top. When finished, spray paint the unit inside and out. Place on top of you toilet tank and put rolled towels and wash cloths in it.

5. Make planter pots: Use them as planters for your garden plants. Poke holes in the bottom, add some crushed rock or pieces of old clay pots, dump in planting soil, add your seeds and have a nice container. You could even paint the outside if you wanted to.

6. Hardware storage: Do you have many home repair items lying around, like screws, nuts, bolts, nails, etc. that end up in the bottom of a toolbox or in a drawer somewhere? They work great to store these types of “handyman” items. Write the contents either on the outside of the can or on the plastic lid.

7. Camping trips: You can store things from food items to paper goods in them to keep animals out of foodstuffs and moisture out of paper goods.

8. Knitting canister: punch a hole in the lid, insert your skein of yarn and you will not have to worry about tangles ever again.

9. Kids toy storage: Do they have blocks, small cars, army men, etc that are always getting lost? For all those little items that kids love to scatter about that end up in the bottom of the toy box and they never can find.

10. Cat Food or Dog Food: traveling with your four footed friends and do not want to carry along a bag of food that can be ripped our tipped over and have food all over your car? Throw their food into a coffee can for easy and convenient feeding.

These are my ideas now what are yours? I would love to hear how you would recycle your coffee cans.

Cottage Garage Apartment

2011-08-03T19:36:00.000-05:00

Many people are now finding it very advantageous to have more than one family living together, whether it is because of the declining economy or the declining health of parents who now need to be closer for assistance or even a young family member who is starting out that needs some help.

For this reason, many are looking at parcels of land that doesn’t have restrictions as to how many residences can be placed on that piece of land. Rural areas of course offer you those options much more so than city dwelling does.

Here is a great little house plan that will work for any age group that needs a starter or retirement home from The House Plan Shop.

This little dwelling is 582 sq ft and has one bedroom and one bath plus a two car garage, which is 426 sq ft and has laundry facilities tucked in it. You can call it a garage apartment or a carriage house, but it is designed to give freedom and independence to senior members of your family, a young single adult or a married couple the privacy that they deserve and want.

There is a welcoming front porch to enjoy cool summer breezes and company of family and neighbors. The bay windowed dining area not only brings in sunlight and views from the outdoors but creates architectural interest and a feeling of spaciousness. There is a serving bar between the kitchen and dining area, providing additional room for seating or buffet serving for a get-together. The open flow floor plan, linking the living room, dining room and kitchen together also creates a feeling of spaciousness and is extremely functional, especially if someone has some disabilities.

The bathroom is tucked in the short hallway, adjacent to the kitchen and next to the spacious bedroom. With the floor plan of this house, it would be very easy to create two nice sized bedrooms out of the garage area for someone who might have a family.

With the layout of this home and it’s size, it would be very reasonable to heat and cool. You could actually even use a small portable solar panel system to supply all the electricity that you would need and not be dependent upon the utility company. If there is a well on the property, that could also be used to bring water to the home and basically take the structure totally off the grid system. I would certainly install ceiling fans in both the bedroom and the living room to assist the air conditioner and the cost of cooling. For winter heating, I would be sure to have a small pot-bellied stove fireplace put into the living room area so in case of power failure, there would be a way to heat the house and to cook.

I could see myself living in this little house very comfortably either exactly as it is or with slight modifications. I might be inclined to convert half of the garage into additional living space, so that I could have a little more room for a home office and my large collection of books and still have a one car garage for my vehicle.

How To Keep The Lights On - Saving Electricity

2011-07-25T01:28:00.000-05:00

As temperatures in Oklahoma go on the 32nd day of over 100 degrees of heat, with heat indexes pushing at least 113 degrees and even higher in certain parts of the state, all of us are wondering how we can conserve on our electrical usage.

Trying to stay comfortable and still not break the household budget is a real chore for many of us. When you go from $42 a month bill to $94 and now looking at a projection of $107 this coming billing cycle, I am really wondering what else I can do to keep costs down, especially when I am far more conservative than others that I am compared to in my neighborhood.

We are on Smart Meters here in Norman and you can sign up with O.G.& E. and view your daily consumption hour by hour on a daily basis. You will be able to see where the peaks and valleys are in your usage. I have gotten so I check several times a day in an attempt to see what is causing these exceptionally high hours of usage. So far I’ve noticed that when the A/C runs a lot, the refrigerator kicks in, cooking (even though I do the majority by microwave), using the computer, washing in the washing machine, and of course a real electricity hog, the hot water heater.

I know that a lot of people have been trying to keep their A/C set at 78 degrees and a few are even pushing it up to 80degrees and still the unit is running almost continuously. Here are some things that I’ve done in an attempt to keep my bill lower. I started by raising the temperature in my home in increments of 2 degrees above 80 to where you will usually find my unit set between 84 and 86 degrees depending on the humidity in the air. The less humidity, the higher I can turn the unit and be comfortable.

I try to dress as cool as possible, in shorts, bare feet and tank tops or T shirts. There are days when even a T shirt is too warm and by baring my arms I feel cooler. I will also wet a hand towel and drape it around my neck to help cool me off. Another trick that my grandmother taught me is to make a large pan full of cool water and stick your feet in it!

There are ceiling fans in several rooms in my home and I also use a box fan all set at the highest settings possible in order to help circulate the air. Moving air cools you better than just letting the A/C unit do all the work.

Some people swear that using a window unit A/C helps them lower their utility costs. Since I do not own one myself, I have to rely the advise of others. The consensus seems to be that the newer units that have the Energy Seal of Approval are worth their weight in gold and really do save you money. Some people use them in specific rooms and only during certain hours of the day. The room of choice seems to be in the bedroom, when you are ready to retire and needing to have a cool sleeping environment is important.

Taking a cool shower at night or in the morning, rather than a hot one, will also help cool your core body temperature down. Drinking lots of cold water during the day will also help keep you cool as well as keep you hydrated.

Close doors to room that don’t have an A/C vent, such as you bathroom or laundry room, there is no need to cool them on a continual basis.

Keep Curtains closed during the heat of the day. As the temperature rises outside, close off the windows to keep the sunlight out which will heat your rooms quickly, especially rooms that have West facing windows.

Many surfaces in your home gather heat, whether you realize it or not, from upholstered furniture and bedding to carpeting, as well as clothes inside your closets. Keep closet doors closed and it will help a lot.

Everyone will tell you that it is important to turn off the lights when you leave a room. Another thing you can do is lower the wattage of the light bulbs you are using in your fixtures. Even try installing a night light in rooms that you only occasionally enter during evening hours rather than having to flip on a switch and heat up a 100 watt bulb.

Use power strips for those things that steal electricity even when you aren’t using them. A good way to know what those items are, is look for the LED light that says it is on. I know that I have to leave my clock on even though I do have a battery backup, but I have my TV and converter box on a power strip and I turn it off and on from there. My computer and modem are also on a power strip and after powering down my unit, I turn off the power strip and in adverse weather, actually even pull that plug from the wall as well as the Ethernet cord which goes from the phone line at the wall to the computer. I learned a lesson the hard way, if that Ethernet cord is not removed from the wall, even though you have turned off your computer and even disconnected it from the wall, lightening can strike and fry parts of your computer, just like it can travel inside your house on just a regular land-line phone line. The microwave’s plug is also pulled from the wall when not in use.

Try rearranging your schedule so that you do many of your household chores in off peak electricity usage hours. Many suppliers charge you less per kilowatt hour during non-peak hours. Wait until after 8PM to run your dishwasher or do a load of laundry, or do them early in the morning. Rather than use your dryer, hang things out on the line to dry. If you insist on having fluffy towels and wash cloths and softer sheets and pillow cases, toss them into your dryer on the air only cycle for a few minutes after they have line dried them.

You will find that your refrigerator will cycle less often if you keep the freezer section at least full and take up the vacant space. If you don’t have enough food in there to do so, fill some pitchers full of water, about 3/4th’s full allowing room for expansion, and let them freeze. This will help keep that part cold and cut down on the cycling process.

On your water heater, many are set at 140-145 degrees and they can actually be lowered to around 120-125 degrees and still give you plenty of hot sanitary water for dish washing either by machine or hand and for cleaning and bathing.

If you really want to try and be conservative, why not shut off the TV, all the video games that the kids play, and the computer and at sunset go out onto your porch or patio and light some citronella candles to keep the bugs away, sit back and relax and enjoy the beauty of the sun going down and the peaceful feeling that you will have with no outside distractions. Take an hour away from using electricity and feed your inner soul.

Water - Waste Not Want Not

2011-07-11T21:38:00.000-05:00

Right now Oklahoma is going through one of the worst heat spells that it has had in many years. For over the last 40 days we have had at least 99 degree temperatures to an actual 108 (in some parts even higher) along with heat indexes of well over 100 degrees. This is causing many cities to now ration water, as the lakes that supply our cities are extremely low. Right now they have gone to Odd/Even watering days for your lawns and gardens. The next step will be asking us to try and lower our indoor water consumption. Once you read this you may be astounded at how much water we use on a daily and monthly basis and will want to put some of these ideas into practice, if only to cut down your water bill.

First of all did you know that most water heaters are set at 140 degrees Fahrenheit?
For each 10 degrees that you reduce the water temperature, you can save between 3%–5% in energy costs. Most households only require a water heater set at 120degrees.If you have a dishwasher, without a booster heater, it may require water temperature within a range of 130 degrees to 140 degrees for optimum cleaning. By reducing the water temperature down to 120 degrees you will also slow down mineral buildup and corrosion in the water heater itself as well as pipes. By reducing the heat inside the tank itself, you will soon learn that you don't have to run the hot water faucet until scalding hot water comes out and then turn on the cold water to bring the temperature down. This will save on the amount of water you use in the first place.

You can also reduce the water that goes to waste when you use your washer, by setting up a "gray water system" with a hose out the drain that goes outside and puts the water out on your lawn. The detergent (most are bio-degradable nowadays) will not hurt your lawn but feed it. The average washing machine will use between 21gallons for a front loader to 37 gallons for a conventional top loading machine. If you have a large family and do several loads a day, think of all the water that is just going down the drain into the sewer that could be utilized elsewhere.

Add low flow fixtures to your faucets and shower heads and cut water consumption. With shower heads you can go from 3 gallons per use down to 2 1/2 gallons and on shower heads from 5 gallons to2 1/2 gallons.

Chill your drinking water. Fill pitchers of water and place them in your refrigerator rather than letting water run from the faucet until it gets nice and cold. Also put closed pitchers into the freezer (fill about 3/4ths full) and let the water freeze. If you have a freezer that isn't full of food, this will also help keep the freezer from running all the time once it is frozen and help cut down the electric bill as well.

When brewing your morning coffee, only make enough for the amount you usually consume, not a full pot and then throw half of it away! Or if you feel you must make a full pot, put it into a container in the refrigerator and either reheat it in the microwave or enjoy a cup of iced coffee on a hot day.

Instead of washing dishes after each meal, place a pan of water with some dish detergent in it in the sink, or if you have a double sink, just use one side and put some water in it. After eating, take your dishes and rinse them off in the sudsy water. Either stack them to wash after the final meal in the evening, or place them into the dishwasher to be washed when you have a full load. You will save both water and electricity doing this.

Most of us have cats and dogs and we put out clean water for them every day. Rather than just flush that water down the sink when you change their water daily, put it into a bucket until you have saved the amount desired and then use it to water your favorite flowers, your garden, or to fill the bird bath.

Use liquid detergent in your washing machine and wash with the "cold water only" feature. By using liquid detergent, you don't have to worry about powdered detergents not dissolving in the cold water and clinging to your clothes. If you really prefer powdered detergent, just put the amount that you would use per load into a container, add enough hot water to dissolve it well before putting it into the washing machine?

Tub bath, shower or sponge bath? Tub bathing requires a lot of water and not something you might want to do on a daily basis if there is already a water shortage. You might shower most of the time during the month, and then take a leisurely tub bath as your splurge and retreat time. Even showers can use a lot of water if you aren't careful! The average person can usually shower in five minutes or less and that includes shampooing your hair as well. Try setting an egg timer to five minutes (especially for children who seem to lose track of time easily) and see if you can stay in that limit. Another thing that works well to save even more water is to get in and get totally wet. Turn off the water, lather yourself up from head to toe and then turn the water back on to rinse off.

Then there is the sponge bath or as my grandma used to call it, a "spit bath." Instead of getting in the tub, fill the bathroom sink with water, wet yourself well, lather up and rinse off actually using a sponge or a wash rag. Guess you could always go ahead and jump in the shower to rinse off all the soap if you still felt slick and sticky.

Oh hot humid days; some people think they need to shower more than once a day, which I guess is fine when there isn't a shortage of water. But why not just make yourself a bowl of water and periodically as you feel overly warm, dip in a wash rag, wring it out and wash down your face and arms? You don't even have to towel dry, let it evaporate and it will help cool you off even more. You can use that same bowl of water all day long. When you are done, toss the water out on the lawn or the garden or in the birdbath.

Now this next suggestion is going to sound gross I know and I read about it on one of the conservation websites. That is don't flush the toilet every single time you use it. Their saying was "if it's yellow let it mellow, but if it's brown flush it down." Every time you flush that toilet you are sending 5 gallons of water down to the sewer.

So for example, it is calculated that each person uses 100 gallons of water per day. A family of three uses approximately 1303 gallons of water per month. If you have small babies and little children that like to get dirty all the time, that figure needs to be increased. These figures are calculated on just one load of dishes washed per day in a dishwasher and the washing machine being run through one cycle, which used 37 gallons per load with a conventional top loading machine.

Hopefully I've given you some ideas on how to be water conservative not only for these hot summer days where water is at a premium but all year long so that you can lower your water bill.

Summer Curtains

2011-07-03T00:09:00.001-05:00

As the weather warms up, most of us like to change out our heavy winter curtains and drapes for lighter weight and colored material for our windows. There seems to be nothing that compares to wonderful breezy spring days when you can open the windows and have light weight sheer curtains fluttering in the breeze. It not only cleans the stale winter air out of the house but the sunlight and warm sunshine and breezes are good for the soul.

Now that we are in the thralls of summer and it is much hotter than normal this year, many people are thinking of ways to keep heat out of their homes which means cutting out some of the afternoon sun that enters the windows. Do you put up a different set of drapes an curtains, do you layer the ones you have and hope that you don’t make your house as dark as a dungeon?

I have a solution that I use an you may want to give it a try as well. I actually use double café curtains all year around on some of my windows. During the winter, I use heavier weight material and I line them, whereas in the summer I use very light weight semi-opaque sheer material and do not line them. One advantage to having double café curtains, is that you can open up the top set to let sunlight in and keep the bottom ones closed for privacy.

I also make full length draperies or curtains, which I hang on top of the café curtains on a separate curtain rod. During the day, when it isn’t too hot, I pull them back and drape them loosely and secure them back using a curtain tie-back hook. When it starts getting too warm, I drop these full drapes to also cover the window and give another layer to help keep the heat from penetrating into the rooms. I also like to close them at night, to provide privacy. In the winter, this same method of double layering helps keep the cold out.

In my bedrooms, I have used floral café curtains with the long draperies, using a solid color that is predominate in the floral pattern of the café curtains. Since most people like to have the uniformity of all white or another neutral shade on all their windows from the outside looking in, you might want to line them with either inexpensive white cotton or bleached or unbleached muslin. If you do use the muslin, be sure to wash it first before using, because it is one material that will definitely shrink on you!

Café curtains are so simple to make even a beginner can master them easily. From the time you cut them out to hanging them at your window, should be less than a two hour project. If you do not want to make a placket to run a pressure rod through and gather the curtains on that, you can purchase drapery rings that just clip onto your fabric and then run those through your curtain rod. You can use the same methods for the long over draperies as well. Gathering your curtains on a rod will give you a more country or cottage feel to your draperies. You might like to choose florals or gingham checks, and even embellish them with lace. Whereas the clip-on drapery hooks along with solid color fabric, will provide you with a more sleek modern appearance which many people prefer today. Most café curtains that you purchase in the store will not be lined and are reasonably priced. You could easily make a lining to be attached to them. Using bleached or unbleached, pre-washed muslin fabric or even use old white cotton bed sheets to cut to size and made into linings.

When it comes to making the long solid color curtains, why not use cotton flat sheets? You can use the top hem of the sheet as the top of your curtain to be run through the rod. You might want to run a line of stitching about 1/4th of an inch from the top fold to give a more professional look to your curtains. You will then run your curtain rod thru the remaining large pocket that is left below this top stitched section. Many stores sell sheets singularly rather than in packaged sets. You can hit the bulls eye by getting individual flat sheets in 200-220 thread count from $9.99 to $11.99, brand new, or check out your local thrift stores where you can often find them at just $2.00-$3.00 each.

No matter whether you decide to purchase café curtains, or make your own, I am sure you are going to find them well worth it when you see how much they help in keeping your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

You can purchase books on how to make cafe curtains here.

Holding On Till Things Get Better

2011-05-15T17:05:00.000-05:00

With today’s economy and the housing market continuing to swirl downward in a never ending spiral, one has to wonder how long it is going to take for the value of our homes to once again start heading upwards. I read a report the other day on the financial page stating that homes had already dropped 8% of its’ value this year over the previous year and were losing another 1% of its’ value each month and who knows when the market will hit bottom and start turning upwards again.

Several years ago, when I checked on recent homes sold in my neighborhood, $100K to $115K were the going rates and these homes were built back in 1963-1965 and they average approximately 1200-1400 square feet. When I checked this past week, my house is now only worth between $72K and $92K and my heart sank!

I, like many other senior citizens, figured that investing in your own home was like a built-in nest egg, the value would continue to increase. When we felt like we were no longer physically unable to handle the chores and maintenance, or needed the equity out of it to live comfortably, we could sell our home and have enough to help ease our financial worries for quite a few years.
Or we could rent it out and get ourselves a little apartment for less money than we’d be collecting on the rent and have some left over to put into the bank.

Wish so many people losing their homes to foreclosure and not able to purchase another home because of their poor credit now, the rental properties are at a premium and much higher than they were a year or more ago. This indeed leaves us seniors in a quandary as to what to do. Believe me, there have been many sleepless nights lately as I toss and turn, mulling over different options in my mind. At this point in time, I have decided all I can do is continue to play the waiting game, do what I can and hold on tight.

I have lived through some hard times in my life, but never have I been through anything as tough as this! Perhaps it is just my age finally catching up with me to where I know that I am not able to do all the things I once could and had all the options that I used to have. You used to be able to back me into a corner and I’d come out fighting but lately that hasn’t been the case.

Kit Kat Antics

2011-04-05T17:03:00.001-05:00

At my house there are four critters, three are cats of various ages and a parrot. There are days when I wonder who owns whom! They seem to take turns at who can be the most vocal, demanding of attention or obnoxious behavior.

Of my three cats Little Bit is the youngest and sometimes the most demanding of the three. She is the one who always wants to be loved on but only when SHE wants to be loved on. I swear I chased back and forth with her for over an hour trying to hold her down to cut some mats of hair on the side of her face. She is the only longhaired cat of the three. Now forget trying to use a brush on her because all you have to do is pull out a hairbrush to even brush your own hair and she runs and hides!

Last night I got so tickled at her. ABC news had spoken about the Bald Eagle live webcam set up in Decorah Iowa and gave a link for you to watch if you wanted to,. There are two chicks in the nest and one egg still needing to hatch. I figured I would go look at it. Therefore, I opened it up, http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles, and started watching. My cats will often come in here and sit on the hassock, my lap or the back of my chair or even curl up on the edge of my desk. The next thing I know here is Little Bit, on my desk watching the monitor! I thought surely she is not watching that eagle but low and behold, she was! The bird would move, or make a noise, and you could watch her eyes and her head turn to follow the movement of the bird. She sat there, watched that for about thirty minutes before the eagle finally settled down in the nest, and went to sleep. Then Little Bit decided the show was over and left.

Kitty is my old lady of the group. She must be close to fifteen years old. She is a black and white and medium length haired cat. She is getting old and frail and likes to cuddle up and keep warm, so of course her favorite spot is on my lap or on the hassock. I will often throw a lap blanket over me at night and she will come up onto the hassock and want under the blanket. I hold it up for her and does she go under headfirst and turn around as most cats would? Oh no, she backs in as if you would do if you were backing up a car. She gets all the way under as far as to her ears and then lays down, tucking her front paws under her so prim and proper. She is my sweetie pie and loves to be petted and her ears rubbed.

Misty is technically my son’s cat, she is Siamese. I say technically because I’ve been her “guardian” and mother for several years now. He used to travel a lot on his job and there was never any one at home to care for her and Bradley, his parrot, so he brought them to me to care for. At first, I had just Bradley because he would go on short trips for just a few days at a time or else his neighbor would care for Misty.

Misty is a real love and enjoys being cuddled and loved on. She is also a lap cat but if this space is occupied, she will get up on the back of my chair, leaning more into and on me than on the back of the chair itself. She is also the tattletale of the group. If the food dishes gets down to just nibbles and bits instead of full morsels of food, she comes to me and paws on my leg until I get up and follow her. She will start out towards the kitchen, turn to see if I am following her. If I am moving too slow to please her, she will meow in her little Siamese voice as if to say, “Get a move on it woman!”

I’ve always been an animal lover, be they big or small. From my first loves which were dogs to horses, cats, ducks, birds you name it, I love them all.. I have always been a “rescuer” of critters from the time I was little.

Fortunately, everyone gets along well with each other. Of course, if they were out in the same room at the same time Bradley is out of his cage it might be another story!

Waste Not Want Not

2011-03-28T14:12:00.000-05:00

After my horrible ordeal with the Sour Dough Bread being a miserable flop again, I broke the loaf up into large hunks and tossed it out into the yard for the birds. I figured either they would eat it or if not the squirrels would surely enjoy it. If neither of them wanted to partake of this bounty, I'd give it to the dog next door! Since she is part shepherd and part wolf, I figured she would love it! A far cry from the dog food that she normally gets.

I checked yesterday evening and the backyard was filled with birds, swooping in and pecking away at the bread. This morning not one morsel is left out there!

I did make another loaf of regular white bread in my bread machine last night. I could hardly wait for it to come out of the machine. I love the smell and taste of warm bread!

That's It, I've Had It!

2011-03-26T23:52:00.000-05:00

No more attempts at making Sour Dough Bread using a natural starter without any yeast! In fact, I am going back to anything but Sour Dough from now on! I have tried and tried repeatedly and the loaf before this one came out hard as a rock or a brick, whichever you want to compare it to! Reminded me of the very first attempt I made at baking just plain regular old bread when I first got married! Poor new husband, didn't know he married a woman who could barely boil water without burning it! I do think that the first "french fried eggs" I made for him sorta gave that fact away though! Anyway, back to the bread, I didn't start that project until late in the evening, and when it said to punch it down, put it into the bread pans and let it rise again, I didn't do that. I figured it could rise as it cooked! Needless to say, I had two wonderful bricks in about an hour!

