Roughing It

This is a little off topic as far as my blog goes.  But at risk of turning you away, I suspect some of you may find this useful!  I hope so anyway.

So, we're camping.  And, yes, we have a camper, so I can't really claim to be "at one" with nature.  However, I do, of course, have some thoughts about the whole camping "thang".  Now, I'm not a wimp.  I'm not afraid of snakes, or spiders, or toads...  I just feel that in any event, one should be prepared.

You may be saying to yourself  "Oh, no.  Not me, I'll never camp".  But you will.  At some point in your life, you will.  And you want to be prepared.

Before you go:

-  Fox Urine.   Before you go out on any adventures, be sure to sprinkle or spray around your camper with Fox Urine.  Mice will not set up camp if they smell Fox Urine.  (It smells delightful to humans, so be sure to put a dab behind your ears.)

Bounce Dryer Sheets.  Nothing says "comfort", like a camper full of spiders.  Avoid them by storing the camper with the dryer sheets placed liberally throughout.

- Pack LOTS of clothes.  Clothes you don't mind never wearing again.  Cuz you will never wear your camping clothes again.  They will be impregnated with campfire smoke and bug spray for life.

- Get your pistol permit.  Why? Bears.  Only joking, I would never shoot a bear or anything else, but I guess, if it came down to me or the bear....

To bring:

- Pull ups for potty trained toddlers.  No matter how long your toddler has gone without wetting the bed, inevitably they will pee in their sleeping bag, and you won't have a washing machine.  Don't be a Pee Hero, bring pull ups.

- Dog.  To make your camping trip complete bring your dog.  They do generally have to be on a leash and/or tied up in campgrounds.  Hours of amusement can be had, endlessly untangling your dog from around a tree or the picnic table.

- And don't forget your plastic grocery bags.  Picking up dog poop is always kind of a chore, but why not turn it into a treasure hunt!  Fun!

- Clorox wipes.  Trust me, you're gonna want to disinfect the public bathrooms if you're staying at a campground.

- Hair straightener.  Just joking!!!  It will either be so hot and humid, or so cold and damp, you will NEVER be able to straighten your hair.

- Tweezers.  After several days, your eyebrows will be giant caterpillars on your forehead.  Regardless, you're going to need tweezers to remove ticks.  I don't care how many layers you wear, ticks will find a way to nestle right up to you!  It's quite sweet really.

- Hot dogs.  They are the easiest thing to cook over a campfire.  Don't try to expand your cooking repertoire while camping...  There's no need, because your kids will love you for serving them hot dogs for 10 straight days.

- Bug spray.  Why is it no matter how much bug spray you have on, and how careful you are to shut the door, you always end up with that pitched "ZzzzzzZzzzzzzzzzz" in your bedroom (or tent) at 3 a.m. ?

When you get home:

- Apply Calamine Lotion.  Works on poison ivy and bug bites.  It's always fun and easy to spot who just got back from camping!  Their whole body will be covered in pink splotches from the calamine application.

- Eat.  By the time you get home, you will have eaten nothing but hot dogs, marshmallows, and beer. You're going to need some vitamins.

- Catch up on your DVR'd "Dallas" episodes.  Time to get back to reality!

So if you went camping this summer, I hope you had a great time.  I know we will!  Got any tips or tricks for camping?  Let me know!

 

 

A Little To-Do List

We're off on another adventure - camping for 10 days!  Before you go thinking I'm all rugged and stuff, we're not exactly roughing it, we have a pretty large camper!  It's not like I'll be cuddling up to a bear at night.  Actually, not having immediate internet access will be about as rough as it gets.

In between the shopping and packing for our trip, I've spent a little time thinking about all of the projects I have to finish when we return, and before the  end of summer.  I had great ambitions of having most of this done BEFORE our camping trip...  So I thought I'd at least better make a list, and put it down here, so that I don't lose it!  Kinda like, if my head weren't screwed on...

1.  Paint the kitchen chairs black.  I have 3 kitchen chairs which are in desperate need of an update.  Since my island is a distressed black, I think they would look good painted black too.

