Release The "Hounds"

In This case the "hounds" are 400 aphid eating machines we know and love as Ladybugs.

 

Hopefully they will stick around long enough to consume any and all pesky bugs then spread out and do the same for my neighbors gardens.

Save Time Money and Eat Healthy

Its a lovely Sunday Morning and time for me to work my money saving magic. This little trick also saves time and help you eat healthier. What you need. A large pot of boiling water, Steel cut oatmeal and a very lightly greased bread pan. Cook a large batch of steel cut oatmeal according to the directions. I cook enough for 8 servings. After dishing yourself out a portion place the rest in the bread pan. Cover it and place in the fridge. Enjoy your oatmeal any way you wish. I like a dash of brown sugar and frozen berries. The frozen berries cool off the hot hot oatmeal while the hot hot oatmeal thaws the tasty berries. Tommorow pullout your bread pan and slice off a protion of the oatmeal for breakfast once again topping however you wish. If you want you can even flavor it before you put it in the bread pan to save more time but then you have to have the same flavor all week.

Vegetable Container Garden

Skip the flower garden and grow vegetables. You will get just as many lovely blooms then you will get tasty vegetables. Don't believe me ... let me show you.

A Penny Saved is Not Always a Penny Earned

Take for example the new purchase one of my co-workers made for work.  We needed new sponges and I had requested a certain type.  She came back with these...

She said I know these are not the ones you wanted but they were THREE FOR A DOLLAR!  So I couldn't pass them up!

Three days later....

The scrubbing part of the sponge is worn down and useless. 

The sponge (not real sponge and doesn't absorb and hold liquids) is already falling apart.

This is what is left of the type I requested.  This is after a year of use.  The sponge part has fallen away after tons of hard use but the scrubbing part still carries on the fight against grime.

You can get a two pack of these for a couple bucks more then what she paid for the three pack and will get much more use out of them.

When making a purchase for anything you need you need to keep in mind quality as well as cost and find the balance between the two.  Just because it's cheap doesn't mean you will get your moneys worth. 

Computer Overhaul

My Hubby has been disassembling and reassembling our computers.  Not one to throw things out ... we now have 4 computers up and running on two screens.  Over the years we have had a number of computers and they have been sitting in our basement. Over the last few weeks the Hubby has been taking out the useful parts and using them to upgrade other computers to help them run better. Each computer has a different use.

Our newest one (a never been used tower that was on clearance) will be used for financial  uses and will only be connected to the internet when needed.  The hope being this will help secure our cyber money info. 
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The Second (this one) is for my blogging and the kids school work.

The third is for internet surffing only.  This will help keep our computers safe from hackers trojans and other malevolent attacks conducted daily against good people.

The last and the oldest computer is to be used for some of the older software the kids have that they still enjoy.  Stuff that is too old to use on the newer computers but still useable.

Reusing our older computers this way will hopefully save us money by helping to secure our private information and give longer live to games the kids like to play which will help us spend less money spent on entertainment.

HOLY CRAP

I have been in the biggest funk lately... I haven't felt like doing much.  It has been a deep funk coming from many places.  I have to spend another year here in Long Island,  Land of the self centered drivers.  The slow rate at which my little container garden is growing ... while others seem to be popping up at miraculous speeds.  My lovely children growing up and away every day.  On and on.

Now I try very hard to look on the bright side.  I really do have a pretty good life.  My kids are healthy,  I have a roof over my head, part time job that I enjoy and a hubby I love.

But once in a while .... every once in a while the blues descend ...putting me in a deep lethargy that is hard to shake.

Well this weekend I discovered the secret to defeating the blues.  Not the only way but it certainly worked for me.

This Sunday on a routine drive to Grandma's house ...somehow or another I missed a turn. Because my new GPS doesn't use the "RECACULATING" statement (it doesn't say anything at all when you miss a turn)  I didn't realize I had missed it until I saw a sign that said MID TOWN TUNNEL.

  This was a major HOLY CRAP moment for my because hate ...no ... DESPISE driving in city traffic!  I grew up in Colorado in a small town there is no such thing as a traffic jam. 

Since I missed my usual turn my GPS was sending me to the Lincoln Tunnel.  Through the whole drive All I thought was Crap crap crap... Stop Cutting me OFF .... Crap Crap Crap!

Now my daughter was in the car with me and what she heard was..

LOOK SAM THERE'S THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

Photo borrowed from Why the Empire State Building is Awesome.  I did NOT take a picture while I was driving.

I don't want my daughter to have my phobias so I try really hard to keep them inside so she can form her own opinions of life.  So despite my desire to pull over have a good cry and call the hubby to come and get us.  I kept going!


When I finally reached the Lincoln Tunnel I was so relieved ...  THEN the GPS DIED.  No I'm not talking about a lost signal... my GPS is pretty good about that when you lose the signal it pops up with turn by turn instructions to keep you going until you get a signal again.  I'm talking completely dead screen.  Nothing Nada Nix Zero Zilch...