That is how I am feeling about this Sour Dough Bread at the moment. Now mind you, I've tried several different recipes from several different cookbooks and I really do know how to read instructions. So much for trying to be economical and make bread without having to use yeast all the time. I made an Artisan Loaf tonight, the outer crust was so hard I almost broke the bread knife trying to slice into it. Once I got it cut, the inside is gummy and gooey and it cooked for 45 minutes like the instructions said! Oh well, back to the bread maker in the morning!

I hope the birds will eat it!

Life's Little Pleasures

2011-03-02T16:11:00.000-06:00

Spring has sprung! The sun is shining, spreading its warmth all over my little city. It is about 72 degrees outside and the air smells fresh and clean.I can hardly hear the noise of the traffic on the busy street which is four blocks away and I am truly enjoying the serenity and almost silence of the day. I decided to walk up to the store, just a couple of blocks away, to get a few things for dinner and to enjoy the feel of concrete under my feet instead of the ice and snow of several weeks ago.

On the way back, my neighbor was out sitting on her porch enjoying the sunshine so I stopped to say hello and visit for awhile. It was good to see her home since she'd been in the hospital for about a week in ICU with double pneumonia. Pretty scary stuff for such a young woman of only 34! Even though she is still not 100%, some congestion still in one lung, she is on antibiotics and feeling much better. It was good to see her smiling and on the mend.

As I came around to the corner of my yard, I noticed a profusion of yellow flowers in the flower beds. There are multitudes of Jonquils/Daffodils growing. Many are in full bloom and others are still buds, waiting for another day before they spring forth into bloom. I was able to gather enough flowers, a good sized hand full, put them in a vase and set them here on the desk in my office. What a beautiful reminder that spring is here at last!

I love fresh flowers from the garden and from my own garden makes them all the more special. As many of you know from reading previous posts on my blog, I am not the world's best gardener. The things that I don't have to mess with seem to survive the best. The things that require watering I think I "over love" because my vegetable garden last year, I tended to and it died.

Now I am going to grab a fresh cup of coffee, go out and sit on the bench on my front porch and soak up some of this gorgeous sunshine. Live is good!

Beans Beans The Musical Fruit

2011-02-26T02:25:00.000-06:00

As some of you know from reading my blog entries from last summer, my first gardening attempt failed miserably. I was very devastated to think that just the few things I put out did not bare fruit. I had a flat of tomatoes, that did produce a couple “itty bitty” tomatoes but then they fell of their vines or the birds got to them before they had a chance to grow big enough for me to enjoy. The bell peppers and jalapeno peppers looked like they were going to do something. There were little flowers and then those changed to little pods and I was like an expectant mother, waiting for the birth of her child, thinking I would soon have some produce. Nothing happened, they wilted up and I got nothing! My bright idea of trying to grow potatoes in a pillowcase (yep I read about it on the web) ended up a disaster also. The pumpkin seeds never even broke the ground! My pot of herbs withered and died. The only thing that grew was one jalapeno pepper plant where t I took a seed and shoved it into a flowerpot! I actually got one whole pepper!

Therefore, you can imagine how excited I was today when I checked some pinto beans that I had shoved down into the dirt of three pots that are sitting on my kitchen window ledge! I soaked the beans for a day before I planted them and then just shoved them down into the dirt. Then today, here are little green things poking up, little stems with what look like little green hats! I hope that our cold weather will hurry up and vamoose on out of here so I can get them into the earth outside.

I think I need to get a couple more pots loaded up with dirt and get some onions started. If I remember correctly those are another one of the veggies I need to start early.

Can you tell that I am determined to have a garden this year? After going to the convenience store tonight to get gas, that was $3.18 a gallon on Wednesday and was $3.29 today, with rumors that it will be $4.00-$4.50 by tomorrow morning, I decided I needed to get some in the tank quickly. Now granted, I do not drive far and I do not drive often, but I sure want some gas in the tank and not have to pay an arm and a leg for it, which I anticipate happening worse than it already has! I totally expect us to see $5.00 a gallon by this summer. Guess we shouldn’t gripe too much, those in foreign countries pay a lot more than we do, not only for gas but for other goods as well and I am not sure that their ratio of income to debts is any better than ours are. Therefore, I will count my blessings and hope that my garden is a success this year in order to take some of the strain off the old pocketbook.

Bitten By The Spring Bug

2011-02-21T03:07:00.000-06:00

I don't know about anyone else but I've been bitten by the "spring bug" and I've thrown open the windows to let the fresh air blow through the house. As a kid I used to laugh when I'd hear someone talk about doing their spring cleaning but I am long since over that because over the years I've come to appreciate the meaning of those words. You want to get in there and clean every nook and cranny, to get out all the stale smells that accumulated in your home from being closed up all winter long. The sun is shining and you want to open all the curtains and let it shine into your home, the warm glow it creates as the beams of light come streaming across your freshly polished floor.

Many people go through an entire redecorating phase at this time of the year. Some will think about painting, be it one room or the entire house. Others will be adding light colored slipcovers to furniture, changing out throw pillows, getting out the light weight curtains and adding spring colored spreads to their beds.

Spring is a the beginning of life anew; be it the start of new grass and flowers growing, to that of the birth of farm animals, the return of the robins or domestic animals looking for a mate. We emerge from winter, wanting to shed all the extra layers of clothing and the heaviness of multiple blankets and comforters on our beds that kept us warm for the past few months. Spring is wanting to go out and dig in the dirt or run through mud puddles after a rainstorm and the clean fresh smells that the rain brought with it.

It is a good time to be cleaning out your closets and drawers, to give things to a charity, offer them to some one in need or have a garage sale and earn a few extra bucks.Now you can reorganize those closets and cabinets with ease.

I am so anxious to get busy with a paint brush it isn't funny. I have a large bookcase shelf unit that needs some repair work first and then a fresh coat of paint. Then I am bringing it indoors, putting it in my laundry room to become my pantry shelves. After that is done, I need to put a fresh coat of paint on the little country bench that sits on my front porch.

What projects are you going to tackle?

The Last Hurrah!

2011-02-11T23:14:00.000-06:00

Well, I truly think we now have had the last winter storm for this year. At least I hope so! When parts of Oklahoma have the lowest low temperatures recorded in history, at 21 and 31 degrees BELOW ZERO, and two storms back to back, I certainly hope they are over. There was just enough of a 24 hour break between where some people were brave enough to get out on slick, ice and snow covered streets to grab more supplies before the next round came through.

Now we start preparing for what could either be a rough spring with many outbreaks of tornadoes or a very quiet one with no tornadoes but lots of wildfires. Yes, I did say wildfires because even with all the snow we received the weather forecasters say we are still experiencing a drought.

With as much of the country being affected by our recent weather, not only in our country but world wide, my concern is for what has happened to all our crops. I am expecting to see food and gas prices going through the roof sky high! Just one more reason to be sure to replenish those pantries as soon as possible.

I know that once it warms up a little bit more, probably in the next week or so, it will be time to start getting those early garden plants into the ground. It will also be time to do any repairs on my storm shelter so that it is ready to go once our spring tornado season is upon us. I am not going to be waiting until the last minute.

It's Not Over Yet!

2011-02-06T00:08:00.000-06:00

Well, I can tell you one thing, this last storm here in Oklahoma was enough to really test you on your preparedness for any and all conditions and make you aware that even though you think you have covered all your bases, you may not have done so!

We ended up with the worst blizzard I have seen since I moved here! It by far out-shadows the storm we had back in 2009 at Christmas time in my humble opinion. Granted we had ice covered trees, some areas did lose electricity for days and even weeks, but this storm seemed to be much colder! Luckily this time around people listened to the weathermen when they forecast this storm to have blowing snow with whiteout conditions, single digit temperatures and BELOW ZERO wind chills. We had lots of warning that this one was on its way and stores stocked up with lots of supplies to meet the needs of their customers. Schools didn't wait till the very last minute to declare snow days and people stayed off the roads as directed when told there were very hazardous conditions.

Now we are facing drizzling rain with possible light flurries again tonight and then come Tuesday and Wednesday another round of very cold weather, possibly several more inches of snow and of course slick roads. What we have already hasn't had a chance to melt off, even though we had a warm day today which allowed some of the snow packed roads and walkways to melt a little bit. Many of the main roads have been cleared by snowplows now, over and above the normal snow route clearings but the subdivisions within many of the cities are still blanketed with hard snow and ice underneath.

People are frustrated because they can't get to work and they have lost wages and the kids are home from school and have cabin fever. But I am so very thankful that everyone is using common sense and realizing that no job is worth losing your life over and it is better to have your children home and not out on slick icy roads!

So put on another pot of beans or more homemade chili, grab the movies and video games again and as we say here in Oklahoma "hunker down" for what we can only hope is the last hurrah's of winter and just know that spring is right around the corner. Then we can all start complaining about tornado season.... what can I say, can't keep us "Okies" happy can you?

Grandma’s Cast Iron Skillet

2011-01-26T13:05:00.000-06:00

Oh how I miss having grandma’s cast iron skillet. Not only because it was the very best skillet I ever owned for creating evenly cooked, delicious foods but because of the memories I had of her using it before I inherited it. I cried when it finally met it’s demise! I’ve had a variety of skillets since then and none have cooked as well as that one did. I have tried some of the new non-stick surface skillets as well as some stainless steel ones, but nothing cooked as well as grandma’s cast iron one. I am not sure if they just aren’t as good as the old fashioned cast iron ones, or if it is because they don’t conjure up all the wonderful memories of watching grandma cook.

I could cook everything from “johnny cake” and biscuits to fried chicken in there! Not a day went by that I didn’t use it. In the morning it would get used for cooking fried eggs, beautiful sunny side up ones with just a smattering film over the top from splashing hot grease from the pan over them. At lunch time I would use it to make bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches or grilled cheese sandwiches. For dinner either a big skillet of fried chicken or a skillet filled with meat balls and sauce for spaghetti. I could put it on top of the stove or in the oven and know that everything would be cooked to perfection.

It is time to invest in another cast iron skillet. I don’t want a new one, I want one that is old and crusted on the outside, that shows it was used and enjoyed over the years. There is nothing better than one that is well seasoned .

I am off to the second hand store to see if I can find someone else’s grandma’s skillet!

Making Your Own Saltine Crackers

2011-01-22T19:06:00.000-06:00

Awhile back I purchased some Masa flour to make corn tortillas. After several failed attempts I thought what am I ever going to do with 5 lbs of this flour so I started searching for recipes where I could use it.
I happen to love Saltine Crackers and came across a recipe where you not only use regular flour but Masa so I figured I would give it a try. What a simple recipe and I was so glad that I found it.

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup masa flour (corn flour)
¾ cup shortening
11/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking flour
SALT

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Combine flours, baking powder and shortening. Mix. Add milk and blend well
Make into a large round ball. Split the ball into 4 sections. Roll out a section at a time to 1/8 inch thickness.
Cut into squares using a knife, pizza cutter or pastry roller.

Sprinkle Salt (to taste) on an ungreased baking sheet.
Place dough onto sheet and prick the tops, using a fork, ½” apart.
Bake for 14-20 minutes or until golden brown.

IF you do not have any Masa, you can substitute another cup of all purpose flour for that measurement.

Is Winter About Over?

2011-01-19T17:37:00.000-06:00

Well according to our weatherman, we just have a couple more cold fronts that will move through Oklahoma before we can expect some spring weather. One of those cold fronts is due to hit here tonight or overnight, bringing temperatures dropping down into the 20’s and followed by rain, sleet, ice and possibly snow to some parts of the state. Luckily, in the middle of the state, where I am at, they say we are likely to have a “wintery mix” and possibly up to an inch of snow that should burn off sometime late on Friday.

All I know is that it is time for some comfort food! So out comes the crock-pot and I am in the process of making some good homemade potato soup. I love my daughter’s recipe but sorry to say I don’t have all the “extra goodies” that she puts into hers. She always adds sour cream and half and half into her soup, neither of which I have on hand at the moment. So I will substitute with a can of evaporated milk and add in a little extra butter in hopes of giving it that rich full bodied flavor.

I thought about doing some meatless chili, which I may make tomorrow or perhaps a big pan of mac and cheese, one of my all time favorites.

I am so anxious for the little buds of spring to start peaking thru the ground. I have a beautiful growth of daffodils or jonquils as some people call them, that I love to cut and bring in the house to brighten things up!

It is time to go visiting some of the gardening websites, I’m already getting emails about it being time to start some seedlings indoors in preparation for spring planting. This year, I have GOT to have a good producing garden. Last year’s was a total flop!

I hope you are all pulling out your gardening magazines, or visiting your favorite gardening websites to get some ideas about what to plant this year.

Come on spring!

2010-12-31T18:20:00.000-06:00

This is posted for all my friends who have recently gotten SNOW! It looks so peaceful, quiet and serene doesn't it?
I am glad to see the smoke coming out of the chimney though because it looks like it is mighty cold!

This is house plan 005H-0095 courtesy of the house plan shop. I love all of their house plans but of course I have a preference for anything cottage! This darling house is a little over 1200 square feet and has two good sized bedrooms split by a bath off the Master bedroom and the Hall Bath which is conveniently located to the center of the house and the second bedroom. The laundry room is located between the garage and the house, with easy access to counter space in the kitchen to drop your groceries.

The family room and kitchen with eating area is all one large space running the width of the house. The open floor plan and vaulted ceilings make the room feel even larger than it is. Situate your living room furniture around and close to the fireplace, perhaps use a long table behind the back of your couch in the center of the room, to visually divide the room into two areas.

This would be a great home for retirement or a young couple just starting their family.

So as we close out this winter season, enjoy the comforts of your home, dream dreams of a new one or just enjoy the one you have!

Happy New Year Everyone! May you be blessed with health , happiness and prosperity.

Caught Without Mittens? Quick Ones to Make

2010-12-13T20:07:00.000-06:00

Hey Baby it's cold outside! Have you or your children ever been caught without mittens? Here is a quick way to whip up some super fast.

Lay your hand on a piece of paper, letting your fingers spread out a little bit like they naturally do, in fact spread your thumb out a wee bit more than normal. The reason for this is you want a little extra room for your pattern. Draw around your hand and up your wrist about 21/2 to 3 inches. Next draw another line beyond this one by another inch.

Now you have your basic pattern. I used some leftover fleece material to make mine and they are toasty warm!
You will cut a total of 4 of these for each set of mittens. Lay two together, matching up the thumbs and stitch around the mitten,with a 5/8ths inch seam allowance, leaving the wrist part that will go over your hand open. At the wrist opening, finish off by making a small hem. Now turn your mitten right side out and they are ready to wear! For little children, you might want to make a casing to run a piece of elastic through at the wrist instead of just a hem. This will help them keep them on their hands.

Country Farmhouse Charm

2010-11-24T15:51:00.000-06:00

As I travel down the road to my daughter's place, there is a house that looks just like this one. I would love to go inside and browse around. I can picture my daughter and her family living in this house.

This house plan, from the house plan shop, has 1250 sq ft with an additional 341 sq ft of bonus room. Downstairs there are two good-sized bedrooms, the master bedroom suite with its own bathroom and a hall bath to serve the other bedroom and guests. Upstairs a loft and a 3rd full bath can be finished out. Build this house on a basement, slab or crawl space; but with a basement underneath, developing this additional space later on would be easy.

As you approach this home, the first thing you will notice of course is the big wrap-around porch! What a great place to enjoy the morning solitude, watching the sun comes up, drinking a cup of coffee or relaxing over an ice tea with a neighbor in the afternoon. The soaring cathedral ceiling and an upper level loft, makes this home feel very spacious and large. This is actually a one-story home, with the loft being available for another bedroom, office or game room. The open floor plan of the living room, dining area and kitchen creates a feeling of spaciousness while the fireplace in the living room gathers you in for a feeling of coziness and old farmhouse type gatherings. I can picture the mantle decorated for the holidays with Christmas stockings, fresh pine boughs and hurricane lanterns. The Christmas tree in front of the living room windows, decorated with old country ornaments. Family and friends will gather around the handy kitchen island with breakfast bar, enjoying a meal or just good old conversation as you prepare a batch of cookies or make some homemade bread. There is easy kitchen access to and from the covered rear porch, which is great for entertaining during the summer months, or getting out the smoker to cook a turkey even in the winter! A great feature about this house is the laundry closet, which is near the bedrooms saving you many steps on washday. A private bath and walk-in closet enhance the master bedroom while the second bedroom accesses a hall bath. I do not know about you, but I am getting the boxes packed because I am ready to move in!

Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments

2010-11-19T19:20:00.000-06:00

Over on the Christmas Crafts page I just posted an article about how to make Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments. These are always fun to make and fun to give! If you have children, this is a project that you can involve them in and they will be entertained for hours. If you don't have a set of Christmas cookie cutters, be sure to pick up a set or two, you will need them not only for your salt dough ornaments but for all those regular Christmas cookies you plan to bake this year!

Grandmas and Grandpas love getting homemade gifts, so be sure to put their name on the list for a few of these. Be sure to have the kids sign the backs with the year they made them, because these will become keepsake items for sure!

Beeswax Candles

2010-11-09T14:56:00.000-06:00

Beeswax candles are wonderful. A light, warm glow and a wonderful sweet scent make them truly delightful. Rolled beeswax candles are about the easiest candles to make. You do not need a melting pot or have to heat a stove to make them since you will not melt the wax. This is a great safe project for kids!

Here is what you will need:

Beeswax sheets (they usually come in about 8" x 16" sheets
Primed wicking material appropriate for a 1” candle. If making larger diameter candles, adjust the wicking accordingly.
A sharp knife, I use a small kitchen paring knife, or single-edged razor blade.
A suitable cutting surface such as an old cutting board is good.

Lay out your beeswax sheet and cut the wick to about 3/4ths of an inch longer than the wax. If using an 8-inch sheet, the wick is about 91/4 inches.

By leaving approximately, 3/4ths of an inch on each end of the sheet, if one end looks better than the other does you can make either end the top!

Lay the wick along the edge of the sheet and start rolling the candle by bending over about 1/8th inch of the wax. You can turn the wax over and bend the 1/8th inch channel along the corner of the counter or use a cutting board. This way you will have a neat, straight channel for the wick. With this small channel, you will enclose the wick. Working from one end to the other, press down firmly to make sure the wax is tight around the wick. This is the only time that you will press hard with the beeswax sheets! From now on, you will be gentle with your beeswax because you do not want to compress or warp the honeycomb pattern.

Start rolling the wax slowly and straight, making sure that you are keeping the ends even and just keep rolling until you reach the end.

Tip: If you want larger in diameter candles, to add another sheet of wax, just butt a second sheet up to the edge of the first sheet, give the two sheets a few presses with your thumbnail to help join them together, and continue rolling.

Gently press the final edge down onto the side of the candle. It should form a smooth edge. You can use your thumbnail to press down, every inch or so, if you feel this is necessary. Pick which end is the best "top", cut the wick off the bottom and trim the top wick to about ½ inch.

Beeswax sheets are easy to cut with scissors. If sheets are brittle, hold them over steaming pan of water or use a hairdryer to soften the wax. You can save a little of the wax to "prime the wick", which is dipping the end of the wick into the melted wax. This will help your candle light easily when you are ready to use it. Beeswax candles burn without the toxic fumes like those produced with paraffin candles.

If you want short chunky candles, you can cut the wax sheets in half, or play with making them different heights. Group them together in a centerpiece arrangement, or on a fireplace mantle with boughs of greenery, Christmas tree balls and garlands of beads. They are also striking placed in the middle of a table on top of a mirror circle, or tucked inside glass chimneys.

Log Cabin

2010-10-30T18:58:00.000-05:00

Can you picture this darling log cabin on your property?
http://www.thehouseplanshop.com/1811/plan-detail/025l-0015.php

This darling log cabin conjures up visions of times gone by, when our forefathers first settled this land. It would be right at home in any state in the Union! You could put this home of a few acres out in the woods, the mountains or the flat-lands and it would feel right at home in any setting you choose. It would also be possible to take this home completely “off grid” by adding solar or windmills and a well for your own water supply.

At just under 1100 square feet, this house with it’s open floor plan, feels much larger. The design of the home makes it very livable for a young couple just starting out because it is designed where adding on later is possible or an older couple who is content with a smaller sized home and want everything on one floor with no stairs to climb.

The porch across the entire front of the house begs for some old time rocking chairs and the family to come outside and enjoy the beauty of nature that surrounds their home. The open floor plan allows for easily adding a fireplace to the exterior wall or an old fashioned pot-bellied Ben Franklin stove as an alternate heat source for cold winter evenings. The grilling porch, located off the back door of the kitchen will allow for great outdoor cooking even when it rains! It would be easy to add on additional bedrooms as a family expands. Because of the roof line, and the design, knock out the walkin closet at the end of the hallway between the two bedrooms, extend the hall and add on additional bedrooms and a bathroom there at the side. This could easily be expanded into a four bedroom home.

I particularly like the way the washer and dryer are situated in the middle of the home, near the bedrooms so that transporting dirty laundry is quick and easy to do. The plans call for this home to be built with a crawl space underneath, but it would be simple to add a storm shelter underneath or a full basement if desired. It would be easy to add this feature I think with access by way of the grilling porch. If you wanted a full basement, I think that could also be done with access through the closet there at the front door entryway, but check with the people at thehouseplanshop.com to be sure on this.

This is a darling cabin and my imagination is running wild with ways on how to decorate it in old rustic type, primitive Americana furnishings!

First of all, all the floors in the cabin would be made out of reclaimed old wood, sanded and stained to a lustrous warm glow. I am picturing a dining room table made out of salvaged barn wood and made into a farmhouse table and mismatched chairs like in the olden days. In the kitchen, I would use milk paint on all the cabinets, allowing the wood grain to show through. There would be an old fashioned pot rack hung like they did in the olden days. In the bathroom, instead of a modern vanity cabinet, I can see using an old dresser as the base, with an old china washbasin as the sink. Rather than have a tub, I would install a walk-in shower, for when I get old and can’t get over a tub edge any more! In the bedrooms, high off the floor old fashioned beds, covered with homemade comforters and quilts. There would be lamps on dressers rather than overhead light fixtures.

In the living room there would be a large overstuffed couch and chairs, that beg you to come set a spell; the kind you sink into and never want to get out of! End tables and table lamps would be mismatched, to add character, the feeling of acquiring them as I could afford them at different times in my life. I would find an old area rug, perhaps a braided one, a bear rug or even a Navajo Indian rug to put down in the living room in front of the couch. And yes, I would be the one that adds the pot-bellied Ben Franklin stove there on the outside wall, between the living room and dining area!

Now that I have bought and decorated this little log cabin in my dreams, where do I want to locate it at? I would definitely want some land and wide open spaces, maybe 10-15 acres, a place where I can have a vegetable garden, a chicken coop, a small barn with a couple of animals to raise for milk and food. Anyone have some suggestions?