2.  Gorilla glue broken stool.  One of the stools in the kitchen is broken.  It's commonly refered to as "the wiggly stool".  Time to fix it once and for all.  (Before someone gets hurt).

3.  Paint both stools black.  The two stools to our kitchen counter need to be black.

4.  Hang up remaining pictures.

5.  Embellish the sheers.  The sheer curtains we put up when we moved in were a temporary fix.  But I love the way they let in the light, so I don't think I'm going to do much, except embellish them, with some cool ribbon, maybe glass beads, and tie backs... before another year goes by!  Here's a picture of what I'd like to do with ribbon or fabric:



6.  Make a curtain for the back door.  I like some of the ideas at bizbudgetdesigns.com:

7.  Fix the tv cabinet.  This is really just another Gorilla Glue job.  Just have to remember to buy the glue - one of these days!

I'm sure I'll be adding to this list.  I still have quite a few projects left on my Big To-Do list (above) but I think most of it will be finished by September.  Maybe.  Hopefully.  Probably not.  Oh well, I will try.

 

 

Oh, the pain!

Yesterday was a super busy day.  Laundry, gardening, watering, moving stuff around...  While I moved stuff around, (you know, as you do), I somehow managed to "drop" my giant gas grill on my little toe (don't ask).  All I can tell you is, that smarts!  And because of the toe injury, today I'm hobbling around...  kind of taking it easy and sitting on the sofa enjoying the view:



As I sat there and daydreamed, the dog and cat were fighting playing well together,



but I had to sit up a little straighter, to tell them to settle down, and guess what caught my eye and disturbed my zen view!



Darn it!  Big A is out there making me feel guilty for slobbing around!  I guess it's the least I can do to get up and help!

So while I get busy permanently staining my fingers black, I thought I'd post some pix of the kids rooms that, at the kids request, we painted bright blue.  I haven't really done much to their rooms yet, and they are still a work in progress, but I like how the blue paint came out!



The above is my teen daughter's room.  She chose the blue/grey/silver theme to copy "The Iconic Boyz" colors.  If you don't have a teen daughter, The Iconic Boyz are a dance group from American Best Dance Crew, and are, apparently, gorgeous!



They may be a teenage dream, but you can't convince me that any 12 year old has abs like that!   Anyway, I digress....  When she chose the blue, I just bit my tongue.  But now I think it looks okay.  We kept two walls white, which looks a little less, well, blue.  I even found Iconic Boyz grey/silver curtains (ha ha! Shower curtains!) on sale that fit the bill.



Now, my teen son, is a huge Chelsea (soccer team) fan.  And as luck would have it, the blue is the same color as the blue in my daughters room!  Hooray for that little coincidence!



(His curtain is a Chelsea flag, hung up with curtain rod clips.)

Anyway, there are the blue bedrooms.  Until I get the energy to do something crafty, DIYish, or home improvementy, I'll be out limping around my hubby, pretending to be useful...

Update: 

Teen daughter informed me, with a huge eye roll, that she no longer likes The Iconic Boyz, and that I am completely out of touch.  She now wants her room yellow.  Again, I'm biting my tongue.  It hurts almost as much as my little toe. 

Here's your towel, get out of the dishwasher.

Hello there!  This morning I was thinking about my appliances.  I know, things aren't very exciting in my life right now!

When you build your modular home, one of the things you are going to pick out is an appliance package, assuming you don't have appliances you want to move with you. We happened to have all stainless steel appliances that we were going to move with us. However, Ritz-Craft, the builder of our home, offered such a good deal on the new appliances, we couldn't pass it up.

Our stainless appliances were beautiful. But quite frankly, although we loved the look of the stainless, it took a lot of work to keep it looking good.  For the majority of the time they looked more like a cloudy mirror with finger prints and dog nose smears all over them.  If anything dried on it (like a lil blob of ketchup), I had to channel the strength of the Incredible Hulk to get it off.  I know some people swear by stainless, and that it's easy to clean.  Maybe, but did they have 5 kids and a dog?

Plus, because we could sell the old house with appliances included, it was better for our asking price.