I really really did want to cry then.   Lucky for my when I got out the other side of the tunnel I was the sign for the New Jersey Turnpike and having lived in New Jersey I knew how to get to Grandma's house from the Turnpike.  

Despite how I was feeling ... I was actually very luck .. The amount of traffic I had to deal with was really very lite for NYC and I got in and out of the tunnel with no traffic jam.

At the end of this harrowing experience I felt ELATED... really I had faced one of my worse fears and came out without a scratch.  How can you feel blue after THAT! 


Maybe next time I"m feeling down in the dumps I'll try and take on my fear of Spiders.

 

Ummmm.... Maybe NOT 

Back Pains Gardens and Jealousy

BACK PAINS

Well it's been a little too long since my last post.  I've been in a rather large amount of pain ... and of course its my own stupid fault.  A couple weeks ago we to a little weekend trip up to the Herkimer diamond mines.  Nope not really diamond ya have to go to Arkansas if you want to mine those.  These "diamonds" are double-terminated quartz crystals that you can go looking for.  I of course convinced myself that I was in better shape then I was went about breaking open the small boulders looking inside for the diamonds with a 10 lbs sledgehammer.  Of course I'm in no shape to go throwing around such a tool but there I was pounding away like a happy fool. 



 Fool being the operative word, as I have spent the last two weeks with a sore back.  It's finally working its was back to normal, and it was fun but next time I'll stick to the little hammers.  

If you decide to visit there are some things you should know. Ignore the hyped up video on the web site cause unless they are seeding the ground it is very hard to find them just lying around.  There are rocks everywhere and finding those little pieces of quartz among them is going to take some moving and shaking to find them.  

 

Other wise if hammering away at rocks.  Forget about finding them in the rock face those have been picked clean by the pro's who spend weeks on end there finding the pockets.  Lastly of the two we visited the The Ace Of Diamonds will give you a better chance of finding them then the KOA Campground.  The Ace of Diamonds takes part of the hill side and leaves the multi-sized boulders in big patches for the regular person to go to town on.  The cliff face is still left to the pros who have tons of time on their hands but the piles are stripped off the same place leaving you with plenty of places to find small pockets.  Make sure you look for the ones with lots of little holes on the surface.  They are the most likely to have bigger pockets.

GARDENING

I've finally gotten around to cleaning out the containers, mixing the soil and replanting them.  I've pulled my first batch of fresh compost out of the bin and used the compost tea in the bottom to add some nutrients to the plants that are a part of the permanent landscape here.

 

Fresh Compost

 

Mixing the compost with the old soil from the containers

We took all the old potting soil out of the containers and mixed them with the new compost to add back precious nutrients that last years vegetables took from the soil.  Then fill the containers again.

First Plant popping through

 I started some seedlings a few weeks prior and this is the first one we planted.  It's  pumpkin plant.  I haven't had much luck with them but my son loves them so I keep trying.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

 FLAMING HOT JEALOUSY

One of the the blogs I read on a regular basis is called Cold Antler Farm.  I was introduced to this blog by a book called Made from Scratch.  I picked up this book from the local library as I was looking for a good book on making more food from scratch.  Well it wasn't really what I expect but I found it to be a wonderful informative book about the author,  Jenna Woginrich, and the beginning of her journey into farming.  After reading her book I found the link to her blog and have been hooked every since.  She tells of her own personal joys and trials as she figures out how to do what she truly wants to do.  

So you might ask where does the Flaming Hot Jealousy come from?  Well on the 17 of May Jenna announced  her next step in self sufficiency.  She is leaving her office job and working her farm full time.  That is where the Jealousy comes from.  I would love to have a little farm of my own but can only do my little container garden until the time my hubby finally retires from the Air Force.  You can't have a farm and animals that depend on you if you have to move every two years.  So I will have to sit here reading about it and tending my little containers until the time comes to settle down.

 

First An Apology

Dear Lucky Lady I'm sorry it took so long to send you your prize.  I'm glad to see you got it and it's already in use.  I meant to send you the nectar recipe too but forgot to pack it in the box.  Its very simple... 1 part sugar to 4 parts water.  No artificial color needed.  Thanks for posting the picture and for those who haven't been to Lucky Lady's blog here is the picture of her prize in use.

Isn't she just the cutest little thing you've ever seen?

Second an apology to all my reader for not posting sooner.  I had to make a trip down to North Carolina and have been rather exhausted since.  More emotionally the physically.  We took a weekend camping and now I'm feeling loads better.  Its amazing what a little peace and quiet will do for you.

Now if I can just get the hang of this horrible new format that blogger has decided to install.  Its so barren and boring looking and I have to spend so much time searching for everything.  Oh well that's life huh?  I suppose I'll get use to it eventually.