Milk Carton Candle Instructions

2010-10-27T13:57:00.000-05:00

You are going to need the following supplies:
Newspaper to cover your work area
Cardboard milk cartons - quart, pint or half pint sizes
Paraffin wax - you can buy large blocks at the craft store or smaller amounts at the grocery store (the kind you use for canning)
Wooden or metal skewers or old pencils to tie your wicks to
Candle wick material, and metal tabs (can purchase separately or already cut and together)
Coloring (old crayons work great, or small blocks of color from craft store)
Scenting oil ( purchase at craft store or health food store)

You Are Ready To Start

Prepare the work area by covering it with newspaper to catch all the drips.
Cut the milk carton to the size candle you want to make. Cut off the top flaps of the carton, and then cut it to at least 1/2 inch above the height you want the candle to be.

Cut a piece of wick that is 2 inches higher than the top of the milk carton. It’s better to buy wicks that have the little metal tab already attached to the base, and that are already coated with wax (so they stand on their own). If they are uncoated, you will need to dip them in melted wax and lay them flat on wax paper until the wax has cooled and hardened.

Wrap the free end of the wick around the middle of a wooden skewer ( I use old pencils), and then lay the skewer across the top of the milk carton. The skewer helps keep the wick in place and upright.

Melt the wax for your candle. I always make a double boiler, using a sauce pan for my water and then an old clean coffee can, which I have bent the top of to make a funnel shape. You are going to use the wax in several steps, so keep it melted.

Add fragrance. Choose a pure essential oil fragrance you like-available at health food stores and online. Depending on the size of your candle, add between 5 to 10 drops of essential oil to the molten wax, and gently blend it in using a wooden skewer or an old wooden spoon before you pour it into the milk carton.

When the wax has melted, scoop up a small amount of wax. Pour the wax into the carton so that it covers the metal tab. You may need to hold the skewer in place as you pour the wax so the wick does not shift. Hold it in place until the wax hardens.

Fill the milk carton with wax up to 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the top of the carton. Let the wax cool until it is hard. You should expect the wax to shrink somewhat, so plan to top off your candle to make it level. Let the wax cool completely again. If needed, repeat the topping up step. After set and cool,
trim the wick to 1/4 inch above the top of the candle.

Insert a butter knife carefully between the edge of the candle and the carton, and gently lift it around the edges to loosen it. Then snip a cut on one side of the carton, and carefully peel it off until the candle is free.

VARIATION: HOLEY ICE CANDLES

If you like, for added visual drama, add some ice cubes to the milk carton, allowing them to stack randomly on top of each other, but not too many, or the candle will have too many holes. You can also use a plain taper candle in the center of this type of candle, eliminating the need for the setting of your own wicks.

You can also add decorations to the outside of your plain candles, using several different mediums. You can use paper cutouts from scrap booking supplies, attach them using melted wax. Once adhered, cover over the top, using melted wax on a small paintbrush to make an even coating. You may want to do this several times.

You can also etch a monogrammed initial into the side of the candle using a sharp knife. Using colored melted wax, carefully fill in the indented monogram. If you drizzle over the edge, carefully scrape it off while still warm and slightly hardened.

Let your imagination run wild, you can do lots of different creative things!

Start Getting Supplies Together For Christmas Gifts

2010-10-19T02:59:00.000-05:00

If you haven't started gathering supplies together yet to make Christmas Gifts, now is the time to do it. Start saving the following items because I am going to give you instructions on how to make most of your gifts this year and save a bundle of money.

Homemade candles- save quart size cardboard carton milk cartons, pint sized half and half or whipping cream containers, small Mason canning jars, small glass jars, and large sea shells,

Mixes in a jar- various sizes of glass jars with covers or Mason Jars

Fabric yardage at least a yard for most projects. If you have less, save it and we'll make some patchwork items.

Sturdy sheets of cardboard, from cardboard boxes is fine. We are going to use these as a base for handmade photograph frames.

Ziplock Omelets

2010-10-10T19:13:00.000-05:00

With holidays just around the corner, many of you will be having out-of-town guests and you don't want to spend all of your time in the kitchen. Here is a really neat breakfast idea that a friend sent to me today by e-mail and I just had to share it with you.

Ziplock Omelets

Have your guests write their name on a Quart sized zip lock freezer bag with a permanent marker.

Crack 2 eggs (large or extra large into the bag (no more than 2) shake to combine them.

Put out a variety of ingredients: cheese, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc

Have each guest add prepared ingredients of their choice to their bag and shake. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.

Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for no less that 13 minutes and no more than 15 minutes.

You can cook 6-8 bags in a large pot at one time.

Open the bags (cut off the tops) and the omelet will roll out all folded nicely. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed!

These can actually be prepared the night before, stuck into the refrigerator and then pulled out to cook in the morning.

Serve with fresh fruit or coffee cake, or my choice of homemade baking powder biscuits!

Stocking Your Pantry

2010-10-03T18:36:00.000-05:00

I do not know about you, but I am one of these people who have a terrible time trying to get my stock-up pantry really stocked up! I know that some of us have difficulty because of limited finances and others just do not take the time to replenish their stock as they use it. I read all these articles about how to stock up your pantry and most of them say to buy large quantities of one item at a time. Personally, I think purchasing items that “go together” to make a meal or part of a meal makes more sense. Having 10 lbs of spaghetti or macaroni noodles in your pantry without the other ingredients to make a meal does not seem very practical at all. Therefore, I will grab some noodles and then cans of soups, vegetables, tomato sauce and prepared spaghetti sauce in order to make a complete dish.

Most of us are paid either once or twice a month, so shopping every week is out of the question Most of us have very little money left over from payday to payday to use for extra groceries. Two things might work for you. Either add an extra $20 to your grocery list every two weeks that you will use strictly for purchasing items for your stock-up pantry, or else set aside that amount and once a month, you will have $40 to use all at one time for those supplies. Those of you with larger families, you may want to increase this amount. If you do this faithfully every month, at the end of the year, you will have spent $480 on extra supplies to stock your pantry.

I know that most of us utilize our grocery store flyers, concentrating on sale items to plan our meals and shopping. If there are items on sale, grab some extra cans of vegetables, fruits, coffee etc. Perhaps there is an extra good buy on meats, so go ahead and get an extra roast or a chicken to put into the freezer to use later.

As you put together your supplies, do not think of your pantry just as being there for “disaster supplies” think of all the items that you use on a regular basis that you would like to have “backups.” In my pantry, that will include all the fixings to make homemade breads and biscuits, soups, vegetables, a variety of dried beans, canned fruits, both cider and white vinegar, sugar and spices. I will also stock up on food for my animals, toilet paper, dish detergent, laundry detergent and bleach.

The decision on what to stock up on is determined by where you live, your family and your lifestyle. Living in Montana or South Dakota where winters are long and brutally cold, your decisions will be different from those living in sunny California or Arizona. If you are concerned about power outages, slick roads from ice and snow or being snowbound, you may want to store mostly canned goods rather than putting a lot of food into a freezer!

Living in Oklahoma, we never know from one year to the next what our winters are going to be like. Some aren’t bad at all, with just a dusting of snow that might last a day or two and then you have other winters where you have iced over streets, power lines down for weeks at a time and no way to get to the store or a way to prepare your meals. I will also be sure to pick up bottled water, and paper plates & plastic utensils, incase pipes burst or freeze and there is no water to drink or wash dishes.

That leads to the next problem you might have and that is have you stocked up on foods that do not need to be heated or cooked. If you do not have a fireplace, do you have any alternative source prepared to cook food or keep your home warm? If I hear that we are anticipating bad weather, I will start making up some dishes ahead of time that I can put into the freezer, but not get too carried away just incase we lose power, I don’t want to have them go bad.

Since I do not have a fireplace, a bar-b-q grill (that I could use outside), or a wood burning stove in my home, if I lose power, I am up a creek without a paddle! I have decided to go to the local party store, where they sell the little wire stands with aluminum pans that sit in them and have the little cans of “sterno” that you put underneath to keep your food warm. A friend used them at Thanksgiving last year and they worked wonderful!

One of the main things to remember is every time you use products out of your stock-up pantry replace the item, in fact buy an extra at the same time. When you buy new products, always put them at the back of the row rather than in the front. This way you will always be rotating your stock and nothing will get outdated.

Having a pantry filled with food just makes good common sense. We never know in this economy when prices will go sky-high making items we are used to buying unaffordable. There is also the chance that you could become unable to work due to sickness or injury; or possibly be laid off from your job, or natural disasters. You need to be as prepared as you can for all possibilities. Even if you cannot afford to spend an extra $40 a month, do what you can, even if it is only $10 a month.

Christmas Gifts for College Students

2010-09-30T17:03:00.000-05:00

Gifts for College Students

Christmas will soon be here and finding something different and unusual to give to a new freshman going off to college can sometimes be a daunting task, especially when you aren’t around them all the time and know their likes and dislikes. Do not be tempted to stick a twenty-dollar bill in a card and call it good, but do you really think that is something that will be remembered once that money is spent? Here are some ideas that might make a longer lasting impression.

For the girls

A wicker basket filled with a pretty towel set, some fragrant scented soaps, a pair of slippers and a bathrobe

Potpourri, scented electric candles (many colleges will not let them use regular candles) and sachets for their dresser drawers and closets

Herbal teas, flavored coffees and creamers, cookies, biscotti and chocolate bars

A bulletin board decorated in their favorite colors or their school colors

A throw pillow for their bed with a large monogram initial embroidered on it

One of those new picture frames that does the automatic slide shows, filled with family and friends pictures

For the boys

A wastepaper basket filled with snack food items, like pretzels, popcorn, and beef jerky, different types of candy and energy bars

Gift certificates to the local pizza place

Oversized bath towels and washcloths make great gifts. Guys would much rather use an oversized towel wrapped around their waist than to wear a robe after their shower

Bulletin board in their school colors

A blanket with the school’s mascot or logo on it

Portable CD player with earphones and a carrying case for their music

Pay for a couple of tickets to their school’s football or basketball games

If your student is allowed to have a hot plate in their rooms, take a laundry basket, put in all types of canned goods that they can heat up quickly to make a meal out of, add a small saucepan, a large spoon and a can opener. Throw in various types of crackers, peanut butter, the squirt cheese in a can, Spaghetti O’s, corn-beef hash, pork and beans, macaroni and cheese, and a variety of soups.

With college kids anything food they love whether it is sweet, salty or sour. Your gift does not have to be expensive; just make it unique, something that comes from the heart. You will be surprised how years from now, they will remember it.

Kay's Country Cottage Store

2010-09-19T19:07:00.001-05:00

With the holiday season fast approaching and Christmas to be here soon, I have added a store for your shopping convenience. If you are like me, you hate the hustle and bustle of crowds and would much rather shop from the convenience of an easy chair where you can enjoy a hot cup of coffee or cocoa and relax as you shop.

Right now the store is under construction and I hope to have it up and running for your buying pleasure in the new few days.

I hope you enjoy this new addition to the website.

Passion for White Towels

2010-09-18T01:06:00.003-05:00

What it is about fluffy, large white towels, especially when they are still warm from coming out of the dryer? I love them! Particularly the over-sized towels; the ones you can wrap up in after a good hot shower or a languid soothing soak in the tub. Maybe it is all those “chick-flick” movies where you see luxurious bathrooms in a hotel or penthouse, with spa type tubs and gold handles, filled to the brim with multitudes of bubbles and the floor strewn with rose petals and candles everywhere, all lit, casting a soft glow around the room.

One of the reasons that I like white towels is when it comes time to redecorate the bathroom. White towels, hand towels and wash cloths go with everything. There is something very refreshing about seeing sparkly clean white towels hanging in a bathroom. They are also very easy to keep clean and don’t look faded like colored towels. After just so many washings you feel like you need to send colored ones to the rag bin! White ones can be bleached or hung outside on a clothesline to be brightened by natural sunlight.

I prefer towels with just plain hems at the bottom. So many towels will have that small section about three inches up from the bottom that has a woven section and they always seem to pucker up. Here is this beautiful big towel now scrunched up to about half its width at the ends because of this crazy woven strip! At first I thought it had to do with inexpensive towels so I decided to purchase more expensive ones. That didn’t help either, they still puckered! So now when buying replacements, I look for ones that just have a hem and no fancy stitching.

Do you think that plain white towels are just too blah for your tastes? There is something special about having monogrammed towels, especially the ones with the large monogram on one end; it makes your towels very personalized and elegant.

Now please excuse me, there is a bathtub calling my name. It is surrounded by lit candles, a CD is playing some soft relaxing music and a big white fluffy towel is waiting. Oops, I forgot to get the rose petals!

A Day In History That Should Not Have Been

2010-09-11T03:27:00.000-05:00

Nine years ago today, 4 planes destroyed many lives in our country, by attacking the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Pentagon and Flight 93, hijacked and headed towards Washington D.C., which ended up crashing in a field in Western Pennsylvania near the city of Shanksville.

I think every person in America who was old enough to have recollections, remembers this horrible day and the days and months that followed. Live images streamed across the television, of people fleeing collapsing buildings, their faces reflecting the fear and horror of what they saw and what they were experiencing. Dazed and rushing down streets covered with ash, which was pulverized building facades and glass, shreds of paper from someone’s desk fluttering in the air. Brave firefighters rushing towards the remains of the buildings, past those who were running away from there as fast as they could. Images of tired rescue workers, overjoyed and renewed with vigor when they were able to pull someone out of the ruble alive and the sorrow and despair when they didn’t. They to lost many of their own, as buildings swayed and crashed to the ground, firefighters who had rushed in before the total collapse of stairwells in an attempt to get people out safely.

As days turned into weeks and then into months, work continued, loved ones began making makeshift memorials on the streets of New York. Windows of storefronts became billboards of pictures, plastered with taped on photographs of missing people, with messages of please call me and a number scribbled along the bottom, by friends and relatives trying to locate them.

Over at the Pentagon, a plane dives into the building, killing and trapping many and others attempting to rescue fellow servicemen and determine the damage. The scene there doesn’t appear to be as chaotic, but of course the plane is almost totally engulfed by the building so little can really be seen.It is days after, as the gaping hole in the building is seen are we aware of the damage that was truly done.

Shortly thereafter the heroics of the passengers on Flight 93 begin to filter across the newscast airways. How they somehow managed to get cell phone messages to and from loved ones. They learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They in turn letting their loved ones know that their plane had also been hijacked and their own fate was precariously hanging in the balance. As the plane changed course heading towards Washington DC, now a group of passengers planned to “do something” to overpower the hijackers and take control back of the plane. As we all know, part of their plan worked, they were able to stop the aircraft from making it to the intended target, most likely our nation’s capitol, but the plane went down with 33 passengers, 7 crew members and 4 hijackers aboard. The nose of the plane burrowing deep into the ground.

Today, the memorial at the Pentagon is completed and the memorial at Ground Zero in New York City where the Twin Towers once stood is well under way. But what about the memorial in Shanksville? According to CBS channel 3 in PA, this memorial is far from finished. In fact it is still at phase one! To read the entire article, click here.

The National Park Foundation states that they need an additional $18 million to complete the project. Why is it that this memorial isn’t receiving the funding and recognition of that fateful day the way that the Pentagon and Twin Towers are remembered? Is it because there were only 44 people killed in that incident versus the thousands in New York and the high profile of the Pentagon attack, where 58 passengers and 128 military staff lost their lives?

There are several websites that can be visited at the bottom of the CBS Channel 3 article, where money can be donated to the Flight 93 memorial fund.

There is site of a jeweler who is creating commemorative lapel pins and they only cost $10 and every cent goes to the memorial fund.

There is a link to the LeRoy J. Homer organization. He was the plane’s co-pilot and this organization was set up by his wife Melodie .This foundation assists students with scholarships who want to attend pilot’s school.

You can also donate directly to the Flight 93 Memorial fund by going to their website.
As we remember and reflect on this sad day in our history, lets also remember how we joined together in unity as a nation, to help heal the wounds and honor those perished in this tragedy. Let us remember each and every life that was lost that day. Please help with the necessary funds to complete the Memorial for Flight 93. Don’t let these brave souls be the forgotten heroes of 9/11.

Do It Yourself Diva

2010-09-03T19:15:00.001-05:00

I have always been one to attempt to do just about anything when it comes to home decorating or home repairs. In most cases, my projects come out fantastic, well okay, I’ll admit to an occasional disaster now and again.

Recently I’ve had a plumbing problem. I’ve unclogged a toilet before, nothing to it, or so I thought. Now I know from past episodes, that you first use Dawn dish detergent, (handy hint from the Wiley sister’s book) that will usually get rid of the clog in your toilet. Pour it in, let it sit for about an hour then flush and away goes trouble down the drain. If that doesn’t work, resort to your “plumber’s helper” commonly known as a plunger. You want one that looks like a bell rather than those old flat looking ones. Don’t you love my technical terminology? Those flat ones don’t work worth a hoot in a toilet. You are supposed to give it a few good plunges up and down and it is supposed to flush everything down. Still plugged up! Then go to the toilet snake and surely that will solve your problem. NOT!

Now you are in for some seriously drastic measures. It is time to pull out the long “snake” and open up the main cleanout drain and run that baby down as far as it will go both towards the house outlet and then out the other way where your pipe connects to the main sewer line. Be sure to wear gloves of some sort because this is going to be a messy job! Somewhere along the line, it will stop and hit a solid object, or at least semi- solid objects, then you need to twist and turn the snake breaking through the plugged area. Sometimes when you pull the snake out, you will find tree roots wound around the end of it. This time there were no tree roots. This should solve the problem. Go back inside and flush the toilet; hopefully watching the water going down the drain. As I watch the water rising in the bowl, I am standing ready to turn off the water input valve in case it decides it wants to go over the top. The water stops rising just before it gets to the ridge. At least by this time, with all the flushing and the siphon action of the water going down in the bowl, it is at least clean now.

Back to the office and using the Internet, I can hit a couple of my favorite search engines and some of my bookmarked “How To” websites for some other ideas. I spot one that I haven’t tried yet. The advice was to heat up a big pan of water, just below boiling stage and then take it, holding it up high above the toilet, pour it in. So I put a pan of water on to boil and continue looking for any other suggestions I might find. Then I remember the water, oh dear, go grab it quick and pour it in the toilet. As I am standing there pouring, all of a sudden I feel very warm water on my feet. Up to this point there had been no water on the floor. I look down and now water is oozing out from the base of the toilet. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry! You guessed it, the water had gone to a rolling boil and in my haste, and I didn’t let it cool down to below boiling. Conclusion is now that I have melted the wax ring. Conclusion is substantiated when I lean on the toilet and it is now rocking like a row boat in a rough sea.

I have watched how a toilet is disconnected from the water supply, the bowl drained and the toilet lifted off to replace a wax ring. Part of that I could do myself, but there is no way that I could lift it alone. The last time this had to be done, I tried to just move the toilet across the bathroom floor a little bit to give the plumber more room to work and it was heavy. He told me a toilet weighs approximately 70 pounds. In order to get a good seal on a new wax ring, you have to lift the toilet up and position it just right before sitting it down on the opening. I have to admit that I truly did try everything I could to fix it myself and I failed in my do-it-yourself attempt. I think I should have had a copy of this book before reference

Now it is time to call the plumber!

Christmas Crafts

2010-08-29T20:41:00.000-05:00

Christmas Ornaments

I like to give a special Christmas ornament to each of my grand children every year. This is a great tradition to start with your children or grandchildren. That way, when they get grown up and leave home, you can pack up their personal ornaments and they can have them and all the memories that are attached to them to put on their very own first Christmas tree.

One of my favorite places to visit for ideas is Better Homes and Gardens website. Not only do they have wonderful color photographs of what your finished product will look like but step by step instructions on how to make the project.
As for where to grab supplies for your projects, look around the house first, you most likely will find objects that you can recycle to make many of the items. If you don't, you can find what you are looking for at Hobby Lobby or Michaels as well as your favorite fabric stores, like JoAnn's and Hancock Fabrics.

Clear Ball Ornaments
Take clear ball ornaments, and fill them with metallic shred and then write the child's name and perhaps the year on the outside with acrylic puff paint or use Elmer's glue to write their name and sprinkle over the top with colored glitter. Tie a ribbon bow at the top of ball.

You can also take off the cap, pour inside your favorite color of acrylic paint or poster paint. Swirl it around and dump out what doesn't stick. Let it dry thoroughly. Write a name on the ornaments as in above instructions.

Etching cream is also fun to use. Use a template and tape it to the outside of the ornament. Apply the etching cream according to instructions.

Pinecones
Take some wire and lace it through the top of a pinecone to make a hanger. Use Elmer's glue on the tips of the pinecone an then dip in glitter or artificial snow. Tie a colored velvet or grograin ribbon at the top.

Salt Dough Ornaments
These are fun to make but have a tendency to disintigrate over time, even when coated with a protective finish. If you want something that is quick, fun and inexpensive to make but not worried about having it last for years and years, give these a try.

Decopage Ornaments
White styrafoam ornaments, medium to large sized work best
Lots of Elmers glue
Any type of lightweight paper that you can rip into medium sized pieces.Old vintage type papers or floral work great.
Start by applying glue to a section of the ornament. Apply the pieces of the ripped paper to it, smoothing it as you go. Continue until the entire ornament is covered with paper. Let dry thoroughly.
When dry, use a small foam paint brush to apply several coats of Elmer's glue on top of the paper, letting it dry between coats.

Small embroidery hoops
You can actually get two ornaments out of this one, using each hoop separately
Using a hot glue gun or Elmer's glue, apply pretty ribbon, covering the wooden hoop outer edge
Using jewelry craft beads or crystals, make a string of them to hang down in the center of the hoop, using filament wire, such as for jewelry making or fishing line.You may wish to put a heavier bead at the bottom so that it will hang straight.
Make a loop out of the same filament wire at the top of your hoop to use to attach to the tree. Make a large bow for the top of the hoop and attach it.

Preparing For Another Cold Winter

2010-08-29T20:35:00.000-05:00

You've probably heard the term "colder than molasses in January" if you live in the Midwestern states or Eastern states of this country. Last winter, it seems that we had an unusually cold winter with lots of wind and blowing snow and ice. This wasn't really typical weather for the middle of Oklahoma for sure. In years past we seemed to get snow that might stay on the ground for a couple of days, the sun would come out, things would warm up and it would be gone. Not this past couple of winters.

Not only did the ice and snow stick around, but there were many areas of the state who were without power for many days because of downed power lines. I had friends up in Tulsa who were without power for 11 days. Luckily they had a fireplace where they could improvise cooking and for some heat. They were eventually able to borrow a generator but others were not so lucky.

I was one of the fortunate ones, never lost power, but did feel trapped inside my home and felt like I couldn't get the house warm enough as the winds blew and the snow continued to fall. I have vowed that I am going to be better prepared this year.

I will be stocking up my pantry with canned goods and sterno heat that I can use to heat things up with if I lose power. I don't have a fireplace so having a way to heat food will be necessary if I lose power. If you don't already have a fully stocked pantry, now would be a good time to start buying some extra items each month, along with some bottled water, so that you at least have a month or two worth of goods on hand just in case you are housebound that long.