Anyway, in the end, I'm glad we went with the package offered to us - in black - easier to clean, and doesn't show the grime and slime as much!  Plus the black matches the paint of our distressed black kitchen island.  It's a win-win!

Now, as you may have guessed, I am no expert on kitchen appliances, but I do have a couple of thoughts on picking them out (which probably will not land me a job in the appliance section of Home Depot):

Dishwasher:  They have all kinds of upgraded dishwashers now.  I'm pretty sure I saw an expensive model that had a "warm bath" setting for the kids, and a button that said: "steam lobsters to perfection".  However, our dishwasher is the no bells and whistles kind.  It may not have clever settings, but it gets the job done well, and FAST.  I mean like 30 minutes and it's done.  Plus, no pre-rinsing, and it gets pots and pans and casserole dishes clean.  (Disclaimer:  it will not get peanut butter off a knife, no matter what. But I'm pretty sure that's not just me. That makes me think... if the dishwasher can't get rid of PB, then how does your stomach?)

Refrigerator/Freezer.  We have the side by side frige/freezer.  When we moved in we thought we'd never have enough room in the refrigerator.  After all, we have a house full.  BUT, upon deep reflection, I realize it's not to bad.  The shelves in the doors are wide and hold all of my condiments.  (I'm not talking ketchup and mustard and a bottle of dressing.  I'm talking I have a lil problem with buying every condiment known in the Western World.  See:



(And that's only 3 of 6 shelves.)

Also, the shelves in the fridge are deep, so you can pack a lot of food and drinks.  A 12 pack of beer soda fits right in there.

The freezer, however, is another story.  I admit, I don't have a lot of extra room.  We buy a lot of meat in bulk, but luckily (is that a word?), we do have an extra upright freezer in the basement where I keep club packs of meat, pizza, etc.  Just something to think about if you tend to need a big freezer, you may want to consider a different style.

Oven.  Here's my thought.  Big fancy ovens like this from dreamstoves.com



look super cool!  And I want one!  But I can't afford one.  And, unless you can afford it, why spend extra, cuz in general how much do you need?  I mean, I was a caterer, and I managed just fine with a plain old oven!  I'd set the temp, pre-heat, put the food in, and cook.  Presto!  The best thing about my current oven is that it pre-heats really fast, so that's handy, and makes me happy.

Stove top.  I have a large enough stove top.  But for holidays and big parties, I would like 6 burners - maybe some day.

Microwave.  Well this is where we ended up with the king tut of microwaves.  It can do almost everything.  It bakes and roasts, has convection (whatever that is), and you can put metal in it.  It also has the following buttons:  steam, simmer, kids meals, baked potato, filet mignon with a red wine sauce (just joking on the filet) ....  Whatever.  I just use it to heat stuff up, mainly my coffee!

So there you have my expert opinion on  kitchen appliances.  Sears and Home Depot, if you're reading this, I'm sorry - I would make a terrible sales person!

Oh, one more thing: you should buy appliances with energy star - for the planet, and for you and your wallet!  For more info, go here.

And, and one last thing (really!), please check out Ritz-Craft and the appliance packages they offer here.  While you're on their website, check out the rest of their info!  (I love my new home and want to give credit, where credit is due!)

 

Trash it for cash

My kids are away on vacation, and although I miss them terribly, I'm taking this opportunity to clean out the basement.  When we moved into our new house, we brought with us a hundred  a few boxes of toys, electronics, books, etc., that never got unpacked, and now sit taking up half of our new basement.  Turning that clutter to cash is something I should have done long before we moved.  Ya think?!  So I'm posting about it here, in case you are less scatterbrained than me, and do things in the right order.

However before I tackle sorting through the boxes, I've been doing some research on how to possibly make some cash on these things, before we make a trip to the dump.  In looking around I realize lots of the toys are just outgrown, not broken.  We have billions of electronics that have either been upgraded, or duplicated.  Old snowsuits, boots, etc.  You get my drift.