While you are at it, grab some batteries for flashlights, extra candles and oil for some oil wick lamps to provide lighting. If push comes to shove, you could always use your solar powered yard lights by bringing them inside at night to light your house.

I also plan to have de-icer on hand as well as plenty of extra cat litter to sprinkle on the sidewalk and driveway. Trying to shovel wet heavy snow and break through solid sheets of ice is not easy when you get up in age.

Before the cold weather arrives, take time to check your doors and windows and make sure that the weather stripping is good as well as check to see if they might need to be recalked.

Have your furnace inspected to make sure it is in proper working order. Grab enough filters to last you several months because you will want to change them out at least once a month during the cold winter months. With you house closed up, you are going to find that dust and dirt will accumulate on them much faster than they did during the summer.

The other thing I plan to do is make some extra heavy curtains for my windows. Back in the olden days, Grandma used to take a bed quilt and drape it up over the curtain rod as an added layer to keep the cold out and the heat in. I am going to basically use this idea but modify it. I am going to either make my own quilted material to use or see if I can find some second hand quilts at one of the thrift stores. I am going to cut them to the size of my window opening, make a placket at the top and bottom to run pressure rods through. Then I will put them up so that they fit snuggly inside the window frame opening, and they will have the rods at the top and bottom of the window frame. With the extra quilt batting between the material, this should help with insulating for warmth.

Once again this year, I will close off rooms that I don't use, either by closing doors or using drapes. If there is space under the bottom of the door which will allow drafts, I am going to make "draft dodgers" this year. Using a piece of material, the length of the door about 10-12 inches wide, sew it into a cylinder and close off one end. Take rice and put it inside a plastic bag and work it down into the cylinder. Sew the other end of the cylinder up. You could also make these for window sills if you didn't get new weatherstripping installed.

Chances are we are all going to be looking for ways to keep our utility bills down this winter as the cost of heating is expected to be on the rise. You can dress in layers, open up the curtains during the day to let the sunlight in to warm the house and close them as the sun goes down.

By preparing now you can avoid having to run around gathering things together when the first weather reports come out that a storm is on the way. It never fails, the weatherman can be predicting that snow or ice storms are headed our way but everyone seems to wait till the day before or even up to just a few hours before it is expected to arrive to go get their supplies in. Nothing is more frustrating that to go to a store and find out there is nothing on the shelves that you need. So plan ahead this year especially because it is my guess that stores won't be as well stocked as they have been in the past.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2010-08-20T22:36:00.000-05:00

I know, here it is 105 degrees out there and I am thinking sleigh bells and snow along with Christmas gifts.
But as you know, many of us with the best of intentions of making homemade gifts don't always start our lists or our creations as early as we should in order to have them all done, wrapped and ready to go under the Christmas tree.

Some of us are lucky enough to know how to crochet beautiful items and then there are those who are like me, can only make granny squares for afghans. A friend of mine forwarded this website to me and I just had to share it with you, especially if you have little girls or granddaughters who would appreciate some darling handmade crocheted clothes for their dolls.

The website is called ThreadsnStitches.com and is owned by Deanne Eckert. She has some darling items to offer and for those of you who are talented enough, you can also get a free pattern by logging into her website,

I fell in love with the little girls in her logo and the darling outfits they are wearing. She has given me permission to share them with you. You can actually click on the logo and it will take you to her website. If you decide to go, be sure to come back here often for more gift ideas because I am going to start putting some up between now and Christmas so you can be ready.

In the meantime, try to stay cool in our blazing summer heat..... think about jingle bells and snow flakes.

Elaborate weddings are they worth it?

2010-08-13T17:54:00.000-05:00

After reading the article in my mail about one of the stories they are doing tonight on ABC News Nightline about people spending so much money on weddings, I thought I would do a short article here about my thoughts on the matter.

Do people think that if you spend a fortune on a wedding that it will insure that their marriage is going to last? After seeing the multitude of lavish weddings all they way from royalty in foreign countries to super stars in Hollywood who spend a fortune I would have to say my answer to that is no.

I wonder how many people years later, whether they stay together or divorce lament over the fact that they wasted all that money on a lavish wedding. That money could have been put to a much better use on something that would have lasted over the years. Spending money on a fancy wedding all you have are the memories and the wedding album filled with pictures of that fairytale day.

It is possible to spend under $5,000 even spend under $3,000 for a very nice wedding that will be filled with wonderful memories and not have regrets about wishing you hadn’t spent money so foolishly by spending more money.

Both of my daughters had beautiful weddings, each of them costing under $3,000 and I can tell you this, both of them have been married now for a long time and neither of them wishes that they had spent any more than they did. As the mother of the brides and being a single parent, I appreciated their conservativeness. Granted they also helped financially with their own wedding, which is another thing common today, the bride and groom helping to pick up the cost themselves. Back in “the old days” it was the responsibility of the bride’s parents to foot the bill for the wedding and the groom’s family paid for the rehearsal dinner.

One way a bride can save money is to look for a used wedding dress in a thrift store where she is able to actually try it on and see the condition of the garment, or she can make a purchase off the Internet from many bridal websites, e-bay or Craig’s list. Often you can find what you want and if you so desire, can actually do some alterations to make it custom-made just for you.

One way many brides are reducing the cost of their weddings is by going to a more casual style of wedding. Instead of bridesmaids all wearing identical dresses, they now are going to ones that are more individualized but similar in style and within the same color palette but not necessarily all the exact same hue. The girls are purchasing them off the rack at a department store, rather than at a bridal salon or having them custom made. The men are choosing to wear suits of the same color and forgoing the formal tuxedos.

Instead of formal bouquets, brides and her bridesmaids are opting for just a gathering of flowers tied with a pretty satin bow, or the stems totally wrapped with satin ribbon and no bow.

Wedding cakes are extremely high priced nowadays but with some ingenuity you can actually make your own tiered cake. If you are uncomfortable doing that, use tiered glass plates and fill it to the brim with cupcakes decorated with lush creamy frosting, like butter cream , whipped cream, or smooth fondant. Another alternative is to have a small wedding cake and then use sheet cakes for serving to your guests. Many weddings still include a groom’s cake and it is usually a sheet cake which will also help determine the size wedding cake that you need.

When it comes to the reception, depending on where you have it, perhaps some of your family can help by supplying different types of finger foods for the buffet table. If you have it catered, a large portion of your wedding budget can be spent on food alone. Setting up a buffet table will be less expensive than a sit down dinner reception where you must also pay for serving staff.

When it comes to a honeymoon, many couples will now just take a weekend to get away after their wedding since both parties usually work. If they were lucky, they might have been able to plan ahead and get vacation time from their employers and take a week long honeymoon. There are numerous places right here in the United States where you can go and have a wonderful time without spending a fortune.

Your guests will have a wonderful time at your wedding and have no idea how much you actually spent on it. They came to share this exciting moment in your life, not sitting there with a calculator trying to figure out how much it cost you. You will have a beautiful wedding, reception and honeymoon with money leftover in the bank for which you will be very thankful to have for future purchases like a home of your own, a car or to splurge on that new addition to your family.

Just so you know, the picture above is of my daughter and that wedding did cost us under $3000!

My Next Garden Winter Crops

2010-08-08T02:10:00.000-05:00

As I've sat here and watched the efforts of this year's garden withering away in our triple digit heat, I've been depressed over my first attempts at gardening. I've made it a point to go out and water everything after 7pm at night in the hopes of pulling everything through. After the tomato plants get a drink of water, they usually will stand up, sometimes not straight and tall but at least they try. Many of their leaves are now turning brown and wilting from the sun. So far, there have been three ripe Roma tomatoes, and something has managed to put holes in every one of them. There are still two green ones on the vines and I am watching them closely.

The cucumber plants had little blossoms on them but so far I'm not seeing any development of cucumbers yet. I would have thought there would be some by now. I'm afraid the jalapeno peppers are toast! there is but one plant that may make it, but the others appear to be either dead or dying.

It looks like only one of my pumpkin vines has survived as well and that is the one I planted in a pot! The ones out in the ground have either just shriveled up and died or something decided they were good to eat. As for my herbs, well, no cilantro, Basel, or mint for me! They are all gone too!

I guess I'm not alone, I've been hearing complaints from many of those with lots more experience than me saying they are having the same problems. I guess we will all be looking at planting some things here shortly for winter crops in hopes that we can end up with some produce for all our efforts.

I do know one thing, I am going to order an AeroGarden or one something like it, that I can use to grow salad fixings at least in the house this winter. Amazon.com has some fantastic prices on them!

The picture of this garden is for the Gourmet Herb seed kit, but you can grow tomatoes, lettuce, even flowers in your AeroGarden. They offer a variety of types of seed kits that you can order for all kinds of things!

I am doing an experiment which will be interesting to see if it works or not. I read where someone grew potatoes in a pillowcase, so I figured I have nothing to lose at this point, might as well give it a try. I've also heard of using old car tires and plastic trash cans, but there there was some discussion on one of my yahoo groups about how that might not be such a good idea because of toxins possibly leaking from either the rubber or the plastic and contaminating your potatoes. So far I am getting sprouts shooting up! Of course every time they break the surface you are to cover them up with more dirt, compost and natural mulch. I may actually end up getting some potatoes out of my efforts anyway!

I think next year, I will attempt to do some hanging tomato plants on the edge of the patio where they will get less direct sunlight. Either that or I am going to have to devise some methods of putting up a tent structure with garden netting over the tops of my beds so that if we have as hot a summer next year as we've had this year, I am able to provide some shade for them.

So now I am looking to see what fall crops I can grow in zone 6 & 7 for Oklahoma that I like and will actually eat. I guess I'll try putting out some Cilantro again (that burned up also along with my basil) and more cucumbers for sure along with some more tomatoes, summer and winter squash, more bell peppers and jalapenos and try for a few more pumpkins! I see where they say you can grow several types of beans, as well as sweet corn and egg plant, but I think I'll pass on those.

Beets. broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Irish potatoes, lettuce, onions, garlic, and spinach are all considered semi-hardy for another crop. It looks like the onions and garlic wouldn't be ready to harvest until next spring and June so we'll see about doing those.

1895 8th Grade Final Exam

2010-08-01T17:23:00.000-05:00

I had a friend send this to me the other day by email and I wanted to share it with you.
It made me realize that we often are critical of our ancestors because they had "just an 8th grade education."

I challenge you to go ahead and try and answer these questions. Don't cheat by googling the answers either. It will really make you appreciate their 8th grade education a whole lot more!

We need to remember that back then, many of our ancestors lived on farms and there were times of the year when crops needed to be planted or harvested, there were chores to be done and animals to be tended to. So early in the morning, the children would get up and tend to chores before heading off to school. Then when they got home after school, there were the evening chores to be done. Often school studies were done by lantern light or candle light.

We are so fortunate in today's world.

1895 8th Grade Final Exam

Take this test and pass it on to your more literate friends..

What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...
Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , Kansas , USA .. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina , KS - 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,''play,' and 'run'
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1 Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour)
[Do we even know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2.. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks
And by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.
Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.
Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!

Also shows you how poor our education system has become and, NO, I don't have the answers-Google them:-)

Take Your Shoes Off Lucy!

2010-07-14T00:30:00.000-05:00

Can't remember how many times I heard that phrase growing up! Funny the things you remember about your mother after she is gone. What is even funnier is the fact that my name isn't even Lucy and she used to say it to my brothers as well.

This weekend, after attempting to mow some very wet grass and tracking it into the house, this phrase immediately came to mind and I had to smile. It also got me to thinking about exactly where the custom of removing one's shoes came from. I had always heard that it started in the orient, in Japan, mainly because their homes had mats on the floors which were used to sit on and sleep on rather than having beds, couches and chairs. They have low dining platforms for dining off of, sitting on the floor on mats and often with thin pillows on top of the mats.

But actually the practice is found throughout Asia and is also common in Scandinavian countries and in Hawaii and Alaska.There are practical applications for leaving ones shoes outside, if you are farmers you don't want to track in the mud and debris from the barnyard into your home! Or if you live in Alaska, you don't want to track snow into your home. Keeping the contaminants out of your home also saves wear and tear on your carpet and your hardwood floors.

In many of the foreign countries, places where you are expected to remove your shoes, will have foyers where you can hang your coats and remove your shoes. There often are benches available to sit on while you do this. Your host will most likely also supply slippers for you to put on while you are in their homes while others, will just expect you to wear just your own socks.

Besides removing your shoes for cleanliness sake, I personally feel that it also has a spiritual meaning for me, it is like shedding the worries of the outside work world and releasing all that hustle and bustle of the day to sit down and relax with family and friends. Some people get this same "shedding of the outside work world" feeling when they get home and remove their work clothes and slip into something comfortable to lounge around the house in. I find it interesting how many American households are actually doing this now, especially with their children, even if the adults in the family don't do the same thing.

If you haven't gotten in the habit of taking your shoes off at the door, give it a try. You might be surprised at not only how it helps keep your home cleaner and more germ free, but also the way that it helps you emotionally to just let go of the days worries and leave your troubles at the door.

I found these slippers and thought to myself how comfy these would be to slip into.

Log Cabin Design

2010-06-21T02:48:00.000-05:00

I went to visit the houseplans shop website tonite because I wanted to highlight a vacation house/cabin for all of you to enjoy.

I came across this one and it reminded me so much of a cabin that I stayed in in Tennessee that I just had to feature it.

The cabin I stayed in was at the top of one of their mountains, just down the road apiece from the Dolly Parsons "Dollywood", in Pigeon Forge.

This is Vacation House plan # 010H-0006 with 1333 sq ft of living space and even though it is 2 bedrooms and 2 baths there is a lot of room that can be utilized efficiently for more house guests if you desire.

High up in the mountain, the back porch with the hot tub and all kinds of old fashioned rocking chairs out there to look out over the tree tops and valleys below. I would take my cup of coffee out there in the early hours of the morning, as the sun was just beginning to come up. I would sit and watch the sun's rays peeking through the mist as it lifted off the valley below us.

The cabin we were in, had 2 full sleeper sofas so we were able to sleep 8 people very comfortably. In this plan, you could actually use the upstairs studio for addional sleeping accomodations by putting in a sleeper sofa or even several single chairs that convert to sleeping units.

Since this is a vacation home, either located in the mountains or by the sea shore, keep your furnishings simple and easy to care for. Slipcover your sofas or upolster them in denim, duck, or sailcloth so that people will feel comfortable curling up with barefeet on the furniture! Also slipcovers can be removed quickly and easily and thrown into the washer! Choose a basic color for your slipcovers, maybe light denim blue, white or beige. Use the other colors from your palette choice for throw pillows, afghan throws and comfy velour blankets to cuddle up in on cool nights, and other accessories.

If this is to be a waterfront home, you might want to consider using the colors of the sand, sky and sunsets to decorate with. Go with off white or wheat/creams along with several shade of blue, the azure and pinks of sunsets.Keep your window coverings simple or as non existant as possible. Consider bamboo roll up shades for privacy areas and soft opaqe panels to soften if you wish a more suble effect. On the great room, perhaps you might not want any window coverings at all if the area behind you is secluded, otherwise go with just the bamboo shades or wood slated vertical binds.

If you are up in the mountains, maybe you would want to go with bolder colors, deeper shades of blues or greens, or even work in some vibrant rose or reds shades.

Buckets of Rain

2010-06-16T04:53:00.000-05:00

They say if you live in Oklahoma and don't like the weather here, just wait five minutes and it will change!
Actually we did have to wait a little longer than that the other day, but when the thunderstorms moved in, I guess they thought we needed to make up for our extra dry weather and they meandered slowly across the expanse of our state leaving a trail of destruction behind.

We ended up with over ten inches of rain in some parts of the state.Numerous little towns and cities had massive flooding problems. Governor Henry ended up declaring a State of Emergency in 56 counties! Some of the farmers who were in the process of bringing in their wheat may end up losing their crops.In Oklahoma City and Edmond, there were areas where streets became raging rivers of water and there were many people who ended up having to be rescued from stalled vehicles. Many buildings of our State Capitol complex have received extensive damage.

Now the process of cleanup begins and much of it will fall directly on the shoulders of the homeowner because many people will not have flood insurance coverage on homes.Of course rain like we had only happens about once every 500 years and unless you live in a flood plain area, where flood insurance is mandatory, one doesn't usually add that coverage onto their insurance policy.

If your home received interior water damage, it is going to be imperative that you start the drying out process immediately in order to keep from getting mold damage. You have water in your home, all your carpet and the bottom of your furniture is wet, who do you call? I would suggest that you contact a fire restoration company immediately! Most likely you will have to pull up all the padding and carpet, but you may be able to save your sheet rock walls if you can get them in there quickly enough with some of their huge fans. If not, you will be pulling out the walls of your home also. Do not think that they are just going to dry out on their own. You will need to take immediate action. Once black mold forms you will have a very toxic situation on your hands! If electrical sockets got wet, be sure to have an electrician come check things out to be sure that you are safe.

If you have a vegetable garden and flower beds, you probably will need to be checking them to see if too much water is standing in the beds. If possible, remove retaining borders to allow excess water to run out of them. There is a good chance you will need to purchase some new top soil to mix into the existing soil in order to help absorb some of the excess moisture.

If you ended up driving through high water, chances are the floor coverings in your car will need to be replaced. Don't forget to also do the trunk area while you are at it. Depending on how deep the water was, you may need to have your mechanic check out your vehicle's mechanical and electrical systems.

When all is said and done, we were extremely fortunate that even though the losses will be into the millions if not billions of dollars and it may take time to recoup from these losses, we will in deed recover with time.

Sundays Country Cottage blog

2010-06-07T22:19:00.000-05:00

Summer has arrived I guess!

It was hot hot hot here in "Okie" land today! The last I heard, it did make it to 100 in some cities and it made it to 97 here where I live. It was a good day to stay inside, laze around and eat ice cream.

I had visions of getting out early this morning and working on the backyard but that went out the window real quick!

I have some weeds that I swear are growing into small trees! I'm going to need a hatchet to chop them down rather than pruning scissors if I don't get out there and get them cut back. As it is, there is no way the electric lawnmower is going to chop them down.

My tomatoes look like they are doing great, they didn't wilt at all today in this heat. I thought for sure they would be but they appear to have done just fine. Since we only have a slight chance of rain tomorrow night, I am going to go out and give them some water in the morning. No sign yet of any potatoes trying to break ground, I am anxious for those to sprout.

Oh oh, I just thought of some seeds I forgot to get. Watermelons and I am sure it is too late to try and plant any of those. I guess I need to go check out some gardening websites and see.

I went out after it cooled off some (to a whopping 90) and since rain was taken out of our forecast for tonight, I went ahead and watered the garden an my new lilac bush. I even attempted to pull some of those tall weeds, to no avail. I tried cutting the stems with scissors, that didn't work either! So I guess it is going to take something more drastic to get them out of there. I did manage to get up some of the dried up burr weeds. Should have thought twice about pulling them with bare hands because now I have some of the stickers in my hands.

It looks like we are in for another hot day tomorrow and like it or not, I do have to go to the tag agency and get the tags for my car. Thank goodness there is a/c in the car and I am sure I'll end up having to use it. Get out early and scoot home and take it easy the rest of the day until the sun goes down.

Trip to Farmers Market

2010-05-25T00:36:00.000-05:00

A beautiful sunny Saturday and a great way to get out of the house for awhile and go exploring. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, Norman has the Farmers Market up at the County Fairgrounds. The problem is it is only open until noon on Wednesdays and till 12:30 on Saturdays. If I work late at night, it leaves me little time to get up there. I was bound and determined I was going to get there today because I needed some tomato starts before it gets too late to start planting them. I managed to get there about noon and wandered through just a few of the booths. Some were set up outside in the parking lot and then there is a huge building filled with vendors. I parked the car up by the livestock barn and walked to the market area. As I did, I heard the loudspeaker from the barn saying "one of the things I look at when ..........." Oh dear, keep walking! I know that I am a sucker when it comes to animals, no matter what kind they are. I was on a mission and the vegetables came first!

Many of the vendors outside had vegetables from different states and some from outside of the United States. I wanted to find locally grown products so I kept searching. It didn't take me long, just inside the building and the first booth to the left was a local vendor with a table filled with a nice assortment of beautiful plants. Being the first time gardener that I am, I asked for some advice not only on the actual planting but which varieties to purchase. Next week, I will probably be going back and grab some of their patio tomatoes as well.

They also had a lilac bush and since it was close to closing time, they not only discounted my tomato plants but the lilac bush as well. She said that the lilac plant was already two years old and should produce some blooms later on for me this year. I am so anxious to see some beautiful fragrant lilacs growing in my yard.

After putting my purchases into my car, of course I had to go check out what was going on in the livestock barn. They were having a goat show! Since I've been reading up on goats, what a wonderful opportunity to get up close and personal with some. I got a chance to visit with some of the gals that were showing their goats. It was lunch time for the kids and it was fun to watch, the nannies so patient with their babies, as they nursed. I swear, they were fast little critters, took them no time at all to totally empty mama out!

I came home and got some more of the weeds pulled and the ground raked so that I could start turning some earth. I guess there are some advantages to having a yard full of weeds, underneath there isn't any grass! So I was able to get my beautiful lilac and tomatoes planted with ease.

My little climbing rose bush out front had a profusion of red/pink/white peppermint blooms this year. I was so afraid that when the workmen were here earlier this year and they helped me clear all the ivy out of the flower beds around the front of the house, that they had killed the rose bush because someone cut it way way back. Of all the things that I've planted, that has done so well. I did transplant some jonquils a couple of years ago into the front beds but the ivy overtook them and it wasn't until all the ivy was removed that they began to flourish. I do need some other plants in there since those jonquils only bloom for such a short period of time and the beds look naked!

Think I'll head to bed and have dreams of beautiful fragrant lilac blossoms and fresh red tomatoes!

Weeds, Weeds Everywhere Weeds!

2010-05-17T18:14:00.000-05:00

Oh boy, do I have a problem! These recent rains have created an abundance of growth of nothing but weeds in my back yard! I don't see this many weeds in any of my neighbors yards..... I think they all decided to grow in mine.

I went out and started pulling them by hand. Now mind you, I have a large corner back yard so I'm looking at probably 1/4th to 1/2 an acre of land back there! Once I began this chore, I came to a horrible conclusion. By the time I get all the weeds pulled, I am going to have nothing but big patches of bare dirt back there. That's a good thing in some respects because I want to add more garden space and some pretty wild flower areas, paths, but little did I know that Mother Nature was going to help me along the way so well!

I hate pesticides with all their chemicals so I guess I am going to renting a rototiller and just plow up the entire yard and start with a clean slate.

Guess it is time to go browse through some books with gardening ideas. I've been wanting to turn my yard into a nice cottage garden retreat and now it looks like I'm going to get the chance to do so all at once.