I have had garage sales, and they take a lot of work, so with too much on my plate at the moment, I'm not doing that again!  At least not this year... So here are a few ideas I've seen:

Electronics.  NextWorth.com and Gazelle.com buy back old cell phones, cameras and laptops in stores such as Target and Radio Shack.  The stores usually give you a store credit.  I personally looooove Target, so credit would work for me!  Alternatively, you can go to buymytronics.com or sellcell.com for estimates if you prefer cash.  Just log on to get an estimate.

CDs and DVDs.  Musical tastes change and we have lots of duplicate DVDs.  Not to mention, we don't really use either anymore, since we all have ipods or netflix!  Try secondspin.com and see what kind of prices you can get for your used (or unused) CDs and DVDs.

Appliances. If they still work, washers, dryers and refrigerators can be sold on craigslist.org. I like craigslist because, unlike ebay, you can usually arrange for someone to pick up the appliance too, so its saves you any hassle.

Furniture. Same with appliances, if they're in fairly decent condition, you'd be surprised at how fast you can sell furniture on craigslist.

Clothes.  Contact a local consignment shop.  You can sometimes earn up to 60% of what the shop makes on your cast-offs.

Books.  A used bookstore will pay up to 1$ per paperback if it's in good condition.  Over the years, we have collected tons of paperbacks which now sit in various boxes in the basement.

Toys. You can sell larger toys separately, or group similar smaller toys.  Just list them on craigslist.  However, as all Moms know, this is has to be a covert operation!  Kids never want to get rid of any of their stuff, no matter how old it is, or how long it's gone unused.  Thus, I'm doing this clean-out while my kids are away!  Is that mean? Maybe, but it's either that or we are going to end up featured on "Hoarders" in a couple of years.

Of course your going to want to make sure anything you sell is clean, and looks as presentable as possible.  We sold some wicker chairs which had been used as a scratching post by our darling kitty, and that were dusty from a year in a storage bin.  But, one mans trash is another mans treasure.  All we did was hose them off and give them a quick coat of polyurethane to cover some of the scratches.  They sold on craigslist after 3 days.

So I'm going to try my hand at selling some things, and whatever is leftover, depending on it's condition, will either be donated to The Salvation Army or taken to the dump.

I'll keep you posted on my progress - and whether I make enough money to either

a.) go on a cruise,  b.) go out to dinner, or c.) buy a cup of coffee...

If anyone has any other good sites or stores that turn clutter to cash, please let me know!

No job is ever too small

So, yesterday, my honey says to me "You want a project for today?".  Sure.  I'm game.  I can do anything.

He proceeds to ask me to put together the wooden clothes drying rack, that we are going to take camping with us in a couple of weeks.  (See the link and picture at right.)

Really?  I mean, okay, I know I have a bruise on my foot from tripping on the boat and stepping on a cracker box; and oh yeah, a cut on my ankle because I slipped while using a pumice stone in the shower - but this is what I'm reduced to?  I am only trusted with the "important" job of putting the clothes rack together?  Guess he's not going to teach me how to use the chainsaw any time soon...

But then I thought, I need an attitude adjustment!  No job is ever too small.  It takes a village.  One step at a time.  (Whatever! I will show him and put this baby together in record time!)

So I open up the box and here are the parts - as you can see this is a cinch!



 

 

 

 

I read through the whole 5 steps on the instruction sheet, even though I don't need to.  In several places the instructions use these little *** and command: "note latch position".  In fact, the instructions make this note three times.  Yeah, yeah.  I got it.

So I go to town.  I spread out the 2 side frames, and start putting the long dowels into the little holes in one of the frames.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Not so fast.  The dowels are kinda hard to push in and so I move from the carpet (squishy) to the hard wood (not squishy).  Still impossible to push in. So I grab a hammer, cuz the instructions say I can "tap lightly with a hammer" to put the dowels in place.  And you can do that, for a fun diversion.  Or, you can use all of your body weight and wrestle them in, like I had to.  It's up to you.

Okay, so once the dowels are in one side of the frame, I go ahead and spread out the other side of the frame on top of the dowl rod tips.  He he he, ha ha!  That was fun!  Here's why:  Every time I got one dowel in a hole another one popped out!  Like me, you may find this process takes 25 minutes before you get them all wedged in, but who's keeping time?



Finally, I wrangle all of the dowels in, and there we have it!  Take that honey those who doubt me!  But wait... just one tiny problem.  I didn't ***note latch position!!!  Darn it!  So I pull it all apart, ***note latch position, and put it together again.  Not that I'm keeping time, but this tiny project took me the better part of an afternoon!

Here is the finished product. What an accomplishment!



Just so you know, I am NEVER telling this story to my husband, or he will never let me use power tools!  Furthermore, I wager if he gets wind of this, I will be subjected to endless smirks and eye-rolls.  Regardless, I'm pretty pleased with myself.  Tomorrow I may even weild a spray paint can!

If anyone out there would like to spend a fun-filled afternoon wrestling a wooden clothes rack into submission - just click the link above right, and you too can sleep tonight with DIY satisfaction!  Let me know how it goes!

Soakin' Wet

It's time I made a new to-do list, but this one needs to be a mini-to-do.  With our new home, not only do we have lots of large projects to accomplish, but also about 8 billion mini projects that keep getting pushed to the bottom of the list.  For the last couple of weeks it's been 95+ degrees, and so I decided it's time to tackle some little tasks that don't take a lot of energy on my part.

One thing that has been driving me to distraction is watering.  Luckily we have city water and are not on a well, because I have been a watering fool.  Since I got a ton of new plants for my birthday, I happen to know we haven't had any substantial rain since at least June 26th!  SO, I've been watering for about 2 hours every morning, in the baking sun and heat.  And then one humid morning, in a rare moment of clarity, it struck me, like a lightening bolt from the non-existent thunderstorm we desperately need,  "SOAKER HOSE" ! 

The cost is minimal, only $15, but the time savings is phenomenal!  You just hook it up to your garden hose, wind it around your plants and turn on the water.  Not only does it save time, it saves water, and therefore, saves money.  Not to mention, one doesn't have to lug around a hose or watering can anymore!   I'm free!   I feel like that lady from the swiffer commercial "I'm gonna drink this... on the porch!"  And now I can, drink my coffee on the porch, rather than carry it around in one hand with the hose in the other.

Tips:

The soaker hose really only works on flat areas of the garden.

The lines of the hose should be 18 inches apart if you are winding it around plants. You can use landscaping U hooks to keep the hose in place.

Hook the soaker hose up to the outdoor faucet, or hook it to a garden hose to extend your reach.

Do not bury the soaker hose, but you can cover it with mulch.

Water for at least 30 minutes to allow the water to get down to the plants roots.

Clean and store the soaker hose during the winter, especially if you live in snow country!

I bought a 75 foot hose, which works amazingly!  If you want to order the soaker hose I bought, click here!  Or click the link at the top right of this page.

 

Someday is NOT a day of the week

I tend to channel my inner Scarlett O'Hara, particularly when I don't want to do something.  I say to myself, "I'll think about that another day".  However, with a large to-do list and a house load of chores to do, more often than not, I really need to channel my inner NIKE ad exec, and just do it.

That being said, there are some times you just need to get things done and you have to resort to alternative methods to get some help.  I'm not suggesting it's going to be easy, especially if you have teenagers, but here are a few ideas you may want to try out:

Procrastinate.  Do you ever feel as if you are the only person in your house who knows how to load the dishwasher, or do a load of laundry?  Well, stop doing it for several days and let everything pile up.  Eventually someone will take the hint and load it, right?  (Uh, well this is actually WRONG!  If you or your significant other don't do it, no one will, so just bite the bullet and do it yourself.)

Buy ice cream.  This is only effective on very small people, particularly those under 6 years old.  If you have tiny people living in your home, you can bribe them with ice cream to help or do small chores.

Fail miserably.  If you do something badly enough, enough times, you will find you will not be asked to do it again.  My teenage daughter is particularly good at this tactic, so I'm thinking of how to turn the tables on her!

Get sick.  Although this is a bit drastic, a house full of kids all managed to get themselves meals, and keep the house relatively clean when I had the mother-of-all summer colds.  Did I detect sympathy in their eyes?  Either way, stuff got done!