I love P. Allen Smith's gardening techniques so I better be looking at some of his gardening books as well. I like this one about container gardens, that way I can move things around and follow the sun and bring them inside in the winter and put them under grow lights if necessary.

Time to go get those fingers dirty again!

Massive Damage In Oklahoma

2010-05-11T01:39:00.000-05:00

Today, we were hit with numerous tornadoes across Oklahoma. I have only seen and heard about the damage on the television, I haven't ventured out yet to see first hand the damage that has been done in my city.

What is surprising is that they are saying there was quite a bit of damage done here in Norman, but I haven't seen any in the few blocks close to my house in the Central north part of the city. Yet, about 2 miles away, where the National Weather Service building is located, they are saying that they lost many windows. I am not sure if it was from an actual tornado or just the 100+ mph straight line winds or outflow winds that were created which caused the damage. I'll have to venture out tomorrow and see what I can see.

So far, most of the damage I've seen on the television has been south and west of us down off I-35 and Hwy 9 and also north and east of us out towards Lake Thunderbird.

Luckily I have an underground shelter, which my neighbor and I went to as the sirens began going off. It was interesting in that I was watching television and they were talking about a storm forming down to the south and west of us and then almost instantaneously they stated a tornado warning issued for Norman and the next thing our sirens were going off. It was a good thing that I had already gotten my animals into their carriers and taken down to the shelter because once the sirens went off, it was just minutes to get us humans down into the shelter and safety.

We listened to the weather radio, that I had taken down with us, as the wind and rain pelted the door of the shelter. I kept listening for the "sound of a train" that everyone says you usually hear as a tornado roars through, but I didn't hear any sounds like that. But of course with the continual sound of the siren along with the wind driven rain it made it difficult to hear anything that might have sounded like a train going through.

Finally there was silence, no more sirens, no more rain and no more wind. I listened to the radio to see if they would announce that we were now in the clear but they were too busy announcing warnings for other areas. We continued to stay in the shelter for awhile longer and then I ventured out and went and checked the television to see if I could determine if we were now in the clear. It appeared that we were so I had my neighbor come on up out of the shelter and I started making us some ice tea. Before I could even get the tea made, our sirens went off again. We looked at the television and weren't able to tell if they had another sighting or if perhaps that siren was the "all clear" siren. We decided not to take any chances after having seen some of the video of the recent destruction in our area. So back down to the shelter we went again. This time we were down there about 30 minutes before I once again ventured out to check the situation. The weatherman was saying that all of Central Oklahoma was now clear and the storms were moving East into Arkansas traveling at about 60 mph and would be totally out of the state soon.

This was the first storm of the season and they are saying there were somewhere between 25-35 tornadoes that touched down in many communities in Oklahoma. This is more than we normally have in an entire tornado season per year. There are massive power outages, with the big metal towers down as well as telephone poles which have been snapped off at their bases. First estimates are that most of the twisters were between F3 & F4 strengths as they uprooted trees, flipped large tractor trailer rigs, destroyed homes and snuffed out five lives.

We are due to have more storms come Wednesday and Thursday. Please say some prayers as we begin the massive cleanup ahead of us and those who lost loved ones are able to lay them to rest and have some time to grieve.

Spring Is In The Air!

2010-04-27T00:42:00.000-05:00

Finally, we are getting some beautiful weather and I am finally able to get out into the yard and putter around! It has felt so good to be able to open up the house, the windows wide and let the curtains blow in the breeze!

I finally was able to get outside and start on some yard work. I went ahead and began with the backyard because the grass was getting way out of control back there. I still need to go ahead and do all the timing around the edges of the yard and then it will really look nice.

I notice the bird feeder that stands on a pole in the middle of a small flowerbed in the middle of the yard is looking a might tacky! Guess it is time to add a coat of paint to it. I don't think the birds will notice that I've spruced it up for them but I am sure the neighbors might.

The bell peppers have been planted last week and this Thursday the plan is to get the jalapeno peppers out there also.

I still need to buy some tomato plant starters so that we can have some fresh tomatoes soon.

I hope it isn't too late to get the onions and potatoes out. I totally forgot about getting those started! Can you tell I am a first year gardener? I figure heck, throw it in the ground and it'll grow, no matter when you plant it. Somehow I don't think that is right!

It still needs to warm up a little bit more before I pull out the paint brush and give the patio a coat of paint. Now that is where my expertise lies.... give me a paint brush, a hammer and some nails and wood and I am happy! I have a feeling I need one of these books really badly! and of course one of these! I've heard everyone lives by the Farmer's Almanac

Just A Short Note

2010-04-19T02:11:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't put any entries on here for a couple of weeks but things have been a might hectic around here lately.

What appeared to be allergies and spring colds actually has turned out to be something a little bit more serious. Besides coughing, sneezing and wheezing I actually ended up with no voice! Do you know how hard it is to keep a woman from talking? Try the word impossible!

I am on the mend now but I have been through my medicine cabinet of good old fashioned home remedies.

For a cough - equal portions of honey and cider vinegar mixed together. Take a Tablespoon as needed

Cough at night and chest congestion - smear Vicks vapor rub on your feet, put on cotton socks as you crawl into bed. * Don't laugh this is probably one of the best ones and it really really works.

Sore Throat - hot tea with lemon. Gargle with salt water.

Get out the book on reflexology and start hitting all the pressure points in both your hands and your feet.

I was about to give up and submit to conventional medicine (which in case you haven't guessed already I detest) when a friend suggest mega amounts of grapefruits and oranges mixed together and eat at least 3 large bowls full a day for a minimum of 2 days. Today is day #2 and I feel 100% better. I actually have most of my voice back and hopefully when I wake in the morning it will be totally there again.

So my apologies, I will be making some new blog entries here soon.

Who Do You Think You Are?

2010-03-31T16:40:00.001-05:00

There is a great program on NBC right now called Who Do You Think You Are? and it comes on Friday night at 8/7CDT. If you are interested in genealogy be sure to watch it. I have been watching the entire series and the shows are extremely well done.

Perhaps you have often wondered why you gravitate towards certain areas of the country, a particular interior decorating style or style of home that you purchase or very often a given profession You might be surprised how much influence your ancestors have had in shaping your life!

There are also the genetic factors involved in your makeup, as to why you might be left handed vs right handed, blue eyed vs brown eyed,or more prone to certain diseases.

Be sure to tune in if you have even the slightest inkling about genealogy and be totally captivated.

Little Bit AKA "Miss Piggy" Ruler of the Roost

2010-03-15T01:48:00.000-05:00

This week's McLinky Blog Hop is all about pets!

I have 3 cats that rule the roost at my house. Well, lets correct that, 1 of the 3 cats rule the roost. Cat in question, is Little Bit, who now has a new alias, "Miss Piggy." This cat will do anything for people food, including turning over the kitchen trash can in the middle of the night to get leftovers out of it. This can is tall and I finally figured out how she is navigating to get into it. She hops up on the chair, then to the 1/2 wall and the trash can sits beneath that wall in the kitchen. She literally jumps into the trash can in order to retrieve chicken bones, or whatever else in there that is tantalizing!

At first when I heard the huge thump in the kitchen, I thought someone was trying to break into the house. Once the haze of my sleep disappeared, I realized it was not the sound of glass breaking but the sound of the plastic trash can hitting the floor. Of course this action sends Little Bit AKA "Miss Piggy" scurrying out of the kitchen with the speed of light, looking for the nearest piece of furniture that she can hit under and play the total innocent. What is really funny is the way that she will peak out from underneath, with wide eyes, as if she is scared to death! Maybe she is if she thinks I am going to be coming after her.

The trash can now gets emptied out nightly so I am sure the midnight raids are over and all I will hear is the sound of her purring as she sleeps next to me in bed.

Little Bit was the last cat to join the family. Now mind you, this cat is over a year old now and was just the size of the palm of my hand when I got her. She was the runt of the litter and still looks like she is only about 6-8 months old. For such a small pint she sure throws her weight around. Misty the Siamese is about 10 years old now and she tolerates her antics. Little Bit tries to get her to play to no avail and they end up in a boxing and hissing match.

Miss Kitty, the old lady of the group was a rescue kitten when I first moved here. We found her up in a tree, in the middle of winter and there was snow on the ground and more coming down. I pulled her out of the tree, wrapped her in a towel to warm her and then fed her. From that day forward she was our kitten. At this point in her life she just lays around on the window ledge soaking up the sunshine, or on the bed sleeping. She gives Little Bit that look that says "don't bug me," then closes her eyes and goes back to sleep. Little Bit has enough sense not to get into her territory.

It seems like Little Bit is always into something, but then she turns right around and melts your heart. She will come hop up on the bed, put her front paws into the palm of my hand, lay her head on top of her paws and go to sleep. As I listen to her purring in total contentment, I can't stay angry with her for long.

Share your stories about your pets with me on McLinky!
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Decorating For Men

2010-03-09T17:11:00.003-06:00

One of the things that I tend to forget is that there are many single men out there with homes of their own and they prefer an entirely different style of decorating.

A certain young man in my life is in the process of making some major changes in his life. There will be a new job and a new place to call home and he is now single so will be wanting to make this a more masculine bachelor pad.

So what should come in my emails today but one from one of my favorite decorating sites and they are doing several articles on Decorating for Men. Perfect timing!

Now I know that my son loves Craftsman style homes (example of a great one from the house plan shop)

and he likes Frank Lloyd Wright style homes. He also likes heirlooms as well as furnishings with clean cut lines so I guess you could sorta call him an Eclectic decoratoring style. He has some things that he just won't part with, like his great grandfather's bookcases with the glass slide up fronts that were originally in his Judge chambers and then moved to the house when he retired. There is also a small little dresser that belonged to his great great grandmother that he also will not part with. Family history and heritage are very important to him so I am sure that these things will be reflected in his home.

He is going to have a great time decorating his new home to fit his personality and needs. He's a Texan and enjoys the wide open spaces and horses! Since he is very much into "green building" I am sure that he will use many items in his new home that meet that criteria. In the article above, I happened to see some things that he would probably love to adapt into his home. I love the way that a huge poster was made out of a handwritten envelope that was written by the man's great grandmother to her uncle. I also liked the pillows that were used outdoors on the bench that were made out of antique blankets!

I am sure that his new home will be very interesting indeed since he is an architect and has a wonderful eye for color, balance, and design I am sure it will be very attractive and functional. I will do a follow up article on this as he finds his new "digs" and starts the decorating process.

I can see him decorating with comfortable over-sized leather chairs and sofa in his living room, lots of bookcases to hold all of his books and heavy based large brass lamps on the end tables.

Spring Is In The Air

2010-03-03T02:33:00.000-06:00

I just looked at the weather report, we are to have 60ish weather for the next 10 days! I think Spring has finally sprung! This means I can get outside and start turning up the dirt and get some of my outside planting started. I am so excited! I can hardly wait to see some beautiful color out there in my yard.

The garden has been drawn on paper and now it can actually become a reality.

I have so many outside projects that I am yearning to get started on. There's painting to be done and getting the patio set up for outside entertaining.

I don't know about you but I am ready to open up the windows and let the fresh air blow throughout my house!

We Got Sprouts!

2010-02-21T22:35:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited! We've got sprouts!
Our herb garden is actually growing, inside, in a salad bowl.... now how inventive is that?

We have dill, sage and cilantro coming up! Now I have to admit, we are encouraging them some. We have a light that emulates sunshine in a hanging lamp that is close to them and they are tipping their little tops towards the light so we have to continually rotate the bowl.

The bell peppers on the window ledge haven't decided to poke their heads through the soil yet, but I guess it is still a little early for them to be sprouting.

I was plowing through some things today and came across some seed packets that I am going to at least try to grow. The expiration date on the packages are over a year old, so we will see what happens. There are packets of Forget Me Nots, Asters, Pumpkins and Sunflowers. At least they were purchased at the local dollar store so if they don't produce no big investment lost. I can easily go out and replace them.

My goal this year is to put in a really nice vegetable and herb garden as well as at least get the beginnings of a nice cottage garden growing. There needs to be lots of pretty flowers out there instead of nothing but grass! This is a large corner lot and has way to much grass to be mowed!

Some Exciting News

2010-02-18T02:45:00.000-06:00

I just wanted you to know that there are some changes being made here at the website. I am in the process of setting up some additional pages where articles can be archived easily.

There is already a new page, Recipes, and you will see it listed at the very top of the home page there up on the right side. I have moved all the recipes that I have posted so far over to that page.

I also can't believe that I haven't told you about my other blog called "Working In Your Jammies." I belong to several groups and there were people who stated that they either had been laid off of work or wanted to work from home. Since I worked in Personnel Management and Placement Agencies for many years, I wanted to share information with them about job hunting, resume writing,and working at home.

I have worked at home for over three years now and love it! Yes, depending on what time of the day or night that I am working, I truly do work in my jammies!

So come on over to the other blog and look around ....
Just Click the slippers and you'll be there!

Working In Your Jammies

Snow, Snow and More Snow!

2010-02-15T13:49:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it! More snow is predicted for Thursday and Friday of this week and then the weatherman says very casually, hold onto your hats folks, if weather patterns don't change we will have snow all next week as well!

I don't know about any of you, but I am so anxious for spring I can't stand it. I want warmth and sunshine! I am one of these creatures that can handle heat much better than I can handle the cold! Never thought I'd say it, but I think I can actually handle the spring threats of tornado warnings better than all this snow and ice! Of course I am also one of those "chickens" that has an underground tornado shelter to run to!

I am so anxious to get outside and till up the ground and get my garden growing and get out the paint brush and do the painting that needs to be done on the enclosure to the patio. I want to be able to go outside and grill a burger and mow the grass!

Come on Spring!

Where Art Thou Spring?

2010-02-14T17:49:00.000-06:00

My poor little jonquils have had their leaves poking up out of the ground for weeks now and they just continue to get iced and snowed on!I am wondering if they have been killed off by all of this or if I will be blessed with their pretty yellow flowers here in a few more weeks.

We are so anxious for spring around here it isn't funny. I am so tired of gloomy gray skies,snow and rain. We actually bit the bullet the other day and began our seedling plantings indoors. We have rows and rows of herbs as well as bell peppers in little yogurt cups sitting on the window ledge in the kitchen. So far I guess the cats have decide that window is now off limits as no one has attempted to jump up there and into the middle of them all sending seeds and cups scattering all over the floor.

We will be planting some additional produce seeds here this week.Potatoes and radishes will be planted this week I think. Most likely we will have to start them indoors also, since it looks like there is still at least one more round of snow headed towards Oklahoma.Tips for Creating An Aromatic Herb Garden

Once it warms up, we will be planting in some regular flowerbeds and then hope to also do some one foot gardening as well as some in pots.Western Garden Book of Edibles: The Complete A-Z Guide to Growing Your Own Vegetables, Herbs, and Fruits

Ya'll need to let me know what you are planting and let me know what is happening with your gardens.

Oklahoma Snow Storm

2010-01-30T15:29:00.000-06:00

We have just come through another snow and ice storm, not as bad as we had at Christmas this year or the one of several years ago, but we still saw quite a bit and are still blanketed with ice and the white stuff.

Thought you might like to see a few pictures:

Can we say just a might cold here?

Been hearing tree limbs falling and now chainsaws so I guess the cleanup has begun!

AMBER ALERT......... Please Read

2010-01-27T18:45:00.002-06:00

The Oklahoma FBI is searching for Aja Danielle Johnson, white female, age 7, born 1/5/2003. She is 4 feet tall, brown hair and eyes, 65 pounds.

Police are looking for Lester William Hobb, white male, age 46, born 2/20/63, 6’1”, brown hair (receding hair line), green eyes, 190 pounds. Possible moustache and goatee, with tattoos: Tony, left forearm and wings on his chest. He is considered extremely dangerous, and may be armed.

The abduction took place in Geronimo, OK., enroute to Rockport, TX.

Hobbs is driving a white 1995 Toyota Paseo with Oklahoma license plate number: 577bpw. He was last heard from in Geronimo, OK.

Aja is considered to be in grave danger and immediate danger. Anyone either in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona, California or oregon that sees this man and/or car are asked to call the Oklahoma FBI at 1-800-522-8017 and your local Sheriff or Police Department.

*********************

An Amber Alert was called for all over the state of Texas and within hours it was lifted. This gave rise that the girl was found, and Hobbs arrested, but that wasn’t the case, and still isn’t.

The Amber Alert is only used in conjunction with other states when it is felt/believed the missing child may be in their state, otherwise no alerts are given. This is why I, and a couple friends here feel strongly about a National Amber Alert, that stays in full force until the missing child is found and returned home before it may become far too late.

So I propose this to you, and challenge you to do the right thing. Take what I have written, go door-to-door in your neighborhoods, get signatures, as many as you can when you have the available time. Enlist friends and family to help. A minimum of 1,000 signatures for small towns/communities, and a minimum of 5,000 for medium sized cities, and 20,000 or more for heavily populated areas. That, or set your own number/goal, for where you want this to be. Online petitions have no merit, but in this way, it’s many voices being heard at one time.

From there, mail out notorized copies of the petition, with signatures to local city council members, State Representatives, Senators The Attorney General’s Office and the Office of the Governor of your respective state.

This Amber Alert can be for the entire North American Continent, so those of you in Canada should do the same thing. It’s the right thing to do.

Kids are the life-blood parents pour their heart and soul into, and no matter how hard parents do their very best, sometimes even then, the best just isn’t good enough. It takes less than a minute to abduct a child, and often, days, weeks, months; a lifetime to ever find and return them home again.

Post this on your blogs, make others aware. It’s time to stop the face’s on the milk cartons. It’s time to stop the fears of if he/she is still alive. It’s time we set a standard that we won’t take it any longer.

**********To Whom It May Concern:
The undersigned do hereby demand that a National Amber Alert for missing and exploited child(ren) be immediately passed by law, by each individual state and by both the House of Representatives and Congress post haste. This Amber Alert, when issued, is not to be rescinded by any state until the child(ren) is found and returned home.
Signed,

************

That’s all you need, that, and the ability to state your case to those you ask to sign which can’t be difficult.

Those of you in Canada, can change the wording where appropriate to get the point across.

I am not sure what the laws are regarding other countries around the globe, but those of you in other parts of the world, if you see the need for this, then apply it as you see fit.

No parent should have to bare witness to the humiliation of their child at the hands of a complete stranger, yet alone one the child may know.

No parent should have to bury their own child.

It’s time to stop this insanity

I Jumped The Gun!

2010-01-27T02:47:00.000-06:00

Well, it looks like I kinda jumped the gun talking about getting ready for spring and tornado season when we were issued another Winter Storm Watch yesterday, advising us that another bad storm is expected in here on Thursday!

I was all set to be done with ice and snow! I'm already thinking gardens, spring and sunshine!

If you live in the South and Midwest and are expecting more bad winter weather, are you prepared? Some of your preparations would be similar to having your "safe place" ready for tornado season but lets go over some additional preparations that you need to consider if there is lots of ice and snow!

Loss of Power of course is one of the main things you have to worry about with ice not only accumulating on streets underneath snow and making for hazardous driving conditions, but ice accumulating on powerlines which can snap and break under the sheer weight of the ice or because they are no longer flexible and have ability to sway in high winds. Several years ago we had a horrible winter ice storm. I had friends up in Tulsa who were without power for approximately two weeks. Luckily they had both a fireplace and were able to borrow a generator about 4 days after the storm hit.

Frozen water pipes in another worry. On those outside pipes, your water spikets for hooking up your garden hose, if you don't have any of those fancy "bonnets" made of styrafoam to put over them, at least wrap them in newspaper and hold it in place with some type of tape. If your water heater is out in the garage, it would also be a good idea to have an insulation blanket around it.

Inside faucets and outlet pipes that are on exterior walls are also prone to freezing. Dripping BOTH the hot and cold faucets and opening up the cabinet doors underneath that area to circulate warm house air will help eliminate this problem.

Food, Water and Medicines are also important to have on hand in case you are stuck inside for several days unable to get to a store. If you are without power, you will need items that you can eat cold right out of the can. Now of course if you are like me, this is when you are craving a nice big bowl of hot soup or chili and you have to settle for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! If you have no way to cook anything, as in my case if I lose power, I am out of luck. You might see if you can't find a couple cans of "sterno" and use some light weight aluminum pans to try and heat things up in. But please, don't try to fire up the bar-b-q grill indoors!

Pets will also need to have protection from the elements if they are outside animals. Be sure that they have shelter to get to, warm bedding to snuggle into, plenty of food and fresh water. I know that many farmers use heating elements to keep the water flowing and not iced over. Little animals (especially cats and dogs) probably should be brought inside or if not into the house into some type of heated area if the temperatures are going to be prolonged periods of below freezing weather.

Check your neighbors, especially those that are elderly. Hopefully you will have phone service and can give them a call. If not, you might be able to venture out across the street or next door to check on them if they are living close by.

So now I batten down the hatches, in preparation for possible ice and snow with blowing winds to arrive over night tomorrow and be hanging around for a couple of days! I will curl up under a warm blanket with that seed and flower catalog and dream of spring and that new garden I plan to put in.

Stay safe and warm everyone!

Are You Prepared?

2010-01-15T03:41:00.000-06:00

Why does it take either a natural disaster or a man-made disaster to refresh my mind on how lax we are in taking steps on a daily basis to protect our families and our every day existence of our communities? With the recent earthquake in Haiti once again I am reminded how very important it is to have emergency plans in place to care for your family and neighbors as well as your community in general. I feel that everyone needs to try and take responsibility for themselves and not expect any type of government assistance to be coming to your aid. As we have seen in past catastrophes, it can be days and weeks before assistance arrives, so it is necessary that you are able to care for yourself.

With tornado season right around the corner here in Oklahoma, NOW is the time to get our emergency plans in order. We have been fortunate, our city has been spared for all the years that I have lived here. We’ve had them nearby and zooming up in the sky over our heads but not touching down in our city….. knock on wood! Over the years we’ve gone to the shelter, waited out the warnings and in some cases been without electricity for several hours but we’ve not had the destruction that devastated a great portion of many cities in Oklahoma with the F-5 tornado that touched down May 30, 1999.

Get your shelter in order.

I personally have an underground shelter. This is the one thing when I purchased my home that HAD to be on my list of amenities as a MUST HAVE.

With the frequency and severity of the tornadoes that come through Oklahoma, I would suggest that if you do not have a shelter or an above ground safe room, that you look into putting one in place right away. If you just can’t afford one, clean out a closet in the center of the house where you can take shelter. If you have too many people in your family to all squeeze into a central closet, go to a central hallway, away from windows and be sure to have plenty of blankets and pillows near by that you can use to cover yourself with. Another good item to have handy are helmets, like bike or sports helmets for your children especially.

Put Important Papers Together

I have a plastic tote in which I have copies of my insurance policies for my home and my automobile, along with my car title, my birth certificate, a copy of my last will and testament, medical directive and a camera. When I know that we are into bad weather warnings, I immediately take this tote down into the shelter. Otherwise, everything is already all together incase someone needs these documents.