Win the lottery. Nothing makes better sense - win big and you can hire someone to do chores.  If it makes you feel better, you can call this strategy "outsourcing" or "delegating".

Well I hope that was helpful!  Unfortunately, it seems my garden isn't going to water itself, and the lawn furniture isn't going paint itself either.   So despite all of these extremely useful suggestions, I think I'll just double up on my B vitamins, have another cup of coffee, and get moving.

 

 

 

 

Dog days of summer

Hello there!  We have been camping, and in my little world, I thought I would be able to use my laptop in the middle of the woods, which were in the middle of nowhere!  Um, well, that's my inner blonde showing through!  So, sorry I haven't been able to post.  Not much has changed, it's still HOT, and my to do list is still there... I know cuz I checked.

It's been over 2 weeks, with no rain, and 90 degree temperatures in our neck of the woods, so watering my new garden has been job # 1 around here.  While we were away my parents stepped in and watered like mad, for which I owe them in a big way!  As discussed earlier, watering new plants is essential, and with this drought, I don't see much relief in the near future.  For the smaller plantings, I'm using empty gallon jugs with little holes poked in the bottom, and letting the plants get a slow soaking that way.  The larger plants I have to water with the hose.  The whole process takes about 2 hours!

My dog, Winnie the "soon to be a very sorry dog", has had other ideas for the garden, which include digging and chewing up the plants. Therefore, I've been doing a little research about keeping a dog out of the garden.  Needless to say, most of these suggestions are much nicer to the offending dog, than I would like to be right now!

- My first thought is to sprinkle the garden area with chili powder mixed with mustard powder.  Dogs do not like the spicy hot scent or taste.  However, if it ever rains, this will just wash away.

- Apparently, used coffee grounds deter dogs and other critters.  I guess the bitter taste is unpleasant.  AND, the grounds are good for the plants.  I'm definitely going to use my used grounds around the area my pooch likes to dig.

- Sour apple products and sprays from a pet store.  Honestly, I  have a few of these products that I use in the house, to keep the cat from scratching and the dog off the furniture.  Although the products do work to some extent, they are expensive and seem to wear off quickly.



 

 

 

 

- The last idea is this: an ultrasonic dog deterrent.  The reviews on Amazon are pretty good, and I think that for $20 I may give this  a try. I've put a link at the top right of the page if you want to check it out!

So, until I get delivery of the ultrasound gadget, I will be sprinkling the area with chili, coffee and mustard - sounds like I could also add a pork tenderloin to the mix and have a pretty darn good dry rub too!  Anyway, I will let you know what happens, and if the dog apologizes.  She sure looks sorry in her crate!



 

 

 

Play, but play it safe!

It's almost the 4th of July, and that means fireworks, bonfires, and partying.  I'm just gonna get this over with and be a huge downer here... Unfortunately, those fireworks mean the potential for house fires.  So, listen up!  And then I promise to post something FUN!

Our modular home came wired for smoke detectors in every room, including the basement.  When one detector goes off, all of the detectors in the house go off, which is, well, alarming, and very loud!  But that's what we want - my husband is a fire fighter, and so, we get a little freaked out about house fires.   It's scary to think about 2/3 of house fires happen where the home did not have working smoke detectors.  You need to have working alarms in each bedroom and in living areas. Carbon monoxide and smoke detection combination alarms are best, but are especially necessary in the basement.

You should test your existing detectors every year.   If your current smoke alarm is "chirping" that means it needs a new battery.  If you don't notice any chirping, you still need to test your alarms - just press the center button until the alarm sounds. If it sounds, your alarm is functioning properly. If it doesn't, change the battery. If you change the battery and it still doesn't work, you need a new smoke detector.

If you don't have your house wired for the smoke detectors, you can use battery powered smoke alarms.  (I got an email today that Amazon is having a sale on the combination alarms at $21.75, which is a HUGE savings. I've put a link to the alarms - on the right - if you are interested. These alarms have a high rating and are on sale for a fraction of the normal price.)

So with the 4th of July right around the corner, fireworks and bonfires coming up, please play it safe and make sure either your current alarms are working, or buy new working alarms.

Okay, lecture over.  :-)