Setting up your supplies

Down in my shelter, I have a small plastic rolling cart in which I can keep canned goods, a can opener, matches, candles and hygiene products along with pet food for my critters. In a large plastic trash barrel are sheets, pillows and extra clothing. I even have some basic medical supplies stashed away in the trash can. On the table are the radios, lamps and flashlights.

Presently there are plastic chairs and a table down there, along with a weather radio and a regular radio. I used to have a little portable TV down there which is no longer useable thanks to the new digital TV receiving. There is electricity down there, but if we were to lose electrical power, I would be able to rely on both flashlights as well as oil burning lamps.

Keep your purse nearby

I keep my purse close by during tornado season. That contains all my current necessary items such as car and house keys, debit cards and driver’s license. If I took medications, I would be slipping those into my purse also so they would be ready to go to the shelter with me.

Critter Care

I have three cats and a parrot whose safety I am responsible for. When I know that we have bad weather in the area, they all go into their carrying cages. The cats have individual carriers, for the simple fact that I don’t want them fighting with one another if they get frightened. They go down into the shelter early. Luckily they seem to know the drill, having been through this over the years. A couple of them will actually go lay inside their carriers when I bring them into the house, as if to say “okay, I’m ready when you are!” Now the parrot is a different story, he doesn’t like his small cage and I do need to look at getting him a larger one this year.

Shelter Updates

This year, I want to do some major renovations down in my shelter. Instead of plastic chairs to sit on, I want to build benches with storage underneath the padded seats. In this way, bedding and clothing items could be stored under the benches. With them being padded, one could actually sleep on them if necessary.

The entire area under the stairwell, I would like to build in shelf units for storing food and other supplies. That way I would have more on hand for a longer period of time or at least would be able to share with and assist more people if need be.

One thing that my family needs to do is agree upon a way to contact each other and meet up with one another if we are unable to communicate by phone. We also need to advise other family members who live in near by states of what our emergency plans are and how to go about locating us if something happened.

When there is widespread devastation such as happened with the F-5 tornado, Hurricane’s Katrina and Ike, the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, and earthquakes such as in Mexico and most recently now in Haiti, it becomes apparent that individuals need to prepare for their own safety and well being. It can take time for the government or other countries to bring aid to you. It is imperative that you have shelter, clean water, food and clothing. Some basic medical supplies as well as tools would also be helpful to have.

I would like to know how you have made preparations to protect your family?

Those Wonderful Round-To-Its!

2010-01-11T13:13:00.004-06:00

I am a great collector of emails, ones I've read as well ones I haven't but have saved to read when I have more time! I have a special folder......... Need to Read where I dump those that I haven't read but need to get around to it!.

I also have folders for all the other things that I "save" just because it was a cute joke that someone shared with me, or some great pictures of something or other, or great articles that I know if I don't save them I'll never find again on the Internet!

For some reason that is one thing that has been on my "to do" list for weeks now and I still haven't gotten 'round to it! I wanted to have it done before the start of the new year but there it sits still not done.

I need to take one entire day and do nothing but read through and weed out all my emails. Does anyone else have the same problem?

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-07T23:19:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year's Everyone

As we approach the bewitching hour of midnight many of us will have nothing more on our minds except drinking, partying with friends and making lots of noise.

Then there are those of us who will take this time to reflect on this past year and make our resolutions to make this coming year better.

Some of us will use these resolutions for personal reflection and growth while others will encompass broarder desires for how they can improve their community, their workplace, and the world itself. Hopefully the majority of us will do a combination of all of the above.

Personally I know that I need to work on some areas of personal growth in my own life. I need organization, a nice word for stop procrastinating!

Of course I can always try to justify that with the saying that "no decison is a decision to do nothing at all." I need to work on time allocation so that I don't get distracted so easily. It is easy to decide to go sweep off the porches or go outside and do something when the weather is nice, rather than that chore inside that needs to be done that I keep putting off.

I am a great one for making "To Do" lists. There is something very fulfilling about as they are accomplished seeing a line drawn through the chore. I do have to remember though that I need to stop doing all the easy ones first and leaving the hard ones till last! Sometimes those hard ones just seem to roll over to the next day and then the next and the next! See my posting about the Parable of the Pebbles and the Sand! I am so glad that I received that and was able to share it with all of you, as well as realizing that I need to apply it in my own life.

Here is a list of some of the things that most people resolve to do in any given new year:

1. Lose weight and live a more healthy life style (which often includes the resolution to stop smoking) - this always seems to be the first thing everyone mentions when you speak of a New Year's Resolution. When it comes to this, set yourself some realistic goals. Take the weight off slowly and sensibly because if you don't, it is going come right back again. If you plan to just lose between 3-5 lbs a month that is being realistic. Be prepared to hit a point where you will plateau and you will need to make some adjustments in both your eating habits again as well as your exercising in order to start losing the weight again. Don't get discouraged, just be aware that it is most likely to happen and be prepared for it. The more healthly life style of eating a more balanced diet with lots of vegetables and fruits will also help with the weight loss. Cut back on the red meats in your diet and start eating more poultry and fish. Set a goal to eat at least one meal a week where you don't have any meat/poultry at all but substitute with either beans or tofu for your protein that evening. Once you are accustomed to eating one meal a week without meat or poultry, increase that to two nights per week.

To stop smoking, especially if you have smoked for many years, will be extremely difficult to do and perhaps you won't be able to entirely quit but at least you may be able to cut back on the number of cigarettes that you smoke. Much of your smoking habit is just that, habit. You get up in the morning and have a cigarette with that first cup of coffee. After you have breakfast you have another cigarette. You get into the car for your drive to work, you light up. On your first break at work you light up another and then another after you have lunch. In fact, if you have enough time on your lunch hour you might be able to sneak in a second smoke. Then the afternoon break, with either coffee or a coke. Finally, that drive home, you ease into the driver's seat, cinch down that seat belt and light up. Get the picture? Is that a pretty typical senerio of your day? Oh if you don't work, you just light up everytime someone calls you on the telephone, when you pour another cup of coffee, sit down at the computer to check your emails. Am I right? Chances are you also light up, then set that smoke down in an ashtray and start in typing away or doing a chore and let it sit there and burn half way up before you get back to it. Smoking is probably one of the hardest bad habits to try and break, so I am not going to lecture.

2. To Set up a budget, save money and stick to it this time around. The quickest and easiest way to do this is start a journal where you record every cent you spend during the month, from that impulse pack of gum or coke at 7/11, every purchase at the grocery store, to all of your regular monthly bills. Then at the end of the month decide what things you are able to eliminate as well as ways to reduce some of your monthly expenses.

3. To get organized. Another word for stop procastinating!. You need to really clarify this so you know what directions you need to go in. I will tell you this though, if you start by organizing your personal space, getting your house and your office in an orderly fashion, you will see your personal life also become orderly with very little effort.

4. To become more spiritual, to attend a church of one's choice more this coming year. Start attending a church of your choice on a regular basis. If you don't have a specific denomination that you are interested in, go through your phone book, look at some of the different churches listed by faiths and plan to attend at least once to see if you might be interested in making it your home church. You can also go to Beliefnet.com and take their faith quiz.
http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx This should help you with some decisions of what church might fit your faith needs the best.

Then there are those resolutions we make that are either for our community or for the world at large.

1. We pray for Peace, but what are we doing as an individual to help bring about that peace?

2. To give money to charities or to provide assistance in some way to those who are less fortunate than we are

3. Become politically active in the decisions that are made by our government at either the city, county, state or national levels.

4. Help our community to become a better place to live.

5. Learn to be more frugal with our use of natural resources, to "go green" and save the planet.

6. To live in harmony with other nations

Research has been done on those who make resolutions and then are able to obtain them. It has been found that by writing them down and posting them where you can continually see them you are more likely to obtain them than if you file the list away somewhere. Those who don't write them down at all are the least likely to even obtain one of the goals that they said they wanted to obtain. This not only goes for New Year's Resolutions but for each and every goal that you want to obtain in your life.

So to ensure that you reach your goals, write them down. Better yet, make yourself a Goals Board with pictures and affirmations of the goals you wish to obtain. Place it where you will see it often. Also take time to discuss your goals with a loved one or a friend. This will help you to be accountable to work towards obtaining those goals.

Show someone with cancer you care!

2010-01-03T19:56:00.000-06:00

This is so important that I am going to post this on both of my blogs.

Cleaning for a Reason

If you know any woman currently undergoing Chemo, please pass the word to her that there is a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning - 1 time per month for 4 months while she is in treatment.

All she has to do is sign up and have her doctor fax a note confirming the treatment. Cleaning for a Reason will have a participating maid service in her zip code area arrange for the service.

Cleaning for a reason is the name of the website

Please pass this information on to bless a woman going through Breast Cancer or any kind of cancer.
treatment. This organization serves the entire USA and currently has 547 partners to help these women. It's our job to pass the word and let them know that there are people out there that care. Be a blessing to someone and pass this information along.

parable of the pebbles and the sand

2010-01-02T16:57:00.000-06:00

This was sent to me in an email this morning and I found it so appropriate that I wanted to share it with you here. Some deep thoughts as you start out this new year.

The following is an excerpt from the Early to Rise newsletter
published at www.earlytorise.com. I picked it out as a New Year
reminder of the things that are most important in life...

Dear Reader,

A philosophy professor and his student stand in a warehouse. A large
tin bucket and several boxes are in front of them.

The professor picks up a box that contains large rocks, each one about
four inches in diameter, and pours them into the bucket. The stones
reach the top of the bucket, and he asks the student if it is full.

"It is," the student replies.

The professor takes another box, this one containing stones about one
inch in diameter, and pours them over the rocks in the bucket. The
smaller stones fill in the spaces between the rocks. Again, he asks
the student if the bucket is full.

The student looks and says, "It is."

The professor then pours in the contents of a third box, this one
containing small pebbles. Again, the student looks in and agrees that
the bucket is full.

Finally, the professor pours a box of sand on top of the rocks,
stones, and pebbles. And once more, for the fourth time, the student
has to acknowledge that the bucket is full.

"The lesson," the professor tells the student, "is to do the most
important thing first, and each lesser thing in order of its priority.
In this way, you will be able to fill up your life four times, instead
of just once. If you do the unimportant things first, you'll be
filling your bucket with sand... and there won't be room for anything
else."

Great Website to Share

2009-12-29T00:12:00.004-06:00

I came across a really neat website that I want to share with you.
It is called Alice and it has all kinds of grocery items and they deliver to your doorstep! Do you hate to clip coupons? Alice even does that for you too!

Check it out www.alice.com I was amazed at the variety of items they have and the fact that you only have to order 6 things at a time and your shipping is free!There are items there for every room in your home, including the garage and your office. Even pet food for your cat or dog. What a great idea especially for the elderly who may not have a car to get too and from the store and have to depend on others to get them there, or as in our case here the past few days in Oklahoma, with the heavy snow storms and the roads iced over and extremely slippery.

I can see this site as a great money saver and time saver for many, because there is even a section there where you can list how often you run out of things and they will remind you!

I have browsed through the different sections and have been comparing prices and there some terrific savings to be had!

Or as in our case here the past few days in Oklahoma, with the heavy snow storms and the roads iced over and extremely slippery.

We Got Snow!

2009-12-26T02:07:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here is a picture of what our little city looked like as the storm blew into Oklahoma! Whiteout conditions, 50 mph winds which started with rain and sleet and then turned into snow. By the time Christmas morning came, this is what we woke up to

Some brave souls actually attempted to drive in this

Depending on where you live you woke up to between 12 and 14 inches of this white fluffy stuff!

Looks pretty doesn't it?

Thank you Annie for some great photos

I just had to share them with others so they can see how pretty all this looks!

It's Grand to be Great!

2009-12-23T02:54:00.000-06:00

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would live long enough to be a Great Grandma! I would have settled for just being able to live long enough to see each of my grandchildren grow to maturity and have the opportunity to see what they do with their lives.

December 18th, one of my granddaughter's made me a Great Grandma! Her little boy weighed in at 6lbs 12 ozs. He was a little early, they said he would be born at the end of the month rather than in the middle, but you know babies, they make their entrances when they think they should! He did have some complications. They had to put him on oxygen for awhile and then transport him to a larger hospital to their NICU unit because of some additional medical problems. So if you would please keep this little guy in your prayers I would surely appreciate it. They named him Rhett, which is his daddy's middle name. I have a feeling it is a family name that has been carried down from generation to generation.

I made cookies last night and then marshmallow fudge today and did it ever turn out yummy! All I know is I'd best get it wrapped up fast before I end up eating it all. Otherwise I see a holiday weight gain of at least 10 lbs that will take me forever to get rid of!

I also made 8 mini-loaves of banana bread to be given as gifts. They all turned out really nice and have been wrapped and all I need now are some pretty bows to go on top.

Tomorrow I will line the wicker sleighs with wax paper and saran wrap and fill them to the brim with spice cookies and chocolate cookies filled with chocolate chips. My daughters are really going to love me, I am going to have my grandchildren on such sugar highs they are going to be bouncing off the walls for weeks!

Tomorrow I have to also make some regular fudge, the recipe is posted over to the side of the blog. I was in a panic earlier today because I had picked up several cans of evaporated milk, thinking all my recipes I was making called for it, where as the regular fudge calls for condensed milk. So I got on the internet and checked to see if I could substitute one for the other. I know that evaporated milk is not as thick and creamy as condensed, but I was figuring maybe there would be just a reduced amount that you should use in order to substitute. I learned that you can actually make evaporated milk into condensed milk by adding sugar and heating the mixture to reduce the water content. I have added this handy tip over on the side of the blog.Otherwise the advice was NOT to just substitute one for the other since they vary in sweetness and density of liquid.

It looks like at least parts of Oklahoma are going to get a slightly white Christmas! We are expecting some snow here in Oklahoma in the next 24-48 hours, with the upper part of the state receiving more than the central and southern sections. There is still a very good chance that we could get 1-2 inches of accumulated snow down into the central section of the state, with blustering winds and cold temperatures for at least several days.I will need to remember to "drip the faucets" if the temperatures stay below freezing for at least a 24 hour period. Nothing worse than busted water pipes on a holiday!

But before the snow arrives, we are expecting some thunderstorms and rain which will then turn into snow flurries, so driving could be quite hazardous. If you are traveling into Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado or the Texas panhandle, please be sure to check your local weather reports for those areas ahead of your trip. We want everyone to have a safe and happy Christmas.

Getting Ready For The Holidays

2009-12-20T00:38:00.000-06:00

Like most everyone else, my house has been a flurry of activity, getting ready for the holidays. At least I finally have some decorations up around the house and the wreath on the front door and the porch post trimmed with a pine garland and some ornaments!

Do I have gifts wrapped yet? Nope not a one! I am in the process of still making many of my handmade gifts for this year. Luckily most of it will be done in the kitchen, in the form of cookies and candy which will hopefully go quickly.

I do have one tradition, where each year I give my grandchildren their own ornament to go on the tree. Some years they are purchased ornaments and other times they are handmade ones. Hopefully they will be taken care of and when they are grown up and ready to leave home and do a tree of their own, their parents will give them the ornaments that their Grandma has given them over the years. I am hoping that this will be a way for them to remember me long after I am gone.

This year, I am taking purchased ornaments and I am going to personalize them by doing their names on them in a monogram design with the year beneath it.

Besides a new granddaughter added this past month, I also now have a great grandson born just yesterday. Guess Grandma better hurry up and get busy, only a few more days and it will be Christmas Eve!

Wishing each and every one of you a blessed and safe holiday.
Merry Christmas everyone!

What's In Your Stocking?

2009-12-09T14:50:00.000-06:00

In our family it was always a tradition to have stockings hung to be filled by "Santa" and these were the first thing that one could open on Christmas morning. The stocking would contain an assortmant of wonderous little gifts, all depending on their ages, from little cars and crayons to hard candies and gum. As they got older the contents changed. Little did I know how much my oldest son recalled what was in there!

One year, after he had grown up and moved out on his own, I sent him a Christmas stocking in the mail. I get this phone call "Where's my Whitman's sampler? My mini flashlight? My toothbrush and little tube of toothpaste? " Ok, so I substituted Russell Stover, no big deal. As for the flashlight and the toothbrush and toothpaste, well, I figured he would much more appreciate some shaving cream, a razor and a nice bottle of men's cologne. At least I left in the packages of gum and the orange! I learned not to mess with tradtions.

My tree was always adorned with handcrafted decorations that my children made at school. Even though I don't put up a big tree any more, I still have many of those ornaments that I have wrapped lovingly in tissue paper, stored in a box. I probably should give them to my children to put on their own trees.

When my children were little, the Christmas tree always went up on December 1st so that we could enjoy it a long time and then came down on January 2nd. There were challenges when they were toddlers as to how to keep them from "undecorating" the tree, as they were fascinated by all the ornaments and lights. Back then all I could do was put chairs around the tree, with the seats facing the tree, or plunk them into a playpen if they were still of that age to do so. Nowadays, they have those plastic paneled play yards that you can open up and that is what my daughters use to keep their little ones away from the tree.

Now that I have grandchildren and I have started a new tradition with them. Every Christmas, I give them an ornament to go on the Christmas tree. Some have been purchased and others have been handmade ornaments.

What traditions have you started with you family? Do you go to church on Christmas Eve? Get together to sing Christmas Carols or go caroling through your neighborhood? Have certain decorations that you always put up no matter what? Do you make cookies and candies special for the holidays?

If you don't have a tradition, start one, you will be surprised on the impact that it has on your family.

Misdiagnosing Alzheimer’s disease or Dementia

2009-12-08T01:58:00.000-06:00

I know that as a senior citizen, I used to worry about heart disease as being my cause of death since it is what killed many in my family, but I have since worried more about Alzheimer’s disease or Dementia because I would not remember my children, grandchildren or friends. To become so isolated within one’s own body, to where you would not be aware of your loved ones or your surroundings or the present time in your own life terrifies me!

Now that being said, there seems to be a great rush to conclusions today about the state of mind of our seniors. We are quick to put a label of these two diseases upon someone because they are starting to forget things such as eating, to pay bills, where they placed their car keys or where they were going. If you actually take time to look at some of the younger generation, say those in their 30‘s to 50’s you will see that they are actually doing the same forgetful things, but it ends up being shrugged off as happening because they are “pre-occupied, too much multi-tasking and too hectic or stressful life.” So do others think that just because we have turned 60ish that we are all at once removed from this hectic life style because we are now of retirement age? I think not, in fact we are probably a lot more stressed now that we are retired than we were when we were working!

Now that one is about to retire, or has retired, the very first thing that comes into consideration is “what am I now going to do with all this time I have to enjoy my golden years?” I know when I was younger, I really looked forward to the day when I would be able to retire, to sit back, relax, go on trips, go visit my kids and play with my grandchildren whenever I wanted to! I could take my time doing things, no more wearing a wrist watch and having to worry about schedules. By the way, that was the first thing I ditched when I retired….. Got rid of the blasted watch! I soon learned that the golden years aren’t what they were cracked up to be! You thought you were going to be able to retire but instead you are continuing to have to work, even if it is just on a part time basis and it isn’t easy to find work when you are of retirement age.

We also worry a lot about finances. I know that in my particular case, I was so busy supporting and raising four children almost all of their lives by myself and with no child support from their father’s (back then there wasn’t the court enforcement the way there is today) that I didn’t have enough money to set aside for my retirement. I worked quite a few different jobs over the years, never staying with a company long enough to have a 401K or retirement program set up through the company that I worked for. Consequently, now that I am retired, I have only my Social Security and what little else I can earn on the side by continuing to work, as my only source of income. This does make for a very stressful situation, since it seems there is no end to the continual rise in prices for every day necessities such as food, electricity, gas, insurance for both house and car, car tags etc. I can say that I am fortunate enough to have my car paid for but not my house, so there is that expense also, but it is still cheaper than trying to live in an apartment. I also pay my portion of the Part D Medicare, not asking for that to be paid for me.

Like many seniors, I enjoy being independent and not having to avail myself of the social welfare services of asking for assistance with my every day living expenses, although if things continue as they are, I may end up having to humble myself and apply for some assistance. Our generation is a proud generation, having been raised that you take care of yourself, you don’t ask the government for help. For some reason, the younger generation seems to think that they are entitled to all kinds of government assistance and I have to wonder where that mindset came from. Surely all of us as parents didn’t impart that to our children, that they are owed assistance from the government or from other people for that matter. You do for yourself or you do without is what I always learned.

Children, if you happen to notice that your elders seem to be exhibiting the signs of Alzheimer’s or Dementia, please start looking at their situation more closely before you put that diagnosis on them. Maybe what you are seeing is nothing more than financial and emotional stress rather than those dreaded diseases. Remember your parents are proud and they don’t want to ask you for assistance after all, a parent is supposed to help their children, not the other way around!

Here are some signs you need to look for that could be the signs of financial and then consequently emotional distress rather than actually being sick with Alzheimer’s or Dementia or it could actually be signs of those diseases as well. Look beyond the possibility of being sick!

Your parent is more reclusive than they once were. This can be a sign of not having enough money for gas to put into the car to come visit you, or enough money to pay for the insurance or the current car tags. It can also be a sign of depression which comes with not getting out in the sunshine or being with other people. This is one reason a circle of friends, family and church are very important especially at this age. Keeping active, sharing thoughts and times with others helps keep seniors young.

Sudden changes in their eating habits. They no longer eat meat, a variety of fruits and vegetables, or large meals any more. Look beyond the statement of “I am dieting, or I have become a vegetarian.“ Perhaps they just can’t afford to purchase the groceries needed to provide them with a good variety of food items.

They have upped their use of vitamins, holistic medicine alternatives, natural cures for illnesses. Truly they may be serious about wanting to take better care of their bodies but maybe they can’t afford to go to the doctor or pay for their medications

They tell you they don’t watch much TV any more. Could it be that they no longer have electricity?

They are giving up their telephone? They can’t afford the monthly bill.

They are keeping the house warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter than they have in the past? They are trying to conserve on cooling and heating costs.

Are their personal hygiene habits faltering? Dishes piled up in the sink or lots of dirty laundry around? It could be they are without water, trying to conserve on water, or the washer or dishwasher is broken!

How often do you go and actually check on your parents? Do you talk to them more by phone rather than visiting them in their homes? Have you looked inside their refrigerator or cupboards to see how well their cupboards are stocked? Have you checked to see that they have electricity or heat if they use gas furnaces? Have you flipped a light switch or changed the thermostat setting? What about the water, have you run the tap?

Now if you go into their home and see it in total disarray, filthy dirty, unopened mail, stacks of papers everywhere and not filed away, having to make pathways through the house to get from one end to another, then you need to be worrying. I have a friend who has been telling me for over 20 years now that she is getting organized and according to her caretaker she still has tons of cardboard boxes full of papers! Now granted, she is a writer, but I know for a fact that she has umpteen copies of the same manuscript because she keeps revising and revising and never throws out the old copies. It is the same way on her computer!

Overstocked cupboards with items that they would not normally stock up on (like 10 cans of baking soda or 20 bottles of wine) you need to be concerned. Purchases of items that they normally wouldn’t buy or making investments that they normally wouldn’t make, it is time to worry.

I can tell you that you will need to be subtle about doing this, otherwise your parent will become paranoid and you may be in for a tongue lashing….. “What are you doing checking up on me? Don’t you think I can take care of myself?” Where in reality maybe they can’t or they are too proud to tell you that they are in need of financial assistance.

If you notice they are struggling, perhaps you can offer assistance to them without them even realizing you are doing so. Drop by one day with a bag of groceries and fresh fruits and lots of canned goods and staple items. “ Oh I went shopping and found some great bargains and overbought! I thought you could use these I’d hate to have them go to waste and I don’t have room to store it all.”

“I thought I’d just come on by and mow your yard for you…. It’s been too hot for you to get out and do it, or it’s been too wet and hard to push the mower” are good excuses to help them with yard work. Perhaps bring over some pretty flowers to plant or weed killer to get rid of the weeds in the yard.

“You are always helping me, so I thought today I would come over and repay the kindness and love you have shown me” as a way to help with the housework. What parent could say no to you when you say something like this?

If you have really evaluated the situation and are sure that it isn’t just circumstances that have caused your parent to be in the position that they are in, then it is time to get a medical evaluation and face the situation together. Remember that parent who is losing control of their life and their memory is very frightened inside and will do the very best they can to not only hide the fact that they are getting confused and forgetful, but will do everything in their power to cover it up and hide the truth from you. They realize that eventually they will be all alone, trapped inside their body with no connections to the ones they love and who love them. Reassure them now while you can, that you are going to always be there for them and will always love them no matter what.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

2009-11-28T01:15:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had time to spend the day with family and friends and gave thanks for all the blessings that you have. This year, some of us may be experiencing what we consider to be "hard times" but even in the midst of it we still have so much to be grateful for.

We had a great time, since my son was able to come up from Texas and spend the day with us and didn't have to return to "Hookem Horns" land until today, Black Friday!
He had a great time with his nieces and nephews, teaching them how to use a metal detector. Kept them occupied for at least a couple of hours, which is saying a lot since they all ranged in age from 5 to 11 and the attention spans vary so much at those ages!

He also got a chance to see the newest addition to the family, little Allison!

My daughter truly amazes me! I can't believe that she felt up to entertaining about 12-14 people at her home just 21 days after giving birth to a baby! I did a lot of the grocery shopping for the get-together but she did most of the preparation and cooking! I did go out to the house on Wednesday and helped her get the house ready and prepared a few dishes but the majority of it she did herself.

From a great grandmother (who still drives by the way) who came down from Oklahoma City, two grandmothers and a grandfather, a brother, a sister and two brothers in law, two rambunctious two year olds, a five year old, two 9 year olds and an eleven year old and a three week old baby who was in the midst of all this, who either slept, ate, or was quiet the entire time! What a crew!

We gathered together to say a blessing before we sat down to eat. As I listened to my son-in-law, his words really touched my heart as he gave thanks not only for the food that was there to nourish our bodies, but thanks for being able to join together in love and fellowship with our families.

I looked at the faces of those of us who have many years of living behind us now, our wrinkled faces that have seen so much history in the making over the years of our lives. Then I looked at my children who are now in the midst of raising their own families, going through similar experiences that we, the older generation, went through, even though they are different to some degree. Then I looked at the faces of my grand children, full of carefree expectations of what lies ahead for them, basically not worrying about tomorrow, only today.

I looked over at Great Grandma, knowing that she had lived during the Great Depression of the 1930's. I so wanted to go over and visit with her, to learn more about what that generation had to go through, but I couldn't disturb her; watching her holding her great granddaughter in her lap, just gazing at this child as if in total wonderment and awe of this blessed child. Little Allison who we are so fortunate to have with us after three months of Heather being on bed rest to keep her from being born too soon. She truly is a miracle child! When you see a moment like that, you realize that whatever you have to struggle to go through, it is all worth it!

So no matter what your situation is at the present time, don't look at what you don't have, look at what you do have. You have your health, your family and friends, the wonderment of a new life and the next generations to follow. Let their excitement and adventure of each new day bring you a sense of encouragement, hope and faith that we can and will overcome all obstacles. That we will see the light at the end of the tunnel before too long and then there will be a rainbow!

Granddaughter Has Arrived

2009-11-13T22:20:00.001-06:00

Sorry to be so late on bringing everyone up to date, been a might busy around here lately!

Little Allison Grace has arrived.... all 8 lbs 1 oz of her! She's healthy, got a great set of lungs on her when she is hungry or wet and a very good baby per her mom!

There were many prayers said over this little gal, since she was 23 weeks in the making! My daughter was required to go on bed rest just before all this project started on the house. The Doctor was actually very surprised that she made it to her projected induction date. Delivery went quick and easy and for that we are all thankful and blessed.

I am working now on getting all the little odds and ends done around here that were not in the contracted work. The laundry room has been painted and I am working on the baseboards in the living room. I should have those done this weekend.

The other day when it was so nice out, I went out and scraped down the paint on the patio beams that need to be painted. If weather continues to be nice this next week, I will get that done before winter sets in.

The old utility room out on the patio, where the dryer used to be, has now all been reorganized and is neat and tidy. A good place to put the lawnmower and a bunch of things that can be stored outside.

I am going to take one of the pieces of plywood that is left over and put it up across the rafters in the new laundry room attic access and store some things up there! I am not going to know what to do with all this new found space.

Would you believe I actually hung pictures on the wall in my laundry room? It really makes it feel very cozy in there! I also moved a bunch of my craft supplies out there on shelving, which is great. There are also other shelves out there now too for canned goods for a pantry area and I won't have to use my kitchen cupboards for that any more. There is also room to store big things like the soup pot, crock pot and the electric skillet. What seemed like a really large room has shrunk in size once all the shelves have been put in place and I still have more to go, to be hung on the wall over the washer to store detergent and laundry supplies on.

I also need to work on sanding down the top edge of the bedroom closet door, it is still sticking because of the house settling. It will be nice to be able to shut it and know that I can also get it back open. Gotta love the Oklahoma clay soil, it causes all kinds of settling problems with your house.

The front flower beds are still naked as a jay bird since we pulled out all the ivy that was once again attempting to climb up the front of the house. If I don't hurry up and get some perennial bulbs planted in there before winter sets in, I will have to wait till spring and go from there. I am having a horrible time trying to decide what flowers I want in there. Since I am partial to pink, lavender and purple, I am sure that will be the colors I will pick to go in there against the red brick.

If anyone has some good suggestions of what to plant I would love to hear from you. Central Oklahoma is zone 7A and I love flowers and bushes of all kinds. The front of the house faces North so the flowerbeds get only partial sun in the afternoons. I am looking for plants that I can plant once and forget! I am not one to do annuals.

It's A Wrap!

2009-11-13T22:03:00.000-06:00

All the work is done and I have signed the final papers to release the rest of the construction costs of the repairs.

Now I have to finish up my part, which is the painting of the baseboards in the family room area and the patch on the wall in the bathroom where they had to readjust the light switch after installing the GFI outlet.

This may all have to take a backseat for at least a couple of days because my granddaughterr is scheduled to be born tomorrow, November 4th!

Construction Has Been Completed!

2009-11-03T17:50:00.000-06:00

It's A Wrap!

All the work is done and I have signed the final papers to release the rest of the construction costs of the repairs.

Now I have to finish up my part, which is the painting of the baseboards in the family room area and the patch on the wall in the bathroom where they had to readjust the light switch after installing the GFI outlet.

This may all have to take a backseat for at least a couple of days because my granddaughter is scheduled to be born tomorrow, November 4th!

Another Blog

2009-10-25T21:28:00.000-05:00

I just want you all to know that I have started another blog.
This one is called Working in Your Jammies! It is for all you people who may be wanting to learn about working from the comfort of your home.

With this downturn in our economy, which doesn't look like it is going to be any better for quite awhile, many people are looking for part time work or for the chance to work from home. This could be either on a temporary basis while they are trying to get back into the regular workforce or something that they have desired to do for a long time.

There is nothing like being your own boss!

So check out the other blog www.WorkingInYourJammies.blogspot.com and let me know what you think of it.

The Final Week

2009-10-25T21:16:00.002-05:00

We have wrapped up the final week of work on the house. Not to bad, only 14 days past the projected finish date! With all the rain that we have had, it is a wonder we finally finished.

This was the week of where all the odds and ends, the final "punch list" items were completed.

The gutter company did come out on Friday and installed the gutters, but forgot that there were to be leaf screens put on them, so they do have to come back and do that.

I also noticed that the fellas forgot to put my house numbers back up on the porch post, but hey, I can still sling a hammer with the best of them so I can put those back up!

I started moving some of the shelf units back into the laundry room yesterday. I need to wash them down good and organize them.

Now I need to get myself in gear and finish up the very last of the painting in the laundry room and hope that I don't run out of paint!

Men really are from Mars and Women from Venus

2009-10-06T21:39:00.001-05:00

I swear, as long as I have lived and have had men in and out of my life, I am beginning to think that most of them are made from the very same mold! At least when it comes to communication skills that is.

"We'll be there to work tomorrow" .... well does that mean at 8AM or 10AM or more like 1PM?

When they show up, most of the time they don't ring the door bell to let me know that they are here. All of a sudden I hear noises out on my patio and look out the window to catch a glimpse of one of them laying down their utility bag! It's just a good thing that I'm not a gun-toten' granny or they would end up with buckshot in their behinds! A shoot first, ask questions later type of gal!

Then of course when they leave, do I ever hear "good bye" or a word as to if I am gonna see them tomorrow or several days from now? They just quietly pack up their things and steal away. At least the do lock the back door!

If I sound angry, I really am not, I just have to laugh because I keep telling my daughters that they have to TELL their husbands what they want done around the house, or the help that they need with the children. Don't expect them to be mind readers because they aren't, they are totally clueless unless you explicitly tell them!

When we started this project, I did make it clear to the General Contractor that communication with me was of paramount importance because I have a daughter who is having a difficult pregnancy and I will need to go out and help her and may need to be called away at a moment's notice. Evidently that communication went by the wayside as it went down the chain of command! I guess tomorrow me and the crew are gonna have a little talk here as to what is expected in the way of communication!

As you can tell, we are running over schedule, they were supposed to be done with this project yesterday. I continue to try to be patient realizing that you have to work around other projects and the rains.

Quite a bit was accomplished today with extra workers here to assist with the painting of the primer coat on the outside of the house. Part of the new utility closet for the water heater was constructed and they did get the washing machine moved so that I can finish up laying the vinyl floor squares and then they can return the washer to where it belongs tomorrow.

I have put together my "punch list" of the things that still need to be finished and I hope I haven't missed anything. I do know that Keith from the City will be coming by shortly with his list and checking off things also so at least we will have two of us comparing items.

Okay, I am off to go finish laying the flooring, check back in with you tomorrow.... maybe at 8ish or 10ish but who knows, it could be more like after noon!

Blue Blue Monday!

2009-10-01T17:21:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it is actually more than just a blue blue Monday! It is all week long and the week isn't over yet.

I was told by one of the workmen that they would be here on Monday to start the painting on the outside of the house. Monday came and went, no workers showed and no phone call. Tuesday same thing. On Wednesday one of the workers showed up about 10ish to retrieve some tools that he had left in the laundry room in anticipation of returning this week and since it was the same person who told me they were going to start painting, I asked what had happened. I was told that they were running way behind on the other job and that it would be 3-4 days before they were able to get over here to work. Well, that is all well and good, I can be patient but a phone call would sure have been nice to tell me of the change in plans! I have a hard time being patient but under my present circumstances (with a daughter having problems with preterm labor and a baby that doesn't want to wait till her due date) I am on pins and needles and would like to be able to make plans to help her when possible. I kept my cool, waited till later that afternoon and called the general contractor. We had a friendly discussion and told him once again how important it is that they notify me of their plans to either show up or not show up as scheduled.

On Thursday, the general contractor came over to the house and we talked about the reconstruction of the cabinet for the water heater closet. He also took time to hook up the connection from the back of the dryer to the outside wall vent (which the electrician forgot to do) so that I can at least once again start using my dryer.

I explained to Monte that there were some major changes with my daughter at her appointment on Wednesday and that the doctor feels that the new baby granddaughter may not wait much longer to be born. She will be 34 weeks along if she makes it to next Wednesday and the doctor feels that will be doubtful. I told my neighbor across the street today that I have a feeling that the baby will be born this weekend......... little did I know until I came home and looked at the calendar that Sunday, October 4th is a full moon and I don't care what anyone tells you about it being an old wives' tale, but it is true, more babies are born during the full moon than any other time. So I will keep you posted to see if this old grandma is right or not.

Disappointing Week

2009-09-28T10:43:00.002-05:00

Well I am feeling kind of bummed out right now and hoping that with the sunrise and a new week ahead that things will progress along more this week than last.

Once again we had lots of rain, which of course delayed much of the work that is necessary to be completed outside. What does upset me is that there are things inside that still could have been completed but have been done as yet. I doing my best to be patient and understanding but at times I find it difficult because patience is not one of my better personality traits. I have to remember that my house is not the only construction job that they have going at this time. There is another little house they are working on which once they got into it turned out to have some major problems that no one had counted on. Consequently, more time and repairs are needed there than originally anticipated. The owner of the home moved out while they are working on the house and it is important to get him back in as soon as possible so of course the house has to take priority.

There were a few disappointments this past week. The electrician came back and changed out the 220 cord and outlet. The cord he originally used did not meet our city's code requirements. They also added the two electrical outlet switches to the lights out in the garage and storage area rather than leave them on pull chains. The City Electrical Inspector arrived on Friday and they still didn't pass final inspection because they forgot to change out the plug on the patio outside wall which was to be a GFI outlet! So once again they will have to return and change that out and call for an inspection again.

The plumbing inspector still hasn't come out to check the changes that he requested to be made on the installation of the water heater. In fact I don't even know if that has been requested to be done yet. I need to call Monte!

One of the men brought over the paint for doing the outside. I was kidding around with him and stated that maybe I needed to check it out just to make sure that they brought the right colors and it is a good thing I did because the gray paint was not the right shade. I had given them a very dark shade of gray, like deep charcoal gray and the color on the top of the can was very light gray! At least the light green shade for the shutters and trim was the right color.

Today I am going to take time to rearrange my bedroom back to where it belongs. I had pushed my bed over to the outside corner of the room so that they would have unobstructed access to both the windows in that room. I will need to once again unload the 2 bookcases before attempting to move them but that is not that big of a chore. It will seem good to once again put the room back in order. I notice that I am going to have some touch up painting to do...... now where is that can of raspberry color paint????

More Progress Made

2009-09-18T04:38:00.000-05:00

The rest of the windows were installed yesterday! Of course I've already had one cat put little nose smudge prints all over the nice clean glass because she thought she could just jump on outside! The screens are so fine, you have to look super close to even realize that they are there! Little Bit saw a squirrel out on the lawn and I guess she figured she was going to have it for lunch. Boy did she get a surprise when her nose hit that glass. She ended up shaking her head as if in disbelief.

Friday, oh gosh it is Friday 4:33AM and I'm still up, the electrician is to return today to redo the part of the wiring that didn't pass inspection. Hopefully we will be able to get it all completed and then get the inspector back out here so that the dryer can be hooked up.

I have almost finished putting down the vinyl flooring in the laundry room. I am going to have to ask some of the fellas to help me move the washer over so I can complete the flooring under where it sits. I thought I was going to be able to move it by myself, but found out I am not quite as strong as I once was. The reality of old age is sitting in on me I am afraid.

I guess I better shut this down and get to bed if I am going to make it up in the next 3 hours to greet the day and the repair men!

I Can See Clearly Now!

2009-09-12T22:53:00.000-05:00

Friday they started installing the new windows! YEAH!!!!
It was amazing to watch as they taped all the glass, went around the edges where they were placed into the metal window edges and then they were taken out! I totally expected they would have to break the glass but so far, not a single piece of glass has been broken. Now they have collapsed the metal frame that goes into the brick around the window frame opening, after the glass has been removed.

The new windows are so nice! The screen part is so fine, you can hardly tell there is a screen there at all. Also the windows will tip in so that I can clean the outside without having to remove the screen. That is such a nice feature. They are also double pane glass and have a high energy rating which will help keep the house cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Monday they plan to come out and finish the last five windows but if it rains as predicted, I am sure they will have to wait until probably Tuesday or Wednesday.

We Were Changed Forever

2009-09-09T01:16:00.006-05:00

September 11,2001

You didn't have to live back East to feel the impact of this day because the entire country trembled from coast to coast as we watched on television, listened on radio or by internet to the events unfold live before our very eyes.

Frantic phone calls were made to loved ones to be sure that they were safe and sound. Mothers scurried like hens to gather up their chicks and place them securely under their loving wings. There were more "I love yous" spoken and kisses given as children were tucked safely in their beds that night and longer times spent on bended knees or with heads bowed in prayer asking for God's protection and love in our country's hour of need and in the days to come.

The full range of emotions flooded through my being as I watched in horror. The planes hit the towers and the destruction that followed. Images of people covered with ash and soot running away from burning buildings, as firemen went past them the other way headed into the infernos that they were so desperately trying to escape from. My eyes filled with tears as I watched the destruction, the expressions on the faces of those who were escaping, thankful to be alive, but concerned about those left behind who did not make it out of those buildings. The firemen who knew this was bad, really really bad and inwardly praying they to would make it out alive as they pressed forward to look for survivors.

Anger followed when I learned of two more planes, one crashing into the Pentagon and another into a farmer's field because of the bravery of passengers who stood up and attempted to overtake their hijackers and if not to gain control of the aircraft from them, to divert them from their intended target, which by later reports appeared to be the White House itself.

I felt complete helplessness as I watched, glued to the television day after day. It was paralyzing, wondering what was going to happen next. Would there be more attacks in other parts of the county? Flashbacks of the Oklahoma City bombing began to race through my mind and then the calm came sweeping over me. I watched as people banned together in unity, like they did when we went through our tragedy. People from all over the country headed to New York to help at Ground Zero. After all we aren't called The United States for nothing!

I felt compassion and grief for families and friends as they gathered in areas near where the twin towers once stood, holding pictures of loved ones, shouting out to anyone who would listen " Have you seen this person" as they held their loved ones photos higher to be seen. Impromptu memorials sprung up on street corners and night time candle vigils were held.

Pride swelled within me as I watched sweat soaked firemen coming off their shifts through a street lined with people clapping and cheering for them, letting them know they appreciated all the work that they were doing attempting to find anyone alive or to retrieve the bodies of a loved one.

One image I will never forget is that of the priest who went in with the firefighters to give comfort and last rites to the victims and became a victim himself. The photograph of the firemen carrying this man of God, who sacrificed all, to give comfort to those in need, will forever be etched in my memory.

The other image I will remember will be the picture of the firemen raising the American Flag above the ruble. It reminded me of the flag being raised on Iwo Jima during World War II.

Let us not become complacent or arrogant thinking that this can never happen to us again. There have been other incidents in history that should never have been forgotten, or the "rough edges" taken off with the passage of time, but as years pass and people settle into "the new normal," acceptance and complacency begins to follow instead of vigilance.

Getting Ready For Another Blog

2009-09-07T01:50:00.000-05:00

Well folks, I am in the process of setting up another blog which will be to help those who are wanting to trace their family roots!
I will teach you how to develop your family tree, good places to do research on the web and how to interview your living relatives to gather information but I want to actually encourage you to do more than just list important data on a piece of paper or into a GEDCOM file on your computer.

My goal is to help bring your past history alive for you and for all the generations of your family who are yet to come! Your ancestors may be dead, buried in the ground, but they will become alive through you and the living history that you create! Genealogy and history go hand in hand and opens up an entire new appreciation for what your ancestors did to be brave enough to leave their homeland to venture forth to a new country. In some cases, they were forced to leave and come here, many were forced into servitude.

So get ready, get a notebook and a pen or pencil handy because we are about to start soon! If you would like to be notified when this new blog is ready, please leave me a message at the end of this post and be sure to include your name and your email address so I may contact you.

New Flooring Going Down

2009-09-04T11:46:00.000-05:00

Wednesday evening I started to lay the new flooring in the laundry room. You always start out by finding the center of your room, by taking measurements of the width and length of your room. Divide your measurements in half and that becomes your starting point. Lay out plumb lines in both directions and begin laying the first tile at the junction of these lines. All of your "self-stick" tile boxes will have instructions on the box, including how to cut your tiles when you get to the edges of you room.

By Thursday I had almost all of the room completed except for the tiles at the edge where I have to start the tedious part of cutting and fitting the final tiles that meet the walls. I do have to move the washing machine out so that I can tile underneath where it is sitting. I will need to put the leveling feet onto pieces of cardboard so that when I move it I won't damage the surface of the new flooring. My goal is to get that done on Friday and then move it back into place. I also want to get the edge tiles completed on the wall where the dryer will be placed so that will be done when the workers bring the dryer inside.

I would love it if I could begin painting out there this weekend but since the new sheetrocked wall is not textured yet and we won't be able to sheetrock the wall where the dryer is to go because of a problem there that didn't pass inspection, I think painting is going to have to be put off for a little bit. But who knows what might happen....... I am impulsive!

Shall We Dance?

2009-09-04T11:35:00.000-05:00

Two Steps Forward and One Step Back!
We had both the electrical and plumbing inspectors scheduled to come out on Wednesday. Both showed up but I had run to the store quickly at about 3:30 posted a note I would be back in 5 and wouldn't you know it, the electrical inspector shows up while I am gone and we had to reschedule!

The plumbing inspector passed almost everything, but there were a few minor things that he needed to go over with Keith at the city about.

We rescheduled the electrical inspection for Thursday and then they called and asked to reschedule for Friday.

The electrical inspector just left and will be getting with Keith also regarding a couple of things that he wishes to discuss, so no approval there as yet.

Trolls On The Roof !

2009-08-31T20:53:00.001-05:00

Ok, they aren’t really trolls, but an entire army of roofers! When they said they’d bring a “crew” I figured maybe 4 men at most. Well there are at least 8 of them up there, but they are moving along so fast I’m having a hard time trying to count heads! Turns out I was pretty close; there are actually 9 of them.

They promptly arrived at 8AM and after moving my car out of the driveway so they could place their collection bin there, they had a group laying out tarps on the ground to catch the old shingles and nails beginning the process of removing shingles at the ridgeline. For those of you who don’t know what the ridgeline is, it is the upper most top of your roof and then they work down to the edges. They use tools that actually look like a farmer’s pitchfork and then a shorter hand version as well. With the pitchforks they are able to remove reasonably large patches of shingles all at once. They work in teams, one loosens up the shingles with the pitchfork and the other gathers up these loosened shingles and takes them and dumps them into the collection bin.

While outside visiting with the roofing contractor and the general contractor, we learned that the decking on the house was 3/8ths of an inch whereas current standards are 7/16ths of inch plywood. They have totally removed all old shingles from the house and are now working on the patio and garage roof. A true testimony to how well the old roof was installed is that the house decking looks good, there is no water damage at all. They were quite surprised to say the least. Now the patio roof might be another story.

By 9:30 the scraping sounds of the pitchforks had stopped and I begin to hear pounding. There’s no way I think that they can already be laying shingles, so I walk out onto the covered patio and gaze up to the roof top to see what is going on. They are now in the process of either pounding in loosened nails or using tools to pop off nails that were holding on the old shingles in preparation for the new roofing felt paper and shingles. I learned that the name for these tools is called a roofing hatchet. One end of the blade has a chiseled hatchet end and the other looks like the business end of a hammer.

Next came the installation of a metal flashing strip on the small piece of wood that forms the edging of the roof decking. The proper name for this piece of wood is the drip edge and the metal strip is called the drip cap. It is here that you often see rot and mold damage where water runs off the roof into your gutters and if gutters are not kept free of debri and water doesn’t run off properly, you will find this type of damage and in turn causes damage to your fascia board.

At 10:20 AM some of the workers were already laying the roofing felt paper on the front of the house. The paper is put on starting at the bottom edge of the roof and working up to the ridgeline or the peak of your roof. .This paper is secured in place with staples and I am listening to the rhythmic sound of their staplers as they move across the roof. After the paper is laid, they mark plumb lines for the shingles. Now the house is completely covered wit the roofing felt paper, as well as the patio and the garage roof.

Time is now 10:57AM and I am hearing the thud thud thud of bundles of shingles being laid up on the roof. They are strategically placing them in different areas of the roof to enable the roofers to easily open the bundles as they progress along.   I should start hearing nail guns going shortly.

Break Time 11:11 AM and for my cats this is an opportunity to come out from their hiding places under my bed to get up on the window ledges to see if they can figure out what all the noise was about! Bradley, my parrot is actually handling this pretty well (he is the one I worried about the most) only letting out a few high pitched squawks when he heard them using the staplers directly above his head!

12:20 PM Lunch break is over and once again the sound of staplers is echoing above my head. I also hear the sound of the air compressor being started up.

One of the things that have to be watched carefully when using a pressurized nail gun to install roofing is that you need pressure gauges on both the compressor unit as well as on the nail gun unit. If too much pressure is used, then when the nails are shot into the shingle, it will go right through the shingle and you will get leakage at some point in time.

Shingles are now being laid! There are certain areas that require being worked on first before all the straight run pieces are laid in place. The “valleys” of your roof as well as around vent pipes and wind turbines. Valleys should be covered with a special mineral-surfaced, roll roofing material .First, a wide strip of metal flashing is placed down the center of the valley, from the eaves to the top of the ridge and then this special roofing material is placed on top of it.

I watched as several of the men were putting the shingles up on the front of the house. You start at the very lower edge of the house with your first row of shingles with what is referred to as a starter strip. Once the starter strips are in place and shingles are run up the exterior edges of the house they begin filling in the rest of the shingles. It is too difficult to try and explain all of this to you but I found this fantastic article   http://www.doityourself.com/stry/h2shingle which you can use as reference.

Expect The Unexpected

As in all projects, you have to always expect the unexpected. In this case, they had already been forewarned about what we considered a “soft spot” in the patio roof. I let them know the approximate location and advised them to be careful; I didn’t want anyone falling through! Sure enough, they found it and luckily no one fell through or was injured. The decking was rotted and upon pulling it out, they found that an entire rafter was basically gone! I truly had expected that they would find more roof damage than what they have found. Upon inspection of a piece of the wood that “was” the rafter, it appears to be water damage that caused the problem. I was fearful it might have been termites but upon inspection of the wood, there were none in there. They did find some wasp nests though!

Off to the lumber yard to secure an 18 ft rafter board before they can continue roofing that section of the patio and garage. In the meantime, the men are picking up debris from the yard and throwing it into the dumpster bin, while the other team continues roofing the backside of the house. The front is entirely done and as I stand back and look at it from a distance across the street, I am so glad I chose the slate color that I did. There is just a hint of green in with the gray and it is really pretty. I have chosen a very dark charcoal gray paint for the eaves, soffit and fascia boards and will continue to have the light mint green as my accent color on my shutters, front door, the louvered panels on my patio, garage door and fencing. There is just enough of a hint of green in the shingles that this should be a very striking combination of colors.

New rafter is now in place along with the decking and they are finishing up that side of the roofing.

I went outside to check on the progress and they are pretty much done with things at least for today. It looks all that is left is to return my TV antenna to the roof and that is about it. Most of the yard has been picked up with just a few plastic wrappers that shingles came in and their personal tools that need to be gathered together.

It is now 5:30 PM and I am very impressed by the speed and professionalism at which they completed their work. All tools have been picked up, trash removed, the yard checked thoroughly for fallen nails with a magnetic device and a courtesy knock on the door to say we are done and thank you for using our company. If you live in Oklahoma and need a good roofer, I would highly recommend them. They offer you state wide service on roofing, siding and windows.

Precision Exteriors
Robert Maurer, Owner
405-703-2955 or 405-877-703-2955

Hot Hot Water!

2009-08-27T14:36:00.004-05:00

The Hawk Mechanical team arrived this morning with tools in hand to install the new water heater.
This will be a 40 gallon, gas unit and sits inside in my laundry room.
They first had to rip out part of the top part of the closet that it sits in so that we could have access to the top of the tank if necessary for maintenance. Luckily, it came apart easily and with ease so that the carpenters will have no problems making a cover access door.

There was a bunch of replumbing needed to hook up the new unit. New connection pipes and overflow valves to be installed to the outside of the house.

Once they finished up, he had me come out there and gave me instructions on the new unit. If you ever have to have new appliances or wiring etc done in your home, be sure to talk with your repair people to know exactly what they did so if you ever have to have future work done, you can be knowledgeable when you speak to whoever does your work.

This unit has a little glass pilot light window that you can look through and check to see if the pilot is lit. No more having to lay on the floor, remove a tiny access panel and peer in there and have to take a match to light the pilot. Now all I have to do is turn some levers, and hit a button and it will relight automatically.

Since this unit is now up on a stand, 18 inches off the floor, there is also a drip pan and relief valve so that if necessary water will not only drip into the pan but also be directed outside with the new overflow valve.

He also showed me where the valve was if the water gets too hot and instead of blowing the unit sky high through the roof, it will trip this emergency valve and water will go out the overflow valve. He also showed me the valve at the top of the tank where if necessary, we can turn off the water coming into the tank and where the gas valve shutoff valve was if we need to shut off the gas. Living in Oklahoma, where natural disasters do occur, you should know how to shut off all your utilities if necessary.

Thank you Hawk Mechanical for doing another awesome job!

Another Step Towards Completion!

2009-08-27T14:32:00.001-05:00

Well today marked the final day for the Red Hot men to be here!
What a great couple of guys and they do terrific work.
They popped in here about 10 AM or so this morning and were finished about 3 PM
Today they had to get back up into the hot, insulation itchy attic and run the wiring for the patio area and the garage work. Outlets needed to be installed and light fixtures as well as a new plug for the garage door opener unit. The sad part is, I was told that the electric opener unit itself is broken and needs to be either repaired or totally replaced and the door itself is hanging up on the track because of the center arm to the opener and the side hinges don’t want to turn the right way to make the bend to go up!

If we end up having thunderstorms tomorrow, which it looks like we may well have, I probably will have a crew of carpenters here doing some work. They would be able to work out on the patio, because it has a roof over it and install the outside siding that needs to go on the new wall they put in. They could come inside and cut the dryer vent hole and also the access panel area that has been decided upon for the closet where the water heater will go so that we can have proper access to the top of the tank if it needs repairing.

There is also a small area of sheetrock work that needs to still be done on the living room wall and then a repair area in the bathroom which got damaged during this remodeling.

As things stand now, it will probably be Saturday before the roofers can get here because of rain predictions; otherwise it will be Monday or Tuesday.

The new double pane windows should be here sometime early next week and we should be able to get them installed in a day if the weather holds out for us later on midweek.

Then there will be a small amount of gutter work to be done and painting and we will be finished!

I truly feel we will finish up long before our deadline date. These workers have been absolutely fantastic!

The General Contractor has several other jobs going at the same time, another here in Norman and at least one or two others up in Woodward. He is juggling crews around so that all of the subcontractors follow each other in logical order and there are no delays in work schedules. The unpredictable weather we have had this month is the only real hindrance. Much to everyone’s surprise we have had an abundance of thunderstorms this August and normally this is Oklahoma’s driest month!

I know most people don’t like remodeling jobs but I have to tell you, I have gone through several as well as build my own home in Texas and this has by far been the easiest one so far.

Some things that you will need to look at when choosing a contractor:
1. be sure that they are licensed and bonded in your state.
2. Ask for references of past work they have completed and contact the people about their workmanship and promptness in completing the job.
3. Find out if your contractor will be doing all the work themselves or if there will be subcontractors that you will also be working with. Make sure that all are licensed and bonded.
4. Find out if any special permits are needed in your city and if they will obtain them or if you will be required to obtain them.
5. Have a contract which you both will sign and have copies off, showing the work in detail as to what is to be done for the amount of money you will be spending. Have a starting date (work must start within X amount of days of signing this contract) and work must be completed within a given period of days. You may want to add a couple of extra “bad weather days” into the contract depending on the time of year the work is to be performed.

If you have a General Contractor with Sub-Contractors
1. be sure that any changes in the contract be they wanted by you or by the subcontractor, need to be approved and cleared through the General Contractor.

2. If for any reason you are not satisfied with the work of any of your sub-contractors, you need to contact the General Contractor to settle the problem.

I have made it a point to ask each of the subcontractors for one of their business cards which I will be keeping on file. I will also be writing a note, to Monte my General Contractor at the completion of this job discussing with him about each of his subcontractors and their work. At this point in time, I have already talked to him about Hawk Mechanical and Red Hot Electrical as being top notch in professionalism of personal manor and quality of work. I also told Monte that I have already written them up on my blog and his carpenters, roofers, gutter company and painters will also have promotion here also. I am looking forward to working with each and every crew because if what I have already seen is any indication of the types of people Monte has working for him, they will also be top notch!

Red Hot Men and Hawks

2009-08-25T21:42:00.000-05:00

I know I am terrible, I knew that would get your attention!

Today there was a flurry of activity around here! The plumbing men from Hawk Mechanical were here to install the air conditioner compressor unit and the men from Red Hot Electrical were here to work on all of the extensive rewiring that the house needs.

I think the men from Hawk were totally amazed that the compressor that they were removing was actually still in working order! It appears that unit has been here since the house was built back in 1963. The outside cover was so sun beaten and faded the side air fins were bent as well as it was a small unit. That is probably why my electric bill has always been so high in the summer time even when I would try to be conservative and not turn the cooling down as low as I would have liked in order to feel more comfortable.

They went right to work, setting up a new type of pad to set the unit on and get it installed so the electrician could hook up the unit. The new pad amazed me. It looks like it is made out of stone, with a pebbled surface but it is like a box cover, rather than a solid piece of stone. I didn’t ask but I am pretty sure it was made out of some type of precast lightweight material. They didn’t seem to have much trouble lifting it and putting it into place.

They will have to return to install the new water heater but I think the carpenters need to return first to do some cutting on the closet area where that will be sitting. Because of the new code standards, they will need to bring the water heater up off the floor, probably at least 12 inches to 18 inches. There was some discussion as to whether they would be able to get to the top of the tank to service it if the closet remains as it is.

The electricians were here all day and will need to return probably tomorrow to complete the rest of the outside work on the patio. They had to run new 220 wiring for the dryer which will be brought into the laundry room from the little outside patio storage room where it now sits. That is going to be such a blessing not to have to walk outside in the winter to put clothes into the dryer! It is going to be so convenient now!

They also had to run new wiring for all the smoke detectors that are now in each bedroom and in the hallway. The new building code requires that each bedroom and the hall leading into those bedrooms have a hardwired smoke detector. Hardwiring means that they have to be wired into your electrical circuitry rather than the battery operated units that you buy at the store.

I felt so sorry for Mike because he was the one who had to go up into the attic, crawl around in all the insulation material, being careful to find the joists so that he didn’t fall through the ceiling and run all the wiring through the holes. Of course it wouldn’t have been quite as bad if he hadn’t forgotten his cover-up jumpsuit! But there he was, in his short sleeved red tee shirt, emblazoned with their yellow logo and a pair of gray knee length shorts and tennis shoes crawling around in that itchy fiberglass blown in insulation which he said was about three feet deep! At lease one of our worries was solved we weren’t sure if we were going to have to add additional insulation to bring that up to code!

They had to also do some major rewiring and reposition a breaker box for the air conditioner unit. The existing connection had a break in the line, where the metal conduit has worked its way loose at a joint and had left the electrical wiring exposed and it had frayed. The decision was made to move the breaker box over closer to the compressor unit and thus eliminate the need to run another new long piece of conduit piping and to attach it to the exterior wall of the house.

Once the compressor unit was hooked up and charged with Freon, I couldn’t believe how quickly the air inside the house cooled down. There was an immediate difference in not only how cool the air was but the volume of air that is now coming through the ceiling duct work.

There was lots of ribbing going on when Doug started to take out the old sensor light unit at the back door. It hadn’t worked in so long, I wasn’t sure if there was a short in the electric switch, the lights were burned out or if I didn’t know how to operate the settings on the unit. After some testing, it was determined that the light unit it self was kaput! He asked me if I had another light fixture of if they would need to go get one, since I wanted another sensor unit installed. I told him nope I didn’t have another fixture but I had plenty of flood lights, and I went to grab the bag out of the shed and low and behold there is not one but two sensor fixtures and one box of two flood lights and all along I thought it was three boxes of light bulbs. As I rummaged around in the sack and pulled out my treasured find, I came across the receipt. They were purchased back in July of 2005! Doug and Mike both began teasing me about my “good intentions” and I told them, I don’t mess with electricity! I had purchased them on sale with the hopes that my son could get up here from Texas and install them for me.

Red Hot Electrical is out of Mc Loud, Oklahoma and also works all over the state of Oklahoma. They not only do residential work but commercial work as well. If you want good dependable workers that know their trade, give them a call

Red Hot Electrical
405-760-3420
Mc Loud Oklahoma

I must say I have been very impressed with each and every crew that has worked on my house thus far. Not only have they been professional and courteous but they have cleaned up after themselves, not leaving a mess for me to have to follow behind and pick up after.

Depending on the weather and how much still needs to be done up in Weatherford, Oklahoma on a project, the roofers should be here either Thursday or Friday but if we get rain as predicted, it may be Saturday before they can begin.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Quick Tips from the Air Conditioning Man

2009-08-24T19:30:00.002-05:00

Quick Tip on Saving Money from the Air Conditioning Man

Well, I sure learned a thing or two today when the A/C man came to look at the furnace unit and the outside compressor unit . We will be replacing the compressor unit outside with the remodeling we are doing and the furnace stays because it is a York and only a couple years old and has a good SEER rating.

I told him that I have been keeping it a lot warmer in here lately than I normally do after I had an extremely high utility bill last month. I had made a conscious effort this year to attempt to lowering my bill. My rule of thumb has been, if it isn’t being used, unplug it! Be sure to do laundry in cold water and take cooler showers. Still I had a $113 electric bill.

He said to me “Ma’am do you always keep your fan set in the ON setting rather than in the Auto setting?” I said yes because I had heard that by keeping the air moving it will help lower your utility bill. Boy oh boy what a false assumption that was!

He told me that by having the fan set in the On position, you are first of all keeping that fan running on low. The attic temperature can reach 140 degrees in the summer and since my air ducts run through the attic, those ducts are gathering heat. With the unit set at ON, what is happening is that hot attic air is now accumulated into the duct work and coming back into the house raising the inside air temperature even a couple of degrees. When the A/C unit now kicks in, the fan is still running on low and using more energy now to try and cool the inside air.

By setting your thermostat at a comfortable level and putting the fan in the AUTO setting, you’re A/C unit will kick in when it reaches that preset temperature and start cooling your house. Not only is the air in your home being cooled down but also all your furniture and flooring (carpets) also. By maintaining an even temperature you will require less energy to heat or cool your air and the unit will not run as frequently.

I asked it I might share this information with all of you on my blog and he said please do. People nowadays need to save as much money as they can.

Hawk Mechanical
405- 275-5330
Shawnee, Oklahoma
P.S. they travel all over the state of offering service so don’t let the fact that they are out of Shawnee keep you from calling them for service. They have gone to Cushing, Eufaula, Tishomingo, Yukon and others cities too numerous to mention, as well as in the Oklahoma City metro area.

I would love to hear your energy saving tips, so please feel free to share with us.

Pardon My Dust!

2009-08-21T10:37:00.001-05:00

Please excuse the mess we’ve got some major reconstruction going on here!
No not on the blog, at least not yet, here at my house!
Let me tell you about all the wonderful things that have been happening to me lately which is certainly a welcome change after all the worries of this last month with my children and their health issues.

I applied for a special program about two years ago through our City where they had federal money to assist people who are considered low income to assist them in bringing their homes up to building code. As you can imagine, there were many people who applied for this money and I finally made it to the top of the list.

The way that this money works, is you are allowed up to $25,000 for home repairs that will bring your home up to present building code. It is actually a lien note that is attached to your mortgage. You must be a homeowner and live in your home. It is actually a reducing lien so if you live in your home one year after work is completed and then sell (or die) 75% of the note needs to be paid out of the proceeds of the sale of your home. If you live in your home two years and sell (or die) then 50% of the note is to be repaid and at three years 25%. At the end of the fourth year, 0% is to be repaid.

The people from the City, who are responsible for overseeing this money, have you complete paperwork and then schedule a walkthrough on your home to see what all needs to be done. They take pictures of the interior and exterior of your home and measurements of the entire house and every room, even draw up a diagram of your house.
They access everything that is needed to repair your home. Then back to the office, put a pencil to the costs and decide exactly what can and can’t be done with the money allocated.

You then have another meeting with the City people to determine exactly what is to be done. They will also give you a list of alternative repairs that can be included in case there is enough money left.

Then everything goes to a bidding process with general contractors with a close date for the bids and once all are in, a contractor is selected. Once this happens you return to sign a contract with that General Contractor and the City and work must commence within 5 days of signing and the entire work has to be completed within 42 days. That means your General Contractor must be very diligent in scheduling his crews so they will coordinate together to get the work done in a timely fashion.

Work has begun here and I will take you on our journey as we complete this process.

Life Is So Precious-Reality Sets In

2009-08-14T15:12:00.003-05:00

I have to say this last month has been one that has been extremely trying for me personally and for all of us as a family. The reality of how quickly things can go from being good to awful can happen in the matter of a heartbeat! The feeling that one life was to be cut short and another not even able to begin.

First my son Brian, a grown man with a wonderful future still ahead of him, went from having stomach pains, which he had been to the doctor about, to being rushed to the hospital with what he thought was a heart attack. Testing followed and even though other tests had already been done about a week before where it was determined his gallbladder was operating at approximately 81% efficiency, after making sure it wasn't his heart they did additional tests on his gallbladder. They went ahead and decided that surgery was in order and when they got in there they found a blocked bile duct.

This scare for him was enough to make him realize that you never know when your time is up and even though you think you might have many years still to live, you need to put your personal house in order. He realized he hadn't made out a will and if it was his time to leave this earth, the government would be the one who benefits and not his family.

Then there was another life and death situation with my daughter's unborn baby girl. She had been having preterm labor pains and they started way too early in this pregnancy. At 23 weeks her doctor ordered her to home bed rest. Now granted, she was given permission to sit in a chair or on the sofa as well as to lay in bed, but she was totally forbidden to stand on her feet longer than to walk from one room to the other. No housework whatsoever! So it was time to step in and give her as much assistance as she needed. I really don't mind at all because it gives me an opportunity to enjoy her company as well as time to play with my grandchildren.

So now we are down to just an additional 8 weeks of bed rest and then she can get up and resume normal activities because she will be very close to her due date. The fun part is going to be to find enough activities to keep her occupied between now and then.

So first on the agenda was to work on baby books for the 3 children she has already. With JT she had to bring his up to date from the time that Taylor was born and then bring Taylor's up to date from the time Abby was born and with Abby it was get everything out of the shoebox and start her baby book! Abby will be 2 the middle of December and the new baby sister is due in November! So Christy brought over a bunch of scrap booking supplies and Heather went to work! Within 2 days she had all the books up to date and done. I was hoping it would take her at least a week or two!

Next was a baby quilt that she was wanting to make for a friend at church who is expecting soon. I figured this ought to keep her busy for awhile but boy was I wrong! She sat at her sewing table cutting out blocks and stitching them together and by that evening she had the entire front of the quilt done. To put in the quilt stuffing and the backing will take her no time at all.

Heather has asked me to teach her to knit.........do you think that will take her some time to master? I doubt it! She'll probably be whipping out booties, bonnets and blankets in no time flat! All I can say is I hope it takes her the next eight weeks!

Too Hot to Cook!

2009-07-14T23:48:00.002-05:00

With it now at least 4 days in a row with temperatures over 100 degrees and the last three have been 103 degrees, there is no way I am adding any more heat to this house than I have to by cooking!

So I am whipping up this dump cake in the crock pot and it will be dinner..... not desert... with a few large glasses of ice tea!

Fabulous Peach Dump Cake

1 bag frozen peaches (2 cups sliced fresh peaches)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Jiffy white cake mix (or 1/2 package of a 2-layer size cake mix)
4 tablespoons melted butter

Lightly grease the crockpot; place peaches in the bottom. Sprinkle with cornstarch; toss.

Drizzle with vanilla and sprinkle brown sugar over all.

Sprinkle with cinnamon then cake mix. Drizzle melted butter evenly over cake mix.

Cover and cook on high for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

4th of July Desert

2009-07-04T01:05:00.003-05:00

Nothing is as good as a refreshing desert after a day of festive celebration but these are so good you could make an entire meal out of them all by itself! Add a tall glass of iced sweet tea and enjoy!

Red White and Blue Shortcake

Ingredients:
Strawberries
Blueberries
Whipping Cream or Cool Whip
Homemade biscuits

Wash a basket full of fresh strawberries and pull off the green tops and slice the berries in half.
Place in a bowl and add about 3/4 of a cup of white sugar and stir. Put in the refrigerator to chill.

Take a basket of blueberries, wash them and place in another bowl. Add about 1/2 cup of white sugar and stir. Put in the refrigerator to chill.

Make large over-sized biscuits from scratch.

Slice open the warm biscuits, place the bottom of the biscuit in a bowl. Top with cool whip or whipped cream, a scoop of strawberries, put the top on, add another scoop of cool whip or whipped cream, a scoop of blueberries and more strawberries.

Enjoy